Home Screen/App Drawer Empty

[SixEighteen]

Hello all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. Also, further apologies if this is a common problem with the OG Droid, already has known fixes, etc etc. I'm an unabashed noob, despite having had my Droid since May '10.

Basically, the issue is that, increasingly often, when I hit the home button to return to the home screen from web browsing or using an app, the home screen is completely empty - in fact, all five screens are. Sometimes I can move between them with the dots on either side at the bottom of the screen, but sometimes not. It can sometimes take up to 10 or 15 seconds for all the icons to repopulate; while that doesn't sound like a long time, when you're staring at your phone waiting for it when you need to do something, it can seem like an eternity. I also cannot access any apps in the drawer during this period, it too simply shows up as empty.

Some info: stock Droid, Android 2.2.2, not rooted; I do have quite a few apps, including Advanced Task Killer and Lookout. Any other info needed?

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Hello all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. Also, further apologies if this is a common problem with the OG Droid, already has known fixes, etc etc. I'm an unabashed noob, despite having had my Droid since May '10.

Basically, the issue is that, increasingly often, when I hit the home button to return to the home screen from web browsing or using an app, the home screen is completely empty - in fact, all five screens are. Sometimes I can move between them with the dots on either side at the bottom of the screen, but sometimes not. It can sometimes take up to 10 or 15 seconds for all the icons to repopulate; while that doesn't sound like a long time, when you're staring at your phone waiting for it when you need to do something, it can seem like an eternity. I also cannot access any apps in the drawer during this period, it too simply shows up as empty.

Some info: stock Droid, Android 2.2.2, not rooted; I do have quite a few apps, including Advanced Task Killer and Lookout. Any other info needed?

That is known as Lagging or Redraw. And here are some suggestions:

Assuming you are not rooted (as you did not say so in your original post);

Switch to a different launcher app. If you are using the stock launcher, switch to Launcher Pro, ADW EX or Zeam (my favorite). If already using one of those two, switch to the other one. Install the app Home Switcher so you can easily switch between home screen apps.

Reboot your phone once per day. It clears all your caches and will help.

If you have a task killer or an anti-virus app, get rid of them. They have been tied to this issue over and over in the past.

Go into settings and Battery Info. Take a look at what apps are using your battery power and see if anything looks odd there.

If you have any apps installed on the sdcard, move them back to the phone.

If you have many widgets installed, consider removing them for a while and see if lagging gets better.

Look hard that the re-sync frequency you have set for various widgets/apps.

If lagging is still an issue, do a Hard Factory Reset and re-install your apps one at a time and see how they work before installing the next one.

 

[SixEighteen]

Wow, thank you very much - these are very helpful suggestions. I am indeed using the stock launcher; I seem to recall trying out some alternative launchers soon after getting the Droid and not being terribly pleased with any, but I'm sure the selection is much better now. I'll try one out and see if it helps. I may also be attempting to root the phone after I do more research about it.

I did actually get rid of Advanced Task Killer a few days ago, as I suspected that it might have been part of the problem; though it seems to have actually gotten worse since then, strangely enough. I do also have Lookout, but I guess I could get rid of it. I did try without it for a while, during a test run a few months ago, but it didn't seem to change much. However, since I vet the apps I download pretty closely, I guess I don't really need it.

Checking the Battery Use menu right now, it seems fairly innocuous - Display is highest (38%), Android System next (11%), and others like Phone idle, Cell standby, and Android OS are there too. The only application on the list is Facebook at 9%. That's rather surprising, I'll go ahead and Force Stop that.

I do have many apps on the SD Card; in fact, I always try to move them over whenever possible to preserve room on the phone's internal memory. Out of curiosity, how will moving them back to the phone help? Truthfully, I'd like to avoid doing this if possible, as my phone is starting to run low on room. I also do have quite a few widgets, as I find them very helpful, but I suppose I could delete a few.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Wow, thank you very much - these are very helpful suggestions. I am indeed using the stock launcher; I seem to recall trying out some alternative launchers soon after getting the Droid and not being terribly pleased with any, but I'm sure the selection is much better now. I'll try one out and see if it helps. I may also be attempting to root the phone after I do more research about it.

I did actually get rid of Advanced Task Killer a few days ago, as I suspected that it might have been part of the problem; though it seems to have actually gotten worse since then, strangely enough. I do also have Lookout, but I guess I could get rid of it. I did try without it for a while, during a test run a few months ago, but it didn't seem to change much. However, since I vet the apps I download pretty closely, I guess I don't really need it.

Checking the Battery Use menu right now, it seems fairly innocuous - Display is highest (38%), Android System next (11%), and others like Phone idle, Cell standby, and Android OS are there too. The only application on the list is Facebook at 9%. That's rather surprising, I'll go ahead and Force Stop that.

I do have many apps on the SD Card; in fact, I always try to move them over whenever possible to preserve room on the phone's internal memory. Out of curiosity, how will moving them back to the phone help? Truthfully, I'd like to avoid doing this if possible, as my phone is starting to run low on room. I also do have quite a few widgets, as I find them very helpful, but I suppose I could delete a few.

"I am indeed using the stock launcher; I seem to recall trying out some alternative launchers soon after getting the Droid and not being terribly pleased with any, but I'm sure the selection is much better now." Launchers are much better now. I particularly like the Zeam launcher as it is very streamlined, has a small foot print and is not a resource hog.

"The only application on the list is Facebook at 9%." It may be syncing too often or it could just be malfunctioning.

"I do have many apps on the SD Card" It always takes an app longer to load if it is on the sdcard as opposed to in app storage area. When I was on my Original Droid, I got in the habit of only some apps when I was actually going to use them. One example was Google Sky. My wife and I only used it infrequently so I would keep it uninstalled and the install it as we needed.

We've seen through the years that there can be a very great difference between individual phones. So some of the stuff on that list my work for you and some won't. But good with it and keep us posted.

 

[SixEighteen]

Launchers are much better now. I particularly like the Zeam launcher as it is very streamlined, has a small foot print and is not a resource hog.

I can't recall the name of the one I tried after getting the Droid (Panda Launcher, perhaps?), but I do remember that it was glitchy. Anyway, I'll give Zeam a shot and report back.

It may be syncing too often or it could just be malfunctioning.

The "Running services" menu suggests that it's Facebook UploadManager that's running in the background, and probably what's draining the battery. Telling UploadManager to stop brings up a warning popup: "The service will no longer run until started again. This may have undesirable consequences on the application Facebook." While this doesn't seem to be a bad thing, I don't want there to be any other ramifications, so I think I'll hold off on this unless someone says otherwise.

 

[SixEighteen]

After a few days without Advanced Task Killer, Lookout, and removing most of the widgets, I do notice a significant decrease in the amount of redraw, which is really nice.

I also tried out Launcher Pro and Zeam, but wasn't a fan - they both only have three screens, which I strongly disliked. Also, Zeam was incompatible with an app I have that lets me stick notes and reminders on my notification bar. Upon first install, it seemed that Zeam had actually deleted my notes, which I was rather angry about; however, thankfully I found that after deleting Zeam and rebooting the phone, my notes returned. Is there a way to increase the number of screens on alternative launchers that I was unable to find?

 

[Bluesnell]

Go launcher is the one I just instalslled on my husbands og Droid...it is working flawlessly so far...I don't know if there is a limit on homdscreens...but I know I have 7 so far. You can add them as you desire. Love it

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