[10 Gauge]

I just wanted to share this with the community. I make absolutely no guarantees on how well this will work for you, but this is what worked for me and I hope that it might be able to help you as well!



Backlog: I picked up my GS4 about 3-4 weeks ago and had been experience the typical lag and stuttering issues during page switches, app switches, and quite a bit of noticeable lag in my games (Hill Climb most notably). I scoured the internet looking for ways to alleviate the problem but was never able to completely get rid of the lag or stutters that this device seems to suffer from. One of the most frustrating parts about reading the other fixes online all had to do with disabling all of the cool effects and animations a phone of this caliber should be able to slice right through. The fix that I found, and works for me, doesn't make you sacrifice the phones awesomeness for stutter free operation. After making a few tweaks in the Developer Options as well as changing or disabling some effects, I can now say that my phone is completely lag and stutter free. I haven't had an animation stutter since making these changes nor have I had a single bit of lag in any of my games. Read on for how my phone is setup and how you may be able to fix yours as well!

MY SETUP

Apps:

• Nova Launcher Prime (Much better code optimization than TouchWiz, it makes for a more enjoyable user experience)
• Clean Master (use this app to keep your device cache cleaned up, the less amount of data the phone has to work through the better)

Settings:
-[Optional] Disable Lock Screen "Unlock Effect" - This really will have no bearing on the lag/stutter problem but I find that since it does take additional time to load these effects when you wake up your phone I prefer the responsiveness of the original swipe unlock effect. (Settings > My Device > Lock Screen > Unlock effect)


-[Optional] Disable S Voice "Open via the home key" Option - This will greatly speed up the responsiveness of the Home button if you do not use S Voice or make use of it's double tap feature. (S Voice > Menu > Settings)

Developer Options:
-Animation Scales: 0.5x (This step is about personal preference, honestly. Decreasing this setting from 1x to .5x will make the animations take half as long as they do by default which will make your device feel much more responsive, instead of waiting around for the nifty animations to dazzle you.)
-Disable hardware overlays: Check
-Force GPU rendering: Check
-Enable 4x MSAA: Check (This option really will have no bearing on lag/stutter issues, in fact if it has any impact at all it would be in games which would potentially slow them down or cause them to lag as forcing anti-aliasing is going to increase GPU load. However with this enabled I have seen no such sign of lag in my gaming and it only serves to make your games look better. Go ahead and enable it.)


-Limit background processes: 4 processes at most (This will help keep your RAM from getting tied up by applications that you are no longer using, etc rather than sitting idle hogging up memory you could be using for other things)



I am very anxious to hear if doing these things helps anyone else out. I can say with certainty that this combination has breathed new life in to my stuttery S4. Please post your results and let me know if this works for you as well. CHEERS!!!

[Ladeef]

Thanks for the tips, any impact on battery life with these two?

Disable hardware overlays: Check
-Force GPU rendering: Check

Disable Hardware Overlays? - Galaxy Nexus - RootzWiki

[10 Gauge]

Better if anything!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[dmaynard83]

Flash cyanogenmod. Completely smooth and has ir support.

Only thing is that it replaces the tw camera with the 4.3 camera

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

[10 Gauge]

Flash cyanogenmod. Completely smooth and has ir support.

Only thing is that it replaces the tw camera with the 4.3 camera

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

What carrier are you using Cyanogenmod on? Looks like they only have Nightly unstable builds available for AT&T devices.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[exempli_gratia]

What carrier are you using Cyanogenmod on? Looks like they only have Nightly unstable builds available for AT&T devices.

I'm running CM 10.2 (4.3) on VZ S4, and the nightlies have been quite stable for me. I'll second the camera comment as one downside.

CM is very good, but I think it's overselling any Android as being completely lag free (smoother than the pre-updated stock VZ S4 for sure).

[garublador]

I've pretty much only installed Nova and set my transition speeds higher in Nova (thought I don't know if either made a difference, I haven't used the stock launcher since the latest update) and I don't see any lag or studdering.

[BobR1908]

I own an S4 and while it is a great device nobody should have to purchase a premium flagship device like this and have to go through all these steps just so that it will run seamlessly. Find myself using my Note 2 most these days because it simply works. No lag, no stutter at all.

[AlphaVictor87]

Well i followed your steps, most of them besides nova launcher and clean master.

I also turned animations off completely.

The enable 4x MSAA really helped with when i'm playing Asphalt 8, super smooth now.

[Gdwheel]

I have previously done these things, too and it sped up the phone from an overall standpoint. My biggest gripe is how long it takes to open and transition from the email, messaging and other apps. I use them more than anything else. I have not found anything that will help them and they drive me nuts, especially compared to all of the non-Samsung phones out there.

[Kilgore Trout]

I own an S4 and while it is a great device nobody should have to purchase a premium flagship device like this and have to go through all these steps just so that it will run seamlessly. Find myself using my Note 2 most these days because it simply works. No lag, no stutter at all.

Its not true that you have to make these changes to have a "seamless device." I've had zero lag since day one (zero as in absolutely none whatsoever). I did turn off a few of the more silly Samsung options.

[10 Gauge]

Its not true that you have to make these changes to have a "seamless device." I've had zero lag since day one (zero as in absolutely none whatsoever). I did turn off a few of the more silly Samsung options.

You're lucky. Very lucky.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[tarnak]

Its not true that you have to make these changes to have a "seamless device." I've had zero lag since day one (zero as in absolutely none whatsoever). I did turn off a few of the more silly Samsung options.

Mine is the same way, no lag, I also disabled a bunch of the useless items as well. It's interesting to read about the lag, I have lag issues with my IP5 but not my S4.

[10 Gauge]

Mine is the same way, no lag, I also disabled a bunch of the useless items as well. It's interesting to read about the lag, I have lag issues with my IP5 but not my S4.

The options you have disabled are you just talking about the things like air view, gestures, etc?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[BobR1908]

Its not true that you have to make these changes to have a "seamless device." I've had zero lag since day one (zero as in absolutely none whatsoever). I did turn off a few of the more silly Samsung options.

Sounds like you are in the 0.5 percentile I guess LOL

[ctechnow]

I'm trying these settings out thanks!

[tarnak]

The options you have disabled are you just talking about the things like air view, gestures, etc?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

Yes, I did not find these useful enough to use.

[Gekko]

i like -

App Cache Cleaner - Clean
INFOLIFE LLC

to clean app cache because you can set an interval (hourly, daily, etc) to automatically clear cache. this way you never have to think about it. i hate doing things manually if there is an automatic way to do it and "set it and forget it".

[realsuprimo]

The only thing I dont like on my GS4 is the smudging of text when I scroll web pages, but everything esle work perfectly well.

via Tapatalk, 4 Galaxies away

[10 Gauge]

Flash cyanogenmod. Completely smooth and has ir support.

Only thing is that it replaces the tw camera with the 4.3 camera

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

Since they just released RC's of CM I decided to check it out. I am soooooo much happier with it than I was with Samsung's bloated version.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[Cool Jeff]

With HTC devices we use ''lagfix'' app ,dunno if it works on S4 too

[jjrivas672]

This changes work!!! I saw a HUGE difference!!! Thank you!!!

[10 Gauge]

This changes work!!! I saw a HUGE difference!!! Thank you!!!

Glad it helped you out.

I didn't like the fact that every time you reboot the device you have to reset the developer settings.

Ultimately I switched to CM w/ KT kernel and really couldn't be happier. Awesome performance.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

[Medellin Parcero]

how do you get to developer settings?

[paulhead]

how do you get to developer settings?

How to get to the developer settings on the Galaxy S4 | Android Central