Sunday, February 12, 2017

Fixed: Problem with Safari To Go App for ACM Content

TL;DR - launch the Safari To Go app from the ACM Safari page.

One benefit of the ACM is access to a nice subset of O'Reilly's Safari library.  One can read the content on the website.  O'Reilly has an Android app for accessing the content called Safari To Go. (Note, they also have a newer app that doesn't work with the ACM library.)  However, there is a problem when trying to authenticate with ACM and Safari from the app.  The login page flashes a message about being signed in, and then it pops up a message saying the session has expired ("your session has been logged out").  I think this started when they added the ability to access books offline.  There are several one-star ratings in the app store bitching about this problem, and no responses from O'Reilly, both of which are frustrating.

Here's the simple solution I found:

  1. Go to the ACM's learning site (https://learning.acm.org/) on your Android device
  2. Login with your ACM web account credentials in the top right corner.
  3. Click on "Safari" in the "Go to my..." menu in the top right corner.
  4. Click on "Launch the mobile app..." at the top left.

This worked for me in February 2017. All interfaces subject to change.  Your mileage may vary.

enjoy,
Charles.