User is not alerted when a task fails

[NixedSec]

What

• When a background task fails, the user is not alerted in any way. When editing a product, the user is informed that the change will take place in the background. If an exception occurs, the only way for a user to know is for them to open the DEV mode screen and look at the Pending contributions section. The typical user is not going to do this. Another note that I have not checked yet is whether exceptions clear on their own. Some tasks appear to have a 10 minute wait period assigned to them, though exceptions do not. As these break some functionality of the app, they may need to clear on their own (If they do not already).

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Go to a product
2. Edit the packaging components
3. See error in the DEV mode section

Expected behavior

A user should be informed of an issue and be prompted with a potential solution to the issue, whether this is to wait and try again later etc.

Why

• Currently the user has no way of knowing if something did not work correctly.

Part of

• Nutrition input issues #4627
• Invalid user id and password Exceptions #4637
• Nutrition fact issues when exceptions occur #4639

Smartphone model

• Device: Pixel 6
• OS: Android 13
• App Version: 4.10.0+1230-ZXing-FDroid

[monsieurtanuki]

Hi @NixedSec!
The first question is: how should we alert the user? A clickable widget that appears all the time when there's an error, something like a red exclamation mark in the app bar?

[NixedSec]

That sounds like a good idea. At least at the time being, the error will need to persist for as long as the exceptions do. Otherwise the user would be under the belief that everything is working as expected.