Why so unstable??

[jaybogg]

I have to ask, why is the Razr so unstable? My foray into the Android OS, Moto, and Razr is fairly new (~6 mos), but with all the really oddball problems and the need to perform FDR's to fix them, it really reminds me of the early days of windows and how unstable they were. Remember? Close all programs, close windows, reboot, open windows, open your program and your problem may or may not be fixed. And if you called MS (when it was still free to do so), they told you to do the same thing. They have come a long way.

These are the possibilities for the problems we are experiencing on the Razr off the top of my head.

1. Is it the phone owners fault?
2. Is it the Android OS itself?
3. Is it the phone/ hardware build by Moto?
4. Is it the apps themselves and not enough control/testing by Google before releasing for use in "Play Store"?
3. Is it the implementation of the OS on Razr by Moto/VZW?

5. Yes in some cases I have seen here. But for the most part, I feel people are using their phones responsibly.
2. From what I have read, the android platform is reported to be very stable.
3. This might be a possibility, I truly don't know enough about it to offer an opinion.
4. I suspect this is probably a good part of the problem.
5. I feel this too probably shares a good part of the responsibility.

I may have left out some other causes for the instability seen on the Razr, If so offer up your observations and opinions. My opinion to these questions is shown in an ascending order of responsibility with "1, 2, and 3" being the least responsible and "4 & 5" bearing the most responsibility.

One last note: I owned a smartphone operating on webOS and never had to do a FDR in over 2 years, don't even know if there was one. To be fair to the Razr, I went 6 mos without doing one, never had a problem serious enough to warrant one. I finally performed one to clear up a problem with the firm key "voice search", and it did not help. So I guess you could say it was not warranted and I still have not "needed" to do one.

So please, "What say you?"

 

[94lt1]

I think its the new OS, on gb the razr was rock solid.. IMHO. My device is solid on 215 too. On 211 it was problematic.

It will get stable again as the os moves towards jb.. .

 

[jaybogg]

I think its the new OS, on gb the razr was rock solid.. IMHO. My device is solid on 215 too. On 211 it was problematic.

It will get stable again as the os moves towards jb.. .

I REALLY, REALLY, hope you are right. This is the first major OS upgrade I have experienced and I am not impressed. I never took into consideration what you have pointed out. I just feel bad for those, like me, that have little experience, see all the VZW commercials, decide to join the 21st century, and come home with a brand spanking new Razr. Suddenly, they are having to go through all sorts of backing up, resetting, reloading , and possibly fixing their problem. For those familiar with Android devices, Moto gets the black eye. For those less experienced, Android OS, whether deserved or not, gets the black eye, and these are the people who are likely to migrate to iOS devices on their next purchase. I truly like the Linux based OS's, and want to see them do good.

 

[MattyP]

The Android OS's are no different than Windows in some aspects. There were versions of Windows that were rock solid, and others were nothing but junk. But at the same time, it also depends on what a user does with the phone, how it's set up, and things that are done to it, such as rooting, etc. I guess I am one of the lucky ones, after two smartphones, I have never had any kind of major issue with either one, a Droid 2 and a Razr Maxx now. But at the same time, I guess you could say I'm OCD about my phone, how it's set up, and what apps are on it. But since the beginning, I have always read first and then done something. From installing apps to rooting, I read first. I asked questions, and I still do. When installing apps, before I tap download, I read the reviews, and see what others say about the app. Before rooting or upgrading anything, I read what others do and read the mistakes that they made, so I can avoid that. I think alot of people, especially ones who as you say "have little experience" for lack of a better term ... they "learn the hard way" and they are not happy with their experience. This is especially true if someone "has little experience" ... since there is no real "manual" for operating a very complicated and complex phone, and all the possible things it will do. I consider myself pretty "tech savvy" but I am still learning something new about these phones every day.

 

[94lt1]

We experienced the same thing, but much worse from eclaire to froyo and froyo to gb...

 

[MattyP]

We experience the same thing, but much worse from eclaire to froyo and froyo to gb...

I never experienced Eclaire. My Droid 2 was on Froyo when I got it, and I was rooted and had deleted a couple bloat apps. I had to figure out how to put the .apk's back so I could upgrade to Gingerbread. Then I didn't like GB so I SBF'd back to Froyo, and re-rooted and froze the updater so I wouldn't get GB again. I stayed on Frpyo until I got my Maxx, it was on GB, but less than a week after I got it I went to ICS, re-rooted, and froze the updater so I don't have to worry about it again until I WANT the OTA ... after I see what everyone else has to say about the next one. LOL

When .215 came out, I waited and read what everyone else was saying, and asked questions before I did it. Had no clue that within a week or so I would be teaching a class on it :rofl3:

 

[94lt1]

Lol.

 

[joshxdroid]

Sometimes I'm very thankful i have the phone i do, and hope it never dies. My RAZR has been one of the most stable devices I've ever owned. I don't have a lot of android experience, (lg votex, htc incredible, droid x2 and now RAZR) but my RAZR is smooth as silk both on .211 and .215 i have never had to preform a hard reset, twice i had it lock up for about 5 seconds, but i blamed the app. i feel bad that everyone hadn't had the greatest experience.

 

[jaybogg]

@ 94lt1: I guess its nice to know we are not suffering as much as previous generations of the OS.:blink:

@ MAttyP: I understand your points about those of us who choose to tinker, but my heart goes out to John Q. Public, owner/operator, who, at the recommendation of a friend, has done nothing more than purchased what they thought wold be a telephone with a lot of features and don't care to spend all the time to get through the learning curve.

I guess the analogy of windows is a very good one. There was a very steep learning curve for anyone who purchased a PC. In hindsight, anyone not willing to invest the time in learning PC Dos, then MS Dos, and finally the Windows overlay to MS Dos, probably had no business buying A PC. 30 years later, we have no problem recommending anyone to buy a PC since the evolution has produced a very stable, user friendly OS. I guess the same holds true to smart phones and the Android OS in particular.

As we see tablets starting to replace Windows based systems (netbooks in particular) , I see Android based systems starting to become a greater part of our daily lives. I went into Best Buy to look at netbooks about a half a yr ago. They had 2 systems, and were asking full retail as they had taken on a "specialty status", meaning they were no longer mainstream, and anyone demanding to own one would be paying full retail. They had tablets everywhere!

I would say that the popularity of tablets, both iOS and Android based, were directly responsible for this. Will this be the fate of the laptop and desktop? Possibly, but I don't think it will be anytime in the near future. The most powerful programs, used by business and academia, are all Windows based, as are the computers they run the programs, with the exception of the mainframes and supercomputers, which I believe are Unix based.

Please remember, I am in my latter 50's, and my generation were already grown when computers became mainstream. I have friends who have never owned a PC, much less a smartphone and don't see how it could possibly touch their daily lives.

So the bottom line is, from what I have learned thus far about Android based systems, I am going to be very cautious about who I recommend a smartphone to until the Android OS evolves more, or I become better educated and can recommend a stable phone/OS version, to ensure they have an enjoyable experience.

 

[isolutionsusa]

I have used several droids including the razr, incredible 1, HTC T'bolt, HTC Rezound (no probs except the power sleep button breaks), razr maxx, Nexus, (but used an iphone for over a year now). I work for a reseller and I hate droids. If I made the same amount of money on iphones as i did droids, I would never sell another droid in my life.

Justifying my statement: I have sold droids since the droid 1 and I have NEVER seen a droid that didn't have one problem. The os becomes unstable when they try to put ics on a phone that cant support more than gb. That is when you get a low memory error on the cheap phones (no ram).


So, "2. Is it the Android OS itself?" Yes
"3. Is it the phone/ hardware build by Moto?" this is true more so for the Samsungs (reception always sucks b@lls)

The windows analogy is spot on. Factory reset to fix.....

 

[Ksupernor2]

I have a few droids and never a single problem. HTC My touch 3g, HTC incredible, HTC incredible 2, Moto Bionic, and now the RAZR MAXX . I can say l really like them. Moto phones make the best phone calls by far. To each is there own......

 

[LoudRam]

I have used several droids including the razr, incredible 1, HTC T'bolt, HTC Rezound (no probs except the power sleep button breaks), razr maxx, Nexus, (but used an iphone for over a year now). I work for a reseller and I hate droids. If I made the same amount of money on iphones as i did droids, I would never sell another droid in my life.

Justifying my statement: I have sold droids since the droid 1 and I have NEVER seen a droid that didn't have one problem. The os becomes unstable when they try to put ics on a phone that cant support more than gb. That is when you get a low memory error on the cheap phones (no ram).

So, "2. Is it the Android OS itself?" Yes
"3. Is it the phone/ hardware build by Moto?" this is true more so for the Samsungs (reception always sucks b@lls)

The windows analogy is spot on. Factory reset to fix.....

I guess I'll ask the obvious question. If you use an iphone, hate Android, never want to sell another one, and you think that they are all junk then why are you here? Your welcome here as is everyone but I know I'm not the only one wondering. Your first post you come right out and slam us. And on top of that your name sounds like a business name that favors Apple products. Not a great start. For the record I've had three HTC phones and I've loved them all. They all were great phones.

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Droid Forums

 

[jaye712]

wowzers....What's the best app for iphone?Android #lol

RAZR215unrooted

 

[TisMyDroid]

Apple iPhone is for those that like their phone as it is, don't care to spend much time customizing it and are content with what the phone does & confident that it does it exceptionally well. Android is for those that like to change their phone in as many ways possible, push their phones to do everything it possibly can and beyond, and flirt with instability in the process. If us Android folk just left our phones alone then our phones would always be as smooth as day one. But we like the possibilities and know it is a simple fdr that gets us back to good and then back to more fun.

And believe me, my iPhone friends have to take advantage of their warranties and insurance as often as my Android friends.