Slow switching between apps, bringing up keyboard - Nexus 9 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
My Nexus 9 seems to be becoming slower and slower to switch between apps, especially if one of them is Chrome. If I tap on a link in, say, Facebook or Feedly the tablet sometimes sits there for 30 seconds or so before Chrome opens. Other times, if I tap on a search button in an app (the Guardian is a good example) the tablet will sit there for ages before the keyboard comes up, to the point that the watchdog kicks in and asks me if I want to kill the app. This is driving me completely crazy. My Nexus 7 (2013) is way more responsive than my N9. It is marginally better after a reboot or if I clear the cache but it doesn't take long to grind to a halt again.
Do I have a hardware fault with my device or is this a feature of the N9 being a 64-bit device and only having 2G of RAM? And would a custom ROM or kernel make things better? At present I'm unrooted and would prefer to stay running stock 6.0.1 but would consider changing if I'm reasonably confident that it would improve things.
Thanks!

sladflob said:
Hi,
My Nexus 9 seems to be becoming slower and slower to switch between apps, especially if one of them is Chrome. If I tap on a link in, say, Facebook or Feedly the tablet sometimes sits there for 30 seconds or so before Chrome opens. Other times, if I tap on a search button in an app (the Guardian is a good example) the tablet will sit there for ages before the keyboard comes up, to the point that the watchdog kicks in and asks me if I want to kill the app. This is driving me completely crazy. My Nexus 7 (2013) is way more responsive than my N9. It is marginally better after a reboot or if I clear the cache but it doesn't take long to grind to a halt again.
Do I have a hardware fault with my device or is this a feature of the N9 being a 64-bit device and only having 2G of RAM? And would a custom ROM or kernel make things better? At present I'm unrooted and would prefer to stay running stock 6.0.1 but would consider changing if I'm reasonably confident that it would improve things.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will definitely improve your tablet. I had same issues before I rooted and ROMed. After I rooted with skipsoft and installed PureNexus I haven't had a single one of my old issues. This tablet is so much faster and responsive. It truly is a completely different tablet. You won't be sorry if you upgrade.

@sladflob, it's the nature of some of our n9's. I read a post from a user two months on Pure nexus Rom (F&I kernel, I believe). Poster said it was still speedy. The 2 months is important because this tab generally does well for 4-6 weeks after a fresh install. I tried Dirty Unicorn over a year ago, but it was worse for me than stock. Since I'd read users saying Facebook created lag, I haven't had it on my tab. Chrome Dev seems to be faster than Chrome. I've also altered dpi which does improve redraw time on Chrome tabs. I just did my monthly reset (coming off dp4 of N), so I'm not flashing anything until the lag returns. At that point, I'm gonna try Pure. Try it.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] Q: General usability question for Gtab

Hey all - I am VERY loath to ask any of these questions, as I pride myself on doing research and figuring things out for myself, but I've come to the point where I just need to ask this community. I purchased the Gtab as part of the Woot fiasco, and immediately replaced stock firmware with Vegantab. From a general perspective, it works fine, with all the know quirks. However, this is my first Android device. I've been modifying windows phones and working with jailbroken iphones and other fiddly things with computers for a long time, so I'm not faint-hearted at tweaking. Anyway, my questions are these:
Given the hardware this thing sports, the performance ROTS. Is it because the OS is just not polished? It's slow to shift from screen to screen. It often delays in recognizing my touch when trying to scroll icons that it thinks I actually am trying t launch an app. In general, it just feels inferior in speed and snappiness of, for instance, iOS (I understand it is much easier to have a single platform to put an OS on and optimize it). I get the program not responding screen, wait or close way too frequently for my tastes.
Then there's the fact that every app installed seems to want to run itself in the background at all times. I'm constantly using the task manager to kill everything, which frees up a ton of RAM and then the tab runs better for a little while. I can't seem to find a way to prevent these apps from doing this. There is probably something very obvious that I am missing, but Facebook should not just decide on its own to run in the background when I haven't launched it.
Any thoughts on any of these things, or can someone point me to an obvious FAQ that I'm missing that answers all my questions?
In theory Android OS should free up RAM as you need it. Google will swear up and down that task killers are unnecessary, and the user doesn't need to manage background processes. That said, I have advanced task killer widget on my home screen and use it whenever things get a little sluggish. I don't use the Facebook app, but most apps have the option in the in-app settings to disable background updates. There are task manager apps that claim to prevent other apps from launching at start up, or kill them automatically, but these will usually end up eating more resources than they save.
As far as home screen switching, I'm not a fan of the stock froyo launcher on a tablet this size. It always seems that the device is expecting a much larger swipe that should be necessary to switch home screens. I use Launcher Pro and it feels faster and more responsive than the iPad 2 for going between home screens.
The scrolling/ inadvertent selecting issue I can relate to. If your coming from iOS, there is this an expectation that the device will always tell the difference between a scroll and a tap. That expectation isn't unreasonable, because Apple is stellar at making scrolling interfaces feel perfect. They have whole sessions at WWDC about implementing scrolling lists into apps. Android on the other hand requires a more deliberate scrolling. Android has gotten a lot better over time, but it often requires a much more deliberate scrolling action by the user. "Flicking" like on the iPad usually doesn't register perfectly for me.
One thing you may notice on the G Tables is that pinch and zoom is wildly unreliable when pinching on the same x or y axis. I'm pretty sure this is a universal issue with the screen. It has trouble recognizing multitouch input when the points of contact are on the same axis. Pinching at an angle is the only way I can zoom reliably.
brettdwagner said:
In theory Android OS should free up RAM as you need it. Google will swear up and down that task killers are unnecessary, and the user doesn't need to manage background processes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's like automatic garbage collection, isn't it? Really useful, but sometimes you want to explicitly free things.
There is a way to kill foreground apps on Android. Settings > Applications > Development > Stop app via long-press, will kill the foreground app if you "long-press" the Android back key. Background apps you can either kill using task-managers or not start at all using tools like Autorun Manager from Market.
One thing you may notice on the G Tables is that pinch and zoom is wildly unreliable when pinching on the same x or y axis. I'm pretty sure this is a universal issue with the screen. It has trouble recognizing multitouch input when the points of contact are on the same axis. Pinching at an angle is the only way I can zoom reliably.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've noticed this too. Pinch-to-zoom at the same y-axis is hopeless. Same x-axis works okay, but, at an angle works best.
I actually appreciated your post. You knew the limitations of hte device before buying it...you didn't comment on the atrocious screen (and accepted what was to be)
The biggest downfall with the G-Tablet itself was it's software. You admitted that you immediately flashed VeganTab. When I bought mine, it came with TNT Lite, to which I then immediately also flashed to Vegan 5.1.1. I never experienced the stock rom, and actually considered myself lucky, due to the reviews I've read.
I think that some of our issues may actually be due to the fact that we're using software that wasn't specifically designed for OUR devices. Yes, they are all android, yes, they should all work fine, and do, at times, but if using a froyo or gingerbread rom, we're using software designed for phones. I haven't tried the Alpha version of HC (BOS) yet, but even in Alpha stages, people are raving about it, even with it's limitations.
I just recently started using Brilliant Corners. In the flash process, I had to have Stock 4349 (1.2 stock firmware) on the system. I can honestly say that it really wasn't that bad. The response seemed a tad better, I never got the "Forceclose : Wait" option when a process was "thinking." things would just pop up. I can only think that as bad as it is, it manages itself better than some of the ports and mod's we are using, simply becuase they were MADE for the G-Tablet. Yeah, it's ugly, and you can do half of what I can do on BC.
What I find intolerable at times is that Angry Birds: Seasons (only that one, no others) will have really choppy graphics. I haven't found a way to fix it, I've overclocked, though I didn't think that would help, I've uninstalled, and installed, I've recovered backups, etc...alas, rebooting will fix it...it's weird. Not one other game will do that, except for AB:S.
What I find intolerable at times is that Angry Birds: Seasons (only that one, no others) will have really choppy graphics. I haven't found a way to fix it, I've overclocked, though I didn't think that would help, I've uninstalled, and installed, I've recovered backups, etc...alas, rebooting will fix it...it's weird. Not one other game will do that, except for AB:S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works for me, although the birds do take off on their own from time to time. Have you tried downloading from a different source? I pulled my angry birds from Amazon. I'm running Vegan-Tabs 7.0.0
Please don't be offended, as I do believe your question is being asked in good faith. However, I have to admit that I haven't experienced any of the problems you're describing. I've had an iPod Touch since gen 1, and I haven't noticed any difference in the responsiveness. My g Tablet responds the same to flicks as it does to slower swipes, without interpretting them as taps.
I also haven't experienced the slow downs you're referring to when running multiple background apps, though that may have to do with the particular apps you have.
I have not had an issue with zooming in and out by pinching along either the x- or y-axis
Finally, I at least don't feel like the swipe to change screens is excesssive, but then again that could be personal taste or because I'm using a Gingerbread-based ROM.
The one issue I do have is with the on-screen touch keyboard. I feel sometimes that it fails to register letters if I type too fast; I haven't had this issue with iOS, but at least I think I can get used to it, and for serious typing I'll probably use a physical keyboard.
Incidently, I'm using Cyanogenmod 7, which seems to be the "pet ROM" of these forums, for better (it's a solid ROM with a large developer community) or worse (it's not nearly as innovative as mods being developed by some "other users" *ahem*roebeet*cough). I'm not saying this is the reason why I have not experienced these issues; maybe they aren't so striking to me or maybe I've been lucky?
EDITTED: Most typos are due to annoyances with using an on-screen keyboard with the g Tab.
Tablet has been fine to me. Screen responsiveness is on par with iphone/ipad/my htc evo screen.
Vegan tab rom is fresh...all .my functions work sure my wifi drops out after sleeping for a while (yes changed sleep settings) but hey I spent 250 not 500 and I have flash sd and usb....all of which I use everyday.
Thanks for all the responses. I rather expected to get somewhat of a range of replies from "I agree with you" to "you're crazy, mine is fine". To be very clear, I'm not trying to rip on the device at all. I knew I was rolling the dice a little and I know that Android really hasn't matured for a Tablet just yet (in my eyes).
I guess I've sort of had my questions answered to some degree.
scyld - I'm not offended in the least. I have an iphone 4 and many of my coworkers use iPads every day. They are definitely more responsive (to me). However, the stock iOS wasn't on my iPhone. Now that I have it jailbroken and can control which apps suck up memory, it behaves flawlessly. What I believe to be the scrolling/flicking issue is actually that the OS interprets spaces IN BETWEEN icons to be part of those icons, where Apple's OS does not. If I tap between icons on the Gtab, it will launch the one closest to my finger. iOS will not do this. That alone may be why the scrolling seems to be more accurate. I may well try Cyanogen. I mostly don't care about bells and whistles - just responsiveness and usability.
I wasn't aware that Google used the same line about memory usage that Apple swears - in fact, my friend and I stopped in the Apple store because she was having a problem with docking her iphone in her car... The tech ran a scan and told her incidentally that she was out of app memory and told her how to 'kill those pesky tasks' by tapping the little red minuses on all the apps in the app dock. I couldn't stop laughing.
I guess what we're dealing with is the result of an open source open hardware landscape. By having such a fractured base of developers, manufacturers, varying hardware specs, etc, it is much harder to optimize any particular build for any particular device. I did use the stock firmware for a few days and simply found it too limiting. Not to mention the lack of a market, etc. Apple's success is in large part due to the way it's app store works. Every device has it. The app warns you what it will work on and what it will not. Application updates tell you what the update fixes or adds (which Market does only very rarely). I appreciate that there are multiple markets for Android, but they should stick to some established rules for the information given.
I'm writing a novel - sorry - All this being said, I love the idea of Android (and hate iTunes with a passion) and I'm looking forward to a generation or two down the road of the tablet ROMs. I'll give the other ROMs a shot and see if there is improvement. I really appreciate the developers work on the platform thus far. I'll keep reading and messing with settings, tips, tricks to improve what I can.

Thinking about buying the N10

The time has come to admit that my Asus Transformer Infinity (TF700) was a terrible purchase. I've put it online for sale and now I'm looking for a replacement. It's a household gadget, so it gets 4+ hours of use every single day, very often 10+ hours.
The few things that the N10 needs to provide (and TF700 fails to):
1. The tablet should be capable (in practice) to support at least 4 separate user accounts. This really needs to work. I'd love to hear from N10 owners that actually use this feature, it's simply the most important feature for our use (the family + a guest account). The TF700 is a mess in this aspect, switching takes a long time and everything is all kinds of messed up for a long while after switching. But everything is all kinds of messed up most of the time on that tablet, so multi accounts might be really simple and smooth and non-issue with other tablets.
2. The tablet should be capable of running Chrome browser with 15+ tabs at all times. Preferably across multiple user accounts. Again, I'd like N10 users to chime in on this, does the browser get more laggy with increased number of open tabs? Do the pages take longer to load? Worse scrolling performance? Browser crashing? Don't get me started on the TF700 and browsing...
3. actually... there's even not anything else, really... maybe battery capacity. And if there are any widespread problems, please list them, I've been looking for them and I haven't found anything big apart from maybe low WiFi reception? I understand the random reboots are now fixed with 4.4?
What I absolutely DON'T care about:
- benchmarks
- games
Just browsing. Good display, multiple users, loads of tabs. Good performance with browsing.
So, dear N10 users, please tell me, is this the tablet for me?
Yes, if you absolutely can't wait. The next Nexus 10 should arrive soon. It will kicks the current Nexus 10 butt.
But, still, the current Nexus 10 is a solid tablet.
SalsaForte said:
Yes, if you absolutely can't wait. The next Nexus 10 should arrive soon. It will kicks the current Nexus 10 butt.
But, still, the current Nexus 10 is a solid tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really not after anything butt-kicking, just what I stated above. Thanks for the heads up though, could you maybe elaborate some more, do you have any experience with tab-heavy browsing or multi-user?
SalsaForte said:
Yes, if you absolutely can't wait. The next Nexus 10 should arrive soon. It will kicks the current Nexus 10 butt.
But, still, the current Nexus 10 is a solid tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally think there may be no next Nexus 10, or if there is, it's certainly not going to arrive soon.
I have the nexus 10 and I use 3 user accounts and it works great but you'll need the 32 gig version to support all of the accounts. I'm sure a fourth will work no problem. With Google chrome though I don't think you can have 15 tabs open at once. I mean you can but they'll probably have to reload when you click on them because chrome isn't very good with tablets. Other browser's might work better though chrome has improved with updates. Next browser is a good alternative.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
I agree with JasW. Maybe there will be a new Nexus 10, but I wouldn't count on it, and I wouldn't expect it until next year. Just buy a used one from someone else selling theirs in anticipation of a refresh.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
kokoon said:
1. The tablet should be capable (in practice) to support at least 4 separate user accounts. This really needs to work. I'd love to hear from N10 owners that actually use this feature, it's simply the most important feature for our use (the family + a guest account). The TF700 is a mess in this aspect, switching takes a long time and everything is all kinds of messed up for a long while after switching. But everything is all kinds of messed up most of the time on that tablet, so multi accounts might be really simple and smooth and non-issue with other tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus series of tablets (N7 or N10) with Jelly Bean 4.3 or the new KitKat 4.4 do an absolute fantastic job with multi-user. I share my table with my spouse and two children. Each update brings even more to the multi-user experience.
Switching is pretty quick, so your Asus tablet must have had problems or some serious bloatware.
kokoon said:
2. The tablet should be capable of running Chrome browser with 15+ tabs at all times. Preferably across multiple user accounts. Again, I'd like N10 users to chime in on this, does the browser get more laggy with increased number of open tabs? Do the pages take longer to load? Worse scrolling performance? Browser crashing? Don't get me started on the TF700 and browsing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, Chrome Browser eh? Don't know if I can blame the TF700 for your browsing experiences. Chrome is much better with 4.4, but it's not the best browser for Android. In fact, it's been pretty junky for some time. I'd say it's finally usable as a decent browser in KitKat 4.4. Prior to that, I was a large Firefox user.
With KitKat 4.4, I'm now exclusively Chrome, and I've a number of tabs open.
So for a tab that works great for multi-user and browsing, yeah it's worth it. And even though you don't care about them, the benchmarks and games are great as well
---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------
abdel12345 said:
I have the nexus 10 and I use 3 user accounts and it works great but you'll need the 32 gig version to support all of the accounts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree that you should get the 32GB, Google has the multi-user configured to use the same apk files for the applications that happen to exist in each account. So there are not four copies of Chrome for example, just one with multiple settings files. Games and other apps are the same way, one copy of an application that is only available to the accounts it's licensed to in the Google play store.
Cheers, I ordered it, 32GB version.
The TF700 is such a wreck, it's not even worth writing about it. Fingers crossed N10 is the right one for me!
kokoon said:
The time has come to admit that my Asus Transformer Infinity (TF700) was a terrible purchase. I've put it online for sale and now I'm looking for a replacement. It's a household gadget, so it gets 4+ hours of use every single day, very often 10+ hours.
The few things that the N10 needs to provide (and TF700 fails to):
1. The tablet should be capable (in practice) to support at least 4 separate user accounts. This really needs to work. I'd love to hear from N10 owners that actually use this feature, it's simply the most important feature for our use (the family + a guest account). The TF700 is a mess in this aspect, switching takes a long time and everything is all kinds of messed up for a long while after switching. But everything is all kinds of messed up most of the time on that tablet, so multi accounts might be really simple and smooth and non-issue with other tablets.
2. The tablet should be capable of running Chrome browser with 15+ tabs at all times. Preferably across multiple user accounts. Again, I'd like N10 users to chime in on this, does the browser get more laggy with increased number of open tabs? Do the pages take longer to load? Worse scrolling performance? Browser crashing? Don't get me started on the TF700 and browsing...
3. actually... there's even not anything else, really... maybe battery capacity. And if there are any widespread problems, please list them, I've been looking for them and I haven't found anything big apart from maybe low WiFi reception? I understand the random reboots are now fixed with 4.4?
What I absolutely DON'T care about:
- benchmarks
- games
Just browsing. Good display, multiple users, loads of tabs. Good performance with browsing.
So, dear N10 users, please tell me, is this the tablet for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no alternative on the market.
there are only two worthy tablets right now:
- nexus 10
- Note 10.1 2014
last one is overloaded with touchwiz from Samsung, which makes it terribly slow.
theoretically speaking you could root and install a custom rom on Note, but since it's just come out there are not many roms available.
SeaFractor said:
The Nexus series of tablets (N7 or N10) with Jelly Bean 4.3 or the new KitKat 4.4 do an absolute fantastic job with multi-user. I share my table with my spouse and two children. Each update brings even more to the multi-user experience.
Switching is pretty quick, so your Asus tablet must have had problems or some serious bloatware.
Hmm, Chrome Browser eh? Don't know if I can blame the TF700 for your browsing experiences. Chrome is much better with 4.4, but it's not the best browser for Android. In fact, it's been pretty junky for some time. I'd say it's finally usable as a decent browser in KitKat 4.4. Prior to that, I was a large Firefox user.
With KitKat 4.4, I'm now exclusively Chrome, and I've a number of tabs open.
So for a tab that works great for multi-user and browsing, yeah it's worth it. And even though you don't care about them, the benchmarks and games are great as well
---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------
While I agree that you should get the 32GB, Google has the multi-user configured to use the same apk files for the applications that happen to exist in each account. So there are not four copies of Chrome for example, just one with multiple settings files. Games and other apps are the same way, one copy of an application that is only available to the accounts it's licensed to in the Google play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but media and movies and stuff like that are only available on the account you put them on unless they use the same Google account and just stream everything. Like if they all wanted to put a movie/music on it it would only be available on one account. The others would have to put it themselves and use more memory. That's how it is for me at least.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Sure, that's how it should be!
jodvova said:
there is no alternative on the market.
there are only two worthy tablets right now:
- nexus 10
- Note 10.1 2014
last one is overloaded with touchwiz from Samsung, which makes it terribly slow.
theoretically speaking you could root and install a custom rom on Note, but since it's just come out there are not many roms available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use NOVA launcher if you don't like TouchWiz on Note 10.1 2014. It's really very fast. Mine is fast with TouchWiz but even faster with NOVA.
I feel your pain... Sold my TF700 5 months ago (and the TF201 before that...) and never looked back. If I need a keyboard, Bluetooth is my friend. I think you will be very happy with a 32gb Nexus 10, although 15 tabs in the browser is probably optimistic, at least without lag.
Concerning reboots... I'd say the tablet is 99% safe under 4.4, but the situation was never terrible in the first place.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

Impressions of lollipop

Just got the 5.0 OTA last night, thought I'd share my impressions, especially since this is likely the last major update we'll get straight from google.
The update started with a 325 MB download, then a couple minutes staring at circles bouncing around, followed by 10 mins of "optimizing" apps, likely compiling them for ART. New lock screen is a little funny, have to swipe up to go to the homescreen since the circle lock is gone, and notifications show up right away. The notifications pulldown has gone back to only one, with a second or two-finger pull necessary to see quick settings, no idea why this changes with every Android update.
I have a lot more default google apps uninstalled than new apps installed, and they always try to sneak a couple more in with each major OTA update. In this case, it was a new Photos app, that doesn't work at all with Google+ disabled as I have it; a Google Docs app that requires being signed into a google account, replacing the QuickOffice app that was there before, which didn't require signing in and could actually read pdfs; and a Contacts app that I believe I had disabled before, since it's useless on a tablet without phone service. I disabled all three (strangely, there were two Photos apps with the same icon in the Settings, disabled them both), all of them went into the junk pile with Google Play Newsstand and all the rest. This means I don't have a photo/video Gallery app installed anymore, oh well, have to go find one.
They don't seem to have pulled any fast ones with the Settings this time, though the categories have become even harder to touch to select since they take up half the space horizontally but are still thin vertically. Lollipop feels like a step backwards in UI and usability across the board, for example, the new labels are confusingly undifferentiated from clickable options: I tried to hit the Advanced heading in the Chrome Beta settings five times before I realized it was not clickable. Scrolling down the Settings and hitting the bottom makes a strange half-circle shadow show up at the top, no idea what's going on there.
The graphics generally looked strangely jagged and lower-res right after updating, which I especially noticed with the Chrome Beta, which doesn't show each tab separately in the app switcher like advertised, maybe that's for phones only. Another place the graphics are worse are in the data and battery graphs. Maybe that was just after the update though, because Chrome Beta doesn't seem as bad to me now, or maybe I've already gotten used to it. The data usage graph is worse, since I can't change the time period to a week or 10 days anymore and see what's been using up data lately.
Otherwise, my Nexus 10 feels faster across the board, probably because of ART, and battery life seems to have improved when idle. It's strange how this tablet has had such wild swings in idle battery life over the last couple years, with some Android builds lasting 3-4 days when idle with wifi enabled and others going weeks! I like how the battery usage graph now tries to extrapolate how much time you have left if using the tablet, though I could see that image confusing some users.
As for apps, as usual MX Player stopped working after the upgrade because it doesn't recognize the new 5.0 version number, will have to wait for them to update before trying it out. Everything else seems to work fine. Maybe I'll update here once I get a chance to use lollipop more, but it seems to be a strange mix of better performance and going backwards in UI and usability, with a lot of UI changes seemingly made for the sake of changing something, often making it worse.
Why can't google just focus on adding multi-window to base Android, a feature I've wanted for years and which would actually make Android tablets more capable, instead of adding another coat of paint to the UI and needlessly moving things around over and over again? Guess I'll have to go Samsung and put up with touchwiz if I ever want that.
Honest and straight. I've been crying myself hoarse that each iteration of Android seems to entrench more Google apps into the system as an indispensable part of Android, when the truth is that they serve as leaky apps with access to all your "private" data, under the ploy of enhancing user experience! In actual they are only bloatware that need to be disabled / uninstalled to derive any system enhancement. Each UI has little to offer in terms of improvements, while persistent Google bloatware and services that keep running in the background, hogging system resources, and depleting whatever battery advantages the system improvements offered. Personally I'd like to keep away from lollipop till it rises in my expectations.
Dead Cookies leave no trails...
I couldn't be happier with Lollipop. I mainly surf internet and it is now 10x faster than before. Battery life is also 50% better. It still offered quickoffice for me in the welcome setup, but i didn't need it because drive can read pdf files.
joakim_one said:
... As for apps, as usual MX Player stopped working after the upgrade because it doesn't recognize the new 5.0 version number, will have to wait for them to update before trying it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the MX Player beta: https://sites.google.com/site/mxvpen/translation/test-build
Release notes include:
Support HW+ on Android 5.0
Support Pro version on Android 5.0
I've used it on my Nexus 5 with android 5 and it works as well on my HD content as it did no KitKat.
I just stumbled across this nice Ars article that lays out many of the ways lollipop and google are failing at design for larger tablets like the Nexus 10.
I'd have to say, I do enjoy the new OS. It's slightly faster, clean and just works. It's still relatively new so devs (the ones still working on the N10) will eventually catch up. What I don't like is that there seems to be far less free space than before, even with the same setup. This is apparently due to ART from what I've read. 32GB is now the new 8GB. Now if anyone can come up with a 128GB internal memory hack, that would be awesome.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
joakim_one said:
I just stumbled across this nice Ars article that lays out many of the ways lollipop and google are failing at design for larger tablets like the Nexus 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this link. It is an interesting read and seems more balanced than some of the "Lollipop is a bug ridden release" hate-bait I've been seeing. I'll write my on comments on the N10 upgrade experience (upgrade less than 24 hours ago) in a few days but I already disagree or at least am less concerned than the article implies about the wasted space issue.
3DSammy said:
Thanks for this link. It is an interesting read and seems more balanced than some of the "Lollipop is a bug ridden release" hate-bait I've been seeing. I'll write my on comments on the N10 upgrade experience (upgrade less than 24 hours ago) in a few days but I already disagree or at least am less concerned than the article implies about the wasted space issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the first part of your post, but I am the opposite on the second part. The wasted space immediately threw me off. Both on lockscreen and notifications panel.

Thinking of getting the nexus 9, would you recommend it?

Really looking for a good decently large android tablet. I like vanilla android a lot and specs seem really good for the Nexus 9. Looking at the reviews though it doesn't look so great (bad volume and power buttons, light leaks in the screen, lagging applications, etc.). For those of you that own it what do you think, would you recommend it?
I love my Nexus 9 and would strongly recommend it. I've had zero issues with it.
heissman said:
I love my Nexus 9 and would strongly recommend it. I've had zero issues with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love it too! Just got it yesterday and have zero issues. Love how fast it is. Total bliss.
primary question, what will you primarily use it for, media, web, reading, gaming (high end or low end) .
I personally use mine as a jack of all trades with very little gaming. ( my wife on the other hand would need the nvidia shield for her gaming obsession )
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
love my nexus 9
I've had almost every tablet out there. I have a habit of buying them as they are released and I have to say that this one is my favorite. The combo of lollipop and the tablet makes it feel like it's completely unique. Fast as hell, beautiful and it feels good as an ereader / comic reader without being too big.
Love this tablet.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
No.
di11igaf said:
No.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why?
USBhost said:
Why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For ME, I don't want to be aggravated or pissed when using a tablet, which is exactly what the nexus 9 does. I've owned about every nexus device ever made, and this one is the worst (and best) user experience all in one. Mainly-
1) screen flicker. Every day. Always comes back after a reboot.
2) lag. I've had single core devices lag less than this thing. Literally. I know why its its lagging, and right now its unfixable.
3) after using a nexus 6 today, I am absolutely 100% convinced the n9 should have had 3 gigs of ram. This is the worst as this is something that wont be fixed until the NEXT nexus tablet comes out. The nexus 6 in a 24 hour period didn't hit low or critical ram states at all. Not one second. The 9 lives in these states. I had 5 chrome tabs open on the n6, while switching back and forth between all kinds of **** including games, and a page NEVER refreshed. It was wonderful, and made me realize the main thing I use the n9 for completely SUCKS compared to a phone. If anything, a tablet should be better at these things, not worse.
4) screen flicker
5 lag.
TheAppleAndroidGuy said:
Really looking for a good decently large android tablet. I like vanilla android a lot and specs seem really good for the Nexus 9. Looking at the reviews though it doesn't look so great (bad volume and power buttons, light leaks in the screen, lagging applications, etc.). For those of you that own it what do you think, would you recommend it?
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Click to collapse
I do recommend it but wait another month so you'd have a better chance of getting the newer revision which seem to have less issues with the buttons and lightbleed.
di11igaf said:
For ME, I don't want to be aggravated or pissed when using a tablet, which is exactly what the nexus 9 does. I've owned about every nexus device ever made, and this one is the worst (and best) user experience all in one. Mainly-
1) screen flicker. Every day. Always comes back after a reboot.
2) lag. I've had single core devices lag less than this thing. Literally. I know why its its lagging, and right now its unfixable.
3) after using a nexus 6 today, I am absolutely 100% convinced the n9 should have had 3 gigs of ram. This is the worst as this is something that wont be fixed until the NEXT nexus tablet comes out. The nexus 6 in a 24 hour period didn't hit low or critical ram states at all. Not one second. The 9 lives in these states. I had 5 chrome tabs open on the n6, while switching back and forth between all kinds of **** including games, and a page NEVER refreshed. It was wonderful, and made me realize the main thing I use the n9 for completely SUCKS compared to a phone. If anything, a tablet should be better at these things, not worse.
4) screen flicker
5 lag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you do to get lag??
I get no lag here
I bet you will say because it only has 2g of ram
Thats why it lags
I say no thats not it
Like you said you multi task a lot
And thats has to be the only way to get lag.
True 2g of ram is small
And true it should have had 3 or even 4g of ram
I agree on you on that
i even have some screen flicker too but it is rare
Even on 1 brightness
But you say that you get lag on everything
Man i just cant believe it i cant
USBhost said:
What do you do to get lag??
I get no lag here
I bet you will say because it only has 2g of ram
Thats why it lags
I say no thats not it
Like you said you multi task a lot
And thats has to be the only way to get lag.
True 2g of ram is small
And true it should have had 3 or even 4g of ram
I agree on you on that
i even have some screen flicker too but it is rare
Even on 1 brightness
But you say that you get lag on everything
Man i just cant believe it i cant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get lag on everything. That's not what I'm saying, and which is why I also say its the best and worst experience on a tablet.
I don't really multitask a lot, no more than average I'd say. I literally use this tablet for a few things, web browsing, youtube, very light gaming. My multitasking involves switching between youtube and chrome, and rarely a light game.
What I am saying though is it does lag MORE than most devices I have. After a fresh reboot, even in safe mode so there is 0 third party apps running after a while this tablet gets hit with serious bouts of massive lag and stutter. I've always heard about android lag, blah blah, and always basically thought people were full of **** or being too picky because really I've never had a device that lagged or whatever. Ya an occasional hiccup with previous devices, but rarely and never too bad. Not with the 9. Its consistent after a few hours use..
Maybe since you are actively developing, you're rebooting often. When I was compiling kernels and aosp builds, I flashed multiple times a day, which I'm assuming you may be as well as fast as you're kernel is being updated. Chances are if you don't have these bouts of lag, that's why. Like you said you can't believe my device lags a lot, I can't believe the opposite. If after a few hours my tablet is starting to lag while in safe mode, I find it VERY hard to believe most people aren't seeing ANY lag. Maybe what I'm considering lag you aren't. I'm calling lag ui choppiness/stutters/unresponsive for multiple seconds after pressing something.
I know lag is not hardware- Denver seems to be beastly. Software?- parts maybe, but lollipop does not have these 'lag' periods on my nexus 4, nexus 5, or either of my two nexus 7 2013's. I personally don't think its a coincidence that my nexus 9 is the only one that spends its time in low and critical memory, and its the only one to lag. Add to that it ONLY seems to lag bad while in these states. With all this said, what else is causing lag? Especially when it happens in safe mode- so third party apps are out of the question they are not the main cause. Something causes this lag, maybe its not lack of ram, but it sure seems that way so far- if memory leaks were fixed , maybe this will become a non issue. System ui and android system shouldn't be consuming 300mb a piece, which is what they will swell to after a few days.
On top of this, there is a reason google is using zram on this device and no other nexus, and its not because they're are testing it out or whatever else I've heard. They knew 2 gigs probably wasn't quite enough. Why else would they do this?
I just took this screen shot- this is actually better than usual. I'm curious if you don't have lag what this screen looks like for you, set to 24 hour period?
di11igaf said:
I don't get lag on everything. That's not what I'm saying, and which is why I also say its the best and worst experience on a tablet.
I don't really multitask a lot, no more than average I'd say. I literally use this tablet for a few things, web browsing, youtube, very light gaming. My multitasking involves switching between youtube and chrome, and rarely a light game.
What I am saying though is it does lag MORE than most devices I have. After a fresh reboot, even in safe mode so there is 0 third party apps running after a while this tablet gets hit with serious bouts of massive lag and stutter. I've always heard about android lag, blah blah, and always basically thought people were full of **** or being too picky because really I've never had a device that lagged or whatever. Ya an occasional hiccup with previous devices, but rarely and never too bad. Not with the 9. Its consistent after a few hours use..
Maybe since you are actively developing, you're rebooting often. When I was compiling kernels and aosp builds, I flashed multiple times a day, which I'm assuming you may be as well as fast as you're kernel is being updated. Chances are if you don't have these bouts of lag, that's why. Like you said you can't believe my device lags a lot, I can't believe the opposite. If after a few hours my tablet is starting to lag while in safe mode, I find it VERY hard to believe most people aren't seeing ANY lag. Maybe what I'm considering lag you aren't. I'm calling lag ui choppiness/stutters/unresponsive for multiple seconds after pressing something.
I know lag is not hardware- Denver seems to be beastly. Software?- parts maybe, but lollipop does not have these 'lag' periods on my nexus 4, nexus 5, or either of my two nexus 7 2013's. I personally don't think its a coincidence that my nexus 9 is the only one that spends its time in low and critical memory, and its the only one to lag. Add to that it ONLY seems to lag bad while in these states. With all this said, what else is causing lag? Especially when it happens in safe mode- so third party apps are out of the question they are not the main cause. Something causes this lag, maybe its not lack of ram, but it sure seems that way so far- if memory leaks were fixed , maybe this will become a non issue. System ui and android system shouldn't be consuming 300mb a piece, which is what they will swell to after a few days.
On top of this, there is a reason google is using zram on this device and no other nexus, and its not because they're are testing it out or whatever else I've heard. They knew 2 gigs probably wasn't quite enough. Why else would they do this?
I just took this screen shot- this is actually better than usual. I'm curious if you don't have lag what this screen looks like for you, set to 24 hour period?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O ok ty for verifying
Also how do you get to that screen
Edit: found it
di11igaf said:
I don't get lag on everything. That's not what I'm saying, and which is why I also say its the best and worst experience on a tablet.
I don't really multitask a lot, no more than average I'd say. I literally use this tablet for a few things, web browsing, youtube, very light gaming. My multitasking involves switching between youtube and chrome, and rarely a light game.
What I am saying though is it does lag MORE than most devices I have. After a fresh reboot, even in safe mode so there is 0 third party apps running after a while this tablet gets hit with serious bouts of massive lag and stutter. I've always heard about android lag, blah blah, and always basically thought people were full of **** or being too picky because really I've never had a device that lagged or whatever. Ya an occasional hiccup with previous devices, but rarely and never too bad. Not with the 9. Its consistent after a few hours use..
Maybe since you are actively developing, you're rebooting often. When I was compiling kernels and aosp builds, I flashed multiple times a day, which I'm assuming you may be as well as fast as you're kernel is being updated. Chances are if you don't have these bouts of lag, that's why. Like you said you can't believe my device lags a lot, I can't believe the opposite. If after a few hours my tablet is starting to lag while in safe mode, I find it VERY hard to believe most people aren't seeing ANY lag. Maybe what I'm considering lag you aren't. I'm calling lag ui choppiness/stutters/unresponsive for multiple seconds after pressing something.
I know lag is not hardware- Denver seems to be beastly. Software?- parts maybe, but lollipop does not have these 'lag' periods on my nexus 4, nexus 5, or either of my two nexus 7 2013's. I personally don't think its a coincidence that my nexus 9 is the only one that spends its time in low and critical memory, and its the only one to lag. Add to that it ONLY seems to lag bad while in these states. With all this said, what else is causing lag? Especially when it happens in safe mode- so third party apps are out of the question they are not the main cause. Something causes this lag, maybe its not lack of ram, but it sure seems that way so far- if memory leaks were fixed , maybe this will become a non issue. System ui and android system shouldn't be consuming 300mb a piece, which is what they will swell to after a few days.
On top of this, there is a reason google is using zram on this device and no other nexus, and its not because they're are testing it out or whatever else I've heard. They knew 2 gigs probably wasn't quite enough. Why else would they do this?
I just took this screen shot- this is actually better than usual. I'm curious if you don't have lag what this screen looks like for you, set to 24 hour period?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think this is fixable at all in updates, if so, why/how?
borchgrevink said:
Do you think this is fixable at all in updates, if so, why/how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so. I do like everything about it, besides said issues. Form factor, performance is good and smooth as butter a lot of the time, but when its bad its really bad IMO. It seems like there are big memory leaks with lollipop in general, and they seem to be worse on the nexus 9. Hopefully if they are fixed it will help with my(and other people's) issues.
Deleted
If you must have a pure android experience. Then it's a no Brainer. This is the tablet for you. And it's future proof.. meaning that the 64 bit processor is going to kick the **** out of the competition (once app developers take advantage of it ).
The galaxy tab series is also really good. But unfortunately. it has touchwiz. but that can be corrected with a custom ROM.
So far I'm pleased with my nexus 9.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hello
I'm thinking of getting the Nexus 9 as well. Plus, it's going to be my first tablet ever. Because of the prices I can only afford the 16GB model (white). Do you think this will be enough space? I know after the first use of the tablet there are only ~ 9GB left, but I think of only using it for creating and editing documents, watching movies (not that much), surfing, ... just basic stuff.
To "upgrade" the storage I read that the Nexus 9 is supporting USB OTG so in case I run out of space, I can simply plug in a stick for additional space, can't I?
Is there anything I have to look for before purchasing? I'll try out the tablet in a local electronic store, I'm aware of light bleeding and the problems of the back of the tablet. But is there anything more?
It would be nice if you can tell me something about your experiences!
Thanks in advance
.vermilion said:
Hello
I'm thinking of getting the Nexus 9 as well. Plus, it's going to be my first tablet ever. Because of the prices I can only afford the 16GB model (white). Do you think this will be enough space? I know after the first use of the tablet there are only ~ 9GB left, but I think of only using it for creating and editing documents, watching movies (not that much), surfing, ... just basic stuff.
To "upgrade" the storage I read that the Nexus 9 is supporting USB OTG so in case I run out of space, I can simply plug in a stick for additional space, can't I?
Is there anything I have to look for before purchasing? I'll try out the tablet in a local electronic store, I'm aware of light bleeding and the problems of the back of the tablet. But is there anything more?
It would be nice if you can tell me something about your experiences!
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will have 11.5 free for the 16gb one
Otg is fine and awesome
USBhost said:
It will have 11.5 free for the 16gb one
Otg is fine and awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds great so far!
I read that there are 11,5GB free but only ~ 9GB "for use". Can you confirm that? But anyways, I'm not going to use it for huge amounts of music and pictures so I guess (and hope, haha ) that it'll be enough space available.

Venue 8 3840 issues + solution.

A lot of complaints of lag and freezing seem to be due to not enough random access memory. Shame that a nicely built tablet with great specs (Qi charging, 64-bit processor, vanilla Android) would be useless to many because of this issue.
I got one for $133 new from the Dell outlet with a sweet case for $15 both in red and gave it to Mom for Christmas, knowing that for her use it would be acceptable.
Here's what I found and how I've gotten the tablet to work great and have none of the issues.
1. Stick with the stock KK launcher. Forget Google Now or Nova as these use up too much memory.
2. The stock browser seems to work the best. Dolphin, Boat and others have been reported to be problem free too. Chrome is a no go.
3. Under Developer options shut off the animations as well as limit the background processes.
4. Disable anything you'll never use, and only install the apps needed.
5. Under "Google" account and "search" make sure Google Now is off.
These things may be self evident to some, but you will notice a night and day difference in the way this particular tablet operates if you stick to those things. At $130 it can't be beat.
Apologies for responding to my own post, just wanted to update, apparently Dell pushed out a OTA update recently that updated the kernel and the thing is much improved if not downright zippy now. Still would stick with my suggestions as I've noticed while Chrome may be somewhat usable it will still freeze.
Thanks for the tips. Despite the horrible reviews, I just ordered one from Amazon Warehouse for $75 Very Good condition. At that price, it is worth taking the plunge.
Use the stock browser keep off any RAM hogging apps and you'll like it. For $168 total I got a red one , the official red case and the dell wireless charger. Can't beat that price. It particularly excels as a movie watching device for travel. Good size and format, great battery life and storage with an optional SD card, and a 1080p screen. Seems to handle video playback really well too, stutter free.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
We're taking it on the plane for movies in 3 weeks, so that'll be perfect. Have you tried rooting and Greenify app? That could further help keep the background processes in check. I have a 1st gen; wife will get the 2nd gen, but if I like it enough, I might get another one for myself.
No I haven't mainly because of the amount of bricks being reported. Too much headache and since its my mothers there's no point. Lol. You'll love it for watching movies I swear they look better than on my Nexus 9. Maybe that Intel video enhancer or whatever its got really works well. The speakers are loud and sound great too.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
So I've had the tablet for a week now. The amount of bloatware pre-installed was insane. I was surprised since the 1st gen 3830 came with almost zero. After disabling all bloatware and all google apps, disabling animations, disable sync, disable backup & restore, it's running fairly well. Chrome browser is definitely not happening. Stock browser is good, but opening multiple tabs is still guaranteed to make the tablet lag.
All in all, this is a great tablet for someone who only does one thing at a time (No multiple browser tabs and switching back and forth between apps). 1920 x 1200 Screen is awesome, build quality fantastic, thin and fairly light, 802.11ac wireless, wireless charging, almost pure Android, and good enough battery life. This thing is perfect for my wife and was a steal at $75 from Amazon Warehouse. Got a $7 case from eBay and my wife is loving it. It's a big upgrade from her Nexus 7 2012.
That being said, I will not be picking another one up for myself unless we get a magic update that makes it as fast as my 3830. I like to multitask, so that's priority for me.
P.S. After all updates, I ran Antutu and the tab scored 33,000 vs 24,000 for my 3830. Sadly, real world experience doesn't reflect this.
waingro808 said:
So I've had the tablet for a week now. The amount of bloatware pre-installed was insane. I was surprised since the 1st gen 3830 came with almost zero. After disabling all bloatware and all google apps, disabling animations, disable sync, disable backup & restore, it's running fairly well. Chrome browser is definitely not happening. Stock browser is good, but opening multiple tabs is still guaranteed to make the tablet lag.
All in all, this is a great tablet for someone who only does one thing at a time (No multiple browser tabs and switching back and forth between apps). 1920 x 1200 Screen is awesome, build quality fantastic, thin and fairly light, 802.11ac wireless, wireless charging, almost pure Android, and good enough battery life. This thing is perfect for my wife and was a steal at $75 from Amazon Warehouse. Got a $7 case from eBay and my wife is loving it. It's a big upgrade from her Nexus 7 2012.
That being said, I will not be picking another one up for myself unless we get a magic update that makes it as fast as my 3830. I like to multitask, so that's priority for me.
P.S. After all updates, I ran Antutu and the tab scored 33,000 vs 24,000 for my 3830. Sadly, real world experience doesn't reflect this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, my mother went from my hand me down N7(2012) to this and so far, with the way I've set it up, she likes it for her style of use. It really is a shame as if the darn thing had 3 (gasp!) gigs of Ram it would be a killer little tablet, the fact that you can pick them up so cheap is another huge plus.
Hi! CJ, I have a Dell Venue 8 3840, and for some reason I'm unaware of, it's WIFI, & BLUETOOTH, have completely being "lost", I.E. the icons, the Settings options etc.... Have " disappeared ".
I would be most grateful for your advice on it's recovery.
Thanks & regards,
Mahil.
Hmmm, never heard of that happening before. I could ask you a bunch of questions to see what may have caused it but instead my advice would be do a reset. Under settings/back up & reset/ factory reset. Back up whatever files you don't want to lose, the cloud works great for that, and then reset. See if that brings it back.
Venue 8 touch screen freezing issue
I had bought my tablet online. It was working well initially. Then suddenly from one day the screen started to freeze once it was not in use for minimum 7-8 seconds although the tab was not hanging, just the tablet touch screen was not responding to touch.
my dell venue 8 3840 has kitkat 4.4.4. WiFi Bluetooth is not working at all. when i press on in the WiFi option, it goes to on but color doesn't change, i mean it keeps grey and it doesn't scan any WiFi signals. nothing happens on the screen. its like frozen. add device and reset options on WiFi menu are also freeze. when i come out of WiFi menu, it automatically turns off. i have already reset my tab 2 3 times to check if the issue resolves but the prob persists. advanced options are working. when i go there, it says mac address and IP address unavailable. and these options are also freeze. am not getting a clue of what has happened and how to get it fixed. plz help.
Dell Venue 8 8340 slow fix
Hey guys,
I have found a solution for the extremely slow performance of the Dell Venue 8 8340. You must disable wi-fi optimization in settings --> wifi --> advanced. After disabling this feature, the tablet runs fairly smooth with no crashing or delays. This may be a temporary fix; however, it does seem to affect the tablets performance. Also, I did not have the time to check if this fix has been posted, sorry for the repeat if it has. Please update on whether or not this tweak works for others.
Setting 'Developer Options' -> 'Background Processes' to 'At most 2 Processes' seems to help with performance. Reboots and updates sometimes reset this to the default though.
Sent from my VS990 using XDA Free mobile app

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