Recently, I would say within the last two weeks, sometimes when I am reading news feeds or whatever and go back to my homescreen I get a white background/splashscreen with HTC letters and then my homescreen needs to reload, usually taking about 10-15 seconds. It's almost as if sense needs to reboot/reload itself or something. I am rooted on the stock Rom and havnt done anything other than app updates. Maps, tapatalk, beautiful widgets, compass, xnfinity app, various emulators are the apps I think that have been updated recently. Can a bogus app update cause this issue? It is so intermittent that it will be a pita if I have to go app by app being if one is bugging sense out.
I have the same issue when I try to play dungeon defender. Every time I leave the game sense would reload. I am guessing the game's using up too much resources to keep sense in the background or something.
I think everyone faces that issue with Sense. Possible solutions include: LauncherPro Plus, ADW, ADW EX, GoLauncher, Zeam...
^ Shift Faced
Related
Let me start by introducing myself. I'm the new owner of a Droid 2 Global (but I'm posting in Plain Droid 2 General, because the distinction has no relevance for my questions).
I previously owned an HTC Titan (which I left stock, which is unusual for me). Before that I had an HTC Apache, which I customized heavily, back in the day when XDA only covered HTC WinMo phones. I was even customizing ROMs, although not at a particularly advanced level. I mostly followed other forums, but many of the important utilities used originated here.
But enough of the old history. I now have the D2G. Relative to the tiny low resolution screen of my WinMo phones, this was a real upgrade .
So the first thing I did was root the phone, and installed Fission. I've also installed various apps I've seen recommended, and am wanting to hear any suggestions people have for other apps.
I'm no interested in most of the things that top many "must-have apps" lists, like social networking apps, and I'm especially interested in knowing about interesting obscure apps, but I could still have missed some interesting mainstream apps.
I'm including an annotated list of my currently installed (non-rom) apps.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Current Apps:
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 (com.adoble.flashplayer)
Adobe Reader (com.adobe.reader)
AudioManager (com.smartandroid.audiowidget) I'm not particularly happy about this app's widgets being refreshed by polling, rather than by somehow subscribing to the volume change events. Is there a similar root-only app hat works like that?
Barcode Scanner (com.google.zxing.client.android)
Compass (com.apksoftware.compass)
Dolphin Browser HD (mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser)
Droid 2 Bootstrapper (com.koushikdutta.droid2.bootstrap)
Earth (com.google.earth)
eSpeak TTS (com.marvin.espeak)
Fission Rom Manager Lite (br.romdownloader)
GMail (com.google.android.gm) Fission omits this since it is on the market
Goggles (com.google.android.apps.unveil) Interesting, albeit not practical
Google Sky Map (com.googl.android.stardroid) A bit more practical
Google Translate (com.google.android.apps.translate)
GPS Test (com.chartcross.gpstest)
Maps (com.google.android.apps.maps) Fission omits this since it is on the market
Root Explorer (com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer)
Shopper (com.google.android.apps.shopper)
Street View (com.google.android.street) Fission omits this since it is on the market
Superuser (com.noshufou.android.su) Downloaded latest version from market, so I am notified of updates
Terminal Emulator (jackpal.androidterm)
Titanium Backup (com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup)
Titanium Backup Pro (com.keramidas.TitaniumBackupPro)
Voice Search (com.google.android.voicesearch) Fission omits this since it is on the market
YouTube (com.google.android.youtube) Fission omits this since it is on the market
Update: Apps I've tried based on suggestions and think that I will stick with (unless I see something better) will be added to the above list, in bold.
Handcent sms. Best text messaging app out there and its free. Launcherpro is also awesome.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
i would get a cpu control app like setcpu, or if you want to overclock go with droid overclock by jrummy, i personally cant use an android phone without fancy widget. i also noticed that there wasnt an xda app in there
orkillakilla said:
Handcent sms. Best text messaging app out there and its free. Launcherpro is also awesome.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Agreed, I'd go ADW launcher though
theimpaler747 said:
Agreed, I'd go ADW launcher though
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theres a new version called adw ex and it costs$2.50 but it is SO worth it. so much more customization. i also second handcent sms.
botnryan said:
theres a new version called adw ex and it costs$2.50 but it is SO worth it. so much more customization. i also second handcent sms.
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I have it, and love it as well
Here's some worth checking out:
Google Voice: Google Voice will transcribe your voicemails to text, store them on the web, make them searchable, and allow you to archive them forever. Single most amazing thing to happen to phones since they got data connections. Ignore the rest of this list and get google voice. It's worth the few minutes of setup time.
qik: You can stream video live to the web. I haven't really found a great use for it, but how cool is that?
Dropbox: If you don't use Dropbox on your PC, that's a whole other story I need to tell you about, but there's an app for your android. It syncs your data to the cloud and keeps all your computers in sync with the newest versions.
Google Sky Map: Do you see a constellation? Hold your phone at arms length in front of the stars in question and google sky map will tell you their names, the name of the constellation, and other cool stuff. It's one of those you have to see it to believe it.
Jorte is a much better calendar than the default one. You can put much more useful widgets on the desktop and see the names of your events when you're in monthly or weekly views.
ADW is an awesome launcher (I use it), but Launcher Pro is probably cool too.
Get your bank's mobile banking app. Super useful.
Verizon has an app that shows you your minutes used, txts sent, and data downloaded.
Cool games:
Rocket Bunnies
Mechanics Touch
Robo Defense
Repilica Island
Air Control
Buka
Radiant
Totemo
Feedback on the suggestions: (Updated)
Its really not clear what Handcent SMS gets me over the default provider, especially since I don't use SMS very much. Also if I do decide to go Google Voice in the future, said app becomes somewhat moot, since AIUI only the GV app works well with GV's SMS.
ADW Launcher EX looks interesting. I do have some reservations though. I remember that early on all replacement launchers had issues that varied from effectively locking you out of the phone by breaking (with the breakage surviving restarts), through to eating up battery like crazy. Have those all been pretty well resolved?
The XDA-Developers app has ads, and more importantly does not seem to let me refer back to older posts while composing.
I'm not sure what to make of Dolphin HD. It has ads unless you buy a license, but those ads are hidden away in places like the bookmarks management screen (while the bookmarks sidebar is what you use most of the time). It does support downloading any file even if no app for the format is installed. On the other hand functionality like a password manager is only available in an add-on (and the password manager one is a paid add-on).
I've used both adw and launcher pro, I loved adw but I just didn't find it as stable or as smooth as launcher pro, so I stayed with launcher pro, just a little input for your consideration
Sent from my WICKED FAST Droid 2 Global with fission using XDA app
I'm sure there is someone who will disagree, but I really like Dolphin HD browser. It may be a hair slower than some other browsers, but I really like the bookmarks bar on the left side.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Some other apps I've found are the miui music app (best music player app I've found) and also the miren browser from the miui rom. Worth checking out and they are free.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
I just downloaded that miren browser, I haven't heard of it. I'm going to have to test it for a while.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
AdFree if you don't like the ads. Cachemate, drocap2. Just some suggestions
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Tried the miren browser. I still prefer dolphin though.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
chompSMS over Handcent for me. Main reason for these is the popup notifications. Saves me from turning on screen, unlocking, dragging down status bar, tapping message, and then being able to read it. Auto lights up screen (20 sec configurable for me) and opens a pop-up window, you can instant-reply there too. Oh and the quick-compose, I map that through the LauncherPro activities feature to search button + P to instantly start composing an SMS.
andChat if you ever need irc
tTorrent Lite looks nice haven't used it just have it installed
K-9 Mail much better than gmail (gmail hogs precious vertical viewing area when in landscape mode)
GTask, enable tasks in google labs on your gmail (if this is still a labs feature and not official now).
MusicJunk: I won't spoil this one for you.
I'd say that's it.
I actually like go sms, its very customizable and has the pop ups like chomp, although I disable them from time to time. And I also found hancent a little buggy, sometimes it wouldn't send my messages, go sms sends them very fast, almost as soon as I hit send.
Sent from my WICKED FAST Droid 2 Global with fission using XDA app
rusty815 said:
I actually like go sms, its very customizable and has the pop ups like chomp, although I disable them from time to time. And I also found hancent a little buggy, sometimes it wouldn't send my messages, go sms sends them very fast, almost as soon as I hit send.
Sent from my WICKED FAST Droid 2 Global with fission using XDA app
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IMO, Go SMS, like most apps, uses too much vertical space. Who needs half an inch for a message ? I wish more would do it like k-9 mail and just make it like 1/4th inch high at the max.
I don't use very many social networking apps and mainly use my phone for media purposes aside from some of the more popular news type apps like Tapatalk, Pulse news reader and stuff here are a few you may be interested in:
Media Apps:
BeyondPod - If you like podcasts this app is amazing. Doggcatcher is pretty good also, but I simply prefer the more minimalist style of BeyondPod.
iSyncr - if you want to sync music from itunes to your phone
PlayerPro - imo this is the best music player for android hands down. its very customizable and has a ton of options and features. If you are interested in trying it check out the Sens skin for it.
RockPlayer - plays literally any video format. Eventually I hope to move to vPlayer, but that isn't all that stable on the Droid 2/X phones atm.
XiiaLive - a shoutcast streaming player with a pretty good interface. I think Winamp may also stream as well.
System/Widget Apps:
LauncherPro - other people have mentioned it. To clarify I have never had a reboot lock problem or any battery drain from it and I have been using it since I got my droid 2 back in the summer (4-5+ months), so I can confidently say it is more than stable and very fast.
Volume Toggle (Free or Pro) - I have been using free for months. Its similar to AudioManager except superior in every way. I am fairly sure it works with system change events in the latest versions of it. If nothing else give it a shot. It has a nice widget you can tap to change profiles and can auto-profile things like the headset. The ads in the free version are so minimal you wouldn't notice them as they only exist down in the profile creation screens so you wouldn't see them 9/10 days.
SimiClock - A great homescreen widget with date/time/weather and a super minimalistic look.
Launch-X (Free or pro) - A pretty neat launcher widget with a decent amount of customization.
Other Interesting Apps:
TippyTipper - easy tip calculator
Urbanspoon - find good places to eat fast!
psx4droid- Play playstation games on your phone
An app you will probably never hear of:
SimplyNoise - A White noise generator. It really helps me when studying and/or programming. Its basically a version of the website http://www.simplynoise.com/ stuffed into a concise little app. Its kinda weird, but I really like it!
swift key
its a keyboard with the capability of predicting the next word you're going to write and it works very well with the physical keyboard (the whole purpose of owning a droid 2 lol) it is a paid app but it is so worth it
A couple of things happened last night. Anyone else experience these?
I went into the market and was presented with a grid of 16 apps, and that's it. I can click on the apps and install them, but searching revealed no more apps nor could I get to the main app market home page or menu.
I attempted to close the market app under settings, applications, manage applications, running services.
The problem? It was empty too. So was the list of installed applications. According to Android, I had nothing installed.
Rebooting fixed this issue, but I don't know what caused it.
Second interesting thing. One of the first apps I installed was the CNN app with the widget. I thought it was a pretty neat widget to have on the home screen. Over the next few days I noticed lag. Keyboard lag, browser lag, app drawer, etc. Just about everywhere. Last night I removed the CNN widget and guess what, lag vanished. I don't know if it's the widget or just a coincidence but thought I would share.
Sirchuk said:
A couple of things happened last night. Anyone else experience these?
I went into the market and was presented with a grid of 16 apps, and that's it. I can click on the apps and install them, but searching revealed no more apps nor could I get to the main app market home page or menu.
I attempted to close the market app under settings, applications, manage applications, running services.
The problem? It was empty too. So was the list of installed applications. According to Android, I had nothing installed.
Rebooting fixed this issue, but I don't know what caused it.
Second interesting thing. One of the first apps I installed was the CNN app with the widget. I thought it was a pretty neat widget to have on the home screen. Over the next few days I noticed lag. Keyboard lag, browser lag, app drawer, etc. Just about everywhere. Last night I removed the CNN widget and guess what, lag vanished. I don't know if it's the widget or just a coincidence but thought I would share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had some weirdness with the CNN widget. For no apparent reason, it would disappear from my screen but would really still be there, just invisible because I could not add another widget in that spot. Rebooting corrected it the few times it has happened. I noticed they released an update today (or yesterday) so I installed it and hopefully that will take care of it.
Same problem here. I even tried to remove the invisible CNN widget but couldn't. Restarting the Xoom seems to fix it but hate to keep doing that all the time it disappears on me. Needs to be fixed soon
I know I saw various posts regarding the Launcher force closing before the 3.1 update.
After the update, I continue to get force closes on the launcher and various applications. For the most part, I only run Honeycomb designed apps with a couple of exceptions.
Anyone else continuing to have the Launcher force close after the 3.1 update? Thanks.
codeworks said:
I know I saw various posts regarding the Launcher force closing before the 3.1 update.
After the update, I continue to get force closes on the launcher and various applications. For the most part, I only run Honeycomb designed apps with a couple of exceptions.
Anyone else continuing to have the Launcher force close after the 3.1 update? Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I do. Did you get any other helpful replies?
glg
glgehman said:
Yes, I do. Did you get any other helpful replies?
glg
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Click to collapse
Me too -- just FCs randomly as best I can tell. I run lots of widgets, though. Beautiful widgets, email and gmail, wizz widgets, 360 news, music, etc. Mostly just a minor annoyance, but I'd love to get it cleared up. I've run fix permissions multiple times. Running Prime1.5 and clemsyn-blades v16.
I used to get those FC's often on the launcher and almost any app I used when I was on 3.01, but since installing 3.1 I have never got it on the launcher anymore and only seen it on a couple apps that weren't completely compatible with the TF so it seemed to fix it.
Is the problem in the lockscreen?
I installed Flyscreen after reading about it in another thread -- it adds widgets to a Honeycomb look-alike lock screen. Since it's really just an app, I was still getting the official lock screen after unlocking Flyscreen, so I went into settings -> location & security -> configure lock screen ... and set it to "off".
Suddenly, I'm not getting the launcher force closes anymore. It's only been about 12 hours (including overnight) - but I was getting a couple of closes per hour before. The lock screen settings change is the only thing I've done in/around the time that things settled down. I'm hopeful that this somehow did it.
I'm guessing that Flyscreen isn't necessary -- just changing the lockscreen settings. Maybe you could even turn them back on and not get closures? I'm happy to leave well enough alone on my tablet, but maybe this will help someone else.
** by the way - I'm running Prime1.5 with Clemsyn-BladesOC#16. But I've had the FC issue as long as I can remember, even with Primordial and stock kernels (I rooted right after getting my TF).
Hi everybody, since I am on lollipop, there is this annoying lag when opening recent apps. I think everybody has this. In my case it takes between 3 to 5 secs until it opens. I can't stand that.
I already have chainfire s recent app installed but that doesn't work in my case.
My question is, if somebody has a fix or can give me a link to another Rom where the recent apps opens fast?
Help would be appreciated!
Regards
Latest Lollipop stock ROM and all before it, recent apps list opens instantly for me
*Detection* said:
Latest Lollipop stock ROM and all before it, recent apps list opens instantly for me
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Click to collapse
So you say that you never had a lag on lollipop, when opening recent apps?
That's strange!
Am I the only person with this problem?
putti71 said:
So you say that you never had a lag on lollipop, when opening recent apps?
That's strange!
Am I the only person with this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never, I tested it last night by opening about 15 apps, then hitting the home button after opening each one, so they all ended up as recent apps - then once back on the home screen, I hit the recent apps button and in under half a second it opened fine, nice smooth scrolling between them
The only thing that takes a bit longer to open for me, is the gallery, which is about 1-2 seconds opening time instead of instant, probably because I have hundreds of images saved
I'm using NOVA Launcher Prime if that makes any difference, TouchWiz is a laggy POS anyway, first thing I disable
Thanks for the info, perhaps nova is the cause, I will try that
@"detection"
Can you tell me if the Samsung widgets work on nova? Especially weather and splanner widget?
I have most of the Samsung bloat disabled / frozen so can't test
But I would imagine so, give it a try, NOVA is free, but you can buy the Prime version if you want extras, but for general use, the free version does everything and more than stock TouchWiz, and is 10x faster
So i've been reading for a bit and apparently there was an update that added an app drawer to Leeco phones (someone correct me if i'm wrong) but i can't find the system update option on my phone at all and i've looked everywhere.
Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
EDIT: Did some additional searching and it seems i have a shop rom (i have google apps and no system update option and zero chinese bloatware).
So for anyone that comes across this thread, you can't update unless you go through update.zip.
That's bad. I just got this phone and I was suprised that I don't have the bloatware launcher, but Google Now. Also I can't find any system updater in options. Seems like I have the same thing, which is both a plus and minus. And do you have a problem with custom launchers? Google Now is a poop and when I installed Lawnchair, I couldn't remove the last app I opened from the multitasking. Specifically it appeared in one "window" with the launcher so I couldn't "kick it out". I got back to Google Now, but I hate it. Do you have the same problem?
(Lol, such a long post)
Haven't actually tried a different launcher, i hear Nova is good though, it might be worth it to try.
TramSK said:
That's bad. I just got this phone and I was suprised that I don't have the bloatware launcher, but Google Now. Also I can't find any system updater in options. Seems like I have the same thing, which is both a plus and minus. And do you have a problem with custom launchers? Google Now is a poop and when I installed Lawnchair, I couldn't remove the last app I opened from the multitasking. Specifically it appeared in one "window" with the launcher so I couldn't "kick it out". I got back to Google Now, but I hate it. Do you have the same problem?
(Lol, such a long post)
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Click to collapse
Sorry for such a late reply. Finally moved to a custom launcher (Microsoft Launcher) and it has the same issue with the last app staying open. So i make sure to always keep the dialer/contacts app open as it seems like the least performance/battery heavy app to keep running. Annoying, but way way better than the launcher the phone came with that didn't even have an app drawer.