Sorting out lagging smart phones

[rcx132]

Had a bit of luck with sorting out lagging phone problems so thought I'd share.

My Samsung is four years old now, years of security updates have made it go from a flagship phone to laggy and frustrating and no good for work. Did resets, that would help for a bit but then same problem. Looked at new phone, but the new Samsungs are £750. I could save a bit if I get it on a plan, and save a bit more if I buy last years model or a cheaper make but either way it ends up costing over £450 which is way more than I want to spend these days.

So did something I wanted to do for years. Deleted the Samsung Android and installed a clean community version (LineageOS). Result has been awesome, the phone is at full speed and is a lot nicer to use because it's got almost latest version of Android and doesn't have all the bloatware.

So next I decided to try the same for my wife. Took her old Motorola Moto G3, a phone which cost £120 NEW from the shop a couple of years ago. Installed the same community version of Android and that solved the performance problems and also replaced the crummy Motorola interface for the nice Lineage one. She's been using the phone a week and she likes it even more than the Apple phone she had.

So two phones, both worth next to nothing because of age, running almost latest Android, and running at full speed. Seems like a decent alternative to buying new phones!

 

[Kayos]

Now I don’t need my iPad as much I’m switching to android come the next phone upgrade (needed the iPad and didn’t want one apple and one android)
I regret getting the iPhone last time, Mrs. Has a newish Samsung and it is brilliant compared to mine, and cheaper...

 

[julianf]

I'm on a g4 with stock os now, but my last phone was a Samsung that became unusable without cyanogenmod.

Android are fine when new / current but, like all computers, get jaded. It's great that they can then be given a new lease of life later.

 

[reb78]

I wish someone could work out how to do this with the Apple products. I am going to switch to Android next too because I’m sick of apple forcing updates that kill the product. My iPad2 is old but perfect for browsing/watching movies etc but the update to 9.1.5 killed it (had to do it as something went wrong on it). Type something and 5 mins later the text might start appearing! I don’t want to update my phone in case it does the same thing but the iOS is getting too old for a lot of apps now!

The flexibility on the Android machines is so much better.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I wish someone could work out how to do this with the Apple products. I am going to switch to Android next too because I’m sick of apple forcing updates that kill the product. My iPad2 is old but perfect for browsing/watching movies etc but the update to 9.1.5 killed it (had to do it as something went wrong on it). Type something and 5 mins later the text might start appearing! I don’t want to update my phone in case it does the same thing but the iOS is getting too old for a lot of apps now!

The flexibility on the Android machines is so much better.

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

 

[pedrobedro]

I still use my old iphone 4s but I had a Samsung phone and still have an obsolete Nook tablet that I use with Cyanogenmod from the XDA forum downloads.

 

[the snooper]

Until recently I was using a galaxy S4 with no problems at all speed was fine, wouldn't have an iPhone again apple are to controling, I jail broke the last iPhone I had

 

[Fazerruss]

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?

 

[rcx132]

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?

It's all pretty much the same, but without the bloatware and more focused on performance and usability.

I took a look in my settings, it has the Exchange settings just like the Samsung Android.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Until recently I was using a galaxy S4 with no problems at all speed was fine, wouldn't have an iPhone again apple are to controling, I jail broke the last iPhone I had

But that is the whole point! Apple OS is a walled garden. Safe reliable and efficient. It suits one section of the market and Android suits another. My personal preference is not Android, but it's very much horses for courses. That having been said, since Steve Jobs' passing, I think they are starting to take the mick. Over a Grand for a 'phone and gems like the deliberate crippling of performance.

 

[hunter27]

Had a bit of luck with sorting out lagging phone problems so thought I'd share.

My Samsung is four years old now, years of security updates have made it go from a flagship phone to laggy and frustrating and no good for work. Did resets, that would help for a bit but then same problem. Looked at new phone, but the new Samsungs are £750. I could save a bit if I get it on a plan, and save a bit more if I buy last years model or a cheaper make but either way it ends up costing over £450 which is way more than I want to spend these days.

So did something I wanted to do for years. Deleted the Samsung Android and installed a clean community version (LineageOS). Result has been awesome, the phone is at full speed and is a lot nicer to use because it's got almost latest version of Android and doesn't have all the bloatware.

So next I decided to try the same for my wife. Took her old Motorola Moto G3, a phone which cost £120 NEW from the shop a couple of years ago. Installed the same community version of Android and that solved the performance problems and also replaced the crummy Motorola interface for the nice Lineage one. She's been using the phone a week and she likes it even more than the Apple phone she had.

So two phones, both worth next to nothing because of age, running almost latest Android, and running at full speed. Seems like a decent alternative to buying new phones!

Hi Is there any chance you could you do a quick run through of what you did and any download links that are needed please. I went through this a few years ago and muddled through eventually but there is so much duff info and apk's on the net it's hard to pick out the useful stuff.
I have a Moto G 2nd gen.
Hopefully it would be of interest to a lot of us.
Cheers Pete

 

[rcx132]

Hi Is there any chance you could you do a quick run through of what you did and any download links that are needed please. I went through this a few years ago and muddled through eventually but there is so much duff info and apk's on the net it's hard to pick out the useful stuff.
I have a Moto G 2nd gen.
Hopefully it would be of interest to a lot of us.
Cheers Pete

Sure! There's only two main steps. So long as you're happy installing drivers and entering some command line commands then with a bit of help you should be fine.

The only thing I'd say is that if you're using the phone for anything security sensitive, like banking or confidential projects, then you need to check that there is a signed release of the Android ROM you're installing. They are marked [OFFICIAL] on the XDA forums and are checked and signed. Some phones only have [UNOFFICIAL] versions which a single contributor has compiled, they are unchecked, unsigned, and wouldn't use them with banking apps.

I'll post some tips later, I'm at work now.

 

[steviec_lj]

Be interested to hear how you go about deleting the Samsung OS, etc, as the Mrs phone suffers from performance related issues..

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Haven't had a chance to sort my current phone after my last was stolen
Really gelled with cyanogenmod but will be looking at other options.
Lived with this bloat for a few months. Driving me nuts after having full control for so long.

 

[gaz1]

It's all pretty much the same, but without the bloatware and more focused on performance and usability.

I took a look in my settings, it has the Exchange settings just like the Samsung Android.

mind if i ask about the privacy issues if there is any to that install ?

 

[rcx132]

Haven't had a chance to sort my current phone after my last was stolen
Really gelled with cyanogenmod but will be looking at other options.
Lived with this bloat for a few months. Driving me nuts after having full control for so long.

Cyanogenmod is now LineageOS, which is what I installed. Not sure why the name changed.

mind if i ask about the privacy issues if there is any to that install ?

From what I gather you are fine so long as you install an official community version and that it's not rooted. See post #12.

Just a note, this won't work on all android devices, or it might not work as expected/desired...

Firstly, you need to be able to unlock the bootloader - that's not always possible (tesco hudl2 tablet is certainly one that's not doable).

Then you need to be able to find a version compiled for your device (if you know how to do this part, you wouldn't be asking)... The wrong ROM can irretrievably brick it.


It's also sometimes not worth trying to get the latest release either - your device might not have the gumption (ram, cpu, gpu) to run it properly.

The wife had a motoE 1st gen, was fine with oem kitkat (4.4.4) - the ota upgrade to lollipop (5.1) effectively killed it dead. Custom ROM back down to a kk kernel and it's nicely usable again such that it's now my "run/bike" phone running strava as well as 'satnav' type stuff - payg sim means it's there for emergency contact but I wouldn't be too upset if I damage it (like I would be if I smashed my g4).

So my Samsung was not locked. The Motorola was locked but if you go to their website you can request an unlock code. They make you sign an online document saying the risk is yours, then give you the details to unlock it.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@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.

 

[the snooper]

But that is the whole point! Apple OS is a walled garden. Safe reliable and efficient. It suits one section of the market and Android suits another. My personal preference is not Android, but it's very much horses for courses. That having been said, since Steve Jobs' passing, I think they are starting to take the mick. Over a Grand for a 'phone and gems like the deliberate crippling of performance.

Yeah apple are too controlling and it will be their down fall eventually

 

[Olderisbetter]

Hmm this is all very interesting, I have a few old Samsungs i might try it on, I do miss the old Galaxy tab 7" with GSM , You looked a bit of a prat holding it up to you ear to talk but then again i have always looked like that so i might try it on that... HELLLOOOOOOO

 

[rcx132]

Hi Is there any chance you could you do a quick run through of what you did and any download links that are needed please. I went through this a few years ago and muddled through eventually but there is so much duff info and apk's on the net it's hard to pick out the useful stuff.
I have a Moto G 2nd gen.
Hopefully it would be of interest to a lot of us.
Cheers Pete

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.