Database Info

HTC for life?, One X has sent me packing.

I've always had an HTC phone everything from the EVO shift (yee yeah), to the Inspire HD, then got a Vivid, now I'm using this One X AT&T. I've been spoiled by Sense, I can't imagine having to use a Samsung. It's nice, fast yada yada but geeez its bubbly icons kill it for me.
This OneX I can't understand why the All the softkeys or home keys have been changed. The back key is for left hand people, Why does the recent apps button even exist and then put it in the most convenient place? No battery? What I mean to say is no extra battery. Ive always bought an extra battery so that if I don't have a plug-in or charger I got it covered.
Can someone give me any reason why the charge port is on the side?
No SD storage... This is probably the main reason Im done with HTC. A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
I never write these vent posts.. I would fight someone lastweek if they talked trash about HTC phones. Maybe I got lemon, it's just One thing after another.
Although it seems like I'm trashing this phone I really love it. I just can't store anything important on it or take pictures, video.. I've read so many posts on replacing the camera but I just hate to tear into it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I never knew how important it was..
No one can say anything bad about the screen on the One X. It's amazing..
Sound is great
Smooth running phone too..
I'm scared to spend money on another HTC product. Maybe there is a way to try out a phone for a couple days that would be great.
THOUGHTS?????
Sent using-
Sense5 HTC OneXL
unlocked, rooted, S-off
TurboCharged
Tampered like a mother f....er

You have the right to voice your opinion but this isn't really the place to do it. You're just knocking the phone. It's not a perfect phone, but it's really good once you get it rooted and all that. Stay respectful, everyone!
Sent from my evita

I'm wondering why you bought it on the first place.
Almost all of your complaints are hardware ones that you know about before buying the phone?
Personally I don't mind the hardware at all. External SD would be nice but not a big deal. And I like right side unlock buttons.
As far as the camera I think it was just bad luck or damage. Haven't heard about it happening much at all.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

My niggles:
They put pogo contacts on the phone... but couldn't be bothered to make anything that actually uses them.
9.xGB of storage when I was expecting the typical 14.xGB for a phone advertised with 16GB.
HUGE pain to get root early on, though partially att's fault.
The phone loses signal if I leave it face up. (really gotta find time to get that fixed...)
Other than that, it's been an awesome phone.

I think HTC could've improved more in the music department and camera, but I agree with RollTribe. It's not a perfect phone, and there will never be a perfect phone imo. For me it was the software and hardware (GPS works!!) that made me stay.
Overall I would consider the XL solid. I'm going to look past the HTC One, though, and wait for the next generation.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I think the back button is in a perfect spot for right handed people, it is right in reach of my thumb when held in my right hand.
You complain about the recent app button, but I don't follow your complaint. It exists so you can multitask, you say it is in a convenient spot and I agree, easily accessed by the right thumb when held right handed.
Extra battery? I have never found myself wanting to buy extra batteries for any phone ever. I just charge mine when required. This phone lasts a full day easy if you are not playing games on it. I am a heavy phone user with maybe 30-50 calls every work day, sync an ics calendar every hour, use calendar, contacts, browser and email a whole bunch. The phone lasts the entire day. These days with my car dock I can play games all day without issue
Charge port on the side makes for easy landscape car docking, perfect for GPS. I slip mine into the car charger often these days, it is one of the easiest phones to get in and out of the dock as the charge port is on the side.
SD storage, again I use my phone for a whole bunch of things and have never gone close to using the full storage. I stream over Spotify via Bluetooth to my car head unit. I have about 20-30 user apps installed. I just can not fill the phone. I even have the 16GB model from Hong Kong while most around me who bought from Telstra have 32GB.
I have had my phone for 15 months now and the camera still works perfectly. My last phone(s) was a Nexus One and a Nokia E68(or something) I smashed the camera lens on the Nokia before 12 months, not sure how, but my One XL is fine.
Then the next user, Zodiac:
I like the unlock at the top, easy to reach with right index finger, but can not be accidentally pushed.
Then, antichamp:
pogo pin issues( I initially really wanted to use the pogo pins aswell just for the gimmick until I realized they only seem cool)
1)The pogo pins are used on the desk dock.
2)The USB port actually "locks" the phone in to the car dock, the car dock requires a locking mechanism unlike the desk dock.
3)The pogo pins would cause scratch marks along the back as the pins drag along the case as you slide the phone in and out of a car dock.
4)The pins on the dock would wear out because of #3
5)What is wrong with the USB port?
The phone is easy to get root on. All issues are AT&T, the phone in EVERY other region is a breeze to unlock.
My gripe is weird data issues, where you sometimes need to give the phone a kick (eg via airplane mode toggling) to reset data (3g, 4g or wifi).
This was been improved dramatically though the updates but is still a niggling issue that sometimes crops up.
Also originally I disliked not having a hardware menu key and being forced into the Android 3 dot menu thing. Ofcourse HTC listened and fixed that issue in an update.

When you say sound is great are we talking about the same phone? Can barely hear my phone speakers from the back seat of my car.
That and spotty service/data issues are my only gripes on this phone.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app

cannonofcourse said:
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I might be having the same issue as you. Does the camera app just freeze immediately and crash? Then says cannot connect to camera when you try to open it again. Happened to me on AOKP Milestone 2 (rohan said it was an issue in the mainline AOKP), but now I've run 3.18 RUU and flashed the latest CM10.1 nightly and had the same issue.
Sent from my S-Off, turbo injected AT&T HTC One X (evita), running AOKP 4.2.2 & using XDA Premium

cannonofcourse said:
A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This only occurs after you have modded the phone, so you can't blame HTC for this. Factory reset from bootloader works fine on stock phones.
The way to secure your data is very simple: Don't factory reset from bootloader. Its been mentioned in countless places. So if you wiped your backups, its your own fault for lack of proper research.

Research? Lets just try and read before quoting...
redpoint73 said:
This only occurs after you have modded the phone, so you can't blame HTC for this. Factory reset from bootloader works fine on stock phones.
The way to secure your data is very simple: Don't factory reset from bootloader. Its been mentioned in countless places. So if you wiped your backups, its your own fault for lack of proper research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would expect this kind of blasphemy if I posted a dumb video on YouTube, but the fact that this is a dev site full of "professionals". I posted a comment against my better judgement to try and find answers or suggestions about my phone. The first response is that
"This isnt the place for that" And then 2nd response is
"Why did you buy the one x, you should have known about these things"
First of all I dont think its constructive to rip someone down for a post when clearly alot of people are having the same problem. And I wish I would have found an honest review of this phone before I bought it. I wish I could have read my post before buying this phone. But for some reason Im a black sheep (to a few) for giving my opinion on very important flaws that anyone should be concerned with. I love HTC and have 6 devices prior to this one.
Im not sure who (the 5th reply) twist....? works for and to make statements like never having a storage issue and dont mind the internal card.? I never said anything about the storage. I am commenting on the fact you cant remove the sd card just to make sure the data is secure. And I would love to have a number of how many people use a car dock or computer dock.?? Maybe this guy works for a manufacturer/...///??
I always carry an extra battery and Im not the only person who does. To act like that is unreasonable is just ridiculous.
Of course not all phones are perfect Of course! Why would anyone feel the need to say that...
I love my ONE X It just annoys me that I cant take pictures of my little girl with it. Or store any important data on it. Ive had at least 5 people contact me about the camera issue and are having the same problem.
This last reply to my review and concerns and wanted suggestions takes the cake.
The last comment clearly says that if "you want to secure your data then dont do a factory reset from the boot-loader. It only happens on Modded phones". I have 6 HTC phones and none of them wipe the complete phone to include the external sd. NONE... I wanted to know if it was possible to lock the sd storage or "trick" it to thinking it had an external sd and dont wipe that. If you dont know the answer then fine. I dont see how that is irrational. And I dont think anyone comes to this site because they want to get information on "never modding or rooting there phone." This site is kinda geared towards people who enjoy learning and doing cool, great and ingenious things to make everyone's life better. Or awesome. But to get completely ripped by senior members and the comments being about something other than what I or other members even said is UN professional. This site encourages members to post on General Forumns. I think its 10 before I can move to the big boy pages. But at this rate what could I possible have to gain by it. If I make mistakes or brick my phone then why should I feel like an idiot for wanting people to know why and how it happened to save them a headache? I dont see how typing anymore will stress how childish most of the replies to my posts have been, cannonofcourse out...

You need to calm down. Redpoint was right.
Sent from my Evita

Bottom line, you want perfect stability, Don't root.

cannonofcourse said:
The back key is for left hand people,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm right handed and it really doesn't bother me. I can sympathize with having to get used to differences on devices. It always takes a while for me to get used to things.
cannonofcourse said:
No battery? What I mean to say is no extra battery. Ive always bought an extra battery so that if I don't have a plug-in or charger I got it covered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find that external battery packs are way more convenient. You can pick up a 10,000 mah Anker pack for under $50 and it'll charge your phone several times. And it works for any other devices that you might have that charge via USB. And it will work on the next phone that you buy.
cannonofcourse said:
Can someone give me any reason why the charge port is on the side?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea. It does however work very well with the iBolt car dock. Quick and easy to put the phone in and lock it.
cannonofcourse said:
No SD storage... This is probably the main reason Im done with HTC. A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this out the hard way as well, but anything on my phone exists other places. I don't consider my phone to be a place to store unrecoverable files. My photos are automatically backed up to G+, contacts and email are on Google, anything else doesn't really matter.
cannonofcourse said:
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just sucks. I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
With all of that said, I really do think that people here are trying to help.

cannonofcourse said:
I would expect this kind of blasphemy if I posted a dumb video on YouTube, but the fact that this is a dev site full of "professionals".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if anybody disagrees with you, its "blasphemy"??? Nobody here is a professional. Professionals get paid. If you mean courteous and polite, I don't see any responses to the contrary. Yes, several of us have disagreed with you. But not in any way that can remotely be considered a flame, personal attack, etc.
I was simply pointing out a FACT that the factory reset from bootloader bug exists due to the phone being hacked. HTC could have not have predicted every way user-implemented mods could harm the phone. You have some legitimate criticisms of HTC and the phone. But the factory reset issue isn't one of them.
You asked for our thoughts. We gave them. Or maybe you just wanted to hear from people that agreed with you?

I'm done with HTC as well if motorola steps up its game with the X but frankly i'll support anyone except samsung. I just want to see android evolve to more than just 1 oem (samsung).
I don't hold the past against any oem. If i like the new phone, i'll buy it.

twistedddx said:
Then, antichamp:
pogo pin issues( I initially really wanted to use the pogo pins aswell just for the gimmick until I realized they only seem cool)
1)The pogo pins are used on the desk dock.
2)The USB port actually "locks" the phone in to the car dock, the car dock requires a locking mechanism unlike the desk dock.
3)The pogo pins would cause scratch marks along the back as the pins drag along the case as you slide the phone in and out of a car dock.
4)The pins on the dock would wear out because of #3
5)What is wrong with the USB port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no desk dock for this phone...
For the international version there is, regardless of it's mediocre reviews.
I recently discovered the unfortunate truth of your 2nd point (I'm trying to make my own car dock).
On three and four, wouldn't that indicate a poor design of the phone? (blame the user ala apple's "you're holding it wrong")
There's nothing wrong with the usb port, I just think it would be convienient to both charge the phone and get analog audio out without connecting both the usb and 3.5mm jack.
fleabeard said:
I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, bad sim slot you say?
If I don't leave my phone face down it loses service. I have to restart it upside down and shake it before it will come back.
Think I could have the same problem?

It's possible. Or it could just be the SIM carrier.
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Well....
fleabeard said:
I'm right handed and it really doesn't bother me. I can sympathize with having to get used to differences on devices. It always takes a while for me to get used to things.
I find that external battery packs are way more convenient. You can pick up a 10,000 mah Anker pack for under $50 and it'll charge your phone several times. And it works for any other devices that you might have that charge via USB. And it will work on the next phone that you buy.
Actually I bought one of the "power on the go" packs from radio shack and broke it apart, replaced the battery with a 3600mah I ordered for my evo on accident. It cost about 8 dollars (plus the cost of the extra battery 12 bucks I think) and it charges my phone incredibly fast and about 3 times before I have to charge it back.up. Nothing worse than hearing that beep noise when your trying to get something done.
No idea. It does however work very well with the iBolt car dock. Quick and easy to put the phone in and lock it.
I found this out the hard way as well, but anything on my phone exists other places. I don't consider my phone to be a place to store unrecoverable files. My photos are automatically backed up to G+, contacts and email are on Google, anything else doesn't really matter.
I do try to back up everything to the cloud, via Google drive or I have a media server but it always seems like the one thing I needed is gone forever. I just found out the hard way that a reset from the bootloader took out my whole phone. It just sucks not being able to pull the card out and hold it.
That just sucks. I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
It seems like a certain set of serial numbers are having a hardware issue. I hate to go without my phone to get it fixed but I guess thats what I have to do. Thats the price we pay to have it all wrapped up in one little cool device.
With all of that said, I really do think that people here are trying to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know there are plenty of people that do a fantastic superhuman job. Just hours of searching to find out if someone has or is working on a fix or if I can provide info to contribute seems like so many people just lashing out for no reason.. But maybe Im being defensive.
Thanks

Unfortunately I highly doubt the issues you've brought up can be "fixed".
But...
I'm pretty sure you can change the location of the back button on certain aosp ROMs though.
Using battery case should mitigate the need for a removable battery.
The fact that doing a factory reset from bootloader wipes your phone can't be changed, but a little research on here warns of that in numerous places. And I don't think that's necessarily HTC's fault. It's up to us to educate ourselves about the risks we face when altering our devices.
For instance: TWRP 2.6 has an advanced wipe feature which makes it very easy to wipe your sd card while wiping the usual system and caches. I did that myself just recently, accidentally checked the wrong box and wiped my sd. I lost everything. Without a backup. So many photos of my kids gone for good. But I don't blame TWRP for making it easy to do that. I blame myself for working too fast and not being careful enough.
Sent from my Evita

cannonofcourse said:
I know there are plenty of people that do a fantastic superhuman job. Just hours of searching to find out if someone has or is working on a fix or if I can provide info to contribute seems like so many people just lashing out for no reason.. But maybe Im being defensive.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the factory reset thrrough bootloader cause your problems??
If so, all yous gotta do is plug yer phone right into your computer and let windows detect it. Once it finds it, it will send you a window that says something along the lines of having an error with the sd card, from there click the button that says fix errors, and your all set. This happened to me before and I couldnt play music, store or access anything, or use the camera. But now it works perfectly.
And as for the extra battery, the portable chargers provide more battery life with less money. It makes more sense to buy a portable charger even if we did have removable batteries. :good::good::good::good:

Things that really bother me about the current SW2 and why:

There really should be a pinned thread for utter disappointed features and/or people.
I am not returning my new SW2. Its too cool to have the lamest, inept and funtion-killing GUI cause me to give up. ** But I bought a Pebble watch the same day because (the SW2n currently):
- can not function as a watch. It does but it goes to sleep VERY fast. WAY too fast. This is completely unacceptable. If I want to drain my f*ing watch and be able to read it all day, I should be able to!!! Put a warning on the settings area.. like: WILL DRAIN BATTERY VERY FAST or something...
- Can not finish reading my incoming sms. Maybe you dont know the girl I am dating but she WRITES A LOT... and this may not be normal amounts ... I really mean a lot. And SONY clearly has NO IDEA about this.
- AND continuing from the above point, it goes back to the f*ing CLOCK in sleep mode. SHOULD dim and remain on my screen until I SAY OTHERWISE. NOW I have to press the power button and NOT make it power off buy accident (another STUPID DESIGN) and make it activate, press the home button and then the stupid function messaging button. NO LOGIC FLOW HERE. I have to read 5 or 6 TXTs by now.
- CAN NOT read the messages in order without going BACK and opening the messaging app again. At least that seems to be what I had to do. I might have missed proper procedure here but if that is true, shame on SONY for lacking a more intuitive operation.
The Poweramp app is cool when it works. It should STAY active. I DONT CARE about anyone else or what slogan SONY wants to claim about battery life. I want FUNCTION my f*ing way. I use Poweramp all the time. But it is not able to stay on my watch, active? Total shame.
The ONLY app I kept on my watch is the custom watch faces. It allwos me to keep the display on until the dumbwatch, overthinking watch disconnects from my RazrMaxx/4.4 Dhacker29 ROM.
So in conclusion, This watch completely fails at being a watch. Fails at running apps because it times out WAY TOO FAST. Fails at every possible area other than fitting well.

Maybe your accelerometer is faulty. It should not timeout when on hand, actually it dims and always shows time.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

jmaciak said:
Maybe your accelerometer is faulty. It should not timeout when on hand, actually it dims and always shows time.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.

deitiphobia said:
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...

jmaciak said:
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not a troll. At least I am not trying to be a troll. I do feel slightly underwhelmed buy my experience so far.
And maybe my accelerometer needs checking? If it is supposed to remain on (the screen) for more than 5 seconds when I am wearing it and trying to read something, then yes, something is wrong. Maybe the watch doesnt know when it is on a troll arm?

deitiphobia said:
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
What he is saying actually makes perfect sense, especially on this forum - we are not the average, marketing-targeted user and we like to use our devices any way we please, without being limited by design hickups. And we are more sensitive to design flaws and marketing bs than the average consumer.
Sony missed and even lied about basic features and is not allowing, at least so far, anyone to tweak with this product's FW.
In my experience the watch proved very useful ONLY IF YOU ARE NOT RELYING SOLELY ON IT for most of your work - i, for one, would not like to read my correspondence on such a tiny screen and prefer to use the phone instead - but it would sure be nice to know that I CAN use the watch if i wanted to.
Fortunately, while driving a motorcycle, for example, getting a hint of the message content usually suffices for me to determine if i need to pullover and get my phone out, provided i get to see the screen before it times-out, which is another awkwardly missing basic function.
I will, however, hold on to the SW2 for now in hopes that Sony will straighten things the way they should.
Sent from my LT25i using Tapatalk

i agree fully with the OP as well
if i didn't know better, i would suggest posting your opinions on talk sonymobile, but as i already did that and got NO reply from Sony, i guess it would be just a waiste of time
that's my biggest problem with Sony right now: no communication
(although i must admit most manufacturers suck at communicating with their customers, try finding out when the Butterfly s is getting 4.3/4.4, not a chance)

I actually agree with the OP, there are some features that could be included in the settings menu like timeout duration or stopping the watch default to the watch screen every time it goes into standbye especially useful if travelling and using features like poweramp - you need 3x button presses to bring the poweramp screen back on and if you have a messaging app open (reading messages) it should prevent the watch from sleeping
and how fecking hard is it to develop a few watch face designs with different colours etc
TBH I think Sony are in the process of designing a totally new Smartwatch for release in early 2014 and have completely dropped the ball with this one

well, there was an update today, so i guess they didn't drop it completely
update looked good at first, but disappointing anyway
-only 1 extra watch face that's usable, i still want the abilty to design/choose my own watch face
-the option to use the light sensor for brightness is nice, but i'm glad it's optional, don't like it
-music app update totally messed it up (used to work for me)
-camera app update didn't do anything for me, still does nothing
-still no selectable timeout, huge issue for me
---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------
Find It for SmartWatch by AQ i purchased also doesn't work anymore
argh, their own Find Phone Smart Extension ALSO doesn't work anymore!

JarlSX said:
their own Find Phone Smart Extension ALSO doesn't work anymore!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK I suspect that problems might occur pairing the SW2 with a non-Sony smartphone.
But please let's keep the discussion in one place only, so we can better compare these findings:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2554874

i think i know why the watch can't dim while still displaying an app
those apps don't really run on the watch, they're just displaying what's happening on the phone (that's where the app is installed)
so for a watch-app to work, the watch is constantly communicating with the phone
such a connection will probably drain the watch very quickly
only the watch part can run independently, so that's why it always goes back to that screen, to save power
this is of course just what i think

FWIW, the screen on time can be controlled by the app. I use and app called IPBike for cycling which runs on the phone. This app allows you to use the watch as a head unit on the bars. It has an option to keep the watch screen on for the entire ride.

jmaciak said:
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should it really go totally blank/black? Mine is only dimmed out and showing clock face all the time, but really dimmy. And it is on the table...
Oh it does, took some time, longer than i expected...
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 4

[RANT] - Lollipop is not great, but tolerable

I was very excited to see this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...w-to-update-to-g900voc4-5-0-keeproot-t3068546
So, I pushed ahead thinking that Lollipop has already been in the wild long enough, surely the initial kinks like WiFi drops and battery hogging have been resolved. No such luck, and after doing it, it looks like I'm going to have to do this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784880
Lollipop is horrible. My phone no longer does one of the most basic things that's been around since the G1: Go (the F) to sleep! Seriously?!?!
Here are my other problems:
-Phone doesn't sleep on its own if timeout set for longer than 30 seconds (and even then, it's not reliable)
-WiFi doesn't reconnect after sleep (when sleep even happens, which is only when I push the button to force it). I have to toggle WiFi off/on to reconnect.
-Battery drain is pretty bad. My first month with the S5 had me barely even thinking about charging. Now, with Lollipop, I feel like I'm back on my old HTC MyTouch!
-The silly way they implemented the lockscreen. Here's my problem: I can ONLY use Settings > Sound and Notification > While locked with the option "Do not show notifications". Why? Any other setting blocks the Owner Information (Settings > Lock screen > Owner Information). If I don't, and if I'm unfortunate enough to have lost my phone, yet fortunate enough to have it found by a good samaritan, I better hope I haven't miss any calls or received any messages in the meantime. This one REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS because it's a horribly-implemented Feature ... at least the others are unintended bugs, but somebody had to give this one the green light.
-I can't adjust the icon sizes anymore. There used to be a choice of large or small icons.
-Oh, and for some bonehead reason, Samsung decided their stock ROM wouldn't have the Lollipop built-in flashlight icon.
-Another intentional feature that I can't disable: the phone keeps a history of recent activity that persists through reboots. YUCK! Why can I not disable this?!?! Again, another bonehead call that somebody had to green-light, without even considering the possibility that I might want to turn it off!
-All the UI "polishing" and improvements don't mean a thing to me, I want it to work.
I found all of the above in less than 24 hours on Lollipop! I might lose my s**t entirely if I keep it for much longer.
Here is my take on why:
Google and Apple are in a heated race to the top. They wrongly assume that what will set each apart from one another is almost entirely dependent on what a few bloggers say about some hot new feature. The paradigm appears to be something like: "Who cares if millions of loyal subscribers lose functionality when we want 100 people to have this one obscure and half-baked feature?"
Latest != Greatest
-----
EDIT:
I've had a change of heart on this. It's not too bad, I just needed to adjust a few settings and live with the other issues.

I too do not like the lolli. Bad battery life, and for some reason the Heart rate monitor led turns on whenever anything is within a half inch of it. I just can't figure that out, but it sucks the battery like a red led vampire!
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium HD app

Tldnr
Don't start a thread just to complain

Lmfao when I saw that link and clicked it, I actually had that same thread opened moments before opening this thread because I, too, am having to go back to KitKat. I laughed for a good 20 seconds. Lollipop is freaking terrible at the moment. Zero customization and Google + Samsung are forcing too much garbage on us without giving any bit of customization.

mygraine said:
I too do not like the lolli. Bad battery life, and for some reason the Heart rate monitor led turns on whenever anything is within a half inch of it. I just can't figure that out, but it sucks the battery like a red led vampire!
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heart rate monitor thing was fixed in OC4 I think, but if it still goes off a factory reset will fix it.

Agree
OP, I agree with you. It probably is the first version without the definitely improvement overall for users. It is risky to upgrade and troublesome if it didn't work out well on your devices. Wish Android 5.1 could be better than Kitkat overall.

I have absolutely no problems with the lollipop. I always had it stock from the start and just let the OTAs take over on their own. Have you tried even rebooting into recovery and wipe cache? Even though it's not a custom recovery you can still do that, also even when you dirty flash nightlies that's something that's good practice. My wife's phone had similar issues that I wasn't experiencing, until I did that to her phone and now she's having no problems. Now the general annoyances of how Samsung implemented ****, I understand, it's stupid with not having native flashlight, tethering is annoying having to use foxfi, and the lockscreen.. bleh. But other than that, everything is actually working like it is supposed to

Chiming in, Yes it's bad.
I have two lines with Verizon, both with S5 phones on them. Great device, its actually the first Android phone I've had that I did not do anything with beyond the out of the box experience. That changed when Lollipop was pushed via OTA, the most prominent issue I experienced on both of my S5s is general responsiveness issues, simple things like switching apps or launching apps sometimes would leave me with a white screen for between 5-10 seconds, an eternity especially when the device was lighting fast on 4.4.4 Kitkat. I followed every suggestion from wiping the device in Android, Wiping in recovery, wiping cache, all of these with only marginal improvements. It really is a shame that Google / Samsung did not do a bit better quality assurance on this build before it was pushed out to carriers and ultimately peoples devices. It says something that other carriers skipped 5.0 and that very rapidly 5.1 surfaced on Newer devices / Nexus devices.
As of last night both of my phones are Odin'd back to 4.4.4 and its like having a brand new phone. Sure, there might not be as much polish, but there are no features I will die without having. The only one that I can say I do miss is the feature where the device will disable the lock screen when your smart watch or home WiFi is connected.
Here's to hoping that Google eventually gets Android 5 right in the optimization department and that Samsung picks it up for the S5, and that Verizon gets it ready for OTA before I am ready to move on to a new device. Not interested in the S6 at all for its sealed nature for storage and battery, but that's for another thread on a different day.
-Nate

I Have to agree. I've given it several chances to perform to expectations but it just fails.... ( insert sad puppy face here ) no matter what I have tried it just under-performs and the biggest thing is the horrible battery life. Sooooo yeah like most of the other commentators in this thread, I'm moving back to 4.4.4......

Unfortunately/fortunately, I have found most of my battery issues were solved with a factory reset. I'm more frustrated that Samsung seems to having issues with Android Auto.

ldeveraux said:
Tldnr
Don't start a thread just to complain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Observations, not complaints. Getting these points out in the open is an essential stepping stone to getting them fixed. Maybe, just maybe, a Producteer or architect at Google has read this by now so they know what to improve next time. Problems cannot be solved until they are defined.
---
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.

CaptainRewind said:
Observations, not complaints. Getting these points out in the open is an essential stepping stone to getting them fixed. Maybe, just maybe, a Producteer or architect at Google has read this by now so they know what to improve next time. Problems cannot be solved until they are defined.
---
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, go start a petition, just like the bootloader guys, see how far it got them? No one from google reads your complaint threads and regrets their work...

ldeveraux said:
Yeah, go start a petition, just like the bootloader guys, see how far it got them? No one from google reads your complaint threads and regrets their work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess that was wishful thinking.
In any case, it seems this thread was a complete waste of time. It made me feel better at the time, but looking back on it and the purpose of this site, it doesn't add any value or help anyone modify their phone. Not only that, one of my primary reasons for the OP was the screen lock issues which turned out to be an app, not the Android version.
So, I stand corrected. Live and learn. Enough said.

My wife would never let me root her phone ever. After this update either I find a way to go back a few with root or it goes against the wall. Looks like I have to start reading and figure out how to do this.

Lol I love how you described it. Sometimes you have to vent. Lol

CaptainRewind said:
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to share where this app is?
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

dk-v1 said:
Care to share where this app is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eolwral.osmonitor&hl=en
It's a great app, but something about it staying active in the Notification Bar keeps the screen awake. I still use the app, just can't keep the notification active in Lollipop.
And in case it isn't obvious, even though I still have my concerns about Lollipop, I never did go about the procedure of downgrading. It looks like a risky procedure, and I don't want to trip Knox, or worse, have a brick.

CaptainRewind said:
This is the one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eolwral.osmonitor&hl=en
It's a great app, but something about it staying active in the Notification Bar keeps the screen awake. I still use the app, just can't keep the notification active in Lollipop.
And in case it isn't obvious, even though I still have my concerns about Lollipop, I never did go about the procedure of downgrading. It looks like a risky procedure, and I don't want to trip Knox, or worse, have a brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so it's not a stock app. I am still having poor battery life and overheating issues.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

Anyone else absolutely hate this phone?

The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.

Hopefully the next gen will be better.
I didn't have an issue with mine , but sold it today. I prefer the slick oneplus 8 pro. Less pork and more of an on point device.

Snapdragon or Exynos?

socalstagetech said:
The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to take over for FREE. Lol
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

socalstagetech said:
The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever considered you've gotten a lemon? I've literally had zero of those issues since the launch date
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

I had the same Bluetooth connection issues with the s20 ultra same 5g issues an poor picture quality.
That would be nice if it was just a lemon. I'm going to spend the day tomorrow with t-mobile.
The fast charger also died withing the first two weeks.
They want me to drive 40 miles to pick a new one up.
Really over samsung. Over priced and undelivered.

socalstagetech said:
I had the same Bluetooth connection issues with the s20 ultra same 5g issues an poor picture quality.
That would be nice if it was just a lemon. I'm going to spend the day tomorrow with t-mobile.
The fast charger also died withing the first two weeks.
They want me to drive 40 miles to pick a new one up.
Really over samsung. Over priced and undelivered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel you. Samsung support sucks; it's not your imagination.
I have a 10+ and have been eyeballing the 20U as an upgrade. There do appear to be display issues on some of these phones.
As for bt, try a network reset; it's relatively painless and may help.
Clear the system cache on the boot menu.
Double check all settings.
Turn off all power management except the power mode; set to optimize.
In Developer options>standby apps, if all buckets show as active, power management is disable. See if Android will manage them better with no assigned buckets.
Look for apps using up bandwidth/battery, cloud apps including Google Transport are prime offenders.
Disable Samsung, carrier and Google feedback.
Consider adding a package disabler like PD MDM the shutdown the bloatware.
See if that helps... play with it.

socalstagetech said:
The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine for months and haven't experienced a single issue you experienced, just get another phone if you're unhappy and stop the whining

btmusicman313 said:
I've had mine for months and haven't experienced a single issue you experienced, just get another phone if you're unhappy and stop the whining
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't help.
Depending on the carrier firmware the same model can behave much different.
Took me close to 6 months to dial in my AT&T 10+, it was a handful. Running hot, chewing up the battery.
Today, a year latter, it's a totally different animal; fast, stable with good battery life and no glitches.
These phones are complex with a lot of settings plus added carrier and 3rd party apks not to mention the Samsung apks. No configuration is the same.
If you don't play with them you'll never get it optimized and you'll just be along for the ride... wherever it goes.

blackhawk said:
I feel you. Samsung support sucks; it's not your imagination.
I have a 10+ and have been eyeballing the 20U as an upgrade. There do appear to be display issues on some of these phones.
As for bt, try a network reset; it's relatively painless and may help.
Clear the system cache on the boot menu.
Double check all settings.
Turn off all power management except the power mode; set to optimize.
In Developer options>standby apps, if all buckets show as active, power management is disable. See if Android will manage them better with no assigned buckets.
Look for apps using up bandwidth/battery, cloud apps including Google Transport are prime offenders.
Disable Samsung, carrier and Google feedback.
Consider adding a package disabler like PD MDM the shutdown the bloatware.
See if that helps... play with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions! I'm going to try it and see how it goes.
I very much appreciate the helpful reply.

socalstagetech said:
Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions! I'm going to try it and see how it goes.
I very much appreciate the helpful reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome.
A hard reboot (simulating pulling the battery) may get it too if you haven't try it. Again clearing the system cache can cure many gremlins like magic, easy to do and worth trying.
Another possibility is the phone was infected with a virus or trojan, this is very unlikely though unless you inadvertently downloaded or loaded it.
Scan it with Malwarebytes and Trojan Scanner.
If in doubt reload.
Normally reloads aren't a solution unless it's an old load or if compromised by a virus.
If you reload check the system before you load anything except from Playstore; assume the SD card or computer backups could be compromised as well.
If you reload avoid doing any updates at first as one of these could be causing the erratic behavior.
If you did a firmware update this could be the cause; clearing the system cache may fix it but a reload is better. I disable autoupdates especially from the carrier for this reason among others.
More than likely you get it sorted out or at worst return for repairs.
Reload it though before you return it. Fixable software/settings issues* are common on these phones.
Lol, Androids wuv to be played with... good luck
*if you have a clean load it's always preferable to find the cause of the malfunction rather than reloading as the same issue may well happen again from the same apk or incorrect setting(s).

socalstagetech said:
The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not even a single issue I have faced so far. Two month with me now. Fabulously amazing in every bit of it. Are you sure you have Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra there [emoji848]?
Sent from my SM-N9860 using Tapatalk

socalstagetech said:
The 5g is horrendous
The Bluetooth sucks doesn't connect or work for half my devices any other cheap phone works flawlessly.
Phone freezes up on web pages constantly.
This phone is absolute trash.
I feel so ripped off for as much as I payed for this hunk of junk it should work.
The pictures are **** too... blurry an ****ed off.
When I call people they can't hear a word I say...
What else could go wrong?
Really wish I had waited for the pixel 5.
Even a 3 year old pixel smokes this trash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I would have it exchanged if you are having that many problems with it, sounds like you may have a defective unit, it happens, could be something as simple as a faulty motherboard causing all those issues that a quick exchange would solve
Got to say this is the best phone I've ever owned so I'm extremely surprised you're having all those problems, contact whoever you bought it from, tell them what you told us and get a replacement unit sent out

socalstagetech said:
Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions! I'm going to try it and see how it goes.
I very much appreciate the helpful reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Detection* said:
Honestly, I would have it exchanged if you are having that many problems with it, sounds like you may have a defective unit, it happens, could be something as simple as a faulty motherboard causing all those issues that a quick exchange would solve
Got to say this is the best phone I've ever owned so I'm extremely surprised you're having all those problems, contact whoever you bought it from, tell them what you told us and get a replacement unit sent out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be a bad mobo but it's easier to reload then to exchange it and then have the exact same issues.
Happened to me with the 10+, bt audio was horrible.
Return it and at first it was running normally then boom the exact same thing. I knew it was software but I didn't manually toggle it!
Samsung tech zero help, same-same with AT&T tech support.
The problem goes back at least as far as the N9 and that's where I found the solution.
It was a glitch in the advanced audio settings that sometimes toggles on by it's self probably due to a glitch in Wearables.
Samsung finally fixed it about a half year about with a Wearables update. It took them over 2 years.
If you knew about it, it was easy to simply untoggled it occasionally, if not it was an audio nightmare.
The only other way to reset it was a pointless reload.
I like the shotgun get it done approach but you can needlessly spend time without a solution if you don't first try to verify if it's hardware, bad flash or an issue that's pure software.
Out of the box this AT&T 10+ was a puking, bandwidth/battery eating, hot running mess besides the bt glitch.
Today with the same OS version and a lot of optimizing it's stable, fast, gorgeous looking platform with good battery life.
It wasn't even close to this out of the box...
If you don't take the time to play with these phones you'll miss the functionality they're capable of and put up will a lot of unpleasant experiences needlessly.
A misbehaving Android is an opportunity to learn new tricks. Just dive in... and see where it takes you.

I can confirm on pics being blurry. Also Samsung should calibrate their displays like Apple. Its shouldn't be left for users to find the right setting. Also the screen is not crisp in fhd mode. My Xr with 820p looked sharper.

RISHI RAJ said:
Also the screen is not crisp in fhd mode. My Xr with 820p looked sharper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Increase minimum DPI in developers options for way better sharpness / clarity

RISHI RAJ said:
I can confirm on pics being blurry. Also Samsung should calibrate their displays like Apple. Its shouldn't be left for users to find the right setting. Also the screen is not crisp in fhd mode. My Xr with 820p looked sharper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try to take pics of my plants and it takes a ton of shots to get one nice clear one. I have a pixel 3 and the camera taking the same pics in the same lighting are beautiful and easy to capture perfectly the first time.
My screen just froze while typing this reply ?
Whole thing freezes up and you have to hit home button or the current running apps then pop back in to get it to come back.

*Detection* said:
Increase minimum DPI in developers options for way better sharpness / clarity
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly where is that setting at in developer options?

RISHI RAJ said:
I can confirm on pics being blurry. Also Samsung should calibrate their displays like Apple. Its shouldn't be left for users to find the right setting. Also the screen is not crisp in fhd mode. My Xr with 820p looked sharper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
socalstagetech said:
I try to take pics of my plants and it takes a ton of shots to get one nice clear one. I have a pixel 3 and the camera taking the same pics in the same lighting are beautiful and easy to capture perfectly the first time.
My screen just froze while typing this reply
Whole thing freezes up and you have to hit home button or the current running apps then pop back in to get it to come back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android color calibration (ie no calibration) sucks.
When will they get the message?
After 5+ years you would think they would know better?
I could calibrate my color throughput/monitor on Windows 15 years ago...
Make sure Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision Framework are not disabled; needed by the cam, the rest of Bixby can be disabled.
Check cam settings and manually set the AF lock point if you aren't. Try a data reset on the app and clear the system cache. Could be hardware but more likely user, settings, software or firmware related.
My browser will lock up if too many windows are open (52 open now) or if the browser cache gets too large or corrupted. Might the browser; my primary one is Brave. The Samsung browser handles about 15 or so open windows.
I chased down dozens of issues on my 10+ to get it where it is today over mostly a 6 month period.
I'm careful about all updates and new apps as these can cause havoc especially the former.
Still running on Pie because it's fast, stable, secure enough for my setup and everything is now running well.
Constantly upgrading is time consuming at best and the outcome not always an improvement. I use the factory load for a bunch of apks still... with good results.

blackhawk said:
Android color calibration (ie no calibration) sucks.
When will they get the message?
After 5+ years you would think they would know better?
I could calibrate my color throughput/monitor on Windows 15 years ago...
Make sure Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision Framework are not disabled; needed by the cam, the rest of Bixby can be disabled.
Check cam settings and manually set the AF lock point if you aren't. Try a data reset on the app and clear the system cache. Could be hardware but more likely user, settings, software or firmware related.
My browser will lock up if too many windows are open (52 open now) or if the browser cache gets too large or corrupted. Might the browser; my primary one is Brave. The Samsung browser handles about 15 or so open windows.
I chased down dozens of issues on my 10+ to get it where it is today over mostly a 6 month period.
I'm careful about all updates and new apps as these can cause havoc especially the former.
Still running on Pie because it's fast, stable, secure enough for my setup and everything is now running well.
Constantly upgrading is time consuming at best and the outcome not always an improvement. I use the factory load for a bunch of apks still... with good results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision Framework enabled for the camera to work.

Question [Pixel 6a] Is this a hardware defect? [crashing when it's cold outside]

Hi everyone!
Just purchased a P6a during Black Friday. In general I am quite happy with the device and would want to keep it.
However, I have massive issues with crashes/freezes/reboots when using the camera.
I know that many people have reported similar issues, but my case is somewhat special in that it only happens on weekends. During the work week, I use the camera normally, and there has not been a single crash.
But when I go hiking/mountaineering/trailrunning on the weekends, I have massive problems.
I would say, every five photos I take, something goes wrong.
Sometimes I get a complete freeze in the camera app and have to do a hard reboot.
Sometimes, the phone simply reboots itself.
Sometimes it switched itself off.
Sometimes, the camera app seems to work correctly, but then a few minutes later the phone reboots all by itself.
Sometimes, these crashes result in broken, unreadable JPG photos on my phone.
This has happened up to ten times on each of my outdoor tours. I have observed this now over three weekends, on four different tours. After such a crash/freeze/reboot, the phone seems to work completely normally again, as long as I do not use the camera app. As soon as I use the camera app again, it does not take long until the problem reappears. But only as long as I am outdoors for extended periods of time. Indoors never any issue.
The natural suspicion is that it must have something to do with the temperatures outside. But temperatures here in late autumn Bavaria have not even been all that cold; the problems already occur at relatively moderate temperatures of a few degrees above freezing.
Software is fully updated, of course.
Because of the 100% clear correlation with outdoor activities of a certain minimum length, which I can only interpret as temperature dependency, I guess this must be a hardware defect, and I should ask Amazon for a replacement. But what do you guys think? What would you do? Is there any diagnostics I can do first?
Thanks a lot!

Locked bootloader still? Are you planning to unlock, or open to it? I would recommend doing so and doing a complete clean flash of the latest stock to both slots. Sometimes OTA's arent as complete as we like to think.
If you dont want to unlock the bootloader then I would at least do a factory reset, if you already havent.

Have you done anything to rule out everything else? Like are you positive that it's because of the temperature?
Maybe it's got something to do with cellular connectivity or GPS?
You could try removing your SIM/entering Airplane mode, and/or turning GPS off, and going outside, see if the issue persists?

Thanks for the responses!
No, I am currently not planning to unlock the bootloader. (Maybe I will, once the phone is 2 years old and the implied warranty has expired, but not now.)
Yes, I could do a factory reset. Is there a good non-unlocked way to backup everything I have already setup and configured?
No, I have no way of being completely sure that it is the temperature. Your idea that it might be linked to GPS is an interesting one. After all, I had the geotagging feature of the camera app enabled. I switched this off now, let's see if the problem occurs again.
Problem is, I can only test it on weekends. Being outdoors for only an hour or so has never been enough to trigger the problem. It had to be a longer stay outdoors of a few hours at least, and that I can only do on weekends.

rhhd said:
Maybe I will, once the phone is 2 years old and the implied warranty has expired, but not now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure that you can just flash the stock ROM, re-lock bootloader, and they won't know/bat an eye.
---
Could you leave your phone outside for a few hours? Instead of going on a hike?
From what I've gathered from OP and your reply above is that your phone starts acting up if it's been out in the cold for a while and you open the camera app. You might wanna leave it in the cold for a bit, wait for it to cool down to ambient temperatures, then try to open the camera app? If it still acts up, then we can be more certain that it's got nothing to do with geolocation, but with the cold temperature.

Good idea! I'll try that tonight and put it on my balcony for a few hours.

I suppose it could also be the fact that it get's moved/shaken more when I am moving on my outdoor tours...

rhhd said:
I suppose it could also be the fact that it get's moved/shaken more when I am moving on my outdoor tours...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or maybe changes in altitude? Although, I don't know if you're that hardcore at hiking or not
Anyway, leaving it on your balcony could help narrow down the source of the issue.

I don't think it is changes in altitude, because one of the tours was just a trailrun in only hilly terrain with maybe only 200 meters of altitude difference between highest and lowest point, and even on that tour I had massive issues.

rhhd said:
I don't think it is changes in altitude, because one of the tours was just a trailrun in only hilly terrain with maybe only 200 meters of altitude difference between highest and lowest point, and even on that tour I had massive issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you keep your device in your pocket? If so, it wouldn't be able to get too cold.

When running, it is in a mesh pocket of my running vest, so it would get quite cold. On mountain tours it is usually in an outside pocket of my pants. So yes, close to my body, but still some isolating layers away from my body.
Other question, now that we are talking shaking as a possible cause:
When you shake your phone in front of your ear, with the camera module facing towards your ear, do you hear something? I can definitely hear something shaking, as if a tiny metal part is loose inside the phone.

I keep my bootloader locked. Each month when there is an update I unlock the bootloader and update the phone in case something goes wrong. Once I've successfully updated my phone I relock the bootloader which just requires a reboot. Unlocking and relocking the bootloader does not delete data.

rhhd said:
When you shake your phone in front of your ear, with the camera module facing towards your ear, do you hear something? I can definitely hear something shaking, as if a tiny metal part is loose inside the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. Super faintly.
When having a camera app open, it definitely sounds like what you were describing. My best guess would be the OIS trying its best to keep everything stabilized.

xrayA4T said:
Unlocking and relocking the bootloader does not delete data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it void warranty though? Like what's Google's warranty policy here? Does unlocking the bootloader once void it already?

Lada333 said:
Yup. Super faintly.
When having a camera app open, it definitely sounds like what you were describing. My best guess would be the OIS trying its best to keep everything stabilized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't mean the OIS sound. I can also hear that one (very very faintly) when the camera app is open and I move the phone. (Sounds like a tiny tiny motor whirring a little.)
But the little clattering that I mean can be heard always, even when the screen is off. Sounds like a tiny screw is loose or something. It is also clearly audible, not nearly as faint as the OIS whirring.

Lada333 said:
Does it void warranty though? Like what's Google's warranty policy here? Does unlocking the bootloader once void it already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not like you are flashing a custom ROM (which I'm pretty sure doesn't void the warranty in the US or Europe). It just allows you to flash a full ROM, not just an OTA. Google has provided this functionality. There is not warning when unlocking that this will void the warranty.

rhhd said:
Sounds like a tiny screw is loose or something. It is also clearly audible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I shake my phone "front to back," I hear that. Only when the camera app isn't open though. When I open it, I cannot replicate the sound.

rhhd said:
No, I don't mean the OIS sound. I can also hear that one (very very faintly) when the camera app is open and I move the phone. (Sounds like a tiny tiny motor whirring a little.)
But the little clattering that I mean can be heard always, even when the screen is off. Sounds like a tiny screw is loose or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. That seems to be a third sound. Yes, I also have that one, and just as in your case it goes away when the camera app is open.
But the sound I mean is independent of the camera app, and also occurs when shaking the phone side-to-side.

OK, the test results are in:
On Tuesday, I left the phone out in the cold on my balcony for 2,5 hours, and yes, afterwards the problems did occur.
On Wednesday, I used the phone indoors, no issues. A new camera app update was installed, I hoped this might be the fix.
But no: On Thursday, I again put the phone outdoors for 2,5h. The problems are back.
I will ask Amazon for a replacement.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions!

rhhd said:
OK, the test results are in:
On Tuesday, I left the phone out in the cold on my balcony for 2,5 hours, and yes, afterwards the problems did occur.
On Wednesday, I used the phone indoors, no issues. A new camera app update was installed, I hoped this might be the fix.
But no: On Thursday, I again put the phone outdoors for 2,5h. The problems are back.
I will ask Amazon for a replacement.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's so strange!
I'd love to know what actually triggered this odd issue.
I mean, yeah, surely, something to do with cold temperatures, but that in itself doesn't explain a lot, does it?
I hope your replacement device won't have any issues!