Do most tablets slow down over time?

justaquestion

Hi,

I have noticed this with the google nexus in the past and now with the kindle fire 8 hd bought a year ago. I have put a fair amount of apps on it, and also have used a few junk removers like Cleanmaster, which warn me of junk and low memory on the tablet.

Thought has crossed my mind though that these apps are probably contributing to the tablets slow down.

SO I reset, lost all of my apps and had to do a reinstall of the ones I use most frequently like Google play store etc.

I think it was definitely worth it for the speed increase.

So my question is, are most tablets like this over time including the apple Ipad?
Thanks

Brummie85

The short answer is yes. All devices will suffer from slow down as the amount of information they hold increases. There's more to move, index, search etc.

It's typically applications and files that hog RAM which cause most of the delays. But it may actually be running slower due to the condition of the hardware. Apple were caught 'throttling down' older devices in an attempt to preserve battery life. As a result they offered a 'goodwill' scheme to swap iPhone batteries for £25 instead of £75.

There's also an element of your mind at work. You will get sued to working on newer and faster devices whilst also carrying on with own old tablet. Everything feels faster out of the box when it's new. Even if y you're tablet hasn't slowed down by much, in comparison to newer versions it will feel significantly less snappy.

toshi

I would talk this issue a bit different point of view, flash memory based devices need a proper maintenance by hardware (garbage collection) and OS (Trim) to avoid slowing down over the time.

If you use an SSD with Windows/Linux (Apple supports their own SSD only as usual), The computer operation system has a command called Trim to interact with the flash memory.

I don't talk the detail here, and I am not an expert at all. But if you are interested, check it out.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ssd+garbage+collection+trim&t=ffnt&atb=v144-5c_&ia=web

As far as I know, smartphone, tablet does not have a controller chip to operate the garbage collection, (Power consumption, size limitation etc ?) Android OS (Linux kernel) itself actually has a capability to run trim command, but Android OS does not allow to operate the trim command as a default.

You just keep using your smartphone/Tablet ( just write and delete your flash memory, your device will be slow down over the time as the flash memory is not properly maintained, unlike computers.

You can run Trim command regularly with your Android Devices to overcome flash memory slow down. There is a useful utility called Trimmer (fstrim), but you need to access the root.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fifthelement.trimmer&hl=en_US

If you do read the review, you can appreciate this.

I set this programme to operate daily with Nexus 7 (2013) and it is a good idea to keep some free space (20%) in your storage. Then you are able to keep using your smartphone/tablet without slow down significantly.

I am not an exert on flash memory technology again, but I can say that it seems that Google (Apple?) doesn't care about slowing down your android (iPhone/Pad) devices over the time and they expect you to dump them every couple of years anyway....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_amplification

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)


(Edit)
Correction : My information is wrong (too old), Google actually added TRIM support to Android 4.3 !!

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/162667-google-slips-trim-support-into-android-4-3-to-end-io-lag

Then I would say, Google does not often Trim to overcome slowing down, and you are not able to control TRIM command by yourself, unless you have a root access anyway. Just Believe me, if you can access to the Root to your Android devices, run the fstrim regularly, Your smartphone /Table will be much more snappy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2w5cwg/dev_trimmer_fstrim_trim_your_device_nand_chip_and/



(Edit ends)

datostar

toshi wrote: »

'If you use an SSD with Windows/Linux (Apple supports their own SSD only as usual), The computer operation system has a command called Trim to interact with the flash memory.'

I'm happily using a Sandisk 1TB External SSD, formatted APFS, as boot drive on an iMac running Mac OS Mojave. There's a lot of technical information around about APFS which was intended from the first for solid-state storage and that would take up too much space here to go into. Basically, it doesn't need TRIM, effectively being built-in. Apple thereby supports anybody's SSDs, albeit fitting one internally might not be straightforward.

toshi

datostar wrote: »

'If you use an SSD with Windows/Linux (Apple supports their own SSD only as usual), The computer operation system has a command called Trim to interact with the flash memory.'

I'm happily using a Sandisk 1TB External SSD, formatted APFS, as boot drive on an iMac running Mac OS Mojave. There's a lot of technical information around about APFS which was intended from the first for solid-state storage and that would take up too much space here to go into. Basically, it doesn't need TRIM, effectively being built-in. Apple thereby supports anybody's SSDs, albeit fitting one internally might not be straightforward.

Stress added, and I am not sure what is effectively build-in ? Garbage collection is supplied by SSD controller chipset (Hardware) Also, flash memory NAND memory Garbage collection /Trim command is nothing to do with file format itself.

Apple actually offers a 3rd party SSD trim support, demanded by the users, however, unlike Windows OS and GNU/Linux OS, Apple does not activate SSD trim function automatically. The users need to activate the Trim function itself.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/209119-new-apple-os-x-10-10-4-update-enables-trim-support-for-third-party-ssds

However, some Apple users hesitates to enable Trim with 3rd party SSD.

Do i have to do sudo trimforce enable on 3rd party ssd Mac Os MOJAVE ?)

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8580261

If your SSD has a garbage collection feature, yes, you can live without a TRIM command. (FOR APPLL 3rd Party SSD USERS)

Then, Ask Ars: “My SSD does garbage collection, so I don’t need TRIM… right?”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/ask-ars-my-ssd-does-garbage-collection-so-i-dont-need-trim-right/

For Apple users, you should use an SSD with garbage collection capability to avoid slowing down as you have experienced with your smartphone/table.

If you don't understand what I am taking about, please make sure your 3rd party SSD devices clearly state Apple OS compatible. I have confirmed that (some? ) Sandisk external SSD drives supports clearly MacOS, which does not mean ANY SSDs are supported by MacOS.

I have helped install some SSDs to Apple notebooks, I have carefully checked the compatibility issue. For Apple computers, I would choose Samsung Evo 860, Crucial MX500 etc and avoid Kingston A400, Crucial BX500 etc. Assuming your (old) Apple notebook supports SATA interface.

JJ_Egan

Better answer factory reset and get rid of the garbage .
Its the garbage that slows them down .

arciere

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Better answer factory reset and get rid of the garbage .
Its the garbage that slows them down .

That helps, but if the tablet was updated to a more recent version of Android (if it is an Android tablet) that won't help.
I still remember my old Nexus 7, one of the fastest on the market at that time. Android got updated to, if I'm not wrong, KitKat and from that moment it was literally unusable. Factory reset didn't help unfortunately.

DoaM

Jelly Bean was fine on a Nexus 7 2012. Kit Kat was usable (but slower than JB). Lollipop was approved for the N7 2012 but essentially unusable.


(Speaking from experience. We still have the N7 2012 but it's now rooted and running Lineage OS 14 and used mainly as an Internet radio player via the TuneIn app).

arciere

DoaM wrote: »

Jelly Bean was fine on a Nexus 7 2012. Kit Kat was usable (but slower than JB). Lollipop was approved for the N7 2012 but essentially unusable.


(Speaking from experience. We still have the N7 2012 but it's now rooted and running Lineage OS 14 and used mainly as an Internet radio player via the TuneIn app).

Not sure which one it was, probably the Lollipop, definitely the most recent one that could be installed on that model. I was really surprised to see it switch from "the fastest Android tablet you can buy" to "so slow that you can't use it" after one update.

toshi

Off the topic, but Nexus 7 (2013) is far more powerful than Nexus 7 (2012) in terms of hardware performance. Simply Nexus 7 (2012) is not powerful enough to use Lollipop 5.1.1. Practically Google killed Nexus 7 (2012) by heavy weight lollipop 5.1.1 upgrade.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=nexus+7+2012+lollipop+5.1.1+so+slow

I have helped my friend Nexus 2012 with more lightweight custom Rom Slim6 (Android 6), it became usable. Then I have got a second hand Nexus 2013 and installing a custom Rom (LineageOS 14.1/Android 7)

Google Nexus is a developer's friendly. I would expect to install Android 8.0 and even 9.0 Custom Rom to my Nexus 2013. Nexus 2013 would be far better than non OS upgradable brand new Lenovo disposable Tablet.



If you are lucky, you can get Nexus 2013 32GB at 50 pound from eBay?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKq0JobuqtQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrcK4JizRmg


Don't confuse the hardware performance issue with with flash memory slowing down issue as the latter is fixable. I have been use this Nexus 7 2013 over 18 months, it is comfortable to use in general. (Ebook reader, RSS reader, web browsing etc)

arciere

toshi wrote: »

Off the topic, but Nexus 7 (2013) is far more powerful than Nexus 7 (2012) in terms of hardware performance. Simply Nexus 7 (2012) is not powerful enough to use Lollipop 5.1.1. Practically Google killed Nexus 7 (2012) by heavy weight lollipop 5.1.1 upgrade.

Yes, mine was the 2012 version.