Database Users

[INFO] Next firmware update 28th April...

According to Asus UK on twitter, the next FOTA update is going to take place this Thursday (28th April). Interested to see what changes this will bring...

2 updates with in 3 weeks of lauch for the uk is very good service at least they are listening to feedback

This is awesome news. It seems that ASUS really wants to make a strong statement with this tablet. I think they will be aggressive in keeping this up to date and making sure it is a great product.

Any idea what features they are improving/fixing with this update?
rio

rio911 said:
Any idea what features they are improving/fixing with this update?
rio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope - we had to figure out the fixes from the last OTA ourselves too. Things which need fixing are:
- Camera taking videos
- Repeated dock/undocking with the keyboard half apparently can mean the transformer doesn't know if it is plugged in or not
There could also be other performance improvements, more pre-installed apps (layar was added last time), fixes for minor bugs with widgets. I'd still like an update to improve the speed of the GPS and the reliability of the compass which sometimes can still go funny.
Heck, it could even include a new honeycomb build from google which could fix various honeycomb performance issues.

Bet you it's the buggy rear camera lag... that was one of the biggest complaints by all reviewers.

Mine has just told me there is an update available right this moment (I already installed the first update when that came out last week so it isn't that), installing it as I type...

I think it will have some or all of these included:
These were all identified by Anandtech as firmware updates coming shortly:
-ASUS tells us we aren't seeing a near doubling of battery life with the dock in use because of inefficiencies in the current firmware—something that could improve with the May firmware update
-fix issues with when tablet forgets it is docked + locks up when docked + restarts when docked
-put the unit into an ultra low power state when docked if the tablet is in standby, and power down completely when not attached to the tablet
KG

I've just got the same message. Not sure whether to install or not.

Just updated and video recording seems much better

vodrin said:
Just updated and video recording seems much better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give us a screen grab of your status page?
rio

The installation was fine, here are the new version numbers as I can't post screenshots:
WiFi - v5.248.28
Bluetooth - v6.11
Kernal - 2.6.36.3-00003-g8038d35 [email protected] #1
Build - HRI66.WW_epad-8.2.3.9-20110423

in the process of installing the update now, it shows up as update 8.2.3.9 (10.36MB)
will report back once done

Started posting more info on the update here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1041502
If you find anything updated/new that's not in the list please post there and i'll update the info. Thanks.

Occasional Audio Stuttering in KitKat

Hi Everyone! So I've been presented with this problem as soon as I flashed the factory image of Kitkat 4.4 on my Nexus 4.
Audio stutters momentarily on random occasions, whether its audio or video playback.
So to solve this, I flashed GNOME II PAEK 1.1 ROM which is based on KitKat 4.4.2, still the same problem.
This never happened on 4.2.2 or 4.3, we did have deadlocks on 4.3 but never audio problems.
Lately, I've noticed the audio stuttering when I'm surfing the web using built in Chrome and the other time I noticed when I turned on the WiFi using the toggle in quick settings.
Some fine mess the user is in these days. I wonder what google has been thinking lately, don't they test the software properly before the release anymore?
I would like to hear your opinion, has anyone else noticed those slight stutters?
Regards.
P.S I've searched over the internet and many people with different android devices are having this problem on KitKat.

I guess it is part of the "DSP Tunneling" feature that puts more parts of audio processing into the DSP instead of the CPU.
It might cause some issues right now, but in the big picture Google is making Audio processing more battery friendly.
So i personally support it and hope they do not just revert it back to the old way. It could need some improvements, no doubt they will come time after time.

user822 said:
I guess it is part of the "DSP Tunneling" feature that puts more parts of audio processing into the DSP instead of the CPU.
It might cause some issues right now, but in the big picture Google is making Audio processing more battery friendly.
So i personally support it and hope they do not just revert it back to the old way. It could need some improvements, no doubt they will come time after time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If its battery friendly, it could be good, but the users needs a fix soon.
Mainly because not everyone has the time to root their device and flash previous Android version after the update and those who choose not to update, they're stuck with annoying update reminder(talking about the general users here).
I'm all for the improvements but not at the cost of broken features. Besides, I've been monitoring the battery drain manually on stock and custom ROMS and I didn't notice much noticeable change. Lets see what happens in the future.

Pretty sure audio tunnelling is Nexus 5 only
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

[Info] Xperia Tablet Z: The best stock firmware for power and performance

** DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A DEVELOPER. I DO THIS AS A HOBBY AND SHARE MY FINDINGS IN CASE SOMEONE ELSE FINDS THEM USEFUL. **
** THIS WORKED ON MY DEVICE BUT IT MAY NOT WORK ON YOURS. APPLY AT YOUR OWN RISK **​
Background:
Tablet Z is an amazing device. I have had a number of different Android devices with comparable specs but nothing has come close to this one in overall performance, durability, build, and stability. The question that I did not find an answer for and made me write this info piece is: what is the best stock ROM for this tablet that can offer the best overall stability and power consumption. Note that a lot of what follows are matters of opinion and personal preferences and you should probably tweak based on your specific needs. So first some basics.
Basics:
There is an empirical finding that the best performance is achieved from the ROMs that are available about six months to a year after the release of any given device and here is the justification. The device is initially shipped with the Android version available at the time of the release. This initial version is invariably buggy because the fast design cycles of these things do not allow a comprehensive test drive by the vendor. So the consumers report the bugs, they get patched, and about 6 months later everything is wrapped into the next version of Android and pushed as an update. This second ROM release is much more stable than the first one but still lacking a few things here and there, which brings us to the next major ROM that will fix most everything.
By this time we are 6 months to a year into the life of the product and the market is now seeing other devices with higher processing power and better specs. The Android releases at any given point in time are tweaked towards the expected performance of the devices that are available at that time. So the next update for your now-more-than-a-year-old device will have nicer features but it is geared towards other devices that are faster and better than yours. So now you upgrade to the third release and you will find that while all the initial bugs are gone the device is laggy and the battery goes down faster than it used to. Most devices don't have a straightforward procedure to downgrade to an older version (at least for the common user) and therefore you will just write this off as your device being too old and slow and then you will be likely convinced by a Sony salesperson to buy the next generation tablet and that is the end of that.
The key is to identify that sweet spot where the OS is stable and fast and tweak the performance there and NOT upgrade anymore. Let me say something about software upgrade while I have your attention. I have sadly found that a lot of people upgrade their phone/tablet OS without really knowing why they do it. Sometimes it almost looks like a fashion trend that since my neighbor is running his/her phone on Kitkat I must upgrade from Jellybean too. This often results in a slowdown of your system and sometimes even makes it impossible to do cool stuff such as rooting your device, because new updates close loopholes and vulnerabilities.
Xperia Tablet Z Stock Roms:
Before we get into that, let's mention the non-stock Roms such as AOSP and CM and their derivatives. There may be a compelling argument for certain cases where for example the vendor either heavily loads the device with bloatware that is difficult to remove or a custom Rom is needed to improve power or increase the performance by overclocking and whatnot. This is very true of some Samsung models with great hardware that are actually degenerated to slow devices with over-bloating and a little help from possessive phone operators like AT&T. However, this is not particularly true for Sony, or at least not yet. The Sony bloat is minimal and easy to remove and what Sony packs with the OS, such as multi-window, remote control, and Bravia engine, are in fact quite useful especially if you are using the device in a Sony ecosystem like with a big screen TV. Besides, Sony is very open-source friendly so there are not a whole lot of locked down features that you may need a custom ROM to get around. So I will limit this discussion to Sony's official Rom releases.
XTZ was initially shipped with 10.1.C.0.344 Android 4.1.2 in the US. Within a few months they upgraded it and if you like most people bought your tablet in the summer of 2013 it probably came with 10.1.C.0.370. This was to fix a touch sensitivity problem and improve WiFi. No update however is complete without limiting the ability of the user to root the device so Sony patched a vulnerability that allows the method of rooting you find inside the menus of Flashtool. Soon another vulnerability was discovered and a piece of code was written by Doomslord which would remain the only safe way to root XTZ until Towelroot was born. The update also removed the ability to choose the number of active cores, which was not the end of the world of course.
This release arguably has the best user interface which located the important touch keys on the bottom left and right sides of the screen, which is easy to operate when you grab the tablet with two hands. However, it had a few performance issues. For example, adding a weather widget would introduce a visible lag when swiping the home screen. It didn;t take long before users started nagging on different forums about how they are not running the latest Android version and how Sony should release it ASAP,... and Sony did.
Android 4.2.2 (10.3.1.C.0.136) removed the nice tablet UI. Soft button keys were now at the bottom center of the display with nothing on the left and right sides, which makes it awkward to grab the tablet with two hands and operate these keys at the same time. The notification area that was previously on the bottom right hand side would now be relocated to the top banner which resulted in a loss of screen real estate, and this pissed off a lot of users including yours truly. In all fairness it was not Sony's fault because this was a decision made by Google to unify tablet and phone interfaces beyond 4.2.2. Sony did their best to give something back (Quick Settings option in top notification bar) and mitigate the lost screen area (Semi-transparent bar in lockscreen). Then there were added features like multi-user support, ability to change the length of “preview time” after shooting a snap from camera, widgets on both homescreen and lockscreen,Video Unlimited movie app integration, updated media apps, my Xperia app to track the tablet in case it is lost, and official support 64 GB SD card.
The initial 4.3 release (10.4.B.0.577) changed the UI to a white theme that looks a lot like Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra: new improved smart camera app and new Xperia wallpapers (like Xperia Z1). A cool feature was added that allows the downloading of themes which change the navigation bar and status bar colors, and the soft keys icons as well. New keyboard app was added with one-hand keyboard settings. Also, a Windows Tethering option made it possible to pair the tablet with Windows 8.1. All welcome options which made most of us get over the grudge caused by the removal of the Tablet UI. Screen was calibrated for a brighter display and restricted profiles settings added more control of the multi-user feature.
The best feature which went unnoticed by many was the new version of Battery STAMINA Mode. Not that the older one needed any serious make-over but this one offered even a longer battery life. By now, almost all the lag observed in earlier versions were gone. For example, the weather widget would no longer self-update until the swiping was complete and this provided a significant smoothness in home display transitions. Finally, the 4.3 update 10.4.1.B.0.109 reduced the display flickering, improved battery life, shortened shutdown times, and fixed a problem which made it possible to use Bluetooth without losing WiFi.
Sometime in May of 2014 Sony released the long-awaited 4.4.2 Kitkat update (10.5.A.0.230) and this was when things started to go south. Sure, there where enhancements in camera app, ability to add emojis to messages, screenshots via the power menu, updates to Email, Calendar, and other apps, and good looking live wallpapers. But nothing could hide the fact that the tablet was now visibly slower and the battery would drain much faster. Sony admitted that the battery drain is a real problem and traced it to a buggy version of the Google services, which the user could uninstall or disable but that didn't make the update any faster.
The fact is, Xperia Tablet Z has a snapdragon S4 running at 1.5GHz, which from an antutu score perspective sets it at around the 20-21k mark. For comparison consider the Tablet Z2 with a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 with an antutu score in the 35000 range and that is really the type of system that the Sony Kitkat update should run on. That's why the tablet becomes so sluggish after the kitkat upgrade. The transitions are visibly slow and even if you disable live wallpapers and other things the settings menus will remain slow. In fact the antutu score after this upgrade drops sharply to around 18000.
Sony eventually released Kitkat 4.4.4 with 10.5.1.A.0.283 in late summer of 2014 and updated that a month or two later with a limited release of 10.5.1.A.0.292 in Nordic countries. These update are more fluid than 4.4.2 with much less lag in different programs. All Kitkat releases have been plagued by a sever battery drain due to a malfunctioning of Google Play services, which is resolved if you update this app to 5.2.08 after the firmware installation. 4.4.4 is still slower in Antutu scores compared to 4.3.
And the winner is...
4.4.4, followed by 4.3.
With the latest Kitkat update (4.4.4) I found that after patching the Google services and minimal debloating the tablet will last 78 days (more than two and half months) in standby. That is pretty impressive. See the screenshots (under Attached Thumbnails). So if you decide to go with 4.4.4, to get the most out of your battery:
1- Upgrade Google Play services to 5.2.08.
2- Go to settings:
Wifi -> Advanced -> Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep -> Never
Wifi -> Advanced -> Scanning always available -> off
Wifi -> Advanced -> Wifi optimization -> on
Power management -> Stamina Mode on and queue background data
3- Disable Google+ and Hangouts (and play store, if you don't use it). I suggest turning off both "Remotely locate" and "allow remote lock" options under Android device manager in Google settings.
4- Uninstall (via Titanium backup) or remove from /system/app and priv-app SonyEntrance.apk and UpdateCenter.apk. If your tablet is wifi only do the same for SemcTelephonyProvider.apk, Stk.apk, phone-usage.apk, and SemcPhone.apk.
The 4.3 update 10.4.1.B.0.109 provides a good battery life too. In standby it can last about 55 days without a recharge (see 1.jpg and 2.jpg). In camparision, the 4.4.2 release lasts about 40-45 days under similar testing conditions. To install 4.3 you can either use this long procedure: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772943 which gives you a pre-rooted 4.3, with the added benefit of a nice recovery image, or flash a stock ftf and root it with towelroot. Either way you need to learn and use flashtool because this update is no longer available through Sony's update channels. If you decide to go with 4.4.4, to get the most out of your battery:
1- Root and disable non essential programs either using Titanium backup or other methods that require a knowledge of the terminal emulator. On an SGP311 For 4.3 what you typically disable is the following (the list is different for the LTE version!):
B2bCustInstaller, com.sonyericsson.startupflagservice, Crackle, Facebook, FBiX Post Viewer, Gmail (and use the stock Email client if you have want to check your gmail), Google Play Books/Games/Magazines/Movies/Music, Google+ and Hangout, Let's start PSM, McAfee Security, Mobile Data, Mobile Network, Configuration, Netflix, POBox Touch (unless you use Japanese keyboard), Reader, Sim Lock, Sim Toolkit, Social Engine, Socialife, Twitter, Video Unlimited, Wisepilot (which doesn't work anyway!), Xperia AppShare, Xperia Calendar Sync, Xperia Friends' music, Xperia Music Likes, Xperia Social Engine Photos/Sharing (all of them), Xperia Chinese keyboard, Xperia with Facebook and Twitter.
2- Then go to settings:
Wifi -> Advanced -> Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep -> Never
Power management -> Stamina Mode on.
I tried programs like Juice Defender but it seemed that in the presence of Sony's Stamina mode none of that is necessary.
One last detail. As you can see in the picture mobile data is still burning 3% although I froze/disabled it in Titanium. The reason is that while freezing an app prevents it from starting at boot-up, the binary is still in the storage and other apps can still invoke it. If you want that portion to go down to zero you will need to uninstall the app in Titanium (or delete/rename the app to disable it, which requires knowledge of the terminal emulator.)
Update: Sony released 5.0.2 with 10.6.A.0.454 in late spring of 2015 and 5.1.1 in September. The standby battery life is nowhere near the latest 4.4.4 or 4.3.
So that is it folks. Give it a try and see it for yourself. At the end of the day, regardless of the firmware, this is an awesome tablet which will still be around after all of its peers are gone and forgotten.

Thanks for your reply. In general i agree with you that the most stable and responsive (fluid) was 10.4.1.B.0.109 on SGP311/312 and 10.4.1.B.0.101 on SGP321. However you can perform fresh install of 10.5.A.0.230 KitKat, make some performance-wise adjustments/remove-freeze bloatware and you will have practically the same performance. As i did it, i can't distinguish between 4.4 and 4.3 in performance at least visually, however it shows a little bit less score in Antutu, 21500 for JB, 20800 for my adjusted KK, but it doesn't really matter.

This is a great post. Thank you. I noticed the performance since installing KitKat has been sluggish too. I haven't tried optimizing it much, haven't had time, but I'm going to try that before downgrading to 4.3. The animations and transitions are so sluggish its annoying. Makes me want a new tablet to be honest heheh.

Great post! Although I'm still loving 4.4. I really missed immersive mode since I've had Nexus phones.. Anyway after fixing the settings app the other 'glitches' in kitkat weren't noticeable. Battery life's awesome since most of the not needed things are disabled/uninstalled.
I get 3-4 days with moderate to heavy use with about 9-10 hours of screen on time. It's really an indoor tablet for me so the brightness can be as low as minimum with no impact on visibility.
I bought my tablet without thinking 6 months ago but I honestly have 0 regrets. It's a truly amazing multimedia device.

Too bad Cyanogenmod 11 is in a poor state with still buggy nightlies and no proper milestone releases...
And I agree Kitkat feels a bit sluggish on the tablet, especially when you compare it to a Snapdragon 801 phone.

Dzhedaj said:
Too bad Cyanogenmod 11 is in a poor state with still buggy nightlies and no proper milestone releases...
And I agree Kitkat feels a bit sluggish on the tablet, especially when you compare it to a Snapdragon 801 phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Snapdragon itself it a way way more faster chip. Also Sony don't really bother with OS optimizations for old devices.

As per my opinion since i updated .233 update via flashtool that Lag and sluggishness is gone perfectly
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-tablet-z/general/ftf-4-4-10-5-0-233-sgp321-3at-t2789187
Alongwith a little mod with beats audio improves the internal speakers upto 100dbi more who feels tab internal speaker volume is low.
Update to .233 and enjoy the tab to its full capacity
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the write-up.
I'm a noob that's researched this to death, and this adds some clarity to whats becoming more murky as I read.
Will probably try to optimize 4.4.2 1st before attempting your link (I'm hoping a couple of other posters on this thread can point me in the right direction - question forthcoming but could you clarify 'or flash a stock ftf and root it with towelroot'? Sorry for the noob question, but 'root after flash' and 'what specific stock ftf' has me lost. Thanks
---------- Post added at 08:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------
Rootk1t said:
Thanks for your reply. In general i agree with you that the most stable and responsive (fluid) was 10.4.1.B.0.109 on SGP311/312 and 10.4.1.B.0.101 on SGP321. However you can perform fresh install of 10.5.A.0.230 KitKat, make some performance-wise adjustments/remove-freeze bloatware and you will have practically the same performance. As i did it, i can't distinguish between 4.4 and 4.3 in performance at least visually, however it shows a little bit less score in Antutu, 21500 for JB, 20800 for my adjusted KK, but it doesn't really matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a link to the method by which you optimize?
Thanks

gmore1 said:
Thanks for the write-up.
I'm a noob that's researched this to death, and this adds some clarity to whats becoming more murky as I read.
Will probably try to optimize 4.4.2 1st before attempting your link (I'm hoping a couple of other posters on this thread can point me in the right direction - question forthcoming but could you clarify 'or flash a stock ftf and root it with towelroot'? Sorry for the noob question, but 'root after flash' and 'what specific stock ftf' has me lost. Thanks
---------- Post added at 08:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------
Do you have a link to the method by which you optimize?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i installed 4.4.4 which is already optimized by sony. Antutu benchmark +2000 scores comparing to 4.4.2:victory:

Rootk1t said:
i installed 4.4.4 which is already optimized by sony. Antutu benchmark +2000 scores comparing to 4.4.2:victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've given me even more homework, but I greatly appreciate the response
I currently have a stock (unlocked/unrooted) Tab Z and if I understood the 4.4.4 posts I've read, the best method to keep root(towelroot for 4.4.2+older) and files is install via OTA which requires an unlocked bootloader, which requires a code from Sony so.... a brief summary of steps to keep my unit as 'open/versatile' as possible here would be....
1:Get code from Sony
2:Unlock bootloader
3:Install Flashtool and root via towelroot (the order here is not important?)
4:Back up files
5:Install 4.4.4 via OTA
Done?
And then I'm left to be able to move back and/or install older firmware?
If this is a PITA to answer, I understand - appreciate any help

gmore1 said:
You've given me even more homework, but I greatly appreciate the response
I currently have a stock (unlocked/unrooted) Tab Z and if I understood the 4.4.4 posts I've read, the best method to keep root(towelroot for 4.4.2+older) and files is install via OTA which requires an unlocked bootloader, which requires a code from Sony so.... a brief summary of steps to keep my unit as 'open/versatile' as possible here would be....
1:Get code from Sony
2:Unlock bootloader
3:Install Flashtool and root via towelroot (the order here is not important?)
4:Back up files
5:Install 4.4.4 via OTA
Done?
And then I'm left to be able to move back and/or install older firmware?
If this is a PITA to answer, I understand - appreciate any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be AWARE !
Before unlocking bootloader BE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR TA PARTITION OR YOU WILL LOOSE DRM LICENCE KEYS FOREVER !!!
Google "Sony DRM TA backup" to find more information.

gmore1 said:
You've given me even more homework, but I greatly appreciate the response
I currently have a stock (unlocked/unrooted) Tab Z and if I understood the 4.4.4 posts I've read, the best method to keep root(towelroot for 4.4.2+older) and files is install via OTA which requires an unlocked bootloader, which requires a code from Sony so.... a brief summary of steps to keep my unit as 'open/versatile' as possible here would be....
1:Get code from Sony
2:Unlock bootloader
3:Install Flashtool and root via towelroot (the order here is not important?)
4:Back up files
5:Install 4.4.4 via OTA
Done?
And then I'm left to be able to move back and/or install older firmware?
If this is a PITA to answer, I understand - appreciate any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no! no need to unlock bootloader to root device and get OTA.

Rootk1t said:
no! no need to unlock bootloader to root device and get OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GretaLewd said:
Be AWARE !
Before unlocking bootloader BE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR TA PARTITION OR YOU WILL LOOSE DRM LICENCE KEYS FOREVER !!!
Google "Sony DRM TA backup" to find more information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK.
I won't be 'developing' anytime soon, so no need to unlock. I just thought in order to access anything newer than 4.4.2 OTA from Sony would require it.
Thank you both and sorry again for the ?'s, but this has been WAY more involved than the days of rooting my Photon
Will continue my research on OTA 4.4.4.
---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 AM ----------
OK,
No 4.4.4 for SGP312 yet so I guess just be patient and make sure I'm rooted and backed up?
Any link for optimizing in the meantime still appreciated - many searches and I can't find anything.

gmore1 said:
No 4.4.4 for SGP312 yet so I guess just be patient and make sure I'm rooted and backed up?
Any link for optimizing in the meantime still appreciated - many searches and I can't find anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xpe...oot-4-4-4-kitkat-sgp311-10-5-1-0-283-t2875885
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-tablet-z/development/root-sp321-ftf-10-5-1-0-283-t2873377

Rootk1t said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xpe...oot-4-4-4-kitkat-sgp311-10-5-1-0-283-t2875885
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-tablet-z/development/root-sp321-ftf-10-5-1-0-283-t2873377
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK
I was aware of 4.4.4 via FT and PC, but based on a post I had read in another thread, thought only OTA would allow one to maintain root after 4.4.2...
I should have read further into that thread.
This should do it -Thanks again Rootk1t

Can I just clarify... in the first post, it says "On an SGP311 what you typically enable is the following..." Do I take it that should say disable, not enable?
I also noticed that I don't have B2bCustInstaller, but I do have B2bCertInstaller and B2bCustomSetupWizard. Are either of those two, the same as you mentioned?
This latest update (10.5.1.A.0.283) has introduced some annoyances with video playback, so I am trying to get rid of useless apps etc... in the hope that one of them clears things up.

LeeC22 said:
Can I just clarify... in the first post, it says "On an SGP311 what you typically enable is the following..." Do I take it that should say disable, not enable?
I also noticed that I don't have B2bCustInstaller, but I do have B2bCertInstaller and B2bCustomSetupWizard. Are either of those two, the same as you mentioned?
This latest update (10.5.1.A.0.283) has introduced some annoyances with video playback, so I am trying to get rid of useless apps etc... in the hope that one of them clears things up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- Thanks for pointing out the typo. I fixed it in the text.
2- You don't see B2bCustInstaller because Sony disables it by default, but it is still in your system. Leave the other two apps be. They will be dormant.
3- What annoyances are you referring to? I may be able to help if you are more specific.

najoor said:
1- Thanks for pointing out the typo. I fixed it in the text.
2- You don't see B2bCustInstaller because Sony disables it by default, but it is still in your system. Leave the other two apps be. They will be dormant.
3- What annoyances are you referring to? I may be able to help if you are more specific.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My tablet is primarily a video playback device for the music videos I collect. Before this update, video playback was smooth, after this update, it's just not quite right. What makes me think it's the update, is that I use MX Player Pro, and the video playback isn't smooth in that either. The Sony Movies app is all over the place with playback. One update it's fine, next update it's bad, then it might be okay again, but this update it's just not quite right. It was during a bad period that I decided to get MX Player Pro, which seemed much better... but now it's suffering the same problem.
To most people, it would probably look fine, but as a graphic artist, I find I'm very susceptible to the slightest irregularity in playback. As it affected two players, I presumed that it was a background service or something that was affecting resources enough to affect video decoding.
I would also just like to say thanks for providing that list. My tablet used to take just over an hour to recharge 10% of the battery life back. In just over 6 hours last night, it recharged 80%. So that's a major plus point in my book, so thank you for your efforts. :good:

LeeC22 said:
My tablet is primarily a video playback device for the music videos I collect. Before this update, video playback was smooth, after this update, it's just not quite right. What makes me think it's the update, is that I use MX Player Pro, and the video playback isn't smooth in that either. The Sony Movies app is all over the place with playback. One update it's fine, next update it's bad, then it might be okay again, but this update it's just not quite right. It was during a bad period that I decided to get MX Player Pro, which seemed much better... but now it's suffering the same problem.
To most people, it would probably look fine, but as a graphic artist, I find I'm very susceptible to the slightest irregularity in playback. As it affected two players, I presumed that it was a background service or something that was affecting resources enough to affect video decoding.
I would also just like to say thanks for providing that list. My tablet used to take just over an hour to recharge 10% of the battery life back. In just over 6 hours last night, it recharged 80%. So that's a major plus point in my book, so thank you for your efforts. :good:
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure you can fix this by just disabling background processes. Sony's Kitkat release is slower at its core than 4.3 and that can be seen and quantified in an Antutu benchmark. Give it your best shot but your best bet is to downgrade to 4.3.

najoor said:
I'm not sure you can fix this by just disabling background processes. Sony's Kitkat release is slower at its core than 4.3 and that can be seen and quantified in an Antutu benchmark. Give it your best shot but your best bet is to downgrade to 4.3.
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You're right, I disabled loads of stuff last night, and the problem frustratingly remains.
I'd ideally downgrade to 4.2, because I think 4.3 is where Sony removed the screenshot option (before cunningly adding it back in 4.4 as a "new feature"), isn't it? I use that a lot, because my eyes aren't that good, and when you hit a website that blocks pinch-zooming, or you get an app that has text that is too small, like Google Earth, I frequently need to capture the screen and zoom in.
Of course, the problem with this solution is that downgrading to a specific rom version, for a specific version of the tablet, in a specific territory, is not that simple. I'll have to spend some time collecting the required files and instructions, then wait for a good day (mentally), to give it a go.

Performance update on it's way!

http://androidandme.com/2015/07/new...-3-getting-performance-update-in-coming-days/

Nice. Hope it's a new update and not the one that some people have gotten.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Sweet!!! Thanks for the news. I wonder what updates will be made to the camera.

Giu didn't mention a source or anything. Just "that we received word" so I am still a little cynical at this point.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

2nd story about update
More info:
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=16092
http://www.talkandroid.com/255569-alcatel-onetouch-idol-3-update-rolling-out-over-the-next-few-days/
Multiple sources makes it seem more legit to me.

this is great news well its not what we expected to be 5.1 update but its something im glad alcatel has actually listened to us especially through that Email that was sent last month hopefully in mind they should release the source code soon or someone to capture the OTA and extract it

gecko702 said:
this is great news well its not what we expected to be 5.1 update but its something im glad alcatel has actually listened to us especially through that Email that was sent last month hopefully in mind they should release the source code soon or someone to capture the OTA and extract it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned in the root or update thread, the OTA updates contain only patches to the binary code and not full source. It'll have to come from Alcatel.

well they sure are taking their sweet time pushing it out, its not hitting mine yet.
how many possible users could they be going out to afterall? its not like this phone went mainstream...

mk3 said:
well they sure are taking their sweet time pushing it out, its not hitting mine yet.
how many possible users could they be going out to afterall? its not like this phone went mainstream...
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Click to collapse
It's slowly making its way mainstream. It should release this week. I hope it's not one of those updates that break something when trying to do good.

Already had the update last week and the performance is much better now!

Looks like an update is rolling out right now, dated today the 13th....still 5.0.2 unfortunately

Yup - installing right now. Still 5.0.2 ..

Installing right now

After the update try to clear all all opening apps, you will mention that it's without any lag or stutter

usmcnyc said:
Looks like an update is rolling out right now, dated today the 13th....still 5.0.2 unfortunately
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stl1859 said:
Yup - installing right now. Still 5.0.2 ..
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Borghi said:
Installing right now
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what version of firmware? 5.0.2-01003?
Thk!!

DonnieDoezoe said:
After the update try to clear all all opening apps, you will mention that it's without any lag or stutter
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Click to collapse
I am not sure if it is just me - but at least this part is NOT fixed. clearing open apps still has the same stutter that it had before. I restored the animation scale back to 1x and that has not changed anything. Maybe that is how it is supposed to be.
The app launching appears to have improved *slightly* . Whether double tap is more reliable remains to be seen. The update did not reset my launcher setting i.e. it did not revert to the stock launcher .
Overall - so far , I am not seeing anything worth getting too excited about - Not so far at least.
BTW - just to confirm - I now have Android version = 5.0.2 Kernel version = 3.10.49 Build number = 7SQR-UER0

stl1859 said:
I am not sure if it is just me - but at least this part is NOT fixed. clearing open apps still has the same stutter that it had before. I restored the animation scale back to 1x and that has not changed anything. Maybe that is how it is supposed to be.
The app launching appears to have improved *slightly* . Whether double tap is more reliable remains to be seen. The update did not reset my launcher setting i.e. it did not revert to the stock launcher .
Overall - so far , I am not seeing anything worth getting too excited about - Not so far at least.
BTW - just to confirm - I now have Android version = 5.0.2 Kernel version = 3.10.49 Build number = 7SQR-UER0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, not too much difference noted with this update. Anyone know if Alcatel includes a changelog someplace with these updates?

I feel differently. This update, so far, is great. The lag I had previously is nearly gone and installing apps is much much faster. DTTW has worked everytime (only tried about 7-8 times so far) unlike previously when it hardly ever worked. I don't notice anything different on the camera but I've only played with it for a short period. I've not used this phone as a daily driver since I got it in May because of the user experience, it just lagged and I hate lag - especially compared to my LG G2. Today however, I put my sim card in and will give it a true test, being the daily driver.
I was going to return it initially but held onto it waiting for an update and glad I did. I simply couldn't understand why this phone was not at least as fast (or faster) than my LG G Pro Or HTC One M7 since both of them are running the Snapdragon 600 (vs 615) and slower GPU. Plus both are also running pretty heavy skins yet both were way faster/smoother than the Idol 3. It had to be software and optimization which seems to be what this update addresses. The screen and speakers on this phone are to die for and I'm glad it's now able to be used effectively. I may think differently in a day or so after a real world test but for now I'm excited about this little guy.

I just got the update this morning, and my initial reaction is pretty good. The phone just feels snappier overall. The notification shade seems to come down very smooth all the time now. Previously, when the keyboard was open, the notification shade would drop a lot of frames when you pulled it down. The camera seems to be doing a better job of getting the correct point of focus too. Also, double tap to wake actually works now! This is huge for me because it only worked about once out of ten tries for me before. I'm happy.
Edit: I'm also seeing about 1.5GB of extra free storage. I wonder if the phone wasn't properly moving apps to the sd card before. I have about 12 games installed, and I have them all moved to the sd card.
Sent from my 6045I using XDA Free mobile app

Looks like you guys had the update we got last week in europe. It runs much better , cleaning apps doesn't lag anymore and everything runs smoother.
For the people still having problems can you confirm you're in 5.0.2-010 03 ?

8.1 update rolling out!

So about 1,1 GB update is available for us. What is your opinion on the update? Did it fix all of your issues or brought you way more issues?

The hissing sound is finally gone, I can't see any bug right there (someone faced the uncertified bug, but for me isn't here, maybe try to reboot), I'll see if the battery now isn't draining too much like in May update

If hissing is fixed, can anyone extract necessary audio related files?

Under phone info there is a (prerelease) kernel, dunno why

There's now Gestures under system settings!

.:Addicted:. said:
If hissing is fixed, can anyone extract necessary audio related files?
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In changelog was noted: "Sound improvements".

TrueMS said:
So about 1,1 GB update is available for us. What is your opinion on the update? Did it fix all of your issues or brought you way more issues?
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deleted messages
Klasputnikov said:
The hissing sound is finally gone, I can't see any bug right there (someone faced the uncertified bug, but for me isn't here, maybe try to reboot), I'll see if the battery now isn't draining too much like in May update
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in my case i can still hear the hissing with low impedance earbuds (panasonic RP-TCM125)
Klasputnikov said:
Under phone info there is a (prerelease) kernel, dunno why
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yes i can see that too, Im using global version
alsheron said:
There's now Gestures under system settings!
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it's the same gesture page as previous versions but now moved there

Phone works slower, seems to be laggy now, it used to be very snappy on 8.0.
I had no bugs on 8.0... update deleted my messages.
It's quite disappointing that android one gets bugged 8.1 literally 7 months after it goes public

ГАСООП said:
Phone works slower, seems to be laggy now, it used to be very snappy on 8.0.
I had no bugs on 8.0... update deleted my messages.
It's quite disappointing that android one gets bugged 8.1 literally 7 months after it goes public
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here! Had a very snappy 8.0 phone. Now its all sluggish and laggy. Did u do a factory reset? Maybe it helps...

ГАСООП said:
Phone works slower, seems to be laggy now, it used to be very snappy on 8.0.
I had no bugs on 8.0... update deleted my messages.
It's quite disappointing that android one gets bugged 8.1 literally 7 months after it goes public
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Converted007 said:
Same here! Had a very snappy 8.0 phone. Now its all sluggish and laggy. Did u do a factory reset? Maybe it helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone got snappier after update, but fingerprint scanner got a bit slower.

My phone certainly felt slower after the 8.1 update.
I did not encounter the SMS message bug but some hours after the update I lost WiFi connection altogether (could not enable WiFi, mac address 2:0:0:0... I had no choice but to reflash from stock image. After the reflash I'm still at 8.0, as the reflash phone is not seeing the 8.1 update yet.
FYI I use Magisk and Franco kernel app. When the 8.1 update is available for my phone again I'm going to take more time with backup and checking that there are no compatibility issues.

Hey guys, I'm still on that first may update. didn't even update the 2nd one of may that was 58mbs. Everyone keeps saying that it lowers the volume of the speaker. Is that true?? and does the June update fixes that or just keeps it lowered?

ГАСООП said:
Phone works slower, seems to be laggy now, it used to be very snappy on 8.0.
I had no bugs on 8.0... update deleted my messages.
It's quite disappointing that android one gets bugged 8.1 literally 7 months after it goes public
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case I feel the OS way more smooth and stable and I am heavy user.

mervinb said:
My phone certainly felt slower after the 8.1 update.
I did not encounter the SMS message bug but some hours after the update I lost WiFi connection altogether (could not enable WiFi, mac address 2:0:0:0... I had no choice but to reflash from stock image. After the reflash I'm still at 8.0, as the reflash phone is not seeing the 8.1 update yet.
FYI I use Magisk and Franco kernel app. When the 8.1 update is available for my phone again I'm going to take more time with backup and checking that there are no compatibility issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi MAC address problem ìs not from stock 8.1 but from incompatible kernel (like FK for now).

A pretty decent update in my case. Didn't encounter any bugs or issues so far, only that phone was really slow after first boot but after maybe 10 minutes or so it started working as fast as 8.0.
I like how the colors are now changing according to the dominant color of the wallpaper, but tinting on lockscreen or under notifications in that same color is a little bit weird... but I'll probably get used to it.
Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk

8.1 update, lost all stored sms messages and SafetyNet check fails... Everything is stock and has aleays been stock so this is Xiaomi's fault

Xiaomi pulled the 8.1 update and its no longer available so we should wait until they release a bug-free version of it.

Did this fix the scroll lag?

Xiaomi pulled back the update. Those updated should receive an incremental update to fix bugs.

You had one job, and for how many times Xiaomi is pulling updates after they release is to their devices, in this case, to Mi A1?
Really, we are talking about the Android One device, and only one device that is out there on the market.
And for the love of God, this is 8.1 update, nothing major.
Looking forward what they will do with the 9.0 update and how long we will wait for it.
Luckily, on my dad´s Mi A1, it is still 8.0 and february security patch, I was waiting for this update to install on his phone but this happens. Also I don´t know if it is true about the audio, it is lowered after some updates after may month I think. I don´t know if everyone is affected or not.