Low RAM

[xd366]

As much as I like this phone, I feel like it lacks ram.
yes it has a 1gb ram, but most of it is used up by the OS. and usually leaves like 300 free ram.

is there a way to improve this? it gets so annoying to be switching between apps and the app has to restart because of this.

is there any custom roms that would greatly improve the ram?

 

[jpcalhoun]

As much as I like this phone, I feel like it lacks ram.
yes it has a 1gb ram, but most of it is used up by the OS. and usually leaves like 300 free ram.

is there a way to improve this? it gets so annoying to be switching between apps and the app has to restart because of this.

is there any custom roms that would greatly improve the ram?

Well, you may be overly concerned about something that you have little control over without root and really screwing around with "how" the system manages memory, in this case RAM. The Android OS does a pretty good job of managing RAM, much better than most PCs. It will shut down/reallocate RAM as it needs it. Don't try to apply the techniques you use on, lets say your Windows PC to manage RAM, on your phone...they are two different animals. There are a few things that you can do that "saves" RAM, but again, the pay back is not going to be noticeable. The use of some third party launchers will usually use more RAM than the stock launcher. Go Launcher is a great launcher, but it runs pretty "fat"...fat meaning it eats RAM. Apex and Nova on the other hand eats less RAM than Go Launcher but still a little more than the stock launcher. Widgets, depending on which widget and how you have them configured to run, are a big consumer of RAM also. I guess the obvious is this: the more widgets you have running, the more information/data the widgets/apps are trying to sync and the more "multi-tasking" you require the OS to do the more likely you are to have a lag from time to time. Even as good as the OS is of managing and allocating RAM where and when it needs it you can "overload" (not a good choice of words) the system causing a lag. As far as ROMs, someone else will have to answer that question for you. I gave up on flashing ROMs some time ago. The gain was not worth the risk an I never found one that was as good as the stock ROM in terms of "everything working as it was designed to work". There was always something that just didn't work right (data, bluetooth, wifi, camera...something).

 

[jimmythegent]

Go Launcher is a great launcher, but it runs pretty "fat"...fat meaning it eats RAM.

This is what I dont understand, you kind of contradict yourself. You say on one hand the Android OS handles RAM differently and a lot more efficient than how a PC handles RAM, but then you state the quoted...

I know there is no doubt that more RAM, the better, hence why the top phones have 2GBs, NOT 1GB. And RAM is RAM, it is in essence just like a PCs RAM, its accessing "randomly" memory, and the Droid HDs are FILLED to the brim with bloatware taking up valuable RAM space, which is also the reason a lot of people root their phones, to rid of this garbage.

I completely agree with the poster, I have noticed my phone lag many times, example, press an icon and it just sits there for a second, lagged out, then I open my sweeper program and I see all this garbage floating in the background.

My biggest beef with the phone is the lag, which is clearly due to the RAM only being 1GB, the processor is plenty fast, but no doubt should have had 2GBs of RAM, and MOTO knows this, they packed this thing up with bloatware to the very limit, from my experience with memory, there should ALWAYS be at least HALF available at all times, and that goes for phones, pcs, tablets, whatever. There is a reason its called RAM.

EDIT: And as much as I HATE saying this... my wife has an iPhone5, which has 1GB of RAM too, and runs smoother. NOT saying my phone doesnt run smooth, but RAZR HD vs. iPhone5 in reference to RAM and its usage, the iPhone is better at it, and I can almost guarantee without looking it up, the reason is there is less bloatware taking up RAM.

EDIT AGAIN: I had to look it up LOL, and this video proves there is a difference:

[video=youtube;1EzWFFD9Pbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EzWFFD9Pbk[/video]

Now, its true, the OS handles RAM a little different, the way it handles it is if becomes overloaded it CLOSES out apps... 2GBs there is no need to close out the apps, and 4GBs and so on, check the video out.

 

[xd366]

This is what I dont understand, you kind of contradict yourself. You say on one hand the Android OS handles RAM differently and a lot more efficient than how a PC handles RAM, but then you state the quoted...

I know there is no doubt that more RAM, the better, hence why the top phones have 2GBs, NOT 1GB. And RAM is RAM, it is in essence just like a PCs RAM, its accessing "randomly" memory, and the Droid HDs are FILLED to the brim with bloatware taking up valuable RAM space, which is also the reason a lot of people root their phones, to rid of this garbage.

I completely agree with the poster, I have noticed my phone lag many times, example, press an icon and it just sits there for a second, lagged out, then I open my sweeper program and I see all this garbage floating in the background.

My biggest beef with the phone is the lag, which is clearly due to the RAM only being 1GB, the processor is plenty fast, but no doubt should have had 2GBs of RAM, and MOTO knows this, they packed this thing up with bloatware to the very limit, from my experience with memory, there should ALWAYS be at least HALF available at all times, and that goes for phones, pcs, tablets, whatever. There is a reason its called RAM.

EDIT: And as much as I HATE saying this... my wife has an iPhone5, which has 1GB of RAM too, and runs smoother. NOT saying my phone doesnt run smooth, but RAZR HD vs. iPhone5 in reference to RAM and its usage, the iPhone is better at it, and I can almost guarantee without looking it up, the reason is there is less bloatware taking up RAM.

EDIT AGAIN: I had to look it up LOL, and this video proves there is a difference:

[video=youtube;1EzWFFD9Pbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EzWFFD9Pbk[/video]

Now, its true, the OS handles RAM a little different, the way it handles it is if becomes overloaded it CLOSES out apps... 2GBs there is no need to close out the apps, and 4GBs and so on, check the video out.

great video, but i wish he wouldve shown other apps for a more noticeable comparison. he should've ran a couple game apps or stuff like that.

but yea, for me i usually have around 300 mb free.
i remember on my iphone 5 i could have soooo many apps open and it would never have to reload an app. on this one i can barely have like 4 or 5

 

[jpcalhoun]

Hey guys, I never stated or implied that more RAM is not better (ie; 1GB versus 2GB). My point was the Android OS does a good job of managing available RAM, better than most PCs. The OP didn't ask the question "is more RAM better", he asked if there was something he could do to improve lag as a function of available RAM. The answer is...very little without root and tinkering with some settings not normally available without root and even at that the improvement is minimal. Flashing a customized ROM might improve lag, but I don't flash ROMs so I can't really address that.

Thanks for the video. I guess the bottom line is since you can't add additional RAM to your device then you have to use some discretion regarding how many apps you need open at any one time. I was surprised that the 1GB device loaded and ran most apps faster, or at least as fast, as the 2GB device until the number of apps being run simultaneous reached around 10. Every user is different, but if I were having a lag problem I'd learn how to get along with less than 10 (or what ever the number is) apps open all the time if I could.

 

[jimmythegent]

Hey guys, I never stated or implied that more RAM is not better (ie; 1GB versus 2GB). My point was the Android OS does a good job of managing available RAM, better than most PCs. The OP didn't ask the question "is more RAM better", he asked if there was something he could do to improve lag as a function of available RAM. The answer is...very little without root and tinkering with some settings not normally available without root and even at that the improvement is minimal. Flashing a customized ROM might improve lag, but I don't flash ROMs so I can't really address that.

Thanks for the video. I guess the bottom line is since you can't add additional RAM to your device then you have to use some discretion regarding how many apps you need open at any one time. I was surprised that the 1GB device loaded and ran most apps faster, or at least as fast, as the 2GB device until the number of apps being run simultaneous reached around 10. Every user is different, but if I were having a lag problem I'd learn how to get along with less than 10 (or what ever the number is) apps open all the time if I could.

True, nothing can be done except rooting, which I really want to now. I mean, imagine how much out of the 700 CONSTANT megs that are being used up is for bloatware? I would say a few hundred easy.

Also, I wouldnt mind as much for apps, I DO mind when I go to make a call and the dialing is laggy, thats not cool. When I go to text and it gets laggy, not cool.

 

[jpcalhoun]

True, nothing can be done except rooting, which I really want to now. I mean, imagine how much out of the 700 CONSTANT megs that are being used up is for bloatware? I would say a few hundred easy.

Also, I wouldnt mind as much for apps, I DO mind when I go to make a call and the dialing is laggy, thats not cool. When I go to text and it gets laggy, not cool.

Yeah, I can understand that. I've never had a lag problem on the dialing function or text. Have you tried a different text app?

I've rooted all my phones the past several years and used Titanium Backup to freeze the bloatware. It does make a difference in available RAM at boot...but not as big a difference as you might think. But, every little bit counts, right:biggrin: