Sorting out lagging smart phones

[rcx132]

@rcx132 Will this work [as long as it's simple enough for me to understand ] on a OnePlusOne with a PAYG sim? I used it mainly for calls and texts, very seldom wi-fi etc, as I mostly find the key input too fiddly.

I'm not that good and dont know! But if you PM me your exact phone model then I can check on the XDA forum.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

As an addition to the above. Invest in a decent data cable. Had no end of issues with bad data cables causing issues communicating with the phone.

 

[rcx132]

As an addition to the above. Invest in a decent data cable. Had no end of issues with bad data cables causing issues communicating with the phone.

Yes I knew there was something I forgot! Good cables also charge the phone quicker. I think Anker cables came up very well in reviews and only cost £5.

 

[ukracer]

Does this OS still work with apps on Google play and can you still do the basic stuff like syncing your email accounts to an exchange server?

Thats basic??? Lol

 

[ukracer]

I would also recommend using "my phone explorer" to back up your messages and numbers as belt and braces.

Its donation ware on a PC
http://www.fjsoft.at/en/downloads.php

 

[ukracer]

Part of the process is imaging your phone in case you have to restore it - but you 'lose' settings and data as part of it too - it's an entirely destructive process.

I've flashed a fair few phones, and the associated google account has never let me down.

I only use it as its simple and you can see instantly the backed up data. It does have other benefits, which was why i found it initially. You can send texts from your phone using the PC. With my eyes it was a godsend when i was running tech support.

But i never knew about google backing my text messages up etc. Cheers. 2 backups.

 

[hunter27]

I'm just going to give a rough overview and tips. The exact steps vary from phone to phone so you will need to look up your model.
I am NOT an expert, I've just done this twice and am sharing experiences and things I learnt. I'm also writing this from memory, so I could have forgotten something. You do this at your own risk of course. There is a danger of damaging your phone.

Very broadly speaking, there are two main steps, first one is difficult, second one easy:

Step 1: Install a custom bootloader. The bootloader is a bit like a computer BIOS. You can boot into it to do system operations. You need to install a custom one so you get the feature to "flash" your phone with the new android version (known as a ROM) as the stock bootloader doesn't have the flash option.

Step 2: Go into the custom bootloader and tell it to install your chosen Android ROM.

That sounds simple but in reality there are a handful of sub-steps you need to take, including installing drivers on your computer, getting the right ROM and Bootloader for your phone and using the Windows command line terminal. Best thing is to look up your exact steps for your phone on the XDA forum. There's also useful videos on YouTube.

I think that to do this process you need to be comfortable installing drivers and using the Windows command line terminal (you don't need to know what the commands that you will enter mean but I think you need to know what commands like CD and DIR do!)

Tips and things I learnt:

1. Be careful where you download from! Get the bootloader from the official bootloader website (twrp.me) and the ROMS from lineageos.org. If you download from the wrong place you could be downloading a malware copy.
2. TWRP is the most common bootloader. LineageOS (was Cyogenmod) is the most common ROM (Community android). I decided to go for the most common solutions so that there's biggest chance of getting help if I got stuck.
3. There are official and unofficial versions of LineageOS. The official ones are digitally signed and checked for security. I personally would not use an unofficial one with banking apps or for work if you deal with sensitive data. The unofficial ROMS are ones that were created outside of the main community, usually because there wasn't an official one available. If your phone is not listed on the LineageOS website then you will need to find an unofficial ROM.
4. Before you start you need to identify which processor your phone is running as the same model phone could have different processors. Theres an app to do this called CPU-Z. When you go to download the custom bootloader and ROM you will need to know which processor your phone has.
5. The XDA forums are where you get safe reliable instructions. Anywhere else is at your own risk ! I used YouTube just to visually see what I'd read on the XDA forums.
6. Some ROMs come "rooted", some don't. Rooting could be useful if you run certain advanced apps, but if you don't need it then get a ROM that doesn't have it, as it's a security risk and banking apps won't run on rooted ROMs. I think official LineageOS comes "unrooted" as standard.
7. Some phones may have a "locked bootloader", which means it won't allow you to install the custom bootloader because the manufacturer doesn't want you to. Some manufacturers will unlock the bootloader on request. Of my two phones, one was unlocked as it came, the other I had to visit Motorolas website to get an unlock code. I think that if your bootloader is locked then you just won't be able to install the custom TWRP bootloader, so maybe the way to check is to just try to install it and see.
8. The community ROMS might be more buggy than the stock manufacturers ROMs as they tend to add features quicker. Mine were ok aside from a couple of tiny bugs, e.g. on my Samsung the video recorder had to have the resolution decreased a notch for it to record video.
9. Once you've flashed the custom ROM you may want to flash something called "GApps". From what I understand this is a stupid PR thing by Google. Google issued Cease & Desist notices for copyright infringement against the community that they were supposed to support. There was a backlash. To save face they agreed that Google Apps can be distributed but must be separately packaged from the ROM. So now, to let Google save face, you have to first flash the ROM and then flash GApps.
10. You need to press a funky combination of buttons to get into the bootloader. But once you have installed the custom bootloader, you need another funky combination of buttons to get into the custom bootloader. This is what caught me out, I kept using the first combo of buttons and kept getting back into the stock bootloader, not knowing it's a different combo to get into the custom bootloader after you've installed it.
11. If you want to root your phone then you also need to Flash an extra "rooting" thing, I don't know exactly as I didn't do it.
12. Most phones have a digital fuse which breaks when you install the custom bootloader. Once it's broken your warranty is questionable and your phone may go down in value. When you boot the phone it tells you that the fuse has been broken.
13. Once you've installed the custom bootloader, do a backup of the current ROM (from inside the bootloader), that way you can go back if you don't like the new ROM.

Thanks for all this I will read this very carefully before I do anything.
Cheers Pete

 

[reb78]

We have iPad 2 and four, fully updated with none of those issues. Have you done a factory reset and restore?

Yup. Several times. Works ok initially then back to laggy and slow again.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

There is a danger of damaging your phone.

first one is difficult,

That lets me out I think, you can ignore my PM but thanks for offering to help.