Help What kind of problems are you guys having with your phone

[aysiu]

I don't think it's really fair to judge Android based on the Sense UI of the MyTouch 4G. I couldn't stand it either and if I didn't know anything about rooting phones, I would have returned the MyTouch 4G the day after I purchased it.

Instead, I rooted it the next day and put on a rooted rom that's very close to vanilla Android Gingerbread, and it's been an absolute delight. No severe battery drain. No soft speaker problem. No screen lockup on incoming calls. None of the problems I've been reading about with the MyTouch 4G as it comes from T-Mobile (Sense UI and not vanilla Android).

I'm not saying you should root your phone. It's quite a bit of trouble, moreso than the factory reset you're not willing to do. I am saying that the MyTouch unrooted is not a good example of Android at its best, so go ahead and judge the MyTouch with Sense UI, but don't generalize to Android, because it's a bad implementation of Android.

That said, I bet half your problems (not all) would be solved if you just removed Advanced Task Killer. Task killers just uncleanly kill apps that will then "start" again. Task killers are obsolete in Android 2.2.

 

[1BlinkGone]

aysiu- thanks for your comments. Okay so can we say that the SenseUI is bastardized version of Android? No profanity intended here. I could see how this could easily misrepresent an otherwise decent (if not fully mature) OS. Furthermore, the amt of uninstallable bloatware on this thing is staggering, and I resent it. Meanwhile, much more important things a good spell check, etc, is not on the radar. Go figure. I don't find that competitive.

One thing I'm trying to sort out from the outside looking in, is the lack of parity among Android app developers that I'm sensing. Advanced Task Killer, for example, and I'm glad you brought that up: some developers seem to think that with the advent of 2.2 froyo, that need is over; but others claim that is not the case. I don't know what to believe.

But I'm going to uninstall this ATK app just to see if it makes a difference. If not, I'll go from there. Thanks. I'm not afraid to tinker, I just wasted years spoon-feeding Win 3.1 through XP, (and the machines that ran them) and walked away burnt out from it all. I've got more important fish to fry than screw around with hardware anymore. (or an OS for that matter) I just want WORKING, fully functional devices that serve ME, not vice versa.

what does it take to root and improve my phone as you did? At your leisure I'd appreciate it if you could give me a primer on that. PM me or something. Thanks.

 

[behold_this]

@1BlinkGone: IMO it seems like you really have two options:
1. Since you clearly hate android you might be happier if you get another blackberry, get off this android fan site and find a blackberry forum
2. You could take a little more time and learn how to use your phone and how android actually works, since you seem to not have a good understanding of how to use the OS (your comment "not ready for primetime" proves this...lmfao its only the most used mobile OS)

 

[1BlinkGone]

@behold this: How constructive, and informative of you- not to mention hospitable. Next please.

"What kind of problems..." is what this thread is titled, and it's in the MyTouch4G section. Why are my comments personal to you? it's a stupid piece of gear/os, not a person. I've got every right to be critical about it.

Note: I've had some devout android users concur right here on this forum that the android OS is still about 1-2 years behind the curve in development in comparison to the competition. That might not tickle your Android worship, but I believe it is a fair assessment. No harm done there, just where it's at. Hopefully the delta between android and the others will close rapidly. Time will tell. There is so much to like about it, but it's tainted my experience with it thus far.

Oh, I do understand how to use the OS, thank you very much. I've been using it every day. That said, aysiu commented (graciously and constructively mind you, unlike your post) that the Sense UI isn't a good representation of Android... as I'm finding out.

Well that's all good and well, but that's exactly what I'm working with here, unfortunately... Sense UI.

To use a different analogy lets say you go and see someone in concert and they give a command performance that night... and you gives rave reviews. Valid. Another sees the same artist in another venue, and it's an off night- and worse, they suck. And so the reports go out as such. Still Valid.

Let's remember here that for all the gee-whiz virtues of these devices (amazingly so), they are still "smart PHONES". The Phone function itself is the primary reason for being here. That singular function is the foundation of what these devices are built around, and when I can't answer 9 out of 10 calls because the screen won't unlock (it freezes up); that goes beyond troublesome/bothersome/inexperience. Right now it works more like a pager that I can call the person right back on...after I lose the call because they hang up...because I can't answer the phone! This is quite unacceptable.

Now, I uninstalled ATK today as the aysiu suggested and hopefully we'll see a change for the better. I've had one solitary incoming call, that I was able to answer mind you- it functioned normally and I wasn't locked out. When I can answer 10 out of 10 without being locked out, I'll be happy about that.

Furthermore, let's not forget that these MT4G phones purport to be contenders in the marketplace. Well, yes, if the functionality is there. T-Moblie needs to hear these complaints and get cracking if they want to get a better marketshare percentage in the smart-phone field. Give us an unadulterated Android OS, without bloatware, WITH stability... and an embedded spell-check, and the embedded ability to at least READ-ONLY MS Office documents. (these things should be included on a smart-phone, you shouldn't have to download them)

Now THAT will be competitive.

 

[aysiu]

aysiu- thanks for your comments. Okay so can we say that the SenseUI is bastardized version of Android? No profanity intended here. I could see how this could easily misrepresent an otherwise decent (if not fully mature) OS. Furthermore, the amt of uninstallable bloatware on this thing is staggering, and I resent it. Meanwhile, much more important things a good spell check, etc, is not on the radar. Go figure. I don't find that competitive.

I don't know if all Sense UIs are like this, but the one on the MyTouch 4G is particularly bad. And, yes, the excessive bloatware that can't be removed was also a major factor in my rooting the device.

One thing I'm trying to sort out from the outside looking in, is the lack of parity among Android app developers that I'm sensing. Advanced Task Killer, for example, and I'm glad you brought that up: some developers seem to think that with the advent of 2.2 froyo, that need is over; but others claim that is not the case. I don't know what to believe.

I've never seen a need for a task killer, let alone that a task killer is already built into Android, so you can kill runaway processes that are killing your CPU. So-called "running" apps are usually not running at all but just in your RAM to be accessed more quickly.

You can read more about it in these links:
Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android

But I'm going to uninstall this ATK app just to see if it makes a difference. If not, I'll go from there. Thanks. I'm not afraid to tinker, I just wasted years spoon-feeding Win 3.1 through XP, (and the machines that ran them) and walked away burnt out from it all. I've got more important fish to fry than screw around with hardware anymore. (or an OS for that matter) I just want WORKING, fully functional devices that serve ME, not vice versa.

Amen. I agree.

what does it take to root and improve my phone as you did? At your leisure I'd appreciate it if you could give me a primer on that. PM me or something. Thanks.

Unfortunately, it's quite an arduous process (it wasn't on the MyTouch 3G, but it's involved for the MyTouch 4G) so be prepared for a lot of file downloading and cryptic terminal commands and such. These are the instructions that worked for me:
TRUE PermaRoot and the ULTIMATE S=Off!!! Check this out even if you're rooted!!! - xda-developers

As I said before, I don't think it's wrong for you to want to switch to something that works for you (Blackberry, iPhone, etc.). I just think it might make more sense to dismiss the MyTouch 4G as it comes purchased as opposed to dismissing the entire Android platform. Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[Exaqtion]

Dust under the screen for me. Ahh. That's it though

 

[1BlinkGone]

aysiu- thank you so much for the input. Yes, I noticed that there is a built-in task killer in the apps mgmt section. We don't need redundancy here. ATK was uninstalled late last night.

Update- well only two incoming calls today, but I'm happy to report that I was able to answer both without any problem after the uninstall and pulling the battery & a reboot. No lockouts- and though it's only two calls, that still is 100%. It will be interesting to see if this continues with frequency of incoming calls. I think ATK had an update a few weeks back that might be the culprit here, as ATK was the first app I installed, the day I got the phone and it didn't exhibit this problem at first. Will update on any further lockouts if it occurs (edit: without ATK that is. Today I got about four calls this morning and could answer all of them! hallelujah!).

Not to beat a dead horse, but these kinds of issues are why Apple is so tight-fisted when it comes to apps and source code. They want a flawless experience for the end-user, and if somebody's app causes problems, it makes Apple look bad. But I digress. I'm going to check out those links you took the time to post. Thanks again, aysiu. You're a class act.

 

[kktk]

For me, its been just about the battery.
3-5 calls, a few emails, light surfing and the battery is dead in 6 hours flat.

Main causes of the hog is the display eating up over 60% of the battery at its lowest setting.

I am considering rooting just to get the battery performance boost at this point.

 

[aysiu]

I am considering rooting just to get the battery performance boost at this point.

Worked for me. I don't get extremely long battery life, but I can unplug it in the morning before I go to work and last until I go to bed at night and charge it then. Depending on how heavy my use is during the day, I can have it be 20-60% full when I actually begin the charging process at night.

 

[Swellstew]

I have a very weird issue. I am curious to see if anyone else has experienced this same problem. Whenever I go into Messages - Compose Message - and then start typing the name of the person I wish to text, after the second or third letter of the name the line clears and I have to retype in the name. Not the biggest issue in the world but highly annoying. Anyone else ?

 

[cpd73mc]

The only thing I do not like about my MyTouch4G is the speaker. It does not have enough volume. My friend as a Samsung Galaxy and its speaker will blow you away. The MT4G is terrible and it is tinny sounding. I am talking about when you are on speakerphone or when you are trying to watch a video. That is when the sound is bad. So I just resort to headphones then.

Other than that, I love the phone.!!!

 

[1BlinkGone]

The only thing I do not like about my MyTouch4G is the speaker. It does not have enough volume. My friend as a Samsung Galaxy and its speaker will blow you away. The MT4G is terrible and it is tinny sounding. I am talking about when you are on speakerphone or when you are trying to watch a video. That is when the sound is bad. So I just resort to headphones then.

Other than that, I love the phone.!!!

If you haven't tried anything but the side volume button, go to menu, settings, sound, then select volume. You will see either three or four virtual sliders- Ringtone, Media, Alarm, Notification. If you have the little checkbox checked in this menu, the Ringtone and Notification volumes are joined together at the same volume level and you will only see three sliders, with the Notification slider missing. Uncheck the box and the Notification slider appears.

Is it your overall volume that is too soft, or task specific? Like maybe your ringtone is okay, but the media volume level might be too low at full volume? For my wife and I, everything seems to be quite loud at full volume. YouTube videos are quite loud if you want them, for example. Annoyingly so.

Tinny sound? Yes, but you can't expect more than what that little speaker can physically deliver. But it is clear, however. This isn't a 5.1 system with a sub.. (har!)

Hope this helps.

BTW- I too find the battery life abysmal... with equitable use on my BB I'm getting probably 25%-30% tops of the svc life out of a full charge vs what I got with my BB Curve 8320.

 

[exBBuser]

About a week ago I asked it to make a sandwich for me but it didn't that's my only problem so far.

 

[1BlinkGone]

update: Since 3/22 I did have one incoming call (out of many) I could not unlock (before I reinstalled "no lock"); so far I've re-downloaded "No Lock" and I'm not having any problems whatsoever.

I'm actually brushing-up some on knowledge because I think I might perma-root my phone, and flash the ROM too once I settle upon which flash is optimum for this particular phone. I still have some gleaning to do, and lots more to learn; but I'm not afraid of these tweaks at all. I just don't want to spend my time babysitting it once it's done. If I can get the right android variant, perhaps a good Sense UI (and maybe keep my Genius button functional, too) this thing might be a real treat... Gingerbread? Honeycomb? What do these OS variants come with or are they stripped, bare bones? So many questions, but I'm digging-in. We'll see.

But I am getting the bug to maximize this device if I'm going to use it.

 

[sirdrumalot55]

i dont know, a lot of apps are really laggy for me. angry birds get really bad sometimes and even locks up. i get errors streaming youtube vids(cannot connect at this time), even tho i have a good 4g signal. ive also streamed other videos from sites and i use the media room to view the video when it asks, and ive had that freeze my phone twice now. idk. i like the phone a lot, but a lot of the laggy issues have been pretty annoying.

 

[aysiu]

I'm actually brushing-up some on knowledge because I think I might perma-root my phone, and flash the ROM too once I settle upon which flash is optimum for this particular phone. I still have some gleaning to do, and lots more to learn; but I'm not afraid of these tweaks at all. I just don't want to spend my time babysitting it once it's done. If I can get the right android variant, perhaps a good Sense UI (and maybe keep my Genius button functional, too) this thing might be a real treat... Gingerbread? Honeycomb? What do these OS variants come with or are they stripped, bare bones? So many questions, but I'm digging-in. We'll see.

But I am getting the bug to maximize this device if I'm going to use it.

I have to confess I haven't tried all the roms out there, so I don't know which is best. I can definitely attest to Cyanogen RC 4 being a smooth experience.