Why all Android phones feel a little laggy

[rickhigbee]

This post is technical as it's posted by an engineer that worked on Google's Android team, but it answered many questions and should forever end questions like, "how is my dual core, 1.5ghz phone lagging when simply opening my web browser?"

https://plus.google.com/100838276097451809262/posts/VDkV9XaJRGS

 

[UssjTrunks]

I found that changing the launcher really helped make the UI smoother.

 

[Brucew0617]

About such situation, I'd like to refresh a new ROM.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

That's a cool read for sure.

 

[droogie2799]

Good read, it seems like Android should have followed a similar course to iOS regarding the UI. With that being said, I guess one note to take from this read is to stay away from the NVIDIA Tegra 2, is that true? Reason being is I am currently trying to decide between a galaxy 8.9 and a flyer. The 8.9 has a NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip while the flyer has a single core 1.5 GHz.

 

[bigbadwulff]

Intern. Right.....
WTF does an intern know? What they taught in school? And we all know we were perfectly prepared for the real world by our education....

 

[rickhigbee]

I'd say he knows plenty. Seeings how after his time with Google working on Android, Microsoft hired him to work on the next version of the Windows Phone. my guess is he knows a good deal more than you.

 

[Crashdamage]

...Microsoft hired him to work on the next version of the Windows Phone.

Not much of a confirmation of skills...

 

[Stuntman]

It is a very interesting and informative read. I had often suspected that Android's multitasking capabilities is one reason the UI is not as smooth as iOS. If iOS does stop almost everything else from using the CPU when the user is interacting with the UI, it would make sense that iOS can be smoother.

 

[temporary101]

....I don;t get the whole buggy issue....sure iOS is smoother...but the lagg imo is hardly noticeable

 

[droogie2799]

....I don;t get the whole buggy issue....sure iOS is smoother...but the lagg imo is hardly noticeable

Have you tried a honeycomb tablet? Te lag is fairly noticible...

 

[JoePT]

sure iOS is smoother...but the lagg imo is hardly noticeable

What's not to get, then? I think that's part of the point here...why is there any lag at all? Why is iOS 'smoother?'

 

[Bnice]

All phone lag and freeze up. Yes and that includes the iphone.

 

[Ussrbuddy]

That was a great read. Very informative. I couldn't follow completely everything when things got too technical, however, I got the main idea

I would love to have someone explain in the same fashion a few more things that I noticed about android.

1. Why does the system slow down with time? My droid X doesn't even closely run as fast as when I bought it. Plus, it's way more buggy and I get way more 'force close' errors now.
2. Why do so many android systems constantly restart at times?

 

[Shocky]

Damn, you guys still have lag?

 

[steveulent]

I'd rather have a slightly laggy phone that can multi task than a quick one that only pretends to. . . And yer, changing the launcher makes things smoother, anyway. . .

 

[Frisco]

....I don;t get the whole buggy issue....sure iOS is smoother...but the lagg imo is hardly noticeable

I agree with you, but these forums would be a lot less populated if no lag (along with other issues) were perceived by many Android users.

But I've never seen lag in any Android device I've owned, even though I've seen lag reported by a lot of other users of the same devices (Eris, Fascinate, Droid 3, Galaxy Tab and X2).

I think it's partially perceptual, and that can be influenced by a lot of different things, not the least of which is computer/laptop use, and perhaps if an iPod and/or iPhone had been used past or present. We tend to base our perceptions on what we've just experienced.

Plus, and this may be the "biggie," we don't all configure our devices the same way. I know people who run two or more news/weather widgets, along with all the (moronic, imo ) "social networking" syncing junk. Then we see long threads in the device forums calling the device "a piece of crap" because it's slowed down.

 

[Crashdamage]

1. Why does the system slow down with time? My droid X doesn't even closely run as fast as when I bought it. Plus, it's way more buggy and I get way more 'force close' errors now.

It shouldn't slow down. Most don't. Probably something you've installed is causing problems or possibly a hardware issue.

2. Why do so many android systems constantly restart at times?

They shouldn't. Most don't. Been using Android since the beginning, starting out with an early G1 and have had maybe 2 spontaneous restarts in all that time. Probably something you've installed is causing problems or possibly a hardware issue.

 

[Crashdamage]

I'd rather have a slightly laggy phone that can multi task than a quick one that only pretends to. . . And yer, changing the launcher makes things smoother, anyway. . .

I've not found lag to be a problem on newer devices.

Android's sorta-multitasking sucks. But not a bad as iOS sorta-multitasking sucks.

I've never found a launcher faster or smoother than stock vanilla Android. That said, I'm using ICS Launcher just 'cause I like it. Nothing wrong with picking another launcher or Sense or Motoblur - whatever - 'cause you like it. Just don't expect better performance than vanilla.

 

[Shocky]

I don't agree that all android phones lag, my Galaxy S II doesnt.

 

[quest7]

You beat me to it, lol. This should help me understand android more. Thanks.

 

[indybail]

Thanks I learned a lot from that. I confess I know next to nothing about the Android OS, this helps.

 

[nickc84]

My bionic has no lag issues. Quicker then my wifes 4s. I noticed my bosses older droid has horrible lag even when moving from one screen to next. Maybe its a older issue droids have fixed.

 

[dylo22]

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.

 

[Shocky]

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.

My phone does not lag, I've even got a 3D live wallpaper active and there is no lag.

Have you used a Galaxy S II?