widgets not working/not updating

blufriktion

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I just got a brand new N5. So far so good but theres a couple of things that are bothering me... mostly the fact that widgets dont seem to self update at ALL!! When I tap on them they still work, but the actual widget stays the same. Anybody know how to resolve this? Im coming from a Note 2. Thank you all in advancedScreenshot (11_56AM, Dec 20, 2013) (2).jpg
 

N4Newbie

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I have found that (often) when auto updates come through for widgets, you need to remove the widget from your home screen (long press and drag to trash) and then "reinstall" it by grabbing a new copy from the widget drawer.

Of course, it is also quite possible that some of your widgets are not compatible with 4.4.x.
 

patruns

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Pretty much ALL of them stop working!!!

I was looking for a specific widget to check the latest date in the Play Store. You said that when you tap on them they still work. What makes you believe they are not auto updating? Are you expecting them to look different on every update?
 

N4Newbie

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Widgets are generally "active" in some manner - displaying current weather or temperature, number of waiting emails or texts, etc.

I assume the OP means that said info is not updating as it should.
 

srkmagnus

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Remove the widget then add back to the home screen. See if that fixes the problem. If not, check the settings and see if there is an updated interval you can adjust. Something like the clock should automatically update without further changes, which doesn't appear to be happening.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app
 

myke115

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None of that fixes the problem. I am having it to and noticed it as well on other forums. I have a N5 and was one of the first to get it but I've had pervasive issues with various widgets that freeze. They are from various developers and often include time, weather, and date but the stock widgets are also affected including GMail and calendar. Removing them does no good. Re-installing does not help. The only thing that does is re-starting the phone but the problem just starts again with an hour or two or a factory reset which I've done and the problem went away for a few hour but then was right back there. I have a Nexus 7 & 10 as well both of which are updated to 4.4.2 and neither have the issue so I can only assume the hardware/software combination with the N5 has a bug.

I'm a pretty good power user and have tried all of the normal tricks and hints that you might normally think of but nothing helps. I even changed the time/date setting to manual instead of network from a suggestion to see if that played into the problem but it did not help even after a phone restart.

My widgets keep the screen individualistic and not looking like an iphone and virtually everyone I use is inoperable. This is very very very frustrating and beyond annoying.
 

myke115

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By the way ... what he means by NOT updating is just that. And if it's a time and weather widget of course he and I as well expect them to look different as they would display the correct time, date, and/or weather which they are not if they are several hours off of time especially! Weather displaying yesterday's forecast. Date widget displaying yesterday's date.

I've used many many widgets but some of the ones in specific right now are stock gmail and calendar widget, HD Widgets, Beautiful Widgets, Power Toggles (which will not show the new toggle if added while the widgets are frozen), and Retro Widget most all of which have had recent updates.
 

N4Newbie

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I wonder if a single widget is responsible for causing the others to fail? Perhaps you could try removing all of them from your home screens and then add them back one at a time starting with the stock widgets.
 

myke115

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I don't think it's any particular widget app. I've stripped all widgets out but one and tried different widgets from different developer as the only installed one and they still freeze.

I brought this to Google's attention and they sent a new N5 which arrived today and the other one is on it's way back. Unfortunately, it did not do any good. I was very careful about what I installed and decided to try a completely different clock widget that I wasn't using on the other phone. Within hours, it had frozen just like before. I installed some of my prior used ones and they are freezing as well.

I'm pretty convinced it's a software/hardware combination problem that goes back to an old bug in Android and seems magnified by 4.4.2 and the Nexus 5. My N5 only started it after the 4.4.2 update and both my N7 and N10 have experienced it intermittently as well but only after the 4.4.2 update.

Very disappointing. Will not keep a new phone that has effectively disabled one of Android's main distinguishing attributes.
 

kunalj1508

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apparently some app or some action that resets the launcher makes this problem go away temporarily. so if i change language under settings from US English to UK English, the widgets start auto-updating for a few hours. Then, the problem happens again, and changing language again does the trick. thought this is a stop gap solution for a week or so, its no where close to being a permanent solution. any ideas out there? is this a universal problem across all N5s? Or just a few? Should i send my phone in for a refund? lots of questions. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.
 

V@no

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Since this started happening on Android 4.3 (for me), I suspect it's due to memory management, that kills old processes. The problem easily reproducible by using the phone a lot, such as starting different apps, load heavy web pages, etc, fill up the ram.

Then when from task manager used clear memory, the launcher resets and widgets start working for a while.

There is no issue with specific widget, they all getting affected. This has been happening on Galaxy Note 2 and 3. Note 3 is the worse actually.
 

pacho69

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Since this started happening on Android 4.3 (for me), I suspect it's due to memory management, that kills old processes. The problem easily reproducible by using the phone a lot, such as starting different apps, load heavy web pages, etc, fill up the ram.

Then when from task manager used clear memory, the launcher resets and widgets start working for a while.

There is no issue with specific widget, they all getting affected. This has been happening on Galaxy Note 2 and 3. Note 3 is the worse actually.

Same problem here. Note 3 widgets are frozen along with app icons. No matter which one- press and nothing! Frustating. If no solution soon will return friggin phone I guess? K 5 minutes after writing this I opened up my APEX home page and saw desktop was "LOCKED"! Unlocked and bingo- works fine now!!
 
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disneymagik

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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. Those two, for whatever reason, I haven't had any 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!

Sent from my FABULOUS Note 3!
 

Niall Leonard

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This a hopeless me-too type posting. I'm using a Galaxy Note 3 and my clock widgets stick on the time I set them up - thinking the problem was Fancy Widgets I switched to Beautiful Widgets but the problem re-appeared. For both widget apps when the phone boots up I get a blank space and 'widget loading' showing. I delete the broken widget, install another, it looks fine, then five minutes later I notice the time hasn't changed.

The problem first appeared yesterday. The last system update from Samsung was a week or so ago and no problems appeared then.

I have also noticed that the People Widget I use for speed dialling is acting flaky, sometimes not loading at all, sometimes loading and then freezing. Weird.

Came here when I Googled for a solution... sadly I see no-one has found one yet.

I am not using any third-party launcher - and I forgot to mention, the lockscreen time updates just fine!
 

disneymagik

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What I don't understand is why some people aren't having any trouble at all and then there's us here who can't get them (or at least the ones we want to) to work no matter what we do. I'm still under warranty but boy what a HUMONGOUS PITA to go through the warranty exchange just to get another that acts the same which is what I've read others have done. {sigh}

Sent from my FABULOUS Note 3!
 

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