Database Info

Sluggish Phone

Recently my SGS2 LTE becomes sluggish if I don't turn it off for a week or two. I also notice that my RAM normally sits at about 500+/785MB. I know that clearing my memory lowers it quite a bit, but then I don't get certain notifications because it clears certain apps from the Running Services and Cached Processes. So my question is A) how can I keep my RAM lower without clering the memory? and B) how can I keep my phone from being so sluggish? Is this just normal and turning it off and on every week or two is normal protocol for keeping a smooth phone? Keep in mind that my phone is totally stock as well. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

How many apps do you have on your phone?
Any task killers or task managers?
What apps do you have that are updating or syncing?
When you say sluggish, is it just the launcher or is it everything?
Are you getting any force closed error messages?

Uncle Irish said:
How many apps do you have on your phone?
Any task killers or task managers?
What apps do you have that are updating or syncing?
When you say sluggish, is it just the launcher or is it everything?
Are you getting any force closed error messages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not including the stock apps, I have roughly 45 installed.
Other then my Gmail, Email, WhatsApp, and 2 games, I don't think any others are actively syncing.
When I say sluggish I mean everything.
And yes at the really bad times, I'll get the Force Close message.

did u flash the note uclc5 radio?

icenight89 said:
did u flash the note uclc5 radio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I did not.

45 apps and you are wondering why it is sluggish.... Do you think your phone is a desktop?
Just caching all the **** will rape your phone. It's a good phone but remember the cache and ram are still weak.
Do yourself a favor and reduce to half th apps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

Pay no mind to the post above mine. 45 apps is not the culprit. I have about 70.
You should try a factory reset to test things out. Make sure u back up everything u need and pull everything u want off the internal storage and save to PC. Start totally fresh and then start adding apps slowly to test. Could be a rogue app causing it but never know. Factory image "should" resolve.
<insert witty signature here>

@kr3w1337 yes Skyrocket is a desktop, or the closest thing to a desktop. If you think 45 apps are too much - last I checked I had 89, and then I installed a few more mapping apps
This is our future, the desktop capabilities are leaking into our wearable items. It's not perfect and this guy's skyrocket is slow ... let's find out why (I will have an app for that in the coming months)
@RoLo. let's use what others suggested and add a few more things:
Are you using apps that are on your SDcard or use data on your SDCard ? I'm sure they are loaded to memory but if they interact with the external SDCard and if you have a slow card this may be part of your problem
Also, do you have stock ROM ? if you do I suggest learning how to install one of the rooted trimmed ROMs that take away some of the apps known to hog your phone resources
Another thing - is your data connection turned on all the time ? I found out that our phone is looking for the best network (4G) and then if that is not there it "downgrades" the search. All of that consumes time especially if you are on the move. Your apps freeze as a result and wait for the phone to establish connection all the time. To resolve this in some scenarios - go to your wireless settings and limit your phone so it only looks for connection up to 3G
Another thing as people already mentioned is the apps you have running. I'll ask this: do you have multiple apps that keep updating and getting new information ? the network handshakes between apps and data-network is slowing the rest of your apps down. If you are on WiFi it's a lot better
I hope this gives you a few more ideas to chase. It's a great phone and a huge step in the right direction where one day (soon) our phones will be part of our computing, information and services tools. It will do many things and serve as a phone as well
JD

kr3w1337 said:
45 apps and you are wondering why it is sluggish.... Do you think your phone is a desktop?
Just caching all the **** will rape your phone. It's a good phone but remember the cache and ram are still weak.
Do yourself a favor and reduce to half th apps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No way dude, I have exactly 182 apps, never had under 120 on my old Atrix, had no problem even on GB!
Sent from my HTC Vivid via Tapatalk

Nice post dorj1234
Happy to give you your first thanks

kr3w1337 said:
45 apps and you are wondering why it is sluggish.... Do you think your phone is a desktop?
Just caching all the **** will rape your phone. It's a good phone but remember the cache and ram are still weak.
Do yourself a favor and reduce to half th apps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you crazy i have 100 apps and my phone runs like a breeze

I think I have found a fix for the multitasking! (Video inside)

Hello guys. Sorry if I come off as a noob here but I have been browsing this forum for the past couple of weeks. I have been specifically looking for a fix for the htc multitasking issues. But even with the suggestions given by users, I still could not find a fix that solved the multitasking issue. However, after much tweaking and playing with minfreemanager, sense, and task manager, I think I have found a fix (or a least a temporary fix) for the multitasking issue on the HOX. Here's a quick video I made to demonstrate this.
(dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=FeOZtvlK08c&feature=g-upl
As you can see in the video, I am able to scroll through multiple apps without any of them closing/restarting as they normally would have on the phone with stock settings. Although not perfect, the multitasking on the HOX has become much better, and almost perfect (at least for how I believe most users would be multitasking). I can make a phone call, go back to my web browser without the browser refreshing. However, I will warn you now, with this method, the phone will freeze up/slow down occasionally (however, I have found this to only happen when using apps that utilize a lot of memory or when browsing the youtube desktop website).
1) First you'll need to download minfreemanager (many of you reading this probably already have this installed). You can get this app in the play store. However, you'll need to have your phone rooted.
2) Download advanced task manager, find the apps (such as games, browsers, etc.) that you use consistently and put them in the ignore list. Then put autokiller on and regular kill on and set the regular kill frequency to 1 minute.
3) Go to minfreemanager and set all values to 0.
4) Reboot your phone.
5) Go back to minfreemanager and reset the values to 0 and apply those settings once again.
6) Have fun with significantly improved multitasking!
Like I said, the multitasking is not perfect, however, for most users, this improved multitasking will suit you well enough to not get you frustrated. Again, if you do not want to have to deal with occasional lag/freezing, then do not use this method. However, if you want improved multitasking, this method works.
But keep in mind that I am a noob still so if there anything that is not good with my settings, please let me know. Im not a tech genius and am only trying to improve everyone's user experience with this phone.

Lilshaun said:
Hello guys. Sorry if I come off as a noob here but I have been browsing this forum for the past couple of weeks. I have been specifically looking for a fix for the htc multitasking issues. But even with the suggestions given by users, I still could not find a fix that solved the multitasking issue. However, after much tweaking and playing with minfreemanager, sense, and task manager, I think I have found a fix (or a least a temporary fix) for the multitasking issue on the HOX. Here's a quick video I made to demonstrate this.
(dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=FeOZtvlK08c&feature=g-upl
As you can see in the video, I am able to scroll through multiple apps without any of them closing/restarting as they normally would have on the phone with stock settings. Although not perfect, the multitasking on the HOX has become much better, and almost perfect (at least for how I believe most users would be multitasking). I can make a phone call, go back to my web browser without the browser refreshing. However, I will warn you now, with this method, the phone will freeze up/slow down occasionally (however, I have found this to only happen when using apps that utilize a lot of memory or when browsing the youtube desktop website).
1) First you'll need to download minfreemanager (many of you reading this probably already have this installed). You can get this app in the play store. However, you'll need to have your phone rooted.
2) Download advanced task manager, find the apps (such as games, browsers, etc.) that you use consistently and put them in the ignore list. Then put autokiller on and regular kill on and set the regular kill frequency to 1 minute.
3) Go to minfreemanager and set all values to 0.
4) Reboot your phone.
5) Go back to minfreemanager and reset the values to 0 and apply those settings once again.
6) Have fun with significantly improved multitasking!
Like I said, the multitasking is not perfect, however, for most users, this improved multitasking will suit you well enough to not get you frustrated. Again, if you do not want to have to deal with occasional lag/freezing, then do not use this method. However, if you want improved multitasking, this method works.
But keep in mind that I am a noob still so if there anything that is not good with my settings, please let me know. Im not a tech genius and am only trying to improve everyone's user experience with this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiosity, are you running 1.82? I've had lock-up issues using minfreemanager on 1.73, but apparently they it performs better on 1.82, so I wasn't sure if that might be the cause of your freeze-up/slowdowns.

Silellak said:
Out of curiosity, are you running 1.82? I've had lock-up issues using minfreemanager on 1.73, but apparently they it performs better on 1.82, so I wasn't sure if that might be the cause of your freeze-up/slowdowns.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm running the 1.73 firmware.

check your available ram now and tell us what it is please

equlizer said:
check your available ram now and tell us what it is please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
175 M. When not using the browser around 220.

You're definitely on to something, way better than anything I have tried so far... I did have a lock up a minute ago though, could be unrelated though... More testing to come.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

I've seen other reports that just being on 1.82 and using the "Minimal" or "Default" settings in Memfreemanager is enough to significantly improve the multitasking, so this might be a bit of overkill. Still, your hard work is appreciated

[email protected] said:
You're definitely on to something, way better than anything I have tried so far... I did have a lock up a minute ago though, could be unrelated though... More testing to come.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Did as you said except for reboot and so far all Is well. Have to see how this effects battery but the multitasking is getting better.

multitasking works much better...but the phone became so laggy when i went back to home screen...takes 1 minute to pull down the notification curtain... I have reversed it now.
Thanks for the good work nevertheless!

men onsuserv
fobfusion said:
multitasking works much better...but the phone became so laggy when i went back to home screen...takes 1 minute to pull down the notification curtain... I have reversed it now.
Thanks for the good work nevertheless!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What apps were you running when the slow down occured?

What apps did y'all add to the ignore list? Like all Widgets and stuff?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

jason.hamilton said:
What apps did y'all add to the ignore list? Like all Widgets and stuff?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put games, my web browser, and a couple other apps I don't want closed in the background while using on my ignore list. Anyone else having success worn this method.

I used the default setting on min free, it definitely seems to have improved the kill off time. My Chrome now stays open significantly longer than it used to, although it still dies faster than it did on my Atrix. A few slowdowns on 1.7, but no hard crashes yet.

Im not sure if it was due to this, but after applying this my phone froze at the lock screen and had to reboot.

Suggestion for anyone facing constant slow downs or lock ups, try using the mild setting for minfreemanager and see if that makes a difference. Currently testing with those settings.

Just use Rom Toolbox and use a preset in memory management. It requires root and it basically fixes the refreshing problem.. you can then tweak it the way you want
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

fielddb said:
Just use Rom Toolbox and use a preset in memory management. It requires root and it basically fixes the refreshing problem.. you can then tweak it the way you want
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't this do the same function as using minfreemanager.

This is a million times better than what I was having to deal with

vioalas said:
This is a million times better than what I was having to deal with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has this method helped you?

One more quick aid. If you're still dealing with constant slow downs or lag, download cpu tuner from google play. It's free. Use the performance setting and the phone will become much quicker.

Camera update and CPU usage

I recently noticed that the CPU on my rooted, stock rom Nexus 5 was running at levels of 70*% on all 4 cores. It came to my attention because this really slowed down the phone and made apps run very slow.
I asked about it and investigated but got no satisfactory responses. Finally I came across this
http://androidcommunity.com/nexus-5-camera-and-cpu-usage-bug-acknowledged-20140305/
I uninstalled the camera updates and the CPU usage immediately dropped to normal with only 2 cores being used most of the time.
So, if your phone has been running slow lately, it might be because of the latest camera update. Uninstalling the update might be the answer for you too.

the camera daemon was an issue way before the new camera came out. many many many have been experiencing it with the old camera. its not the camera itself btw, its a service your phone runs when taking photos(using the cam). and there are 2 temporary fixes for it.. 1. reboot your device, 2. use a free memory app to kill your services. as you can see that article was written way before the new camera app came out.

Which service should I kill? The battery app said it was "Android os" that was hogging it. Would disabling the camera app and using a different app make a difference?
Here's the difference I saw.

i use an app called FMR Memory Cleaner. i open it, press the button to run it(kill everything), and it frees my ram memory up. as a side effect, it kills that camera daemon service running. so it stops the high cpu usage/battery loss right after. basically, right after i stop using my camera, i run it.
btw, i used to work for androidcommunity.com(and actually get paid for it). i used to head and run their forums. and if you search simms22 in their search, a whole bunch of their news articles will pop up with me in them

Thanks. I thought task killers were useless because Android just reloads what it needs, but maybe it doesn't reload the camera daemon until the user calls it again. I don't use the camera much which is possibly why I had not noticed this till now.
Wonder if a boot manager could selectively prevent the camera and similar daemons from loading till actually called. But I don't know much about the inner workings of android.

Anderson2 said:
Thanks. I thought task killers were useless because Android just reloads what it needs, but maybe it doesn't reload the camera daemon until the user calls it again. I don't use the camera much which is possibly why I had not noticed this till now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a matter of opinion. sure, android does the job. personally i dont like how android does it. ive been using a few free ram/fast reboot type memory freers apps for the past 5 years, and am very selective of which i use, as some are just junk. anyways, it keeps me happier in the end, and thats whats important. isnt it?

simms22 said:
its a matter of opinion. sure, android does the job. personally i dont like how android does it. ive been using a few free ram/fast reboot type memory freers apps for the past 5 years, and am very selective of which i use, as some are just junk. anyways, it keeps me happier in the end, and thats whats important. isnt it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is what's important.
And thank you for your help.

[Q] Getting Adds with ALL apps closed!

I am being driven crazy by random pop-adds even when no apps are open.
I contacted Samsung support and they told me apps can pop up add even when apps are closed, maybe their right but I have my doubts. They advised me to put my phone in "Safe Mode", but why should I be forced to do that?
I can't figure out why on a phone I paid close to $1k for and a service (Verizon) I pay almost $100 a month for that I keep being interrupted by pop up adds. I truly boggle my mind and they pop up when I'm trying to answer my phone, manage my calendar, text messages, etc.
There are adds for games, software, apps, services, you name it I get pop adds for it.
I can't even figure out who's generating them!
Is this happening to others?

What are the ads advertising?
Not happening on either of our Samsungs. Nope.
I'd boot to safe mode, and if you get a no show from there, at least you boot-up system is clean. Doubtful it will be in the startup. Then I'd go into my setup/applications, and go after shutting down any apps running, one by one. It's a PITA, but you will come across it. Wish I knew a more direct method/easier way.
Hopefully someone will come along with a more elegant, and simple method.

mikeacox said:
I am being driven crazy by random pop-adds even when no apps are open.
I contacted Samsung support and they told me apps can pop up add even when apps are closed, maybe their right but I have my doubts. They advised me to put my phone in "Safe Mode", but why should I be forced to do that?
I can't figure out why on a phone I paid close to $1k for and a service (Verizon) I pay almost $100 a month for that I keep being interrupted by pop up adds. I truly boggle my mind and they pop up when I'm trying to answer my phone, manage my calendar, text messages, etc.
There are adds for games, software, apps, services, you name it I get pop adds for it.
I can't even figure out who's generating them!
Is this happening to others?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes your not the only one.
Generally speaking most of the third party apps that you download and install from playstore have adds in them ( free versions ).reading the app description usually down the bottom somewhere will tell you if it has adds. Paying for the apps usually gives some extra features and no adds. Web browsers are another issue to with adds showing up. It could be possible that your provider maybe feeding you adds(not sure about that though).
While safe mode will start your phone without the 3rd party apps it won't tell you which app is causing the the issue and you can't use those apps.
Closing apps may not help as they still tend to run in the background.
Being offline from the internet will help as well unless the apps have adds in the app itself.
Uninstalling apps and reinstalling one by one to find which one(s) have adds can be done but is rather time consuming.
About the only thing you can do to try and stop adds is to install an adblocker app it works for me.
Have a read of this thread for more info on adblocker apps hope it may help you out.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-ad-blocking-t3218167

JeffDC said:
What are the ads advertising?
I'd boot to safe mode, and if you get a no show from there, at least you boot-up system is clean. Doubtful it will be in the startup. Then I'd go into my setup/applications, and go after shutting down any apps running, one by one. It's a PITA, but you will come across it. Wish I knew a more direct method/easier way. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for responding.
As I said in my post the adds are a mixed bag. I'll give your suggestions a try.
Thanks again..

spawnlives said:
Yes your not the only one.
Generally speaking most of the third party apps that you download and install from playstore have adds in them ( free versions ).reading the app description usually down the bottom somewhere will tell you if it has adds.Paying for the apps usually gives some extra features and no adds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm familiar with the way the adds work and I often pay, since it's usually only a few dollars, to be rid of them, and it supports the developer. The odd thing is that this has only recently become a problem. It never happened with my S6, or with any of the phones I had before that.
Web browsers are another issue to with adds showing up. It could be possible that your provider maybe feeding you adds(not sure about that though).]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about that too and considered calling my provider, but, like you, I'm "not sure about that"
While safe mode will start your phone without the 3rd party apps it won't tell you which app is causing the issue and you can't use those apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I didn't like Samsung Support's solution! But it will reduce the variables to almost zero, so I'll give a try. If I get no adds I'll know it's an app
Closing apps may not help as they still tend to run in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess they were right.
Being offline from the internet will help as well unless the apps have adds in the app itself.[/QUOTE
Hmm, hadn't thought of that option.
Uninstalling apps and reinstalling one by one to find which one(s) have adds can be done but is rather time consuming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree! What about running "Force Stop" on them? Never was quite sure what that did though.
About the only thing you can do to try and stop adds is to install an adblocker app it works for me.
Have a read of this thread for more info on adblocker apps hope it may help you out.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-ad-blocking-t3218167
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks. I'll check then out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mikeacox said:
What about running "Force Stop" on them? Never was quite sure what that did though.
Force stop will stop or for want of a better term kill the app so it won't keep running in background until you restart the app again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

spawnlives said:
mikeacox said:
What about running "Force Stop" on them? Never was quite sure what that did though.
Force stop will stop or for want of a better term kill the app so it won't keep running in background until you restart the app again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that is good to know. Seems like I could Forced Stop apps that I suspect then just start them later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Is it possible to know which apps are using the cpu?

I noticed that something has been using too much cpu, because sometimes i'm using an app and it suddenly minimizes, but it doesn't close completely, it happens on videos and stuff, and it's kinda annoying, so i wanna know if i can see which apps are using how much cpu to solve my problem, any ideas?

Indirectly with a battery tracking that shows system apk usage.
Google doesn't want us to see the truth.
Many times it's a Google system apk doing it too.

blackhawk said:
Indirectly with a battery tracking that shows system apk usage.
Google doesn't want us to see the truth.
Many times it's a Google system apk doing it too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, there isn't a way to see it exactly? I mean, i guess it can be done with root, but i am non-root, and i wouldn't root my device just for something that i will use one time

xDIEGOSHOOTEDx said:
So, there isn't a way to see it exactly? I mean, i guess it can be done with root, but i am non-root, and i wouldn't root my device just for something that i will use one time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Not rooted either.
After having countless great tools available with XPx64 and W7, Android is like a barren desert.
Troubleshooting a newer Android is now like playing wackamole.
Accubattery has a useful discharge current overlay feature... works with Pie not sure about Q.
When streaming vids on the browser higher usage spikes are normal. On all my apps this uses the most battery. All my browsers use about the same amount of cpu cycles/power when viewing vids.

You need something like a Task Manager on Windows.

James_Watson said:
You need something like a Task Manager on Windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but since i haven't found one, i doubt it's possible

xDIEGOSHOOTEDx said:
I noticed that something has been using too much cpu, because sometimes i'm using an app and it suddenly minimizes, but it doesn't close completely, it happens on videos and stuff, and it's kinda annoying, so i wanna know if i can see which apps are using how much cpu to solve my problem, any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gsam battery monitor app also tracks app usage

xDIEGOSHOOTEDx said:
Yes, but since i haven't found one, i doubt it's possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such thing unless you use abd to enable the required permissions.

blackhawk said:
No such thing unless you use abd to enable the required permissions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i forgot, adb is by pc conection, isn't it?

xDIEGOSHOOTEDx said:
Sorry, i forgot, adb is by pc conection, isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Never used it but probably should to be able to access the advanced features in some of the apps. DevChek is one.
Karma Firewall uses almost no battery, it's a VNP freeware app that works great.
Let's you see what's hogging the bandwidth/battery and lock them down as needed. Best firewall I've ever used; it's always running now.