Develop Bugs

Xperia M - Have you Downgraded Back to 4.1?

Hi,
I know that there is a discussion thread for 4.3 but instead here I'm interested in those that have or are thinking about downgrading back to 4.1.
I've been using Sony/Ericsson phones for years and most upgrades are good, but some aren't. One of the worst decisions probably was when they upgraded phones with 512mb RAM to 4.0. The phones became so slow that they were almost unusable. It was a perfect example of when an upgrade with an attractive Sony marketing appeal didn't work out well for the average user.
I upgraded normally to 4.3. The phone suddenly kept freezing until it could not be used at all. I had to remove the battery repeatedly. The next day I reinstalled the software via PCC to try to repair. The same situation. I changed the SI codes to other firmware. The same situation. I tried SUS and reset the phone entirely. This helped a little, the freezing is gone. However, there are a few annoyances I have left:
Why I'm Downgrading
1. Almost every time that I press the Home key, the screen stutters like it's having a heart attack. The screen kind of flashes white and black then eventually goes to home. What the heck is that?
2. I like the white UI but I don't like the themes or the dark colours in the SMS/phonebook. I much prefer the bright, happy colours of 4.1.
3. Everytime that I open the phonebook it takes several seconds. The phonebook is one of the apps supposed to be kept in constant memory. Why is closed and reopened all of the time? It's a primary function of a phone and it should work properly.
4. The phone feels slower, despite resetting the phone, repairing the software about 3 times. Why? That is not an upgrade.
5. People talk about the new Xperia Themes and yet they are broken. You have to unlock your bootloader to root to use a theme? That is insane and I'm not voiding warranty for a theme. It was a nice idea advertised by Sony about the 4.3 update (I have the screenshot) and now it is removed from the 4.3 advert. They screwed it up is why.
6. I cannot see any benefit in gaming graphics/speed/whatever else people want to imagine.
What I Need to Upgrade
When a new, major Sony update comes, I've often found it to be very buggy. But, some time later, a new, smaller upgrade comes that fixes many things I wait for that.
1. No lag.
2. No screen freezing / stuttering
Have you downgraded to 4.1? Are you thinking about it?
Please - this is for a genuine discussion with like-minded people. If you think talking about 4.1 is crazy, please no rude comments.

I agree.
And don't forget, the battery drains quicker.
Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

I never upgraded due to there not being a root method for 4.3 with locked bootloader. Like I mentioned, there really is no reason to upgrade especially if they still haven't fixed the blue tint camera problem in low light

i think u guys are not installed cleanly...
becoz mine in 4.3 is awesome,no lag,opengl3.0 activated meaning lot of games which has more graphics will work smoothly,..
bug is themer,battery draining /...but themer has fixer...after that i love 4.3...lot of cool themes...i m using spiderman 2 now
may be sony will fix the both in next update...
4.3 has lot of ported camera,apps...
try them...even z2 camera is ported...
camera quality is improved and can be stored in sd directly ...[till now i didnt face blue tint pics]

I haven't got any issues that you mentioned. I updated my phone via Sony PC companion and then made a factory reset. Everything works fine except few little bugs like not working themes or disappearing Google now shortcut (but I like this bug because this nav bar ring sometimes is really annoying).
p.s.
About battery life: I totally don't feel any difference.
True, phone app doesn't keep in ram but it opens fast (like 2 seconds) so I don't care.
Wysłane z mojego GT-P3110 przy użyciu Tapatalka

The only reason I'm not upgrading is because there is no full root for locked bootloaders , im just gonna have to wait
sent from wadiya using my mafroom

paper13579 said:
The only reason I'm not upgrading is because there is no full root for locked bootloaders , im just gonna have to wait
sent from wadiya using my mafroom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah this is the biggest 4.3 issue because with root we can solve all other problems

Good to see others think the same. Also, because I repaired the software and did a factory reset a few times, I don't know why it would be a bad flash? I did try a few times.

I updated and honestly it's smooth and the battery life is equal or better than 4.1 and everything loads quite quick aswell so I'm happy with it at the time being
Sent from my C1905 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.

Ok, right there is a performance issue but some other that op mentioned.
After few days of using multitasking is much more worse than after reboot. I've had the same problem on 4.2 Anyone facing this?
Wysłane z mojego C1905 przy użyciu Tapatalka

Use youlu address book
prince10t said:
i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use online synchronization of my contacts. So I could change my phone without worrying of contacts.
I trust "youlu address book" for the same for more than 5 years. Actually I love its dialer feature.
we could download contacts to any phone (symbian, android, ios, windows)

Everything works fine here, I did a factory reset 3 days ago and haven't really encountered any issues yet...I can live without root for now, I don't currently have sdcard at all actually, I have a couple of bigger games installed(shadowgun, riptide, minecraft) and a small music collection and I still have 450 mb left. Battery lasts for 1 full day and a half for me, it's more than enough. Therefore, I'm keeping it.

prince10t said:
i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this happened to me too. If you ever try 4.3 again, you'll see that it reads your SMS and contacts fine. So if it's backed up in 4.3 and restored in 4.1, those two parts don't come out right. Have you ever backed up contacts to your SD card?
If you have no other option, you would have to restore 4.3, restore the backup, then backup contacts to SD in phonebook and use an app to save SMS.

iks8 said:
Ok, right there is a performance issue but some other that op mentioned.
After few days of using multitasking is much more worse than after reboot. I've had the same problem on 4.2 Anyone facing this?
Wysłane z mojego C1905 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strange that some of us have 4.3 working great and the rest of us don't. Plenty of us here know how to flash properly, upgrade, reset or repair in bad cases. I do not know!

Can confirm the performance hit. Apps that are affected include Home (album widget loads noticeably slowly). Album app also loads images slower. Superuser permission requests seem slower (really odd). Also I noticed that Titanium Backup is not able to uninstall system apps (Had to use another app from Play). Will update my experiences.
Overall I also think the phone itself felt snappier with 4.1.2. The lockscreen music player access is absent in 4.3, though themes are a welcome addition.
I've decided to stick with 4.3 for some more time and see if I can work through. Downgrading to 4.1 is definitely on my list though.

thinking to downgrade to 4.1
As all greedy guys out there, i updated my xperia m c1904 to 4.3... 5 days back...
Thing i've noticed so far
1.Getting struck while pressing the home button ( like a jerk)
2.Missing google now on press-hold and drag on the home button.
3.The main reason i updated to 4.3 is for the colorful themes, which seem to be missing as the phone has to be rooted( i dont wanna screw my warranty ) for accessing those themes, so i'm struck with the default themes.
4. The album and the walkman player take quite sometime to open although there is no lag after opening. This is a minor issue i can ignore though.
5. The worst part of 4.3 is the disability of not being able to function the equalizer app to boost the volume. Yes, i am an audiophile and i'd like to listen at loud volumes in my earphones. Whichever equalizer app i install fails to boost the volume of the phone. I haven't found this issue in 4.1 so I might be thinking more for this reason to downgrade my phone.
6.Another worst part is the contact and the call log loading slower than 4.1, when i receive a call it takes about 5secs to display the name which i already have in my phonebook, this is plain annoying and disgusting.
I've heard a lot in forums that a factory reset might help. I'm resetting my phone now, will update if any improvements.
Thanks

srikars93 said:
2.Missing google now on press-hold and drag on the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happens to me, but situationally. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't....
This message was brought to you from my Sony Xperia M C1905 using Tapatalk.

ansebovi said:
i think u guys are not installed cleanly...
becoz mine in 4.3 is awesome,no lag,opengl3.0 activated meaning lot of games which has more graphics will work smoothly,..
bug is themer,battery draining /...but themer has fixer...after that i love 4.3...lot of cool themes...i m using spiderman 2 now
may be sony will fix the both in next update...
4.3 has lot of ported camera,apps...
try them...even z2 camera is ported...
camera quality is improved and can be stored in sd directly ...[till now i didnt face blue tint pics]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pardon me, how do you active openGL 3.0? Your wording seems as if there is one buried setting that I haven't turned on. I haven't noticed at ALL any improvements to my game, probably even more lag, but I ain't sure cuz I have really bad memory.

Keep in mind that OpenGL ES 3.0 won't make games magically run faster, you'll only see benefits if you run an game or app optimized to use OpenGL ES 3.0 (and there isn't many around -- right now I remember only of Dolphin emulator). Also, any ROM based on Android 4.3 will have OpenGL ES 3.0 enabled, there is no way of turning it off...

[Q] Xperia ZL post-mortem

I have a couple of quick questions about the xperia UI.
Recently, my ZL died in an accident. Due to my location, I had few replacement choices available, so I opted for a Galaxy S4. It wasn't my first choice, but it's not a bad phone.
There are a few things I miss.
First, what is that thing circled in red on the first picture called? It's a launcher of small apps that appears on the bottom panel when you open Recent Apps. Samsung doesn't have it, so I'm assuming it's an Xperia thing. I want to search for an app or a mod that can perform a similar function, but I don't know what it's called, or if there's an app that does it.
Secondly, I was really getting to like the Xperia's "Album" software. I've found gallery apps that organize in a similar way, but don't include a home screen widget that allows the user to flip through photos. Can this "Album" app be installed on the S4, if so,how, and if not, can anyone recommend a good replacement?

I don't think thats possible on a sammy phone... not unless you port the stock xperia rom to the S4... But you should head over to the s4 forum and maybe ask someone to port it for you.... only the small apps if possible! Also Samsung has their multiwindow and all... maybe use that!
You could also root your phone and use floating window from xposed!

Dr_SUSE said:
I have a couple of quick questions about the xperia UI.
Recently, my ZL died in an accident. Due to my location, I had few replacement choices available, so I opted for a Galaxy S4. It wasn't my first choice, but it's not a bad phone.
There are a few things I miss.
First, what is that thing circled in red on the first picture called? It's a launcher of small apps that appears on the bottom panel when you open Recent Apps. Samsung doesn't have it, so I'm assuming it's an Xperia thing. I want to search for an app or a mod that can perform a similar function, but I don't know what it's called, or if there's an app that does it.
Secondly, I was really getting to like the Xperia's "Album" software. I've found gallery apps that organize in a similar way, but don't include a home screen widget that allows the user to flip through photos. Can this "Album" app be installed on the S4, if so,how, and if not, can anyone recommend a good replacement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my sister have a s4, and somehow i didn't like it...
And samsung doesn't have a small apps, and also , you can tweak your Xperia ZL using Xposed Modules (Need root but not custom rom)...
Like mine, you can customize the status bar icon, battery icon, nav bar, screen off animation, and many more!
Feel free to ask, bbm or pm me if you have a question

AndreIrawan97 said:
Well, my sister have a s4, and somehow i didn't like it...
And samsung doesn't have a small apps, and also , you can tweak your Xperia ZL using Xposed Modules (Need root but not custom rom)...
Like mine, you can customize the status bar icon, battery icon, nav bar, screen off animation, and many more!
Feel free to ask, bbm or pm me if you have a question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can tweek any phone with Xposed, but why are you telling him that? didn't you read his post? He states that his ZL died and the S4 is a replacement, he's asking if it's possible to make his S4 to be closer to the ZL.
Now to the topic at hand, from what I heard it's a popular practice to port Sony apps to all Xperia phones as well as other phones. So if you go to the S4 forums you should be able to find the small apps as well as the album app, along with instructions on how to install them correctly. Good luck man, and don't be sad, the S4 is a bit better than the ZL anyway.

Dead Metal said:
You can tweek any phone with Xposed, but why are you telling him that? didn't you read his post? He states that his ZL died and the S4 is a replacement, he's asking if it's possible to make his S4 to be closer to the ZL.
Now to the topic at hand, from what I heard it's a popular practice to port Sony apps to all Xperia phones as well as other phones. So if you go to the S4 forums you should be able to find the small apps as well as the album app, along with instructions on how to install them correctly. Good luck man, and don't be sad, the S4 is a bit better than the ZL anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a bundle of Xperia apps and flashed them, and I discovered the apps couldn't start without Xperia Home enabled and running. Needless to say, it didn't run well competing with Samsung's Touchwiz. Touchwiz can't be stopped or shut down. Most of the Xperia stuff didn't last a reboot. I couldn't get Walkman to run at all.
S4 may be a slightly better platform. It's got a better camera, for one. However, the better user experience goes to Xperia. Walkman's a better music app in every way that's important. Small apps are useful, especially screenshot for me. Album widget is irreplaceable. Now I've got 2 competing music apps, Adapt sound which breaks everything, 2 competing alarm clocks, and of course the one I don't want is the one I can't stop...
It was easy to root,though, to its credit.
Might just get a Z2 and give this one to my wife. Are those easy to root? Z2's, I mean?

Dr_SUSE said:
I found a bundle of Xperia apps and flashed them, and I discovered the apps couldn't start without Xperia Home enabled and running. Needless to say, it didn't run well competing with Samsung's Touchwiz. Touchwiz can't be stopped or shut down. Most of the Xperia stuff didn't last a reboot. I couldn't get Walkman to run at all.
S4 may be a slightly better platform. It's got a better camera, for one. However, the better user experience goes to Xperia. Walkman's a better music app in every way that's important. Small apps are useful, especially screenshot for me. Album widget is irreplaceable. Now I've got 2 competing music apps, Adapt sound which breaks everything, 2 competing alarm clocks, and of course the one I don't want is the one I can't stop...
It was easy to root,though, to its credit.
Might just get a Z2 and give this one to my wife. Are those easy to root? Z2's, I mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, that's a shame and kinda weird. I mean porting should imply that they have been modified to actually run on the device.
The Z2 is easy to root with towelroot or the Z2 root deamon we also used to root our ZL. Then again, everything is easy to root with towelroot.
The best music app is PowerAmp, Walkman kinda sucks when compared to that.
Here are the S4 forums, pick which model you have and see if they have properly ported Xperia apps.

Sony Car Mode for Lolipop

Hi Xperian .. here come again with 2013 series Xperia goodie for android device which missing from lollipop
Drive Safely with Sony Car
It’s never safe to do anything while driving. You may have heard this same advice numerous times from your driving instructor, parents, and your brain; but is a quick phone call or a change of song really that dangerous? It may well be, especially with all the swiping and tapping you have to do to do so. Well, Sony’s realized this and introduced an app on the Xperia Z called Sony Car, a launcher designed specifically for driving.
What is Sony Car launcher?
It is a big ass icons launcher type of app to use when you are driving.Easy to use and very simple basic app to access basic things of your phone when you are driving.And it will keep the display on when you are driving once the app is started.
Installation : install via recovery or install as user app .

iedafarha said:
Hi Xperian .. here come again with 2013 series Xperia goodie for android device which missing from lollipop
Drive Safely with Sony Car
It’s never safe to do anything while driving. You may have heard this same advice numerous times from your driving instructor, parents, and your brain; but is a quick phone call or a change of song really that dangerous? It may well be, especially with all the swiping and tapping you have to do to do so. Well, Sony’s realized this and introduced an app on the Xperia Z called Sony Car, a launcher designed specifically for driving.
What is Sony Car launcher?
It is a big ass icons launcher type of app to use when you are driving.Easy to use and very simple basic app to access basic things of your phone when you are driving.And it will keep the display on when you are driving once the app is started.
Installation : install via recovery or install as user app .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the very late post, but i just bought a Xperia Z5 to use Mirror Link on my Polo Composition Media and avoid driving restriction but this app cannot do anything about it. When you start driving the screen turns black and nothing is shown. And the followin message is diplayed: this app is not compatible with mirrorlink...
My Xperia Z5 has not been update and is using Andoid 5.1.1.

Some themes don't change NavBar

So i bought Xperia M5 a month ago and i love the phone and it has a grate thing ability to change themes i was always crazy about themes.Now there is a lot of themes online and on Google play especially on XperiaBlog anf with these themes you can change NavBar/Soft buttons/Navigation button.But in my case i can't at least not with all,themes that are made by Sony works fone well maybe two or three don't but others from online/XperiaBlog don't work,the wallpaper and all other stuffs changes except NavBar,So is anybody else having this issue or just me?
Trying to do this on Xperia M5 E5603 from 2016,lollipop 5.1.1 30.1.A.1.33 (that's the latest update for my CDA/SI code)Thanks
Sent from my Xperia M5 E5603 using XDA-Developer premium

I am using the theme named 'Elegant Black' download from internet (forgot if I dwnload it from playstore or not), it worked well in previous version of OS but now partly working with he newest OS.
AlgebraTheBard
owned devices:
Sony Xperia M5 dual (recent)
ZTE Nubia Z7 mini (backup)
Motorola RAZR XT910 custom

hm...Then it might be the new OS,the themes aren't compatible with newest OS,well at least not fully, i'm interested more at changing NavBar with the theme.
Sent from my Xperia M5 E5603 using XDA-Developer premium

Removed Gallery widget

Since moving to the XA1 ULTRA from the z3 i noticed the ultra doesn't have one of the best features that the z3 had, the gallery widget. is there a way to install it again? ive looked at 3rd party widget apps for gallery but they are trash. also the record screen option in power menu is gone. why is sony pulling a apple and removing great features?

I'm in the same boat. I received my xa1 ultra on the 3rd and I was previously on a z3. We lost a lot of the best features. Beside what you mentioned, no more answering machine, no small apps, and no ps4 remote play. No windows drivers for the xa1 ultra from Sony either, just the other 3 xa models. I had to modify the inf file to make it apply the driver, but it works now.
I'm sure there's more I'll find but the answering machine was my favorite. Now ill have to get back to working on mine unless I can figure out how to port it. Have you rooted yet? If so, have you tried replacing,or installing, the apks from the z3 onto the xa1u?
Sent from my G3223

redincali said:
I'm in the same boat. I received my xa1 ultra on the 3rd and I was previously on a z3. We lost a lot of the best features. Beside what you mentioned, no more answering machine, no small apps, and no ps4 remote play. No windows drivers for the xa1 ultra from Sony either, just the other 3 xa models. I had to modify the inf file to make it apply the driver, but it works now.
I'm sure there's more I'll find but the answering machine was my favorite. Now ill have to get back to working on mine unless I can figure out how to port it. Have you rooted yet? If so, have you tried replacing,or installing, the apks from the z3 onto the xa1u?
Sent from my G3223
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im rooted 7.0 G3221 Xposed installed too and i haven't tried installing z3 apks but ill give it a shot