Now that ics has been out for a while, is it a good idea to have this on?
It does make the phone faster and only affects two of my apps but i still dont know how does it affect battery or RAM(i read somewhere it affects ram)
Do you guys use it?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
It's useful for scrolling in 2d apps. Although on xda makes the pictures not come up. I only use every once in a while.
Sent From My Sprint Galaxy Nexus
I've chosen to not use it. It was useful in the early days when not a lot of apps worked well on ICS, but nowadays it breaks more than it fixes in my experiences.
I don't use it. I find it makes many apps laggy. Though it does boost a quadrant score.
In theory, it would be better to the let the GPU render stuff as it takes the strain off the CPU. Too bad it breaks many apps, though.
nope dont use it. does more problems than good
I use it, never encountered any of this, EXCEPT for a GUI glitch in Power amp. Besides that, every works perfectly.
On side note, back when the Samsung Vibrant first got ICS (somewhere around December), I found that many apps just crashed when using it, such as trying to pick out a wallpaper in GO SMS. Nowadays, nothing besides that Power amp glitch I've noticed. And battery life is somewhat better too.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
The United Airlines app used to have problems when this was on -- would show up as an incredibly tiny rectangle on the screen, as if scaling was totally thrown off. I was flying a lot then, so I unchecked the option. The United app has been updated a few times in the past few months, and I tried checking force GPU, and the latest version of the United app works again... I've got 104 apps installed, and the only other one I've seen that complains is Flipboard -- got a message once, yesterday, that it's not designed to work with forced GPU and that I should turn it off. I ignored the message, though, and Flipboard seems fine -- as does everything else I'm using.
I'll leave it turned on until / unless I run into incompatibilities with apps that I find important...
Ever since I updated my phone to stock 4.0.4, it's not been the same buttery smooth Epic Touch that it used to be on Gingerbread. Sometimes the lags gets so bad that the phone would restart itself. I have done a reformat and things have been going smooth for about 2 months and it has started lagging again now. Right now I am running minimum 3rd party apps, and only limited to reputable ones such as Facebook and whatnot. The CPU Spy shows the phone is in deep sleep most of the time. Android OS still takes up about 90% of battery usage. I made sure nothing is hogging up the ram in task manager and clear memory 2-3 times a day. Yet, it still lags like crazy especially while typing or turning the screen off.
Can anyone chime in on what else could be causing this?
maxspiderx said:
Ever since I updated my phone to stock 4.0.4, it's not been the same buttery smooth Epic Touch that it used to be on Gingerbread. Sometimes the lags gets so bad that the phone would restart itself. I have done a reformat and things have been going smooth for about 2 months and it has started lagging again now. Right now I am running minimum 3rd party apps, and only limited to reputable ones such as Facebook and whatnot. The CPU Spy shows the phone is in deep sleep most of the time. Android OS still takes up about 90% of battery usage. I made sure nothing is hogging up the ram in task manager and clear memory 2-3 times a day. Yet, it still lags like crazy especially while typing or turning the screen off.
Can anyone chime in on what else could be causing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
since you mention facebook what's your sync situation like? just a suggestion as I remember similar threads where constant syncing was causing issues... if android os is using that much battery something is amiss... its just a matter of figuring out what...
cp320703 said:
since you mention facebook what's your sync situation like? just a suggestion as I remember similar threads where constant syncing was causing issues... if android os is using that much battery something is amiss... its just a matter of figuring out what...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FB's refresh interval is set to 1 hour. Is that what you are referring to?
maxspiderx said:
Ever since I updated my phone to stock 4.0.4, it's not been the same buttery smooth Epic Touch that it used to be on Gingerbread. Sometimes the lags gets so bad that the phone would restart itself. I have done a reformat and things have been going smooth for about 2 months and it has started lagging again now. Right now I am running minimum 3rd party apps, and only limited to reputable ones such as Facebook and whatnot. The CPU Spy shows the phone is in deep sleep most of the time. Android OS still takes up about 90% of battery usage. I made sure nothing is hogging up the ram in task manager and clear memory 2-3 times a day. Yet, it still lags like crazy especially while typing or turning the screen off.
Can anyone chime in on what else could be causing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to ics. I get the same thing and have tried everything. Good news is they are pumping out new builds pretty quick to hopefully they are working out all the kinks.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
try a different rom.
I've been having issues with the GN2's performance while scrolling menus and playing games. Jetpack Joyride is the most noticeable, with it stuttering all throughout. This even happens with simple games like Scramble with Friends, making it more unresponsive than it should be. Plugging the phone into the wall seems to lessen the stuttering. It also appears that the longer the app is used it slightly lessens the stuttering.
Strangely, frame rates seem better while playing 3D intensive apps like Death Dome.
My Galaxy S2 did not have any of these problems throughout its entire life span, ever. It did everything buttery smooth, which is strange considering this phone is supposed to be more powerful. The stuttering isn't terrible, but it's definitely there, and I'm not exactly happy with it.
This occurs no matter how many idle programs are closed or what Launcher that is used. I've used TouchWiz, Launcher Pro, and Go Launcher.
Is anyone else having this problem? Is this something that can be fixed or should I return the phone for another?
make sure power save is not enable.go to setting and check
mintu123 said:
make sure power save is not enable.go to setting and check
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, hahaaa! Thanks a lot! That's silly to think that works. I felt like it was some sort of power related issue and was sooner going to overclock the CPU than suspect that option.
It didn't work immediately after disabling it, but once I restarted the phone everything was fine. THANKS AGAIN!!
In the interest of making things easy for those who are holding off on the KitKat OTA, I thought it might be a good idea to consolidate all of our experiences into one thread. This is intended to cover mainly the changes specific to this OTA over Razr M-flavored Jellybean.
I'll start with my experience/thoughts and edit in additional findings. (Note: I'm bootloader locked, and now unrooted.)
The Good
The UI is definitely smoother. It doesn't jitter or stall under heavy usage anywhere near as much as it did in Jellybean.
Battery life when the phone is asleep seems to have been improved a little.
USB audio out is now supported.
The occasional "screen jitter" that plagued the Jellybean build is gone.
KitKat's Quick Settings panel is quite handy.
The native lock screen now supports adding, removing, and rearranging widgets.
Although it can't be installed from the Play Store, the Google Experience Launcher can be sideloaded and works just fine.
The Neutral / Very Subjective
The AOSP keyboard has changed; the keys are smaller and, in landscape, very squashed. You may need to adjust to it (I'm trying, but it's a struggle) or find a replacement.
Battery life when the phone is actively in use has not been noticeably improved in my experience; but it hasn't been noticeably worsened, either.
There's now a shortcut to the camera from the lock screen, which can be used even if the phone is locked by a pattern/PIN/etc. (Great if you're a shutterbug; not so great if someone else decides to troll your Dropbox/Drive account.)
The Google Camera app works - but Photosphere can't be used, as the Razr M doesn't have a gyroscope.
The Bad
No more root, for those with locked BLs (me). (Saferoot fails, and many users are reporting losing root even when they try survival methods.)
Wi-Fi tethering via most apps (e.g., FoxFi) has been blocked, so now you must pay your carrier for the feature unless a new workaround is discovered.
All notifications I've seen so far now flash the notification light white, instead of unique colors. This may be frustrating for some who used the colors to decide whether to check the phone immediately or later. (Luckily, there are ways to address this.)
The Blur launcher is same 'ol, same 'ol. It uses a solid black background for the soft keys and notifications bar (rather than taking advantage of KitKat's transparency support), and it still has that Quick Settings menu on the left (which is redundant now). In addition, Holo Launcher (which I was using) doesn't account for the space used by the softkeys at all, making it difficult to use. (I've switched to Nova Launcher, which is working fine.)
I've experienced some weirdness with the application switcher. Sometimes it drops me to the launcher right after displaying the list, and sometimes apps will overwrite another's position on the list, or be dropped from the list entirely without reason (this is always temporary, however - just bring up the switcher again).
Some apps can no longer write to the SD card - or at least not wherever they please. We still have the Files browser, mercifully (but I favor Total Commander anyway, which seems to work perfectly).
The audio quick switch on the lock screen has been removed. Also, the buttons for entering a PIN are smaller.
(Leraeniesh) Under heavy usage, the Razr M may get hotter under KitKat than it did under Jellybean, and may drain the battery more.
(GPIX) Some users have noticed decreased network performance in some apps, such as Chrome or YouTube, while on Wi-Fi and with Wi-Fi power-saving enabled.
(GPIX) Several users have reported popping noises - when a sound begins to play, or in the middle of playback. (I haven't experienced it, however.)
Swype is no longer included. If you used it in Jellybean, you will need to purchase it on the Play Store after taking the OTA.
(ls3c6) Some have encountered problems with sharing the address book to paired devices over Bluetooth.
My opinion, overall:
It's a nice upgrade, but all of little problems I've encountered (bugs, Verizon blockades, the works) make this feel like a bit of a letdown after the 6-month wait. In the end, after just three days, I find myself wishing I could take the phone back to Jellybean.
Here's hoping for either some exploitable holes or maintenance updates.
My opinion
Leraeniesh said:
So I popped my sim back into the XT907 for the weekend, and heres what I've noticed (when compared to 4.1.2).
Higher temps - previously, my XT907 hovered around 85F-100F, but with 4.4.2, I've noticed it drift toward 110F with 5+ minutes of active use.
Worse battery life - On 4.1.2 I averaged around 20% after 16 hours moderate use. With 4.4.2, I'm averaging around 5% in the same span.
Lesser LTE coverage - This may be something with my area, but I can usually get 2-3 bars of LTE in the Livingston County area on 4.1.2 (I've noticed the XT907 accel in this category). While on 4.4.2, I could not get any LTE coverage in the same area, and could only find it within more populated areas.
Slower performance - I'll always be amazed by how quick the XT907 was on 4.1.2, beating out devices with similar specs in the same price category. With 4.4.2, I've noticed frame drops, stutters, and random reboots be a common occurrence over the last few days of usage.
Overall, I'm satisfied with 4.4.2, but I still prefer the overall usability with 4.1.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worth noting that I am using an unlocked bootloader, with CWM and SuperSU (only really did this to remove VZW bloat and install Xposed)
Leraeniesh said:
So I popped my sim back into the XT907 for the weekend, and heres what I've noticed (when compared to 4.1.2).
Higher temps - previously, my XT907 hovered around 85F-100F, but with 4.4.2, I've noticed it drift toward 110F with 5+ minutes of active use.
Worse battery life - On 4.1.2 I averaged around 20% after 16 hours moderate use. With 4.4.2, I'm averaging around 5% in the same span.
Lesser LTE coverage - This may be something with my area, but I can usually get 2-3 bars of LTE in the Livingston County area on 4.1.2 (I've noticed the XT907 accel in this category). While on 4.4.2, I could not get any LTE coverage in the same area, and could only find it within more populated areas.
Slower performance - I'll always be amazed by how quick the XT907 was on 4.1.2, beating out devices with similar specs in the same price category. With 4.4.2, I've noticed frame drops, stutters, and random reboots be a common occurrence over the last few days of usage.
Overall, I'm satisfied with 4.4.2, but I still prefer the overall usability with 4.1.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On 4.1.2 the "signal bars" were calculated by a xml in, I believe, SystemUI.apk. You could simply adjust the figures to show more or less bars, which Moto adjusted to show more. But having no LTE maybe a bad radio or a problem stemming from a bad flash. My Razr M doesn't get hot, no random reboots, and battery life seems to be the same. I haven't had any problems on KitKat.
ATTACK said:
On 4.1.2 the "signal bars" were calculated by a xml in, I believe, SystemUI.apk. You could simply adjust the figures to show more or less bars, which Moto adjusted to so more. But having no LTE maybe a bad radio or a problem stemming from a bad flash. My Razr M doesn't get hot, no random reboots, and battery life seems to be the same. I haven't had any problems on KitKat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna be doing some more testing in that regard. Even my M7 with its garbage radios gets LTE just about everywhere in the Metro Detroit area.
So far my experience with 4.4.2 has been positive. I agree with OP's list and would like to add these under the issue category.
ISSUE:
Decreased WiFi effectiveness/throughput - There is a noticeable decrease in performance on apps like Youtube and Chrome web browser.
Audio Popping noises - Some experience a popping noise when the sound driver starts up while others experience it during playback.
I have had the KitKat OTA now for 2 days and haven't found anything major wrong. The changes to the keyboard bugged me but I use swiftkey so that was moot. I also have an issue I haven't seen listed yet. The new sound for screen taps....it seems to give that "popping" feedback (that ive seen listed as an issue on driver start-up) ALL the time. I maybe get 1 clear sound out of every 5-6 screen taps. That is the only real "problem" I can find as of this point though. Does anyone have any insight on that?
Also activated Dev Mode and changed to ART runtime. Might be placebo but app response seems to be noticeably better! Not groundbreaking by any means but better than 4.1.2 for sure. Overall I am happy with the upgrade. Rather, will be happy once a root exploit comes up (I miss my debloating! On that note though, disabling apps never seemed to work right with 4.1.2....after hitting disable the app would show back up in active processes after a short time. Now I've gone 24 hours and 3 phone reboots and that damn NFL app is STILL disabled and NOT running as a background process. Might just have been an issue with my phone in particular before, but its fixed now!)
I am generally happy.
It fixed all the issues I had with Dhackers KitKat.
and feels about the same once you have rid of all the Bloat.
I like and I am happy that we still surprisingly got the update unlike the Galaxy S3
Happy =)
Just wanted to comment on the heat issue mentioned above:
I have only had KitKat for 2 days but I have definitely noticed a difference in heat after extended use compared to JB. One of the things I really liked about my Razr M was lack of heat so hopefully this is a fluke and I wont notice it too much in the future.
---
With that said, no big issues.
I don't like the keyboard -seems smaller, or something, The heptic feedback seems to be different too (for the worse IMO).
The lockscreen number pad seems smaller - definitely liked the number pad from JB.
I had to change the messaging app (hated the all white/lack of contrast). Using "8sms" if anyone is curious.
I also changed launchers to use the google-now launcher so the "okay google" thing would work on the homescreen and also get the transparency notification bar. But, in doing that I did lose the circle widgets which I liked. Can't win for losing sometimes...
---
On a positive note, Chrome/google searches seem to be much faster. The UI seems about the same (no complaints with JB).
If battery life can increase then I'll be satisfied with update (so far, no difference).
My experience has been very positive. My phone was bootloader locked and not rooted before (and, of course, after) the OTA. I cleared the cache partition from the recovery menu post-install but have not done a FDR. General impressions:
-- UI is overall much snappier/quicker. Extremely noticeable.
-- Love the new quick settings panel that you can get to after pulling down the notifications shade.
-- KK's changes to how the SDcard works have not been a big deal at all for me. The native "Files" app seems to have complete read/write access, as does ES File Explorer.
-- Like the new clock feature to automatically add a "home" display when traveling outside a pre-defined timezone.
-- Hate the new way you set the alarm on the clock. (Really, whoever came up with that input method should be transferred to a department where s/he can never affect design decisions again.)
-- I miss the audio silencer/mute on the lockscreen.
-- Battery life has been interesting. When I first installed the update (morning of 05/15), battery life was definitely worse, probably by about 50%. It has gradually been getting better, however, and now is probably only about 20%-25% worse than JB. Why it would change I have no idea, but it definitely is (I've been keeping notes, and am sure it is actually happening). I have noticed, using the Battery History details screen, that there are a LOT less wakelocks in KK than JB. In JB, I used to see tons of "Awake" indicators on that screen that did not pair with "Screen On" indicators. In KK, there are very few incidences of "Awake" that are not paired with "Screen On." Someone smarter than me will have to explain how that translates into worse battery life.
-- It may be my imagination, but it seems like the battery charges faster w/ KK. If it's not my imagination, I wonder if that means that the apparent decrease in battery life is really an issue of improper calibration/accuracy.
I have not experienced some of the things others have reported:
-- No random reboots.
-- No changes to WiFi or 4G signals. I don't use Bluetooth so can't comment on that.
-- No popping noise when using audio. (Note: I have seen some reports in other forums that a FDR fixes this issue for those who have it.)
I'm on locked BL, definitly non root, and I happen to installed MotoCam from a store n IT DID INSTALLED. .
Opens up, takes pictures beautifully. .
Only problems are the slide in menu is glitchy AND after taking HDR pic, cam UI is not there. Only live cam feed.
Other than these issues, it's playing nicely ESPECIALLY auto HDR does work, surprisingly!
How can I make those problems go away??
Sent from my XT907 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
4039995825
GPlX said:
So far my experience with 4.4.2 has been positive. I agree with OP's list and would like to add these under the issue category.
ISSUE:
Decreased WiFi effectiveness/throughput - There is a noticeable decrease in performance on apps like Youtube and Chrome web browser.
Audio Popping noises - Some experience a popping noise when the sound driver starts up while others experience it during playback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go into wifi settings...in the setting "uncheck" the box "wi-fi optimization" it made my WiFi significantly better..
Nidstang said:
-- No popping noise when using audio. (Note: I have seen some reports in other forums that a FDR fixes this issue for those who have it.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Attempted a FDR on my phone, unfortunately it did not work for me. I will attempt to clear the cache partition to see if that may help the issue if
possible. So far i can only get the boot menu for a couple seconds and im lucky to get a selection in time.
EDIT: I cleared the cache partition, no effect. (NOTE: it seems to get into the recovery menu after selecting it at boot menu, you have to hold power & vol UP for a couple seconds)
crazy4android said:
go into wifi settings...in the setting "uncheck" the box "wi-fi optimization" it made my WiFi significantly better..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is an excellent point. I'll shut off the optimization and will edit my results in after tinkering with it for a while.
EDIT2: Without doing speedtests etc. It is very noticable that the wifi has improved. Youtube & other apps load as fast as they did on 4.1.2
Haven't looked into it so this MIGHT be a feature of the Google Now Launcher I installed, but I JUST noticed if you swipe down from the clock area of the new lock screen, you can add widgets! Am I crazy or is this a new feature on our phones? If so, LOVE it! Helps mitigate the loss of the quicklinks from our old 4.1.2 lock screen.
kashif87 said:
I'm on locked BL, definitly non root, and I happen to installed MotoCam from a store n IT DID INSTALLED. .
Opens up, takes pictures beautifully. .
Only problems are the slide in menu is glitchy AND after taking HDR pic, cam UI is not there. Only live cam feed.
Other than these issues, it's playing nicely ESPECIALLY auto HDR does work, surprisingly!
How can I make those problems go away??
Sent from my XT907 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe you can uninstall updates to the cam in apps
bwer1233 said:
Haven't looked into it so this MIGHT be a feature of the Google Now Launcher I installed, but I JUST noticed if you swipe down from the clock area of the new lock screen, you can add widgets! Am I crazy or is this a new feature on our phones? If so, LOVE it! Helps mitigate the loss of the quicklinks from our old 4.1.2 lock screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lockscreen widgets were introduced in Android 4.2.2.
Just want to let people know that the Google Now Launcher is working great on 4.4.2 including the "ok Google" functionality.
You can't download it from the play store. I just grabbed the apk from this thread.
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...-and-gpe-devices-apk-mirrored-for-all-others/
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
rooted + cwm
can't use "memory" feature under settings, while calculating settings app would crash
how can I go to hiddent menu? *#*#4636#*#* is failed until my M get kk updrade...
tieuvienson2005 said:
how can I go to hiddent menu? *#*#4636#*#* is failed until my M get kk updrade...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many "phone info" apps in the Market. Or create the short cut with Activity Launcher.
Also the Cam sucks on my Wife's m so get the Lenovo from my Moto x signature link.
I noticed that there is lag with apps opening, loading times, etc. It's noticeable for me.
Also, having GPS issues. Device is having issues with staying connected when I walk around. Note20 didn't have any issues.
Seeing if anyone else is experiencing them before I contact Sammy.
UPDATE: GPS seems to be holding. Apps are still a lil slow to load. Maybe it just needs to cache app data.
Hello,
To speed up the phone, I always go under the dev options to scale the animations speed to 0,5x
Allmightyusfame said:
Hello,
To speed up the phone, I always go under the dev options to scale the animations speed to 0,5x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, out-of-the-box the phones work well and are snappy. This isn't the case. It should perform better than the Note20 Ultra, and isn't thus far.
GPS is still if-y at times.
If no one else is experiencing this then it's my phone unit. Sucks cuz I just got my work stuff setup.
It's something I always do as an habit on any phone because the animations are super slow on 1x speed.
I didn't test the GPS yet, I have a habit of turning position services off.
Yeah, normally it's of fur me too. BUT Pokemon Go + I'm a teacher and walk a couple miles a day.
Yeah, the animations aren't bad, but slow load of apps and lagging in the performance. Could be me. Appreciate the insight.