For most people, updating to Android Lollipop has made their hardware
happier, their teeth whiter and their days just dandy. But some users
have encountered a range of issues, including freezes, crashes, stutter
and lag.
In-place upgrades can be the cause of that. Lollipop has been a spectacular version
of Android with a lot to love including Material Design and plenty of
other new features. However, there are a few problems that are still setting many users’ teeth on edge. Here we’ll tackle the most common of these and show you how to get your Android device back into peak condition.
1) Poor Performance Issue in Lolipop 5.0
If you’ve had your phone for a while, you might have noticed a hit to performance after updating to Lollipop. This actually isn’t necessarily a problem unique to Android 5.0. Sometimes when you install updates upon updates upon updates without ever having a clean install, lots of tiny issues can accrue over time. The result is a poor experience in terms of performance.The solution? First, try updating all of your apps to make sure they are running in versions compatible with Lollipop. You may try deactivating or switching off all the apps and widgets you regularly use and then gradually activating them one by one to see if one is being particularly troublesome.
If you’re still having performance issues, backup your data and give yourself a factory reset.
2) Wi-Fi issues in Android Lollipop
As surely as night follows day, an operating system upgrade is going to lead to Wi-Fi issues for a number of people. Lollipop is no exception. Some users have been reporting dropped internet connections, while others can't get online at all. Older devices like the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 10 seem to be having the most problems. In some cases, these are known bugs inside Lollipop, and you're going to have to wait for Google's engineers to get around to pushing out a software update, but there are some tricks you can try in the meantime.
In terms of suggested fixes, getting your phone or tablet to forget
the network (long-press on the
Wi-Fi network list) then reconnecting
seems to work for a select few. The old faithful factory reset has done
the trick for some, but this is a bit of a pain to work through. You
might also want to uninstall some of the older apps on your device, at
least temporarily: A number of users have reported Wi-Fi issues
disappearing once particular third-party apps were updated with Lollipop
compatibility. If you're running an older app that hasn't been updated
in a while, it could be causing interference.
Rebooting devices and the home router is another troubleshooting fix
you might want to try, but you've done that already, haven't you? We've
seen other reports that changing the Wi-Fi channel can improve
performance: It's under the Advanced option on the Wi-Fi screen menu, or you can adjust the channel settings from your router.
3) Battery issues in Android Lollipop
Battery issues are rumored to have held up the roll-out of Lollipop and it looks like Google wasn't able to squash all of the bugs before the new operating system saw the light of day. Battery problems appear to be even more common than Wi-Fi ones based on the forum and social media posts we've seen, though once you have got everything working correctly Android 5.0 should in theory give your device better battery life.
Our familiar friend the factory reset has been known to help out some
users and again there's the problem of older apps that haven't been
updated since Lollipop appeared on the scene. One of these apps might be
clashing with Lollipop's new code and causing the battery to drain
unnecessarily, so you might want to try removing a few apps that haven't
been recently updated. Remember you can see which apps are using up
your device's juice from the Battery page in Settings.
If you have enough time on your hands, you can try and work out
what's wrong with a trial and error approach. Switch settings like Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth on and off, uninstall specific apps, and see what
changes. But it's not an ideal way of spending your leisure hours.
Google did push out an update to fix one battery life issue
earlier this month, so make sure your version is right up to date. If
you're still struggling with problems then all you can do is report what's happening and sit tight for a fix.
4) Lagging and crashing in Android Lollipop
If your phone or tablet is sluggish or crashing at random times then there are a number of possible causes and solutions. At the risk of sounding repetitive it's worth mentioning a factory reset again, to clear the cobwebs away and enable your device to start afresh from scratch. A simple power down and power up can also do wonders, though we're guessing that you've already tried that if you've made your way to this article.
If
one app seems to be at the root of the issue then the obvious next
step is to uninstall it or check for an update. Head to the developer's
support site to see if any bugs have been reported by users or the
development team. As with any operating system update, it may be that
certain apps are having problems adjusting to a new Lollipop-powered way
of life, and bringing the whole system down with them.
We've seen reports that switching off some of the bells and whistles
that come with Android—Google Now, OK Google support, live wallpapers,
and so on—can improve the situation, and this will at least enable you
to use your phone or tablet while you wait for an update. If your device
is completely unusable then going back to KitKat for a while is a potential option.
5) Video playback issue in Android Lollipop
One of the more specific problems to crop up in forums is a video playback issue with the Wi-Fi version of the 2013 Nexus 7. Users are reporting that Lollipop loses its bearings and is unable to find the video player software when they want to watch a clip. Not really an ideal situation for a modern-day tablet. Clearing the cache of one of the affected apps (such as YouTube) has helped some people restore functionality, and you can do this from the Apps page in Settings.
Other users have found success by enabling or disabling the NuPlayer
from the Developer options page (this seems to be a new, experimental
playback layer introduced with Lollipop). Head to About phone
from the Settings app and tap the build number seven times to activate
the developer options screen, and you can then try playing around with
NuPlayer. If it's enabled then disable it and vice versa, resetting your
device each time. It's not a troubleshooting technique to fill you with
much confidence but it's the best that we have so far.
Other than that you can fall back on the factory reset option which
will wipe all temporary data from your device and may be enough to
restore video playback functionality. The problem has been reported so
widely that we'd assume Google must be working on a fix, so you might
just have to go elsewhere for your video playing needs until then.