Android 5.1 Lollipop: Big Update, Big Issues

[Suika]

(click for sauce)

Man, this is upsetting. I just recently updated to 5.1 and everything seemed fine, I was so happy about it. Then my phone crashed for no reason. This is why.

 

Lollipop has been having a tough time since release, having so many bugs, flaws, etc. It's sad, too, because I actually really like it, I switched back to KitKat when 5.0.1 proved to not be stable enough to be my daily driver, and I actually missed Lollipop, but I knew I'd regret it when I jumped back aboard. Well, 5.1 was released, and I was so excited that I didn't even wait for an OTA update. Flashing images was shockingly difficult, either I screwed up or somebody did not finish the package.

 

All that aside, though, there's a new issue that seems to be striking a lot of users, myself included. I didn't have a memory leak and my battery wasn't terrible (though it wasn't good), but this seems to be affecting even my phone. There's now an issue where, well, I'll just quote it.

 

Threatpost recently noticed issues related to memory problems, and points to several posts on the AOSP website that suggest the issue is widespread. “Users reported seeing their RAM bloat to over 1 gigabyte and leave as little as 150 megabytes free, before their phones ultimately crashed,” the site explained.

 

Just the other day at work, I experienced just this, and the crash is terrible. I had to wait two minutes before being able to reboot my phone finally, but after that, it was fine. Some of the complaints, though, I'm still not seeing.

 

Shockingly, Google never originally fixed these memory issues. They marked the fix to a "future release" status, which upsets me because these bugs are why I put off Lollipop. wtf google

 

Threatpost noticed that the RAM issue had been documented by Google and moved from a “new” bug to a “future release” status, meaning that we should see a fix in a fresh update. The big problem is that Google hasn’t said when that update is arriving. If you’re worried about this affecting your device​, you may want to hold off on Android 5.1 for now.

 

Of note: most of the complaints seem to be coming from users on the Nexus 5, so it doesn’t appear to be affecting every single smartphone the same way.

 

For those waiting for a stable Lollipop on the Nexus... You're still waiting.

[Jade]

I'm not running 5.1 -- I'm still running 5.0.2, but this is what happens when you switch runtimes. It's all in due time before it gets stable, but I don't count the current state as reasonable. Personally, I've yet to have any of these problems on my Nexus 6.

[flibberdipper]

Funny. Google's OS won't even run properly... On Google's phones.

[qwertywarrior]

nex 5 running 5.1  for a few days now

havnt noticed anything bad

[amintha1992]

google cant seem to get androids memory issues under control since for ever. every time there is a new update there is new problem with Memory leak

[Misanthrope]

Pro tip Google: You need to solidify your "win" before you start slacking off and being lazy. Unless you think being the dumb phone OS is enough and want to concede the high end market to Apple or goddess saves us, Microsoft.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

Exactly as Jade said... Lollipop was a major change from KitKat and issues were bound to rise. Same goes for iOS jumps.. but Apple doesn't fix issues on older phones (iOS broke WiFi on my iPhone 4S and was saying it's a hardware issue yet iOS 6.1.3 worked flawlessly... iOS 8 and WiFi is still broken on it...).

My HTC One M7 is on Lollipop 5.0.2 with HTC Sense 6.0 on Android Revolution 91.1 and it works great most of the time but I've noticed sometimes the task-switcher lags and closing programs takes longer than it used to on KitKat 4.4.2... so it makes me wonder if there's still performance issues on non-nexus devices too... oh well.

[silberdrachi]

Funny because ive had no issues with my n4 at all. But they havent released the 5.1.0 update for the n4 yet and im wonder if this is why.

 

Kind of sucks because if this is just related to the n5 i dont really care.

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

Pro tip Google: You need to solidify your "win" before you start slacking off and being lazy. Unless you think being the dumb phone OS is enough and want to concede the high end market to Apple or goddess saves us, Microsoft.

I'd rather Windows Phones win over iPhone... I hate Apple so much for ruining my iPhone 4S with iOS 7... the only reason I upgraded was I needed to for my carrier unlock code to work in the Philippines... and then of course I couldn't downgrade back to iOS 6 and my 4S was crazy-sluggish and the WiFi stopped working... I'm never buying another iPhone again. They were great with the 3Gs and 4s... until iOS 7 came along and ruined it.

http://www.mactrast.com/2013/10/ios-7-causing-wi-fi-issues-iphone-4s-owners/

Stuff like that... sigh. RIP iOS 6.1.3... you were fun... iOS 7 & 8 are not.

[Interfectorem]

Android 5.01 and 5.1 has been running absolutely flawlessly on my Nexus 6 since the day I got it. Android 5.0.1 has also been running flawlessly on my moms Nexus 5.

[snes]

I'm so glad that I'm on 4.4.2, still. I've heard nothing but bad things about Android 5.x.

[.spider.]

So it is still needed to restart after two days.

[asker509]

I have a Samsung galaxy s5 and the lollipop 5.0 update completely recked my battery life. My phone used to last me 2 solid days now I'm lucky if it lasts me 1 day. it looks like I'll have to do a factory reset or wait for the next update to fix it. Never updating again without checking first my iPhone 4s got ruined by io7 and now my s5 is ruined by lollipop

[SIGSEGV]

I'm still running Gingerbread lol

[megaemil]

My nexus updated itself its sooooo slow now, like extremely slow, compared to what it was. Also uses more battery

[gastew15]

nex 5 running 5.1 for a few days now

havnt noticed anything bad

I haven't either, but I'm sure that it's because of the 2GB of ram on the nexus 5 as opposed to other phones with less ram.

[Notional]

Is it just me or is Google slowly becoming worse and worse at everything they do? Do no evil What a lovely concept. Too bad they forget it and stopped caring about quality.

[Real_PhillBert]

I'm sitting here like a chump on 4.4.2...

[geforceftw]

I'm running CM12 5.0.2 as my daily driver, and the only problem that i've been having is the memory leak issue. When i reboot my phone i can have around 1gb if ram use with nothing opened. With a few apps open i'll check the ram usage and its 2.6gb used and 3-400mb left.. That sucks becuase my phone starts lagging, thank god i have 3gb of ram.  But other than that i haven't really been having any real issues with 5.0.2 battery life is pretty good too.

[Memphaestus]

OP you've got a Nexus? What model, also what provider do you have. I was talking to a friend just yesterday with and S5, and he said it was noticeably faster than 4.X.X, and that he has been getting more battery life, with no issues so far.

I had heard that the issues were specific to certain providers who put their own changes into the OS, and not problems across the board.

[Guest]

Myself I am on Lollipop with Sense 6 on my M8.

 

0 issues. Very good battery life.

[Suika]

OP you've got a Nexus? What model, also what provider do you have. I was talking to a friend just yesterday with and S5, and he said it was noticeably faster than 4.X.X, and that he has been getting more battery life, with no issues so far.

I had heard that the issues were specific to certain providers who put their own changes into the OS, and not problems across the board.

LG Nexus 5, running on T-Mobile. I have not done an OTA, I've been using only factory images.

[Pesmerga]

Good, looks like I can keep 4.4.4 on my nexus 7 :3

[jaggysnake57]

Bet that wifi issue on iOS dosmt look so bad now

[JAKEBAB]

When my G3 got 5.0 it had a few problems, it wasn't they greatest but not long after LG pushed out another update which fixed basically everything. The only problem that i have noticed is my flashlight app crashes after about 30seconds, which can be frustrating when your trying to get your cat out from under your bed lol. But i am only 5.0 so maybe when i get my next update these problems will arise