Why does this phone use so much RAM??

**truthteller10** · 09-24-2012, 11:09 PM

My phone constantly stays at about 1 Gb of Ram being used. It seems rediculous too me because if I had another Android phone mostly like it would only have 1gb of ram instead of 2gb. With that said I'd always be out of memory. Whats wrong with the GS3 and why does it use soo much Ram?

**dmmarck** · 09-24-2012, 11:12 PM

Originally Posted by truthteller10

My phone constantly stays at about 1 Gb of Ram being used. It seems rediculous too me because if I had another Android phone mostly like it would only have 1gb of ram instead of 2gb. With that said I'd always be out of memory. Whats wrong with the GS3 and why does it use soo much Ram?

Because TouchWiz is one of the most inefficient pieces of software to ever be created for a mobile platform. Unfortunately

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**splashattack** · 09-25-2012, 03:33 AM

Better than Sense. At least we still have true multitasking.

**Almeuit** · 09-25-2012, 05:56 AM

Originally Posted by dmmarck

Because TouchWiz is one of the most inefficient pieces of software to ever be created for a mobile platform. Unfortunately

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It may be this I'm not sure.. I use nova launcher and have no issues. I rebooted my phone last night (9pm est) and this is my ram usage now (see below)

Are you closing apps when your done? And I don't mean by the arrow I mean holding the home button, going to task manager, and killing them from active. I always use my apps and click the home button to go to another and once I'm done I close all active apps. This seems to help with my ram usage a ton.

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**Skunkape60** · 09-25-2012, 06:42 AM

Originally Posted by truthteller10

My phone constantly stays at about 1 Gb of Ram being used. It seems rediculous too me because if I had another Android phone mostly like it would only have 1gb of ram instead of 2gb. With that said I'd always be out of memory. Whats wrong with the GS3 and why does it use soo much Ram?

Over and over I've been told. Android uses ram differently than windows. Unused ram is wasted ram. Android is supposed to use as much ram as it can to cache processes so (in theory) it will be quicker.

I don't know how much of this I believe.

**iMagi** · 09-25-2012, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by truthteller10

My phone constantly stays at about 1 Gb of Ram being used. It seems rediculous too me because if I had another Android phone mostly like it would only have 1gb of ram instead of 2gb. With that said I'd always be out of memory. Whats wrong with the GS3 and why does it use soo much Ram?

Go to settings. Data usage. Do you have background data active? There might be the reason.

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**vapore0n** · 09-25-2012, 07:09 AM

Which is true.
You can see this when you use the same app over and over, even if its a game.

Go to Application Manager and click on Running tab. You can see how much memory running services is using, and how much cached processes are using.
Mine is 747/876 MB right now.

Using up that much memory is not ridiculous. Cached memory gets freed when the system needs it. Given that most apps on my phone are pre-cached, there will be not much freeing going on, and apps will load up faster.

**Lawrence76taylor** · 09-25-2012, 01:32 PM

I just tried installing the nova launcher, it made no difference in the amount of ram it uses.I can't complain though phone runs just about perfect.

**mobdad** · 09-27-2012, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by truthteller10

My phone constantly stays at about 1 Gb of Ram being used. It seems rediculous too me because if I had another Android phone mostly like it would only have 1gb of ram instead of 2gb. With that said I'd always be out of memory. Whats wrong with the GS3 and why does it use soo much Ram?

Samsung was infinitely diligent to include 2Gb. You have 2Gb of RAM and you are complaining what is wrong with the GS3? Amazing. The more RAM you have on your device, the faster it is and the less battery it uses to constantly be re-opening programs. It doesn't matter that it uses 1Gb. Read and learn.

RAM: What it is, how it's used, and why you shouldn't care | Android Central

**Skunkape60** · 09-27-2012, 01:13 PM

And that's what I was taking about..

**tlrsax54** · 09-27-2012, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by Skunkape60

And that's what I was taking about..

Right. People want more RAM only to not use it? lol.

Also...you could go into Developer Options and limit background processes, that will keep your RAM usage a lot lower (try 3 or 4).

**dlwicksell** · 09-27-2012, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Skunkape60

Over and over I've been told. Android uses ram differently than windows. Unused ram is wasted ram. Android is supposed to use as much ram as it can to cache processes so (in theory) it will be quicker.

I don't know how much of this I believe.

You are absolutely correct. It isn't Android per se, it is the underlying Linux kernel's virtual memory manager that behaves this way. And it is a good thing. :-) If you double your RAM, the VMM will fill it up eventually, and that is exactly what you want.

**vr002sh** · 09-27-2012, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by Skunkape60

Over and over I've been told. Android uses ram differently than windows. Unused ram is wasted ram. Android is supposed to use as much ram as it can to cache processes so (in theory) it will be quicker.

I don't know how much of this I believe.

Actually this is true, not just of Android, but Lynx and AIX as well. Modern O/S's keep recent apps in ram, and release them as needed (they actually watch your usage and release the least used apps first) This is also why task killers are contraindicated in Android.

**McPlot** · 09-28-2012, 11:44 AM

Why have all that RAM and not use it?

Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you.

**Marty77** · 01-12-2013, 07:23 PM

after updating to jelly bean i have all sorts issues. Not sure it's totally all related to the update tho.
Can't get ram used to go below 700 with nothing running and i have only 800 something..
most annoying and problematic is my keyboard.
It lags horribly now and can't type to fast.
also sometimes keys get "stuck". I had noticed this way back on hot days and my phone felt hot, that the touch screen would go haywire. now it feels that it's always in this lag state and not sure how keys can get stuck but it's like it doesn't register me lifting the finger off and need to press it again to release it. does this with stock keyboard and others.
Not sure if it's ram related but i noticed that usage all the sudden is higher stock. Jellie bean using lots reasources?!

**meyerweb** · 01-13-2013, 01:58 PM

The general fix for issues after the JB update is, unfortunately, to do a factory reset. The OTA update seems to cause all kinds of issues that are fixed by clearing all the data.

As far as RAM, though, read through this thread. There's no advantage to empty RAM. It does nothing for you.

**Almeuit** · 01-13-2013, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by Marty77

after updating to jelly bean i have all sorts issues. Not sure it's totally all related to the update tho.
Can't get ram used to go below 700 with nothing running and i have only 800 something..
most annoying and problematic is my keyboard.
It lags horribly now and can't type to fast.
also sometimes keys get "stuck". I had noticed this way back on hot days and my phone felt hot, that the touch screen would go haywire. now it feels that it's always in this lag state and not sure how keys can get stuck but it's like it doesn't register me lifting the finger off and need to press it again to release it. does this with stock keyboard and others.
Not sure if it's ram related but i noticed that usage all the sudden is higher stock. Jellie bean using lots reasources?!

Originally Posted by meyerweb

The general fix for issues after the JB update is, unfortunately, to do a factory reset. The OTA update seems to cause all kinds of issues that are fixed by clearing all the data.

As far as RAM, though, read through this thread. There's no advantage to empty RAM. It does nothing for you.

Yeah it won't do anything. Funk (a member on this forum) has the international one with only 1GB of RAM and it sits at high usage but the system will handle it just fine. No need to worry about it.

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**nrm5110** · 01-13-2013, 02:33 PM

Unused ram is wasted ram.

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**weston87** · 01-13-2013, 09:20 PM

Is it a good idea to clear the ram every once in a while?

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**Skunkape60** · 01-13-2013, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by weston87

Is it a good idea to clear the ram every once in a while?

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I do it when my phone starts lagging... i

**toilet-handle** · 01-13-2013, 10:31 PM

Flash a new rom. It's touchwiz and all of the boat ware. I'm usually at around 3 to 5 max with apps running. With stock 4.1 and touchwiz I was at 5-9.