My conspiracy theory on the borked multitasking

[icebike]

Anyone know why none of the big review sites even bother to mention the piss poor multitasking on the One X? I mean this phone handles multitasking in a manner that is completely different and worse than just about any android phone in recent memory and none of the big review sites mention it at all. It is frustrating because if HTC gets a pass they may never fix it, or worse yet, make it common place on all their phones.

Actually AC is one of the bigger review sites, especially in the Android world.

Yet with Jerry jumping onto HTC's side with both feet at the top of his lungs in the podcast what incentive do they have to change?

After HTC flying Phil out to Seattle, he can't very well dump on them either.


Sent from my HOX

 

[crxssi]

I'm not an expert, but how difficult would it have been to shove in an extra gig of ram (like Samsung did for the gs3)? Was HTC being cheap? Or are they planning to release a new version with 2gigs of ram in a few months? Because I wouldn't have minded paying $100 extra for additional ram (and even storage) for the initial release of the oneX. Just saying...

It would not have been difficult nor would it have cost much (maybe $5-$10?). I am not sure why they didn't go with 1.5 or 2GB of memory. I doubt they will release a different One X or Evo LTE with more memory any time soon.

 

[crxssi]

Anyone know why none of the big review sites even bother to mention the piss poor multitasking on the One X?

Honestly, I don't think most people notice at first what is going on or that it evolves into a problem. And a lot of people still can't tell the difference between multitasking and suspend-and-reload-task-switching.

 

[calvin35]

It would not have been difficult nor would it have cost much (maybe $5-$10?). I am not sure why they didn't go with 1.5 or 2GB of memory. I doubt they will release a different One X or Evo LTE with more memory any time soon.

There is a report that after boot up the Sprint S3 has 1.2 Gigs of free RAM. This should have been the case with the One X and the Evo 4G LTE. Samsung did it right.

 

[snoopgoat]

Actually AC is one of the bigger review sites, especially in the Android world.

Yet with Jerry jumping onto HTC's side with both feet at the top of his lungs in the podcast what incentive do they have to change?

After HTC flying Phil out to Seattle, he can't very well dump on them either.


Sent from my HOX

Haha!

Developer of Dock for Android/iOS/webOS, Panes for iPad, Glimpse for TouchPad

 

[DrDoppio]

Actually AC is one of the bigger review sites, especially in the Android world.

Yet with Jerry jumping onto HTC's side with both feet at the top of his lungs in the podcast what incentive do they have to change?

After HTC flying Phil out to Seattle, he can't very well dump on them either.


Sent from my HOX

Well now they link to this forum from the AC front page, so I believe they're open about it. I would have never known about HTC multitasking if it wasn't for AC... just saying...

 

[mgfjd12]

It's probably a far stretch, but I think ATT/HTC deliberately made the multitasking suck (and unwilling to fix it) because they want you to hit your data cap limit sooner.
Every time you navigate away from any app that needs internet, to do something (e.g. watch a YouTube vid), and then return back, the app reloads. When it reloads, it gobbles data. Overtime, those unnecessary reloads will start taking a hit on your precious limited data.
Now this may only apply with certain apps. The one app I've noticed (which I use a lot) is Dolphin browser. I was initially skeptical if the webpage reload was an actual "reload" or just a "page re-rendering", so I did a little experiment (which you can do too). I went to a site, after it loaded, I went to do a couple other tasks, turned off my internet, returned back to Dolphin, it tried to reload, but failed and returned the "no internet" thingy. In a normal situation, it should just display what I was previously viewing since it was already preloaded anyway. But instead, I returned to a blank page. Now, this may not be an actual use case scenario for most ppl, but you can imagine how annoying it is if you were viewing a site before, and then walked to an area with no coverage, but can't view what you've already previously loaded. Now, I tried this with the chrome browser, and noticed it behaves differently (as expected). If there's no internet, it just re-loads (from cache I guess) what you were previously viewing. But if there's internet, I really don't know if it'll be reloading from cache or from the internet. So, I guess it depends on the app.

Anyway, my point is, if you love hopping around between apps, and they're unnecessarily reloading (because of the lousy multitasking), you might be gobbling more data than you'd like. Which ATT would gladly charge you for once you exceed by 1 byte
What do you guys think?




Developer of Dock for Android/iOS/webOS, Panes for iPad, Glimpse for TouchPad

I doubt it. I have been using the phone for a month and it doesn't bother me anymore. I learned to adapt to the phone multitasking.The problem is HTC and the reviewers never said a word about multitasking. Personally, when I bought the phone, I was expecting a full multitasking experience with great battery life. However; what I am getting is great battery life, limited multitasking.
I like the battery life and I think it is a great trade off for multitasking. In the future, when cellphones become more efficient, I would like to get the multitasking as well.

 

[npaladin-2000]

You know, the way everyone is talking, they'd better not hope this is an ICS thing, or it'll show up on the GS3 too.

 

[aboxa]

I doubt it. I have been using the phone for a month and it doesn't bother me anymore. I learned to adapt to the phone multitasking.The problem is HTC and the reviewers never said a word about multitasking. Personally, when I bought the phone, I was expecting a full multitasking experience with great battery life. However; what I am getting is great battery life, limited multitasking.
I like the battery life and I think it is a great trade off for multitasking. In the future, when cellphones become more efficient, I would like to get the multitasking as well.

I wonder why there are like NO reviews that talk about this? I didn't even notice it at first because I don't run a bunch of apps at once and constantly switch around but I imagine that phone reviewers who email/browse/etc nonstop would have seen this real quick.

 

[sniffs]

I wonder why there are like NO reviews that talk about this? I didn't even notice it at first because I don't run a bunch of apps at once and constantly switch around but I imagine that phone reviewers who email/browse/etc nonstop would have seen this real quick.

Funny thing is, every now and then MT will work fine.

Case in point, I play alot of TrippleTown. If I get a text and I exit to reply to the text and go back in, the game reloads as if I first opened it... it'll resume to where I was because it was properly designed to do that.

however, sometimes if I press the "back" button continuously, it'll back out to the previous app and every now and then, it'll resume where the game left off. It's very strange. I think MT can work if the system has enough ram left over which isn't very often.. who knows.

 

[calvin35]

I wonder why there are like NO reviews that talk about this? I didn't even notice it at first because I don't run a bunch of apps at once and constantly switch around but I imagine that phone reviewers who email/browse/etc nonstop would have seen this real quick.

The sad thing is that I am pretty sure they did notice it and for whatever reason didn't bother to mention it. Maybe they they're to cozy with the manufacturers.

 

[npaladin-2000]

The sad thing is that I am pretty sure they did notice it and for whatever reason didn't bother to mention it. Maybe they they're to cozy with the manufacturers.

Doubtful. I'm not noticing it either. In fact I'm surprised how long the contacts app or Friendcaster Pro will remember how far into the app I am: they would have been long killed on either of my old Gingerbread devices.

You sure you're not running an additional task killer or something?

 

[Saneless]

Doubtful. I'm not noticing it either. In fact I'm surprised how long the contacts app or Friendcaster Pro will remember how far into the app I am: they would have been long killed on either of my old Gingerbread devices.

You sure you're not running an additional task killer or something?

DIfferent apps behave different ways. Browsers remember your pages but not your place on them. Tapatalk remembers the high level forum (such as AC) but not which thread or forum you were on. Music apps tend to keep your place. And a lot of apps are decent at remembering which screen you were on, like Google Talk will remember I'm talking to John Smith and keep it on that conversation, but it will clear and reload it once I get back to it after it has been closed out.

 

[icebike]

Funny thing is, every now and then MT will work fine.

Case in point, I play alot of TrippleTown. If I get a text and I exit to reply to the text and go back in, the game reloads as if I first opened it... it'll resume to where I was because it was properly designed to do that.

however, sometimes if I press the "back" button continuously, it'll back out to the previous app and every now and then, it'll resume where the game left off. It's very strange. I think MT can work if the system has enough ram left over which isn't very often.. who knows.

I keep telling people: Avoid the built in webkit browser and almost everything works. Anything that uses webkit forces app reloads. (lots of apps are merely wrappers of webkit stock browser).

Use Firefox for a week, set it to be the default, and you will be amazed how much you can do without losing your position or work when switching tasks.

 

[Distorted Loop]

The problem with your theory is that the international One X (which I have 2 of) has the same problems with multitasking; so for it to be accurate, it would have to be a world-wide conspiracy amongst dozens of carriers and HTC, or AT&T is the only carrier HTC cares about. Both seem silly.

There's plenty of things wrong with the reviews of the One X on many sites. Very few of them noticed the warts this thing has in both hardware and software. Hardware might be just because review units are cream of the crop and checked out before going to reviewers, but software, there's no excuse.

It seems like many reviewers just look at the beautiful display, drool over the 720p, run a few of those unmentionable benchmarks and then declare the latest phone the greatest. Hard to imagine anyone actually using the phone for a few days in anything but a light use model and not noticing that there was something wrong different with the multi-tasking, and then chose to not report it.

 

[nuprotocol]

I think it's simple - HTC can achieve better battery life if they gimp multitasking to the point where it's barely multitasking anymore.

I believe you nailed it and its kind of sad. I love my my HOX and switched from sprint(10yrs) plus customer to att. The phone is amazing and fast in every way except its not a mobile office anymore.

Try to copy something from a word doc in dropbox into a page or thread. The entire app reloads. Or just leave this reply window go to email and come right back. This window and everything u typed reloads.

I want a stock rom just with multitasking fixed. Or atleast give the browser full priority and everything else can reload.

 

[denversc]

Another setting that might help is changing the Background Process Limit in the Developer Options settings screen. By default it is set to "Standard Limit" but the UI allows you to choose between 0 and 4. I am not sure exactly how changing this value impacts the multitasking, but perhaps someone smarter than me knows. Personally, I didn't notice much of a difference. I'm trying to use Firefox now as my default browser to see if that makes any difference

Sent from my HTC One X using Android Central Forums

 

[anon(819941)]

Wow... Whenever I read posts about smartphones anywhere, they are so heated up and so overly exaggerated... it's a joke, really!...

The other day I was watching a video of a guy explaining why the HTC One X supposedly sucked ass compared to the SGS3 just because the placement of the button on the top was not as ergonomic as the SGS3's, or because he disliked the AC plug on the side... Come on, that guy really needs to get a life!!!!

I read this now and it feels like moving back to an application and having it slightly off is the end of the World, HTC people should be crucified and the HTC One X is a piece of junk... Really?

I own an international One X and have noticed absolutely nothing. In fact, I don't think I would even care if the problem (as is described) was there, mostly because I can scroll back to the page I was or play again from the last saved point, I think I have faced bigger challenges in my life. Irony aside, though, I can hardly understand how something as trivial as this can result in moving to another phone, much less in insulting or demeaning the people in HTC.

In my opinion, the HTC One X, just like about any of the high end smartphones out there, is AMAZING. It is an incredibly powerful device that offers so many features that 95% of its users will never get past scratching the surface. From this perspective, the fact that multitasking doesn't work exactly as some understand it is not such a big deal, I think.

 

[sniffs]

I keep telling people: Avoid the built in webkit browser and almost everything works. Anything that uses webkit forces app reloads. (lots of apps are merely wrappers of webkit stock browser).

Use Firefox for a week, set it to be the default, and you will be amazed how much you can do without losing your position or work when switching tasks.

I tried this method of yours.. I loaded up firefox, loaded up the mobile version of wired.com

pressed home, opened text messages, sent a text, clicked the recent app button to load FF back up and it reloaded the app and web page.

 

[snoopgoat]

Wow... Whenever I read posts about smartphones anywhere, they are so heated up and so overly exaggerated... ... I read this now and it feels like moving back to an application and having it slightly off is the end of the World... I own an international One X and have noticed absolutely nothing. In fact, I don't think I would even care if the problem (as is described) was there, mostly because I can scroll back to the page I was or play again from the last saved point ...
In my opinion, the HTC One X, just like about any of the high end smartphones out there, is AMAZING. It is an incredibly powerful device that offers so many features that 95% of its users will never get past scratching the surface. From this perspective, the fact that multitasking doesn't work exactly as some understand it is not such a big deal, I think.

I hate it when people try to use the "It's just a phone" argument. I mean, you're right. It's just a phone. And technically, having a phone/smartphone is a luxury. We should be happy we can even make a phone call with it.
But here's the truth, it's "more than a phone" for some people. Our society has advanced to the point where these phones are being used more extensively by people in various fields. Some of us use it for grown up stuff (not just for playing angry birds). Do some people get over-heated? Sure. But we have no right to call their issues invalid (or exaggerated).
Now, the multitasking issue isn't being exaggerated. It's a valid issue. When a phone is being marketed as a high end "Android Phone", there are certain levels of expectations from an android phone. When I buy an android phone, I know I'm not gonna get the best battery life or smoothest buttery UI, I'm aware of that and i can live with that. But the last thing i expect is to get an android phone with bastardized multitasking. Now, I've heard people say "You're not buying an android phone, you're buying a 'Sense' phone". Well, in that case, why is "Android" being listed on the box? It's almost like false advertising, if you ask me. You're right, having to wait 3 secs for a webpage (you just saw 1 min ago) to re-reload isn't the end of the world. But is that what we've come to? having to settle for bad designs. We pay a lot of money for these devices, and we're not asking for perfection, just basic functionality (for a modern day smartphone). You know you have a problem when an iphone can [fake] multitask better than an android phone! I can live with bugs in a phone. But deliberate omission, that's what I have a problem with.

Some may say "If you don't like it, go return it". True. But it's not always that black & white. Some people (like myself), etf'ed our previous contracts and switched to AT&T (and signed 2 years of our life), specifically because of this phone. So, "returning" it won't undo that.
You may say, "Why did you buy the phone, without testing it first?". Well, I played with the demo, three times, and didn't notice this issue. I guess I wasn't really checking to see if it multitasks, because I figured that was a given. Stupid me. I guess that's why a lot of reviewers (and users) didn't catch it initially. It turns out, playing with a phone (for 5 mins) is actually different from USING a phone. And for some users who've caught it, they don't mind "managing" it. That's fine.
I guess from now on, before I buy a new android phone, I need to double check to see if it multitasks 'properly'. While I'm at it, I might as well check if it makes phone calls too. You never know. It might have been designed to aggressively kill phone calls after 10mins to conserve battery!
Where do you draw the line? Do we now have to check "everything" in a phone? Do phone reviewers (and users) now need to start checking every phone for every basic functionality?
Do android phones now need to start listing all their [basic] features on the box?

I ask because, this might be bigger than "multitasking". If HTC gets a pass on this, then what else is everyone gonna be doing? I'm psyched about the GS3, but now I'm wondering if Samsung has secretly crippled any basic android functionality, which may go undetected until a few beta testers (i.e. unlucky users) find out

Oh well, it's just a phone. Whatever...