What is the best way to control the software of my Z5C? Do I need root? - Xperia Z5 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I like my compact Z5 (international E5823) but the stock software is constantly updating, and updating the bloatware. The updates have slowly disabled all my apps. Plus it performs badly, I can rarely get cellular data now.
I am experienced with rooting Motorola and Nokia, but it’s so complicated with this phone. I rely on those DRM keys for the camera and fingerprint scanner.
I have Flashtool on my PC.
I would like to root it, maybe to run Adaway, but that is not mandatory. I mostly want the phone to perform well with cellular data and be able to control some other things like to eliminate the sound when I plug it in. Maybe I don’t need root.
What is the best way for me to gain control over the software to stop updates, block or eliminate bloatware, and be able to control sounds etc?

Go into the bloat, and turn off all the options regarding updates and notifications.
Use the System Tuner UI to get power notifications options and turn the notifications for the bloat.
Go into your data options, and turn off background data for the bloat.
Go into the software update and turn off the checking for updates, switch it to off, or manual.
You will not hear or see anything from your bloat again (whatsnew).
You will need to switch cellular providers if you want better 3g/4g data service.
No idea about sound when plugging it in. I have turned my phone to do not disturb mode, so it makes no sound.

Thanks for the tips. Switching off background data for each, I had not done yet.
I am wondering if I misdiagnosed the problems. 1) the phone uses the battery quickly, months ago it lasted 2 days, now barely 1 day; more than battery wear should be. 2) data signal is intermittent and rare now, months ago it got excellent cellular data, I had never even switched on wifi until recently.
Any advice to solve these 2 problems?
A while, back I tried to rebuff an update. Then the phone kept calling the home base trying to get that software update; interfering with my call signal and consuming the battery. Current problems seem similar to that but not as intense.
Also, as a silly question, I am a noob with obeying the rules and using stock android, is it normal to have your standard apps, like note taking or internet speed apps, just go obsolete when the os updates itself? Do I have to track down and update apps for each new os “security update”?

I just want to let you know that even if bloatware is removed, unless you resize the partition, the free space you gain is in the partition you don't have user access to.
also, unless you strip down most of the pre-installed apps, the most you really gain is about 500mb
you would have liked the guide I had on the sony forums for first boot out of box, it basically stepped you through the process to limit data and apps, and it gave about 2 1/2 days standby, no root required.

Related

[Q] phone process priority

Is it possible to raise the process priority for the phone app? I've noticed that when the processor is under heavy load and I try to place a call it can take up to a minute between pressing the call button and the call to actually go through. Since this is a phone, after all, I would like the phone parts to take priority over whatever app happens to be hogging the processor at the moment. Can this be done?
Possible, probably not worth the trouble.
I've only discovered one tool that will change process priority, it is part of the SDK, which leads me to believe the process priority it written into the Java script for the program, the list of applicable code I found here. There is a somewhat easier alternative which I believe will help you with your desired end result, use the free Market app AutoKiller Memory Optimizer. It allows to control at what level of available memory the system will automatically kill a process based on the process class. The developer page has sufficiently detailed information about what each class is and there are varoius default settings as well it is fully customizable.
It seems that Autokiller Memory Optimizer came with my ROM (KaosFroyo). Any suggestions on what the optimal settings are? I see the listings on the developer website, but it seems like most people are just using the defaults (or maybe what the ROM set).
Which ROM are you on? It doesn't lag making calls on XTRSense. It is slightly overclocked and runs good.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
KaosFroyo. I have had this lag with every ROM I've tried.
Define what you mean by a heavy load and what you are doing to make it work hard. Our phones aren't high end at all and although it does run faster on these ROMs, it still can be choked.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
Any process that slows the phone down. Installing a new app is a common culprit. I often don't know what it's doing because it's doing it in the background.
I am more than aware of the phone's limitations, but I think that, given that it is a phone, the phone's processor scheduler should ensure that the parts that make it function as a phone get highest priority, even to the point of totally stopping other processes.
One other thing I've noticed is that the lag is often correlated with the data indicator being active. I know that on CDMA the data connection can't be active during a call, so could it be waiting for the data connection to turn off? Is there a way to make this happen faster? For some reason this happens even when the phone is on wifi, but I'm not clear on whether the 3G connection is turned off when the phone is on wifi.
shoofy123 said:
Any process that slows the phone down. Installing a new app is a common culprit. I often don't know what it's doing because it's doing it in the background.
I am more than aware of the phone's limitations, but I think that, given that it is a phone, the phone's processor scheduler should ensure that the parts that make it function as a phone get highest priority, even to the point of totally stopping other processes.
One other thing I've noticed is that the lag is often correlated with the data indicator being active. I know that on CDMA the data connection can't be active during a call, so could it be waiting for the data connection to turn off? Is there a way to make this happen faster? For some reason this happens even when the phone is on wifi, but I'm not clear on whether the 3G connection is turned off when the phone is on wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Systempanel to see what processes are running. In my case Youtube, Maps, Google search, Pandora, and Shazam randomly start backup processes. I downloaded Autokiller to see if it keeps them ended. The only concern I have is I want to be reasonably sure it wont end the alarm process.
The thing is I don't particularly care about these processes running. Given the limited resources of the phone I think it is a fruitless task to try to keep it from ever getting slow and still enjoy all of the awesomeness of Android. I just want the actual calling parts to be able to take top priority no matter how slow the rest of the phone is running, just like most desktop OSes give the mouse high priority.

{Q} Can you shut down all but the most basic processes?

I am just looking for a way to essentially disable everything but the android OS itself and the camera.
I am camping way out of reception range and need as much juice out of my battery as I can get. So I don't need any Phone, Contact, Messaging, Data, Synch, or anything like that, really just a Camera, and maybe the ability to turn on the GPS if it will even work.
I tried keeping it turned off but turning it on when I needed it took a long time and seemed to use up more juice than just leaving it on and in sleep mode.
I know I could go into Titanium and "Freeze" everything but I think that would take forever to do and undo.
Any ideas or suggestions?
turn on airplane mode (which disables all wireless features including network, so no incoming/outgoing calls, no messages, etc)
auto sync/background data can be turned off in settings>accounts&sync settings

[Q] About Android....

Guys, don't ask me to search again... i really did... and didn't found any answer....
i am new on android.... and it's regarding the battery's life time...
i hope someone give me an answer here....
there're a lot android user saying about advanced task manager, juicedefender, v6 supercharger, cell standby, phone idle.... anyway... i got no answer at all....
few people using ATaskMan and improve their battery life, but few people said it just drain my battery... anyway...i don't see any improvement using that....
i used juice defender to keep the connectivity.... better than keep it all the time...
didn't see any improvement also....
i used setCpu too... keep it low at night.... i don't really know if it works....
all i want is keeping the data on as long as possible.... even on sleep.... to keep apps like viber, whatsapp, im+ and sometime to sync the apps like weather, facebook, twitter and email...
weather, facebook, twitter and email... these apps were set to manual... not automatic....
i don't call and messaging a lot.... just stay on in internet...
i don't play games a lot... maybe few minutes....
so my questions here...
1. did the apps on background really drain up the battery? because they are, who using v6 supercharger didn't have a problem with battery.... and it's not like ATaskMan... it's didn't kill the apps at all.... just manage the background apps...
2. did the widget also drain the battery? some people said so....
3. keep the data on all the time? i read in this forum... they keep their data on.... but, still having their phone more than a day... moveover... some guys get it over 2 till 4 days...
if it's about ROM, it should be same with other, who uses the same ROM...
and if it's about hardware... it should be from the first time i bought this phone....
i just want keep my phone as long as possible with data on.....
anyway.... i still keep tracking what drain my battery the most....
hope someone come with answer for this....
and sorry for my english.....
1. That depends on which apps are running in the background, but when your device is in standby it should go to "sleep", but if you've set some apps to update every 15 minutes, the phone will wake up (without turning the screen on of course) to update them. This will naturally use some battery. And remember that Android can handle all processes itself. You don't need to kill them yourself. That will actually decrease batterylife since the phone has to start the apps again everytime you kill them. A task manager is nice to have if an app is going rogue.
2. Widgets do use battery, and the widgets who are set to automatically update itself uses more battery (Facebook, Twitter, Weather etc.)
3. "This tip is one that seems counter-intuitive, but you can save a lot of wear and tear on your Android phone's battery if you tell it to keep the Wifi radio turned on and connected while the phone is sleeping. Your phone needs a lot of juice to keep pinging those cell towers, and even more to transmit data to and from them. Wifi radios use much less power because of their design, and they don't have to keep searching for a better access point. It's the way cellular data communication was designed, and it's a necessary evil.
But what if you're spending all day (or all evening) in one place, connected to Wifi? If you tell your phone to shut off Wifi when idle, it bounces back to cellular data (be it 2G, 3G, or 4G) and starts sucking down the electrons again when the screen shuts off. That's no good, and easy to fix:
Open the advanced Wifi settings by pressing the menu button, then Settings, Wireless & networks, Wi-Fi settings, and tapping the menu button again. You'll have a choice to either Scan, or go Advanced -- go Advanced.
Tap the Wi-Fi sleep policy entry, and you'll get a pop up dialog with the choices you see in the picture above. Choose Never.
Now even when your phone goes into standby mode, you'll stay connected to Wifi and be able to get mail and messages without turning the cell radio back on and trouncing your battery life. And for the times when you're not in an area with a Wifi connection, just shut Wifi off, either through the menu or with a handy toggle widget. Your battery will thank you for it."
Source: AndroidCentral
Follow the two guides below, this will help you out.
1. Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phone’s Battery Life
2. How to Save Battery Power on an Android
And of course the easiest solution that is often overlooked:
Carry a spare battery and/or charger.
BazookaAce said:
1. That depends on which apps are running in the background, but when your device is in standby it should go to "sleep", but if you've set some apps to update every 15 minutes, the phone will wake up (without turning the screen on of course) to update them. This will naturally use some battery. And remember that Android can handle all processes itself. You don't need to kill them yourself. That will actually decrease batterylife since the phone has to start the apps again everytime you kill them. A task manager is nice to have if an app is going rogue.
2. Widgets do use battery, and the widgets who are set to automatically update itself uses more battery (Facebook, Twitter, Weather etc.)
3. "This tip is one that seems counter-intuitive, but you can save a lot of wear and tear on your Android phone's battery if you tell it to keep the Wifi radio turned on and connected while the phone is sleeping. Your phone needs a lot of juice to keep pinging those cell towers, and even more to transmit data to and from them. Wifi radios use much less power because of their design, and they don't have to keep searching for a better access point. It's the way cellular data communication was designed, and it's a necessary evil.
But what if you're spending all day (or all evening) in one place, connected to Wifi? If you tell your phone to shut off Wifi when idle, it bounces back to cellular data (be it 2G, 3G, or 4G) and starts sucking down the electrons again when the screen shuts off. That's no good, and easy to fix:
Open the advanced Wifi settings by pressing the menu button, then Settings, Wireless & networks, Wi-Fi settings, and tapping the menu button again. You'll have a choice to either Scan, or go Advanced -- go Advanced.
Tap the Wi-Fi sleep policy entry, and you'll get a pop up dialog with the choices you see in the picture above. Choose Never.
Now even when your phone goes into standby mode, you'll stay connected to Wifi and be able to get mail and messages without turning the cell radio back on and trouncing your battery life. And for the times when you're not in an area with a Wifi connection, just shut Wifi off, either through the menu or with a handy toggle widget. Your battery will thank you for it."
Source: AndroidCentral
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot.... i just read all article from androidcentral.... i thought, i found all my answer there... searching in the google doesn't really bring me to the best source... it's just too many choice....
anyway... i got another website to spend my time
febycv said:
Follow the two guides below, this will help you out.
1. Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phone’s Battery Life
2. How to Save Battery Power on an Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for another source...
it's really helpfull...
DirkGently1 said:
And of course the easiest solution that is often overlooked:
Carry a spare battery and/or charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah.... it's the last choice.... carring them is not the problem.... im just kind person who can't leave my stuff behind on the socket... and i spend too much time out there... where doesn't really have socket... except... library... plug the charger for 5 minutes, doesn't really help.... thanks anyway....
The android OS has a built in task manger so using ATK or ATM is actually worse than if you don't.
But honestly rooting has made all of the difference. If you have time for it READ about what it means to root and the how-to's, youtube instrutional videos, etc.... just get your feet wet a lil bit. When/if you feel like it is something that you might be interested in, go ahead and do it. You wont regret it and you will diffidently be able to improve battery life with titanium backup which allows you to freeze apps that you dont need running.
Warning 1) you might become addicted to flashing ROMS... and 2) if you screw up your phone you can't blame anyone but yourself.
petecraig612 said:
The android OS has a built in task manger so using ATK or ATM is actually worse than if you don't.
But honestly rooting has made all of the difference. If you have time for it READ about what it means to root and the how-to's, youtube instrutional videos, etc.... just get your feet wet a lil bit. When/if you feel like it is something that you might be interested in, go ahead and do it. You wont regret it and you will diffidently be able to improve battery life with titanium backup which allows you to freeze apps that you dont need running.
Warning 1) you might become addicted to flashing ROMS... and 2) if you screw up your phone you can't blame anyone but yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I did already.... waiting the new rom everyday....
2. Yes it is....
I need root to back up my phone... and it's already rooted... and there're a lot useless program coming with stock rom... need root to clean it also....
Sent from my LG-P920 using XDA App
at least for my phone: regarding setcpu, you can raise the minimum frequency, increasing performance while hardly affecting battery life (at stock i had 245/600; now i have 480/600). turns out that if you set the minimum frequency low, it will take some juice to ramp the cpu back up
just a little tip
Just wanted to add: besides titanium backup, I'd also recommend gemini app manager and better battery stats. You can use gemini to edit an app's autorun permissions (ie, automatically starting at boot) for those apps you don't, can't or shouldn't uninstall/freeze. If you're having issues with your phone not sleeping better battery stats will help you identify what's keeping your phone awake.
Lastly, there is only so much you can do to optimize your battery life. In the end you're going to have to sacrifice some functionality for better battery life or vice versa. You just need to find the right balance you can live with.
What is the longest running time did you had on your phone? I reckon batteries are getting thinner and thinner and will not last long.
Apps are there to help you avoid manual work. If you switch of automation on all the apps then you will have to spent time and do it all manually and on the other hand how much life will you save lets say %15. Not worth it!
Best solution is to stick your handset to the charger while you are going to sleep!
sweetnsour said:
at least for my phone: regarding setcpu, you can raise the minimum frequency, increasing performance while hardly affecting battery life (at stock i had 245/600; now i have 480/600). turns out that if you set the minimum frequency low, it will take some juice to ramp the cpu back up
just a little tip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i set it 300/300 at night... it's from 00.00 til 06.00 which i don't touch it.... i don't know, if it is a good idea.... i guess, background apps wouldn't using cpu so badly.... would it?
arsalan.haqs said:
What is the longest running time did you had on your phone? I reckon batteries are getting thinner and thinner and will not last long.
Apps are there to help you avoid manual work. If you switch of automation on all the apps then you will have to spent time and do it all manually and on the other hand how much life will you save lets say %15. Not worth it!
Best solution is to stick your handset to the charger while you are going to sleep!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im trying tasker right now... 15% fair enough for me.... without losing data....
i am almost 12 hours out there every day.... i wanna figure out, how to spare the battery life... cause i wanna buy tablet.... which consume more battery than a phone....

[Q] Is it possible to remove phone functionality without affecting general use?

Having recently upgraded my phone I found myself with a Razr Maxx that no longer had phone service. Deciding not to use my brand new phone for workouts (runkeeper, or music playback while lifting) I basically re-purposed my Razr to function solely as a GPS tracking, wifi enabled, media device. The only bothersome quirk I've noticed about deciding to do this is that it's always running on Cell Standby with 0% signal time which seems to eat away at the battery. Putting the phone into Airplane mode apparently also kills GPS because Runkeeper won't grab a signal while it's on, but as soon as I turn it off I can find a lock immediately.
So, that's where I came up with my question of topic. Is it possible to remove apk's via Titanium Backup, or even strip them from the rom file prior to flashing, so that my phone would retain Bluetooth, Wifi, and GPS functionality while completely removing all Phone, APN, and MMS dependencies?
I tried removing all of the APN, Phone, and MMS apks from a rom prior to flashing and everything seemed to work just fine except I couldn't get a GPS signal lock.
For this to be a plausible avenue of exploration, I absolutely have to have GPS, Wifi, and Bluetooth. If those three aren't possible, then I guess I'll need to look for another solution; possibly something I haven't considered yet.

[Q] Samsung Galaxy S3 always at 80% RAM usage / Google Now problems

So, it's been bothering me for a while but my now 2-year-and-2-month old Samsung Galaxy S3 always just runs incredibly slowly. Not only that, but I tend to burn through the battery easily within 6 hours. For the past year and a half, or so, I've had to resort to carrying around two spare batteries with me as it has a tendency to run out of charge in the middle of the day, let alone if I'm out at a music festival or something. I'm not a particulaly heavy user, as in I rarely play video games on my phone, nor do I really watch videos or ever use bluetooth. Occasionally I do use GPS or WiFi, but I try to keep them turned off when I'm not using them. I tend to use my phone for music when I'm in the car, or texting / whatsapp / occasional snapchatting, or checking Pulse News or my internet banking. I don't have a particularly huge amount of apps installed, I don't think. And I regularly hold the Home button, & press the close-all-apps button to make sure that they're not running in the background.
Yet, my phone is so laggy. It's like there's a constant 3 or 5, or even sometimes 10, second delay for whatever action you've initiated to actually occur. You'll press Messages, and it'll take about 4 seconds for my text messages to show up. You'll press Home, and it takes about 3 seconds for it to close. Facebook just took about 8 seconds to load. It doesn't sound alot, but it can be quite infuriating when you're trying to get things done in a hurry. It's even worse when apps are running in the background!
So, I got to check my running processes and there's just loads of things running that both don't appear to be running when I hold the Home button but also shouldn't be running because I haven't used them in forever. It appears my phone has approximately 850MB of RAM, yet my phone tends to ALWAYS run at around 725MB used (currently it's at 751MB, as can be seen in the screenshot attached). But when I do go through the list of things running, the right hand side it tells you how much RAM is supposedly being used. Yet if I total up all of the RAM being used by all of the apps that are apparently running, it only comes to about 300MB. So where the heck is this other 450MB of RAM being used?! THIS is what is slowing down my phone, I think.
Not only that, but there are things in this list that are running that shouldn't be running, & I don't understand why they are. Facebook, sure I can understand, in case you get a notification or something. But TuneIn Radio... I'm not listening to the radio at the moment, nor have I used the app in weeks (and my phone has been restarted numerous times since then), why is it running? S Voice, too? Video Hub? Google Play Music, I've never even used it. And then there's loads of things I haven't got a clue what they are, like Exchange Services, ELM Agent, SmartcardService, etc. Now I understand it's like a computer, where there are a number of background processes that have to run to make the OS work, but why are all these other apps running that I'm not using?!
-------------------------
Furthermore, I've started trying to use Google Now because I would like to get a Moto 360 (but I'll ask questions about that in a seperate thread). So, it seemed to work fine a few weeks ago. It gave me stocks, news updates, ETA to work or home, started remembering where I was parking. But now a few days ago I go back to it, after not using it for a little while, & it's all reset; Asking me to set it up again. So I did, & it mostly works but I can only ever seem to get the first "page" of cards up. When I click "More" at the bottom I just get an endless spinning circle & then the message "No Internet Connection - Content was last updated X minutes ago" appears as the top card, when infact I know I do have an internet connection. Exiting the app, closing it down, & then re-opening does not fix the issue either. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.
Furthermore, it always asks me to "Improve my location: For more accurate location, let google search for Wi-Fi connections, even when Wi-Fi is off." I don't understand how this works, and what it's trying to do? If I turn it on, is that not going to be effectively the same as leaving my WiFi turned on at all times? Well, except without the benefits of being connected via WiFi. It's just going to drain my battery more, as leaving WiFi on usually does.
-------------------------
So tldr:
- Why is my RAM mysteriously using 450MB that I can't vouch for? Where is it going? How I stop it?
- Why is Google Now not letting my manually update the cards?
You are missing huge amounts of very basic information, search and read for what is safe to disable on stock rom, some things are vital others are optional.
If you leave everything running as default then 6hrs battery life is about right.
Benaholic said:
So, it's been bothering me for a while but my now 2-year-and-2-month old Samsung Galaxy S3 always just runs incredibly slowly. Not only that, but I tend to burn through the battery easily within 6 hours. For the past year and a half, or so, I've had to resort to carrying around two spare batteries with me as it has a tendency to run out of charge in the middle of the day, let alone if I'm out at a music festival or something. I'm not a particulaly heavy user, as in I rarely play video games on my phone, nor do I really watch videos or ever use bluetooth. Occasionally I do use GPS or WiFi, but I try to keep them turned off when I'm not using them. I tend to use my phone for music when I'm in the car, or texting / whatsapp / occasional snapchatting, or checking Pulse News or my internet banking. I don't have a particularly huge amount of apps installed, I don't think. And I regularly hold the Home button, & press the close-all-apps button to make sure that they're not running in the background.
Yet, my phone is so laggy. It's like there's a constant 3 or 5, or even sometimes 10, second delay for whatever action you've initiated to actually occur. You'll press Messages, and it'll take about 4 seconds for my text messages to show up. You'll press Home, and it takes about 3 seconds for it to close. Facebook just took about 8 seconds to load. It doesn't sound alot, but it can be quite infuriating when you're trying to get things done in a hurry. It's even worse when apps are running in the background!
So, I got to check my running processes and there's just loads of things running that both don't appear to be running when I hold the Home button but also shouldn't be running because I haven't used them in forever. It appears my phone has approximately 850MB of RAM, yet my phone tends to ALWAYS run at around 725MB used (currently it's at 751MB, as can be seen in the screenshot attached). But when I do go through the list of things running, the right hand side it tells you how much RAM is supposedly being used. Yet if I total up all of the RAM being used by all of the apps that are apparently running, it only comes to about 300MB. So where the heck is this other 450MB of RAM being used?! THIS is what is slowing down my phone, I think.
Not only that, but there are things in this list that are running that shouldn't be running, & I don't understand why they are. Facebook, sure I can understand, in case you get a notification or something. But TuneIn Radio... I'm not listening to the radio at the moment, nor have I used the app in weeks (and my phone has been restarted numerous times since then), why is it running? S Voice, too? Video Hub? Google Play Music, I've never even used it. And then there's loads of things I haven't got a clue what they are, like Exchange Services, ELM Agent, SmartcardService, etc. Now I understand it's like a computer, where there are a number of background processes that have to run to make the OS work, but why are all these other apps running that I'm not using?!
-------------------------
Furthermore, I've started trying to use Google Now because I would like to get a Moto 360 (but I'll ask questions about that in a seperate thread). So, it seemed to work fine a few weeks ago. It gave me stocks, news updates, ETA to work or home, started remembering where I was parking. But now a few days ago I go back to it, after not using it for a little while, & it's all reset; Asking me to set it up again. So I did, & it mostly works but I can only ever seem to get the first "page" of cards up. When I click "More" at the bottom I just get an endless spinning circle & then the message "No Internet Connection - Content was last updated X minutes ago" appears as the top card, when infact I know I do have an internet connection. Exiting the app, closing it down, & then re-opening does not fix the issue either. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.
Furthermore, it always asks me to "Improve my location: For more accurate location, let google search for Wi-Fi connections, even when Wi-Fi is off." I don't understand how this works, and what it's trying to do? If I turn it on, is that not going to be effectively the same as leaving my WiFi turned on at all times? Well, except without the benefits of being connected via WiFi. It's just going to drain my battery more, as leaving WiFi on usually does.
-------------------------
So tldr:
- Why is my RAM mysteriously using 450MB that I can't vouch for? Where is it going? How I stop it?
- Why is Google Now not letting my manually update the cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Debloat the Rom and use Root Cleaner from Google Play Store
*Requires Root*
Good luck
Benaholic said:
So, it's been bothering me for a while but my now 2-year-and-2-month old Samsung Galaxy S3 always just runs incredibly slowly. Not only that, but I tend to burn through the battery easily within 6 hours. For the past year and a half, or so, I've had to resort to carrying around two spare batteries with me as it has a tendency to run out of charge in the middle of the day, let alone if I'm out at a music festival or something. I'm not a particulaly heavy user, as in I rarely play video games on my phone, nor do I really watch videos or ever use bluetooth. Occasionally I do use GPS or WiFi, but I try to keep them turned off when I'm not using them. I tend to use my phone for music when I'm in the car, or texting / whatsapp / occasional snapchatting, or checking Pulse News or my internet banking. I don't have a particularly huge amount of apps installed, I don't think. And I regularly hold the Home button, & press the close-all-apps button to make sure that they're not running in the background.
Yet, my phone is so laggy. It's like there's a constant 3 or 5, or even sometimes 10, second delay for whatever action you've initiated to actually occur. You'll press Messages, and it'll take about 4 seconds for my text messages to show up. You'll press Home, and it takes about 3 seconds for it to close. Facebook just took about 8 seconds to load. It doesn't sound alot, but it can be quite infuriating when you're trying to get things done in a hurry. It's even worse when apps are running in the background!
So, I got to check my running processes and there's just loads of things running that both don't appear to be running when I hold the Home button but also shouldn't be running because I haven't used them in forever. It appears my phone has approximately 850MB of RAM, yet my phone tends to ALWAYS run at around 725MB used (currently it's at 751MB, as can be seen in the screenshot attached). But when I do go through the list of things running, the right hand side it tells you how much RAM is supposedly being used. Yet if I total up all of the RAM being used by all of the apps that are apparently running, it only comes to about 300MB. So where the heck is this other 450MB of RAM being used?! THIS is what is slowing down my phone, I think.
Not only that, but there are things in this list that are running that shouldn't be running, & I don't understand why they are. Facebook, sure I can understand, in case you get a notification or something. But TuneIn Radio... I'm not listening to the radio at the moment, nor have I used the app in weeks (and my phone has been restarted numerous times since then), why is it running? S Voice, too? Video Hub? Google Play Music, I've never even used it. And then there's loads of things I haven't got a clue what they are, like Exchange Services, ELM Agent, SmartcardService, etc. Now I understand it's like a computer, where there are a number of background processes that have to run to make the OS work, but why are all these other apps running that I'm not using?!
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Furthermore, I've started trying to use Google Now because I would like to get a Moto 360 (but I'll ask questions about that in a seperate thread). So, it seemed to work fine a few weeks ago. It gave me stocks, news updates, ETA to work or home, started remembering where I was parking. But now a few days ago I go back to it, after not using it for a little while, & it's all reset; Asking me to set it up again. So I did, & it mostly works but I can only ever seem to get the first "page" of cards up. When I click "More" at the bottom I just get an endless spinning circle & then the message "No Internet Connection - Content was last updated X minutes ago" appears as the top card, when infact I know I do have an internet connection. Exiting the app, closing it down, & then re-opening does not fix the issue either. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.
Furthermore, it always asks me to "Improve my location: For more accurate location, let google search for Wi-Fi connections, even when Wi-Fi is off." I don't understand how this works, and what it's trying to do? If I turn it on, is that not going to be effectively the same as leaving my WiFi turned on at all times? Well, except without the benefits of being connected via WiFi. It's just going to drain my battery more, as leaving WiFi on usually does.
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So tldr:
- Why is my RAM mysteriously using 450MB that I can't vouch for? Where is it going? How I stop it?
- Why is Google Now not letting my manually update the cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root Your Phone
Install Xposed
Install Greenify
And hibernation your apps

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