Nexus 7 Owners Thread - apps, tips & tricks!

Fluffy88

I was about to post, I have a 2013 WiFi and it's running as smooth as a babies bottom.

But, I forgot that it's actually running the KitKat version of CyanogenMod, 10.2 I think. I'm guessing that's not an option either?

homer911

jonski wrote: »

There are 3 of these in my house .

2012 16GB wifi
2013 16GB wifi
2013 32Gb wifi

All 3 are updated to the latest version 5.1.1
All 3 have had their cache wiped
All 3 have had Factory Resets
The 2012 one has been wiped and the latest clean image flashed onto it .

All 3 are barely working , it's like they are running through treacle .

Anyone have any suggestions other than going back to KitKat .

Flash to cyanogenmod

Is putting CM on the N7 2013 worthwhile? I mean I have two and they're great but I put CM on a S4 Galaxy Mini one time and that flies with it now. Just wondering would I see much of an improvement.

neacy69

ordered this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leather-White-Folding-Smart-Case-Cover-for-Google-Nexus-7-FHD-2nd-Gen-/231596707527?nma=true&si=iE5irz028m32TSRZEPC8%252Fu4XNiQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

only £2 but we'll see how it works out...

any update on takers for the dock above? I'll take it if its still available?

jonski

jonski wrote: »

There are 3 of these in my house .

2012 16GB wifi
2013 16GB wifi
2013 32Gb wifi

All 3 are updated to the latest version 5.1.1
All 3 have had their cache wiped
All 3 have had Factory Resets
The 2012 one has been wiped and the latest clean image flashed onto it .

All 3 are barely working , it's like they are running through treacle .

Anyone have any suggestions other than going back to KitKat .

Just to update , I found this and it seems to have made a difference .

croo

jonski wrote: »

There are 3 of these in my house .

2012 16GB wifi
2013 16GB wifi
2013 32Gb wifi

All 3 are updated to the latest version 5.1.1
All 3 have had their cache wiped
All 3 have had Factory Resets
The 2012 one has been wiped and the latest clean image flashed onto it .

All 3 are barely working , it's like they are running through treacle .

Anyone have any suggestions other than going back to KitKat .

With the 2012 - when you factory reset did you tell it to wipe the programs too?
I had tried what you did and, like you, had no improvements but last week I did a factory reset but on the startup I chose the option not to reinstall the programs and when it completed it worked normally again! Just one week so it might deteriorate again - but I'm wondering now might it have been some specific app(s) that were causing the issues!?

@jonski
That looks interesting I might try that too if the lag returns.

jonski

croo wrote: »

With the 2012 - when you factory reset did you tell it to wipe the programs too?
I had tried what you did and, like you, had no improvements but last week I did a factory reset but on the startup I chose the option not to reinstall the programs and when it completed it worked normally again! Just one week so it might deteriorate again - but I'm wondering now might it have been some specific app(s) that were causing the issues!?

@jonski
That looks interesting I might try that too if the lag returns.

Yeah , I've done a few different variations of the factory reset including not reinstalling the programs and wiping the cache , plus full wipe and flashing the latest 5.1.1 , the above was the only thing that has made any real difference . Chrome is still a killer but it works a bit better , I'll stick to FF or Dolphin for now . Really disappointed tbh , especially considering my Nexus 4 is powering along with no problems .


Edit : Just to stick in the relevant part from that article , it's from ater you try the 'wipe cache'

Settings > About Tablet and tap Build Number 7 times to enable the hidden Developer Options menu. Go back to Settings, Tap Developer Options then Window Animation Scale and set it to Off. Repeat for Transition Animation Scale and Animator Duration Scale. Finally tap Background Process Limit, set it to 3 Processes, switch off, restart and it should be a lot livelier.

neacy69

neacy69 wrote: »

ordered this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leather-White-Folding-Smart-Case-Cover-for-Google-Nexus-7-FHD-2nd-Gen-/231596707527?nma=true&si=iE5irz028m32TSRZEPC8%252Fu4XNiQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

only £2 but we'll see how it works out...

any update on takers for the dock above? I'll take it if its still available?

Got delivery of this case this morning. Very please with quality, fits very well and the magnetic sleep/wakes works perfectly...very good case all in for €6.90. would recomend (i got mine in white cos that was the only deceny color left at the time)

T-Bird

Just a thought on all this lagging. My Nexus lags almost every time it has been woken up from sleep, this seems to be regardless of operating system. I did think this was caused by apps, but now think it is caused by widgets. I have 3 running, weather, calendar and scheduler. I think they all phone home when the device wakes up and it is this that is causing the lag. The 1gb memory can’t cope and there goes your lag… I just removed mine and it seems a lot better now. Might be wrong, but it kind of makes sense.

neacy69

5.1.1 update received last night

Bligh

Hi neacy69,

any issues installing the update to 5.1.1 and any issues after the install, I am getting an error on I try to install the OTA update

neacy69

Bligh wrote: »

Hi neacy69,

any issues installing the update to 5.1.1 and any issues after the install, I am getting an error on I try to install the OTA update

No... I got the ota notification and it installed straight away no issues such installation

illdoit2morrow

Has anyone gone done the route of flashing a f2fs kernel and ROM?

I may be getting a new tablet this weekend, if i do the N7 can be played around with. I've read some stuff on xda that the f2fs route improves the speed on the N7. I'm willing to give it a try but the most of done with my N7 to date is flash a few custom ROMs.

Has anyone gone down this route and how difficult is it to do?

TIA

Captain Chaos

I'm taking the plunge on a N7-2 this Friday myself. Just hope the issues with Android 5.1 are sorted. Also any of the latest tips are welcome. I see some are saying to unlock and root it before doing anything as it leaves the door open later on without deleting all your data.

I was looking at the N9 but the battery life and 16:9/10 form factor of the N7 won out for me.

illdoit2morrow

Captain Chaos wrote: »

I'm taking the plunge on a N7-2 this Friday myself. Just hope the issues with Android 5.1 are sorted. Also any of the latest tips are welcome. I see some are saying to unlock and root it before doing anything as it leaves the door open later on without deleting all your data.

I was looking at the N9 but the battery life and 16:9/10 form factor of the N7 won out for me.

Are you planning to purchase a N7 2013?

I know the hardware is better than the 2012 version but i'd advise against it as it'll probably feel very laggy now or in the not to distant future. I stand corrected on this though.

Argos have reduced the price of the N9 if you are in the market for a new nexus tablet, the only thing with that is that they are out of stock. It is possible to reserve but whether they fulfill the reservation is another matter.

Captain Chaos

I've already ordered an N7 2013. Due to have it on Friday. I looked at the N9 on Argos but after reading about all the issues with the N9 I was put off. It has poor battery life for a tablet and takes an age to charge up, light bleeding from the screen edges, excessive heat, 4:3 screen ratio and lower PPI compared to the N7 2013.

Only going to use it for web browsing, reading, and watching the odd movie while on the go. Don't see any point with a bigger screen in a 4:3 ratio while watching movies as it will just have black bands, defeats the point of a 9" screen for movies. With the N7 it will use all or most of the screen as it's 16:9 ratio.

illdoit2morrow

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Has anyone gone done the route of flashing a f2fs kernel and ROM?

I may be getting a new tablet this weekend, if i do the N7 can be played around with. I've read some stuff on xda that the f2fs route improves the speed on the N7. I'm willing to give it a try but the most of done with my N7 to date is flash a few custom ROMs.

Has anyone gone down this route and how difficult is it to do?

TIA

I tried this last night and initial impressions are pretty good.

I used this guide which did involve purchasing an app to make the rom f2fs compatiable. In hindsight that was probably unnecessary but i just wanted to keep to the instructions. I have Slimkat 4.4.4 running on the N7 now and it's definitely an improvement over the Paranoid Android kitkat rom i was running.

The only step where i thought i had messed up was step 9. I had to reboot into recovery to perform this step correctly, apart from that it was easy enough to do.

Q&A

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

I tried this last night and initial impressions are pretty good.

I used this guide which did involve purchasing an app to make the rom f2fs compatiable. In hindsight that was probably unnecessary but i just wanted to keep to the instructions. I have Slimkat 4.4.4 running on the N7 now and it's definitely an improvement over the Paranoid Android kitkat rom i was running.

The only step where i thought i had messed up was step 9. I had to reboot into recovery to perform this step correctly, apart from that it was easy enough to do.

Did this 6 months ago and haven't looked back. Lollipop was a disaster on this tablet but slimkat is has kept my N7 ticking along nicely. I was sceptical at first as a new install will always run well at first before getting sluggish (as 5.0 did) but still running smoothly to this day. I may not be a heavy user but For the casual use I throw at it (surfing, videos, casting to my chromecast etc.) my N7 handles it fine.

Definitely better tablets out there these days but no plans to splash out on another one. Perhaps its looking its age in its slightly frayed leather case or maybe it just adds distinction :cool:

muffler

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me here. My wife has a Nexus 7 (think its the 2012 model) and has been experiencing serious enough issues with the performance. Its very slow to boot up and when it does it freezes every whip-about. She tells me that she turns it on about half an hour before she intends using it as it just doesn't work well or not all after booting.

It keeps updating so I have no idea what software its running on at the moment. Just to clarify....neither of us are into the technical end of things so is there something simple that can be done to get rid of these problems?

I would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

droidman123

muffler wrote: »

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me here. My wife has a Nexus 7 (think its the 2012 model) and has been experiencing serious enough issues with the performance. Its very slow to boot up and when it does it freezes every whip-about. She tells me that she turns it on about half an hour before she intends using it as it just doesn't work well or not all after booting.

It keeps updating so I have no idea what software its running on at the moment. Just to clarify....neither of us are into the technical end of things so is there something simple that can be done to get rid of these problems?

I would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

You could try wiping the cache partition or factory resetting it. You should see an improvement. There are known issues with the 2012 model since the lolipop update unfortunately.

muffler

droidman123 wrote: »

You could try wiping the cache partition or factory resetting it. You should see an improvement. There are known issues with the 2012 model since the lolipop update unfortunately.

Factory reset I could probably do as Im sure its just finding a link for it in the settings somewhere. Are there any problems with doing this or a downside to it all?

Wiping the cache partition Im lost at unfortunately, no idea what it is or how to do it Im afraid.

droidman123

muffler wrote: »

Factory reset I could probably do as Im sure its just finding a link for it in the settings somewhere. Are there any problems with doing this or a downside to it all?

Wiping the cache partition Im lost at unfortunately, no idea what it is or how to do it Im afraid.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-2012/337072-guide-nexus-7-2012-2013-cache-partition-wipe.html


It might look a bit daunting but its fairly straightfoeward. Any hassles just let me know

muffler

droidman123 wrote: »

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-7-tablet-2012/337072-guide-nexus-7-2012-2013-cache-partition-wipe.html


It might look a bit daunting but its fairly straightfoeward. Any hassles just let me know

Good man, thanks. I'll get a look at that later this evening

ThisRegard

Finally got around to flashing a KitKat version of Cyanogenmod to mine. Should have done it sooner, it's become usable again. Worth a go if you're at the end of your tether and don't use yours anymore like I was.

croo

droidman123 wrote: »

You could try wiping the cache partition or factory resetting it. You should see an improvement. There are known issues with the 2012 model since the lolipop update unfortunately.

Did that recently and found it made an initial improvement but it soon slowed down again ... the best improvement I got when I followed the tips in the link jonski provided.

jonski wrote: »

Just to update , I found this and it seems to have made a difference .

Though it's still not perfect. Perhaps the cyanogenmod route is the only real solution.

jonski

croo wrote: »

Did that recently and found it made an initial improvement but it soon slowed down again ... the best improvement I got when I followed the tips in the link jonski provided.



Though it's still not perfect. Perhaps the cyanogenmod route is the only real solution.

Well isn't that a bit of a coincidence or voodoo/witch craft , I brought the charge/usb lead downstairs with me this morning as I plan on giving cyanogen a shot today . It's either that or it'll go through one of the windows some night.

jonski

jonski wrote: »

Well isn't that a bit of a coincidence or voodoo/witch craft , I brought the charge/usb lead downstairs with me this morning as I plan on giving cyanogen a shot today . It's either that or it'll go through one of the windows some night.

"Your Firmware Is Not Supported By This Installer"

So much for the CM installer .

ThisRegard

Follow the directions on the CM Wiki about unlocking the boot loader etc, it's pretty straightforward. I never used the installer anytime I've flashed unless CM was already on the device. Once it is you can install whatever version you want from the installer. 10.2 apparently is the best version for the original Nexus.

jonski

Either I'm getting too old or it's very complicated ( and I'm willing to accept that it's me getting too old ) . There seems to be a lot of steps .

ThisRegard

Is this what you're following ?
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_grouper

Once you get started it's not too bad, easier than the first time I did it a few years ago anyway.

jonski

ThisRegard wrote: »

Is this what you're following ?
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_grouper

Once you get started it's not too bad, easier than the first time I did it a few years ago anyway.

Yup .

I thought it would be as simple as using the Wugfresh nexus root toolkit but it started getting a bit daunting with the " make sure your pc has working fastboot and adb." , it didn't , I went to get them and got " oh you have to install Java " something or other ............. and I thought ok , installed that got it running but tbh didn't understand what I was going to do from there so instead I just went back to the nexus root toolkit and flashed 4.4.4 for now while I try and get my head around CM .

ThisRegard

Yeah, the hardest part is getting your machine set up, but it's a once off thing. Once it's done you can download ROMs and flash away to your hearts content from within the settings on the Nexus, no need to hook up to a pc again.

jonski

Ah yes, now I remember why I didn't like 4.4.4 , WiFi problems . Tablet won't connect to anything this morning .

ThisRegard

At least you can switch ROMs easily now though to play around.

dealhunter1985

I just downgraded to Kitkat and my device is alive again.
Absolutely flying it.. Wish I did this sooner.
I used the instructions from here :
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-downgrade-android-5-0-android-4-4-nexus-devices-1486023

The Kitkat image I used was this one : https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/nakasi-ktu84p-factory-2c6e4d6f.tgz taken from https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

marko93

Just dug this out of the press, gonna try that last post and downgrade it or just try to load a custom rom. Literally want it to watch a few videos and read a few books. Hopefully it still can.

(if it ever turns on)