Help browser auto refresh wasting my data!

[mikhapop]

I think this issue is related to kk and lollipop trying to have a low memory footprint to run on low ram hardware, but there is an option in Chrome in chrome://flags to let it use more ram. I have tried it and helped a lot on my xperia z2 with 3gb ram

 

[t0md0]

holy crap! so i've been rackin my brains for the last 3 days trying to figure this out! i can't believe i'm not the only one experiencing this. i can't find many people talking about the S6 on this issue because it's probably too new of a phone.

so, i just recently purchased a galaxy S6 and one of the first things i've noticed coming from a HTC one M7 is that my webpages (and even some apps) keeps auto refreshing. it's really an annoyance. i'm thinking.. yo, i have 3gb of ram and this should not be happening.

my issue is exactly as described by one of the posters on this thread. i'll open a webpage, doesn't matter which page, then click home, then open a few other apps, camera, gallery, bleacher report etc. then click recent apps, go back to chrome and BAMMM refreshes. happens every time! it does, however, keeps my place on the page but its annoying. keep in mind its only with a few apps open. its not like i have 10-15+ apps open all at once (even if i did 3gb should handle it easily).

i have the att variant with 5.0.2 lollipop. my HTC m7 just recently got 5.0. i thought it was just chrome, but it does this with the stock browser and dolphin as well. i went back to best buy to test the floor models and same thing. so i'm thinking its a memory leak with lollipop on samsung or i dunno? my nexus 7 2013 tablet model doesn't do this and i'm on 5.1 now.

i did chat with samsung tech support over the IM chat (not live) and the guy said it was a limitation of the phone. yeah.. that was his final answer. lol. anyone else with an S6 experience this?

 

[odtulu]

Assalamu alaykum
I have been having the same annoying problem you have. Yet found a solution while checking every settings I can . It is simple , go to developer options (I guess you know how) , there is an option you should turn off named "Do not keep activities"
Hope this works for you.

 

[EliezerB]

Hope this works for you.

Unfortunately it doesn't help at all. As soon as I hit the Home button to go to a different app - then back to the browser - it refreshes the page again...

 

[Gearu]

Try opening browser and go to this address chrome://debug/
While you're on this nothing page (you can bookmark it) go menu key>settings>debug and tick enable Session Cache and maybe Place Holder too.
Seems to work as long as you don't clear ram or swipe browser off of the active apps list.

 

[EliezerB]

Try opening browser and go to this address chrome://debug/

I cannot connect to that page. I get a:

This webpage is not available.
ERR_INVALID_URL​

error

 

[t0md0]

Try opening browser and go to this address chrome://debug/
While you're on this nothing page (you can bookmark it) go menu key>settings>debug and tick enable Session Cache and maybe Place Holder too.
Seems to work as long as you don't clear ram or swipe browser off of the active apps list.

I don't happen to see debug as an option once I've gone to that "nothing" page. I don't even see "menu key".

 

[t0md0]

Assalamu alaykum
I have been having the same annoying problem you have. Yet found a solution while checking every settings I can . It is simple , go to developer options (I guess you know how) , there is an option you should turn off named "Do not keep activities"
Hope this works for you.

Turn off?? This was never checked to begin with so yeah... this won't help.

 

[Gearu]

You should see this in the stock browser:

Then press your menu/options softkey on the bottom left of your phone, slide down and go into settings, and the debug menu will now be an option in there.

 

[EarlyMon]

Assalamu alaykum
I have been having the same annoying problem you have. Yet found a solution while checking every settings I can . It is simple , go to developer options (I guess you know how) , there is an option you should turn off named "Do not keep activities"
Hope this works for you.

That's not a good idea if you want multitasking.

Turn off?? This was never checked to begin with so yeah... this won't help.

What might help in developer options, advanced, is to limit the background processes to 4.

That's very device-dependent so I can't make any guarantees on that. But, I've seen that work for this - sometimes.

 

[odtulu]

No I realised I wasnt keeping activities. Maybe I had turned that feature on myself before. I am saying , phone should keep activities , told it cause he or others might have the same issue.

 

[Sanushin]

Hi guys, when I re-open any of my browser after using other apps it always refresh the pages.

This is wasting my data and if I am in a area with no coverage I cannot view the page at all.

This is really frustrating as I often go to remote areas and my data plan is limited.

Is there any way to turn off this auto refresh feature on any of the browsers?

I use opera, stock browser and firefox.

Thanks in advance!

Hi -

I had the same annoying problem.

Found a solution.. If you have Developer Options under setting, simply deselect "Don't keep activities".

I think to enable the Developer Options tab, go to "About phone" -> Click on "Build number" 7 times -> a new tab should be added to your settings.

Hope this helps.

 

[Big_gibble]

I have the same problem. I use chrome for a VPN connection for work. On kk it would without any issues. Since the update to lollipop, I get booted off the VPN 20-30 times a day. I can't use the native browser because our work site is set up for cross platform, with only chrome supported.
I also use the native browser for filling out forms and if I don't have everything saved to my clipboard so I can just paste all the info into the fields, the page refreshes and I loose all the info I entered.
Tried using Pulse Secure for the VPN, but it only allows 1 page at a atime, and I often need 3-4, or more.
I have a 32Gb card with my files and apps on there as much as possible, and 16Gb onboard, I always keep my cache cleared (not clearing while I'm online, lol) but for the past couple days I've actually resorted to using an old iphone4 <shudder> tethered just so I can stay on the vpn.
Several people I work with are having the same issue. It's confirmed the problem isn't with the VPN, it is the actual devices, and it's all since lollipop.
I can't kill JavaScript, as I need it for the sites, I've gone into developer options, and tried everything there. Chrome debugging didn't work.
Please!!! I'm begging you for any help! I want to stop using that iPhone! Lol

 

[Big_gibble]

Nvm. Found out it's a memory drain with lollipop affecting the Samsung lineup. Met up with a YouTube device reviewer, and he was telling me about all the glitches affecting them right now, which is too bad because I really like my S4. Luckily, our contracts were up for renewal, so my wife and I upgraded to LG-G4's, for next to nothing. He had a bunch of phones he was testing, and showed me side by side comparisons with the s4,5,6, notes 5, and i think 6, Lg's G3and4, sony's lineup, and wow...these Lg's are smoking fast, and seem stable.

 

[notenoob]

Hi guys, I just bought and Note 3 and immediately ran into the same problem. The webpage won't stay as they are after opening a few tabs or other applications.

So is this a problem without a solution? I feel so dumb buying the note 3 to experience better internet browsing only to find out it's exactly the same as using my old Galaxy S2. What is the purpose of having 3GB of ram??

I can run Bittorrent, Msoffice, Chrome with at least 8 tabs in my 2gb ram laptop without any issues but Note 3 can't even handle 2 tabs withouts refreshing between uses.

 

[Big_gibble]

Sorry to hear that, Noob. That's why I left Samsung, which is sad because that make such solid devices. Like I said in my post, I switched to LG, and no problems since. There is supposedly a new 'M' OS coming out soon that should resolve it.
Oh, BTW the LG still has a removable battery, and expandable memory, good to 2TB.

 

[jay512]

I had the same issue guys...no matter what browser it wasnt saving state of page n kept reloading everytime even i come back from browser setting it was refreshing pages...first i thought it was coz i upgraded to lollipop but it wasnt that...it was in developer option...got dev option advanced n unmark "dont keep activities" option then restart ur phone n u r good to go...tell me if it helped u...

 

[Big_gibble]

Tried that, made no difference with me.

 

[Gearu]

Open stock browser and go to this address chrome://debug/
While you're on this page (it will be blank) use menu key>settings>debug and tick enable Session Cache and maybe Place Holder too.

This will stop the refreshing as long as you don't use the 'clear ram' feature or swipe browser off of the active apps list.

Not sure why my original post/solution was ignored but I reworded it a little.

 

[Evenglow]

Try Ghostery Privacy Browser.

 

[Alexxander]

This will stop the refreshing as long as you don't use the 'clear ram' feature or swipe browser off of the active apps list.

Not sure why my original post/solution was ignored but I reworded it a little.

Hi! I have checked my debug setting - both options you mentioned are enabled.
And I'm experiencing this issue at my S5 with lollypop.
It seems to me that this issue is not directly related to some kind of memory leaks.
The most common situation when it happens to me - when I switch connections. It can be passing from wifi to lte or turning off all of them.
After this action Chrome often tries to refresh - and obviously fails if I'm disconnected or connection is poor.

 

[Set]

Same issue here. It has nothing to do with sites auto-refreshing. Nor does it matter which browser. If I go do something else, when I come back to the browser, it reloads. In fact it just happened while writing this post, when I had the temerity to reply to a text and had to rewrite all this because it reloaded and didn't save.

Moto E (2nd gen.); Android 5.1; Firefox

Fully updated. Suggestions appreciated!

 

[tbelgarde1986]

Hi guys, when I re-open any of my browser after using other apps it always refresh the pages.

This is wasting my data and if I am in a area with no coverage I cannot view the page at all.

This is really frustrating as I often go to remote areas and my data plan is limited.

Is there any way to turn off this auto refresh feature on any of the browsers?

I use opera, stock browser and firefox.

Thanks in advance!

I have had the same problem on my phone. In my case, I listen to news radio broadcasts via chrome and they have started refreshing half way through for some reason so I never get to hear the entire show. This was happening when my screen was locked and when switching between apps.

To fix this on my Samsung S5, I went into my developer options, scrolled half way down to the function that says "Buffer size for logging".. I maxed mine out at 16mb. Then I scrolled all the way down to the Apps options. Changed my "Limit background processes" to 4. Keep the number of apps you have open to a minimum. So far, I have have not had any trouble getting through multiple 37 min broadcasts after these changes. I can also lock/unlock and switch between apps without the issue of it reloading.

Not sure it will help with your problem, but it helps for streaming. Also, as someone mentioned before, after you load the page, try going under "settings" in the browser, then go down to "site settings" and turning off the javascript. You won't be able to load certain websites, but it may help keep a page open if you are just using it to look back at.

 

[BlazinGoose]

**Problem solved- hope this helps anyone with this same problem!!

In developer options I had "do not keep activities" checked. I would uncheck it and leave developer options then go right back into developer options to find it was checked again! Bastards!

To fix it, you just press the text instead of the toggle switch on "do not keep activities." Restart your phone and that fixed it for me... might not need to restart, but this is how I solved the issue!

For done reason when toggle is hit, it won't stay unchecked, but hitting the text field instead will do the trick! Good luck to all, I had to share cuz I had same issue, incredibly frustrating!

 

[Duh1buttonMouse]

I just joing because the issue of the original poster is bugging the heck out of me. It is not about wasting data for me. It is about wasting TIME wating for poorly written sites, that I need to use, to refresh for 20 seconds sometimes AND it is about trying to fill out a form on line when some of the info I need for the form is on another tab or in a pic in my phone. As said before by others and I will clarify a bit : I just want tabs to act like any desktop and laptop and android phone that I have ever had before. Also note: I have the Samsung Galaxy S6 and there is NO menu button! There is only a tabs button, a home button, and a back button. I made the developer options appear, made sure "do not keep activities" was unchecked, maxed out buffer size for logging, and limited background processes to 4. My previous smartphone, motorola droid razr did not have this problem. I do not believe it is related to the browser or any particular page I am on. It is a glitch in the Samsung tab system, whatever that is called, I do not know. Also FYI, I am not able to scroll up in the tiny window I am writing in, in this forum to review/edit what I wrote before posting. Yes, occassionally the scroll bar does appear inside this box, but I am unable to make contact with it.