Apps that may be a cause for phone lag and slow performance

[j0urn3y]

My GS6 is on AT&T and running 5.02. I've been one of the folks who seem to have issues with lag where the phone slows to a crawl. Imagine it taking 7 seconds to open the stock Messages app. Simply pressing the Home button would do nothing for 5-10 seconds. Frustrating.

A post from a few days ago suggested tweaking some graphics settings as well as a reminder about background apps that consume system resources. Having followed the steps in the post my GS6 is blazing fast again.

Here are my observations within the last few days of apps that introduced lag on my device.

Avast anti-virus (as of 8/14/15)

I installed it a few months ago and didn't notice any lag at the time. The moment I removed it the phone's performance improved significantly.

Greenify (as of 8/14/15)

I had it installed but not configured. I removed this at the same time as Avast but unsure if it had any impact.

Automatic v1.9.1

This background app interfaces with a OBD-II adapter via Bluetooth. No apparent lag running it.

Car Dashdroid v2.6.30

I installed this yesterday for fun. Phone performance seemed OK while I was driving but when I got home, lag ensued. Force quitting the app resolved it.

Battery Widget Reborn v2.1.17

Been running this for awhile. No lag. It's telling me I have 15 hours remaining - the built-in gauge says 13 hours. Historically my phone reported 8-9 hours remaining so this is a welcome change.

Here is a partial list of apps I use often (and run in the background) which don't contribute to lag (as of 8/16/15).

NovaLauncher
Google Now (used as app, not launcher)
Relay
gReader
1Password
Google Authenticator
Chrome
Google Maps
Android Wear
Dropbox (without photo upload)
Synology DS apps (including DS Photo with background uploading enabled)
Google Photos (with background uploads)
Facebook
Facebook Messenger
Twitter
Google Inbox
OneDrive (without photo upload)
Todoist
IF (IFTT)

I realize everyone's experience is different with performance and battery but I hope this is useful to those still experiencing issues and looking for some insight.

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks, these kinds of posts are always helpful. I'm not surprised about the improvement after uninstalling Avast.

 

[Rukbat]

I've never noticed any lag from Avast, except on downloading or installing, of course. It takes time for it to inspect a new file.

Greenify actually should reduce lag if the phone is rooted. If not, you have to run it at least once a day and let it force-stop all the apps that shouldn't be running, it can't freeze them on an unrooted phone.

IFTTT will cause some slowdown, depending on what you have triggering it - it's constantly checking wifi, Bluetooth, etc. The question is whether you want the utility or the speed. (I have Tasker running all the time - same thing.)

Facebook? Known battery hog and known CPU hog. Facebook Messenger is worse. I'm not sure (never even downloaded it) but I think the Twitter app is the same.

At least you're not running "RAM cleaner" apps - that's the easy way to slow a phone WAY down and kill the battery.