Why all Android phones feel a little laggy

[droogie2799]

Man I don't know how some of you guys are saying there's no lag. Every android I owned had a little of bit lag here and there. Nothing serious, just a couple of skipped frames with animations. Still noticeable though. Even with my tbolt now running cm7 (pure android), every now and then I see some jitters when switching between homescreens.

I agree, I have used numerous android devices, most currently an HTC Flyer and Galaxy tab and both have some lag. I prefer the lag and the customizable interface vs iOS. I find the grid of icons on iOS to be old-fashion. I enjoy Android and WP7...

 

[Shocky]

I agree, I have used numerous android devices, most currently an HTC Flyer and Galaxy tab and both have some lag. I prefer the lag and the customizable interface vs iOS. I find the grid of icons on iOS to be old-fashion. I enjoy Android and WP7...

Tablets lag, I know.

I don't know it's its the hardware or honeycomb but they are not the best, my Asus Transformer lags a little, add a live wallpaper of the lag is extreme.

On the other hand even with a live wallpaper my Galaxy S II is still super smooth.

 

[aysiu]

The term feels laggy is a bit imprecise. If you have a fast processor and lots of RAM, it's unlikely it'll feel laggy in terms of sheer speed. Things will load quickly. Applications will launch immediately when you press the icon.

My understanding of the lag difference between iOS and Android has more to do with the touchscreen and movement. For example, open up your browser (any browser--Browser, Miren, Dolphin, Firefox, Opera) to a web page that has a vertical scroll to it. Place your finger on the screen and move your finger up and down very quickly. As you do this, you'll notice that there's a very slight bounce effect--in other words, the up motion has a lag to switching to the down motion after your finger has started moving the other direction.

Try that on iOS and you will see the page moves exactly in time with your finger.

I'm not saying that's a huge deal. In fact, I've used two Android phones and love both of them. I wouldn't trade up my Android for an iPhone. But there is a lag... it's just not the kind of lag that really matters that much to day-to-day operation. Would I love for it to not exist at all? Sure. But it's not ruining my experience in the meantime.

 

[Shocky]

Try that on iOS and you will see the page moves exactly in time with your finger.

Funny that in every browser comparison i've ever seen between the iPhone4/s and Galaxy S II, not once has anyone said the Galaxy S II browser lags, quite the opposite infact.

 

[aysiu]

Funny that in every browser comparison i've ever seen between the iPhone4/s and Galaxy S II, not once has anyone said the Galaxy S II browser lags, quite the opposite infact.

I'm not talking about loading the web page. I'm talking about the responsiveness when you change the direction of the scroll.

Don't quote me if you're responding to something other than what I actually wrote.

 

[WordSteps]

Has no problems with errors in Adroid, HTC Hero. Android 1.6.

 

[Shocky]

I'm not talking about loading the web page. I'm talking about the responsiveness when you change the direction of the scroll.

Neither am I, they do test responsiveness as well, not just how fast the pages load.

 

[aysiu]

Neither am I, they do test responsiveness as well, not just how fast the pages load.

Check out 1:16-1:42 in this YouTube comparison of the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S.
Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S: web browsing comparison - YouTube

You'll see in the pinch-to-zoom that the Galaxy Nexus screen lags behind the fingers, and the fingers will be sometimes above the words and sometimes below them. In the iPhone 4S, the screen zoom goes right with the fingers. If the fingers begin the pinch and expand on a word, the word will alway stay with the fingers. If the fingers begin the pinch and expand above a word, the word will always stay below the fingers.

I love my Android phone, but I'm not a fanatic. If you can't admit that there are flaws to a platform you enjoy using that veers dangerously into the fanatic territory.

 

[Rico ANDROID]

My Dell Streak doesnt lag at all. Very responsive and loads fast.

 

[Bnice]

Everyone love pointing out flaws about Android. I don't care what OS anyone uses, they all lag at some point.At about 740-745 you can see how he pointed how choppy the browser was on the Nexus but fail to point out the iphone unresponsiveness.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQk1bSQ6nKs

 

[Rico ANDROID]

Everyone love pointing out flaws about Android. I don't care what OS anyone uses, they all lag at some point.At about 740-745 you can see how he pointed how choppy the browser was on the Nexus but fail to point out the iphone unresponsiveness.


Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S - YouTube

Aymen to that,my fellow Androidian, Aymen to that!

 

[Shocky]

Check out 1:16-1:42 in this YouTube comparison of the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S In the iPhone 4S, the screen zoom goes right with the fingers. If the fingers begin the pinch and expand on a word, the word will alway stay with the fingers

I can't comment on the Galaxy Nexus, I don't own one. But the iPhone 4s does that as well when hes continually pinching and zooming, there is some lag.

All I can say is i've never noticed that on my Galaxy S II, trying it right now and it works just fine, it's not always with the my finger when doing it quickly but neither is the iphone 4s.

Besides how does that respesent normal usage anyway?

 

[aysiu]

Besides how does that respesent normal usage anyway?

I never said it did. You'll notice in my original comment I mentioned it doesn't affect my day-to-day use. It's not a big deal, but it exists. I'll take your word for it that it doesn't exist on your particular phone, but it does exist. I saw it in the video, and I've personally experienced it on two of my own Android phones.

 

[Shocky]

I never said it did. You'll notice in my original comment I mentioned it doesn't affect my day-to-day use. It's not a big deal, but it exists. I'll take your word for it that it doesn't exist on your particular phone, but it does exist. I saw it in the video, and I've personally experienced it on two of my own Android phones.

I never said it doesnt exist only that I've never noticed it, but even in the video the same thing happens on the iPhone 4S, when hes doing it quickly there is lag.

I can reproduce that buy doing it quickly as well but what does this prove? All devices can "lag" given the right conditions, but these conditions are not normal usage.

 

[primetech]

You know, the differences here, and the lag discussed, are awfully insignificant when it all boils down. I've seen Android phones with 600MHz processors and tiny screens behave quite well, and more powerful ones fail more badly.

Most of us don't have the cash for more than one phone-toy, especially if one of the two has to be an iPhone to begin with, so there's rarely a need to do side-by-side comparisons. When I do compare, it usually stops at the home screen with widgets.

 

[krouget]

Man I don't know how some of you guys are saying there's no lag. Every android I owned had a little of bit lag here and there. Nothing serious, just a couple of skipped frames with animations. Still noticeable though. Even with my tbolt now running cm7 (pure android), every now and then I see some jitters when switching between homescreens.

Going to have to agree. Every single Android device I've used has had some degree of lag and hiccups. Sometimes its worse than others, and is noticeably less present in newer devices, but it does exist, nonetheless. I'm on my second Bionic now, and it was on both devices, the Charge, original Droid (across countless ROMs/Kernels), my Xoom, and countless other friends devices.

iOs, on the other hand, is noticeably smoother any time I interact with the many dozen I've handled, from the early iPhones up until the current versions.

It's not a deal breaker, by any means, as each has its share of pros and cons, but iOS is the smoother OS, from my experiences. I could just as well write a long list of things I don't like, though, meaning neither OS is perfect.

 

[Stuntman]

I find that the iPhone is a bit smoother than my Android phone. Now let's move on and talk about a bunch of things that Android is better than the iPhone. There are a bunch of them. That is why I and so many other people buy Android phones instead of the iPhone.

 

[sohguanh]

I has to admit Android UI do seems to lack the smooth-ness in comparison to a iPhone. It may not be a apple to apple comparison but if given the OP opinion is true, then it boils down to the design in both camps. Apple seem to place a very high emphasis on User Interface because they believe in delivering an optimal end user experience for it's users whereas Google is designed to be more of a co-operating where besides UI, non-GUI tasks should also be given a slice of working time.

However I believe newer Android devices are catching up. I was actually comparing Motorola Milestone with a iPhone 4 and then with a newer HTC with the same iPhone 4 and the gap is narrowing. I can only hope Google Android would look more into the User Interface area as to end users it is THE one that determine their view of what is good or no good. What users do not get to see like back-end non-GUI stuff, it runs slower a bit will not spoil their user experience.

In short, I think Apple heavy emphasis on the User Interface is a better way. Better as not in technical term but more from the end user point of view. At the end of the day, the end users drive the demand isn't it?

 

[Stuntman]

I think that UI looks and smoothness does help Apple sell their devices. Once you have the device and use it over time, the looks start to matter less and less. What you can actually do with the device and how easily you can access the features and functions you need on a daily basis start to matter more and more. It is easier to show something that looks good and smooth. It is harder to show the usefulness of a device on a daily basis because you really need to show a lot and not everyone uses devices the same way.

 

[pawdog]

If so called smoothness is the only thing Apple has left on Android I say let them have it. Apple will continue to do what they do and their users will be happy as hogs in slop. Android device makers and software developers will continue to offer choice and personalization. But as this video shows, the days that people can honestly say the Iphone is a better phone is over. If anything the 4s has fallen behind.

 

[Sulfur]

Dalvik is a turtle.

 

[IOWA]

You know, the differences here, and the lag discussed, are awfully insignificant when it all boils down. I've seen Android phones with 600MHz processors and tiny screens behave quite well, and more powerful ones fail more badly.

Most of us don't have the cash for more than one phone-toy, especially if one of the two has to be an iPhone to begin with, so there's rarely a need to do side-by-side comparisons. When I do compare, it usually stops at the home screen with widgets.

This is a lot to read, but if you really want to get the most out of your Android device I highly suggest reading this all.

Not only that, let's take capability into account here. My evo shift doesn't lag. Period. Granted I do have regular reboots due to battery swapping, so that could (and probably does) help. It's not overclocked, and it does have a custom rom CM7 so no carrier bloat. For the longest time ever I've always maintained Android is still the only mobile platform that does real multi-tasking.

For instance, when I get home, my phone turns on airplane mode, then turns on wifi, then logs me into GrooveIP and connects to my Wifi network. And it does this all... automatically. Without any interaction from me, in the background, by itself. Text messages/voicemails are routed through Google Voice (Sprint integration ftw!) and all phone calls are routed through GrooveIP. This allows me to not be connected to Sprints network in any way shape or form, and still have a fully functional phone while getting great battery life because the "tower" is in my living room.

When my phone disconnects from my Wifi network it automatically disables Airplane mode, turns off GrooveIP, and it's back to normal. When I leave my home, wifi is automatically turned off and GPS is automatically turned on (for remote tracking purposes. GPS also turns itself off at work, and a few other locations I picked, and the it turns itself back on when I leave those areas. Also, at some of those locations my phone will turn wifi automatically on/off.).

My phone also logs every single call & text message to a Google Calender I set up.

It also backs itself up automatically at night (a complete NAND backup using Rom Manager), and deletes backups older than 7 days.

But wait, there's more!

What good is a NANDroid if it's not backed up somewhere else right?

Well, guess what. More automated solutions. My phone automatically backs up the contents of my SD card to home network, which is then synced to my personal server in Los Angeles ( I live in Chicago) automatically in an encrypted format.

But wait, even more.

It just doesn't back up the SD card in it's entirety. At my discretion, all my media (photos, songs, etc) are downloaded to my device at the same time. All the media that goes to the phone, is not backed up thus reducing overhead. It also only makes a transfer on a file by file basis, only if the file is different one either end depending on which way the sync transfer is programmed to.

Oh, and to top it all off, it does this all automatically, without my interaction, wirelessly.

Everything I just said is done completely by itself, and amazing feat to say the least. And it doesn't lag my phone either.

So, let's see an iPhone do that.


EDIT: Just a list of the programs I use to make all this work.

Rom Manager Premium

Llama Location profiles

Call log calendar

GrooveIP

Google Voice

Rom Manager Janitor

Cheetah Sync