Home screen widgets freezing? - Sprint Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I noticed that when my phone drops down to critical i.e. 10% battery, the widgets on my home screens stop updating. Perhaps this is by design in an effort to save battery, but my problem is that even after I fully charge my phone the widgets remain frozen. I'm not running any special widgets, just a basic clock, calendar, a few toggles and battery monitor, but they all freeze just the same . . . I end up having to reboot my phone in order to get the widgets working again, which can be a pain and seems completely unnecessary.
Does anybody else have this kind of trouble? Could my completely stock/non-rooted device be experiencing issues? This is the only problem I've noticed so far with my S5 - everything else works exactly as it should.

Just a quick update: I did a factory reset and that didn't make any difference - two days later and all my home screen widgets freeze and don't start updating until I reboot the phone. List of widgets I'm using:
Fancy Widget
Switch Pro
Android Pro Widgets
BattStatt Pro
These are all widgets I've used for years without any issue, which makes me think that it involves KitKat.
Any suggestions?

I use fancy widget but haven't experienced any problems with it. Have u checked the refresh rate setting? When I put it on this phone and set it back up the refresh rate was set to refresh like every 6 hours
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

BubZX said:
I use fancy widget but haven't experienced any problems with it. Have u checked the refresh rate setting? When I put it on this phone and set it back up the refresh rate was set to refresh like every 6 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply - no that is not it, because it affects all of my widgets and not just fancy widgets. Something odd I've noticed is that even after fancy widgets and the rest all freeze, the stock 'weather' widget still works! I've been reading a lot trying to get to the bottom of this issue, and someone on another forum mentioned the following:
"this issue occurs because kitkat has changed the way it manages background alarms. most widgets that update frequently use "alarmmanager" to trigger each update. but in kitkat, the trigger event is intentionally delayed so that android can group processes together, saving battery life and data use. so, for all those clock and weather widgets, the developers have to write a bunch of new code for kitkat devices, so that their widgets update at the intended time."
After reading this, I decided to test a theory and set my alarm to go off 2 minutes later. The alarm went off, and sure enough I checked 5 minutes later and all widgets were frozen . . . So now I'm wondering if it has something to do with the 'Timely alarm clock' app that I'm using... Going to go back to stock Alarm clock and see if that makes a difference.

Just an update for anyone interested: I found other XDA users on Verizon that were having this same issue, and someone suggested that we try installing Nova launcher. Sure enough, after installing Nova two weeks ago and I haven't had one issue with my homescreen widgets freezing.
I highly recommend Nova, especially if you're experiencing some odd quirks with TW.

Guzmantis said:
Just an update for anyone interested: I found other XDA users on Verizon that were having this same issue, and someone suggested that we try installing Nova launcher. Sure enough, after installing Nova two weeks ago and I haven't had one issue with my homescreen widgets freezing.
I highly recommend Nova, especially if you're experiencing some odd quirks with TW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love nova launcher. Been using it since my epic 4g days.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Related

[Q] Nexus S annoying problem with home screen refreshing

I am facing a rather annoying problem with the Nexus S Android 2.3.4. I two separate launchers like Go Launcer EX, and the Launcher Pro as well. The thing is that whenever I go into an app like twitter or something or even the dialer and dial a call and then go back to the main home screen, all the icons keep refreshing and then the phone jitters for about a few seconds and then its fine and doesn't do anything. I have tried using different home screen apps even the stock android one which comes with the darn phone but still the same problem.
I don't know if anyone else is having the same problem with the nexus S, but I have an HTC Desire and that phone flies when compared to the Nexus S whereas it should be the other way around. I'm getting sick of this phone. I paid premium price for this phone of $600 Australia dollars and I get this ****. Someone please help me before I chuck the phone out the window.
sashah666 said:
I am facing a rather annoying problem with the Nexus S Android 2.3.4. I two separate launchers like Go Launcer EX, and the Launcher Pro as well. The thing is that whenever I go into an app like twitter or something or even the dialer and dial a call and then go back to the main home screen, all the icons keep refreshing and then the phone jitters for about a few seconds and then its fine and doesn't do anything. I have tried using different home screen apps even the stock android one which comes with the darn phone but still the same problem.
I don't know if anyone else is having the same problem with the nexus S, but I have an HTC Desire and that phone flies when compared to the Nexus S whereas it should be the other way around. I'm getting sick of this phone. I paid premium price for this phone of $600 Australia dollars and I get this ****. Someone please help me before I chuck the phone out the window.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you're running out of memory and the homes creen is getting dumped to run apps - thereby forcing a bit of a reload/redraw when exiting the app. You could try something like LauncherPro and select the "keep in memory" option to see if that helps.
Are you running a lot of heavy widgets or a crazy amount of background services (that are active)?
krohnjw said:
It sounds like you're running out of memory and the homes creen is getting dumped to run apps - thereby forcing a bit of a reload/redraw when exiting the app. You could try something like LauncherPro and select the "keep in memory" option to see if that helps.
Are you running a lot of heavy widgets or a crazy amount of background services (that are active)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
I don't think there are alot of apps running in the background. I just counted that there are only 13 apps running in the background and I am using Go LauncherEx but I think I'm going to try and use Launcer pro now just as you suggested and see if it works. Hope it does. I don't think I'm using alot of home screen widgets as well. There might be just three of them, Facebook, Internet Usage and then the Clock, thats all. I didn't expect such things from phones which have advanced so much, plus my HTC Desire never does this.

Problem with ICS launcher

Hi guys!
I´ve just updated my TF101 to ICS and it´s really fast. But I have a problem with the laucher. Some times, when touch the home button to go to the homescreen, the laucher and all the icons desappear.
I can´t go to the apps that are open (with the multi-task button) but the launcher doesn´t appear.
The only solution I know is shuting down the Tf101 or closing the laucher app, but it is quite boring to do ir every 5 or 10 min.
Does it happen to anyone here?
Happens to me as well.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Same here... needs re-boot to recover...
I only had that if the option to kill tasks as u exit them was checked on. Its under developer options towards the bottom.
Edit: actually that's only the case on my phone. I have the option checked on my tablet and it works just fine.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA App
I seem to have the same issue.
I had the issue and then I did a factory reset, I haven't seen it since
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
Wdustin1 said:
I had the issue and then I did a factory reset, I haven't seen it since
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
digger44 said:
Same here... needs re-boot to recover...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks for all I´ll re-boot it, but will I lose all my apps? I´ve never done a hard reset.
Everything that wasn't stock on the tablet will have to be reinstalled.
DammedKiller said:
Ok thanks for all I´ll re-boot it, but will I lose all my apps? I´ve never done a hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here but may be able to narrow it down.
I am having the same problem. The whole screen just displays the wallpaper and removes any icons or buttons. So I can pan sideways and can sometime know what I am clicking on by memory but all icons go until I reboot.
weird thing is.... I have done a factory reset. reloaded my apps and settings. Its all working fine until I pop the Gmail and Calendar widgets on the screen, then boom. Gone again.
At the moment I am running without any widgets and I have not had a repeat. Do any of you clever clogs have any ideas on this one. Seems to be a small percentage of users with the issue.
Same...
I had the same problem however it seems to have stopped now. Perhaps as a result of my app purge that i did the other day.
Anyway for those still having this problem i suggest you use the notification bar to access the settings then from there you can go to the Launcher under apps and do a force close. after a bit it will reopen again with all screen icons and widgets back.
Guys I think this is the same issue, it happens on my tf.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1519943
yep
Happens to me too,
I managed to fix it the latest time without rebooting, by going into settings, running apps and stopping the launcher and anything google. Next time this happen I will make a note of which killed process gives me my app icons back.
also its strange that even with the app icons gone, you can still click around the screen and open things, as if they were there.
same ...
same problem on my tf101
I fixed this by clearing the data for the Launcher in settings. Hasn't happened since but annoying as it meant rebuilding my homescreens :-(
---
Sent from my Asus Transformer using Tapatalk
Nova
you should try Nova Launcher, it looks and acts like the default launcher in ICS. But with a couple functions added. I havent had any troubles with it.
Just search it in the market. to get the widgets to work just move it to /system/app
I installed ICS on mine at the weekend. For a couple of days it reasonably stable, though certain apps lagged somewhat. Then it got much, much worse. There's a recurrent problem with the launcher. If you've gone away from it, such as to use an app, and then return, firstly the widgets and stacked/grouped app icons vanish, then all the rest of the icons vanish, and the three squares on the top right of the screen. The icons are still there, as it's possible to stab on the screen in the right place and launch the app that the invisible icon links to. All five screens of the launcher have vanished. The tablet still runs, as the live wallpaper still runs, and the recent apps are accessible.
Other problems include major freezes or lags. It's common to go to launch email or the web browser only to have to wait 20 seconds or so before anything happens. I've had to wait 5 minutes before now for Opera to launch. Eventually the tablet will freeze and I have to reboot it, but even then, apps take an age to launch, and regularly freeze. It's getting to the point of being totally unusable. It's taken many, many attempts to write this email as the app crashes of its own accord, and perish the thought that I copy and paste any text in, including the email address - it's enough to crash the email app.
My TF101 ran Android 3.2 perfectly fine, and very, very quickly. It was gloriously stable. I can't get more than 2 hours of use out of this without having to reboot; this afternoon I've been having to reboot every 10 minutes.
I've drawn Asus' attention to these problems via Twitter and Google+, and I know they've been told about it on Facebook, but there's been a wall of silence.
Richard
I had the problem with a disappearing launcher on ICS on 4 different launchers. Recently I removed a few widgets (NewsRepublic, Bacon Reader, and DroidWidget) and haven't had the problem reoccur. Maybe some widget incompatibility is to blame?
galt said:
I had the problem with a disappearing launcher on ICS on 4 different launchers. Recently I removed a few widgets (NewsRepublic, Bacon Reader, and DroidWidget) and haven't had the problem reoccur. Maybe some widget incompatibility is to blame?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be. Mine's more stable (touch wood) since I got rid of both Beautiful Widgets widgets off my home screen.
Guys I´ve finally done a hard reset on my tf and all goes fine.
Thanks for all
Same problem here with the stock ICS launcher. Using ADW Launcher EX without problems.
Some apps seems to be running super fast at times and then others super slow at times with ICS. Guess I'll do a Titanium backup and factory reset and see if that helps. ugh...

Home Screen Stops Displaying Icons - All of them

I've searched the forums and have not found anyone posting about this issue, so sorry if this is a duplicate. Also, this is my first tablet so I'm not sure if this is a known issue with Asus tablets.
Twice now I've had all of my icons disappear from my home screen. There's nothing there but the wallpaper and the screens will not scroll left or right. The task bar still works, so I can open notifications, display open programs and so on. The keyboard shortcuts still work, so I can enter settings and open the browser, but each time I return to the home screen nothing is there. I know the screen still responds to touch because if I press in the upper right corner of the screen I can still enter the apps tray.
The first time this happened I was taking the tablet out of the keyboard dock. The screen loaded without unlocking it and there were no icons. The second time I was using the just the tablet, brought it out of sleep mode, and the same thing happened. The only remedy I've found is powering the device off.
Has anyone else encountered this issue?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
yep. i had it happen when i was switching from home screen to apps too fast. it will require a reboot to fix. i havent experienced it since i started using Nova Launcher
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2
My homescreen totally works DDD
Mate, this has happened to me a few times as well. Most likely caused by an incompatibilty between your launcher and a widget or application. For me it was Pulse and a battery monitor widget. After deleting the offending applications I have not had the issue reoccur.
Mykew said:
Mate, this has happened to me a few times as well. Most likely caused by an incompatibilty between your launcher and a widget or application. For me it was Pulse and a battery monitor widget. After deleting the offending applications I have not had the issue reoccur.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I'm not using a third party launcher, just the stock one. I wonder which widget or app is causing the problem? I'm not using allot of widgets. Just the stock e-mail ones, music player, FB, Google+, Flixster, and the time and weather widget. I was using the Beautiful Widget but I just didn't like how it looked on my tablet for some reason so I removed it a while ago.
Thanks for the input!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Mykew said:
Mate, this has happened to me a few times as well. Most likely caused by an incompatibilty between your launcher and a widget or application. For me it was Pulse and a battery monitor widget. After deleting the offending applications I have not had the issue reoccur.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hay Mykew how do you know witch apps are the one's that cause this problem cause i get the same thing on my tablet and i got it before the update
to .26 and after any help would be appreciated
:silly:
Can be a bit tricky to figure out which app is hurting you (buggy ones can fc or freeze the stock browser too), particularly if you have heaps of apps on. One way to go about it is to think of what the likely culprits are (Pulse, widgets, google+ can be a bugger too) and use a program like titanium backup to 'freeze' the application (or you can just systematically delete them if you prefer to use more time). Put the browser through it's paces till you find out that it isn't screwing up any more.
Force closing the launcher (Settings -> Apps -> running processes or whatever it's called) shoud help.
I was having that issue regularly. Trial and error determined it was the dual battery widget causing the issues (or just coincidence that when I uninstalled the widget, the issues stopped).
It still happens, rarely, so I suppose it wasn't just that widget, but with the widget it happened constantly.
Now when it happens (maybe once a week or two) I just FC the launcher and all is well.
Interesting, some people were reporting issues with the Dual Battery Widget, I'm running it on the main screen all the time, however, and it's been just fine since the .26 update (earlier I was getting random reboots in various apps which could be not app-specific). Wonder what's the real case.
actually i get this too only when i change from landscape to portrait, back to landscape then portrait about 5 times and then apps dissappear.
Dual battery widget works fine for me too. It's all about bit voodoo witch doctory atm.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

Home screen re-draws?

Nearly every time I exit an app, then home screen has to re-draw itself. It just seems very laggy, and I'm not sure what I'm doing to cause this behavior. The worst culprits seem to be my beautiful widgets home clock and my astrid tasks widgets. They take a good second or two before they're re-loaded into the home screen. Is this just an example of TW being terrible? Are others having this problem?
Thanks!
I notice the same thing and I'm not using those widgets. It's kind of sad some of these issues that have plauged android/Samsung since the S1 still exist.
That tends to happen after I am done texting someone, and then hit the home key. The only thing that redraws is the TouchWiz weather widget. Kinda sucks but I imagine another launcher would help.
dunderball said:
That tends to happen after I am done texting someone, and then hit the home key. The only thing that redraws is the TouchWiz weather widget. Kinda sucks but I imagine another launcher would help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I notice it after texting also. Especially if I hit the home key while the status of the text is still 'sending'. Very annoying, and kind of frustrating considering the specs of this phone. I can't imagine why the launcher can't be kept in memory, considering there's two gigs of ram on this thing. I guess I'll try moving to a different launcher.
I found that all touchwiz widgets suffer from this (weather, clock, calendar). The problem went away after I installed 3rd party widgets to replace those. I also installed Nova Launcher and I noticed in Nova, the stock calendar widget would still do the annoying refresh.
Stock bloated roms will cause this. Move to synergyRom and the redraws will be gone. FOR-EVER
VERIZON GALAXY S 3
I'm using Apex and have not had a single redraw. I'm mostly stock but rooted with a lot of apps frozen or removed.
One issue I do have is with an app called Agenda Widget; it doesn't redraw but occasionally when I return to the home screen it reloads my appointments. It literally takes a fraction of a second but even that annoys me. It's not a redraw because I can see the widget but it says "loading" where my appointments should be.
I used Apex for a long time & recently switched to Nova, both of these can be kept in memory which totally eliminates the redraw problem.

Question Icons in folders on home screen are getting rearranged.

This problem has been going on for about a week. I have 5 folders on my home screen and the apps in one folder keep getting rearranged. I'll fix it and then after a few hours if changes again.
Additionally the bottom part of the homescreen with the default apps (these aren't in a folder) gets rearranged too.
Not sure why this is happening. Has anyone encountered this? Is there a fix for this?
Thanks!
I just reported a similar problem with the default icons rearranging themselves at the bottom of the home screen to Samsung support. This is despite the fact that I have the Home Screen layout locked in Settings. I thought that it might have something to do with the use of the Good Lock Home Screen app. Are you using this app too by any chance?
Did you lock home screen layout?
The only way the folder content should alter if this is enabled is if you package block an app in that folder.
Clear system cache.
Yes, I have my home screen locked. I have several folders on my home screen, but I haven’t noticed if the icons in these folders are also getting rearranged. Are you using the Good Lock Home Up app? I read somewhere that this can cause this problem with icon arrangement.
neilth said:
I just reported a similar problem with the default icons rearranging themselves at the bottom of the home screen to Samsung support. This is despite the fact that I have the Home Screen layout locked in Settings. I thought that it might have something to do with the use of the Good Lock Home Screen app. Are you using this app too by any chance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I am using good lock
I just locked the homescreen hopefully that works, I've already cleared cache in recovery. That didn't make a difference.
It's weird though I've never had to lock the homescreen before.
eyeatoma said:
I just locked the homescreen hopefully that works, I've already cleared cache in recovery. That didn't make a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So still doing it? Does it happen when you close then reopen the folder?
blackhawk said:
Did you lock home screen layout?
The only way the folder content should alter if this is enabled is if you package block an app in that folder.
Clear system cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a lot of things blocked, can't for the life of me think of which one it is haha. I'll check with the locked homescreen and see if that works, if not I'll have to turn on each thing one by one, and test, which will take forever because its' totally random when it gets rearranged.
eyeatoma said:
I have a lot of things blocked, can't for the life of me think of which one it is haha. I'll check with the locked homescreen and see if that works, if not I'll have to turn on each thing one by one, and test, which will take forever because its' totally random when it gets rearranged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Starting with Android 10 Samsung added dozens, maybe a hundred or more small system apks to modify that wretched OS's behavior so One UI be functional as before.
I have two N10+'s, one running on 9, the other 10.
My package disable list for the 10 version is nearly identical to the 9 in spite nearly having 100 more new Samsung system apps. I ignored these new system apks as they don't seem to impact performance. Most likely are needed.
I recommend not touching these as erratic behavior may occur.
Sound familiar?
Go after apps that are known to cause trouble ie excess battery/internet usage and leave the rest alone. Dependencies... some are obvious, some maybe not so much so. Take a more cautious approach.
Many of the Samsung system apps just sit there and do nothing unless needed.
blackhawk said:
So still doing it? Does it happen when you close then reopen the folder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, I'll have to wait and see. As I said, it's totally random and sometimes only changes after 24 hours. I'll report back. Naw, doesn't happen when I close and reopen the folder. Seemingly random. It was originally the folder, now it's those default apps on the bottom of the homescreen.
blackhawk said:
Starting with Android 10 Samsung added dozens, maybe a hundred or more small system apks to modify that wretched OS's behavior so One UI be functional as before.
I have two N10+'s, one running on 9, the other 10.
My package disable list for the 10 version is nearly identical to the 9 in spite nearly having 100 more new Samsung system apps. I ignored these new system apks as they don't seem to impact performance. Most likely are needed.
I recommend not touching these as erratic behavior may occur.
Sound familiar?
Go after apps that are known to cause trouble ie excess battery/internet usage and leave the rest alone. Dependencies... some are obvious, some maybe not so much so. Take a more cautious approach.
Many of the Samsung system apps just sit there and do nothing unless needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that totally makes sense. I'll keep that in mind if the lockscreen doesn't fix the issue, thanks for the advice!
eyeatoma said:
Not sure, I'll have to wait and see. As I said, it's totally random and sometimes only changes after 24 hours. I'll report back. Naw, doesn't happen when I close and reopen the folder. Seemingly random. It was originally the folder, now it's those default apps on the bottom of the homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it continues...
You might be able to get some clues using Device Care>memory and seeing what apps just cache when it happens.
Or see if clearing it has any effect. Then see what apps pop up. You get the idea.
If you got more than 100 packages disabled you might want to rethink it down to about 80 or so.
Only ones you know aren't needed.
Thanks man, looks like the problem has bene resolved with a screen lock. I will take a look into your suggestions though, as I've never had to lock the screen before to prevent apps from reorganizing themselves within a folder or a dock.
eyeatoma said:
Thanks man, looks like the problem has bene resolved with a screen lock. I will take a look into your suggestions though, as I've never had to lock the screen before to prevent apps from reorganizing themselves within a folder or a dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's not anything I ever saw before except with busy pocket syndrome.
Probably a setting (maybe a new one), 3rd party app or shiny new Samsung bug.
I recall that bug being caused by changing the recents settings in the homeup module. I think it was caused by one of the recents list options. I read it but can't confirm because I use Nova launcher
mookiexl said:
I recall that bug being caused by changing the recents settings in the homeup module. I think it was caused by one of the recents list options. I read it but can't confirm because I use Nova launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May well be. Homeup never ran that good for me so I don't load it now.
Problem happened again after I restarted, I'm going to try all the ideas listed and report back. I use home up, where is this setting you mention?
mookiexl said:
I recall that bug being caused by changing the recents settings in the homeup module. I think it was caused by one of the recents list options. I read it but can't confirm because I use Nova launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem happened again after I restarted, I'm going to try all the ideas listed and report back. I use home up, where is this setting you mention?
Found the issue.
Apparently if you use vertical apps list setting for the app drawer this issue arises.
I only switched back to one UI because of this though.
Hopefully Samsung fixes this.
I was using an love Nova launcher but didn't want the additional battery drain of one UI which has to run. Sigh, fix your bugs samsung.
Samsung account
us.community.samsung.com
eyeatoma said:
Found the issue.
Apparently if you use vertical apps list setting for the app drawer this issue arises.
I only switched back to one UI because of this though.
Hopefully Samsung fixes this.
I was using an love Nova launcher but didn't want the additional battery drain of one UI which has to run. Sigh, fix your bugs samsung.
Samsung account
us.community.samsung.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay. Easy fix... sort of.
Rather sloppy of Sammy.
Android 9 remains my favorite version.
eyeatoma said:
Found the issue.
Apparently if you use vertical apps list setting for the app drawer this issue arises.
I only switched back to one UI because of this though.
Hopefully Samsung fixes this.
I was using an love Nova launcher but didn't want the additional battery drain of one UI which has to run. Sigh, fix your bugs samsung.
Samsung account
us.community.samsung.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's truly not that much battery drain. Using galaxy maxhz to adjust refresh rates for situations that you don't need higher refresh rates I still average around 8.5hrs SOT at QHD.

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