Wow, Lollipop 5.1/5.0 has been the worst experience by FAR.

[fuzzybabybunny]

So I've been on LP for a few months. It is absolutely the worst Android OS in terms of speed since I don't know when.

It's the memory leak thing. And then the process kswapd0 goes insane trying to manage memory.

The user responsiveness basically grinds to a halt. You have to do a restart, probably multiple times a day, which is really super annoying if you're in the middle of something (which, by definition, you always are if lag is a problem).

I have an S5. It's not the newest phone but it certainly should not be this slow.

Is it possible to downgrade to KitKat after upgrading to Lollipop? I read somewhere that there were deeper processes that stick around after a Lollipop upgrade?

 

[Zivic]

I'm with you, kit kat was much better

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Man, I just have to keep reiterating this fact. After yet another frustrating bout of dealing with the lagging and restarting, I'm honestly just sitting back ASTOUNDED by how this OS even managed to make it through to release.

If my Windows or Linux machine exhibited this behavior I would want to smash it against the wall.

 

[cronos]

My wife upgraded her phone so last week I got myself a Galaxy S4 (GPE 4.4.4), in addition to my One M7 (Sense 5.0.1, with terrible battery life that's been getting worse since around February when I flashed this ROM) that I've had for about 2.5 years now.

Last weekend I was a little bored, so I wiped both phones and flashed them with their latest GPE ROM (5.1.1 for the HTC, 5.0.1 for the S4, because the 5.1 version while out, is still unstable), and I found that they're both still pretty damn amazing. I was already writing off the M7 battery as 'done for', as I could barely last a day with it nowadays, and suddenly it's great again. I was stunned!

I thought I was getting ready to sell these two phones and get myself something new (Nexus, Moto X, Sony Z5, I still haven't decided), but now I couldn't even pick one of them to use because I want them both! The M7 is pristine and obviously looks better, and the battery life is easily 25% better than before, if not more. On the other hand, the S4 has a much better camera (I got the purple tint on the M7), superior display (to my eyes), and obviously removable battery, Qi compatibility, and micro SD support. I ended up carrying both with me every day this week and I still can't decide. Damn it!

In short, my experience is completely the opposite of you after I flashed the latest ROMs for both phones. Did you get the latest 5.1.1 update yet?

 

[Raduque]

The shipped 5.0.2 was terrible on my Galaxy S6. It seemed to have gotten worse after the two OTAs (OF3 and OF4). AT&T finally released a 5.1.1 update about a week back, and it's much much less terrible.

Most of the stuttering and unresponsiveness is gone, apps are closed much less often, and bluetooth seems to be performing better (connecting quicker and more stably to my truck). Home screen hasn't re-drawn lately, either.

Cronos, he probably has a carrier branded S5. No GPE roms for him. Depending on the model, he may not be able to use ANY roms. FBB, I'd check XDA for the specific model number of Galaxy S5 you have and see if they have any ideas.

 

[cronos]

The shipped 5.0.2 was terrible on my Galaxy S6. It seemed to have gotten worse after the two OTAs (OF3 and OF4). AT&T finally released a 5.1.1 update about a week back, and it's much much less terrible.

Most of the stuttering and unresponsiveness is gone, apps are closed much less often, and bluetooth seems to be performing better (connecting quicker and more stably to my truck). Home screen hasn't re-drawn lately, either.

Yeah my wife got her 5.1.1 on the S6 recently as well and it's a lot better since. She didn't get redraws, but apps used to lag a lot when there's too many things running in the background. Clearing all the running apps made it snappy again, but it's ridiculous because this thing has 3GB RAM, so clearly some memory management problem there.

Cronos, he probably has a carrier branded S5. No GPE roms for him. Depending on the model, he may not be able to use ANY roms. FBB, I'd check XDA for the specific model number of Galaxy S5 you have and see if they have any ideas.

The GPE is just my personal experience, because it surprised me how great it is to experience two phones from two generations back that are both still running incredibly strong. I wasn't asking him about GPE, just 5.1.1 in general. Didn't know what version of S5 he has and whether it already got the latest update or not, which hopefully will fix some of the annoyances.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I have the latest FOG6 rom for my T-Mobile S5. There's nowhere for me to upgrade to.

 

[s44]

If you have a T-Mo device, it should be bootloader unlocked. Flash that sucker.

 

[Megatomic]

Lollipop 5.1 on my ATT Moto X 2013 is great actually. I just got the latest update with the Stagefright patches and I am very happy. For a 2 year old phone this sucker is nice. And I like the aesthetics of Lollipop a lot.

 

[sweenish]

I have the latest FOG6 rom for my T-Mobile S5. There's nowhere for me to upgrade to.

5.0 was a hot mess. 5.1 largely alleviates that. 5.1 is pretty solid. I can't speak to Touchwiz's 5.1, as I've made it a point to avoid Samsung for this exact reason. Although I've heard 5.1 and Samsung isn't as awful a combination. I'd try a factory reset before taking to the internet to just throw a fit. Or generally try to fix things before throwing a fit, period.

And it's funny/sad to be getting such a fresh Lollipop thread.

I don't know if Marshmallow will be what KitKat was to Jellybean, but it will definitely be further improved on 5.1. I know that much from my short time on preview 3. But leave it to Samsung to bork things up.

 

[gregulator]

Lollipop 5.1 on my ATT Moto X 2013 is great actually. I just got the latest update with the Stagefright patches and I am very happy. For a 2 year old phone this sucker is nice. And I like the aesthetics of Lollipop a lot.

I was going to say the same thing, I have been pleasantly surprised how well this phone does with 5.1. I was nervous about the upgrade since other phones have had so many horror stories, but there is something about this little Moto X that just keeps chugging along fine. I only wish the camera was better.

I used a friend's S5 the other day because I wanted to see if I liked the camera better and I agree, the phone was terribly laggy!

Is is clear that manufacturer bloat is killing the OS and adding little value.

 

[Oyeve]

Lollipop is the Windows Vista of Android.

 

[deathBOB]

Lollipop 5.1 on my ATT Moto X 2013 is great actually. I just got the latest update with the Stagefright patches and I am very happy. For a 2 year old phone this sucker is nice. And I like the aesthetics of Lollipop a lot.

Agreed, its been very smooth on my 2013. I even returned my Moto X Pure because it just wasn't much of an upgrade other than the screen size.

It's super super shitty you have to roll the dice with Android phones and OEMs and future software updates.

 

[holden j caufield]

Lollipop is the Windows Vista of Android.

Pretty much

 

[Oyeve]

Lollipop on my Note 4 was horrid until I did a factory restore. Now its merely tolerable.

 

[Raduque]

Lollipop is the Windows Vista of Android.

I disagree, it's more like the Windows ME. There weren't really any problems with Vista that weren't caused by IHVs.

 

[soccerballtux]

what's lollipop? i'm still on 4.4

 

[soccerballtux]

Yeah my wife got her 5.1.1 on the S6 recently as well and it's a lot better since. She didn't get redraws, but apps used to lag a lot when there's too many things running in the background. Clearing all the running apps made it snappy again, but it's ridiculous because this thing has 3GB RAM, so clearly some memory management problem there.

I think it's time we admit that Android is a joke.

 

[soccerballtux]

I disagree, it's more like the Windows ME. There weren't really any problems with Vista that weren't caused by IHVs.

7 was no better than Vista, Microsoft just managed their marketing well strategically 'leaking' pre-builds to torrents and drumming up excitement.

all the Vista bloat that was removed at 7 release has been patched back in anyways. Anyone that sings praises of 7 I basically write off as uninformed

 

[slag]

I'm on 5.01 on my LG G3. Works great, no memory problems, battery life is decent although not as good as kitkat was, but in all, its a good OS. I don't have the kswapd0 problem you have.

 

[cronos]

I disagree, it's more like the Windows ME. There weren't really any problems with Vista that weren't caused by IHVs.

I think the point of that comparison is that all the bad stuff about Vista lingered along for years (until now, really) although they're all mostly fixed in SP1 about a year after release. Microsoft had to release 7 quickly to erase the bad 'Vista' name, although in reality it's nothing much more than a little face lift.

Lollipop is the same. 5.0 was terrible and even though most of it is fixed in most phones with 5.1.1, people are badmouthing it everywhere (deservedly so because of the bad early experience), so Google decided to release Marshmallow quickly to erase the bad 'Lollipop' name.

It is definitely a legitimate comparison.

 

[sweenish]

Marshmallow isn't being released quickly. It's on schedule. 5.1 was released quickly.

Nice to see tux back to old form.

 

[cronos]

Marshmallow isn't being released quickly. It's on schedule. 5.1 was released quickly.

It took Google only about six months between when Lollipop is released (November 2014) until 'M' is announced (May 2015). I think I could call it 'quickly released'.

I'm sure Google has things scheduled to be released and everything is on schedule, but remember, there's no strict rule about what the next version number is (which is not what we're talking about here) or what to call it (e.g. it took about 9 months from 4.2 to 4.3, and they're both Jelly Bean).

In my mind, they were rushing to get the next update out to call 'M', partly because of how bad Lollipop name had been.

 

[Megatomic]

I think it's time we admit that Android is a joke.

Not at all. 5.0.2 was bad by pretty much all accounts, even on Nexus devices. But 5.1 on is great on all the devices I have access to.

Nexus 7 2013
Moto X 2013 XT1058 (work phone)
Moto X 2013 XT1053 (personal spare phone)
Oneplus One (hand me down to my wife)

Not one problem with any of those devices.

 

[ControlD]

Not at all. 5.0.2 was bad by pretty much all accounts, even on Nexus devices. But 5.1 on is great on all the devices I have access to.

Same here. 5.1.1 on my Nexus 6 is great.