Basically, I have a Z1 I'm running Android 4.3 On it. (and I in no way intend to get 4.4 anytime soon by the way).
It has started to get a bit buggy and laggy, a few white screens and slow loading times here and there but I can generally deal with that, what I can't deal with however is that:
1. Apps will randomly minimise and I'll go back to the home screen, when I try to go back to the app sometimes it works but usually it will come back for a few seconds and then minimise again or even just do it right away. This happens particularly when using Chrome, more particularly when I am zooming or trying to type.
Which brings on to issue 2:
The keyboard takes ages to load, like up to a minute after I've clicked in a text box, this can also cause apps to then minimise again, very frustrating not being able to type. This has also started to occur when trying to text, but it's mainly in chrome.
This would lead me to think that the RAM isn't coping very well, but I do try to clear caches and stop apps from running but still I generally only have between 120-150mb of free RAM, so what can/should I do?
I'm tempted to factory reset to be honest.
Thanks in advance for your help, I know that this forum is the place to be for Androiders. :fingers-crossed:
hamsarb said:
Basically, I have a Z1 I'm running Android 4.3 On it. (and I in no way intend to get 4.4 anytime soon by the way).
It has started to get a bit buggy and laggy, a few white screens and slow loading times here and there but I can generally deal with that, what I can't deal with however is that:
1. Apps will randomly minimise and I'll go back to the home screen, when I try to go back to the app sometimes it works but usually it will come back for a few seconds and then minimise again or even just do it right away. This happens particularly when using Chrome, more particularly when I am zooming or trying to type.
Which brings on to issue 2:
The keyboard takes ages to load, like up to a minute after I've clicked in a text box, this can also cause apps to then minimise again, very frustrating not being able to type. This has also started to occur when trying to text, but it's mainly in chrome.
This would lead me to think that the RAM isn't coping very well, but I do try to clear caches and stop apps from running but still I generally only have between 120-150mb of free RAM, so what can/should I do?
I'm tempted to factory reset to be honest.
Thanks in advance for your help, I know that this forum is the place to be for Androiders. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset is the only logical thing j could recommend, short of an update. Any reason as to why you're avoiding the kitkat update? It's running like a dream on my Z1
AnrgKrshn said:
Factory reset is the only logical thing j could recommend, short of an update. Any reason as to why you're avoiding the kitkat update? It's running like a dream on my Z1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I thought that a reset might be the best option.
Well I've often regretted doing OS updates on my phones in the past, and KitKat has some funny privacy and content management rules that I thought might stop me from really benefitting from the freedoms that I originally loved so much from Android, or am I wrong? Can I still move Apps around? My girlfriend got 4.4 on her S4 and it really ruined it, UI got clogged with Apps she couldn't use or delete! :silly:
I don't really want to root my phone either so It's a tough decision! :
Thanks for your help.
KK to sdcard saving is easy
root takes 3 minutes
benefits ? 300000000000000 minutes of your life saved from the stress and headaches
keyboard and apps dont minimize (which is just a bonus)
For issue no.1, I used to have that. I ended up reinstalling my rom, ROMAUR 9.1, and actually reloaded all my apps via titanium backup but without their data. This helped my phone out a lot.
Before I did this, pressing the recent apps softkey button would minimize to my home screen and pressing it again would do nothing. I'd have to wait some seconds before the function would work properly. My ram would be ok as well. But I noticed it more while I was using Swype. Switching to Google keyboard made it act up less.
For issue no.2, as I said, Swype would be the main cause of lag. In some cases, it was responsible for my softkeys not being responsive. I'd have to press home and go to settings and switch the keyboard. Then it would function properly.
I think what it comes down to is the active apps running. Swype is a large apk so utilizes more ram than other keyboard apps. There may be other apps I can't narrow down to that help bog the device down.
I hope this helps!
hamsarb said:
Yeah I thought that a reset might be the best option.
Well I've often regretted doing OS updates on my phones in the past, and KitKat has some funny privacy and content management rules that I thought might stop me from really benefitting from the freedoms that I originally loved so much from Android, or am I wrong? Can I still move Apps around? My girlfriend got 4.4 on her S4 and it really ruined it, UI got clogged with Apps she couldn't use or delete! :silly:
I don't really want to root my phone either so It's a tough decision! :
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD Card management IS a pain. But, the advantages outweigh the cons. Given your situation, just do a clean install
Okay so once again, another ROM has got bad after 2 weeks. FXP 349 build has got to be pretty much unsuable, the unlock button doesnt respond, and the UI crashes for a laugh now. Getting very frustrated with this phone. Its getting harder to not smash the hell out of it with a hammer.
I must be doing something wrong, but every ROM Ive used just degrades in performance to the point where I cant take how laggy it is, Ive missed phonecalls because the UI cant wake up and show the incall UI fast enough. There has to be something deep in this phone which causes bad performance.
Im moving to VanirAOSP, as it says in the title of the ROM that its fast and smooth. Lets see if it can outlast any other ROM I've tried.
Sorry for ranting, I just dont get it, is there some secret setting that everyones using and not telling about? Ive tried stock kernel with CM, williams kernel with CM, stock kernel with CrystalPA, same again with williams kernel. Art or dalvik, it seems to make no difference, no matter what, the UI will bug out. Im not moaning at the devs because I know the work they do is hard and is much appreciated. I just wish I knew why this phone cant last 2 weeks without needing to be wiped!
Every ROM gets laggy after a while. Just use some app to clear cache and thumbnails and you should be fine.
donk165 said:
Okay so once again, another ROM has got bad after 2 weeks. FXP 349 build has got to be pretty much unsuable, the unlock button doesnt respond, and the UI crashes for a laugh now. Getting very frustrated with this phone. Its getting harder to not smash the hell out of it with a hammer.
I must be doing something wrong, but every ROM Ive used just degrades in performance to the point where I cant take how laggy it is, Ive missed phonecalls because the UI cant wake up and show the incall UI fast enough. There has to be something deep in this phone which causes bad performance.
Im moving to VanirAOSP, as it says in the title of the ROM that its fast and smooth. Lets see if it can outlast any other ROM I've tried.
Sorry for ranting, I just dont get it, is there some secret setting that everyones using and not telling about? Ive tried stock kernel with CM, williams kernel with CM, stock kernel with CrystalPA, same again with williams kernel. Art or dalvik, it seems to make no difference, no matter what, the UI will bug out. Im not moaning at the devs because I know the work they do is hard and is much appreciated. I just wish I knew why this phone cant last 2 weeks without needing to be wiped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a feeling you are installing too many apps running in background at once. My phone is super smooth, fast and responsive. I just either close apps after I am done with them (kill process) or don't install trash. Deleting some in-build rom apps which you never use could also help.
kwitu said:
I have a feeling you are installing too many apps running in background at once. My phone is super smooth, fast and responsive. I just either close apps after I am done with them (kill process) or don't install trash. Deleting some in-build rom apps which you never use could also help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well VanirAOSP has sorted out my issues for now it seems. I dont really install many apps to be honest, I use the Micro PA Gapps package and I then remove Google Now Launcher, freeze the preinstalled launcher3, install Nova launcher. I have only 17 installed apps, Facebook is the only real hog app I think, I install messenger and then freeze it to get around the Facebook app not letting me use chat within the app. I do also play Marvel Contest of Champions, and I make sure to clear all running apps before playing games. I just feel like now on this ROM, the ram is clearing properly, swiping away apps is freeing up the RAM now.
I think the difference is that this ROM is based on AOSP, whereas before, I was using CM ROM's or Crystal PA which is pretty feature rich. Ill stick with this and see if it will last. This ROM just feels noticeably faster and the UI hasnt crashed once yet, even with a theme on!
donk165 said:
Well VanirAOSP has sorted out my issues for now it seems. I dont really install many apps to be honest, I use the Micro PA Gapps package and I then remove Google Now Launcher, freeze the preinstalled launcher3, install Nova launcher. I have only 17 installed apps, Facebook is the only real hog app I think, I install messenger and then freeze it to get around the Facebook app not letting me use chat within the app. I do also play Marvel Contest of Champions, and I make sure to clear all running apps before playing games. I just feel like now on this ROM, the ram is clearing properly, swiping away apps is freeing up the RAM now.
I think the difference is that this ROM is based on AOSP, whereas before, I was using CM ROM's or Crystal PA which is pretty feature rich. Ill stick with this and see if it will last. This ROM just feels noticeably faster and the UI hasnt crashed once yet, even with a theme on!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could give you a tip about Facebook app and Messenger. There is an app that lets you chat using Facebook app, meaning you can get rid of Messenger. Google it and you will find it, I can't recall the name now.
kwitu said:
I could give you a tip about Facebook app and Messenger. There is an app that lets you chat using Facebook app, meaning you can get rid of Messenger. Google it and you will find it, I can't recall the name now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the way im doing it, i dont actually use messenger, its installed but frozen/disabled so it isnt used, this allows me to chat inside the facebook app but the only downside ive found is that the chat notification dont seem to be working. This was a fix I picked up while browsing the net. Ill try out this app if I can find it, the name would make it much easier to find
donk165 said:
Well VanirAOSP has sorted out my issues for now it seems. I dont really install many apps to be honest, I use the Micro PA Gapps package and I then remove Google Now Launcher, freeze the preinstalled launcher3, install Nova launcher. I have only 17 installed apps, Facebook is the only real hog app I think, I install messenger and then freeze it to get around the Facebook app not letting me use chat within the app. I do also play Marvel Contest of Champions, and I make sure to clear all running apps before playing games. I just feel like now on this ROM, the ram is clearing properly, swiping away apps is freeing up the RAM now.
I think the difference is that this ROM is based on AOSP, whereas before, I was using CM ROM's or Crystal PA which is pretty feature rich. Ill stick with this and see if it will last. This ROM just feels noticeably faster and the UI hasnt crashed once yet, even with a theme on!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And? Are you still satisfied with this rom after a while?
Well the 'ROM decay' creeped back in. I tried to counter it by cleaning things up but I had a few problems, nothing was working, I tried fix permissions from ROM toolbox and then my phone stopped booting, tried hard reset with the button on the back, couldn't get into recovery, pretty much died on me. I eventually got into recovery and caches wipes and that didn't work, I tried reinstalling the ROM and gapps without losing my data, it just got stuck on the boot logo, then recovery stopped working again, I eventually got in and had to wipe data, reinstall ROM and I finally got the phone booting again.
I'm not satisfied to be honest, its frustrating that I have to wipe the phone or reflash the roms so often, never has a phone been this bad for me. I'm selling it and moving to the OnePlus One in a few weeks, this phone has been nothing but headaches.
donk165 said:
Well the 'ROM decay' creeped back in. I tried to counter it by cleaning things up but I had a few problems, nothing was working, I tried fix permissions from ROM toolbox and then my phone stopped booting, tried hard reset with the button on the back, couldn't get into recovery, pretty much died on me. I eventually got into recovery and caches wipes and that didn't work, I tried reinstalling the ROM and gapps without losing my data, it just got stuck on the boot logo, then recovery stopped working again, I eventually got in and had to wipe data, reinstall ROM and I finally got the phone booting again.
I'm not satisfied to be honest, its frustrating that I have to wipe the phone or reflash the roms so often, never has a phone been this bad for me. I'm selling it and moving to the OnePlus One in a few weeks, this phone has been nothing but headaches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IF you are going to stay or at least try for the last time, I suggest formatting /boot but please be careful as I dont really know what will happen if you reboot the device while /boot is empty.
As in PC, an empty boot partition will leave an inaccessible Operating System. If in phone they are the same then I guess it can be much repairable.
IF again it fails and you are still staying I suggest extreme formatting by using the PC Companion and start fresh.
These are still suggestions and I hope you will have a headache free adventures with One plus. Good luck
TechnoSparks said:
IF you are going to stay or at least try for the last time, I suggest formatting /boot but please be careful as I dont really know what will happen if you reboot the device while /boot is empty.
As in PC, an empty boot partition will leave an inaccessible Operating System. If in phone they are the same then I guess it can be much repairable.
IF again it fails and you are still staying I suggest extreme formatting by using the PC Companion and start fresh.
These are still suggestions and I hope you will have a headache free adventures with One plus. Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, For me, its the lack of RAM on this phone which is my problem. After a reboot, i have about 300mb free ram, and as soon as I have more than one simple app running (or just one game), ill get a very slow UI, and I have to be very careful and patient with it or it will crash. To me, that is terrible, why would anyone think this is acceptable for a smartphone to just about be able to run an app and hold the interface together. When the System UI crashes, or the lockscreen, It frustrates me so much! The most important part of a touchscreen phone is the UI, without it, your just staring at a blank screen.
There has to be something deep in this phone (the kernel?) where its memory management is broken in someway, ive never experienced a phone be so unstable with 1GB of RAM. When I bought it, I was really hopeful it would be good, it was higher specced than my last phone, it had 4g, it had jelly bean updates coming out, and at the time, a future update to kitkat, and we had support from FXP and CM. What weve actually got is a half baked attempt at 4.3 by Sony, a cancelled 4.4 update, and weve been moved to legacy support by FXP when CM11 didnt even get to the stable point. We may have lollipop builds coming out which could be the savior for this phone, but im sick of waiting for something which might not happen. I just want to be able to rely on my phone and not spend half my screen on time waiting for something to crash and then restart.
Back on my Optimus L9, it has only 768MB ram and a lower clocked dual core CPU but that could run CM10 fine, I never ever had UI crashes, ever! I got lag from time to time, but nothing crashed. Thie SP has 100mb+ more RAM available and a higher clocked CPU but it feels so much more clunky and unstable compared to the L9, it should be the other way round. On my nexus 7 2012 which is similarly specced to the SP (apart from the tegra quad CPU) I again, had no UI crashes, I had lags, but at least things didnt crash. My friend has the Xperia L, which is lower specced than the SP and is only on 4.1, but again, he never gets UI crashes and generally, his phone can run games smoother than I can even though he has lower specs!
This phone, for me, just doesn't fit my needs. It cant really multi task how I would expect it to, and having the phone pretty much lock up if its writing to internal storage is a joke, installing an app from the play store, and not being able to bring down the notification bar to look at the progress without causing problems, to me just feels like something is seriously wrong. The lightbar was the only thing ive really liked on the phone to this day. At first, I was loving this phone, it was great, the only problem I had on 4.1 was that I couldn't play Injustice because it would close the game after a while. I thought, ill wait for software updates, hopefully Sony will fix it. Then the 4.3 updates came but they were buggy, but I held onto hope because at the time, 4.4 was in the pipeline. Then we got a few more 4.3 updates which did fix some bugs but this RAM problem was still there. So I gave up on Official software and tried out custom stuff. I've tried modified Stock ROM's where you get more features but the same inherent problems are there. Ive tried CM, but there hasnt been a stable release of 4.4 and the snapshot builds have also stopped. Vanir ROM is designed to be stable, its one of their highest priorities with their builds. And I definitely feel the difference, but this lack of RAM becomes more obvious with time, this week, I've seen my UI crash 4 times.
Ive done what you've said about fully starting fresh with PC companion Ive flashed stock FTF's and Ive done the PC companion method, Ive done that at least 5 times in the past. When I first do it, it seems like everything is okay. But without fail, after a month of use (usually less) the phone will bog down and the RAM issues return. Maybe my specific device has faulty RAM or something or maybe the storage is messed up. All I know is, this phone has not been enjoyable for me to use, lower specced phones are out performing it, and its value has plummeted in trade in stores like CEX, my old L9 that I traded into my local CEX is being sold for more money than an SP is.
Im sorry to rant but ive just had enough of this phone.
Ive got to flash the phone fully back to stock for when I sell it, so ill go back to full stock, and see if it will last.
donk165 said:
Thanks for the advice, For me, its the lack of RAM on this phone which is my problem. After a reboot, i have about 300mb free ram, and as soon as I have more than one simple app running (or just one game), ill get a very slow UI, and I have to be very careful and patient with it or it will crash. To me, that is terrible, why would anyone think this is acceptable for a smartphone to just about be able to run an app and hold the interface together. When the System UI crashes, or the lockscreen, It frustrates me so much! The most important part of a touchscreen phone is the UI, without it, your just staring at a blank screen.
There has to be something deep in this phone (the kernel?) where its memory management is broken in someway, ive never experienced a phone be so unstable with 1GB of RAM. When I bought it, I was really hopeful it would be good, it was higher specced than my last phone, it had 4g, it had jelly bean updates coming out, and at the time, a future update to kitkat, and we had support from FXP and CM. What weve actually got is a half baked attempt at 4.3 by Sony, a cancelled 4.4 update, and weve been moved to legacy support by FXP when CM11 didnt even get to the stable point. We may have lollipop builds coming out which could be the savior for this phone, but im sick of waiting for something which might not happen. I just want to be able to rely on my phone and not spend half my screen on time waiting for something to crash and then restart.
Back on my Optimus L9, it has only 768MB ram and a lower clocked dual core CPU but that could run CM10 fine, I never ever had UI crashes, ever! I got lag from time to time, but nothing crashed. Thie SP has 100mb+ more RAM available and a higher clocked CPU but it feels so much more clunky and unstable compared to the L9, it should be the other way round. On my nexus 7 2012 which is similarly specced to the SP (apart from the tegra quad CPU) I again, had no UI crashes, I had lags, but at least things didnt crash. My friend has the Xperia L, which is lower specced than the SP and is only on 4.1, but again, he never gets UI crashes and generally, his phone can run games smoother than I can even though he has lower specs!
This phone, for me, just doesn't fit my needs. It cant really multi task how I would expect it to, and having the phone pretty much lock up if its writing to internal storage is a joke, installing an app from the play store, and not being able to bring down the notification bar to look at the progress without causing problems, to me just feels like something is seriously wrong. The lightbar was the only thing ive really liked on the phone to this day. At first, I was loving this phone, it was great, the only problem I had on 4.1 was that I couldn't play Injustice because it would close the game after a while. I thought, ill wait for software updates, hopefully Sony will fix it. Then the 4.3 updates came but they were buggy, but I held onto hope because at the time, 4.4 was in the pipeline. Then we got a few more 4.3 updates which did fix some bugs but this RAM problem was still there. So I gave up on Official software and tried out custom stuff. I've tried modified Stock ROM's where you get more features but the same inherent problems are there. Ive tried CM, but there hasnt been a stable release of 4.4 and the snapshot builds have also stopped. Vanir ROM is designed to be stable, its one of their highest priorities with their builds. And I definitely feel the difference, but this lack of RAM becomes more obvious with time, this week, I've seen my UI crash 4 times.
Ive done what you've said about fully starting fresh with PC companion Ive flashed stock FTF's and Ive done the PC companion method, Ive done that at least 5 times in the past. When I first do it, it seems like everything is okay. But without fail, after a month of use (usually less) the phone will bog down and the RAM issues return. Maybe my specific device has faulty RAM or something or maybe the storage is messed up. All I know is, this phone has not been enjoyable for me to use, lower specced phones are out performing it, and its value has plummeted in trade in stores like CEX, my old L9 that I traded into my local CEX is being sold for more money than an SP is.
Im sorry to rant but ive just had enough of this phone.
Ive got to flash the phone fully back to stock for when I sell it, so ill go back to full stock, and see if it will last.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its okay and I have read all of your post
It quite saddens me that some people isnt actually having fun with their SP. Shockingly enough, my SP does not face those mentioned problems (heck most of those that appears in the forum) but some exceptions goes to Stock Rom bugs and game problems.
This is my first android phone, I actually always wanted one but i am a teenager - i dont make money. But since my dad bought me this lovely sp, I have finally gained so much knowledge about android and it somehow further strengthens my Linux knowledge.
Maybe I was just lucky. Perhaps. But who knows if something is still wrong with my phone
I understand things will get older - people will buy new phones, developer will stop developing, people who got bored of customising etc. In fact I have seen so much decline of SP since the discontinued 4.4 update.
This is my first smartphone and I love it. It has an awesome community and awesome devs, but now it is getting old. Which quite sad to me.
I am saving for Ara phone (i hope it doesnt fail like smartwatches do). Since you are quite involved with many developments (i mean you customise your phone much like others), I hope your transition to a new device is a breeze. And above all, doesn't have the bugs that SP has.
LOL, I thought I was the only one with a "faulty SP".
My XSP has the exact same problems as yours. It is very annoying to change ROMS (or wipe data) every month.
The RAM is SO BAD on my SP, even though it only have 1GB of RAM, it should be a lot better. I didn't have such problems on my Motorola Defy + as I have with the XSP.
I thank so much that we have very nice developers, always trying to improve our user exp., but for some people like me it's difficult.
TechnoSparks said:
Its okay and I have read all of your post
It quite saddens me that some people isnt actually having fun with their SP. Shockingly enough, my SP does not face those mentioned problems (heck most of those that appears in the forum) but some exceptions goes to Stock Rom bugs and game problems.
This is my first android phone, I actually always wanted one but i am a teenager - i dont make money. But since my dad bought me this lovely sp, I have finally gained so much knowledge about android and it somehow further strengthens my Linux knowledge.
Maybe I was just lucky. Perhaps. But who knows if something is still wrong with my phone
I understand things will get older - people will buy new phones, developer will stop developing, people who got bored of customising etc. In fact I have seen so much decline of SP since the discontinued 4.4 update.
This is my first smartphone and I love it. It has an awesome community and awesome devs, but now it is getting old. Which quite sad to me.
I am saving for Ara phone (i hope it doesnt fail like smartwatches do). Since you are quite involved with many developments (i mean you customise your phone much like others), I hope your transition to a new device is a breeze. And above all, doesn't have the bugs that SP has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well atleast you have started on a better android device than my first one. My first was a ZTE Skate and this was back in the gingerbread days. 512MB RAM, Single core CPU, barely any internal storage. Im very used to using android in a minimalist way, but the SP just takes it to a whole different level for me, i cant take it! Im glad that you arnt having all the same problems Im having. The fact that not everyone is getting the problems is a frustration because unless its a widespread problem, people wont really be pulling together to fix it because they dont understand/experience the problems. It has to be some kind of manufacturing defect, maybe certain batches of RAM/Storage chips used in the SP are defective/bad performers.
I hope the XSP continues to work well for you!
Bruno_Puzoni said:
LOL, I thought I was the only one with a "faulty SP".
My XSP has the exact same problems as yours. It is very annoying to change ROMS (or wipe data) every month.
The RAM is SO BAD on my SP, even though it only have 1GB of RAM, it should be a lot better. I didn't have such problems on my Motorola Defy + as I have with the XSP.
I thank so much that we have very nice developers, always trying to improve our user exp., but for some people like me it's difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a very weird problem, but its definitely RAM/Storage related.
I agree with you about the devs, I appreciate their hard work, it is great having all these ROM's to choose from when trying to solve the problems. It just seems it doesn't matter which ROM you are on, the problems will always be there. The problem must lie within the hardware or deep in the software side of things, beyond the ROM's like in the kernel or something. I dont know enough about those sides of a phone, but I can see just from using the phone, something isnt right.
It sucks that you are facing the same problems, but its nice to know im not alone in my experiences, its not just me.
If only we knew what the issue was, maybe there would be a chance to solve the issue.
I have the same problems with my phone exactly and am going to smash it with a hammer when I get a new phone. It is indeed so frustrating, I expect much more from sony!
i stopped to mess up with custom kernels, stock 207 is the best option.
Ondemand cpu governor + underclock to 1500mhz + greenify
Battery life + perfomance
My usage:
4 hours online gaming per day
+ some skype calls