A white screen now explains itself

Ventic's interface is one JavaScript bundle, and a webview too old to read it paints nothing at all - so on some Android TV boxes the app opened to a blank screen with nothing to go on.

What you get instead

This release adds a diagnostics screen written in the oldest JavaScript there is, so that it still works where the app does not. When Ventic fails to start, it reports:

• the version of Android System WebView the device has, and whether it is new enough - Ventic needs Chrome 111 or newer
• which of the features it relies on are missing, each with the version that added it
• whatever error actually stopped it, with the file and the line

It stays out of the way otherwise: it only appears when nothing has been drawn, and takes itself back down if a slow device catches up. The arrow keys scroll it, so it can be read from a remote.

This does not make an old webview any newer. It replaces a blank screen with an answer - so if Ventic opens to nothing on your device, install this version and photograph what it says. That is the whole bug report.

Also

• A permanent APK link: releases/latest/download/Ventic.apk always points at the newest build, for sideloading with Downloader on a television.