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I have an HTC Inspire with Android 2.3.5. Last night my stock browser kept crashing on two particular Wikipedia pages. I cleared the cache and even went to Menu > Settings > Apps and cleared data for the browser (which also erased my bookmarks). It still crashed on those pages. Wouldn't you be surprised if you kept crashing on ordinary Wikipedia pages? No other pages crashed. This morning I can't get it to crash any more.
(1) I've read that anti-malware programs for Android are not very good - someone tested them and the free ones found only 10% of malware they should have found. Paid ones were slightly better. Are there any malware scanner apps that are good? I prefer ones that aren't always running.
(2) Are you supposed to update the stock browser? If so, how do you do it? It might be automatic.
(3) Do you think I should upgrade to a newer Android? When I went from 2.3.3. to 2.3.5, it took a long time and I didn't like some of the changes.
Notes: I can't get Chrome because you have to have Android 4.0 or later.
Does your stock browser often crash for no apparent reason? I've had this phone for a year. Before, it only crashed on pages I rarely visited and were heavy in effects.
1) I believe no one should run Malware or Anti Virus apps on a phone. Just use common sense when downloading apps. Don't download an app that only has 3 reviews. It's new and could be malware. Don't download anything that only has a couple hundred downloads.
2) Updates should notify you when they are available. I doubt there will be any updates on your version of Android. There are other browsers, though, that will run. Dolphin and Firefox being two.
3) Yes. Ice Cream Sandwich is good, Jelly Bean rocks. (You are on Gingerbread).
I don't think it sounds like malware. It's more likely to be a website issue that your phone's software can't get past.
Your stock browser is supplied by either Google or HTC, and generally isn't upgradable, but it is replaceable. I would recommend trying the Firefox browser for Android, and yes, it's definitely time to start thinking about upgrading. 2.3 is old and losing developer support pretty fast now. 4.0 or higher is what I recommend, and 4.1 or 4.2 is even better. (Note: there was no Android 3.x for smartphones.)
As mentioned, it's tricky to upgrade the OS of a phone that lacks manufacturer support for the higher Android version. It's not guaranteed to work, it's somewhat risky in that you could permanently lock up your phone so that it can't boot up (known as "bricking" your phone--not likely if you do it right, but the risk is there if you use the wrong tools or files).
By all means, do the research if this kind of tinkering sounds interesting. XDA-developers.com and Androidcentral.com are a wealth of information for Android OS.
If you decide that's not for you, keep in mind when you chose your new phone that the newer it is to the marketplace, not only is the hardware likely to be faster and more advanced, but the manufacturer is also likely to keep your OS up to date longer into the future. Once it's a more than a year or two old, the likelihood of continued updates (including security updates) dwindles.
Last edited by Thegonagle; 04-30-2013 at 01:08 AM..
Yes you can, but it requires rooting, which can be tricky and something your average user doesn't want to tackle.
The original HTC Inspire did not get any support in the rooting area. In fact XDA doesn't even have a forum dedicated to it. There is one for the newer Inspire 4g.
In any event I wouldn't waste any time rooting that. As someone that has done a lot of rooting on a few phones and quit doing it because of the frustration involved: don't do it.
Get a different browser or get a different phone or try a full on factory reset on your phone.
The original HTC Inspire did not get any support in the rooting area. In fact XDA doesn't even have a forum dedicated to it. There is one for the newer Inspire 4g.
In any event I wouldn't waste any time rooting that. As someone that has done a lot of rooting on a few phones and quit doing it because of the frustration involved: don't do it.
Get a different browser or get a different phone or try a full on factory reset on your phone.
I was guessing she has the 4G. And I will have to disagree, it's one of the easier phones to root, and there are some great ROM's out for it, I'm keeping mine as a spare in case my Vivid dies, it was rooted a couple years ago, runs flawlessly on a custom ROM.
As I said, those that are technically challenged usually don't want to mess with rooting, those that aren't easily frustrated can figure it out without much hassle.
I have an HTC Inspire with Android 2.3.5. Last night my stock browser kept crashing on two particular Wikipedia pages. I cleared the cache and even went to Menu > Settings > Apps and cleared data for the browser (which also erased my bookmarks). It still crashed on those pages. Wouldn't you be surprised if you kept crashing on ordinary Wikipedia pages? No other pages crashed. This morning I can't get it to crash any more.
(1) I've read that anti-malware programs for Android are not very good - someone tested them and the free ones found only 10% of malware they should have found. Paid ones were slightly better. Are there any malware scanner apps that are good? I prefer ones that aren't always running.
(2) Are you supposed to update the stock browser? If so, how do you do it? It might be automatic.
(3) Do you think I should upgrade to a newer Android? When I went from 2.3.3. to 2.3.5, it took a long time and I didn't like some of the changes.
Notes: I can't get Chrome because you have to have Android 4.0 or later.
Does your stock browser often crash for no apparent reason? I've had this phone for a year. Before, it only crashed on pages I rarely visited and were heavy in effects.
Yes this is a huge issue with Gingerbread, Honeycomb and the stock browser.
It will simply crash out. For me it was mostly on flash websites or like you said WIKIpedia.
I would suggest you get a wikipedia app or get another browser from Play like Firefox or Opera. There are tons of them, some may work or not simply due to the age your OS and level of support.
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