Freezing problems on Samsung Galaxy S3

**meyerweb** · 01-26-2013, 11:08 AM

I've said this many times before, and no doubt I'll say it many times again. A phone which repeatedly freezes, reboots or lags is almost certainly caused by a 3rd party app or combination of apps. Yes, there are occasionally defective phones. There are far more often defective apps.

If it only happens with WiFi, it's possible there's an issue with your router, or with the WiFi configuration on your phone. Try rebooting the router, and then deleting and recreating the WiFi setup on your phone for that router. If that doesn't solve it, it would seem you have one of the occasional defective phones. Or, is there a particular web site or app you're using when you're on WiFi?

**Gemsmith** · 01-28-2013, 01:15 PM

hi
i downloaded the look out app from android on my s3 after it had downloaded the phone frooze completely wont turn off ect.I call my network and they told me to do a restore on on samsung kies.I tried this but still nothing took battery out and still nothong.Anyone have this problem is please help.
thanks

**FDisk80** · 01-31-2013, 02:24 PM

This this. This is what helped me.

**winmod21** · 01-31-2013, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Nikok

Yes I recently purchased the Samsung galax. s3 because it is advertised to be this amazing phone which it is. The features it has are amazing. U dont have to pay for anything and ringtones. You swype you don't have to text its bigger. Its a ovver all very customizable phone. However the phone is a much better built phone then the Samsung. My samsung freezes constantly the third day I had y phone I had to bring it back because the backspace button didn't work now again its not working. IPhones are amazing phones after having both the iphone is a better built phone. Its fast doesn't freeze user freindly texting is great. Its iphone all the way. Ur not the only one who experiences this.

Originally Posted by Chris Atkins1

Hi,

i have had my Galaxy s3 for just over a month, it was working fine on friday morning then i went outside in the afternoon with it and it just wouldnt unlock and now i cant even see the screen, i have tried taking the battery out etc, i should say the friday it was snowing and coldish here in the UK, i have phoned samsung up to repair the phone

thanks

Originally Posted by Daiowen

Hi All,

I've just started having this problem as well. Phone will freeze and restart at random intervals.

I've noticed that this does seem to coincide with heavy WiFi activity. I've tried everything I can think of.... The Firmware Upgrade and initialization feature of kies.... a Device Reset.... even running the phone without any apps installed.

It's getting annoying now.

Originally Posted by Gemsmith

hi
i downloaded the look out app from android on my s3 after it had downloaded the phone frooze completely wont turn off ect.I call my network and they told me to do a restore on on samsung kies.I tried this but still nothing took battery out and still nothong.Anyone have this problem is please help.
thanks

In all these cases . . . I would definitely take the phones back to where you got them and demand brand new ones. I've read of ~~many~~ countless cases where GS3 user's— everywhere, have been given new phones—for several reasons more minor than that of freezing up. These freezing problems seem fairly wide-spread, and as Daiowen describes above, even persisting after upgrades, resets and running without apps! I would take them back and demand new ones.

**bsnguy** · 02-01-2013, 09:05 AM

Same problems, here, yesterday. Phone would freeze just after booting in some cases. I do believe it's related to WiFi as once I was able to turn it off, all problems went away. But... I think it's due to low WiFi signal. Every time this happened, I was in a place where the WiFi was very weak. I use WiFi most of the day, every day with no problems, but I'm traveling and was in a hotel lobby with a very weak signal. Crash. About ten times while eating breakfast. Once I got a better signal, no more crashes the rest of the day. None.

So maybe the problem is the phone trying to switch from WiFi to 4G or something? Gets in a loop between the two and just gives up and freezes. Samsung really needs to look into this (and it seems repeatable) and I'll complain to them when I get back from my trip.

**zippero** · 02-08-2013, 10:43 PM

Samsung Galaxy S3 is a piece of junk because of faulty motherboards causing something called "Sudden Death Syndrome" worldwide. Do a search on "Ultimate GS3 Sudden Death Thread." Samsung doesn't want to announce a worldwide recall because profits are more important than customers' happiness. Besides the hardware, the software is laggy and crash-prone with unexpected reboots and freezes galore and crap internal security that attracts 99% of mobile malware attacks according to Kapersky Labs. Each update seems to introduce more new bugs than it's supposed to try to fix. Sure, the features are great, but what's the point if the thing keeps crashing?

**Mellimel22** · 02-08-2013, 11:01 PM

Smh yeah and the sky is brown also lol.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.1 using Tapatalk 2

**meyerweb** · 02-09-2013, 12:29 PM

zippero, you really are clueless, aren't you? Did Samsung steal your first-born child, or something? Other than the motherboard issues, which has affected a tiny fraction of international versions of the phone, and which Samsung is fixing under warranty, not one of your statements bears even a slight resemblance to reality.

Why the hate?

**deevel79** · 02-10-2013, 04:15 PM

I was stuck between going with the gs3 and ip5 myself, and at the end of the day although the gs3 is a more feature packed phone, its OS isnt as stable as IOS. I went with the ip5 and dont regret it. This is my 2nd iphone and have never had a hiccup with the OS. Its very stable and smooth. My previous phone was an HTC Rezound and I had to turn it 3 times due to it being stuck reboot mode. I've had my ip5 for a month now and have even contemplated swapping it for a gs3 so that I can be fully integrated with my chromebook but there seems to be too many issues with the phone and would kick myself in the azz if I switched and became plagued with these common problems.

**Mellimel22** · 02-10-2013, 06:00 PM

I don't know anyone that has turned in a s3 or note2 for a ip5 but I do know a LOT of people that has a gs3 or note or evo that had a ip5.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.1 using Tapatalk 2

**walcolm** · 02-11-2013, 06:43 AM

i have been experiencing the freeze and excessively long charging time but it only started happening after i installed JB 4.1.2.

before now, my experience with wifi is that it greatly improves my battery time since the phone doesn't have to stretch so much to get solid data throughput but since i installed 4.1.2, even in very strong wifi area, the phone discharges battery faster than the charger can replace. it freezes constantly and any action can trigger the freeze. its been going on for about 3 weeks and i was wondering if i picked up a virus

**Joe Krych** · 02-11-2013, 09:17 AM

Ive been having freezing problems with mh samsung galaxy s3 but it seems it only happens when I try to download music , somone please help me.

**menamb** · 02-11-2013, 10:22 AM

My Samsung S3 started to freeze 5 days ago. It may freeze with the screen on or off. If I left it for long time e.g. 1 hour, it runs again, the other solution is to disconnect the battery.
I don't remember that i've installed new applications at the time the problem started. I use android 4.1.2.
I didn't find yet the exact reason for this problem, but I notice that it only happens when I'm running the Power Saving mode. I'll try to disable it for couple of days and see if it will freeze again.

**boyleyc** · 02-11-2013, 10:34 AM

My s3 has been crashing for days now.

In another obscure thread I found someone having problems similar, anyway they said the fix was as follows:

Settings > DEVELOPER Settings > Turn off Transition and Animation Scale.

I have now had a phone that has not crashed for about 6 hours. Which after the 4.1.2 upgrade hasnt happened for weeks.

Fingers crossed, I'll report back if it crashes again

Mr B

**meyerweb** · 02-11-2013, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by walcolm

i have been experiencing the freeze and excessively long charging time but it only started happening after i installed JB 4.1.2.

before now, my experience with wifi is that it greatly improves my battery time since the phone doesn't have to stretch so much to get solid data throughput but since i installed 4.1.2, even in very strong wifi area, the phone discharges battery faster than the charger can replace. it freezes constantly and any action can trigger the freeze. its been going on for about 3 weeks and i was wondering if i picked up a virus

This has been repeated at least a hundred times in the S3 forums: If you're having problems after the upgrade to 4.1.2, your best recourse is a factory reset. Yes, it's a pain, but if you back up your data first, it's not THAT much of a pain.

I doubt you have a virus, unless you've been sideloading apps from some Chinese web site, but the Play store has a number of AV apps you can install to be sure. A factory reset will wipe out any virus you have, if you're one of the rare few who managed to catch one.

**jon2c** · 02-12-2013, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by boyleyc

My s3 has been crashing for days now.

In another obscure thread I found someone having problems similar, anyway they said the fix was as follows:

Settings > DEVELOPER Settings > Turn off Transition and Animation Scale.

I have now had a phone that has not crashed for about 6 hours. Which after the 4.1.2 upgrade hasnt happened for weeks.

Fingers crossed, I'll report back if it crashes again

Mr B

This solution quite worked for me too. my s3 did not freeze the whole day...

**boyleyc** · 02-12-2013, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by jon2c

This solution quite worked for me too. my s3 did not freeze the whole day...

yeah I can confirm the phone has now not crashed for over 24 hours.

**rynlpin** · 02-12-2013, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by boyleyc

My s3 has been crashing for days now.

In another obscure thread I found someone having problems similar, anyway they said the fix was as follows:

Settings > DEVELOPER Settings > Turn off Transition and Animation Scale.

I have now had a phone that has not crashed for about 6 hours. Which after the 4.1.2 upgrade hasnt happened for weeks.

Fingers crossed, I'll report back if it crashes again

Mr B

I tried this but my phone has frozen twice since I changed that setting.

Originally Posted by meyerweb

This has been repeated at least a hundred times in the S3 forums: If you're having problems after the upgrade to 4.1.2, your best recourse is a factory reset. Yes, it's a pain, but if you back up your data first, it's not THAT much of a pain.

I factory reset at the weekend and this didn't fix the problem.

**meyerweb** · 02-12-2013, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by rynlpin

I tried this but my phone has frozen twice since I changed that setting.
I factory reset at the weekend and this didn't fix the problem.

After the reset, did you immediately reinstall all of your apps, or did you use the phone in factory fresh state for a while? If not, I'd suggest using it that way and seeing if it still locks up. If so, I'd say take it back to where you bought it. If it only starts locking up after you install all your apps, that would tend to indicate that one, or a combination of several, of your apps isn't playing well.

**rynlpin** · 02-12-2013, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by meyerweb

After the reset, did you immediately reinstall all of your apps, or did you use the phone in factory fresh state for a while? If not, I'd suggest using it that way and seeing if it still locks up. If so, I'd say take it back to where you bought it. If it only starts locking up after you install all your apps, that would tend to indicate that one, or a combination of several, of your apps isn't playing well.

After sending about 4 hours researching this problem, I have a feeling this is a much larger issue pointing towards a possible fault with SGSIII devices purchased 5-6 months ago who have upgraded to 4.1.2. But in answer to your question, towards the end of the factory reset, the device automatically installs 4 apps which I think we're added by O2 (as my phone is branded) and it locked up during this process.

**meyerweb** · 02-12-2013, 05:31 PM

I think I'd head back to the O2 store, then, and tell them the O2 apps are locking it up. Either that, or root it and get rid of those apps completely.

**maliman** · 02-13-2013, 02:37 AM

i m from istanbul , and i have same problem , problem occurs while wifi is open , i upgraded jelly bean 4.1.2 approximitly 2-3 mounts ago , problem starts this week , i think some apps triggered this , i am searching for what are these apps, by the way i tried all advice but its still happenning when wifi is on

**menamb** · 02-13-2013, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by maliman

i m from istanbul , and i have same problem , problem occurs while wifi is open , i upgraded jelly bean 4.1.2 approximitly 2-3 mounts ago , problem starts this week , i think some apps triggered this , i am searching for what are these apps, by the way i tried all advice but its still happenning when wifi is on

That is exactly my case, I disabled the "Power Saving" Mode for 2 days now, and it didn't freeze since then. It might be an app that has a problem with the power saving mode.

**rynlpin** · 02-13-2013, 04:27 AM

Originally Posted by menamb

That is exactly my case, I disabled the "Power Saving" Mode for 2 days now, and it didn't freeze since then. It might be an app that has a problem with the power saving mode.

My Power Save option has always been disabled and it still freezes