web page kills my phone, big hurt of lag

[speculatrix]

I read android central using rss reader on my phone, Xperia Z Ultra.
When I want to read the full article, I click the link and web page loads up in chrome browser and the phone grinds to a halt. Scrolling becomes very stuttery, menus stop working for quite a while. It doesn't matter if I wait, the phone and the web page never pick up speed.

If I press the home button, it takes a while for it to load, suggesting that all the memory was exhausted.

This problem started in the last week or so.The site is now unusable, so instead of reading full articles, I now just get to read the RSS summary, as life is too short to spend 10 minutes trying to load the page. If problem persists I will have to unsubscribe and find another Android news service, sorry.

 

[James Falconer]

That's no good!

Can you provide more details for us? What device/OS build/browser are you using? Are you using one of our apps or the full desktop site?

Happy to help. Let me know.

 

[Distorted Loop]

I have the exact same problem, but it's been going on more than a week.

Whenever the site switched format, it's become unreadable on every android device I own when using chrome.

I've made a YouTube video to demonstrate: Android Central website problem chrome: http://youtu.be/o28os0IHrus

I'm using a brand new LG G3 and a Droid Maxx, both android 4.4.2, both using the latest version of Chrome. It only happens on Android Central, not every time I visit, but close too. It's inconceivable to me that a site dedicated to android phones wouldn't readable on multiple top of the line android phones.

 

[James Falconer]

Thanks for posting that video!

We've been diagnosing some slow page load issues, I think this may be related. Our tech team is on it, so I thank you for your patience!

 

[Distorted Loop]

I think it might be worse on articles that have a lot of comments...

 

[BizzyB]

I have the same issues. Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, Chrome browser, both Android 4.42. Slow loading, laggy, stuttering when scrolling, and sometimes completely freezes my Chrome. Pretty much unusable on mobile since the site update. I love Android Central, but I've taken to going to Android Police and occasionally checking AC at work on desktop.

Watched that video and that's exactly what happens to me every single time I view your site on mobile.

 

[Distorted Loop]

Any idea when this will be fixed. As said before, it's much worse on posts with lots of comments.

Tempted to stop visiting the site altogether.

 

[maxburn]

I have the same issue, visiting the news site is a pretty bad experience on Android in Chrome. Even the mobile site performs badly.

I did notice that if I turn off Javascript in Chrome everything is fine! Scrolls normal and smooth like other sites. Problem seems to be located in the top menu auto hide?

I'll also say the performance for the normal site on my MacBook Pro in safari is noticeably slower than other sites.

 

[krijmo]

I've had a lot of issues with chrome browser for the last few weeks on my phone and computer. On my lg g3 I couldn't even go online most of the time, yet, in that time somehow I've used 75% of my 2g data package. Seeing as how i dont have background data enabled, i dont see what the issue could be. Ive also had that scrolling issue. Using chrome on my computer is like having dial-up. Changed my phones browser to the one that came with the phone and haven't had any problems since. My chrome days are officially over!

Posted from my LG G3

 

[cybercrs]

In case it helps, I wanted to add that I am experiencing the same on a Galaxy Tab S, both in Chrome and Dolphin. As someone else pointed out, switching off Java script helps, but that's a band-aid not a solution.

 

[tonyr6]

Just use TapaTalk. That is all I use when browsing this forum. I wish though when I search on Google it would open the forum in TapaTalk instead of Chrome which lags.

 

[Distorted Loop]

Just use TapaTalk. That is all I use when browsing this forum. I wish though when I search on Google it would open the forum in TapaTalk instead of Chrome which lags.

We're not talking about the forum, we're talking about the front page articles.

Android Central is now one of the most painful websites on the Web to visit if you're using Chrome on Android. They need to fix the site design or offer a legitimate mobile version. Pushing people to an app is lame.

You can have sites open automatically in Tapatalk when clicking links. Try clearing defaults in Chrome in Settings/App.

 

[James Falconer]

@Distorted Loop - we've made a number of performance enhancements over the last few weeks in regards to slow loading ads, and the header. Are you able to provide any more specifics as to what may be causing the slowdown on your end? Because we believe we have addressed most of the problems... but it sounds like there's something out there still causing you grief. We want to fix!

Let me know.

 

[Distorted Loop]

@Distorted Loop - we've made a number of performance enhancements over the last few weeks in regards to slow loading ads, and the header. Are you able to provide any more specifics as to what may be causing the slowdown on your end? Because we believe we have addressed most of the problems... but it sounds like there's something out there still causing you grief. We want to fix!

Let me know.

I'm glad you're willing to still work on it.

Check the latest video I took showing the problem. http://youtu.be/w9-U_pcdzg8

I’d say it’s improved from my post of four weeks ago, but it’s far from a good experience.

There’s nothing unique or special to my devices. The video shows a freshly Factory Data Reset Motorola Droid Maxx running Chrome (both beta and standard versions) on Android KitKat 4.4. It’s stock ROM, no tweaks or the like. I experience the same sluggishness on my LG G3, also running stock ROM and using Chrome non-beta. I experience the same problem on my HTC One M7. Interestingly, I don’t seem to see this behavior on my Nexus 7, also running Chrome.

I get the same behavior with or without Chromes data saving feature enabled. It happens in both landscape and portrait.

I’ve mentioned before that the problem seems to be related to the number of replies/comments an article has. The more comments, the more sluggish the site becomes. More than a couple of dozen comments and it becomes almost unusable.

I do not experience this problem on other websites; it’s limited to Android Central. I’m also not the only one to notice this, in recent replies to various articles I’ve seen others complain similarly in the comments section.

I know pushing the AC app is all the rage these days, but have you guys tested the site on your own non-Nexus phones? All of my devices are flagship phones from the last 15 months or so; they should be more than up to the task of running a simple mobile website in the standard Android web browser.

One improvement I have noticed is that comments that are replies to replies no longer squeeze to just a few characters wide on the right of the screen.

 

[tonyr6]

Video is private and won't play.

 

[Distorted Loop]

Video is private and won't play.

Public now.

 

[James Falconer]

@Distorted - thank you. Sending over to our tech team now.

 

[rxnelson]

I just want to add a "me too" to the complaints. There is something specific to Android Chrome and your site. I factory reset a Moto X and a Nexus 5 and have the same issue. You scroll 5 times and the phone responds once. I'm avoiding the site as well.

I also wanted to ask to remove Lloyd or shrink him on the menu bar. There have been many times when I start to make a comment on an article and his body/legs are right where I need to be typing.

 

[James Falconer]

I just want to add a "me too" to the complaints. There is something specific to Android Chrome and your site. I factory reset a Moto X and a Nexus 5 and have the same issue. You scroll 5 times and the phone responds once. I'm avoiding the site as well.

I also wanted to ask to remove Lloyd or shrink him on the menu bar. There have been many times when I start to make a comment on an article and his body/legs are right where I need to be typing.

Appreciate the feedback, will pass this over to our tech team!

In terms of Lloyd... Nnoooooooooo! I can't cut off his legs! Will let the design team know though, there might be something they can do

 

[Distorted Loop]

Appreciate the feedback, will pass this over to our tech team!

In terms of Lloyd... Nnoooooooooo! I can't cut off his legs! Will let the design team know though, there might be something they can do

I see some nice changes on the site today. Much more readable, but still hesitates scrolling smoothly, especially when the new, smaller Lloyd and menu ate on the screen. Seems like the whole page pauses while Chrome decides what to do with the menu. Personally, I'd rather just see the menu fixed at the top of the page instead of acting like a window shade.

Kudos on fixing the comments section. They're now formatted properly for a phone browser and much easier to read.

Still needs some work, but much better experience now.