Hi all,
I guess ever since getting the Nexus 7 when it came out, I've been trying to reduce lag. It has become as sort of project of mine. The last year, I have gone over lots of ROMs, kernels, tweaking tools, and tried lots of good (and very much bad) stuff.
So far, I've come quite far and I am quite happy with the way my Nexus 7 runs. The Nexus runs great in all other apps, really. Browsing is smooth and not comparable in any way to what I started out with. I have some Danish, poorly designed sites that are quite heavy, and I get no lag.
Apart from one thing - i get BAD lag when scrolling down a list which has images in it. I also get minor lag at other lists, but images makes it horrible. My two best examples are the play store (almost unusable) and gReader (slightly better with images off in lists, but hey, shouldn't have to be like that).
I've been googling loads and it seems very few people have the same problem? I've had this problem with all kinds of ROMs, kernels, tweaks, whatever really. I can have a crap setup with a million services running and a google now process gone haywire with cpu at 75 degrees celsius, yet the stutter is just the same in play store and greader (e.g.).
My current setup (but note, I've tried many with same result):
- Completely fresh install of recent CM10.1 nightly
- franco kernel (1.7GHz CPU, 700MHz GPU, 512Kb read-ahead, interactive, deadline, fsync off, gpu scaling off, wifi performance streaming)
- Almost all services disabled, including most of google's, meaning I have greenify running, a few under google services and android keyboard
- Sync is currently off
- Currents is not installed
- I've got fstrim installed and run that recently on all partitions
- I've got 9GB of 13-ish free at the moment
- Location sharing off
- Accessibility off
- No widgets, completely empty homescreen (I use Apex, not locked in memory)
I've been testing on a 100/100Mbit line fiber and 60/15Mbit LTE and identical experience.
I DO have Xposed installed atm, but after this fresh install (and many other similar times), I go straight to play store on a fresh install before installing anything. Same problem always there.
I had been using Trinity kernel for quite some time, at the time I adjusted read-ahead a lot, but in this situation a standard read-ahead actually means less lag for me. I guess it means more, small lags, actually, less noticeable.
I've been testing Seeder and similar apps recently, but get no particular difference with this problem.
When using the older version of Google Play, it is much more smooth, yet in the lists with apps it still stutters. Like 2-3 stutters a second, at times it hangs for a whole second, when scrolling down. It stutters each time and image is placed.
My experience: It seems the act of scrolling AND loading images doesn't work well in parallel.
I really hope someone can help me understand the problem, or, if so lucky, help me eradicate (or at least) reduce it.
Mkay, so it seems I am in a situation, where lagfix etc. doesn't alleviate the problem with very low random write speeds. I have done Forever Gone and various other things, but it just doesn't help. So, after googling a lot again, with inconclusive results:
What the feck is the conclusion on those low read speeds? I have plenty of space free...
delanvital said:
the play store (almost unusable)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Play Store has always stuttered horribly when scrolling, as does Play Music. From my own observations, this is an issue with the implementation of rendering in these applications, rather than a lack of system performance. It is not isolated to the Nexus 7 either; it occurs within these applications on every Android device.
When you load the Play Store (or Play Music with album art) and begin to scroll, images are loaded when they come into view and unloaded once you move past them. I would surmise that the behaviour is intended to conserve RAM on less capable devices, however the consequence appears to be that this constant loading and unloading of images while scrolling results in stuttering. I have tested this hypothesis by comparing image-based applications (such as HTC Music) which do not implement the aforementioned function against those that do. The result is always that the former are completely smooth, while latter stutter incessantly.
Now that most new Android devices are shipping with 2GB of RAM, I do hope that Google will either remove this function or disable it on current devices (based on the brand/model the device identifies as).
I've been running OldDroid's OpenKirin for Honor 8 on my US (C567) Mate 9 for a few days and I'm very happy with it. It fixed the main bugs I've experienced with EMUI 8 since the Oreo upgrade. Those bugs include widgets not updating after a half hour even when exempted from battery optimization, some apps not working (e.g. US Topo, a GPS hiking app, that was battery-optimized to stop even when exempted from battery optimization), and EMUI's favoring its own launcher over third party launchers like Nova, sometimes to the point of crashing. Then there were irritants like apps that I don't use that couldn't be removed, EMUI lockscreen wallpaper whose magazine no longer updates. If I wanted to be tightly controlled, I'd buy an iphone.
So with Wirmpolter's patient help, I took the plunge and installed AOSP, specifically OldDroid's OpenKirin for the Honor 8. This is a treble-based OS, with some specialization for the Kirin processor. I've written an installation guide aimed at a relatively inexperienced installer:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76231795&postcount=23
All of my major and minor frustrations with EMUI have been resolved. All my apps work. All the hardware works (although I have to turn off the equalizer to get music to play through the headphones). The camera and video work great. Battery life is good. You can install without replacing the stock recovery, which is good because if you don't touch the stock recovery, it is pretty much always possible to unbrick your phone.
If you are eyeing a new phone or thinking about rolling back to Nougat because of your dissatisfaction with Oreo/EMUI 8 on the Mate 9, then I'd suggest trying OpenKirin. It worked for me.
Hi! Does the headphone jack work with 3rd party music players and video players like say VLC? I have a lot of music on my SD so will the app be able to read it? Also, compared to stock EMUI how would you rate battery life?
Thanks, looking forward to this.
Although, not willing to be a guinea pig at the moment. Hoping some others will try this out and give some feedback. Definitely, need a fully functioning camera, including video.
Works with VLC
Vankata1 said:
Hi! Does the headphone jack work with 3rd party music players and video players like say VLC? I have a lot of music on my SD so will the app be able to read it? Also, compared to stock EMUI how would you rate battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VLC works with headphones -- I use VLC, though my main music player is Music Folder Player Full, which also works with headphones. (If you carry a lot of music organized into folders, check it out.) Neither app can see the SD card, so you would have to move music to the main storage with the Files program in order to access it with VLC. I carry about 10GB of music, so I copy all of it onto main storage. Again, to make the headphones work, I use Simple Tiny Equalizer to turn off the equalizer. You can do this in app, too.
I'm finding battery life about the same, possibly a bit worse. I used to end a day with about 30% remaining, and now I end it with 20%. Small sample. I might be using it more intensely, though, or EMUI's aggressive battery management that disables widgets and apps may have saved some battery.
As an aside, VLC can see my local network, like a Windows PC. I can play music and videos at home from my NAS. I didn't know Android could do this.
Guinea pig
vijer said:
Thanks, looking forward to this.
Although, not willing to be a guinea pig at the moment. Hoping some others will try this out and give some feedback. Definitely, need a fully functioning camera, including video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My willingness to be a guinea pig was very much influenced by (1) having a pretty great backup phone (ZTE Axon), which I set up first and used during the process and (2) the time I was spending looking at new phone announcements and reviews, gearing up to ditch my phone. But I like the Mate 9 -- fast, big battery, big screen, fantastic camera, headphone jack -- and I don't really want to start carrying a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle around. There was nothing wrong with the phone except EMUI 8.
prestonmcafee said:
My willingness to be a guinea pig was very much influenced by (1) having a pretty great backup phone (ZTE Axon), which I set up first and used during the process and (2) the time I was spending looking at new phone announcements and reviews, gearing up to ditch my phone. But I like the Mate 9 -- fast, big battery, big screen, fantastic camera, headphone jack -- and I don't really want to start carrying a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle around. There was nothing wrong with the phone except EMUI 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Mate 9 is the best phone I have owned so far and I am considering the Mate 10. I hate the pro version, don't like those long skinny screens.
EMUI 8 is okay (I don't access settings often and I don't have any issues using Nova Launcher), but I would like to get rid of some of the locked in software (Duo, Facebook App Manager, Email, Gboard, Google, Google Play Movies/Music, Hi Care, HiSuite, Huawei Home, Huawei Mobile, Music, Notepad - a lot can be disabled but why not just allow deletion?) and I would really like to use OpenGapps Pico. But I really need to access my ExtSd from PowerAmp and Moon+Reader, so that is the real deal breaker.
Are you able to use OpenGapps? Does the vanilla Oreo come with Google's bloatware too?
OpenGapps
vijer said:
The Mate 9 is the best phone I have owned so far and I am considering the Mate 10. I hate the pro version, don't like those long skinny screens.
EMUI 8 is okay (I don't access settings often and I don't have any issues using Nova Launcher), but I would like to get rid of some of the locked in software (Duo, Facebook App Manager, Email, Gboard, Google, Google Play Movies/Music, Hi Care, HiSuite, Huawei Home, Huawei Mobile, Music, Notepad - a lot can be disabled but why not just allow deletion?) and I would really like to use OpenGapps Pico. But I really need to access my ExtSd from PowerAmp and Moon+Reader, so that is the real deal breaker.
Are you able to use OpenGapps? Does the vanilla Oreo come with Googles bloatware too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on the long, skinny screens. I carry my phone in my shirt pocket most of the time, and it just barely has its center of gravity below the top edge of my pocket. Any taller and it will fall out even more frequently.
EMUI occasionally asked to replace Nova, and would crash if I added a EMUI widget to the homescreen. I hadn't realized how many apps couldn't be removed. For me, Facebook App manager is especially awful as I'm not on FB and FB track non-users, e.g. through the Like button on third party websites.
Not all the Gapps were embedded but some were. I think I had to add Gmail but Play, Google (search app), Chrome etc were present. It appears I can't uninstall the Google search app. (Of course, with the phone rooted, I can.) OpenKirin is not a vanilla AOSP in that way.
Did you try/can you try viper4android? ive been trying to get it working on emui8 and have had no luck.
really wanting to switch to aosp
viper4android
KitsuneUK said:
Did you try/can you try viper4android? ive been trying to get it working on emui8 and have had no luck.
really wanting to switch to aosp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reviews are too negative, especially claiming popups, for me to try this. I'm not saying that the reviews are accurate as they often are not. But I've had to hard reset sometimes to remove a pernicious app, and this one isn't worth the risk. Sorry.
A cleaner version of android is more likely to run any app that didn't come from the phone manufacturer.
prestonmcafee said:
I'm with you on the long, skinny screens. I carry my phone in my shirt pocket most of the time, and it just barely has its center of gravity below the top edge of my pocket. Any taller and it will fall out even more frequently.
EMUI occasionally asked to replace Nova, and would crash if I added a EMUI widget to the homescreen. I hadn't realized how many apps couldn't be removed. For me, Facebook App manager is especially awful as I'm not on FB and FB track non-users, e.g. through the Like button on third party websites.
Not all the Gapps were embedded but some were. I think I had to add Gmail but Play, Google (search app), Chrome etc were present. It appears I can't uninstall the Google search app. (Of course, with the phone rooted, I can.) OpenKirin is not a vanilla AOSP in that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, I remember having an issues with one or two widgets, but then I decided I didn't want all that stuff and just made three widgets using KWGT widget maker and I haven't had any issues since, except occasionally the music pause/start doesn't respond.
I was able to remove many apps, but those I listed, and most of those can be disabled. Still, would rather have a clean ROM.
Some of these app issues are Google changes. I used to use ROM Toolbox Pro to remove apps but Google made them remove the feature. I think Google is trying to force more apps like Chrome and Search on us. I don't use the Gmail app, instead I use AquaMail which is a superior interface and I have 7 email accounts that it manages.
Did you try installing OpenGapps? I did on the Huawei Oreo and it installs but then the phone boot loops. I used the pico version which has the bare minimum Gapps. Don't know if the issue is the way Huawei made the ROM or if this is a Google change.
Anyway, the biggest issue is the limited support for the external SD card. Maybe a future update will resolve that issue.
I'll definitely update when OldDroid does, at least fairly quickly, and report if the next version improves the SD card. I'm doing all right with it just as a source of backup files.
I found another advantage of OpenKirin. I didn't get google maps directions over bluetooth in car (an Audi) since updating to Oreo/EMUI 8. I'm not sure why. I tried deleting and re-adding the connection, which didn't fix it, and music and telephone calls played fine over bluetooth, so it wasn't the bluetooth connection. Now bluetooth directions work perfectly, as well as music and calls (which did before).
I took the plunge and flashed OpenKirin - it's decent, limited bloat, but I just can't live with the external SD card access problem. Hopefully, OpenKirin developers will work on it.
vijer said:
I took the plunge and flashed OpenKirin - it's decent, limited bloat, but I just can't live with the external SD card access problem. Hopefully, OpenKirin developers will work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the performance? I tried Phh-Treble, RROS and Lineage OS, this last two are for the Honor View 10, all of them work, can read external SDCard but all of them have performance issues, when you are heavy using the phone, switching from app to app, copypasting things, taking photos, etc., the phones lost all kinds of smoothness that seems to have when you just flash it.
IOmega666 said:
How's the performance? I tried Phh-Treble, RROS and Lineage OS, this last two are for the Honor View 10, all of them work, can read external SDCard but all of them have performance issues, when you are heavy using the phone, switching from app to app, copypasting things, taking photos, etc., the phones lost all kinds of smoothness that seems to have when you just flash it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I can't answer your question. I have too much on my external SD to live without it. 300 ebooks 2000 mp3s 400 videos several hundred images
Camera app can't see the storage
Root explorer can't see the storage
PowerAmp can
QuickPik can't
Moon+Reader cant
VLC can't
So after fiddling with it for a while I went back to MHA-L29 8.0.0.368
I haven't noticed any performance issues after about a week of uptime. I don't game, though, so may not stress the system like some do.
vijer said:
Sorry, I can't answer your question. I have too much on my external SD to live without it. 300 ebooks 2000 mp3s 400 videos several hundred images
Camera app can't see the storage
Root explorer can't see the storage
PowerAmp can
QuickPik can't
Moon+Reader cant
VLC can't
So after fiddling with it for a while I went back to MHA-L29 8.0.0.368
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know that bug, experienced it in Phh-Treble, hopefully is easy to fix and it was fixed on Phh-Treble, so it'll be soo fixed on this OpenKirik AOSP, what matters most to me is performance
prestonmcafee said:
I haven't noticed any performance issues after about a week of uptime. I don't game, though, so may not stress the system like some do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it deservers a try-
I finally took the dive and installed this on my primary device last night.
Ran into one issue: apparently, Huawei pulled the unlock request page offline. All of the available links to it that I could find went to a 404 page. (DC Unlocker to the rescue, I guess.)
In any case:
No issues with headphones. A few minor graphical glitches with the volume control panel and similar things but that's about it.
Magisk gets Google Pay and other SafetyNet demanding apps working, AdGuard doesn't mysteriously stop running because of overly aggressive memory management, dual SIM functionality seems fine.
45 minutes SOT, 92% remaining. No performance issues of note, aside from the minor graphical glitches feels smoother than EMUI did.
Update: I found something that gets rid of the graphical glitches, which (so far) seems to have a negligible effect on performance. Turn on GPU rendering profiling to be output to adb, all of the weird scrolling and clipping glitches go away...
GPU Rendering
irony_delerium said:
I finally took the dive and installed this on my primary device last night.
Ran into one issue: apparently, Huawei pulled the unlock request page offline. All of the available links to it that I could find went to a 404 page. (DC Unlocker to the rescue, I guess.)
In any case:
No issues with headphones. A few minor graphical glitches with the volume control panel and similar things but that's about it.
Magisk gets Google Pay and other SafetyNet demanding apps working, AdGuard doesn't mysteriously stop running because of overly aggressive memory management, dual SIM functionality seems fine.
45 minutes SOT, 92% remaining. No performance issues of note, aside from the minor graphical glitches feels smoother than EMUI did.
Update: I found something that gets rid of the graphical glitches, which (so far) seems to have a negligible effect on performance. Turn on GPU rendering profiling to be output to adb, all of the weird scrolling and clipping glitches go away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a "Profile GPU rendering" under developer options, defaulted to Off, with two other options: On screen as bars, and "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo". Is the latter what you mean by output to adb, or am I missing something? I hadn't noticed glitches, other than occasionally missing half of the first line of text in some reading apps. With the in adb setting, I was unable to replicate that glitch, but it doesn't happen often, so could be unrelated.
When I choose "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo" and then restart, it returns to off.
prestonmcafee said:
I have a "Profile GPU rendering" under developer options, defaulted to Off, with two other options: On screen as bars, and "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo". Is the latter what you mean by output to adb, or am I missing something? I hadn't noticed glitches, other than occasionally missing half of the first line of text in some reading apps. With the in adb setting, I was unable to replicate that glitch, but it doesn't happen often, so could be unrelated.
When I choose "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo" and then restart, it returns to off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latter is what I meant. The glitches I keep seeing are:
1) The volume panel, when it's opening and closing, seems to lose it's edges. As soon as the animation is complete, of course, it returns to normal.
2) In Chrome, at least, when scrolling through a select box, the edges of it seem to stick (top and sides).
I've seen a few others, mostly in the same vein. It usually looks to be as though a scrollable view isn't clipped correctly by the underlying driver, and turning on profiling causes it to render strictly.
I'm not surprised that it turns itself off at reboot, I haven't rebooted this since I got everything installed on it.
irony_delerium said:
The latter is what I meant. The glitches I keep seeing are:
1) The volume panel, when it's opening and closing, seems to lose it's edges. As soon as the animation is complete, of course, it returns to normal.
2) In Chrome, at least, when scrolling through a select box, the edges of it seem to stick (top and sides). .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replicated 1) and that your fix works. I had noticed some scrolling artifacts in Firefox, but don't seem to be able to replicate them at the moment. But then, I notice scrolling artifacts on laptops, too. I'll leave it set to adb.
You're busy and don't have time to wait, which is why you need to stop reading this thread and get back to organizing your Pogs. Rate this thread to express how the Google Pixel 3 XL performs when multitasking. A higher rating indicates that the Google Pixel 3 XL keeps many apps in memory so that they don't need to reload, and that when moving between apps, transitions are smooth and performance is excellent.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Does a poor job of memory management. Apps to be reloaded. I am quite surprised this is occurring.
Chrome pages rarely stay in memory even when jumping to one or two other apps for a short bit. Even the messaging app dumps out frequently. These are Google's own apps too, what's their excuse?
Slightly off topic but I love how safari on iOS devices keeps the last page stored so hitting the back button to the last webpage is instant vs chrome having to reload a page
Seems quite good to me. I loaded Spotify, messages, Viber, what's app, chrome and nest and no reloading. Seem to normally have about 750mb free
I haven't seen much reloading. I do mostly use apps that start each time I open them (like games like Clash Royale, etc), so I'm sure that has something to do with it, but for my most used normal apps I can open Gmail, Chrome, Instagram, YouTube, G+, and some others, and rarely will an app need to pause to reload. They mostly open right where I left off. Maybe if I cycle eight or so apps is when I see a pause/reload.
Seems great to me. I can swap between Discord/Camera/Snapseed/Twitter/YouTube music with no reloading. Taking pictures or videos doesn't pause or completely stop YouTube music like I've seen some YouTubers/reviews comment. I even bumped it up to about as stressful as I could - HDR on, highest mp, take raw, nothing I could do would get the music in the BG to close
I will experience redrawing when I open a game such as FGO or Dragalia Lost, but that shouldn't be shocking, in my opinion
I've tried both streaming apps and local playback of a downloaded podcast and have gotten process kills for every situation. How is it some people have no issue and others don't if it's just a software issue?
Only thing I've noticed is aggressively closing Pandora is I've been out of my car a few minutes. It's a little annoying but doesn't really bother me. Spotify and slacker stay open.
Other than that I haven't had the other issues reported like the camera closing Spotify etcetera
could this be related to the SWAP thats being used aggresively? if someone has root maybe they can test disabling swap, and changing the swappiness value should make things perform better.
Zenoran said:
I've tried both streaming apps and local playback of a downloaded podcast and have gotten process kills for every situation. How is it some people have no issue and others don't if it's just a software issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found it to be due to Adaptive battery. Turn the adaptive battery setting for the app off.
virtyx said:
could this be related to the SWAP thats being used aggresively? if someone has root maybe they can test disabling swap, and changing the swappiness value should make things perform better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is SWAP adjusted with root?
Battery management seems to be the culprit. I have turned it off as it makes my phone almost unusable; it allows me to use two apps, MOST of the time, but it constantly closes everything else, even when I have told it NOT to optimize specific programs. This is a terrible user experience. TERRIBLE. I hope they make the program less aggressive with a future software update.
As an aside, this was not how things were with Oreo on the Pixel 2 XL, and things weren't this way with the first release of Pie on the XL 2, either. However, I started seeing this after an update to Pie on the XL 2, and it has been constant on the XL 3.
rohmbd said:
How is SWAP adjusted with root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there should be a magisk module
'torpedo' something i think its called
you can also change swappiness to 0 (i think its in /proc/sys/vm )
if you have root you can try swapoff -a in terminal with su
report back on your finding please
RAM management is worse than phones from 2016
So I just got my pixel last week and one of the biggest issues is the RAM.
Sometimes I'll only have THREE things open, Chrome, Podcast Addict, and YouTube for isntance. And the pixel will kill off the podcast (while I'm listening to it still).
The same thing happens when I'm browsing the web, and want to take a picture, boom, kills the music I'm listening too.
It's a BIG issue, happens daily for me.
virtyx said:
there should be a magisk module
'torpedo' something i think its called
you can also change swappiness to 0 (i think its in /proc/sys/vm )
if you have root you can try swapoff -a in terminal with su
report back on your finding please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that last night - swap is off and, while I'm still getting reloads of Chrome tabs (really the only negative thing I noticed before), the phone *is* a bit more responsive. I've switched back and forth between swap and no swap, and there's definitely a non-placebo difference. I'd give it a shot if you're rooted (I used the Torpedo module in Magisk).
Roll3r said:
I did that last night - swap is off and, while I'm still getting reloads of Chrome tabs (really the only negative thing I noticed before), the phone *is* a bit more responsive. I've switched back and forth between swap and no swap, and there's definitely a non-placebo difference. I'd give it a shot if you're rooted (I used the Torpedo module in Magisk).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats great news!
how many chrome tabs are you using? is it only in chrome tabs that the reloading happens? how about recent apps?
im sure there are a few settings in /proc/sys/vm that can be adjusted to get better ram management
virtyx said:
thats great news!
how many chrome tabs are you using? is it only in chrome tabs that the reloading happens? how about recent apps?
im sure there are a few settings in /proc/sys/vm that can be adjusted to get better ram management
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't kept track of *any* of that. The phone just feels a bit (hate this adjective) snappier. And from what I understand (don't have the links in front of me) adjusting the LMK settings is going to be difficult.
I keep getting low memory warnings while playing wgt golf. Sucks
is this issue too bad on pixel 3?
i use a pixel 1 xl now and wants to buy a new phone.
getting really concerned and thinking if i should just buy a note 9 or not.
what do you guys suggest?
wtharp2 said:
Battery management seems to be the culprit. I have turned it off as it makes my phone almost unusable; it allows me to use two apps, MOST of the time, but it constantly closes everything else, even when I have told it NOT to optimize specific programs. This is a terrible user experience. TERRIBLE. I hope they make the program less aggressive with a future software update.
As an aside, this was not how things were with Oreo on the Pixel 2 XL, and things weren't this way with the first release of Pie on the XL 2, either. However, I started seeing this after an update to Pie on the XL 2, and it has been constant on the XL 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You turned off the adaptive battery feature?