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In the past month or so, my phone has been acting strange-
- some apps are laggy and slow
- more frequently, when I enter the correct password, the phone tells me its wrong. I then restart the phone, and it works fine.
- I will sometimes find that after I haven't used it for a while, when I pick it up, its still in unlocked mode, when it should have been locked within a few minutes of when I last stopped using it.
These are all annoyances rather than a serious problem, but I'm wondering if they are a sign of the phone going bad.
This is a Samsung S4 that I bought new in November 2015.
You should say what provider you have, if you have installed any: Anti-virus app, anti-malware app, backup app, self-diagnosis app. How many other apps installed, do you keep running in the background?
From your descriptions I'd guess that you're not a phone/computer-geek, and I think that diagnosing and fixing your phone may require more complex steps than you'd be familiar or comfortable with.
I just had a friend show concern about her phone that was doing buggy things and instead of trying to walk through 20-30 diagnostic steps I gave her, she just took it into a retail shop and had the techs there do a sweep. If a brick-n-mortar shop is convenient, this is what I'd suggest for you.
You should say what provider you have, if you have installed any: Anti-virus app, anti-malware app, backup app, self-diagnosis app. How many other apps installed, do you keep running in the background?
From your descriptions I'd guess that you're not a phone/computer-geek, and I think that diagnosing and fixing your phone may require more complex steps than you'd be familiar or comfortable with.
I just had a friend show concern about her phone that was doing buggy things and instead of trying to walk through 20-30 diagnostic steps I gave her, she just took it into a retail shop and had the techs there do a sweep. If a brick-n-mortar shop is convenient, this is what I'd suggest for you.
That makes sense- thanks - I didn't think about going in to a store - this phone is on Cricket.
Your symptoms are just as likely to be caused by a bad/buggy app or a lack of storage. How much free space do you have left? Might be time to back up any important data and do a factory reset.
Your symptoms are just as likely to be caused by a bad/buggy app or a lack of storage. How much free space do you have left? Might be time to back up any important data and do a factory reset.
Here is what my phone shows:
Total space - 16GB
System memory- 6.26GB
Used space - 4.12GB (applications 3.11GB, pictures/videos 849MB, audio 148KB, Downloads 3.11MB)
Cached data - 1.9GB
Misc Files - 122MB
It gives me the option to clear the cached data - should I do that?
You can. DOubt that's your issue.
You need to backup your photos and reset the phone. If it still runs poorly, you know it's failing. If it runs like new...well then it's fixed.
I agree that it is much more likely that the problem is an app rather than the phone's hardware.
Like most other electronics, if it doesn't fail in the first 100 hours or so of operating, the electronics will last years.
Make sure you have your Google settings configured to auto-backup your account info (installed apps, contacts list, calendar, documents, mail. And since Google doesn't have an auto-backup for saving texting, get one of the many apps that do this, installed and make sure you have a clean backup.
Use another phone to take a picture of all your desktops, and of each screen of your installed apps, just to make it easier to remember what's installed, and how you have your desktop arraigned.
Then, when you're at home, on your home WiFi, plugged in to a charger (so power and Internet signal are both maximum), do a factory reset, and then re-install your main Google account and watch Google (and the txt backup app) do a restore.
I'm reviving this thread. My phone did ok for a few months but has been acting up again- freezing while listening to podcasts, etc. The back of it also feels very hot when I'm using it and the battery drains fast.
I'm wondering if I should try replacing the battery first before doing a reset? Or just do the reset and then also buy a battery?
also... how do I do the reset? Under the Accounts section in Settings there is a "backup and reset" option (Galaxy S4)- is that what I use? Once I do this, will all the regular apps that came with the phone, like calculator, etc, come back? Or will I have to reload all those?
I've backed up all my photos to Google Drive, and written down a list of all the apps I installed. I use Google Voice for calling/texting, so all my contacts are saved in that.
If your phone is excessively warm and you have poor battery life you likely have an app that is causing excessive drain. You should have a battey section under settings that will show what is using battery juice.
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