Related
Should i update my phone to ICS from Gingerbread??
Or its not a good idea?
Performance vs looks
IF you really want a beautiful experience(WITH LAG) of the interface(FOR A LITTLE WHILE) in lieu of the OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE then please UPDATE TO ICS.
BUT if you want to have a better experience(WITHOUT ANY LAG) with all of the phone's feature THEN STAY WITH THE GB.:angel:
I have tried almost every ICS ROM for the ARC and almost every ROM HAS A LAG(in the beginning it doesn't come into action but after some time when caching of system applications start it's the most HORRIBLE experience with the phone and sometimes you can't even use your phone for call or messaging (LIKE IT'S LAGGING LIKE HEELLL) ):crying:
SO it's upto you..what i think
I AM BACK TO GB FROM ICS
REST IS YOUR CHOICE:good:
plz hit thanks if i helped
ICS consumes more resources, there's no way round that, but a properly configured Arc can easily run ICS with ZERO lag. You do need to be careful what apps you have running in the background - see this post for more details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30809767&postcount=11
Personally, I would never go back to GB. My phone is so much more stable on ICS, you can run a number of tablet-only apps, battery life is significantly improved, etc.
I've not tried the latest Sony rom, but previous ones have not been great - too bloated and sluggish. Custom roms are IMHO definitely the way to go for ICS on the Arc.
Update?
Just Update to the latest .578 ICS and if you feel the device is slow/irresponsive use Bloatware Remover to make RAM consumption better
Xperia Arc Can Handle ICS , Great as GB.
It depends Upon the Developer Of it.
I say go for a try
If i install Sony's official ICS will i lose my root, and will i have to install different kernel? I am currently using doomLord's kernel.
Hi
To upgrade or not to upgrade…
Few days ago I come back to old GB 2.3.4 simply because I have some unfinished business with some games I didn’t finish while on GB – and also sort of compare to what was like to be on GB again comparing to ICS… (anyways it takes me @ 15min to switch to any Android ver. And with CWM backup it a matter of minutes to be back on favorite ROM…)
Man I felt like I was driving on handbrake all this time… you feel like flying fast… no LAG whatsoever it feels great again… speed wise.
From the moment ICS come out I already flashed it via flashtool and rooted, immediately I started to try out different kinds of ROM modes out there… tried like maybe 10 of them (could only use some as I need to stay with locked BootLoader… so no custom kernels.) Anyway after so many months of playing around – the only ROM which suited my needs was JJROM 3.1 – also the look of it is great for me… so I stayed with it… flashed XPERIA S Walkman port + some other little add-ons which made my ROM complete…
Now somebody wrote here that you need to be very careful what you run on ICS ROM in order to be sure it can run smoothly enough… and this is so true…
When buying originally the phone (ARC S) it was supposed to serve me like a little computer machine while I’m away – Internet, mail, GPS, banking, photos, music, movies, YouTube, FB… etc, etc… it supposed to be very flexible and have enough power to do many things with many programs as possible… now with GB I noticed that I’m able to do many more things at once while lag-free then with ICS… I didn’t buy phone just to make calls and SMS – as many users tent to use their smartphones for… for me it have to do some rather heavy duty stuff…
Unfortunately ICS is very memory hungry and I noticed that with time after installing all favorite apps it starts to lag… you don’t notice till you have some reference like trying again GB with the some programs… don’t fall into adverts of different ROM makes that their ROMs are so great and fast – lag free and have so much RAM free – and blah blah… they flash fresh ROM, take few screenshots of fresh install with so much RAM free (zero apps running), then upload some clips on YT so you are amazed at the smoothness… BUT the real life starts after somebody installs their 10+ favorite apps and then can test the ROM in real life… and most of the time you realize that the difference between “before and after” is like night and day… ROM becomes unusable… or lags terribly.
I will be going back to my beloved ICS JJROM3.1 (after I finish the games I can’t on ICS) but I realize that it will never be as fast as GB… I just love the HOLO layout and look of ICS… I miss already some of the ICS options and functions, but the speed of GB is just amazing so I will stay on it to enjoy a bit longer… ha. I guess someone needs to find this “in between” ROM, where he can use as many of his apps as possible and still have reasonable speed left. I have running all GG services, FB Firendcaster, Forum app, weather, RSS reader, maps, Email etc etc and no lag whatsoever – games load fast and run perfectly without any glitches… while playing NOVA, DeadSpace, Shadow Guardian etc I still receive mail and forum/FB/RSS notices in the background and games don’t stop or even shatter for a moment, you don’t feel like there is any problem with having all this background services going on… well with ICS is a bit different, I can still run the some games (exept SG)… with this services, apps etc but it will take longer to load and while receiving notifications games shutter for few sec…
I found GB ROM called JellyBreadV2Arc which is modified version of stock GB which is super for my needs (has removed all FB bloatware + other tweaks) runs really fast…
Anyway – don’t know why I started all this… I guess the question to flash ICS or not is very hard to answer – if you want to try something new and are willing to sacrifice some gaming and a little speed then try it out… there is always way back…
One thing I noticed immediately with GB is battery life, is not as good as on ICS and charging takes longer on GB… which bugs me a bit… I know that with different kernel would improve but I don’t want to unlock BL… so needs to be that way.
ics it's no so bad, i really never used GB too much, but is said that it's better for battery life. I'm happy with ICS.
When I bought my Arc S LT18i, the ICS update was already available. I started using it with gingerbread but then, when I already had the apps I wanted, I decided to update my phone to ICS (4.1.A.0.562). Everything was ok until I booted my phone for the second time after the update. Couldn't unlock my sim and it just freezed. Had this problem for a month. I was so mad! I booted into safe mode, restored using PC Companion but the problem didn't go away. But then came the 2nd ICS update (4.1.B.0.431) and it just fixed things. The 3rd update (4.1.B.0.587) didn't bring any changes as far as I can see. But I still recommend you update to ICS. Or just flash CM9 stable.
Let's just not ask people, try it and see if you like it. Don't get me wrong but we can't help you as we all see ICS differently so you must try it out and see if it suits your everyday life. Also if you don't like it, you can always flash back to GB. Getting the root is simple enough and to find it, Google. Right now I suggest getting ICS because in my point of view, ICS is fast, sleek and beautiful.
badboyofpersia said:
Should i update my phone to ICS from Gingerbread??
Or its not a good idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me tell you now to get perfect ics. Once updated to ics, root using eroot toolkit n then install cwm using x-parts. Then go to cwm, flash odexed notification led fix, flash jb adreno drivers. Then boot phone. Now ul have a lot of smoothness and notification bug won't be there. U can then also install titanium backup n remove bloatware for even more speed. For the WiFi dropping problem, flash kernel of .13 firmware. Then ul have the ultimate ics experience. Sony's ics update is incomplete. Do all this n then it'll be a proper update!
Nice Review ,TNKS
What You Think ? Stock ROM Is THE BEST OR NOT ?
amankumar2508007 said:
IF you really want a beautiful experience(WITH LAG) of the interface(FOR A LITTLE WHILE) in lieu of the OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE then please UPDATE TO ICS.
BUT if you want to have a better experience(WITHOUT ANY LAG) with all of the phone's feature THEN STAY WITH THE GB.:angel:
I have tried almost every ICS ROM for the ARC and almost every ROM HAS A LAG(in the beginning it doesn't come into action but after some time when caching of system applications start it's the most HORRIBLE experience with the phone and sometimes you can't even use your phone for call or messaging (LIKE IT'S LAGGING LIKE HEELLL) ):crying:
SO it's upto you..what i think
I AM BACK TO GB FROM ICS
REST IS YOUR CHOICE:good:
plz hit thanks if i helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gius321 said:
What You Think ? Stock ROM Is THE BEST OR NOT ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it out yourself. Different people have different opinion on different ROMs.
僕のLT18iから送られてきた
Hi all,
I'd usually always had average speeds in scrolling through menus etc. on my Arc S. Then I installed Nova Launcher a few months ago which made it lightning fast!
But recently, it's become painfully slow to the point of being unusable. I've installed several new games and apps lately, and I know that I could uninstall them one by one and see if that's causing the problem, but I'd rather not go through that and lose my data - especially if the cause is something else.
Is there a menu option somewhere that shows me what all the processing power is being spent on? In a similar way to the battery drain screen? I also notice that my Arc S will start chugging, and stutter several times, whenever I'm playing games. It'll have every minute or two, stutter around three times for about five seconds, then go back to normal.
But menu screens are painfully slow. Does any have any ideas? Is there a cache I can clear too? I'm rooted and on the latest ICS ROM.
Thanks in advance,
schnide
schnidex said:
Hi all,
I'd usually always had average speeds in scrolling through menus etc. on my Arc S. Then I installed Nova Launcher a few months ago which made it lightning fast!
But recently, it's become painfully slow to the point of being unusable. I've installed several new games and apps lately, and I know that I could uninstall them one by one and see if that's causing the problem, but I'd rather not go through that and lose my data - especially if the cause is something else.
Is there a menu option somewhere that shows me what all the processing power is being spent on? In a similar way to the battery drain screen? I also notice that my Arc S will start chugging, and stutter several times, whenever I'm playing games. It'll have every minute or two, stutter around three times for about five seconds, then go back to normal.
But menu screens are painfully slow. Does any have any ideas? Is there a cache I can clear too? I'm rooted and on the latest ICS ROM.
Thanks in advance,
schnide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Itll be best for you to install a custom rom stripped of all bloatware (the useless programs that use up all tie processing power) and with speed tweaks apps such as "root cleaner" and "seeder" are also very useful apps to speed up your phone good luck!
Sent from Xperia Arc S
Settings>apps>Active, and see what uses the most RAM.
Go back to Gingerbread...Ics is not for Arc S (Even custom rom's etc etc..only fancy graphics.....)...:good:
AW: [Q] Arc S has become painfully, almost unusably, slow..
Sorin90 said:
Go back to Gingerbread...Ics is not for Arc S (Even custom rom's etc etc..only fancy graphics.....)...:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love ics
schnidex said:
Hi all,
I'd usually always had average speeds in scrolling through menus etc. on my Arc S. Then I installed Nova Launcher a few months ago which made it lightning fast!
But recently, it's become painfully slow to the point of being unusable. I've installed several new games and apps lately, and I know that I could uninstall them one by one and see if that's causing the problem, but I'd rather not go through that and lose my data - especially if the cause is something else.
Is there a menu option somewhere that shows me what all the processing power is being spent on? In a similar way to the battery drain screen? I also notice that my Arc S will start chugging, and stutter several times, whenever I'm playing games. It'll have every minute or two, stutter around three times for about five seconds, then go back to normal.
But menu screens are painfully slow. Does any have any ideas? Is there a cache I can clear too? I'm rooted and on the latest ICS ROM.
Thanks in advance,
schnide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chuck CM10 on that bad boy. It will feel like a brand new phone
jader13254 said:
ICS is for arc S if its right omptimized... I use my (ics-based) rom since it was released & fully satisfied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
l
It runs ok for some time...and then becomes slow like other ics rom...quite sure of what I'm saying ! I've tryed a lot of ics rom( From August 2012 until today some day ago! xD)...I'm not saying that your rom is ****...but the best rom for the Arc's hardware is GingerBread....
Try CM10. Your quadrant and AnTuTu scores will falter but don't let that bother you. It made my phone much more usable and not to mention quicker! Make sure you OC your Arc to 1.6Ghz and turn on 16bit transparency.
The thing I do, use titanium backup to backup everything then factory reset...thereafter it may feel faster n new
Sent from my LT18i using xda app-developers app
Sorin90 said:
l
It runs ok for some time...and then becomes slow like other ics rom...quite sure of what I'm saying ! I've tryed a lot of ics rom( From August 2012 until today some day ago! xD)...I'm not saying that your rom is ****...but the best rom for the Arc's hardware is GingerBread....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restart your phone periodically when lags occur...
Silencer96 said:
Try CM10. Your quadrant and AnTuTu scores will falter but don't let that bother you. It made my phone much more usable and not to mention quicker! Make sure you OC your Arc to 1.6Ghz and turn on 16bit transparency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't OC. Unless you want to get rid of the phone ASAP.
Thanks for all the suggestions - I actually went through all the apps I'd installed lately and removed a few to see if it would help. Strangely, it was Canabalt HD which seemed to be causing the problems. I uninstalled it, and it's back to normal. I reinstalled it again to see if it would slow down, and it did.
I think that game uses OpenFeint, so I don't know if that's anything to do with it. I may install CM at some point but right now I'm happy with the latest, rooted stock (and besides, I can upgrade in two months and might get the Xperia Z).
Thanks again!
Mine's been overclocked to 1.6Ghz for a year now and I haven't faced any issues so far.
A problem I always had with the Xperia S is that the whole thing feels extremely choppy and clunky. I have extremely low tolerance for choppyness, and this phone has always felt really clunky for me, it's hard to pretend the choppyness isn't there. There is nothing that makes me feel good about a device than silky smoothness, and even though the phone is still very fast and reactive, the slow framerate and microstutters are extremely noticeable, especially if you ever used a smooth device before (such as my good old Xperia Ray on gingerbread which was smooth like an iPhone, and when I upgraded it to ICS I couldn't stand it anymore because it became horrendously stuttery).
I was wondering, since Project Butter promises fully accelerated UI and elimination of the persistent lag that all android phones have, do you think this will finally resolve the slugginess of this phone's stock rom?
Is PB an OS features that all phones running JB have, or do the developers (in this case Sony's) have to implement it on their own?
Also, regarding the current stock ICS, there is nothing that helped with the constant lag and choppyness in the UI, the only thing that DOES make a difference is enabling "force GPU rendering", it's found under "developer options" and disabled by default. Once you enable it, scrolling lists (such as the settings menu) will become silky smooth (you have to go back to home and then back to settings menu to notice the difference). With this disabled, scrolling every list menu is embarassingly choppy. It doesn't cause any battery drain so I recommend everyone to enable it if you haven't already.
I seriously hope JB will resolve the constant choppyness of this phone's UI.
MarkMRL said:
A problem I always had with the Xperia S is that the whole thing feels extremely choppy and clunky. I have extremely low tolerance for choppyness, and this phone has always felt really clunky for me, it's hard to pretend the choppyness isn't there. There is nothing that makes me feel good about a device than silky smoothness, and even though the phone is still very fast and reactive, the slow framerate and microstutters are extremely noticeable, especially if you ever used a smooth device before (such as my good old Xperia Ray on gingerbread which was smooth like an iPhone, and when I upgraded it to ICS I couldn't stand it anymore because it became horrendously stuttery).
I was wondering, since Project Butter promises fully accelerated UI and elimination of the persistent lag that all android phones have, do you think this will finally resolve the slugginess of this phone's stock rom?
Is PB an OS features that all phones running JB have, or do the developers (in this case Sony's) have to implement it on their own?
Also, regarding the current stock ICS, there is nothing that helped with the constant lag and choppyness in the UI, the only thing that DOES make a difference is enabling "force GPU rendering", it's found under "developer options" and disabled by default. Once you enable it, scrolling lists (such as the settings menu) will become silky smooth (you have to go back to home and then back to settings menu to notice the difference). With this disabled, scrolling every list menu is embarassingly choppy. It doesn't cause any battery drain so I recommend everyone to enable it if you haven't already.
I seriously hope JB will resolve the constant choppyness of this phone's UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're really curious you could flash the test version DoomlorD posted. There's also this video on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLODO3YOnA
Looks like it is more fluent, as was expected, but ofcourse that's a nearly empty firmware. Some 3rd party apps can make your phone a lot slower, even when they're supposedly not running. A clean installation of ICS is also quite fluent compared to the lags I've had caused by some apps before I removed or restricted them.
Redstarr1 said:
If you're really curious you could flash the test version DoomlorD posted. There's also this video on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLODO3YOnA
Looks like it is more fluent, as was expected, but ofcourse that's a nearly empty firmware. Some 3rd party apps can make your phone a lot slower, even when they're supposedly not running. A clean installation of ICS is also quite fluent compared to the lags I've had caused by some apps before I removed or restricted them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't flash it because I'm not unlocking my BL. Also, which apps do you think are the most resource hungry? I already disabled facebook and all social network related stuff, most services like sony select, etc. No difference at all.
My Xperia S and my Nexus 4 feel as smooth as each other using go launcher and obviously one has project butter and one doesn't
A simple solution would be to set a background process limit to 3 or less (developer options-resets on reboot so take care of that)
Also decrease the transition and animation from 1 to .5(dev options again)
If u are rooted(which am expecting u are)
Use romtoolbox or any utility capable of profiling ur cpu...set two profiles..screen off->governer-ondemand-low frequency(will save battery)
And one as screen on->governer-performance-max frequency(reduce ur lag)
If u have too many apps..use greenify or some app with same functionality
These basic settings have kept my ion lagfree all the while
Sent from my Xperia ion
Hit a thanks when someone helps
for what it's worth, i just came to the xperia S from the original galaxy S. i was running JB on that, which has nowhere near the specs of the xperia S, and JB was smooth as silk there, so it does seem to make a noticeable difference. moreso on 4.2 than 4.1, however.
unfortunately i've been hit with the bootloader unlock = no , so the wait for jb again begins..
MarkMRL said:
I can't flash it because I'm not unlocking my BL. Also, which apps do you think are the most resource hungry? I already disabled facebook and all social network related stuff, most services like sony select, etc. No difference at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I posted the link to the Youtube video so you could get a glimpse that way .
I'd also disable Google+ and Google Talk if you're not using those. And some apps that you installed yourself from the Play Store can make your phone sluggish as well. I used Greenify to force my games and some apps to hibernate (Angry Birds, Dropbox, Google Drive etc), saved over 100mb in available memory. That has made my phone a lot less laggy. I usually don't encourage using app killers but Greenify is doing a good job with no errors for the past 3 days.
absolutely yes
jb leaked is the smoothest thing i have ever seen
So I'm stuck in a contract with my Xperia Arc S until next year but it has virtually ground to a halt. I have to wait 10+ seconds for my messages to open on a good day. Every app takes a long time to do anything and I've had to limit my app usage heavily due to this.
I close all non-essential apps through the Manage Applications option of the Settings regularly and still I only really have approx >20 MB RAM left at any point.
I also delete all my messages regularly and don't use any other message applications aside from the stock app.
I'm not running ICS, but rather the original Ginger Bread that came with the phone.
I've tried using a different Home Launcher app to reduce the number of home screens, but it had very little noticeable impact.
My question is what do I do? I'm happy to root, install custom roms etc at this point, I just want my phone to be useable until I upgrade next year.
I have some experience with Android phones but very little technical knowledge to do with hacking/rooting devices so you'll have to bear with me. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Cheers
If you are a casual user and you don't need high performance, I recommend upgrading to ICS. ICS update hasn't got the best performance (in fact the GPU is slower than in GB), but you'll get enough free memory for casual usage.
If you are looking a bit of both, I recommend either using CM or CM based roms. If you got used to Xperia look and feel, put this ROM, for better battery life put stock CM. But beware, unlocking the bootloader will void your warranty, so if you think that you will run into issues and can't fix them yourself, do not unlock it.
I've no experience with Ginger Bread, but maybe clearing app cache and rebooting the phone every one or two days could help?
If the performance once was better and you don't want to root: save your apps, messages and contacts and do a factory reset.
stay on gingerbread, root yout phone, remove useless system app and install greenify.
kaz93 said:
stay on gingerbread, root yout phone, remove useless system app and install greenify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This
Or try to install some custom rom, they have previusly removed all useless stuff.
I upgraded to ICS to give it a go before I did a factory reset, and I'm really surprised to say my phone has never been faster. Managed to unlock a lot more RAM, app management seems to be a lot less stunted and easier to implement. A few more stock apps than GB and I prefer the look. I'm a bit confused at all the posts saying ICS is worse. Maybe it will slow down over time, but just right now I feel like I got a new phone.
Pale_companion said:
I upgraded to ICS to give it a go before I did a factory reset, and I'm really surprised to say my phone has never been faster. Managed to unlock a lot more RAM, app management seems to be a lot less stunted and easier to implement. A few more stock apps than GB and I prefer the look. I'm a bit confused at all the posts saying ICS is worse. Maybe it will slow down over time, but just right now I feel like I got a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do not notice the tiny details, you do not notice them.
When you open the phone pad, it does take a while to open it. The notification LED does not work (not performance related though) and some other issues.
Someguyfromhell said:
If you do not notice the tiny details, you do not notice them.
When you open the phone pad, it does take a while to open it. The notification LED does not work (not performance related though) and some other issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
....all this bugs(and many others) are fixed now
Inviato da me!
Someguyfromhell said:
If you do not notice the tiny details, you do not notice them.
When you open the phone pad, it does take a while to open it. The notification LED does not work (not performance related though) and some other issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Compared to how my phone was the phone pad is lightning fast. I haven't actually noticed the LED thing but now that you mention it. Of course I'm aware of the CPU issues and other stuff, but I've spent the last few months getting really miffed at my phone because it was basically an expensive brick which took years to open a message and the really negative consensus about ICS put me off updating which has solved all my casual user issues.
Now that I know about this site, I'm going to get to know Android a bit better, but for now the tiny details are negligible for me at least.
Just checked my LED and it works fine for all the notifications I receive.
kaz93 said:
stay on gingerbread, root yout phone, remove useless system app and install greenify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greenify is for HoneyComb and above... You can't install it on GB.
popthosegaskets said:
Greenify is for HoneyComb and above... You can't install it on GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, okay, my mistake then..sorry
Greetings.
In hopes of finding someone who's facing a similar problem, I'd like to ask you about a certain issue.
I've installed the Xperia Play Z Ultimate Edition rom on my Xplay r800i. It's running all cool and great, but there's one problem. The apps are closing for no reason. It's like, one moment you're playing a game, and all of a sudden the main screen appears, as if you pressed the home button, but the app is gone. It looks like they're crashing when the phone is under heavy load. It happens to literally everything. Even Messenger bubbles often disappear when there's a new heavy app starting.
I've searched the rom's thread, but didn't find any information about such problem.
If this matters, I've flashed the kernel that was supplied by rom creator - 480p DoomKernel.
This is the first rom I've seen which has an issue like that, and I don't think there's any alternative, as this is the only ICS rom I know that keeps all of Xplay's core features while significantly improving speed and functionality.
Please help. Does anyone know why this happens?
Update: out of frustration, I've changed to another ICS rom, Honami 2.1.3, together with switching to a Lupus V7 kernel (ram version)... and the same thing happens. Although with the new rom my phone's performance seems to have DRASTICALLY improved, apps are still closing for no reason. There's not even a popup or error, or anything like that - it just pulls the plug and suddenly kicks me to the main screen.
This problem renders heavy games literally UNPLAYABLE. It runs perfect for like 5 or 10 minutes, with high framerate even, then out of a sudden BAM - back to the main screen. No error, no nothing.
Browsing around Lupus settings I've found something called Low Memory Killer. From what I understand, this thing kills the apps when the device is on critically low memory. Maybe this is the cause? And if it is, why the heck is it "going rogue" and killing apps that I'm ACTIVELY USING? How do I configure this? I assume you can't just disable it...
Please help.
Seriously? No one has ANY IDEA what's happening? Please help! I literally have no clue what may be causing this.
Switched to YET ANOTHER rom and kernel - Nexplay, with bundled Lupus kernel, this time also changing the firmware to R800i_4.0.2.A.0.58_Enhanced. With this one, the phone runs definitely the fastest, but guess what... same thing happens as before. Games commit suicide when played for too long. Out of all I've tested, the only ones that don't shut down are OpenTyrian and Nes emulator. Gun Bros worked fine for like 5 minutes, and suddenly closed, working very slow for like 2 seconds before it happened. Same thing with Vendetta Online but this one outright REBOOTED THE PHONE! And these games supposedly are optimized for xplay, so it doesn't make any sense why there's such a problem going on...
I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's because I'm using ICS roms? But then, I've never seen anybody reporting such problems with ANY rom. This definitely isn't a common issue. I'm also using Link2SD, but again, I've never seen anyone mentioning it causing anything like that.
I can relate to your problem. I've experienced the same (apps randomly closing while in use) issues 1 or 2 years ago and to me the development on these roms are dead since the developers have moved onto newer devices. Currently my xperia play is dead (bricked) however with experience of using many of the roms i can safely say that ICS is not meant for the xperia play. Sony themselves didn't officially release ICS for this device due to the number of bugs and problems associated with it. I'd recommend you to use GB roms to bring out the best potential of your device. ICS lags some way or another whereas GB doesn't. All games run smooth on Gingerbread and they certainly do not have issues like ICS does. The best rom for this device is Gin2kitkat ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1631144 ) and my personal favourite Xperia NXT 2 r1 (i've used this rom the longest). Here's the link for that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1649368
From experience, as long as you use a Gingerbread rom you should be good to go as they are the most stable for our device. Good luck
Aaw, that's a real bummer. The problem with GB roms is that there's a lot of ICS apps and games that I really need. One of the main reasons I've decided to unlock bootloader on this device is because I wanted to get an upgrade to ICS. It's really strange. I've seen people play advanced games on this phone (example) and there are no signs of problems such as the one I'm experiencing.
Thanks a lot for your reply. I guess I'll use one more ICS rom, and if that fails, I'll give GB roms a try.
Btw, what do you think about NXT Gaming rom? I don't care much about flashy UI and widgets, and as long as everything in the phone works (camera, xLoud etc.) priority for me is gaming performance, and from description, this rom seems to be the most aggresive I've seen when it comes for optimizing performance for games.
I agree, from the vid the user is seen to be running the ROM "ICS Ultimate". Also i haven't tried the NXT gaming rom only the NXT 2r1 but regardless, with that rom i've been able to play emulator games and heavy intensive games such as Fifa 2012. I'd only imagine the 'NXT Gaming rom' is faster and better but since i haven't tried it, i'm unable to give you a direct response, sorry. Anyways Gingerbread will always be the best in terms of gaming performance and functionality, but if you're able to find a good ICS rom that is smooth when playing games such as GTA then it's entirely up to you whether you want to stay on ICS or not. Also correct me if i'm wrong but i remember GTA3 (not san andreas) being playable on gingerbread.
Correct, GTA3 DOES work on Gingerbread, but unfortunately only this one and Vice City do so. GTA San Andreas and Chinatown Wars will not work on anything lower than ICS. This is an example anyway, cuz there are few more things that I need and will work only on ICS.
Anyways, guess what. I've tried YET another Rom from a portuguese site (rom is Fusion ICS 2.4), and the problem stopped - apps no longer spontaneously shut down. There's another problem though... as this system is ridiculously unstable. Sometimes it's fast as lightning, then sometimes it slows down to a crawl for no reason - it has nothing to do with active apps; it often happens with no active apps running and with tons of free ram available. It's completely random. Even the interface sometimes crashes for no reason. Curiously though, all games run extremely fast and they never shut down on their own. Unfortunately, it's not worth using such a train wreck. Games running well while the rest of the system goes haywire defeats the purpose for me.
I'd give "ICS Ultimate" rom a try, but for some reason, I get virus alerts when trying to download or open the file. I guess I'll either wait until it's confirmed false alert, or go for GB roms finally.