Blocked Tests
Blocking unsupported tests is a new behavior starting with the Blackboard app version 3.6 update. The previous practice of allowing such tests to open in the in-app browser view was evaluated to be a suboptimal experience for assessments. In order to provide the best experience and ensure full compatibility, tests with unsupported question types or delivery options that may have previously opened via the in-app browser will now be blocked entirely from the app. Initially, this may appear as a generic “Access Denied” message, but future updates provide a message that will direct you to take the test on a ‘full-suite’ browser on a desktop or laptop computer.
Collaborate Recordings
For Collaborate Ultra in the Blackboard App - Recorded sessions are not yet supported in the app, but links to recordings will be launched in a mobile browser.
Can’t See Courses
First, verify if the expected courses appear in a desktop browser.
If so, reset the app:
If you were not able to see the information on both web and mobile, please contact your school’s IT help desk.
Courses Availability / Display
Changing the availability of your courses is handled by your school. If your course is unavailable in a web browser session as well as the app, you may want to contact your school’s IT help desk.
You can ‘hide’ old courses by scrolling to the bottom of the Courses section and selecting where it says either “No hidden courses (Tap to change)” or “You have X hidden courses (tap to change).” An ‘eyeball’ icon will appear next to each course name. Select the eyeball icon to hide a course from displaying in the app. Note that depending on your institution’s Learn version, these settings may ‘sync’ back with Learn, and the hidden courses will also not be displayed in the My Courses module in a traditional web browser session.
Can’t See Course Tool
Instructors have the option to hide/show specific tools in the app for each of their courses. You may be unable to view {COURSE TOOL} in your course because the instructor has hidden that tool. Please ensure that the tool is available in the course via desktop browsers.
If the tool is available, next, reset the app:
1. Delete the App
2. Turn your device off, then back on
3. Reinstall the Blackboard app or Blackboard Instructor app from the Apple App Store/Google Play store
If this doesn’t fix your issue, please provide me with your Course Name/ID so that I can help you further.
Courses Not Started Yet
If your courses haven’t started yet (i.e., the next semester has yet to begin), your school/instructors have likely chosen to keep the courses as unavailable. Once courses start, instructors tend to make their courses “Available,” at which point you’ll be able to access them on the website or through the app. Enrollments for courses with a start date in the future will appear under “Upcoming courses” on the Blackboard App course list, but the course will not be accessible until the start date.
Delete/Reinstall/Reset
Please try the following:
iOS
1. Open Settings>Safari> Choose ‘Clear History and Website Data.’
2. Delete the App
3. Turn your device off, then back on
4. Reinstall the Blackboard App or Blackboard Instructor App from the App Store
Android
1. Go to Settings >Application Manager> Choose ‘Blackboard’ or ‘Instructor.’
a. On Android 5.x and previous: Choose ‘Clear Data.’
b. On Android 6.x: Choose Storage, and then ‘Clear Data.’
2. Delete the App
3. Turn your device off, then back on
4. Reinstall the Blackboard App or Blackboard Instructor App from the Google Play Store
Device Not Supported-Kindle
Unfortunately, the Blackboard and Blackboard Instructor apps are not supported on Kindle devices.
Profile Avatar Photo
This is a Learn setting with an integrated social feature. For assistance with this, contact your help desk about how to change your picture.
Email Feature
Email is currently not a supported feature in the Blackboard App. For now, you will be taken to your school’s Blackboard website in an in-app browser window. The functionality of the browser view is dependent on the Blackboard Learn website, which is not always mobile-friendly.
Course Refresh
To limit data requirements, the app stores some information in a cache. App data can be refreshed by exiting and re-entering a course.
Duplicate New Course Push Notifications
Duplicate notifications may be caused by the school’s automated enrollment processing affecting your enrollment in this course.
Grader File Error
This error may be due to a known issue with the Bb Grader app. This was caused by a recent change in the Bb cloud service that renders assignment documents. To resolve this error, please force close the Bb Grader app and reopen it. The file should download successfully on the next attempt. Please see - https://help.blackboard.com/Bb_Grader/Grade_Submissions/Annotate_Submissions#inline-grading-update-workaround
Have to Log in Every Time
Typically, the mobile session should remain active for (MOBILE TIMEOUT OVERRIDE VALUE). However, there is currently an ongoing issue causing mobile sessions to expire after the same period as desktop sessions and require authentication again. Blackboard is working to address this issue—apologies for the inconvenience.
K-12 Observer/Parent Role
The Observer/Parent role is not currently supported in any of Bb’s Mobile Apps. They support student and teacher logins only. You should be able to view your student’s information through a desktop browser if your school has this feature enabled.
Login Fail – Android
Please first make sure that you are able to log in to through a desktop browser.
If that works, next please reset the app:
1. Go to Settings >Application Manager> Choose ‘Blackboard’ or ‘Instructor.’
a. On Android 5.x and previous: Choose ‘Clear Data.’
b. On Android 6.x: Choose Storage, and then ‘Clear Data.’
2. Delete the App
3. Reinstall the Blackboard or Blackboard Instructor App from the Google Play Store
Login Fail – iOS
Please first make sure that you can log in through a desktop browser.
If that works, next please reset the app:
1. Open Settings>Safari> Choose ‘Clear History and Website Data.’
2. Delete the App
3. Reinstall the Blackboard or Blackboard Instructor App from the App Store
iOS Unsupported/Flash
Some content may not work on iOS devices due to OS limitations. Apple does not support some technologies (like Flash). To check if the content you are trying to access is unsupported, please try the following:
1. Launch the Safari web browser on your iOS device
2. Navigate to your institution’s Blackboard website and log in
3. Find the file/content in question and try to load it
If the content does not display appropriately through the Safari browser, then it is likely built in a technology not supported by iOS.
Android Unsupported/Flash
Some content may not work on Android devices due to OS limitations. Android does not support some technologies (like Flash). To check if the content you are trying to access is unsupported, please try the following:
1. Launch the Android or Chrome web browser on your Android device.
2. Navigate to your institution’s Blackboard website and log in.
3. Find the file/content in question and try to load it.
If the content does not display appropriately through the browser, then it is likely built in a technology not supported by Android.
Languages
The language of the app comes from your device’s operating system, not your Blackboard Learn language preference. Language settings affect the app interface, but not course content.
https://help.blackboard.com/Blackboard_App/Student/Feature_Guide#languages
Mobile Learn Removed from App Stores
The legacy Mobile Learn app has been replaced and removed from app stores. Please install our latest and greatest solutions for mobile learning - the Blackboard App and or the Blackboard Instructor App.
Blackboard App
--Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackboard.android.bbstudent&hl=en
--iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bb-student-by-blackboard/id950424861?mt=8
Blackboard Instructor App
--Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackboard.android.bbinstructor&hl=en
--iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackboard-instructor/id1088457824?mt=8
More Info - Device/OS
To better assist you, please provide the following information:
-What type of device and OS are you using? (e.g., Android 7.1)
-What version of the app are you using? (e.g., 3.7)
-Please describe the issue you are experiencing in detail.
More Info - General
Thanks for your message. Please let us know the details of your issue, and we’ll see what we can do to help.
More Info - Repro
To best assist you, please provide exact steps to replicate the issue - for example, which content item are you trying to access, and where is it located? Are you receiving any error messages? If so, please provide a screenshot in your reply.
Multiple Schools
You can access more than one school in the app, but not at the same time. Each school has different security measures, so you will need to log out of one school and log in to the other.
Notifications - iOS
Please go through each step to ensure notifications are working correctly.
- In the app: Go to Settings > Notifications > ensure the Blackboard app’s settings are enabled.
- Log in to the Blackboard site through a desktop browser: Go to Notifications Dashboard > Edit Notification Settings > Bulk Edit Notification Settings > Courses You Are Taking > Mobile
Check that the desired notifications are enabled under Mobile.
Notifications – Android
Please go through each step to ensure notifications are working properly.
- In the app: Go to Settings > Apps > Blackboard app > ensure that ‘Show Notifications’ box is checked
- Log in to the Blackboard site through a desktop browser: Go to Notifications Dashboard > Edit Notification Settings > Bulk Edit Notification Settings > Courses You Are Taking > Mobile
Check that all notifications are enabled for each course under Mobile.
Server Maintenance / Outage
It seems your institution’s server was down for maintenance earlier, but it’s back up and running now. Please try it again.
Test Question Types
Not all question types available in Learn are compatible with the Blackboard app. If your test contains any question types outside of the supported list for the Blackboard app, it will not be accessible via the app and must instead be accessed via a desktop browser.
*Blackboard App question types*
-True/False
-Multiple Choice
-Short Answer
-Essay
-Either/Or
https://help.blackboard.com/Blackboard_App/Tests_and_Assignments
Ultra - Push Notifications
Your school has enabled the “Ultra” UI experience on your Learn site. Unfortunately, the Blackboard app does not support Push Notifications for Ultra-enabled sites at this time.
https://help.blackboard.com/Blackboard_App/Push_Notifications
Your Device Isn’t Compatible with This Version - Google Play Issue
This error (“Your device isn’t compatible with this version” when the device does indeed meet the install criteria) is a common Android device error with the Google Play store. There are numerous reports of this kind of error across Android forums affecting a variety of apps. The solution is generally some combination of clearing the cached data for the Google Play app and/or signing out, restarting the device, and then signing back in. Please try other Android devices as well if available to confirm that this should not be a general issue with the app, and it is rather isolated to specific devices.
Here are the recommended steps to resolve this error -
1- Clear cache data for Google Play Store app & Google Play Services (Go to Settings > Apps or Application Manager > Google Play Services > Clear cache > OK)
2- Uninstall updates for the Google Play Store app (Go to Settings > Apps or Application Manager > Google Play Store > Uninstall updates > OK)
3 - Uninstall updates for Google Play Services (Go to Settings > Apps or Application Manager > Google Play Services > Uninstall updates > OK)
4 - Remove Google Account: Open your device’s Settings app
- Under “Accounts,” tap Google and then the account you want to remove
- Tap the Menu icon in the top right corner of the screen
- Tap Remove account
5 - Restart your device
6 - Install updates to Google Play Services app
7 - Install updates to Google Play Store app
8 - Add Google Account: Open your device’s Settings app
Under “Accounts,” tap Add account > Google
Follow the instructions to add your account
If this does not resolve the issue, we recommend contacting Google Play support for further assistance with your device - https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7100415#contact=1