S6 Active gradually coming to a halt.

PAC757

Trusted Member
Mar 1, 2011
872
1
0
Visit site
I have had my S6 Active since June, I have been bragging to people about how much Samsung has improved since I owned my Note II, how great the battery life is etc.. Well it seems the phone has decided to prove me wrong :)
1)The battery life has been slowly getting worse, not all at once just keeps lasting less time more and more, checked GSam nothing different, no new apps added, no launcher, nothing out of the ordinary, totally stock phone, clear cached data every day, have done that since I got the phone, 2) the phone is becoming less responsive, pages stuttering, Chrome really slow, AC App opening main page pictures draw really slow, like in the old dial up computer phone line days. I have tried everything except for a factory reset, which I'm dreading. Also it is not an AT&T problem as I put my SIM card in my Nexus 6 and everything works fine. Has anyone else experienced any of this kind of behavior from their S6 Active? Thanks.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

H3aTeRzz

Well-known member
Oct 8, 2013
2,810
0
0
Visit site
I have had my S6 Active since June, I have been bragging to people about how much Samsung has improved since I owned my Note II, how great the battery life is etc.. Well it seems the phone has decided to prove me wrong :)
1)The battery life has been slowly getting worse, not all at once just keeps lasting less time more and more, checked GSam nothing different, no new apps added, no launcher, nothing out of the ordinary, totally stock phone, clear cached data every day, have done that since I got the phone, 2) the phone is becoming less responsive, pages stuttering, Chrome really slow, AC App opening main page pictures draw really slow, like in the old dial up computer phone line days. I have tried everything except for a factory reset, which I'm dreading. Also it is not an AT&T problem as I put my SIM card in my Nexus 6 and everything works fine. Has anyone else experienced any of this kind of behavior from their S6 Active? Thanks.

Posted via the Android Central App

There are too many things that could have gone wrong. I know you don't want to hear this, but you'd be doing yourself a favor by just doing a factory reset. They are successful in solving these type of issues, a majority of the time. I probably wouldn't be exaggerating, when I say that I probably reset my phone every 2 to 3 months...great results everytime.

But...that's me! :-D
 

PAC757

Trusted Member
Mar 1, 2011
872
1
0
Visit site
^
I think your right, I guess I'll send everything I need to my Nexus do a backup and start over.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

thetruthkc

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2012
65
0
0
Visit site
+1,000,000

I'm at wits end with your #2 point. There is just something that has taken over at every 15 minutes or so, the entire system stutters for one second. I can't pinpoint it, but it is becoming a real hassle. It interrupts music, touchscreen is unresponsive for 2 one second periods. This has never happened on my previous Android phones.

I still adore the hardware, size (not phablet), camera, screen, battery, speed, and casing (no need for another case, love the 'grippiness').
The software is the big issue:
  • RAM management is terrible and I can maybe multitask 3 or so apps before the previous apps 'reset/reload' when I switch back to them. My 2013 MotoX isn't doing this with 2GB ram and Lollipop.
  • The dreaded stutter (as described above).
  • Constant searching and reconnecting to wifi. I get the connected to wifi [name] constantly

I am in the process of backing up everything using MyBackupPro and will do a factory reset soon. I REALLY want to love this phone. I'd 'deal with' a factory reset every 2-3 months if it will get rid of the stutter. Is this 'on par' with Samsung devices?
 

smartrthanu

New member
Mar 2, 2013
4
0
0
Visit site
Memory management is TERRIBLE. My device rapidly runs our of available RAM (90% used) and when it does, the phone is slow, unresponsive and stutters. I have very few apps running and I've disabled every app I do not use. The best solution I've found is using CleanSweep to clear the active memory. I typically click on the 1 tap boost about 3 times a day and it seem to resolve the issue for a few hours. Usually clears about 500-900mb of RAM.
 

Blacklac

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2010
149
0
0
Visit site
Memory management is TERRIBLE. My device rapidly runs our of available RAM (90% used) and when it does, the phone is slow, unresponsive and stutters. I have very few apps running and I've disabled every app I do not use. The best solution I've found is using CleanSweep to clear the active memory. I typically click on the 1 tap boost about 3 times a day and it seem to resolve the issue for a few hours. Usually clears about 500-900mb of RAM.

That's odd. Samsung is know for forcing Apps in the background to reload way too soon compared to other devices.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

thetruthkc

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2012
65
0
0
Visit site
Quick update: Factory reset last night, took several hours to pick and choose what to reinstall, but all is well at the moment. I still haven't had a chance to reinstall everything, but the phone is fast as ever, no stutter.

The phone is totally usable again! I guess I'll be looking into backup programs to make this a little more seamless, but I guess factory resets are the way to get rid of the 'Jankiness'.

Battery consumption this morning has even been better. I've noticed by the time I get to work, that I'm down around 83%, but this morning, 92%.

Of course nothing scientific, but just my own observations.
 

PAC757

Trusted Member
Mar 1, 2011
872
1
0
Visit site
Mine has been SOOOOO laggy the last few weeks

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active / Gear Circle - Pebble Time Steel

It looks like this phone is going to need a fresh factory reset 2 or 3 times a year, its a pain / time consumer, but if it makes the phone perform like it did the first 3 months I had it I'll be OK with the occasional factory reset.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

thetruthkc

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2012
65
0
0
Visit site
Well, mine only lasted for about a month before a full factory reset.

This time around, I was a little more selective on what I installed. The phone was at a pretty 'stable' state as far as my regular apps, when I noticed the bad stutter. It was infact, the same time Hangouts 4.0 was updated on my phone. When it was combined with my SMS/MMS, it rendered the phone unusable when a group MMS conversation was happening. I removed SMS/MMS from Hangouts and all was 'better'. Moved on to Textra (which is pretty awesome by the way). However, not soon after that, experienced the really bad stutter, tried uninstalling some apps one by one, but didn't get better.

I still think that it has something to do with Android vs Wifi, vs Bluetooth vs Samsung/ATT software.
 

thetruthkc

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2012
65
0
0
Visit site
I came from a OnePlus One and before that a MotoX 2013. The OnePlus One was just too big for me, as far as 'pocketing' it. I don't have super slim pants, but it would dig into me when sitting so I would constantly have it out. The Active has been nice overall, especially the hardware aspects. The software now feels fine, day one, after my reset. We'll see how often I have to do this, but so far, it is blazing fast again.
 

PAC757

Trusted Member
Mar 1, 2011
872
1
0
Visit site
I'm considering sizing up to a Nexus 6 with how cheap they are now

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active / Gear Circle - Pebble Time Steel

I have a Nexus 6, great phone, I purchased the S6 Active to use at work, the Active with a Incipio rubber case can really take a beating. I actually dropped it down a set of concrete stairs and it doesn't have a single mark on it. That being said, I still like my Nexus 6 better.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

MattKerwin

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2014
282
0
0
Visit site
I have a Nexus 6, great phone, I purchased the S6 Active to use at work, the Active with a Incipio rubber case can really take a beating. I actually dropped it down a set of concrete stairs and it doesn't have a single mark on it. That being said, I still like my Nexus 6 better.

Posted via the Android Central App

Probably ordering tomorrow -- and to think I had loved the S6 active so much!

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active / Gear Circle - Pebble Time Steel
 

rockonz723

Member
Feb 9, 2013
9
0
0
Visit site
It looks like this phone is going to need a fresh factory reset 2 or 3 times a year, its a pain / time consumer, but if it makes the phone perform like it did the first 3 months I had it I'll be OK with the occasional factory reset.

Posted via the Android Central App

Well, there have been a couple AT&T/OS updates/tweaks since I got it (not sure when you got yours). It isn't uncommon to reset and reinstall after updates for peak performance.
 

rockonz723

Member
Feb 9, 2013
9
0
0
Visit site
Well, mine only lasted for about a month before a full factory reset.

This time around, I was a little more selective on what I installed. The phone was at a pretty 'stable' state as far as my regular apps, when I noticed the bad stutter. It was infact, the same time Hangouts 4.0 was updated on my phone. When it was combined with my SMS/MMS, it rendered the phone unusable when a group MMS conversation was happening. I removed SMS/MMS from Hangouts and all was 'better'. Moved on to Textra (which is pretty awesome by the way). However, not soon after that, experienced the really bad stutter, tried uninstalling some apps one by one, but didn't get better.

I still think that it has something to do with Android vs Wifi, vs Bluetooth vs Samsung/ATT software.

At my house I have a repeater wifi network as well that overlaps coverage area, so the wifi swaps can be... a challenge.

I'll look into Textra, as I am a Hangouts user.
 

Bkr11

Well-known member
Dec 24, 2012
68
0
0
Visit site
Well this is kind of a bummer, but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I didn't think I've gone too crazy installing apps, but when I have a nice down day I'll do the factory reset as well. The phone isn't unusable by any stretch, but it's certainly not what I remember when I first got it. Biggest frustration has been the camera not launching or taking 10's of seconds at times. Used to be no-time flat with the double click of the home button.
 

thetruthkc

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2012
65
0
0
Visit site
Can we start a conversation on what the most painless way of factory restoring and getting back up and running since this may be regular way to get the otherwise awesome S6 Active back to usable. Again, we don't have a way to root, so I'm guessing Titanium is not going to be an option.

System Settings:
  • I use Nova Launcher Prime and I can export my settings to Dropbox.
  • When I factory restored, I chose the 'setup as new'. Would it be better to restore from a Google saved backup set? (it would restore some system settings, saved wifi networks, and apps - with app data?
  • I use a program called MyBackup Pro that has an option of restoring system settings, but haven't tried it as I wanted as 'clean' of an install as I could. I'll try that the next time.
  • Other suggestions?

Apps
  • I restored one by one out of the Play Store, tedious, but that way I could be selective
  • If you don't 'Set phone up as new', then I'm guessing the OS will restore your apps from the last known Google backup
  • Again, MyBackupPro has an option to backup/restore my apps. I'm not sure that I have enough space in my Dropbox to backup all the apks, but I may try this.

Contacts
  • I used MyBackupPro, but got tons of duplicates, but I think it is partly because over the years, they just built up from other restoring options. I had to download a duplicate contacts deletion app to restore.
  • I think in the past AT&T had some kind of contacts manager, anyone use this to backup and restore?
  • I guess if you sync your contacts to Google, they can be synced back no problem.

SMS/MMS
  • I used MyBackup Pro, it worked pretty well, except I think my contacts were so screwed up, when I imported, some MMS group conversations were separated (the history)

Photos/Videos
  • I keep all my stuff 'auto synced' to Google Photos, so no biggie for me to lose local copies

That's about all the stuff I use my phone for, most of my data is really in the cloud between Dropbox/Google Drive and other services, there isn't much local to my phone so I don't really mind doing the factory reset every month or two. Now if I could have a one-touch restore after a factory reset, I'd pay for that.

Suggestions/Comments?
 

Jed Perks

Active member
Aug 30, 2015
40
0
0
Visit site
You use anything like clean master and/or CM security? I use those to clean all the junk off my phone... Also I was having major decrease in battery life. I use usage manager to keep eye on things and noticed the battery would say 100% charged but usage manager showed the battery was only charging about 90%. Almost bought a new charger, but then i tried plugging charger into a different outlet, not a power strip, and now it's back to normal. Getting 26-30 hrs on battery before getting the 15% charge notice...

JPerks SGS6A
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
942,379
Messages
6,913,776
Members
3,158,385
Latest member
phlyx