Update 12/30/13 10 full days of no issues (as specified in this OP) for me or other VZW G2 owners after the latest VZW update, as reported here and on Android Central. Could it have been the result of the efforts of those that contributed here? Could be - no way of telling though. But thanks to everyone that weighed-in and contributed to the discussion.
Most of all "THANKS" to VZW and/or LG for either directly or incidentally fixing this issue.
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Update 12/24/13: It's now 3 days post VZW OTA update, and I am not seeing any issue at all anymore - nothing but stable, super-fast performance. Can we be past this issue once and for all? As of now it's still too early to tell, as it can take hours, days, weeks for this issue to surface. But, we are well on the way!
If you are a VZW G2 owner, please weigh-in at the end of this thread. We all want to know what you are seeing in the way of this long-standing software defect.
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Update 11/27/13: (more updates at the bottom of this OP)
The reports of the G2's erratic behavior related to the touchscreen have grown to the point where I really need to revise this OP so that readers can get a summary of what we've learned over time without having to read the entire thread.
The Issue:
The G2 exhibits erratic touchscreen behavior including:
- Phantom touches that result in unintended selections being made
- Wild scrolling - the user intends to scroll on a web page just a bit, and the page goes flying in that direction - out of control
- The inability to draw a straight line in a drawing app- your straight line gets interpreted on-screen as a jagged, EKG-like readout
- Pulling-down on the notification shade unintentionally selects one of the apps within the shade like QuickMemo or RichNote
- Swiping to unlock turns the screen off
- Pulling-down on the notification shade turns the screen off
- Gibberish is entered when using the swipe function on the keyboard
- Jittery behavior when holding on to an on-screen icon that you intend to move
- Jittery behavior when scrolling very slowly between homescreens
- Holding on to an icon on the homescreen (just holding it) can unintentionally move the icon to another part of the homescreen, or execute the application for that icon
The occurrence of this issue appears to some to be random, to others it clearly follows active use of the device, such as:
- Watching a video
- Playing a game
- Entering in paragraphs of text into the keyboard using the swipe function
- Spending time scrolling around web pages
- Actively swiping through home screens
As time goes on, there are more and more postings on forums across the 'net of people observing this issue. Typically, they are seeing just one symptom, but when you survey across all of the postings, it's immediately apparent that they are all related to the same root cause. You can simply Google terms like "G2 Touchscreen problems" and you'll find endless reports of issues related to the "G2 touchscreen". Here's a link to just one informative thread on another forum. There are many more.
One owner discovered early on that when the G2 is getting erratic, you can go into QuickMemo and if you attempt to draw straight lines in transparent mode, you'll often get wacky EKG-like, spiky lines. It's important to note that this is just a simple, somewhat reliable visual confirmation of the phantom touches. "Somewhat reliable" because it does not work in every case for every owner.
YouTube videos showcasing this defect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19u8qo8-ACU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLnRZyKAL1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4QOMB8UTx4
The Cause:
Purely speculative at this point, but my vote is that it's a software issue (probably at the binary/driver level), because:
- Simply turning the screen off and back on will remedy the issue, for the moment
- It is not related to device tempurature, which could lead to hardware variances in the touchscreen itself, as there is no repeatable evidence of this
- It seems to be affected by "getting busy" with the device
The Fix:
Again, it's "early days" so I'll just forward my opinon: LG needs to investigate and address this issue with a software update.
In the meantime, you can turn your screen off, and then on again. In most cases, you'll be good-to-go for a while, or maybe for a few days, or maybe longer. It really appears to be usage-dependant.
A number of us are keeping an eye on the relationship between having sufficient RAM available and this issue. I have been religiously dumping apps during the day and I haven't had a recurrence in quite a while. This is certainly not conclusive at this point - just speculative for now. 12/1/13: RAM appears to have nothing to do with this. See post #91.
Regarding Rooting/ROMs: There are many accounts of owners who attempt to "fix" this problem by rooting and using a custom ROM. The majority of these owners end up reporting that the issue surfaces just the same with the new ROM. This is why I suspect a software issue at the binary/driver level.
Regarding Returning/Exchanging: If you are able to easily return or exchange, it's your decision. I decided to exchange mine after a week, even though most of my research showed that this issue just reoccurs for most owners. So I got a new one, and within 4 days it was exhibiting the same issue. There are numerous reports of owners that have gone through 3, 4 or more G2's, all exhibiting the same issue. So, it's your call. Good luck!
Lastly...
Please note that this issue does not surface for every owner every day - so please - there's no need to report in this thread that your device is "fine"!
12/1/13 update: See post #91. I was able to "play" with the issue for an extended time and learned some new things.
12/16/13 update: It appears that this issue is generally related to "getting busy" with the G2. One specific activity that is emerging as a repeatable observation across the G2 community is viewing videos in the browser (not via the YouTube app). This is not to say that this is a 100% prerequisite, it's just an activity that many (not all!) G2 owners report just prior to the G2 spazzing-out.
billykxda said:
I've noticed a bit of weird behavior with the stock browser app, and was wondering if I was the only one seeing this...
At random intervals, my browser seems to spaz-out when trying to do simple operations. For instance, sometimes trying to move an icon (typically from the top row) can get very weird - I long-press it, it recognizes the long press, then as I hold it, it goes and does random behaviors like opening the app that I am long pressing, or making the browser jitter from side-to-side. I never get the opportunity to actually move the icon. I sometimes have to try 5-6 times to simply grab an icon on the top row of the homepage just to move it. Other times it works great.
I am a very experienced with Android devices and I've never seen anything like this.
Has anyone else seen this? Can anyone offer some insight?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not normal. I've had my G2 for over a month and have never had this issue. Try factory resetting the phone and see if the problem stops. Also try another launcher as well
Thanks for the reply.
I've considered going back to Nova Prime - my launcher of choice for years now. But, I like the stock launcher features, so I wanted to stay with it longer. I may do a factory reset.
Factory reset worked. Thanks for the suggestion.
The launcher is now working perfectly - smooth, fast, consistent. I must of had some app conflicts, or maybe some of the apps I disabled surfaced problematic behavior.
**Edit**
The issue was not resolved.
I've done some learning on this issue. Please weigh-in if you have additional experience.
Turns out, erratic touchscreen behavior is a common G2 issue that may be present in many G2's, even if you have not witnessed it yet. It appears to be totally dependent on your usage pattern. Some users report that their G2 is "fine", but they may not really push their G2 to exhibit the issue.
The problem:
The touchscreen gets over-sensitive, logging erratic phantom touchpoints. The issue is discussed in many threads on the 'net. The issue can be seen in the launcher, as I described in the link above, or in other apps. When present, you can really see this behavior if you go to Quick Memo and try to draw straight lines, you'll get something that looks more like a a cardiac EKG - random points registered to either side of your lines.
Possible cause:
It's likely to be software-related, as it occurs and then totally resolves itself. According to what I've observed and what I've seen online, if you use your G2 intensely for an extended period this issue can surface. I happened to do a total Factory Reset last night, which "fixed" the problem, but it probably would have corrected itself 100% once I left it alone for a while. If the touchscreen was "bad", it would tend to exhibit this issue more consistently - I would think.
It's not the screen protector or my case, as my G2 was working 100% perfectly last night after reset. I see only the tiniest bit of weirdness this AM as I was setting my phone back up (again, heavy duty usage).
There are posts in many threads where G2 users return their G2's only to find that it "comes back". A number of users have returned their G2's four or more times - every time the new G2 has the same issue. This is either wildly remote coincidence, or it's an advanced user pushing the G2 in a specific manner, causing it to behave erratically.
My wife has a G2 bought on the same day. She does not use her phone much, nor does she have any new apps installed on it. Works "perfectly". Not sure how it would behave if it had all of my apps on it and I was putting it through the paces.
If you have some helpful info on this topic, it would be great to hear it. For now, I am 5 days into a 14-day trial period. Even though most evidence seems to point to the issue not be resolved with a replacement G2, I still might try that route if I have to.
I LOVE this phone. For me it's the perfect follow-up to my beloved Gnex. It would be great to resolve this issue!
billykxda said:
I've done some learning on this issue. Please weigh-in if you have additional experience.
Turns out, erratic touchscreen behavior is a common G2 issue that may be present in many G2's, even if you have not witnessed it yet. It appears to be totally dependent on your usage pattern. Some users report that their G2 is "fine", but they may not really push their G2 to exhibit the issue.
The problem:
The touchscreen gets over-sensitive, logging erratic phantom touchpoints. The issue is discussed in many threads on the 'net. The issue can be seen in the launcher, as I described in the link above, or in other apps. When present, you can really see this behavior if you go to Quick Memo and try to draw straight lines, you'll get something that looks more like a a cardiac EKG - random points registered to either side of your lines.
Possible cause:
It's likely to be software-related, as it occurs and then totally resolves itself. According to what I've observed and what I've seen online, if you use your G2 intensely for an extended period this issue can surface. I happened to do a total Factory Reset last night, which "fixed" the problem, but it probably would have corrected itself 100% once I left it alone for a while. If the touchscreen was "bad", it would tend to exhibit this issue more consistently - I would think.
It's not the screen protector or my case, as my G2 was working 100% perfectly last night after reset. I see only the tiniest bit of weirdness this AM as I was setting my phone back up (again, heavy duty usage).
There are posts in many threads where G2 users return their G2's only to find that it "comes back". A number of users have returned their G2's four or more times - every time the new G2 has the same issue. This is either wildly remote coincidence, or it's an advanced user pushing the G2 in a specific manner, causing it to behave erratically.
My wife has a G2 bought on the same day. She does not use her phone much, nor does she have any new apps installed on it. Works "perfectly". Not sure how it would behave if it had all of my apps on it and I was putting it through the paces.
If you have some helpful info on this topic, it would be great to hear it. For now, I am 5 days into a 14-day trial period. Even though most evidence seems to point to the issue not be resolved with a replacement G2, I still might try that route if I have to.
I LOVE this phone. For me it's the perfect follow-up to my beloved Gnex. It would be great to resolve this issue!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've experienced this issue as well. There is a great video demonstrating the problem here.
As mentioned in the linked video, the problem does seem to be fixed by turning the screen off and then on again (which would indicate to me that it is a software issue).
Thanks for touching base.
Yup - I am well-aware of that video and it's exactly what I've experienced.
I wonder, how many G2 users who have observed this issue have just kept their G2's figuring that an upcoming release will address the issue? I am on the fence about returning mine, as I am not convinced that it's a hardware issue either.
I have not experienced it at all. But I will watch out for it now.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
billykxda said:
Thanks for touching base.
Yup - I am well-aware of that video and it's exactly what I've experienced.
I wonder, how many G2 users who have observed this issue have just kept their G2's figuring that an upcoming release will address the issue? I am on the fence about returning mine, as I am not convinced that it's a hardware issue either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try a rom (cyanogen for example)? If yes, is this issue still present there?
Made a video of this happening on my LG G2 (Sprint LS980). It is definitely intermittent but doesn't seem to have anything to do with using the phone a lot as when it happened to me today I had barely touched the phone in hours.
http://youtu.be/N8jyCjw8sIQ
It happens only and not frequently(especially when I played one after another) when i play the Samurai Siege or Death Trigger games. I also think-hope that this is a firmware problem. Mine is t-mobile variant.
Although a bit of a PIA, I pulled the trigger and a replacement G2 is on it's way.
Figured this is the best thing to do since I am still in the 14-day period.
The thing that makes this issue extra difficult is that it is sporadic and the way it manifests itself can be subtle. The fact that the phone starts registering phantom touches can show up as a crazy keyboard, scrolling issues, random selections, etc. Sometimes, if you didn't know better, you'd just assume you lifted your finger accidentally. Additionally, often times when this happens I'll try to pull down the notification bar but instead the device will register a double-tap on the notification bar and turn the screen off. Turning the screen off remedies the issue so once you turn it back on things seem normal. It is my guess that this issue is much more prevalent than it seems because a lot of users are probably chalking it up to some little goof on their part.
I noticed random issues like this the day after having my phone. On the FB app it was scrolling super fast and jerky. Then I tried to write a text using Swype and my words are all broken up. It only happened a few times. But it's noticeable when it acts up.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
yutlin said:
The thing that makes this issue extra difficult is that it is sporadic and the way it manifests itself can be subtle. The fact that the phone starts registering phantom touches can show up as a crazy keyboard, scrolling issues, random selections, etc. Sometimes, if you didn't know better, you'd just assume you lifted your finger accidentally. Additionally, often times when this happens I'll try to pull down the notification bar but instead the device will register a double-tap on the notification bar and turn the screen off. Turning the screen off remedies the issue so once you turn it back on things seem normal. It is my guess that this issue is much more prevalent than it seems because a lot of users are probably chalking it up to some little goof on their part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post. This further explains EXACTLY what I've experienced.
I also agree on the potentially prevalent nature of this issue. I wouldn't be surprised if this G2 touchscreen issue was inherent on many G2's. It seems that the owners that complain are ones that actually spend time entering text (more than a one-sentence sms message) and/or configuring their device (swyping/picking/scrolling). For me, I can get my G2 to exhibit this issue when I enter a couple of paragraphs in any app. Eventually, I'll start getting strings of random garbage words in place of a single word entry. If I immediately flip over to the Quick Memo app (with transparent background) and try to draw a straight line - I can't - my straight line gesture becomes an "EKG line" on the screen (as seen in various YouTube videos). I've also gotten every random issue that the poster above stated, including the annoying notification shade issue - you slide your finger down to open the shade and it turns off the display (or starts up one of the apps in the shade).
If your device doesn't exhibit this issue, it may mean that:
- You just never really use your device that intensively, or you don't look that closely, or you are quick to say "wow - that was weird" when you enter text via the keyboard and get a garbled result.
- You may actually have a device that is not affected. I honestly hope that this option actually exists in the wild as I have my second G2 on it's way
Lastly I'll add that my wife's G2 does not exhibit this issue when I enter a few paras of text, but that could just be chance. She uses her G2 for calls and the occasional text - again, possibly supporting the notion that more casual users just don't get exposed to this issue, OR, that there are plenty of G2's that don't have this issue. For sure, given the frequency of postings on many forums,there are plenty that do.
billykxda said:
Great post. This further explains EXACTLY what I've experienced.
I also agree on the potentially prevalent nature of this issue. I wouldn't be surprised if this G2 touchscreen issue was inherent on many G2's. It seems that the owners that complain are ones that actually spend time entering text (more than a one-sentence sms message) and/or configuring their device (swyping/picking/scrolling). For me, I can get my G2 to exhibit this issue when I enter a couple of paragraphs in any app. Eventually, I'll start getting strings of random garbage words in place of a single word entry. If I immediately flip over to the Quick Memo app (with transparent background) and try to draw a straight line - I can't - my straight line gesture becomes an "EKG line" on the screen (as seen in various YouTube videos). I've also gotten every random issue that the poster above stated, including the annoying notification shade issue - you slide your finger down to open the shade and it turns off the display (or starts up one of the apps in the shade).
If your device doesn't exhibit this issue, it may mean that:
- You just never really use your device that intensively, or you don't look that closely, or you are quick to say "wow - that was weird" when you enter text via the keyboard and get a garbled result.
- You may actually have a device that is not affected. I honestly hope that this option actually exists in the wild as I have my second G2 on it's way
Lastly I'll add that my wife's G2 does not exhibit this issue when I enter a few paras of text, but that could just be chance. She uses her G2 for calls and the occasional text - again, possibly supporting the notion that more casual users just don't get exposed to this issue, OR, that there are plenty of G2's that don't have this issue. For sure, given the frequency of postings on many forums,there are plenty that do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk if I've really understood every post in this thread but from what I've understood is while using phone for a long time and heavy tasking the touch goes crazy and starts doing stuff on it's own, so I have my G2 since 2 days have been badly using it 45 mins of asphalt 8 non stop then web browsing for 5 mins and 30 mins of ebook reading (45+5+30=70 mins) I have my phone on since 70 mins no stop dint turn it off even for a second I tried every possible thing stated in this thread specially the quick memo which I also saw on YouTube and I don't have those issues I did had those kind ofa issues in my xperia sp few months ago but a custom ROM and also a offical firmware update had fixed it so I am pretty sure it's software related, don't mind me if I said something wrong as I dint go through the thread thoroughly.
Edit : My device is Indian D802
AndroidNoob22 said:
idk if I've really understood every post in this thread but from what I've understood is while using phone for a long time and heavy tasking the touch goes crazy and starts doing stuff on it's own, so I have my G2 since 2 days have been badly using it 45 mins of asphalt 8 non stop then web browsing for 5 mins and 30 mins of ebook reading (45+5+30=70 mins) I have my phone on since 70 mins no stop dint turn it off even for a second I tried every possible thing stated in this thread specially the quick memo which I also saw on YouTube and I don't have those issues I did had those kind ofa issues in my xperia sp few months ago but a custom ROM and also a offical firmware update had fixed it so I am pretty sure it's software related, don't mind me if I said something wrong as I dint go through the thread thoroughly.
Edit : My device is Indian D802
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you have a "perfect" G2. I honestly hope that a good percentage of G2's are in that category. It's a totally awesome phone!
I can't replicate this issue either with Quickmemo or anything. I've seen mentions about it before but just haven't noticed it myself. I'm sure I would notice it straight away if my device behaved like that because I am super sensitive to stuff like that.
I'm on the international one.
I have same problem
Actually, exactly same problem with this
Actually i have 2 G2,
Normal version
ic_fw_identifier = PLG270 - 1
ic_fw_version = F008
img_fw_product_id = PLG270
img_fw_version = F008
ic_chip_rev = 2
bootloader_fw_ver = 0
lcd_panel_type(boot) = 0
lcd_panel type(current) = 0
Error version
ic_fw_identifier = PLG244 - 1
ic_fw_version = F016
img_fw_product_id = PLG244
img_fw_version =F016
ic_chip_rev = 1
bootloader_fw_ver = 0
lcd_panel_type(boot) = 0
lcd_panel type(current) = 0
Not sure its related or not.
Tomorrow i will go to LG SC to report this issue
I assume this is digitizer problem,
*To check touch firmware version go to
Hidden menu - HW device test - Touch test - Touch firmware version
Xenovias said:
I have same problem
Actually, exactly same problem with this
Actually i have 2 G2,
Normal version
ic_fw_identifier = PLG270 - 1
ic_fw_version = F008
img_fw_product_id = PLG270
img_fw_version = F008
ic_chip_rev = 2
bootloader_fw_ver = 0
lcd_panel_type(boot) = 0
lcd_panel type(current) = 0
Error version
ic_fw_identifier = PLG244 - 1
ic_fw_version = F016
img_fw_product_id = PLG244
img_fw_version =F016
ic_chip_rev = 1
bootloader_fw_ver = 0
lcd_panel_type(boot) = 0
lcd_panel type(current) = 0
Not sure its related or not.
Tomorrow i will go to LG SC to report this issue
I assume this is digitizer problem,
*To check touch firmware version go to
Hidden menu - HW device test - Touch test - Touch firmware version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would consider myself a moderate user, I play games but not too many graphic intensive games and for periods of 30min to 1 hour at a time. I also usually stop when my phone gets to 40*C. I have yet to see this issue occurring on my phone. I haven't had any funky scrolling or texting yet. I have an LG-D801 bought through Wind Mobile (I think it's identical to T-mobile variant).
The following is my Touch Firmware Version:
ic_fw_identifier = PLG208 - 1
ic_fw_version = E058
img_fw_product_id = PLG208
img_fw_version = E058
ic_chip_rev = 2
bootloader_fw_ver = 0
lcd_panel_type(boot) = 0
lcd_panel type(current) = 0
Related
Even when typing at normal medium speed I find the keyboard will completely ignore/miss a letter or two at fairly regular intervals. I've tried editing the registry to lower the initial delay value down all the way to 1ms, but the issue still occurs. Is there a known cause/fix for this? Thanks...
try either of the last two cabs found here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=604831
g2tl said:
try either of the last two cabs found here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=604831
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. I took a look and the issue I'm having seems to be a bit different from what those cabs address. Rather than oversensitivity or extra unintended keypresses, my screen/keyboard will semi-frequently (every 20th word or so) just momentarily become unresponsive and completely miss about two letters of keyboard input.
It's like the keyboard just locks up for about half a second and doesn't even display the little popup letters over the keys at all, and when it un-freezes it doesn't "catch up" or realize that two more letters were typed in the meantime. so if you were trying to type the word "keyboard" you would very likely end up with something like "keoard" as the two missing letters are just skipped completely.
Normally the sensitivity of keyboard and touchscreen in general is very very good and I only have to touch very lightly to get a response. 19 times out of 20 this is the case with typing on the keyboard no problem. Just every here and there semi-regularly a couple of letters will invariably get skipped, again without even displaying the popup boxes over the keys, and I'm not even typing particularly quickly either.
Are there any cabs for this issue..?
Just following up to my thread here from almost a year ago. I've tried multiple roms from XDA, as well as registry tweaks and fixes, and still cannot solve the problem. Does anyone NOT experience this problem, ever..? If you don't, could you please tell which ROM you're using, and what (if any) registry edits you've used?
It is completely impossible for me to type any medium-length sentence on my HD2 without at least a couple of letters/keystrokes being missed and ignored entirely. Every time. I'm willing to try anything but I desperatelty need help, as this one glitch renders an amazing high-end smartphone totally unusable for me...
What ROM are you using now? I am running the T-Mobile 3.14 ROM and I have similar priblem with my keyboard but not near as bad as you say you do. I have not tried tbe reviztry tweek hou mentioned previously in this thread.
T-Macgnolia said:
What ROM are you using now? I am running the T-Mobile 3.14 ROM and I have similar priblem with my keyboard but not near as bad as you say you do. I have not tried tbe reviztry tweek hou mentioned previously in this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I have Dutty's ROM installed but I've tried multiple other ones including Energy, Elegancia, Laurentius etc, and the problem is always there, so I don't think it's the fault of any of the ROMs. Either I just have a bad unit, or all HD2's do this to some extent and the vast majority of owners just consider it an acceptable quirk and don't bother complaining about it.
The touchscreen on my HD2 is extremely responsive and fast in all other scenarios, and even when typing most of the time, so I dont think it's defective per se. It just seems that with a good degree of regularity the phone/OS decides to completely "pause/freeze" for a half second or so before resuming normal operation. So brief an instant that it isn't noticeable under any other cirumstances except typing on the keyboard, where it's long enough to eat up anywhere between 1-3 keystrokes depending on entry speed.
It's really a shame, because the Leo is in many ways the most powerful, super awesome smartphone I've ever used, but because of this one utterly intolerable bug it sits on my shelf totally unused, currently in favour of my Sony Ericsson Aspen which is far less powerful, but at least reliably useable for typing.
I'd be willing to buy another HD2 if I really thought it was my specific unit that was responsibe, but right now I have no dependable way of knowing that.
Have you tried other keyboard applications?
I found this cab in my sd card.
I remember it worked in my Topaz.
Give it a try.
I will give the cab a shot tonight when I am back at home, thanks. I have indeed tried alternate keyboards such as Resco and a few others, with no change or improvement, so I don't think it's the HTC IME keyboard specifically at fault either. My guess is that the whole screen is becoming unresponsive for that half second or so, not only the keyboard. It's just that it's only noticeable/irritating enough to be an issue when typing, because I have to constantly stop and go back to re-enter letters that were ignored along the way. It's a real dealbreaker for me on an otherwise outstanding device.
Do I take it correctly that you yourself never, ever encounter this issue when typing on your own HD2? Again for the record, it's not a matter of my typing too lightning fast for the Leo to keep up with. Even typing at moderate/regular speed (2-3 letters per second) the missed key issue occurs regularly.
I tried the cab but no luck unfortunately... I really wish I knew whether it was a problem with my specific unit or a model-wide issue that just doesn't get mentioned that often.
Is there anyone reading this, who has an HD2, and does NOT ever encounter this issue of typed letters/keystrokes being missed? Is there anyone out there who can say that their HD2 catches every keypress, every time without fail?
If this is true and applies to you, please respond and let me know! If there are units out there that are totally free of this problem, then I will not give up hope, and will try to replace mine. But I need at least a confirmation or two that some human on the planet somewhere has an HD2 that does not experience this problem...!
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
michaelh99 said:
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
rorytmeadows said:
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
michaelh99 said:
Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
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Click to collapse
Well, I think your thread is misleading. Tablets are new and there are going to be flaws in new products. That's why you don't buy the first new model of a car. But if you're going to, then understand there is always risk.
1. I have had no problems with the GPS.
2. I have had problems with the compass, but nothing unusual for a digital compass.
3. Unresponsiveness happens with pretty much every device. Mine has been unresponsive like 5 times already, but a power down and then up again fixes it beautifully. It's like a nice reminder to clear the system and make it run faster. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Acer. It could be Honeycomb.
4. Apps crashing. Happens. I'd think that it's Honeycomb, rather than Acer.
5. I've seen the headset icon on when I didn't have any headphones in. Oh no! Stop the presses! This occurs, sure, but that could be Honeycomb, not Acer. Also, are we sure it's not the music icon?
6. Bluetooth profiles are limited. Sure. But maybe that's a reminder to us all that Bluetooth is awful technology. This one is probably Acer.
7. Copy and paste, although annoying, isn't Acer.
8. Right now, it's not proper to open the bootloader for everyone. Don't hold that against any company.
Most of the things you mentioned really might have to do with Honeycomb rather than Acer. So don't trash the wrong company.
Now given that it's Honeycomb instead, it's new. It will have bugs and problems. Sit and wait or learn the trade and get in there and fix it.
Or wait until a future generation product.
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
NEVER OCCUR for me
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Just restore to factory default or clear the data in "manage application" can solve the problem
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Root the device and remove the sound using root explorer
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
when you press vol +/-, there is a small icon on the right and you can adjust 3 volume settings
....
Ya, I'm pretty much in the rorytmeadows and ardatdat camp. Considering Acer did very little to their OEM copy, I'd place the blame for a lot of the issues on HC.
The compass is definitely finicky. I've only ever got a solid read when my GPS was tracking - when it's not, the compass is definitely off (using GPS Essentials here which could also be an app issue). If there is a common degree variance, this can be coded in/out. Also, orientation matter - whether you have it in portrait, facing you, landscape facing up... There's a difference and the gyro checks.
I understand where some of you guys are coming from re. new releases having bugs. I can't accept that viewpoint. I paid for this device and while a few bugs are to be expected these days, some of the problems amount to beta level bugs that should have never left the factory.
If there were going to be regular releases of updates I'd feel differently but it seems clear that releases will likely only come from the devs and only after jumping through the hurdles and hoops that Acer has put in their way.
I think the A500 was worth trying but I'm still not sure it's worth keeping.
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
gammaRascal said:
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
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Click to collapse
I think we'll have to agree to disagree. The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
michaelh99 said:
I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
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Click to collapse
Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
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Click to collapse
I don't see it. Maybe I'm biased *shrug* The majority (not all, of course) complaints or issues with the a500 (be them HW, SW or HC related) on this (and other) forum are sporadic and inconclusive. Not a lot of serious testing happening and a complaint like 'my gps can't see any satellites' doesn't mean a whole lot without more granular info. It doesn't help and it certainly shouldn't be used as part of a rationale. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
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Click to collapse
I read this all the time - with games mostly, but the argument is the same.
How when a new game is released (pick your poison) you're bound to get a very small, thought vocal, minority who dig their nails into the support section complaining about 'players are paying to be testers' - or - 'their computer should be able to play it' etc. The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Now, I'm not trying to discount the importance of your view (I know it reads like I am but I'm not trying too - just trying to further the discussion). You're obviously having issues with the a500 and far be it for me to make lite of them. I think what is key here is that, for the majority of us, there aren't any of these kinds of issues and that, of the ones you listed, few are consistent and repeatable.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
gammaRascal said:
Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
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Click to collapse
Most of the problems are very repeatable on my machine. In the end, that's the only one I care about and the only one that matters to me.
Not a lot of serious testing happening .. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
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Click to collapse
You're mistaking brief descriptions for incomplete testing or "thoughts.". I haven't described my testing methodology nor put down all the tests I've done because I'm not game for writing a paper on the subject.
I've been around quite a while and have been in development for decades and done my time in QA. I know how to test. Which is part of the point. I'm not running into these problems while doing things that qualify as something a user shouldn't do and I'm really not interested in helping Acer or Google iron out the bugs in their system.
Hell, I just did a factory reset and without installing any apps I had the Market crash twice while just browsing my paid apps list.
The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, know where you're coming from. My complaint isn't the same.
I want it to behave the way it used to
My UI complains stem from behavior that was present in 2.2x and is very different but harder to use in 3.x. They futzed with the UI for no good reason IMO.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
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Click to collapse
Well, it's not user error
I've just factory reset the thing and I'm going to spend a few hours using just the apps I can't live without and leave off the questionable utilities that might be destabilizing the system (widgetlocker, stuff like that) and see where that gets me.
So far it's not good though. 2 market crashes with a stock system.
All very fair and understandable. I've had my share of freezes/lockups and FC. There is no doubt that updates are needed. I'm just not convinced the majority of the issues are Acer related, but rather, Honeycomb related.
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it. I am having none of the issues you have listed with mine with the exception of some FC apps, but I attribute this to the apps not being optimized for HC since the tablet specific apps work perfect.
Sounds like you got a bum tablet, so you have 3 options. 1) keep it and keep complaining and hope you or another dev can fix your problems. 2) exchange it for a new 3) return it and wait a year or so til HC is more stable and out of this "beta" phase.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
michaelg1030 said:
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it.
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Click to collapse
Do you a favor? In other words, stfu?
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
gammaRascal said:
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I'm not really expecting people to supply resolutions to the problems I've seen. It looks like most of them are problems with the first release. Some could be due to my personal usage patterns (apps I have installed) but others are clearly out of box bugs.
It may be that I need to bite the bullet and get a larger version of my phone (Samsung), which I've been very happy with. Like many people I wanted to pay as little as I could. May be that I went too low for my expectations.
rorytmeadows said:
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Why did you start this thread knowing that no matter what good things are said about the tablet, nothing would change your mind. If you are not happy with the device then return it and go on. The majority of the owners here are very satisfied with both the hardware and software of the Acer. I don't think anyone was expecting HC to run as smooth as apple os and if these were your expectations then you will never be happy for the time being.
Again, I'm assuming you started this thread hoping someone would agree with you, but the fact is that most of us do not. Your problems are way out of the ordinary and for all intended purposes unacceptable in this device. So again, return it. Your not doing yourself any service by keeping a faulty product.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
Good point michaelg1030.
michaelh99 said:
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
michaelh99 have you considered posting a bug report to Google? For what it's worth, it may at least bring the issues you're having to their attention. It's placating but it can't hurt.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
OK, so here's my problem. I recently returned my nexus 7 for a newer production date build because I had a horrible touch screen. I updated the new one and had missed touches/sticky keys but when I unlocked it to apply sfhub's fix it wiped everything and the problem is gone (maybe a bad upgrade install?) Every once in awhile it feels like it's still missing a touch. Like once every couple hours. I've noticed that the touch screen is very sensitive and if I move my finger a little bit while touching it registers as a swipe I guess. Is there a way to see if it's really not seeing the touch or registering as something different? There are no sticky keys whatsoever and multi-touch seems to work fine in a case or out. Does anyone else see this with theirs?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Enable developer options and see the touches
You can test/verify the touches by enabling the developer options on the Nexus.
To do this, go to settings, go down to "About tablet", and then down again to the build number. Tap the build number information ca. 5 times (5 to 10? after a few taps you will see an info sign about how many times you still have to tap), this enables the developer mode.
In the settings menu there should be now a new item, Developer options (just before the About tablet). In the developer options check the box named "Pointer location".
Now when you touch the screen, with one or more fingers, you can see a screen overlay with coordinates and axles showing where the device sees your touches.
I have the touchscreen problem with missing and sticky touches and pinch and twist problems, the whole menu. For example, using google maps or writing emails is a pain in the ass because of these touchscreen issues.
On my device once I enable the "show the pointer location" -feature, I can clearly see that the device registers the touches right, but it behaves differently from the touches.
According to this I see, at least on my device, this more as a software than a hardware problem, and it looks that the problem is maybe even on a higher API level, which is IMO a good thing, because it _might_ be fixed with a firmware update. The question is, why Google hasn't done this yet, as the issue has been there around the world for a while, and there have already been a couple of updates (Q & R, or even more?) which haven't fixed the problems.
It would be interesting to hear reports of other devices. Test and report!
May82 said:
OK, so here's my problem. I recently returned my nexus 7 for a newer production date build because I had a horrible touch screen. I updated the new one and had missed touches/sticky keys but when I unlocked it to apply sfhub's fix it wiped everything and the problem is gone (maybe a bad upgrade install?) Every once in awhile it feels like it's still missing a touch. Like once every couple hours. I've noticed that the touch screen is very sensitive and if I move my finger a little bit while touching it registers as a swipe I guess. Is there a way to see if it's really not seeing the touch or registering as something different? There are no sticky keys whatsoever and multi-touch seems to work fine in a case or out. Does anyone else see this with theirs?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try playing some heavy multitouch games. I'm playing Terraria. Requires fine motion. You'll notice anything in that game.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
kotivalo said:
You can test/verify the touches by enabling the developer options on the Nexus.
To do this, go to settings, go down to "About tablet", and then down again to the build number. Tap the build number information ca. 5 times (5 to 10? after a few taps you will see an info sign about how many times you still have to tap), this enables the developer mode.
In the settings menu there should be now a new item, Developer options (just before the About tablet). In the developer options check the box named "Pointer location".
Now when you touch the screen, with one or more fingers, you can see a screen overlay with coordinates and axles showing where the device sees your touches.
I have the touchscreen problem with missing and sticky touches and pinch and twist problems, the whole menu. For example, using google maps or writing emails is a pain in the ass because of these touchscreen issues.
On my device once I enable the "show the pointer location" -feature, I can clearly see that the device registers the touches right, but it behaves differently from the touches.
According to this I see, at least on my device, this more as a software than a hardware problem, and it looks that the problem is maybe even on a higher API level, which is IMO a good thing, because it _might_ be fixed with a firmware update. The question is, why Google hasn't done this yet, as the issue has been there around the world for a while, and there have already been a couple of updates (Q & R, or even more?) which haven't fixed the problems.
It would be interesting to hear reports of other devices. Test and report!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i feel the same too. I think the problem is software/drivers related than hardware and i dunno if there is a "perfect" device out there at all. I feel many casual users are simply not experiencing it. What i find odd is that, it always feels better after a reboot and things start to deteriorate from there. Almost like memory is not being released properly and there's some stucked process being stacked etc etc. Personally i find that eliminating the use of Chrome entirely has worked better for me. Am using only Dolphin now and it's been going very well so far.
The latest touchmark results shows there is a high latency in the Nexus 7 2013 model. It also indicates that it could be due to frequency of CPU polling for touches with a combination of other things in GPU too. IMO i think the high DPI on the screen and the handling of the quadcore processor might require some tweaking to get it perfect. There seems to be too much latencies and perhaps the missed touches / stuck touches are due to a combination of problems in the code with regards to touch events handling. Oh well, regardless i think they need a taskforce behind it to resolve it.
http://appglimpse.com/blog/touchmarks-ii-touchscreen-latencies-in-flagship-tablets/
lomonic said:
http://appglimpse.com/blog/touchmarks-ii-touchscreen-latencies-in-flagship-tablets/
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Click to collapse
Interesting!
lomonic said:
Yeah i feel the same too. I think the problem is software/drivers related than hardware and i dunno if there is a "perfect" device out there at all. I feel many casual users are simply not experiencing it. What i find odd is that, it always feels better after a reboot and things start to deteriorate from there. Almost like memory is not being released properly and there's some stucked process being stacked etc etc. Personally i find that eliminating the use of Chrome entirely has worked better for me. Am using only Dolphin now and it's been going very well so far.
The latest touchmark results shows there is a high latency in the Nexus 7 2013 model. It also indicates that it could be due to frequency of CPU polling for touches with a combination of other things in GPU too. IMO i think the high DPI on the screen and the handling of the quadcore processor might require some tweaking to get it perfect. There seems to be too much latencies and perhaps the missed touches / stuck touches are due to a combination of problems in the code with regards to touch events handling. Oh well, regardless i think they need a taskforce behind it to resolve it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks lomonic, an interesting link.
I had the former/original Nexus 7 (until my oldest daughter accidentally dropped it in May), and it had no touchscreen issues, at least nothing as bad compared to my new Nexus 7 (2013 model). Yes, it lagged sometimes, as does also my Nexus 4 (mostly noticeable when you slide down the notification menu or open the open applications list), but it had no similar problems with the precision of the touchscreen of the new Nexus 7.
I just tried to reboot the device and also noticed the touchscreen performing a bit better. Though, the problem came back in no time, and after a couple of minutes using Google Maps was the same mess as before. Twisting/rotating the map with two fingers results to pinching/zooming and the map centers somewhere else you want it to. Also in Chrome zooming and scrolling doesn't work as expected, and selecting text is also problematic. Using the keyboard might get you a sticky backspace, which is somewhat annoying. I can only imagine how it would be to try to play touchscreen intensive games, which demand fast and precise touches.
On my Nexus 4 I've also noticed that Chrome seems to slow the whole device, and for this reason I've also been using Dolphin for a while now (but I've yet not deleted Chrome, I just don't use it). Maybe I should dump the whole app from my phone. Also using Clean Master to clean up the memory from apps/processes helps for a while, but only for a while.
Google (or Asus) could verify if there's a sw patch on the way. I'm not a gamer, I mostly use the tablet for surfing and reading, but also these task are not a pleasure with the touchscreen issue. If this problem still persist after a month or so, I really think about returning the device (I bought it just a week ago).
Chrome is super slow.
I don't know why but the stock Android Browser is super fast and awesome. I've been using Next Browser since it is based on Stock Android Browser but the past 2 recent updates have really screwed it up where it is beyond usable. Once it gets resolved, Next is really awesome. It is like Stock on Steroids.
However, regarding touchscreen issues, DON'T GO LOOKING FOR PROBLEMS. If you aren't having issues, then just relax and enjoy your tablet. If your tablet was plagued with a quirky touchscreen driver, then you would notice it. If you can't notice any issues, then you don't have any issues.
Sure there are tests you can run but why bother? It is a software problem and will be fixed eventually. This is not the first Nexus with quirky touchscreen drivers. In fact almost all of my Nexus devices had quirky touchscreen issues out of the box. All were corrected within a few updates. Even the Nexus One had a physical hardware problem with crossing axis that was alleviated using some Google Magic.
May,
I have the exact same issue--but my missed touches are once every 5 minutes--quite annoying when typing an email or typing a password. I haven't unlocked the tablet yet to apply sfhub's fixes--will let you know how it goes.
player911 said:
Chrome is super slow.
I don't know why but the stock Android Browser is super fast and awesome. I've been using Next Browser since it is based on Stock Android Browser but the past 2 recent updates have really screwed it up where it is beyond usable. Once it gets resolved, Next is really awesome. It is like Stock on Steroids.
However, regarding touchscreen issues, DON'T GO LOOKING FOR PROBLEMS. If you aren't having issues, then just relax and enjoy your tablet. If your tablet was plagued with a quirky touchscreen driver, then you would notice it. If you can't notice any issues, then you don't have any issues.
Sure there are tests you can run but why bother? It is a software problem and will be fixed eventually. This is not the first Nexus with quirky touchscreen drivers. In fact almost all of my Nexus devices had quirky touchscreen issues out of the box. All were corrected within a few updates. Even the Nexus One had a physical hardware problem with crossing axis that was alleviated using some Google Magic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock android is fast but how do you get it with stock rom? chrome replaces it in 4.3 isnt it? OR are you on a custom?
I think the reality is that many are having problems but do not know about it. They may just dismiss it as not being accurate with their own touches. Also for some users, it could likely be their first touch devices and have no prior experiences to compare with. When i've gotten this device, it was working well and all, but it just feels like typing aint that smooth and slowly over time, the problems starts to be more frequent.
There was an incident i had when after a few days of usage, i tried using it with it lying on the bed and it was going crazy - which never happened before. I picked it up (attempt to earth it) and lay it back down again but the results are the same. So i did a reboot with the system on the bed, and all the problems went away. So i'm not sure it has to do with the earthing factor which many are citing.
I think it is a combination of GPU/CPU/memory and touch related event handling factors that causes the problems to occur more frequently after extensive usage. There should be no reason for hardware to perform perfectly after a reboot only to fail over time.
Oh well, only time will tell when these problems would eventually be addressed.
lomonic said:
Stock android is fast but how do you get it with stock rom? chrome replaces it in 4.3 isnt it? OR are you on a custom?
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Click to collapse
I guess you mean the stock android browser. It may not be available as an app but it's still there as a WebView component available to developers. I guess Dolphin and many other 3rd party browsers are based on the WebView component or on the source code of it.
The problem with the so called stock browser and WebView is that is uses some legacy HTML and JS engine that has not been updated since 2010 or so. That is another crappy developer "feature" from Google that for 3rd party developers there's no "web browser" component that is based on some up to date rendering engine like Chrome's.
In the Themes and Apps thread, there is a method to allow you to install the stock Browser on a stock rom without being rooted.
Also using Sfhub ts10 gave me a 90% fix but it would still spaz out occasionally and would miss touches or click weird stuff. ts20 really fixed me up right. I can play games now and type with no errors.
ts10 is a really good fix, but ts20 really hit it home.
Been using the 2nd gen Moto G for a week and I've noticed the touch screen isn't as sensitive/accurate as my previous phone (NEXUS 4). For example, when I scroll (in Facebook, Chrome etc.), the app opens links and images if my thumb is over either one. It's the same with gallery. If I were to scroll then halt, it'll open the image under my thumb. It's doesn't happen often, but enough to take notice. I have to press slightly harder (compared the NEXUS 4) for the Moto's touch screen to register accurately. Can't use light touches reliably at all. Has anyone experienced similar/same issue?
Not an issue with me like this
Works fine
It is by no means bad, but it takes a little bit of getting used to. I'm guessing they'll fix it via OTA if it needs fixing.
I have noticed the same thing. I am also coming from nexus 4. I find these touch issues very irritating. Overall scrolling isn't as smooth as the n4 as well. I think scrolling could be related to the kernel configuration.
anshumandash said:
I have noticed the same thing. I am also coming from nexus 4. I find these touch issues very irritating. Overall scrolling isn't as smooth as the n4 as well. I think scrolling could be related to the kernel configuration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I ain't the only one. Hopefully it is software related and can be addressed via update
I have this only when I charge my phone with a specific wall adapter, everything else is fine
Gabboplano said:
I have this only when I charge my phone with a specific wall adapter, everything else is fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I didn't notice this issue before yesterday's OTA.
Will try other another wall adapter.
I'm currently using the Sony/Ericsson LwW adapter (5V/800mA).
My Moto G 2nd Gen had this issue too, but it also had problems where occasionally the touch screen would interpret scrolling as tapping and vice versa, in the end, I had to RMA it.
I had mentioned earlier that sometime scrolling would consider as tapping and would open apps/links etc. Some time tapping needed multiple taps. I just removed the screen guard and this problem is mostly not noticeable any more. Just thought this information might help some one.
My phone came with the official charger of 550 MA and I don't get any screen freezing while the phone is charging with it.
Okay, i had this problem too. However i got the phone replaced so now i'm using a different handset and the issue is resolved for me. At first even i thought that this is the problem related to the software but i started to notice this over and over again. So i spoke to flipkart and they agreed to replace the handset. So i suggest to all the people who are having this problem to get your phone replaced.
Sent from my Nexus 5
sahil kaul said:
Okay, i had this problem too. However i got the phone replaced so now i'm using a different handset and the issue is resolved for me. At first even i thought that this is the problem related to the software but i started to notice this over and over again. So i spoke to flipkart and they agreed to replace the handset. So i suggest to all the people who are having this problem to get your phone replaced.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have the problem even without a screen guard? After I removed the screen guard, I get this tap while scrolling may be only once a day. Normal sensitivity is far better without a screen guard.
anshumandash said:
Did you have the problem even without a screen guard? After I removed the screen guard, I get this tap while scrolling may be only once a day. Normal sensitivity is far better without a screen guard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As soon as i got the phone, i booted it up with the screen guard on that's when i first realise that there is a problem with the scrolling and tapping on the touch screen. I removed the screen guard immediately and even after that the scrolling was mistaken for tapping. Used it for a few days and still had the issue. It did not happen very often if I compare it with the screen on time, but it was enough for me to be pissed at. I would rate it at about 30 % of the time when im scrolling, sometimes in a music playlist or when i am browsing or scrolling just about anything.
Sent from my Nexus 5
sahil kaul said:
As soon as i got the phone, i booted it up with the screen guard on that's when i first realise that there is a problem with the scrolling and tapping on the touch screen. I removed the screen guard immediately and even after that the scrolling was mistaken for tapping. Used it for a few days and still had the issue. It did not happen very often if I compare it with the screen on time, but it was enough for me to be pissed at. I would rate it at about 30 % of the time when im scrolling, sometimes in a music playlist or when i am browsing or scrolling just about anything.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have another question. In the new phone do you see any stuttering or jitter while scrolling through apps. It harkens to me in many apps even on g+, scrolling through contacts, Facebook, Tapatalk etc. I know this could be software related. But just wanted to check with you. Now the tapping during scrolling issue happens really less, but it happens if the scrolling is jittery.
delete please
anshumandash said:
I have another question. In the new phone do you see any stuttering or jitter while scrolling through apps. It harkens to me in many apps even on g+, scrolling through contacts, Facebook, Tapatalk etc. I know this could be software related. But just wanted to check with you. Now the tapping during scrolling issue happens really less, but it happens if the scrolling is jittery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a feeling that is also to blame. I've noticed it when using FB, Chrome etc.
The surface of the glass may also be one of the culprits. My thumb and fingers don't glide as well on the Moto compared to my NEXUS 4. Sometimes I have to apply bit more pressure to keep my thumb firmly on the screen. Otherwise I can feel it loosing contact. It's very obvious after cleaning the screen with soft cloth. Maybe it is to do with the coating? I've ran touch screen tests and the screen detects inputs just fine. I don't see the point of returning mine, cos they won't find anything wrong with it.
PS: Android L should drastically reduce or eliminate stutters (and lag) thanks to Android Run Time (ART). People are already seeing major improvements, but I don't recommend enabling it in KitKat. It's can screw up your phone and apps. But if you wanna take the risk, click on ART Under "Select Runtime" option in developer options.
touch sensitivity
this problem appeared once, after an update from motorola.
Factory resetting it solved the problem xd
Nielo TM said:
I have a feeling that is also to blame. I've noticed it when using FB, Chrome etc.
The surface of the glass may also be one of the culprits. My thumb and fingers don't glide as well on the Moto compared to my NEXUS 4. Sometimes I have to apply bit more pressure to keep my thumb firmly on the screen. Otherwise I can feel it loosing contact. It's very obvious after cleaning the screen with soft cloth. Maybe it is to do with the coating? I've ran touch screen tests and the screen detects inputs just fine. I don't see the point of returning mine, cos they won't find anything wrong with it.
PS: Android L should drastically reduce or eliminate stutters (and lag) thanks to Android Run Time (ART). People are already seeing major improvements, but I don't recommend enabling it in KitKat. It's can screw up your phone and apps. But if you wanna take the risk, click on ART Under "Select Runtime" option in developer options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree with you. This phone has got two coatings. One called splash resistant and the the other is finger print resistant coating. I think those are another cause the finger doesn't glide well on the screen. I am also coming from Nexus 4 and I can feel this problem every time as I still carry the N4 with me. I too ran touch screen tests and everything looks fine. I am not sure if I RMA how will the 2nd device behave. It might be same. I can actually replace it from Flipkart.com from where I bought, but I am not sure if that will help.
I read some review comparison between the new moto g and new moto x and the reviewer has commented that Moto x 2014 screen is far more responsive than the moto g 2014. I know the problem was real bad with the stock screen guard on the screen. If I need to manage with the phone, I know I will have to use the phone without a screen guard.
I tried using ART as I have been using that on my N4 since Jan 2014. But in Moto g the app optimization starts at every boot with ART taking more than 10 mins for every boot. I wrote a mail to Moto support and they said there is a technical problem with the builds and they suggested me to use Dalvik. I think they won't fix it till Android L drops in.
Let's be clear. G4 is an awesome device. But it's still kindof in the pre-production phage, don't you think? It's not even available 10 countries in the world. Anyway many of who have already bought LG G4, are actually migrated from another smartphone branding either HTC, Samsung, Nexus, Apple etc. And the youtubers contributed a lot in this publicity for LG. I hardly found anyone said any bad thing about G4, neither about it's battery life nor performance in those videos or reviews. But these two have become the most concerning area as well as disappointment for many of the users right now. I, myself also have been suffering with a few issues. I have already changed one device. Coming from XDA forum, here I will try my best to summarize all the problems people are facing with their G4 & also my observation on that matter from my personal experience as well as gathered knowledge from almost all the forums in XDA:
1. MISSED TAP:
Almost all users reporting that G4 missing many taps to recognize.
My observation:
Well, I have also experienced a few missed taps. But what I think it's not a LCD issue, rather less optimization/smoothness issue of the G4 ROM. How do I know? Well I switched on the touch sound. And every tap I did, including the missed ones, there was tapping sound. Even I tested in the manual testing, nothing reported like that. And even after formatting, symptoms reduced for some. But surely it's very annoying.
Oh one thing about knock codes, I found LG LCD doesn't response to gentlest touches sometimes. You need to press slightly a bit more. Fact to be considered : I am still using the provided plastic protector.
2. LAGGING ISSUE:
There is stuttering here and there in G4, not only in the stock launcher but also in the whole system.
My observations:
No doubt G4 lags. You will notice less smoothness / sluggishness while sliding any page up & down in chrome, youtube, Google plus or anything. It is not "butter smooth" like some other OEMs for most of the users. But switching to Nova, turning off smart bulletin & dual window helped to some extent, but not completely.
3. BATTERY LIFE:
Many of the moderate to heavy users complaining about quick battery drainage with low to medium brightness.
My observations:
LG said many things about their battery life of G4 in their announcement party and many well-known youtubers also said very much positive things about G4's battery life i.e. it can easily last a day which raised up the expectation bar of many users. But the real scenario is quite not like that. Most of the medium to heavy users are getting average 3 - 4.5 hours SOT with keeping screen brightness low to medium which is not at all the way LG mentioned. It seems like LG is providing that extra battery knowing the fact that you will need to put on that extra one at the middle of the day for sure. Anyway, what I found is: G4's stand-by time is OUTSTANDING. Don't turn on that screen much, only receive a few calls, you can pass a decade (not literally) with a single charge. But turn on that screen, do browse, chat, Facebooking or Youtubing or anything keeping that overkill screen on, you will hardly pass 5 hours maximum. Raise the brightness a bit more, like 75-100%, brother, you are doomed. Your G4 will die within hours. For some, turning off auto brightness & keeping the brightness below 50% all the time, turning off fast-dormency, turning off GPS, using Greenify helped a bit. Anyway, my point is that awesome-bright-vivid-overkill screen is actually the curse for the G4 at present if LG doesn't bring up some solutions for it. What's the point if you can not enjoy the juice of a fruit which is known to be the tastiest of them all???
4. HEATING & SLOW CHARGING ISSUE:
Very limited people including mine are complaining of frequent, not consistent, heating up issue of the phone as well as slow charging.
My observations:
Many factors can be responsible for this. Some people find this scenario happening once a day, for some once in two days and these two issues are interconnected in my opinion. What can heat up the phone? May be some hidden apps, maybe weather, maybe some other things, but surely it does for some. Yah we have seen in all the reviews that G4 warms up a bit, but not very much. But the people who are complaining about it, found it uncomfortable to speak touching the phone to the face. I will attach a screenshot here, in which my phone was completely idle, was on charge, no phone call came & my phone got heat up to 42 degrees & it took almost 5 hours to charge from 20 - 100%. Again I am saying this is not a consistent scenario, but it's frustrating for some including mine.
5. OTHER ISSUES:
These are some random issues found by some people:
a) White sparking light in the screen.
b) Yellow tint on screen.
c) Bad bluetooth audio.
d) Wifi speed problem.
e) Helium app doesn't work properly.
f) Nova launcher cannot install properly.
g) Vibration too soft.
h) Auto brightness inconsistancy.
So guys, if you have read it and if you are one of those renowned youtubers or columnists or bloggers whom LG guys follow on regular basis, please make an article or video about it, spread these information and let the LG guys know about these so that they can do something about it. I personally believe, software update can solve 95% of the issues. So be it.
Thanks for your patience to read my post.
I guess I've been pretty lucky thusfar.
Only missed taps I've had is on the double-tap to wake, but I think it might be due to my hardly tapping it (was used to HTC's touch profile last time I had this feature).
No lags here. I did notice that once, when I hit Home button, I returned to a blank home screen and it took about 5 seconds for the icons/widgets to show up...hasn't happened since the one time, though.
Charging, I use the stock charger from my old Note 4, so I get decent times with that (generally 10%-100% in about 50 mins...I'll take that).
As far as battery, I get about 3 hours screen on and 16-18 hours total per charge. Not bad considering I'm a heavy user when the screen is on and stream Spotify via BT speaker 12 hours/day while at work. I've only been through 3 charge cycles so far. It's still not what I was used to with the M8 or Note 4, so I will admit I'd like it to be better.
I think I would go just about nuts if I had any of 5a, b, c, or d. LOL
5d is a huge concern for me. My WiFi speed is complete bollocks. I'm getting a reading of 60mb down from my 5gh router when running speedtest on the phone. But when I actually load a website it's like I'm using dial up again. The load times are atrocious! I'm going to look into changing chanels on my router as someone has mentioned as a fix. Fingers crossed
I haven't had any of those issues. Honestly been flawless so far. Surprised by how smooth it is. I do only get 3 hours sot if I run power intensive apps. But I think that's normal.
The only real issue I've had is **** slowness on Wi-Fi but blazing speed on data
Sent from my G4 using your mom
Wifi speeds are complete crap for me i swear it's like im on dial up waiting for a page to load and forget about getting youtube to load
Th3Bill said:
I guess I've been pretty lucky thusfar.
Only missed taps I've had is on the double-tap to wake, but I think it might be due to my hardly tapping it (was used to HTC's touch profile last time I had this feature).
No lags here. I did notice that once, when I hit Home button, I returned to a blank home screen and it took about 5 seconds for the icons/widgets to show up...hasn't happened since the one time, though.
Charging, I use the stock charger from my old Note 4, so I get decent times with that (generally 10%-100% in about 50 mins...I'll take that).
As far as battery, I get about 3 hours screen on and 16-18 hours total per charge. Not bad considering I'm a heavy user when the screen is on and stream Spotify via BT speaker 12 hours/day while at work. I've only been through 3 charge cycles so far. It's still not what I was used to with the M8 or Note 4, so I will admit I'd like it to be better.
I think I would go just about nuts if I had any of 5a, b, c, or d. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Not sure why there is so much inconsistency between devices. I bought the US trial version, and mine has been relatively good. If I had half of the problems reported I would have sold this thing ASAP and waited for a better crop of devices to come out this fall. I'm one of the few people who really like a stripped down TouchWiz, but with Knox/sealed but not waterproof body/no SD/weak battery the S6 wasn't cutting it. If only Samsung sold the Exynos to these other vendors... For now, I'm fine with the G4, but really hope we get root and unlocked BL so development explodes and the kernel can get tweaked.
Only problem I've had is holding back my enthusiasm about how flawless this phone is ( my wife would try to hijack it if she knew how impressed I am). I do miss 4 buttons on the bottom though
knoshann said:
Only problem I've had is holding back my enthusiasm about how flawless this phone is ( my wife would try to hijack it if she knew how impressed I am). I do miss 4 buttons on the bottom though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can add the 4th button. You can add up to 5. Settings - Display - Home touch buttons - Button combination
Perfect summary.
I've also seen a lot of people saying that they aren't having these problems which can lead to people thinking the phone is perfect, which it's not. I love the screen size and the display but the software is really letting this phone down.
I've experienced many problems too, such as: stuttering, poor battery life at high brightness, brightness dimming down by itself, slow charging, lag and stutter in games, e.g. dead trigger 2 and subway surfers (yes I've turned off game optimiser) and the notification pull down freezing frequently when I get a notification. However, as I saw a lot of people saying that their phones were perfect I chose to exchange my phone instead of return it. My new phone has the exact same problems (uk device on v10a).
Maybe these problems can be fixed with a software update but the question is will it? My G3 lagged and stuttered from the beginning and no software update changed that. The only fix was to switch to a cm12 rom which made the phone finally perform smoothly, at the cost of battery life and camera quality.
It's been at least 3 phones in a row now that have had poor software (g3, g flex 2 and now g4). They're supposed to test their phones before putting them out to consumers but it doesn't seem like they really care so I don't have much hope.
Worst thing is I really want to love this phone and think LG's hardware design is perfect but the software is most likely going to make me sell it.
It might be worth mentioning which version you're on, especially if it's one where the provider (such as VZW) has bogged it down with bloatware. That could conceivably be a contributing factor to battery life issues, if nothing else.
Just a suggestion. Might be a good idea for people to put which model they're on and which Software version they're running.
Like I'm on the H811 running version 81110D. That way, we can see if any issues might be carrier type or software version based...
Just a thought.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but on the Sprint model the WiFi randomly turns itself on. I rarely use WiFi, so it's definitely not me turning it on and forgetting that i did or anything.
I was having a issue where my screen Brightness would change on it's own. Tmobile H811 running version 81110D ? I believe that was the version before the update I got and installed on its own last night of H. When I mean change on it's own I had the Screen Brightness on 100% like every other phone and after the few secs when the screen dims and you touch it again the screen brightness would now be set to 70% now 100%. AUTO is off I don't use that.
I will see if this happens on the H update or not.
Ogre6473 said:
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but on the Sprint model the WiFi randomly turns itself on. I rarely use WiFi, so it's definitely not me turning it on and forgetting that i did or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually seen this on the TMO version (8110d). Very sporadic (or it happens more than I realize but I don't spend enough time looking at the phone to notice, not sure which).
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
smw6180 said:
I've actually seen this on the TMO version (8110d). Very sporadic (or it happens more than I realize but I don't spend enough time looking at the phone to notice, not sure which).
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into Wi-Fi Settings.
Under Advanced Wifi Settings
In Useful Settings, there is a setting for "Keep Wi-Fi on when screen is off".
It's set to NO by default.
I would imagine it's some sort of power saving feature.
smw6180 said:
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In setting, wifi, advanced there is an option for turning off wifi when the screen is off. Check that and wifi will stay on. Still haven't digured out why it's turning itself on though.
Ogre6473 said:
In setting, wifi, advanced there is an option for turning off wifi when the screen is off. Check that and wifi will stay on. Still haven't digured out why it's turning itself on though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't touched anything in Wi-Fi settings other than setting my passkey and turning "Always allow scanning" off. That setting for Wi-Fi off when screen is off was on when I got the phone. Looks like default position.
It probably doesn't help that they keep losing software engineers at their California office (i work at LG). Senior engineers to make things worse.
The yellow tint on the screen is the part that upsets me the most. The lead-up to the G4's release was all about how superior the screen is to the G3's. Yet the G4's I've received have had yellow tint issue (two of them so far). The screen also appears dimmer than my old G3 at max brightness as well (this is before auto dimming kicks in too.)
There seems to be a rather big shipment of G4's with yellow screens in my area. I've been to 4 different AT&T stores in the past 4 days and have seen at least 5 brand new phones with the yellow tint. It seems to be restricted to the grey metallic retail ones as well. None of the display models or the leather backed ones I've seen thus far as the yellow tint issue. This is in Houston, TX btw. I'm heading to a 5th after work in the hopes of finding a G4 with a non-defective screen.