Call me paranoid

[anon(749368)]

I've had my s5 pretty much since launch and I was extremely pleased with the way it works (except battery life), it was very responsive, no lag, hiccups or anything. Now, about a week before the s6 dropped, I noticed Facebook taking longer than usual to load and now it became slower overall (g+ loads slower, nova launcher icons dissappear for a moment when pressing the home button to exit an application, opening some apps take long time - it makes me think it froze, etc).
I'm wondering if good old Samsung or Verizon pushed software to it to make it slower so that we upgrade to the next big thing... We all know Apple did it to their iPhone so I was just wondering...
What are your thoughts?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Gekko]

I've had my s5 pretty much since launch and I was extremely pleased with the way it works (except battery life), it was very responsive, no lag, hiccups or anything. Now, about a week before the s6 dropped, I noticed Facebook taking longer than usual to load and now it became slower overall (g+ loads slower, nova launcher icons dissappear for a moment when pressing the home button to exit an application, opening some apps take long time - it makes me think it froze, etc).
I'm wondering if good old Samsung or Verizon pushed software to it to make it slower so that we upgrade to the next big thing... We all know Apple did it to their iPhone so I was just wondering...
What are your thoughts?

Posted via the Android Central App

How to clear the cache on the Galaxy S5 for better performance - AndroidPIT

 

[anon(749368)]

I know about clearing cache and all that... Tx

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[cydewaze]

Mine is still nice and speedy. Of course, that could be because I froze all updates right after getting the phone.

 

[20blks]

I've had my s5 pretty much since launch and I was extremely pleased with the way it works (except battery life), it was very responsive, no lag, hiccups or anything. Now, about a week before the s6 dropped, I noticed Facebook taking longer than usual to load and now it became slower overall (g+ loads slower, nova launcher icons dissappear for a moment when pressing the home button to exit an application, opening some apps take long time - it makes me think it froze, etc).
I'm wondering if good old Samsung or Verizon pushed software to it to make it slower so that we upgrade to the next big thing... We all know Apple did it to their iPhone so I was just wondering...
What are your thoughts?

Posted via the Android Central App

If they did that, would that make you want to stay with Samsung?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Mal Lignant Tumor]

They (Samsung) can't slow mine down. I keep it under my tinfoil hat!

 

[Detectionable]

I have a feeling the clever devs that dissect stock ROMs / Updates would have something to say if they did that

Take off the hat, fix the phone

 

[barry1964]

I've had my s5 pretty much since launch and I was extremely pleased with the way it works (except battery life), it was very responsive, no lag, hiccups or anything. Now, about a week before the s6 dropped, I noticed Facebook taking longer than usual to load and now it became slower overall (g+ loads slower, nova launcher icons dissappear for a moment when pressing the home button to exit an application, opening some apps take long time - it makes me think it froze, etc).
I'm wondering if good old Samsung or Verizon pushed software to it to make it slower so that we upgrade to the next big thing... We all know Apple did it to their iPhone so I was just wondering...
What are your thoughts?

Posted via the Android Central App

What did apple do to their iPhones?

I'm not sure how iPhones work with software updates, but Android gives you a choice to accept or block any update. I can't see any other mechanism where they would be able to reliably slowdown everyone's handset at the same time. I'd be pretty shocked if this was actually the case!

 

[cydewaze]

I'm wondering if good old Samsung or Verizon pushed software to it to make it slower so that we upgrade to the next big thing...
What are your thoughts?

Since we're on the topic of paranoia, I'll share mine.

With my last two Android phones, each one has worked fantastically out of the box, but as time wore on, they got slower and slower. My first phone (Droid 2) was rooted, so I got RDS Lite and flashed it back to the original Froyo state. It flew again, but by the time I'd downloaded all the OTA updates, it was back to crawling, and this was without any apps installed. My Razr M was the same way, slower with each OTA update. (On my D2, I eventually went with Liberty ROM, and that got me another 2 years out of the phone because that ROM was so freaking fast).

So to explain this performance decline, I have a theory. It may be complete nonsense, and I probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but it sounds good, so here it is.

When you buy a new phone, it's optimized for the ROM it comes with. Samsung may even do some tweaks on that ROM to get the best possible performance out of it, because they know those new phones get tested against each other and are heavily scrutinized. Also, the hardware on your phone is usually the latest and greatest when it's brand new, so that ROM will be expecting that hardware.

Now you've gotten an OTA update. A new version of Android, and when that happens you've lost those tweaks. Samsung doesn't care how fast your phone is anymore because you already own it, and the next big thing is out, so there are none of those tweaks on the new ROM. So right out of the box you take a performance hit. Also, since your phone was released, newer, faster hardware has hit the market, so the new version of Android might be designed to take advantage of that. After a few years and a few major OTA updates, you now have an old phone with a new ROM. Think about trying to run Lollipop on my old single core D2. It probably won't be fast if it even boots at all.

The same thing probably happens with apps (especially games) but not everyone loads phones up with apps, and not all apps (especially non-game ones) need speedy hardware.

This theory is why I've decided to freeze all OTA updates. It's more of a test than anything, but I REALLY like my phone the way it is, and I don't see any reason to have Lollipop.

 

[Travo79]

@Cydewaze give or take a little bit and I personally think you're spot on with that theory. The more times the ROM changes on your phone, the more room for error. Its like developers are building the apps and system around a ROM when the phone launches, and building a ROM around apps and system when upgrades come around.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Gekko]

I know about clearing cache and all that... Tx

Posted via the Android Central App

that's great that you know about it - but did you do it?

 

[anon(749368)]

that's great that you know about it - but did you do it?

No, I didn't do it, I was too busy leaving snarky remarks on the forums...

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Gekko]

No, I didn't do it, I was too busy leaving snarky remarks on the forums...

Posted via the Android Central App

obviously.

 

[punk999]

My device had certainly slowed down since a week or so, it hanged twice few days ago, this had actually never happened since I've owned the device for 6 months. To be honest, this is kinda weird.

 

[monicakm]

I was going to make a new thread about this but since it's being discussed here...I don't let my phones do auto updates and when I checked for an update and the 1st of 2 updates for Lolliflop popped up, I said no. It said it wouldn't ask again and I'd have to manually check for updates. Great. Well now it seems as the 1st of 2 HAS downloaded and wants to install. It keeps popping up and I have to hit the back button. If I choose "install later" it brings me to a clock to set a time to install so that's no good. I called Verizon but they have nothing to offer in the way a setting to keep the popup from reminding me. I do NOT want Lolliflop to install but sooner or later I'm going to accidentally hit the install button Is there anything I can do??
Thanks

 

[mountainman]

What did apple do to their iPhones?

I'm not sure how iPhones work with software updates, but Android gives you a choice to accept or block any update. I can't see any other mechanism where they would be able to reliably slowdown everyone's handset at the same time. I'd be pretty shocked if this was actually the case!

My spousal unit is the most unobservant person on the planet, and she notices the iPhone slowdown when the new one is coming out. .... I think the same thing happens to Samsung phones.... I have noticed myself with an S5 clearing the cache maybe every other day now. I would say it's like a placebo effect of following the industry on my part, but trust me here, my spousal unit does not follow it at all, and still experiences the "slowdown".

It's odd. I can't explain it with concrete stats. But I think the circumstantial evidence is proof enough that something funky goes on when a new device is coming out.

 

[mountainman]

My device had certainly slowed down since a week or so, it hanged twice few days ago, this had actually never happened since I've owned the device for 6 months. To be honest, this is kinda weird.

See, this is what I'm talking about. "Kinda weird". Can't put your finger on it. More lag than usual. Whatever you want to call it.

 

[cydewaze]

I do NOT want Lolliflop to install but sooner or later I'm going to accidentally hit the install button Is there anything I can do??

You could always root the phone, then use something like JRummy's ROM toolbox to freeze the update process, which is what I did.

 

[monicakm]

I'm afraid I'm not brave enough anymore to root the phone. I figured that was the only thing I could do. I'll just continue to hit the back button till someday the install now button accidentally gets pushed and then I'll have to live with it. By then maybe there will be updates to turn Lolliflop into a tasty Lollipop

 

[anon(749368)]

My spousal unit is the most unobservant person on the planet, and she notices the iPhone slowdown when the new one is coming out. .... I think the same thing happens to Samsung phones.... I have noticed myself with an S5 clearing the cache maybe every other day now. I would say it's like a placebo effect of following the industry on my part, but trust me here, my spousal unit does not follow it at all, and still experiences the "slowdown".

It's odd. I can't explain it with concrete stats. But I think the circumstantial evidence is proof enough that something funky goes on when a new device is coming out.

I remember it being in the news a few years back, when it was discovered the Apple is intentionally slowing down older devices before new ones came out...

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