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So I am reading the tips and tricks article - GREAT article by the way! - and I come upon the note stating to not use task killer (shown below in bold).
SHOULD I USE A TASK KILLER?
Absolutely not. You have the best OS and one of the best spec'd phones ever. You would be doing more harm than good. If you do have one, uninstall, reboot and let me know what you think!
In addition, even Google at Google I/O 2010 addressed app developers and asked them to no longer include "quit" or "close" as options within their apps. I think Andronica (another great android site) summed it up well with their article, found here.
XDA user iunlock created a thread with some good debate based off this sticky. You can read all the thoughts by clicking here. In short, the overwhelming majority agreed and some have commented on seeing an increase in performance after deleting their task killers. Awesome job guys.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
I had the exact opposite reaction after getting rid of the task manager, battery life increased.
I kept ATK, battery life improved with it. If i play games and then hit the Home button which i always do. it stays running in background and kills the battery. Didnt really notice much of an impact with performance but my battery life increased
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
joe.kerwin said:
I use task manager. people can say what they want, but lowmemorykiller is designed to kill apps when the system needs memory. our phones have a lot of memory so they are capable of keeping so many apps open, if no one believes me download a task killer and just open it up to see how many apps are really running on your phone, its ridiculous, especially if you still have the bloatware. I don't necessarily use it because my phone bogs down from so many apps (that reason was back in the day with my g1) i do it because theoretically your battery life should go up. What's worse, a task killer running, or the last 20 apps you've used? All I know is my phone runs fine, smooth, and has battery life that I really cant complain about. It's hard to really tell what is correct though, I mean theres's hundreds of posts about the gps on our phone and mine launches up, finds my exact location within 30 seconds, and navigates perfectly. Got mine the day it came out, so ive really never worried about what other people have said, i just find out for myself. try both and see what you observe to be best.
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Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
Couldnt enjoy my phone without one.
laristech said:
Task Mangers slow my phone down more. I don't use them.
Android has a task killer built in to kill apps if memory is low automatically.
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I know, read. I referenced that in the first line. It's a low memory killer, my phone still has 100mb of memory available even with 15-20 apps open. I'd rather have those tasks not running if i've finished with them. Plus apps also reopen periodically by themselves, auto-kill on a 3rd party task killer will kill this as soon as the phone is sleeping, the build in task killer will not.
AndroidZ28 said:
I own(ed) a G1, Google Ion, myTouch, CLIQ, Behold II, Nexus One, myTouch Slide, GARMINfone, and Samsung Vibrant.
I have never used a task killer / manager on any of them and have never experienced lag on any of them.
My battery has also lasted from wake (9am) to bed (im usually in the bed by 11pm, sleep comes much later) on all of them and that includes at least 2 hours of stereo Bluetooth music. WiFi, GPS and Sync on all day. Bluetooth and brightness are managed as needed.
I'm no developer, but I have flashed my fair share of roms, and run plenty of tests. I don't know what is best, but I do know that they are NOT NECESSARY. Are they helpful or useful to you? Possibly. If you want to use one, have fun. I see no reason for me to start now...
EDIT: I also play a fair bit of SNESoid, GENSoid, and now PSX4droid....
Also, I don't have a car charger or office charger. I only charge overnight.
If you have to use a charger during the day, you blew it.
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Click to collapse
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
That having been said, I went a day. Sure, it ran smooth, but my battery life stunk.
I'd like to hear from other users on the pros/cons of using a task manager on your Vibrant. Not trying to start a flame war, just wanting to hear thoughts other than my own (and the little voices that come from the ear piece of the phone )
Personally I am completely for it, as long as you are not killing off critical processes or apps that you use on a regular basis. Bottom line here - know what you're doing.
Feedback please?
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People will give all sorts of anecdotal evidence one way or another about this topic. Just keep in mind that anecdotal evidence won't answer the question. It's not a simple yes/no question either.
Here's the deal. *IF* you have errant tasks that are causing partial wake issues (running too much or too often when the phone is supposedly asleep), those applications will be the culprit for your bad battery life.
These are not likely to be core tasks of the OS, or OS bundled bloatware either...but they can be. When I had my Behold II and was running ADW.Launcher, for instance, I had to use a task manager to keep parts of Touchwiz from waking up and complaining about the UI not being front-and-center. And the reason WHY I used a task manager was a simple one. It was a core data task of the embedded software that could not be REMOVED.
The best solution to partial wake issues is to identify the tasks that are causing them, and GET RID OF THAT APP. In my very specific case above I was unable to do so, so a task killer had value.
The reason why task managers can be a very bad idea are legion. The Android OS runs a lot of interdependant tasks, and killing one seemingly innocuous task can and often will start a domino effect with other tasks that rely on them. It can even cause other dependant apps to eat 100% of cpu time during sleep cycles or at other times, and make your battery life mysteriously go to hell.
So far on this Vibrant, I've found no core tasks causing partial wake issues. Third party apps and widgets however, I've found quite a few that "wake up" and cause partial wake issues (i.e. they are spending too much time working and running when the phone is in "sleep" mode). Pure Messenger Widget being one of the nastiest I've tried lately.
What do I recommend? Use the built in battery statistics, and install the market app "Spare Parts". This combination will give you the ability to glean useful information about exactly what is running and what it's doing. There are other tools and whitelist managers that you could employ as well, but this is enough for me.
And even if you are running task managers and killers, you should be using the above to know whether what you are doing is a complete waste of time or even making matters worse.
When left to its own devices, Android 2.1 does a remarkably good job managing tasks and memory, PROVIDING THAT 3RD PARTY APPS ARE BEHAVING. Since we all run a very different set of 3rd party applications and widgets, it's no wonder that people are having battery life issues (great, bad, not so bad, etc..) all over the map.
I use Advanced Task Manager Pro and I love it. The close-all widget is great because it closes everything except what you have told it not to kill, and it kills itself to that is not running down your battery either.
joe.kerwin said:
There's no way your g1 ever lasted 14 hours, let alone consistently with that usage. Either that or you dont understand how some of us use our phones. The only reason this must be such a debated topic is because there truly isn't much of a difference. Will your phone have a weeks worth of battery life with one? No. Without one? No. Users preference I suppose, but before i deleted bloatware, my telenav and slacker radio were always open and i honestly never even opened them to even check them out.
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I don't know what to tell you other than it did.
I am a pretty heavy user, but I do have fantastic coverage and work in a bright environment so brightness stays down. SetCPU works wonders.
I tested my Vibrant today. Came off the charger at 5:30am. It's now 10pm & my phone is freaking out for juice. I think my G1 could match this.
I'm constantly pulling from Gmail & Exchange (usually on Edge - poor reception in the office). I used GPS for about 10 min on the way home. Once home I started wifi. I turned it off an hour ago to play a few rounds of Let's Golf.
That's not terrible for such a badass smart phone, I think.
-bZj
_____
-sent from my Samsung Vibrant via XDAapp
I personally will only have a task manager installed for when I'm working on my game / app projects, as to make sure they properly close when exited or to kill them if something goes wrong (neverending looping media), so I don't have to reboot the phone.
I was using atk before my last factory reset. I've decided against it now though. I've also decided not to use any more web apps when I have a perfectly good browser. Just seems like a waste of resources to me and my phone is much quicker without them. That and launcher pro have made this feel like a different phone. I think the combination makes atk unnecessary.
If I decide to keep this phone I'll reroot and clean out all the crapware. I'd prefer to keep this phone well-maintained like my computer sip that a task killer would be mostly unnecessary.
It went from extremely rarely doing it to three or four times just the other night in the span of a few hours. I can't reproduce it on command but it happens when I lock the screen and put it in my pocket. Then sometimes when I take it out it is entirely non-responsive, even the power button doesn't work. I have to remove and reinsert the battery.
It could be ADW Launcher or WidgetLocker since those are the only two programs always running, but I was hoping someone else experiences a similar issue. It hasn't happened when I normally lock it yet though, so it could also be the proximity sensor maybe?
Having the same issue (on Bell as well), but not running either of those two apps. Was almost to the point of returning the phone and then installed JM7 and it's been better, although not perfect. Last night it locked up with NoLED displaying an icon, so I've deleted that app to see if that's the issue. It hasn't locked up today, but it did reboot a few hours ago seemingly at random. :shrug:
Your internal sd card might be failing like all the other i9000m phones I see on this forum bricking themselves .
clubtech said:
Your internal sd card might be failing like all the other i9000m phones I see on this forum bricking themselves .
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Oh, that doesn't sound pleasant at all...
I'm outside of Bell's 30 day exchange period plus I've talked for over 30 minutes, so I'll have to go through Samsung if it completely breaks. On the plus side, a phone from them should be three button recoverable.
Although I can't be without a phone for weeks, I hope it's not the SD card.
Mine Lags like crazy once every few days till the point I need to restart it. Any idea why this is do?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Hold your horses people....
before you jump about the lag, and or one click lag fix and such
first you have to investigate what is running on your phone.
just over the weekend (since XDA was down) i stalled over 400 Apps
my phone slowed down to snail speed, then i ran my Startup Manager software (many to choose from)
I suggest Startup Cleaner 2.0 then uncheck everything, leave only the apps that you want to run during start up
reboot your phone and presto, fast as new!
if you can find version 2.1 of startup manager that one is even better
keep note, start up manager apps are not the same as task killer apps
it only run once during start up, and it helps you easily select what should and should not run during start up, so it doesn't stay in memory after it runs
on the same topic
you should also configure your Task Killer apps to kill everything, and add only the wants you want to be running to the ignore list.
that will keep the phone working smoothly even without the "one click lag fix"
i'm still running stock on my JH2 i9000m
AllGamer said:
Hold your horses people....
before you jump about the lag, and or one click lag fix and such
first you have to investigate what is running on your phone.
just over the weekend (since XDA was down) i stalled over 400 Apps
my phone slowed down to snail speed, then i ran my Startup Manager software (many to choose from)
I suggest Startup Cleaner 2.0 then uncheck everything, leave only the apps that you want to run during start up
reboot your phone and presto, fast as new!
if you can find version 2.1 of startup manager that one is even better
keep note, start up manager apps are not the same as task killer apps
it only run once during start up, and it helps you easily select what should and should not run during start up, so it doesn't stay in memory after it runs
on the same topic
you should also configure your Task Killer apps to kill everything, and add only the wants you want to be running to the ignore list.
that will keep the phone working smoothly even without the "one click lag fix"
i'm still running stock on my JH2 i9000m
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All gamer has a good sugestion here BUT we are going to get people flaming the fact that Android shouldnt need task managers.....
Ho hum..
TBH in my experience, I have found (after a couple of hard resets) that there appears to be a size limit for installed apps. Once I get over this size limit, I get LAGTASTIC, phone slows to a snails pace, then I remove a few of the apps and I am back at light speed again....
I cant say what the limit is, but I know when I have hit it - I would then uninstall a lame app or two and get back running.
Yes a lot of people "claims" that, but yet you do a search in Android Market, you see LOTS of Task Manager / Killer apps for every phone.
they were not designed for Galaxy S, they were designed long ago for all the other phones that had and still have the same problems of memory management causing lags
Android is not robust enough to survive without one
heck not even Windows 7 or Windows Mobiles phone
I just read that possibly the phone freezes while trying to find a signal. As this problem has only recently started, and I just recently moved into university, and many buildings receive little to no wireless signal, I think it's more than a coincidence. I'll try going to plane mode before entering lecture halls and basements.
Frostshock said:
I just read that possibly the phone freezes while trying to find a signal. As this problem has only recently started, and I just recently moved into university, and many buildings receive little to no wireless signal, I think it's more than a coincidence. I'll try going to plane mode before entering lecture halls and basements.
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Click to collapse
i don't think that is the case with the Galaxy S
however back then my Treo 650 did suffer from that.
if you believe that is the problem then try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7999389&postcount=28
more cool apps here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7999389
Hey guys - I am having a problem with my phone, and I am hoping someone can help? (Running stock/no-root, w/2.3.4)
A few weeks prior to the 2.3.4 release (while on 2.3.3), I noticed that an app called Bump was constantly running in the background (even though I had never launched the app before), and I'd have to constantly go in and manually kill it.
*Also I should note, Google Maps was another constant running app, that I would have to manually kill along with the Bump app.
This got tiresome, and since I wasn't using Bump anyway, I went ahead and uninstalled it. I figured that a recent update to the app/Bump, was the cause. After removing the Bump app, the problem went away (as well as the Google Maps stopped running in the background too - odd I know).
Anyway, the problem is back, but much worse this time - as this past couple of days, my phone is now running a bunch of apps in the background out of the blue!
1) Tango
2) To Market Lite
3) Google Market (even though I have Accounts & Sync/Background Data turned off)
4) Google Music
5) YouTube
6) Photaf
*Note: I have not launched any of the apps listed above in awhile, except for Google Market, which I turn on Background Data for this, and then turn off when I am done.
I have since removed Tango, but it hasn't solved the problem. It seems to happen the most when I turn my phone on (after I reboot, or if I charge over night with the phone turned off), but also will happen when phone is on during the day - with no reboot.
Anyone have an idea what's causing this, or how to fix it? TIA!
The best way to fix this is to stop worrying about it.
Apps do sometimes run in the background or have services waiting for some events to happen - it actuially HELPS battery life and performance and barely consumes any CPU cycles until something happens that triggers the app.
Killing them will drain your battery and make you crazy, more than letting the apps work as designed will.
patrixl said:
The best way to fix this is to stop worrying about it.
Apps do sometimes run in the background or have services waiting for some events to happen - it actuially HELPS battery life and performance and barely consumes any CPU cycles until something happens that triggers the app.
Killing them will drain your battery and make you crazy, more than letting the apps work as designed will.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for the feedback. I just found it odd that this just started happening, especially since some of the apps running were apps I haven't launched in ages (or ever used).
Also (and I forgot to mention in my post above), that a couple of the apps were running so hardcore - that it set off the alarm in Watchdog, as an app draining my battery and memory - telling me to kill it. So idk what to think, other than I find this behavior a bit odd.
Many of them are set to run based on conditions, like bootup, wifi on, widget added, etc. If you hate it, download autostarts from the market.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
i have a similar issue but as stated above i just leave them alone
I am in need of help in dealing with games that keep eating battery life after the game is closed. I have downloaded different kinds of app killers and i do not see them on the list but under battery options i see every game i have played since i had the tablet on. Is there a better option or am i doomed to turning my nook on/off after every game i play?
I am new to all of this and may be off base here. But in all of my mind melting reading here I picked up Nook Tweaks off the market for free and from what I have read maybe some of those settings might help you.
Check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104039 Maybe this will help. I am still experimenting and learning.
jsnake said:
I am new to all of this and may be off base here. But in all of my mind melting reading here I picked up Nook Tweaks off the market for free and from what I have read maybe some of those settings might help you.
Check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104039 Maybe this will help. I am still experimenting and learning.
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That's a good program for overclocking and boosting audio, sadly not what i need atm
I was having the same problem. I downloaded an app called 1 click cleaner. after its up and running I simply go into the app and click the cache clear button. after that it will pull up any aps or games that I ran. I can click them one at a time and force stop the app first then if i want I can also clean any cache associated with that app. It stops any apps continuing to run and draining my battery?
Some apps shut down properly if you use the back arrow to quit rather than just pressing the home button. Look for a quit button in those games.
I've had Opera stay running in the background if I didn't back out.
calixt0 said:
I was having the same problem. I downloaded an app called 1 click cleaner. after its up and running I simply go into the app and click the cache clear button. after that it will pull up any aps or games that I ran. I can click them one at a time and force stop the app first then if i want I can also clean any cache associated with that app. It stops any apps continuing to run and draining my battery?
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Click to collapse
I tried this app today and it clears cache but does not bring up anything else even though on the battery use list there are games still running even when i hit the back button to close games. I have had nothing but battery issues ever since i rooted this NC ; / What is even more frustrating is i read on these forums how people are getting 2 days use out of the battery even with moderate use and if i do anything i lose 20-30% of my battery. There must be a way to get this set up right but i feel like only those in the know want to keep their secrets.
From what I've found, the battery usage screen on cm7 is not only applications that are running but also lists apps that have been running but are now closed. If the app doesn't show up in a task killer (I use ES Task Manager) it's not running. Certain games are high demand on the system and will drain the battery more quickly than reading apps (like aldiko) The last tip I have is to turn the screen brightness down. The screen is the biggest battery killer. Also, turn off wifi when you're not using it.
These are what I do and end up getting 2 days of moderate (low gaming high reading) use.
j8048188 said:
From what I've found, the battery usage screen on cm7 is not only applications that are running but also lists apps that have been running but are now closed. If the app doesn't show up in a task killer (I use ES Task Manager) it's not running. Certain games are high demand on the system and will drain the battery more quickly than reading apps (like aldiko) The last tip I have is to turn the screen brightness down. The screen is the biggest battery killer. Also, turn off wifi when you're not using it.
These are what I do and end up getting 2 days of moderate (low gaming high reading) use.
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i have the screen on 25%ish ever since i got the NC. i do not play alot of games atm and i usually read a little before bed and still i lose about 20% an hour.
Lsjreadingpa said:
i have the screen on 25%ish ever since i got the NC. i do not play alot of games atm and i usually read a little before bed and still i lose about 20% an hour.
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That sounds awfully high. What Rom and version # are you using? Also, what CPU governor and/or overclock settings? It sounds like something is wrong.
That said, I have had "rogue" apps that keeping restarting and usually just end up removing them because they weren't worth the trouble. Personally, I also use GoLauncher and in the applications menu it has a nifty screen to conveniently show the currently-running apps with a button to close them.
I am running cm7.1 and my governor is on conservative. I do not have it overclocked, its at stock 300/800.
Anyone able to help?
Hey all,
So I've had my S8 since launch and I've enjoyed it but I have an issue that I've been trying to pinpoint the cause of for a few weeks now. At a high level, if I reboot the phone in the morning, I can use it all day as I wish and it works perfectly, no slowdown anywhere and good battery life. I plug the phone in at night when I go to sleep and when I wake up I start using it again. Either right after I wake up or over the course of a few hours the phone begins to slow down with things like notification shade/app switcher crawling until I either a) reboot or b) change display resolution. Doing either of these "fixes" it until the next night and then again when I wake up I have the same issues.
I've been trying to figure out what's causing this. I've tried disabling features, uninstalling apps, etc.
One thing I have found is that when I'm having this problem if I force close 'System UI' in App Manager (this is just restarting that process since you can't kill it really) the smoothness comes back but it doesn't last as long as when I either reboot or change resolution.
My theory is that something is conflicting with the Android UI and over time it's causing it to slow down. Rebooting or changing display resolution restarts the Android UI so essentially same thing.
My first question is has anyone seen this behavior where the notification shade/app switcher (native UI not apps) slow down? I know there's at least some people on Reddit with same issue. If you have this issue does FC'ing System UI 'fix' it for you temporarily?
I'm trying to figure out what is running on my phone while I'm sleeping at night which is obviously causing this. Any ideas would be helpful. Oh also when I wake up and I go into app switcher it only shows like 3 cards where before I go to bed it would be like 10+ so something is killing apps at night too. I turned off Google backup for today and will reboot before tonight to see if maybe that's it.
Appreciate your help.
Thanks.
I've had my S8+ since the launch weekend on ATT, always connected to my Gear S3, and connected to my Misfit Ray. I've not noticed any slowdown of the UI. My AOD clock is slow to show the hands if the screen is off when I use the numerical clock AOD, but nothing else observed.
I would guess you've installed (or haven't uninstalled/disabled) some apps that are using a lot of background processes. I removed/disabled the few ATT apps on the device except Call Protect, and I don't use Gmail (resource hog). I actually use very few Google apps, they're just not very well coded, it seems (maybe a "goof off" day every week isn't such a great policy?)
In settings, go to Device maintenance, click on battery, and see if anything strange is going on there under App power monitor.
I've NEVER liked Samsung phones, and I've NEVER been interested in owning one, but I saw the Galaxy Gear S3 and fell in love, and truthfully, I bought the phone as an accessory to the watch, so I'm not an apologist for any shortcomings.
Instead of restarting, go to settings/device maintenance, what's the percentage here? go to optimize, does it help? which apps use the battery most? How much RAM is available. If nothing shows up, you probably would need something like wakelock detector (it needs root) to trace apps usage, especially at night. Also you could try to force stop other apps and see which one is interfering? For example phone is slow, force stop first 10 apps, if not fixed force stop next 10, if fixed, next time force stop one at the time from that batch of tens.
Mines just started doing this the other day. I think I have an idea if the problem, I'm just trying to find proof at this point. I recently downloaded this all to let me see the upload/download speeds if my network in the notification bar. It lets you set the refresh rate, to which I set it to 2 seconds, which I knew regardless would tax my system, I just didn't expect my ui to slow to a crawl.
Delete any Bixby remapping app as well, known to cause many issues including unpredictable lag.