Develop Bugs

[Q] Please help me get my marriage back on track ;)

Hi all.
Been an Android user for about as long as it's been out there and I have almost always rooted and installed custom ROM's on my devices. Last year I finally managed to convince the wife to upgrade to Android (enter the ARC S). She was delighted but the phone was always a bit slugish. When the ICS update came out I pressed her to upgrade because I thought she would benefit from the upgrade and the speeds might improve. So after a few months she finally gave in and about 2 weeks ago I did the upgrade. Aaaaaaannnndddddd that's when it all went to hell. Her phone is slow. Soooooo painfully slow that even an old HTC Desire loaded with a Sense 3.5 / 4 ROM is outperforming it by miles. She is mad. Soooooo very mad at me since then for having made her phone all that much worse. Reading up on it I know now that the upgrade was a bust and that Sony dropped the ball with this one.
So now I am looking to redeem myself. Usually I'd just root the phone, slap on some recovery software and flash away a couple of ROM's and choose from them. But this device seems to be not so straight forward. So I am turning to the community for help. What I am looking to do is install a custom ROM that is smooth and fast and will stay that way for as long as possible. Preferably one that is JB based and as easy to get on the device as possible. Now I know that when this question gets put out there people are often greeted with the "flash 'em and try" response, but my wife is reluctant to let me do anything else to her phone, let alone experiment with many a ROM. So I am asking for opinions. Any ROM as long as it's fast. The ROM that gets the most positive opinions wins and that is what I'll flash and hopefully save my marriage
Please keep in mind the phone is SIM locked and not rooted. It's basically an original ARC S with ICS on it. I have no recovery or rooting experience with this device, so it would be lovely if this could be done simply. I don't really want to over complicate things and risk gorking the thing even more.
Thanks in advance to all you members out there!

Hi.
You could just have Googled best rom arc s and read one of the numerous threads on the subject, and these threads are just another variation of best rom threads which are also now starting to build up. Root and and remove crap, few build.prop and init.d tweaks and you'll have a nippy Phone that works as it should, install a custom ROM then she isn't going to be happy when something doesn't work and you're constantly taking it of her to sort it out.

XperienceD said:
Hi.
You could just have Googled best rom arc s and read one of the numerous threads on the subject, and these threads are just another variation of best rom threads which are also now starting to build up. Root and and remove crap, few build.prop and init.d tweaks and you'll have a nippy Phone that works as it should, install a custom ROM then she isn't going to be happy when something doesn't work and you're constantly taking it of her to sort it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. And I actually considered (still am tbh) the Ultimate HD. But thought maybe there was something out there better and no frills. As for the root and decrap option, that's actually a pretty good idea. But won't the crap just load back? I mean, on most roms when I remove the bloatware it just loads up again via market. As for build.prop I don't know much. Could you just tip me a thread topic or what not and I will search. Or topics even.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Pitbull_Raven said:
I did. And I actually considered (still am tbh) the Ultimate HD. But thought maybe there was something out there better and no frills. As for the root and decrap option, that's actually a pretty good idea. But won't the crap just load back? I mean, on most roms when I remove the bloatware it just loads up again via market. As for build.prop I don't know much. Could you just tip me a thread topic or what not and I will search. Or topics even.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best thing is to try honestly (I wouldn't say ultimate hd is a bad choice )
And bloatware wouldn't load back once you've removed them so dont worry
Sent from Xperia Arc S

jman2131 said:
Best thing is to try honestly (I wouldn't say ultimate hd is a bad choice )
And bloatware wouldn't load back once you've removed them so dont worry
Sent from Xperia Arc S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Will have to consider it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Try Ultimate HD 2.0.3 / Xperia T ROM
Pitbull_Raven said:
Thanks. Will have to consider it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using that ROM for around a week now and my phone is faster than ever.. The only issue seems to be in sending items via bluetooth (accept works smooth, but the option in send via is missing). But if your wife doesn't use that much bluetooth file sharing, then I'd recommend this ROM. Another good choice would be XPERIA T ROM for Arc S - Comparatively its a tad bit slower (not noticeable) but loads of more features (WalkMan has GraceNote, ClearAudio. Album has SenseMe etc.) Both are stable for daily use.

vish2407 said:
I have been using that ROM for around a week now and my phone is faster than ever.. The only issue seems to be in sending items via bluetooth (accept works smooth, but the option in send via is missing). But if your wife doesn't use that much bluetooth file sharing, then I'd recommend this ROM. Another good choice would be XPERIA T ROM for Arc S - Comparatively its a tad bit slower (not noticeable) but loads of more features (WalkMan has GraceNote, ClearAudio. Album has SenseMe etc.) Both are stable for daily use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the input. Bluetooth is not an issue. She rarely uses it at all. So yes, I'll keep it in mind. I'll have to decide till tomorrow morning seeing as how I am going to try to get it done over the weekend. To those of you that took the time to reply, my thanks!

Pitbull_Raven said:
Thank you for the input. Bluetooth is not an issue. She rarely uses it at all. So yes, I'll keep it in mind. I'll have to decide till tomorrow morning seeing as how I am going to try to get it done over the weekend. To those of you that took the time to reply, my thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did you install one finally??
Sent from my LT18i using xda app-developers app

vish2407 said:
So did you install one finally??
Sent from my LT18i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, no. She forbade me
I'm guessing she's scared it'll just get worse or I'll mess it up even more. She won't even allow me to root it. At this point, I am hoping that some official fix comes along so that I can at least get her phone back to acceptable status. It's sooooooo slow. My old HTC Desire flies like a bat with a lit match stuck up it's butt compared to her Arc S right now. I mean, pulling up the phone dialer takes literally between 7 to 17 seconds to open just the dialer. And don't even dare to tap "contacts" because it can take you the best part of 30 seconds to see them appear.
SONY didn't just drop the ball with releasing this update; they bloody well stabbed it with a hunting knife to deflate it first so the ball would never bounce again... and then they dropped it.
Really, I am so sad for her every time I see her trying to do something on her phone. She used to love it. Now I see her turning away from it every chance she gets. It's really heartbreaking, and I am not trying to be funny. It really does pain me to see this happen.

Pitbull_Raven said:
Actually, no. She forbade me
I'm guessing she's scared it'll just get worse or I'll mess it up even more. She won't even allow me to root it. At this point, I am hoping that some official fix comes along so that I can at least get her phone back to acceptable status. It's sooooooo slow. My old HTC Desire flies like a bat with a lit match stuck up it's butt compared to her Arc S right now. I mean, pulling up the phone dialer takes literally between 7 to 17 seconds to open just the dialer. And don't even dare to tap "contacts" because it can take you the best part of 30 seconds to see them appear.
SONY didn't just drop the ball with releasing this update; they bloody well stabbed it with a hunting knife to deflate it first so the ball would never bounce again... and then they dropped it.
Really, I am so sad for her every time I see her trying to do something on her phone. She used to love it. Now I see her turning away from it every chance she gets. It's really heartbreaking, and I am not trying to be funny. It really does pain me to see this happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and atheistically Arc S is an awesome phone. And since its good under the hood as well, with a good custom FW, it really flies. My condolences to you my friend. However I have used Arc with stock FW as well, hence will suggest you some tips to enhance performance
1. Disable FaceBook Inside Xperia - It lags the system like hell
2. Remove the Timescape widget and live wallpapers if set.
3. Disable AutoSync if possible or keep it on for accounts other than FaceBook
4. Clear messages and call history a few days - I know it sounds strange - but it sure used to speed up my Arc.
5. Using tools like App Cache Cleaner and RAM Booster can help speed it up

vish2407 said:
Yes, and atheistically Arc S is an awesome phone. And since its good under the hood as well, with a good custom FW, it really flies. My condolences to you my friend. However I have used Arc with stock FW as well, hence will suggest you some tips to enhance performance
1. Disable FaceBook Inside Xperia - It lags the system like hell
2. Remove the Timescape widget and live wallpapers if set.
3. Disable AutoSync if possible or keep it on for accounts other than FaceBook
4. Clear messages and call history a few days - I know it sounds strange - but it sure used to speed up my Arc.
5. Using tools like App Cache Cleaner and RAM Booster can help speed it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for those tips. Will surely come in handy. How can I disable FB in the Arc? I know how to remove the account, but I think it's somehow integrated into the ROM, right? Is that what you meant?

Pitbull_Raven said:
Thanks for those tips. Will surely come in handy. How can I disable FB in the Arc? I know how to remove the account, but I think it's somehow integrated into the ROM, right? Is that what you meant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He didn't mean Facebook itself, but Facebook inside Xperia. It's that awesome feature that let's you do things you don't need to... seriously. I don't remember well where it is in settings, but it is there (I flashed a custom JB rom so I can't tell you where it is). I guess it was in "Xperia" but I'm not sure on that one. Autosync takes a huge amount of the guilt for making it slower, allow it only when you enable wifi, if possible. Check RAM usage, and look for apps that are not in use, and uninstall them.
If you really want it fast, then why not flashing a GB lightweighted Rom or even the debloated stock one? There are quite a few around here that you can flash. Just check the development section. It won't have a lot of features as ICS does, but as this phone was designed for GB, it will run in a decent way.
I used Ultimate HD for a while, and let me tell you, it was great. It offers very nice features. 5x4 apps drawer like in Xperia T (also Xperia T's boot animation); very nice design; on-screen buttons at choice; quick toggle panel (that is really handy); walkman app; new calendar app; the new album app that allows you to see the photos on map (if geotag was allowed when taken); included overclocking tool; and much more, being quite fast at the same time. I just switched to JB for the sake of feeling JB in my hand! But of course, if I see that it doesn't suit me well, I'm going back to ICS, back to UHD.
If you really want to make it faster, your best choice is to convince her to flash a custom ROM. Stock is well aesthetically designed, but as you said yourself, laggy as hell. Some of those custom ROMs are even able to be used with locked bootloader (although I would recommend to unlock the bootloader, check link at my signature from the android soul community). My suggestion: Read. She won't, you will. The chances of schrewing it up are lower if you inform yourself of the risks. I usually do this: I read the OP, and then I go to the last 5 pages, and read some repplies. It tells me whether people are having issues recently, or if there's a common issue.
Good luck convincing her :fingers-crossed:

HerrJuancho said:
He didn't mean Facebook itself, but Facebook inside Xperia. It's that awesome feature that let's you do things you don't need to... seriously. I don't remember well where it is in settings, but it is there (I flashed a custom JB rom so I can't tell you where it is). I guess it was in "Xperia" but I'm not sure on that one. Autosync takes a huge amount of the guilt for making it slower, allow it only when you enable wifi, if possible. Check RAM usage, and look for apps that are not in use, and uninstall them.
If you really want it fast, then why not flashing a GB lightweighted Rom or even the debloated stock one? There are quite a few around here that you can flash. Just check the development section. It won't have a lot of features as ICS does, but as this phone was designed for GB, it will run in a decent way.
I used Ultimate HD for a while, and let me tell you, it was great. It offers very nice features. 5x4 apps drawer like in Xperia T (also Xperia T's boot animation); very nice design; on-screen buttons at choice; quick toggle panel (that is really handy); walkman app; new calendar app; the new album app that allows you to see the photos on map (if geotag was allowed when taken); included overclocking tool; and much more, being quite fast at the same time. I just switched to JB for the sake of feeling JB in my hand! But of course, if I see that it doesn't suit me well, I'm going back to ICS, back to UHD.
If you really want to make it faster, your best choice is to convince her to flash a custom ROM. Stock is well aesthetically designed, but as you said yourself, laggy as hell. Some of those custom ROMs are even able to be used with locked bootloader (although I would recommend to unlock the bootloader, check link at my signature from the android soul community). My suggestion: Read. She won't, you will. The chances of schrewing it up are lower if you inform yourself of the risks. I usually do this: I read the OP, and then I go to the last 5 pages, and read some repplies. It tells me whether people are having issues recently, or if there's a common issue.
Good luck convincing her :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, thanks for the info! This thread is actually becoming more helpful then I expected. You can bet I'll keep trying to convince her. Also I'll check the FB issue and see if I can get something sorted.

Pitbull_Raven said:
Oh wow, thanks for the info! This thread is actually becoming more helpful then I expected. You can bet I'll keep trying to convince her. Also I'll check the FB issue and see if I can get something sorted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck on that one :highfive: And don't forget to click thanks on the posts that you found helpful

So good news! She finally had enough and can't stand the slowness anymore. I have the go ahead to do what I want to the device. So now everything is an option. So from what I gathered so far, first I must unlock bootloader. But this means formating the data partition, thus loosing everything.
Is it at all possible to root first so I can Titanium Backup the hell out of this phone first? LT18i running stock 4.0.4 and 4.1.B.0.587.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Pitbull_Raven said:
So good news! She finally had enough and can't stand the slowness anymore. I have the go ahead to do what I want to the device. So now everything is an option. So from what I gathered so far, first I must unlock bootloader. But this means formating the data partition, thus loosing everything.
Is it at all possible to root first so I can Titanium Backup the hell out of this phone first? LT18i running stock 4.0.4 and 4.1.B.0.587.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. root it, backup your apps using titanium backup. (i recommend paid version) backup contacts and sms also. unlock your bootloader, flash custom kernel, (i recommend rush kernel), do full wipe (wipe absolutely everything except sd card of course since your backups are all there.) flash custom rom (preferably stock based roms since they are more stable. Try ultimate hd or jelly sandwich).
boot up for the first time, first boot usually slower. Complete First time setup, let it sit for awhile, like 5 minutes, install titanium, restore apps and contacts, make sure the apps are working. Some apps like line won't work after restoring with data from titanium and I had to clear it's app data first. set cpu governor to performance and add a bit of overclock (1.5 or 1.6). she won't know what these are anyway and she'd stop whining about lags. remember to set to overclock on boot. reboot phone and you're done.
I do this for my girl too. I'd still recommend ultimate hd 2.0.3. but you should mess around with the settings to see what it has to offer first. And also remember to search within their threads to find current unfixed bugs and their solutions.
Sent from my LT15i using xda app-developers app

jackkeylow said:
Yes. root it, backup your apps using titanium backup. (i recommend paid version) backup contacts and sms also. unlock your bootloader, flash custom kernel, (i recommend rush kernel), do full wipe (wipe absolutely everything except sd card of course since your backups are all there.) flash custom rom (preferably stock based roms since they are more stable. Try ultimate hd or jelly sandwich).
boot up for the first time, first boot usually slower. Complete First time setup, let it sit for awhile, like 5 minutes, install titanium, restore apps and contacts, make sure the apps are working. Some apps like line won't work after restoring with data from titanium and I had to clear it's app data first. set cpu governor to performance and add a bit of overclock (1.5 or 1.6). she won't know what these are anyway and she'd stop whining about lags. remember to set to overclock on boot. reboot phone and you're done.
I do this for my girl too. I'd still recommend ultimate hd 2.0.3. but you should mess around with the settings to see what it has to offer first. And also remember to search within their threads to find current unfixed bugs and their solutions.
Sent from my LT15i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very helpful. Thanks. I have TB paid version, so it shouldn't be a problem. Was just wondering how to root without unlocking boot first. I can see many a tutorial, but all seem to tell how to unlock bl first.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

you don't need to unlock bl to root... and once you unlock bl you won't need to root because most custom roms and kernels come pre-rooted. use flashtool to root. download flashtool if you haven't already. It's like the all in one toolbox if you're just a user.
Sent from my LT15i using xda app-developers app

Will definitely look into it. Many thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Atat ion updating to jb help.

Hello all.... I have a question. I have an xperia ion atat and have good old ICS still... With atat updating to jb soon.... Or not.... I'm looking into just flashing to jb. I see others with atat have done the same but I'm not getting any pm's back about it... Exactly how can you flash it if your not able to unlock the boot loader? I'm not exactly new to xda.. Rooted and unlocked boot loader on Sony arc and had the x10.. I'm just out of practice... I also looked at the firmwares for ion seeing the international version of jb was out and I know you can flash it to atat... But is it really that simple? Just get cwm.. Install new h version and flash it?? Any help would be great...
Sent from my LT28at using XDA Premium HD app

In order to flash JB on a LT28at you'll need an .ftf file of the jb firmware you want...and download/install the latest version of flashtool for your PC...The wiki at the top of this forum section has all the details on how to do both, and where to get both...
That is the 'easiest' way to do it...You can then find doomlord's easy root kit w/ busybox and superSU for the lt28at, run that...then linked in the same page was a cwm installer all for the latest .211 lt28h JB...so you'll be rooted with custom recovery in no time...
you can do that the other way around; there are a few pre-rooted JB offerings floating around somewhere...and you install them from an already rooted w/ cwm phone...so it just depends on what you're looking to do...flashtool is easy, and the root kit/cwm kit is also easy...i'd just do that and be done with it...
just be aware, JB desperately needs another update...there are some pretty critical bugs some of us have experienced...using gps would crash my phone (running something like greenify after rooted as 100% fixed that, though), the camera is 'unusable' according to most for video (no idea why but i'm not really noticing this one)...some have a useless volume up button, etc...

Seeing as you have a att device I would suggest you use the LT28i rogers firmware. There is a new root kit in the S dev section for it now and will be added to dooms root tool in version 18. It will be much easier to use that firmware so you don't have to worry about base bands and stuff. I had quite a few issues with losing my LTE on the h version. I would also suggest you not use the Sony backup to restore your apps. Use Titanium backup or something and restore just your apps with no data. You can use Sony backup for call log and messages.

Hey thanks for the reply's and tips. I flashed the H version then read what you said.. Lol sure enough lost LTE. I flashed the I version and not one single problem now.... Nothing,... Recording video is fine... Phone works better.... Battery is still crap but whatever. But im not seeing any issues really...
But thank you guys
As always XDA is a very helpful place.

lt28i (rogers) ion super slow on JB
Hi Does any one else have issues with laggy keyboards and an overall slow phone after "upgrading" to JB? I have disabled all of the useless rogers junk and whatever and have hardly any apps installed but the phone is slow and sometimes the keyboard is painfully slow to react. Example I am typing and I press the space bar and the spacebar will stay pressed for maybe 1 second when I am not even touching it. I have 0 issues with laggyness when I was running ICS and I could have my phone full of apps.
The same slowness is on my girfriends lt28i from rogers too after she did the 'Upgrade".
Just wondering if I am alone on this cause I always see posts about how great it is on the ion and how smooth etc. but I am not seeing it.

myckeee said:
Hi Does any one else have issues with laggy keyboards and an overall slow phone after "upgrading" to JB? I have disabled all of the useless rogers junk and whatever and have hardly any apps installed but the phone is slow and sometimes the keyboard is painfully slow to react. Example I am typing and I press the space bar and the spacebar will stay pressed for maybe 1 second when I am not even touching it. I have 0 issues with laggyness when I was running ICS and I could have my phone full of apps.
The same slowness is on my girfriends lt28i from rogers too after she did the 'Upgrade".
Just wondering if I am alone on this cause I always see posts about how great it is on the ion and how smooth etc. but I am not seeing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'm not having any keyboard issues. I even tried different keyboards and still nothing. So far I only found one problem and it has to do with sending a mms.. The picture just sits there sending. But keyboard wise no, not an issue for me. I'm guessing your using the Xperia keyboard? Maybe try the Google one.. Its not bad. There are a few others that seem to work with out issues.
Sent from my LT28i using XDA Premium HD app

iceofhavik said:
No I'm not having any keyboard issues. I even tried different keyboards and still nothing. So far I only found one problem and it has to do with sending a mms.. The picture just sits there sending. But keyboard wise no, not an issue for me. I'm guessing your using the Xperia keyboard? Maybe try the Google one.. Its not bad. There are a few others that seem to work with out issues.
Sent from my LT28i using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya I don't know why it doesn't like my phone or my girlfriend's phone. When it get super slow I check to see how much ram is in use and it is around 500mb. This phone is supposed to have 1gb but mine seems to have only about 660mb.
Well I am back to ICS and everything feels fast and fluid and smooth again! JB really doesn't like my 2 phones. I tried updating using SUS and also with flashtool but the results are the same.
Well its ok, I didn't really notice much difference with JB anyway. I will stay on ICS for now. maybe if they have a new build of JB I will try again.

myckeee said:
Ya I don't know why it doesn't like my phone or my girlfriend's phone. When it get super slow I check to see how much ram is in use and it is around 500mb. This phone is supposed to have 1gb but mine seems to have only about 660mb.
Well I am back to ICS and everything feels fast and fluid and smooth again! JB really doesn't like my 2 phones. I tried updating using SUS and also with flashtool but the results are the same.
Well its ok, I didn't really notice much difference with JB anyway. I will stay on ICS for now. maybe if they have a new build of JB I will try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that is strange... Lol I fixed my messaging problem. It was me having a extra period in the .net part... Simple mistake but solved anyways. Sorry to hear jb wasn't working for you.
Sent from my LT28i using XDA Premium HD app

On stock Rogers there is no lag that I saw. Now that I have added some of the Honami stuff I do get keyboard lag from time to time. Another thing I have noticed is if you pull all the FB crap out the phone it runs quite a bit better. There are still some bugs in JB for sure but I would suspect we will see newer firmware versions before long.
I was having quite a issue with LTE settings vanishing from my device on the H firmware. On the Rogers it has been allot better and seems to have less bugs.

[Q] Different between 4.2 and 4.3

Hey guys...
I want to ask something..
Since i don't get the update, i want to ask something to someone that already update....
What's the different UI, battery life, camera, etc compare to the 4.2
Sorry about my grammar

- 4.3 UI looks like xperia z1 ui. And has theme downloadable from Sony select
- One hand keyboard
- Messiging app.contacts app nice changes
-Battery much better.
- Camera app changed. And more options.
-small apps. Now u can open more than one small app on the same time.
- x reality (not sure)
- Many many other improvements
Sent from my C6502 using xda app-developers app

yamen-1991 said:
- 4.3 UI looks like xperia z1 ui. And has theme downloadable from Sony select
- One hand keyboard
- Messiging app.contacts app nice changes
-Battery much better.
- Camera app changed. And more options.
-small apps. Now u can open more than one small app on the same time.
- x reality (not sure)
- Many many other improvements
Sent from my C6502 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems smoother. NO x reality engine.... BRAVIA engine 2, don think that will change even with 4.4..... so far so good overall

I like how it looks and how smooth is it, but for me there still many bugs on this versión, my pone stucks, and when browing on chrome also, i had to push the reset button 2 times already, camera is better on 4.2 and on 4.2 versión .244 was so so much better. no stucks, no bugs for me, smooth great camera, so I decided to go back to 4.2 and ill w8 for sony to improve the 4.3 or launch the 4.4

danieldp1990 said:
I like how it looks and how smooth is it, but for me there still many bugs on this versión, my pone stucks, and when browing on chrome also, i had to push the reset button 2 times already, camera is better on 4.2 and on 4.2 versión .244 was so so much better. no stucks, no bugs for me, smooth great camera, so I decided to go back to 4.2 and ill w8 for sony to improve the 4.3 or launch the 4.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree about the camera being better before the 4.3 update. I was thinking, after testing the camera once I updated to 4.3, that I wish I could switch back to 4.2. But you say you went back to 4.2? How do you do that? I have about zero knowledge of hacking/modding/custom firmwares/etc, so forgive me if it is supposed to be common knowledge. If you do decide to help me out in switching back to 4.2, perhaps it would be better to send a private message, instead of cluttering up this topic? Otherwise, though, I think I might just find a good alternate camera app from the Play Store.
But anyway, I do think overall, Android 4.2 was better. I don't think Sony really spent much time optimizing 4.3 for the Xperia ZL.

mcjoz88 said:
I agree about the camera being better before the 4.3 update. I was thinking, after testing the camera once I updated to 4.3, that I wish I could switch back to 4.2. But you say you went back to 4.2? How do you do that? I have about zero knowledge of hacking/modding/custom firmwares/etc, so forgive me if it is supposed to be common knowledge. If you do decide to help me out in switching back to 4.2, perhaps it would be better to send a private message, instead of cluttering up this topic? Otherwise, though, I think I might just find a good alternate camera app from the Play Store.
But anyway, I do think overall, Android 4.2 was better. I don't think Sony really spent much time optimizing 4.3 for the Xperia ZL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can downgrade using Flashtool. You can try using the search box too. Many of us here have spent many (many) months and many hours per day to get to know and learn some about these basic operations and tweakings, and to not brick our devices in the attempt.
Please do a bit of researching and reading n.n
BTW, I think I'll wait for KIT KAT too. Looks like it's the hassel free bet.

Sw33t_Lov3r said:
You can downgrade using Flashtool. You can try using the search box too. Many of us here have spent many (many) months and many hours per day to get to know and learn some about these basic operations and tweakings, and to not brick our devices in the attempt.
Please do a bit of researching and reading n.n
BTW, I think I'll wait for KIT KAT too. Looks like it's the hassel free bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. I searched around on this site for a little while and on Google yesterday. I'll look into the Flashtool thing too. The main risk that kind of drives me away from doing anything like rooting or what have you, is the chance of bricking my phone. I spent alot of money on my new ZL(a lot for me anyway), so I think for now I will probably just wait until Kit Kat like you. I think I read that Sony will be improving the camera when they release Kit Kat for the Z series phones, as well as some UI improvements, so it sounds as though they know the camera became slightly worse after 4.3. I hope anyway. But thanks for the help. :good:

mcjoz88 said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I searched around on this site for a little while and on Google yesterday. I'll look into the Flashtool thing too. The main risk that kind of drives me away from doing anything like rooting or what have you, is the chance of bricking my phone. I spent alot of money on my new ZL(a lot for me anyway), so I think for now I will probably just wait until Kit Kat like you. I think I read that Sony will be improving the camera when they release Kit Kat for the Z series phones, as well as some UI improvements, so it sounds as though they know the camera became slightly worse after 4.3. I hope anyway. But thanks for the help. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome.
Actually, you don't need to know much. But it'd be useful to know more. You can be perfectly fine with a rooted stock ROM, like the 4.2.2.
Now, If you want "the best ROM", that can be a lot of researching, reading, flashing, testing and reflashing.
I'd suggest you to stay with the ROM Sony provides and that you just root it, when there's a easy way (like for the 4.2.2 rom).
There can be lot's of tweaks to do, there can be lot's of root apps to use; but almost all of them just need root. Nothing else. And most tweaks' benefits are not as noticeable as they were for earlier devices with less powerful hardware... So, not much to do there anyway.
I only use a little bunch of root apps, for example:
FullScreen (to play games full screen, mostly)
Rebooter (DoomLord's)
Dynamic NavBar (I use it with FullScreen)
ROM Toolbox Pro (to backup, uninstall, disable, etc some apps)
Disable Services (good to kill unwanted services like "Google Analytics Service")
AutoStarts (really usefull to help control what apps start with the system)
Set CPU (For cpu profiles to save some battery juice)
Avast's Anti Theft feature (quite important)
Avast's Backup app (quite usefull to restore/share apps's data and setings having several devices)
And some others.
With these I tweak the system a bit and make the UI a little more like I'd like it to be. The UI is fine, I'd just like the stupid navbar would hide itself by default when gaming n.n
Well, I got to this conclusion after checking out a lot of ROMs, and their pros and cons; that I'll better do my own little tweakings and the ROM is fine. Haha
Enjoy your time actually using the device. It's already -quite- fine. The 4.3 and 4.4 will make it much, much better, though!
The ZL has a lot of future and you did a very good bet by buying it. It's very beautiful.
Check out the apps I mention, you can learn some by reading what each is for.
- L

Xperia M - Have you Downgraded Back to 4.1?

Hi,
I know that there is a discussion thread for 4.3 but instead here I'm interested in those that have or are thinking about downgrading back to 4.1.
I've been using Sony/Ericsson phones for years and most upgrades are good, but some aren't. One of the worst decisions probably was when they upgraded phones with 512mb RAM to 4.0. The phones became so slow that they were almost unusable. It was a perfect example of when an upgrade with an attractive Sony marketing appeal didn't work out well for the average user.
I upgraded normally to 4.3. The phone suddenly kept freezing until it could not be used at all. I had to remove the battery repeatedly. The next day I reinstalled the software via PCC to try to repair. The same situation. I changed the SI codes to other firmware. The same situation. I tried SUS and reset the phone entirely. This helped a little, the freezing is gone. However, there are a few annoyances I have left:
Why I'm Downgrading
1. Almost every time that I press the Home key, the screen stutters like it's having a heart attack. The screen kind of flashes white and black then eventually goes to home. What the heck is that?
2. I like the white UI but I don't like the themes or the dark colours in the SMS/phonebook. I much prefer the bright, happy colours of 4.1.
3. Everytime that I open the phonebook it takes several seconds. The phonebook is one of the apps supposed to be kept in constant memory. Why is closed and reopened all of the time? It's a primary function of a phone and it should work properly.
4. The phone feels slower, despite resetting the phone, repairing the software about 3 times. Why? That is not an upgrade.
5. People talk about the new Xperia Themes and yet they are broken. You have to unlock your bootloader to root to use a theme? That is insane and I'm not voiding warranty for a theme. It was a nice idea advertised by Sony about the 4.3 update (I have the screenshot) and now it is removed from the 4.3 advert. They screwed it up is why.
6. I cannot see any benefit in gaming graphics/speed/whatever else people want to imagine.
What I Need to Upgrade
When a new, major Sony update comes, I've often found it to be very buggy. But, some time later, a new, smaller upgrade comes that fixes many things I wait for that.
1. No lag.
2. No screen freezing / stuttering
Have you downgraded to 4.1? Are you thinking about it?
Please - this is for a genuine discussion with like-minded people. If you think talking about 4.1 is crazy, please no rude comments.

I agree.
And don't forget, the battery drains quicker.
Sent from my C1904 using Tapatalk

I never upgraded due to there not being a root method for 4.3 with locked bootloader. Like I mentioned, there really is no reason to upgrade especially if they still haven't fixed the blue tint camera problem in low light

i think u guys are not installed cleanly...
becoz mine in 4.3 is awesome,no lag,opengl3.0 activated meaning lot of games which has more graphics will work smoothly,..
bug is themer,battery draining /...but themer has fixer...after that i love 4.3...lot of cool themes...i m using spiderman 2 now
may be sony will fix the both in next update...
4.3 has lot of ported camera,apps...
try them...even z2 camera is ported...
camera quality is improved and can be stored in sd directly ...[till now i didnt face blue tint pics]

I haven't got any issues that you mentioned. I updated my phone via Sony PC companion and then made a factory reset. Everything works fine except few little bugs like not working themes or disappearing Google now shortcut (but I like this bug because this nav bar ring sometimes is really annoying).
p.s.
About battery life: I totally don't feel any difference.
True, phone app doesn't keep in ram but it opens fast (like 2 seconds) so I don't care.
Wysłane z mojego GT-P3110 przy użyciu Tapatalka

The only reason I'm not upgrading is because there is no full root for locked bootloaders , im just gonna have to wait
sent from wadiya using my mafroom

paper13579 said:
The only reason I'm not upgrading is because there is no full root for locked bootloaders , im just gonna have to wait
sent from wadiya using my mafroom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah this is the biggest 4.3 issue because with root we can solve all other problems

Good to see others think the same. Also, because I repaired the software and did a factory reset a few times, I don't know why it would be a bad flash? I did try a few times.

I updated and honestly it's smooth and the battery life is equal or better than 4.1 and everything loads quite quick aswell so I'm happy with it at the time being
Sent from my C1905 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.

Ok, right there is a performance issue but some other that op mentioned.
After few days of using multitasking is much more worse than after reboot. I've had the same problem on 4.2 Anyone facing this?
Wysłane z mojego C1905 przy użyciu Tapatalka

Use youlu address book
prince10t said:
i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use online synchronization of my contacts. So I could change my phone without worrying of contacts.
I trust "youlu address book" for the same for more than 5 years. Actually I love its dialer feature.
we could download contacts to any phone (symbian, android, ios, windows)

Everything works fine here, I did a factory reset 3 days ago and haven't really encountered any issues yet...I can live without root for now, I don't currently have sdcard at all actually, I have a couple of bigger games installed(shadowgun, riptide, minecraft) and a small music collection and I still have 450 mb left. Battery lasts for 1 full day and a half for me, it's more than enough. Therefore, I'm keeping it.

prince10t said:
i just reverted back to 4.1.2, its better overall.
Guys I need urgent help. I cannot restore my sms and contacts after downgrading. I used my backup data from 4.3 using Sony PCC and the built-in restore utility of xperia M, both reports successful after completing the restoration, but after I reboot, I still dont have my contacts and sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this happened to me too. If you ever try 4.3 again, you'll see that it reads your SMS and contacts fine. So if it's backed up in 4.3 and restored in 4.1, those two parts don't come out right. Have you ever backed up contacts to your SD card?
If you have no other option, you would have to restore 4.3, restore the backup, then backup contacts to SD in phonebook and use an app to save SMS.

iks8 said:
Ok, right there is a performance issue but some other that op mentioned.
After few days of using multitasking is much more worse than after reboot. I've had the same problem on 4.2 Anyone facing this?
Wysłane z mojego C1905 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strange that some of us have 4.3 working great and the rest of us don't. Plenty of us here know how to flash properly, upgrade, reset or repair in bad cases. I do not know!

Can confirm the performance hit. Apps that are affected include Home (album widget loads noticeably slowly). Album app also loads images slower. Superuser permission requests seem slower (really odd). Also I noticed that Titanium Backup is not able to uninstall system apps (Had to use another app from Play). Will update my experiences.
Overall I also think the phone itself felt snappier with 4.1.2. The lockscreen music player access is absent in 4.3, though themes are a welcome addition.
I've decided to stick with 4.3 for some more time and see if I can work through. Downgrading to 4.1 is definitely on my list though.

thinking to downgrade to 4.1
As all greedy guys out there, i updated my xperia m c1904 to 4.3... 5 days back...
Thing i've noticed so far
1.Getting struck while pressing the home button ( like a jerk)
2.Missing google now on press-hold and drag on the home button.
3.The main reason i updated to 4.3 is for the colorful themes, which seem to be missing as the phone has to be rooted( i dont wanna screw my warranty ) for accessing those themes, so i'm struck with the default themes.
4. The album and the walkman player take quite sometime to open although there is no lag after opening. This is a minor issue i can ignore though.
5. The worst part of 4.3 is the disability of not being able to function the equalizer app to boost the volume. Yes, i am an audiophile and i'd like to listen at loud volumes in my earphones. Whichever equalizer app i install fails to boost the volume of the phone. I haven't found this issue in 4.1 so I might be thinking more for this reason to downgrade my phone.
6.Another worst part is the contact and the call log loading slower than 4.1, when i receive a call it takes about 5secs to display the name which i already have in my phonebook, this is plain annoying and disgusting.
I've heard a lot in forums that a factory reset might help. I'm resetting my phone now, will update if any improvements.
Thanks

srikars93 said:
2.Missing google now on press-hold and drag on the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happens to me, but situationally. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't....
This message was brought to you from my Sony Xperia M C1905 using Tapatalk.

ansebovi said:
i think u guys are not installed cleanly...
becoz mine in 4.3 is awesome,no lag,opengl3.0 activated meaning lot of games which has more graphics will work smoothly,..
bug is themer,battery draining /...but themer has fixer...after that i love 4.3...lot of cool themes...i m using spiderman 2 now
may be sony will fix the both in next update...
4.3 has lot of ported camera,apps...
try them...even z2 camera is ported...
camera quality is improved and can be stored in sd directly ...[till now i didnt face blue tint pics]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pardon me, how do you active openGL 3.0? Your wording seems as if there is one buried setting that I haven't turned on. I haven't noticed at ALL any improvements to my game, probably even more lag, but I ain't sure cuz I have really bad memory.

Keep in mind that OpenGL ES 3.0 won't make games magically run faster, you'll only see benefits if you run an game or app optimized to use OpenGL ES 3.0 (and there isn't many around -- right now I remember only of Dolphin emulator). Also, any ROM based on Android 4.3 will have OpenGL ES 3.0 enabled, there is no way of turning it off...

Keyboard lag 4.4.4

Does anyone is having an extreme lag with the ZL ?? I'm suffering from it and I don't know if it's the 4.4.4 update or what.( I dont remember when it started). I tried with stock rom and right now with MoonWalker Rom, but I have the same issue on both. What do I have to do? Do I have to go back to 4.3 or there is a fix?
Thank you so much!

Welll... thank you all for your feedback

can you sucscribe lag thatyou have? i have a lag that my keyboard not always show in time when i touch an input area, i have to wait couple seconds. and i thin this is arom related.

Hello, I have the same issue after kitkat update. I did everything to fix this problem and nothing.
I notice that after full recovery (format) Is fine but when the stock apps update via google play (like google play services) the issue appear.
I just have one thing to say, this is my first and last time with Sony. Buggy Firmware, lot of hardware bugs, the screen is not resistant, the vibration system is like a china phone and so on.
My issues:
Texting lag (keyboard lag)
screen transitions lag
Opening and closening the status bar lag
Scroll lag
everything had lag after kitkat update
I did every kind of recovery.

It's very laggy just when i delete something

possible correction
opticon107 said:
Does anyone is having an extreme lag with the ZL ?? I'm suffering from it and I don't know if it's the 4.4.4 update or what.( I dont remember when it started). I tried with stock rom and right now with MoonWalker Rom, but I have the same issue on both. What do I have to do? Do I have to go back to 4.3 or there is a fix?
Thank you so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I deleted the folder baidu and cleaned the cache of chrome and facebook ..Teclado stopped halting here
Sorry for the english

BastaS said:
can you sucscribe lag thatyou have? i have a lag that my keyboard not always show in time when i touch an input area, i have to wait couple seconds. and i thin this is arom related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It lags when I tap on an input text, it lags when I type... like: I type a sentence and nothing happens....after 4 seconds, characters appears in a fast sequence...and this happens 90% of the time.
What I have tried:
Reboot
Clean caches
Re-install ROM
Install 3 different stock roms (my cell is BL)
The final and WORKING thing that I did is........: Go back to fu**in 4.3, it runs smoothly like 4.4.4 should be.
I recommend not to buy a sony device, their development team sucks and they release devices every 5months which becomes the current generations obsolete in a couple of months.

Poyta said:
Hello, I have the same issue after kitkat update. I did everything to fix this problem and nothing.
I notice that after full recovery (format) Is fine but when the stock apps update via google play (like google play services) the issue appear.
I just have one thing to say, this is my first and last time with Sony. Buggy Firmware, lot of hardware bugs, the screen is not resistant, the vibration system is like a china phone and so on.
My issues:
Texting lag (keyboard lag)
screen transitions lag
Opening and closening the status bar lag
Scroll lag
everything had lag after kitkat update
I did every kind of recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go back to 4.3, it's the only way. and.... sell your phone and buy a Samsung, HTC or LG

opticon107 said:
Go back to 4.3, it's the only way. and.... sell your phone and buy a Samsung, HTC or LG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice!
Actually this is my girlfriend's phone, my is a clean and perfect nexus 5.
But there is some news... Maybe some services get updated in the last 2 weeks, and now the phone is good enought to use, not perfect but is good, 90% of the laggy disappear, but I dont know for how long....
Sony nevermore...just clean androids like nexus....

I had to back to 4.3. The best rom ever. The 4.4.4 lags a lot on keyboard and multitasking.
If you have 2 or 3 app it's OK, otherwise not.
The 4.4.4 Taskbar is ugly, lags and worst than 4.3.
The question is. What the "Fuccc..." 4.4.4 have better than 4.3?
So, don't upgrade to kitkat. Only the real chocolate bar ir better than jellybean...