App Troubleshooting Guide
No Sound or Distorted Sound on iPad or Other Tablet
* Most problems can be fixed by closing all open apps or programs and then restarting your device. *
No Sound or Distorted Sound on iPad or Other Tablet
Our apps use many audio files, which use a lot of working memory on your device. If you have too many apps open, then the audio may not load and play or it may be lacking in sound quality (distorted). To fix this, close all of your open apps (see your iPad or tablet instructions on how to do this). If you're still not getting sound, check that your ringer is off and/or your device is not muted (see the video below). Very often people are not aware that their settings are set to mute. To test this, use a pair of headphones. If you get sound with the headphones, then check your settings.
Watch the instructional video below.
Sometimes, on Chrome if Ad Blocker is on (you'll see the image below), Chrome will not allow the game to load (you'll see a red loading line instead of the blue line, and the game won't finish loading). Even though we do not use any advertisements on any of our games or on our website, sometimes Ad Blocker will cause a problem. To fix this, while on our site, right click on the Ad Block icon, in the upper right corner of the browser, and select "pause for this site". Your game should now load.
Please allow five to ten seconds of black screen for the program to load. If it exceeds ten seconds, follow the
the instructions below.
If you're using a tablet or cell phone, close all open apps or other software that's running and then reopen the app. If
you still get a black screen, close all apps and restart your device.
If you're using a PC or Mac, first try refreshing your
screen (while the black screen is present). You can do this either by pressing your browser's refresh button or
by pressing the function F5 key (you may have to hold down a "fn" key
and press the function 5 key simultaneously, depending on your keyboard).
If that doesn't work, then clear your browser's data
and try loading the app again.
It may help to close all programs that are open and/or restart your computer.
If none of the above works, please contact us (text preferred: 631-780-4206).
If using Blast Off to Reading, make sure you're
entering the code for the correct book. Note that Blast Off Rev C has it's own
app (click here),
and Blast Off Rev D and E share an app (click
here). To find the revision, look on the bottom of the title page where the
ISBN is. Note that there are no apps for Blast Off Rev A and B. Make sure
you're finding the code in the lesson portion of the book, not the answer key. Codes are not case sensitive. If you followed the directions and
are still having problems with the codes, you may have local storage issues.
Click here to read more about local storage and our apps.
Watch the instructional video below.
If some of our apps run on your device, while other apps don't, then there is most likely a memory issue with your device. Typically, if one game runs the others should as well. However, each game will require memory (of various sizes) and it's possible that you did not have enough space. Note that our online games and tools are not guaranteed to run on your device. Please check that your device supports HTML5 (click here to run the HTML5 validator). The browser that you run the HTML5 app on will require memory for local storage and cookies must be enabled. If you have problems, please check your browser's settings. Click here to read more about local storage limits.
On the iPad the app runs, but it does strange things.
With recent Apple updates, many apps are not opening, or not functioning correctly if other apps are open. Please close all open apps, including the app that you're trying to use. To close apps on your device follow these instructions: If your device has a "home" button, double click the button, and then swipe up to close the apps. If you have a newer device that does not have a home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen, then proceed to swipe all apps upwards to close them. Once all apps are closed, reopen the app.
If you have trouble running an app and your device belongs to a school or other type of institution, contact your organization's IT administrator. Very often settings have been set to limit usages to protect students, and to limit their internet usage.
If you try to open an app and get a 404 message (or are directed to POWWEB, our old host), this means that the server could not find the page requested.
If we recently changed a link to the app (which was done on 2/26/20),
this could happen since your browser will cache (save) temporary data, such as links.
To resolve this, first try refreshing the web page by pressing the function F5 key (you may have to hold down a "fn" key and press the
function 5 key simultaneously, depending on your keyboard.).
If that doesn't work, and it often doesn't, then you should clear your browser's cache.
To clear your cache on Chrome, go to the upper right corner, click on the three dots, click on settings,
then scroll to "privacy & security" and click on "clear browser". Only select "Cached Images & Files"; make sure all other boxes are not checked. Then press the button to "Clear Data".
This will force the browser to not use the cached data.
If you are using Safari on an iPhone or iPad, go to "settings", then scroll and select safari, then scroll down and select "Clear History and Website Data".
For all other browsers, please consult your browser instructions for clearing the cache.
For the problems listed:
1. You entered the code for the app, the app accepted it, but the next time you open the app it asks you for the code again.
2. You're using the I Can Fly app, and your student's coins, or metric data, or items bought disappeared.
Our apps use something called "Local Storage" to save data such as whether you entered in the code or not, how many coins your student earned, what items were purchased, etc.
Local Storage is not kept in the cloud, or on a server, it is on your computer, specifically in memory used by your browser. This memory is limited and is dependent on how much
hard disc space you have. If you have the issues described above, it is not the app, it is your browser and your computer. If your space is at the limit, some data may be deleted,
and, consequently, some parts of the app may work while other parts won't.
The process by which the browser determines how much space to allocate for web data storage and what to delete when that limit is reached is not simple and differs between browsers.
Because of this, even if your browser is HTML5 compatible, we cannot guarantee that our apps will work on your device.
If purchasing our reading programs is contingent on the apps working on your device, we recommend you first test the apps thoroughly before buying.
To do this we recommend you play the
I Can Fly app, which uses the most data, by using the ten minute free play (no access code is required).
Add players, give the player coins (on the title page choose "add coins to wallet"), make purchases in the store,
and play the games. Then completely close the app, then open it to see if the player, player metrics, coins, and items purchased are still present.
Note that if your computer is at its storage limit, the game may have functioned correctly, but may soon cease to function as there won't be enough memory.
To free up memory on your device, you can
delete your browser's saved data (clearing your browser). However, this is something you should consider
carefully since you may have data saved that you don't want erased. Very often
once this is done, the apps will function correctly.
It is important to note that data saved during the game (codes, coins, etc.) can be cleared inadvertently by someone using your computer. For example, if you share a computer with
someone who develops software, they may clear the browser
for their work. There may also be a setting in your browser where web data is cleared when you exit the app, in this case every single time you enter the app you will be prompted
to enter the access code.
Schools and other type of institutions may not utilize local storage due to settings in place by the IT department.
Also note that since the data is stored on your device, if you use another device, you will not share that saved data.
