Widgets stop working in KitKat

[myke115]

My Nexus 5 has been great but many of the widgets freeze regularly especially any with a clock or weather. I've did re-installs on them and it continues to happen. The clock and/or weather will update for a while and then after a few hours will freeze in time. I have everything stock still but did try a few custom launchers including nova & apex to see if it occurred with them as well and it did so I went back to stock. I did a hard reset and they began working for a few days then back to the same issue today. I've tried everything I can think of. The problem is consistent and with every widget no matter the developer. Those for sure affected are HD Widgets, Beautiful Widgets, PolyClock (a world clock), and RetroClock. I'm assuming this is a kitkat compatibility issue but do not know for sure.

I also have a Nexus 7 (2013) and Nexus 10. The 7 hasn't been affected at all but the 10 has it intermittently. All 3 devices have updated to 4.4.2

This is very annoying as widgets are one of the primary thing that sets Android apart from iOS for me.

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you tried wiping the system cache partition? You won't lose any personal data or settings: Reset: Google Nexus 5 | T-Mobile Support

 

[myke115]

I had not tried that but I did after seeing your reply. Didn't help. If anything the widgets now stop working quicker than before. Usually after a phone restart, they might work for a few hours before freezing up but now after trying this, when the phone restarts the weather and time is picked up then never updates. They freeze right where they were at phone restart. I think there may be a kitkat compatibility issue as the only one that works correctly is the stock clock widget that's on the lock screen that came with the phone. Every other widget no matter the developer that involves updates to time, date, or weather will not work properly.

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, I hope my advice didn't mess things up further! You may be right in that it may be a KitKat compatibility issue. Have you emailed the developers about it?

 

[myke115]

No I def don't think you're advice messed things up further. I'm doing another factory reset but I don't think it'll help. It's very frustrating after having such high hopes for the Nexus 5. I have emailed several developers but they don't seem to be able to pinpoint the problem either .. at least the ones who responded. Considering, though, that it seems to be pretty pervasive across all widgets that have some sort of update to them, I think it's more likely a KitKat issue. It was the same on 4.4 as well as the update to 4.4.2. I've now added the Weatherbug widget as well as power toggles (not the stock one) to the list. Even now if I update and screen widget with power toggles to change what is displayed, it won't update and keeps the same icons on the widget as before. In other words, it's freezing too. I've tested various widgets and any they have update mechanisms especially clock and weather freeze and won't come out of it without a phone restart but this lasts from a few minutes to a few hours before it does it again.

Without widgets, my phone will look like ios. ARGH!

 

[B. Diddy]

You don't have any Developer Options on, do you?

 

[myke115]

Yes actually I have developer options enabled on the Nexus 5, 7, & 10 but I've never checked and/or altered anything under the settings. You can open developer options on the Nexus line at least (and perhaps any with jellybean above tho not 100% sure) by going to system settings, about phone, then tapping build number 7 times. It adds the developer menu in the settings. A hidden trick I saw online but it works and you probably already knew it. I have the menu but not sure of anything I should do in there. If you have any suggestions that might fix this problem, I'm willing to try.

 

[B. Diddy]

No, I was just wondering if there was a specific Developer Option that had been turned on that might be interfering with the normal operation of the widgets. If nothing is checked, then they shouldn't be affecting anything.

Are you using any kind of battery-saving app like Juice Defender that might have control over the device's ability to update information over the web? Also, does this happen with any of the stock widgets?

 

[myke115]

No, not using any battery saving app or task killer. Actually, the only stock widget I have running is the clock widget on the lock screen which is not affected. It always shows correct. I reset the phone for the 2nd time today and so far all is working. However, the 1st time I did this it last about the same amount of time it did when I first bought the phone before the widgets quit working which was about a few days. I figure something is building up some where that's then repeatedly killing widgets but I just don't know. When it happens I can reboot the phone and they'll work for a few hours at most before freezing usually. It seems awfully likely there's a compatibility issue or there's something in this phone relating to kitkat that's killing things it shouldn't. 4.4.2 is on my 7 & 10 as well but they aren't experiencing it. The 7 never has. The 10 has but they are working again.

 

[gone down south]

Have you done sa factory reset? Reflashed the is?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[PhoenixMike]

I'm having the same issues with my clock widgets. At first I thought it was an issue specifically with the widget so I reverted back to beautiful widgets only to find the same issue. The clock would stop showing the correct time until I tap on it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[myke115]

It's definitely various widgets whether stock like gmail and calender or 3rd party like beautiful widgets, retro clock, and power toggle. Weatherbug as well. A full phone wipe will help for a while but it's very temporary. Considering my phone is the only one affected and the 7 & 10 are not and are on the same software update, I'm thinking it's gotta be specific to the N5. I've seen other threads on this as its starting to pop up including one on google's own ..

Google Groups

 

[blazesback]

Hi all,
I am using connected commerce widget for getting deals and it working fine. But if i use any other widget it's getting hanging all the time.

 

[itic]

yup clock-weather widget went nuts. I had overlap with the clock and it wouldnt update. When i tried to remove it it wouldnt uninstall. It didnt uninstall till i did a factory reset.

 

[ottscay]

I'm having issues with the stock calendar widget on my N4. I wasn't sure if it's due to running the GE Launcher or just a KitKat issue, but about once a week the calendar widget stops working until I reboot the phone.

 

[kodintent]

this issue occurs because kitkat has changed the way it manages background alarms. most widgets that update frequently use "alarmmanager" to trigger each update. but in kitkat, the trigger event is intentionally delayed so that android can group processes together, saving battery life and data use. so, for all those clock and weather widgets, the developers have to write a bunch of new code for kitkat devices, so that their widgets update at the intended time.

 

[Rlin5741]

this issue occurs because kitkat has changed the way it manages background alarms. most widgets that update frequently use "alarmmanager" to trigger each update. but in kitkat, the trigger event is intentionally delayed so that android can group processes together, saving battery life and data use. so, for all those clock and weather widgets, the developers have to write a bunch of new code for kitkat devices, so that their widgets update at the intended time.

I am not sure this is the issue - I am seeing something similar on my galaxy s5 running 4.4, and on my old s3 running 4.3, and it occurs even when I force a widget to update or refresh so I don't think its a background issue. Someone else on this thread has alluded to it applying to switch widgets as well (such as switchpro) where hitting the switches will perform the function, but not update the switch status on the widget.

If I use a third party launcher (using Apex now) that allows me to restart the launcher separately, doing so will bring the refresh back - without needing to do a complete restart.

My Nexus 7 (2012) running 4.4.2 does not show this issue.

 

[disneymagik]

I just posted on another thread about this very thing. Here's my post:
"I use Go Launcher and have a Note 3. I'm having the same issues. And I've tried unlocking my apps and it doesn't make any difference. My husband & son's widgets are working fine on their s4 actives after updating to 4.4.2 KitKat but they had the issues on 4.3. On my Note 3 I have Go Weather, BeWeather Pro, The Weather Channel, and Rainbow Clock widgets. All but The Weather Channel & Rainbow Clock widgets are affected. The other two I haven't had issues with. But I've had plenty other clock widgets that it did affect. Mine will at least last for between 2-4 days before I have to reboot, so it's better than just a couple hrs, but it's still a royal pain. Although some of the clock widgets I had wouldn't work at all which made me quite upset as there's a couple that I pd for. Devs don't have a clue and my widgets didn't work properly on 4.3 either.
So if someone finds their way to this thread and has the answer, I know i'd sure appreciate it!"
Try the weather channel widget and see if it works, cuz it's one of the only ones that does on mine along with the Rainbow Alarm Clock Widget here:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=com.rainbow.alarmclock&token=uXFkqEe9
I know it may not be everyone's cup o'tea but see if it stays working for you. It's the one clock that works for me. If it does, I'd contact the dev and see what the secret is, assuming they know, or inquire about developing a new clock like that one, just a different design. Can't hurt, IMO.

Sent from my FABULOUS Note 3!