Unusual issue, surprising response from Sprint TS

[uminchu]

Over the weekend, I encountered a curious issue with my Hero. On Friday, the device was not bricked, but might as well have been. It had been running all day, but in the afternoon it would not download an app from the market. Further exploration revealed that it had no network reception whatsoever in an area where I regularly get 5 bars. I tried to run the phone and phone app went into forced close. I powered cycled the device, and every single app and process force closed on the reboot. I pulled the battery and rebooted again, and again, every app and process hit a forced close. All attempts to run my installed apps also resulted in forced close.

The first question Sprint TS asked me was if Shazam or Task Killer was installed. The answer was yes, I'd installed both. According to Sprint TS, both of these apps are incompatible with Sprint's version of the Hero. We uninstalled them, but the phone continued to force close every process. The tech's advice was to document the incident with an event number, take the phone to the Sprint store, have them back it up, perform a hard reset, reinstall the contacts, then reinstall all apps one by one. I did it their way, they reset the phone, and it's running fine again.

Afterword, the tech approached me with a printout of the event ticket. He pointed to the notes about Shazam and TasKiller, and asked me (in a tone that I don't want to exaggerate, but that I can only describe as condescending and annoyed), "Why on Earth would you install these?". I responded, "why shouldn't I?" He said the Hero has known issues with those apps, that they absolutely should not be installed, and had the phone not recovered properly, it would have nullified my warranty due to negligence on my part.

I asked if Sprint had posted this info on their website, notified owners, or made this information available in any way. He replied that that was not his concern. I asked him without some warning or indication from Sprint, how I might possibly know of any possible problem or risk from downloading and installing an Android app from the Android Market to my shiny new Android phone that Sprint sold me? He repeated that this was not his concern. I asked him to show me a document, website or any written reference stating that these were problematic apps. He had no such reference. I maintained that absent of notice or documentation from Sprint or HTC, there was no negligence whatsoever on my part. We agreed to disagree, and I went on my way.

I know the tech was a jerk, but oh well. I'm much more concerned with whether or not anyone else has experienced issues with these apps. According to Sprint, I am not an isolated incident. Has anyone experienced similar issues?

 

[flexte]

WOW! you must be a nice guy. I cant imagine anyone talking to me that way but maybe that's because i look too intimidating to get spoken to in that tone. I would definitely report him to his superiors he obviously is a moron.

 

[leeladisky]

Over the weekend, I encountered a curious issue with my Hero. On Friday, the device was not bricked, but might as well have been. It had been running all day, but in the afternoon it would not download an app from the market. Further exploration revealed that it had no network reception whatsoever in an area where I regularly get 5 bars. I tried to run the phone and phone app went into forced close. I powered cycled the device, and every single app and process force closed on the reboot. I pulled the battery and rebooted again, and again, every app and process hit a forced close. All attempts to run my installed apps also resulted in forced close.

The first question Sprint TS asked me was if Shazam or Task Killer was installed. The answer was yes, I'd installed both. According to Sprint TS, both of these apps are incompatible with Sprint's version of the Hero. We uninstalled them, but the phone continued to force close every process. The tech's advice was to document the incident with an event number, take the phone to the Sprint store, have them back it up, perform a hard reset, reinstall the contacts, then reinstall all apps one by one. I did it their way, they reset the phone, and it's running fine again.

Afterword, the tech approached me with a printout of the event ticket. He pointed to the notes about Shazam and TasKiller, and asked me (in a tone that I don't want to exaggerate, but that I can only describe as condescending and annoyed), "Why on Earth would you install these?". I responded, "why shouldn't I?" He said the Hero has known issues with those apps, that they absolutely should not be installed, and had the phone not recovered properly, it would have nullified my warranty due to negligence on my part.

I asked if Sprint had posted this info on their website, notified owners, or made this information available in any way. He replied that that was not his concern. I asked him without some warning or indication from Sprint, how I might possibly know of any possible problem or risk from downloading and installing an Android app from the Android Market to my shiny new Android phone that Sprint sold me? He repeated that this was not his concern. I asked him to show me a document, website or any written reference stating that these were problematic apps. He had no such reference. I maintained that absent of notice or documentation from Sprint or HTC, there was no negligence whatsoever on my part. We agreed to disagree, and I went on my way.

I know the tech was a jerk, but oh well. I'm much more concerned with whether or not anyone else has experienced issues with these apps. According to Sprint, I am not an isolated incident. Has anyone experienced similar issues?

You are absolutely correct, if they cannot document a policy about a specific behavior that is not a "locked" behavior (e.g., rooting), they cannot void your warranty. Furthermore, none of the apps in question do anything to the kernal of the phone, nor do they modify anything permanently - especially Shazam. I know several Sprint techs who have a Task Killer on their phone without any issue, although I too, have a task killer on my phone and have occasional network/phone issues - noting like yours, however.

 

[romeosidvicious]

I can tell you that the information about TasKiller is incorrect. I have it installed and have no problems at all. I also have Shazam installed but have never used it. Simply installing it won't cause problems for you. There are no posts on the Sprint forum about these apps nor are there any here and many users are using them. I would like to see official word from Sprint that these apps are not compatible with the Hero and their explanation as to why. Neither of these apps should do anything that causes the symptoms described. It just doesn't make any sense. These apps don't interact with the CDMA functions at all and that's what would make something incompatible since Android 1.5 is Android 1.5.

 

[kenyu73]

None of the android applications can damage these phones to a point where a factory reset couldn't bring it back to life.

 

[MikeG7265]

I have Shazam installed on my Hero, and have used it a few times without any problems whatsoever.

 

[dcdttu]

Shazam is working fine for me, used it several times.

Most technicians, no offense to any on here because if you're on this forum you're not who I am talking about, are idiots that hear all kinds of not true things and just go with it or hear it wrong.

 

[KDP]

I've got Task Killer on my and have seen no issues with connectivity. Major issue I'm having is battery life and phone heat.

 

[UTnick]

i have used several iterations of Taskiller since i got my Hero. no problems. i have tagged 20 songs with shazam. no problems.

fight the good fight, brother.

 

[marctronixx]

what the tech said and how the tech said it are not the way to respond to a valued sprint customer.

having said that, the tech could have seen those issues with other hero's that he may have worked on and possibly from internal documents. the tech is not required to show a customer any internal use only documents to try and prove anything..

also, we all represent a small fraction of hero users in the USA on this forum.. just because 4 or 5 of us have not seen any issues does not mean there aren't any...

again, the tech was way out of line and i dont condone that. the OP of this post kept a cool head about it..

look in the end just come here for any questions.. we use these devices daily.. if you need to exchange, then go to a store.. where do you think sprint techs come to get troubleshooting tips on this phone??

 

[kronium]

Here's a thread containing the same problem. I'm surprised the problem is not more wide spread.

Sprint Hero Crashes on re-boot, Problem App? - Android Community Forums





sprint hero force close startup crashes boot

 

[wbbgjr]

The tech was out of line no doubt. And to one of he posters, yes, the tech should provide documentation when he is stating such a ridiculous claim and he (sprint) is legally required to prove it if he's going to enforce the made up rule.

 

[peestandingup]

Trust me, a lot of "tech" guys like to pull stuff outta their ass without anything solid to back it up. You called the guy on it so he was being a jerk, trying to get you to leave & end it.

If you wanted to make his life hard, I'd go back in & ask to speak with someone in upper management & tell them about it. If not, I'd just leave it alone.

 

[uminchu]

Trust me, a lot of "tech" guys like to pull stuff outta their ass without anything solid to back it up. You called the guy on it so he was being a jerk, trying to get you to leave & end it.

If you wanted to make his life hard, I'd go back in & ask to speak with someone in upper management & tell them about it. If not, I'd just leave it alone.

I'm the OP. Nah, making the store tech's life hard is not on my agenda. The world is full of jerks, most of whom, in comparison, relegate this one particular clown to small potato status. My phone works fine, and life's way too short.

Btw, I put Shazam back on, switched to Advanced Task Manager Free, and so far everything works and plays well together just fine. Many thanks to everyone who posted for all the helpful input.

 

[andrewcgrimm]

what a terrible rep. you can actually call sprint and tell them you want to do an IRT on that rep and store

I have both installed, actually shazam was the first app i dled,, and im having no problem actually i just counted and i have 50 apps installed and no problems.

 

[Syphon]

Such garbage. I can't believe they said that. I use ATK Free and Shazam. I i have tagged around 20 songs so far and I have not issues on my phone. Also runs at about 15% awake time. I think this guy just pulled that info out of his...well you know. I agree though, if its fixed no use and going through all the trouble to file a complaint.

 

[playano1]

I would definately file a complaint. You can do so right from sprints website all you need is his name and the store he works at. I have had same issue with 2 Hero's one happened last night. I took it back this morning they rebooted the phone now it works ok again. I will not reinstall the apps you mentioned. Now I know the cause. Thank you so much.

Over the weekend, I encountered a curious issue with my Hero. On Friday, the device was not bricked, but might as well have been. It had been running all day, but in the afternoon it would not download an app from the market. Further exploration revealed that it had no network reception whatsoever in an area where I regularly get 5 bars. I tried to run the phone and phone app went into forced close. I powered cycled the device, and every single app and process force closed on the reboot. I pulled the battery and rebooted again, and again, every app and process hit a forced close. All attempts to run my installed apps also resulted in forced close.

The first question Sprint TS asked me was if Shazam or Task Killer was installed. The answer was yes, I'd installed both. According to Sprint TS, both of these apps are incompatible with Sprint's version of the Hero. We uninstalled them, but the phone continued to force close every process. The tech's advice was to document the incident with an event number, take the phone to the Sprint store, have them back it up, perform a hard reset, reinstall the contacts, then reinstall all apps one by one. I did it their way, they reset the phone, and it's running fine again.

Afterword, the tech approached me with a printout of the event ticket. He pointed to the notes about Shazam and TasKiller, and asked me (in a tone that I don't want to exaggerate, but that I can only describe as condescending and annoyed), "Why on Earth would you install these?". I responded, "why shouldn't I?" He said the Hero has known issues with those apps, that they absolutely should not be installed, and had the phone not recovered properly, it would have nullified my warranty due to negligence on my part.

I asked if Sprint had posted this info on their website, notified owners, or made this information available in any way. He replied that that was not his concern. I asked him without some warning or indication from Sprint, how I might possibly know of any possible problem or risk from downloading and installing an Android app from the Android Market to my shiny new Android phone that Sprint sold me? He repeated that this was not his concern. I asked him to show me a document, website or any written reference stating that these were problematic apps. He had no such reference. I maintained that absent of notice or documentation from Sprint or HTC, there was no negligence whatsoever on my part. We agreed to disagree, and I went on my way.

I know the tech was a jerk, but oh well. I'm much more concerned with whether or not anyone else has experienced issues with these apps. According to Sprint, I am not an isolated incident. Has anyone experienced similar issues?

 

[*JonnyB*]

hmmm thats really intresting, well i have ATK free too and i dont have any of those problems but i have a different problem many people dont have?
right now, my messages arnt working at all, their coming in really late or dont come at all, and i had handcent sms at first but i uninstalled it cuz i thought that was why, but its not
when im near someone i tell them to txt me and it never comes!
im like wtf, should i uninstall ATK and reboot, or what?

 

[stephen866]

negligence ?...I don't use a task killer or shazam, but was never told not to use them. A large majority of us are new to Android and they are taking a sink or swim approach. By the way ,if you have the printout for the ticket what did it show with shazam/taskiller ?

 

[sprucebeach]

WOW! you must be a nice guy. I cant imagine anyone talking to me that way but maybe that's because i look too intimidating to get spoken to in that tone.

Do you have a videophone?

 

[vwvapor]

Look for the thread about 70 app install limit and count yours. Sounds like that could be the problem.

 

[CLoudNYNE]

I have had this issue 5 time in the last 6 weeks that i have had my Sprint HTC Hero. I can prove that in fact it is a 70 app limit that requires a hard reset. I have "MY Backup Pro" from the Android Market, which allows me to save all of the installation files for the apps that i have on my phone. After downloading a few apps from the store the other day, i noticed that my phone was really lagging and unresponsive, so i rebooted. wouldn't you know, everything force closed after the reboot and i needed to hard reset my device. So after doing the initial device setup, which i can do fairly quickly now lol, i ran my backup program and reinstalled all of my apps and restored all of my home screens and system settings. In order for them to take effect, i needed to reboot the device. I did, and guess what, everything force closed, AGAIN!!!! By this point i am completely pissed, so i went to Sprint Repair and ordered a replacement. I hard reset my hero AGAIN! This time i didn't reinstall a lot of the apps that i don't use that frequently; It works now, but i have 64 apps installed, not including the HTC & Sprint apps that came prepackaged on the phone.

I am almost certain that this is a limitation, 70 3rd party apps, from Sprint and not HTC. I'm going to call HTC support again tomorrow to see why there is a limitation, or if they even know about it. Honestly, 70 apps on a device is not unheard of. On a daily basis, i use about 30 apps regularly, and i only have 1 game installed, which i don't play that often anyway.

If anyone else has any idea of how to get rid of this 70 app limitation, without installing another ROM version, i would really like to know. Otherwise, i will post my findings after doing more research with Sprint and HTC.