Randomly shuts down/restarts

[cnmorrow]

http://forums.youmail.com/forums/vie...php?f=8&t=3908



Youmail has released a specific software update for ally users. This app is not avail on the marketplace but a link to download directly to your phone is in the forum linked above. I uninstalled the original Youmail app after reading in this forum, but then reinstalled the ally specific app from Youmail. So far so good.

[glockman39]

My phone shuts down and restarts when I look at pictures. Strangely, it's when I want to look at one folder specifically. It's mildly annoying, but I live with it.

[jscottyh]

Mine started restarting on its own yesterday. Strangely after pdanet had its update. But I don't think that's the problem. Although I was using the net on my phone and it kept bouncing back from 1x to 3G and then the icon disappeared and my phone restarted. It has done that 3 times now.

[Windward1965]

This phone is a POS. No doubt about it. My other phones have never acted like this.

[Jump]

Hi Brent, just curious. How many smartphones have you owned previous to the Ally?

[jcsallyuser]

The biggest issue facing Android and Google today is fragmentation- as device manufacturers tweak Android to fit their hardware or their marketing needs, the likelihood that applications will run on one device but not another increases. Unanticipated conflict between applications is clear evidence of the damage caused by fragementation.



Until Google puts its foot down and prohibits manufacturer tampering with the Android OS, the problem will exist. And its main effect on those of us with Android devices is that we won't have the certainty that fruit-oriented devices have with respect to software performance and behavior. And, developers will shy away from Android apps, since they don't want to sign up for either (i) custom versions of their application for different Android devices or (ii) customer complaints based on specific hardware, not on software.



One way to avoid the issue is to solely use the applications that came with the device. But, that negates the main reason for purchasing a device like Ally or Droid, which is to have the flexibility to use different applications that may provide better functionality than the OE apps.



My

The biggest issue facing Android and Google today is fragmentation- as device manufacturers tweak Android to fit their hardware or their marketing needs, the likelihood that applications will run on one device but not another increases. Unanticipated conflict between applications is clear evidence of the damage caused by fragementation.



Until Google puts its foot down and prohibits manufacturer tampering with the Android OS, the problem will exist. And its main effect on those of us with Android devices is that we won't have the certainty that fruit-oriented devices have with respect to software performance and behavior. And, developers will shy away from Android apps, since they don't want to sign up for either (i) custom versions of their application for different Android devices or (ii) customer complaints based on specific hardware, not on software.



One way to avoid the issue is to solely use the applications that came with the device. But, that negates the main reason for purchasing a device like Ally or Droid, which is to have the flexibility to use different applications that may provide better functionality than the OE apps.



My $0.02.

.02.

RBW, you're undervaluing your input. Excellent response.



My own experience with my Ally: I've had it almost a month now, and the first two weeks were rough. In the first two weeks, I downloaded a lot of apps, made a lot of changes, and generally "pimped out" my phone. ;-) During that two-week period, my phone probably restarted on its own six-10 times, and frankly, I didn't know what to make of it. Nor did I make a big deal of it, because the phone did, at least, restart. It wasn't like it froze and I had to pop out the batter or anything like that. It was annoying.



I was more concerned with battery life and onboard memory usage. As a result, i started paring down apps and I noticed that, beginning in the third week, my phone started running much more smoothly. As has been noted in other threads on this forum, I found my phone to run even more smoothly when I started using the LG home theme. In the last 10 days, I believe my phone has crashed and restarted only one time, and that was when I was in Google Navigation. In the first two weeks, Google Nav tended to be especially flakey, so one restart in roughly the last two weeks -- and that while using GN -- feels like significant progress to me.



In the last couple of days, I've started to add back some apps, but slowly. Thus far, the results include: increased battery life; better OS stability; smoother operation overall.



Here's my 2 cents' worth: I think much of the problems I encountered in the first two weeks were caused by operator error. I now don't think you can load a bunch of apps on a phone at the same time and expect stability -- it only makes sense that not only will third-party apps conflict with pre-loaded apps, but they'll conflict with each other. I have also learned to deal with the phone's lag time. Even using the LG theme, it still pays to give the phone a second when switching between apps, between home screens, when waking up the phone, etc. Indeed, the best way I've found to make my phone restart is to try to force it to follow several different commands when it is lagging behind. More operator error.



As a result of all the above, my Ally is now a relatively smooth-functioning machine. Overall, I'd give it 6 of 10 stars. When I factor in the price, however, I give it 9 of 10 stars. This is not a top-of-the-line Android-based device. It is the cheapest Android-based device in the Verizon arsenal, at least as of this writing, and that makes it entry-level by definition. If blazing speed and zero appreciable lag time had been that important to me, I would have ponied up the extra $150 and gotten either the HTC Incredible or the Droid 2.



Also, because it is entry-level, the Ally is a first foray into the world of smartphones for myself and many others on this site, and as such, it is going to have to bear the brunt of criticism that it probably doesn't deserve.





With respect to Brent, I don't feel like the Ally is a POS; it simply is what it is. However, if for some reason Google/Android and LG don't see fit to release FroYo for the Ally, then I will have to agree with you, albeit, with regret. Even as I write this last sentence, I'm biting my own tongue: I still have confidence that FroYo will be made available for the Ally.

[zdrewsk]

Just downloaded a free live wallpaper. Phone no longer works.

Anyway I can access it without having it shut down on me before it even starts up?

RBW, you're undervaluing your input. Excellent response.



My own experience with my Ally: I've had it almost a month now, and the first two weeks were rough. In the first two weeks, I downloaded a lot of apps, made a lot of changes, and generally "pimped out" my phone. ;-) During that two-week period, my phone probably restarted on its own six-10 times, and frankly, I didn't know what to make of it. Nor did I make a big deal of it, because the phone did, at least, restart. It wasn't like it froze and I had to pop out the batter or anything like that. It was annoying.



I was more concerned with battery life and onboard memory usage. As a result, i started paring down apps and I noticed that, beginning in the third week, my phone started running much more smoothly. As has been noted in other threads on this forum, I found my phone to run even more smoothly when I started using the LG home theme. In the last 10 days, I believe my phone has crashed and restarted only one time, and that was when I was in Google Navigation. In the first two weeks, Google Nav tended to be especially flakey, so one restart in roughly the last two weeks -- and that while using GN -- feels like significant progress to me.



In the last couple of days, I've started to add back some apps, but slowly. Thus far, the results include: increased battery life; better OS stability; smoother operation overall.



Here's my 2 cents' worth: I think much of the problems I encountered in the first two weeks were caused by operator error. I now don't think you can load a bunch of apps on a phone at the same time and expect stability -- it only makes sense that not only will third-party apps conflict with pre-loaded apps, but they'll conflict with each other. I have also learned to deal with the phone's lag time. Even using the LG theme, it still pays to give the phone a second when switching between apps, between home screens, when waking up the phone, etc. Indeed, the best way I've found to make my phone restart is to try to force it to follow several different commands when it is lagging behind. More operator error.



As a result of all the above, my Ally is now a relatively smooth-functioning machine. Overall, I'd give it 6 of 10 stars. When I factor in the price, however, I give it 9 of 10 stars. This is not a top-of-the-line Android-based device. It is the cheapest Android-based device in the Verizon arsenal, at least as of this writing, and that makes it entry-level by definition. If blazing speed and zero appreciable lag time had been that important to me, I would have ponied up the extra 0 and gotten either the HTC Incredible or the Droid 2.



Also, because it is entry-level, the Ally is a first foray into the world of smartphones for myself and many others on this site, and as such, it is going to have to bear the brunt of criticism that it probably doesn't deserve.





With respect to Brent, I don't feel like the Ally is a POS; it simply is what it is. However, if for some reason Google/Android and LG don't see fit to release FroYo for the Ally, then I will have to agree with you, albeit, with regret. Even as I write this last sentence, I'm biting my own tongue: I still have confidence that FroYo will be made available for the Ally.

[rbw]

An update to an old thread:



With the January OTA upgrade to Android v2.2, and some recent issues using the website to retrieve voicemails (with both Dolphin and the stock browser; I'm guessing something Java-related), I decided to give the YouMail application another try. I installed it yesterday (the current Android Market version (v1.8.3), not the special Ally version). I'm still using a number of non-OEM apps: LauncherPro, Digiclock and Gauge Battery widgets, K-9 Mail, Handcent, others.



So far, not a single reboot, and no ill effects on battery life or anything else. Notifications, message playback and message management all work well; all other apps seem to be happy, too.

[aloha52]

I have had my Ally for a year and a half now and it only just started restarting itself. I don't have any of the apps that have been mentioned so far, especially mail which I only do on my computer. It went through a 'freezing' time there about 6 months ago that nothing cured except to return it for another Ally. This is the first time I'm seriously thinking of changing from LG altogether. Sad.