Why isn't my ionic modal opening on an android 4.4 device?

I am using ionic framework with a android device (with cordova, of course). There's a modal I'm using for settings and stuff, it opens well on desktop browser with

`inic serve`

However, after build this, either with

cordova build android or ionic build android

it won't open again, not only is it in an real android device, but also in the desktop browser.

Here's the code:

for the html view:

<ion-modal-view>
  <ion-header-bar>
    <h1 class="title">Settings</h1>
    <div class="buttons">
      <button class="button button-clear" ng-click="hideModal()">Done</button>
    </div>
  </ion-header-bar>
    <ion-content class="padding">
        <form name="settingsForm" novalidate>
            <ion-item class="item-input">
                <label class="input-label">IP Address</label>
                <input type="text" ng-model="vm.ipAddress" name="ipAddr" required />
            </ion-item>
            <ion-item class="item-input">
                <label class="input-label">Port Number</label>
                <input type="text" ng-model="vm.portNum" name="portNum" required />
            </ion-item>
            <a class="button button-block button-positive" ng-click="vm.startCommand()" 
                ng-disabled="settingsForm.ipAddr.$invalid || settingsForm.portNum.$invalid && !vm.isListening">{{vm.btnString}}</a>
        </form>
        <br />
        <ion-list>
            <ion-item class="item-divider">Messages from socket ws://{{vm.ipAddress}}:{{vm.portNum}} -></ion-item>
            <ion-item class="item-text-wrap" ng-repeat="msg in vm.msgs">{{msg}}</ion-item>
        </ion-list>
    </ion-content>
</ion-modal-view>

for the controller:

/// <reference path="../_reference.ts" />

module app.settings {
    interface IModelScope extends angular.IScope {
        model: Ionic.IModal;

        showModal(): void;
        hideModal(): void;
    }

    interface ISettingsCtrl {
        ipAddress: string;
        portNum: number;
        msgs: string[];
        btnString: string;

        startCommand(): void;
    }

    class SettingsCtrl implements ISettingsCtrl {
        ipAddress: string;
        portNum: number;
        msgs: string[] = [];
        btnString: string = 'Start';
        private _gotDirective: boolean;

        private _isListening: boolean = false;

        static $inject = ['$scope', 'SocketSvc', '$ionicPopup', '$ionicModal', '$ionicLoading'];
        constructor(private _scope: IModelScope,
            private _socketSvc: app.service.ISocketSvc,
            private _ionicPopup: Ionic.IPopup,
            private _ionicModel: Ionic.IModal,
            private _ionicLoading: Ionic.ILoading) {
            _ionicModel.fromTemplateUrl('../../settings/settings.html', {
                scope: _scope,
                animation: 'slide-in-up'
            }).then(m => {
                _scope.model = m;
            });

            _scope.showModal = () => {
                _scope.model.show();
            }

            _scope.hideModal = () => {
                _scope.model.hide();
            }
        }

    angular.module('app')
        .controller('SettingsCtrl', SettingsCtrl);
}

yes, i'm using typescript