I use Delta Chat on Android with a full system VPN. Sometimes when I connect to a network, the text “Connecting…” changes to “Delta Chat”, which I assume means that Delta Chat can connect successfully to the internet — except I cannot send or receive messages. After I restart my VPN, Delta Chat seems to “re-connect” and then I can successfully send and receive messages. I have experienced this issue with several VPNs including Orbot.
I am not sure if the inability to connect to the email server before re-starting my VPN is due to a bug with Delta Chat or my VPN (it is possibly a bug in the VPN) but in any case the Delta Chat UI shows an unreliable indicator of internet connectivity which can make users think the connection is working even when this is not the case.
(I’m not sure what the cause of the problem is but I might speculate that it’s a port issue? Maybe the “online/connectivity” indicator doesn’t check the email port?)
Delta Chat version
Android 1.44
Expected behavior
If the text “Connecting…” changes to “Delta Chat”, this indicates a fully working internet connection
Actual behavior
The text “Connecting…” changes to “Delta Chat” even when messages cannot be sent or received due to connectivity issues
When I click on the header and then tap “connectivity” it first shows me for incoming messages that INBOX is connected and for outgoing messages that the last message sent successfully. After I try to send a new message, INBOX still shows as connected but outgoing messages now says there is a SMTP connection error and that it can’t resolve the DNS for the name of the email server. (After I restart my VPN, the error goes away and the messages are sent correctly). I will look inside of the log next.
I noticed that the “connectivity” status for one of my accounts shows only the status of “INBOX” for incoming messages, but another account lists the status of both “INBOX” and “DeltaChat” for incoming messages.
What does “DeltaChat” mean here and why is it not listed in the connectivity status for all accounts?
each IMAP folder get’s an IMAP connection to listen for new messages. (DeltaChat is an IMAP folder that you can enable and disable, it is meant for people that use their main account with DC and another MUA simultaneously)