Hey guys,
I am experiencing a problem with KaniWani. For the last two days I could neither do lessons nor reviews. The content just did not load.
So I tried logging out and in again.
But I cannot log in anymore. 
I know my username and password and havenât made any changes whatsoever. I have been using KaniWani for a year every day and I never had this issue.
Whenever I try to log in, it says:
âThere was an error contacting the server.â
Has anyone experienced the same problem? Or does anybody have an idea what might be the problem?
I donât know what to do anymore⊠Thanks in advance for your help! 
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I apologize in advance for how confusing the following may be, butâŠthere are just so many different things that could cause that. 
First and foremost, the âsimplestâ thing it could be that would also negate any other suggestions is incorrect date/time/zone settings on the device. A secure connection can fail (producing that error) if the time is off by even a little. Long story short, Iâd suggest double-checking that, and setting it manually if needed. (Also, make sure that your OS and browser are up to date, as having one pending can cause issues as well.)
Next, if the above isnât the issue, then a good place to start is trying a different web browser. If it works, then you know that itâs something specific to the browser youâve been using: settings, a bad update, 3rd party extensions, etc. That also gives you a workaround.
But if using another browser makes no difference, then itâs something with your device, local network (restarting device and router is a good bet), or possibly even settings or routing that happens from your ISP to WaniKani.
Again, sorry that this isnât exactly an obvious solution, and is potentially quite the rabbit hole. But if youâre still having trouble, just let me know any result or other clues you find and Iâll be happy to see if thereâs something else I can suggest based on them. 
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You should try emailing them at hello@wanikani.com, they usually reply faster that way especially for technical issues.
And of course make sure that you use the correct URL: https://www.wanikani.com/
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OP is having issues with KaniWani, not Wanikani. KaniWani isnât run by Wanikani so they canât help.
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I donât really use KaniWani but I just logged in and everythingâs working fine for me.
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Ooh, I misread. Sorry for the confusion.
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Hi Brenty,
thanks so much for your help and your detailed explanation! I really appreciate it. 
I tried logging in on another device. And it worked! So at least I can access KaniWani.
I have been using KaniWani on my phone. And there it is still not working. My guess is that my browser is outdated. Itâs a fairly old smartphone and many updates are not available for me anymoreâŠ
I also checked the âtime issueâ and set it manually. But that did not help.
Again, thanks for your help!
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Thank you, simias and darkness_rising, for your input as well! But yes, I am having issues with KaniWani and not WaniKani.
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Ah, I misread that too, though my advice would be the same either way. Good to have a sanity check if others are having issues. Glad that you at least have a workaround!
I suspect youâre right about the outdated OS and/or browser being the issue. While itâs definitely best to update (and upgrade if updating isnât an option), using a 3rd party app/browser (if available) to access KaniWani may help.
Out of curiosity, what is the device/OS you have there?
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Haha, ok, to satisfy your curiosity. Though I probably shouldnât say it out loud⊠Huawei Honor PLK-L01 with Android 6 
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Oh wow. I remember those. 
I was thinking Iâd look up cutoffs for browsers on the OS version, butâŠyeah, I am sure thatâs way past any. Honestly, Iâm surprised that HTTPS/SSL/TLS connections work at all on Marshmallow, nearly a decade after it was released. 
Yeah, I am actually surprised too. 
But the last couple of months problems with apps and so on are beginning to increase. So I need to say bye to my phone soon.
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Aha! I knew Iâd heard something about Marshmallow recently. This will be why things have suddenly gotten worse:
(From the Ars Technica review of Android 14)
Developers know that itâs really the end of the road for Marshmallow, so itâs not worth maintaining compatibility any longer (a lot of cost and hassle).
Definitely time to upgrade! 
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Isnât that saying that Marshmallow is the oldest version that still handles the minimum API, i.e itâs still ok but not anything older?
(Of course the change may have prompted app developers to look again at what minimum version theyâre targeting and choose themselves to set it to something newer than the Google enforced minimum.)
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Yeah, thatâs exactly it, on both counts!
Thatâs why not all apps no longer work on Android 6: itâs possible, just not worth it for anyone still maintaining them, as the writing is on the wall. I suspect that most (if not all) that do still work only do because theyâre abandoned and no longer being updated at all (e.g. to use newer APIs). If youâve already got them installed, they wonât go away, after all.
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That explains things⊠Yeah, upgrade it is then.
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