Apps for seeing why an Android phone is freezing

My android phone tends to lock up late in the evening,and before I throw money at new phone I would love to have an idea of why it is locking up. Is it lack of ram, lack of processing power, lack of other storage,too old etc.  on a windows machine I would have a good idea where to look but I’m lost on android. Any recommendations for a good app that will see what is sucking the life out of my phone. Paid is just fine. Thanks

To what extent is it locking up? Both of mine (S21+ and an A52) have been weird since the last update to the OS. They freeze in the sense that the touch screen appears unresponsive. Tapping the power button to shut off the screen and then waking it up again sorts it out.

I figured it was just a software thing that’ll hopefully go away with the next update.

Is it the same as that? Or something worse?

Same as that but usually in the evening.during the day is just fine

I had that unresponsive screen  on my s23+ maybe a month or two or 3 ago.

Not noticed it recently though.

The STW site  dumping 1gb into the RAM every time we come here can’t help.

The STW site dumping 1gb into the RAM every time we come here can’t help.

True,but what I’m looking for is something that will tell me that that is the issue.  Then I can aim for something with more ram

Got a 7a and it keeps freezing, completely pizzing me off.  Never had any issues with the 4a.

After occasionally having similar over the years I’ve usually ended up backing everything up to cloud services and factory resetting the mobile.

Not always a silver bullet but has worked more often than not for me.

Plenty of STW 502 bad gateways this eve for me, and loooong pregnant pauses. Not so on other websites.

Maybe have a look at “Running Services” under Developer Options from the System menu? Assuming it’s not too locked up to access that I suppose.

Thanks johnners, I’ll try that. Factory reset is also on my list although I hate doing that because it can take a while to get my all the accounts in my authenticator fully working again even with them backed up.  I had really been hoping for something that would track resource use over time.  It’s a good start though so thanks all

Have you been through the settings>device care menu? There are some optimisation options in there that’ll show you any apps which have high battery consumption for example.

Settings> Device Care > Optimise Now clears a load of rubbish that can slow things down.

Settings> Device Care > Memory > Memory Resident Apps will show you any apps which keep themselves alive in the RAM. You can disable them if there anything random in there.

Settings> Device Care > Memory > RAM Plus Allows to to increase virtual memory.

I just downloaded an app called ‘Resource Monitor Mini’ which gives you an overlay on the screen showing CPU and. Memory usage in real time. Might be useful? Doesn’t look like it records anything but it’ll show you if you’re maxied out in the CPU or Memory when your phone locks up.

Good stuff, thanks.

Edit: that app looks like it will do what I need.  There is no trace over time but there is an always on display of memory and CPU that will give me a clue as to where the limits are being hit on my phone which is a good start. I can mix that up with the resource usage in developer mode to get an idea of what is doing it.

What make and model, and android version? What do you mean by ‘locking up’ – does the whole phone need a restart, or is it just the browser, or does the whine page get janky?

Phone ends up needing a restart but usually the browser that initiates it.  If I leave it for a few minutes it will sometimes come back of it’s own accord.  It’s a low end Motorola on Android 10.  Most of the time it works perfectly but late in the evening it starts to slow down.  I suspect there may be a bit of housekeeping going on in the background but don’t knows yet

Phone ends up needing a restart but usually the browser that initiates it.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record,

Try a different browser?  There’s dozens of options on Android.  Opera, Edge, UC…

Try a different browser?  There’s dozens of options on Android.  Opera, Edge, UC…

i do.  got edge, chrom, brave and duckduckgo.  its the same with all of them but I tend to use Chrome as it’s the most ‘native’ to Android so was hoping it had the least overhead.  Thats also a bit why I am looking for some sort of monitoring app so I can get a clue if it’s one particular thing or just if the phone itself is underpowered and if so in which direction I need to throw the money

cut back on the pron? 🤣

Although this calls itself a battery monitor it does a bit more than that. It might do what you want.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm

ah, think I’ve seen that come up when searching for this before.  will take a look thanks

It’s a low end Motorola on Android 10.

I suspect that’s the root of the problem. Android and all its associated apps has moved on a lot and developers assume ram and processor specs that a low end phone from 4+ years ago is unlikely to meet. Most of your apps (if you’ve updated them) will assume a more recent operating system and probably won’t have seen much testing against Android 10. It’s also been out of support for over a year and I don’t know when Motorola last sent out a security patch for it but it’ll be a while ago so there’s an increased security risk.

Sadly, I think if it’s getting to be a problem you’ll be looking at needing a new phone. I’m not a fan of this culture of making things obsolete by stealth but that’s the world we’re in. I’m pretty embedded in the Google ecosystem but I’m under the impression that Apple behaves a bit better in this respect.

I tend to use Chrome as it’s the most ‘native’ to Android so was hoping it had the least overhead.

It’s probably not, in honesty.  I understand where you’re coming from with ‘native’ but it’s just an app, it’s no different from any other in that regard.  The rendering engine underpinning Chrome (“Blink”) is the same guts that drives Edge and many others.

Beyond that, I don’t know I’m afraid.  The only usage monitor I’ve ever used on Android is the inbuilt battery/power tracker.  And what that told me was, it’s always Facebook.

Sadly, I think if it’s getting to be a problem you’ll be looking at needing a new phone

I think you’re right. Just trying to get an idea where the issue is.  Never had an iPhone but it might be that they last longer. Certainly my iPad Air seemed to go on forever which was very impressive

I know you’re averse to it, but if you’re looking at “new phone” then a factory reset can’t hurt.

oh absolutely, going to do that as well.  even just restarting it helps.  maybe i need an app that restarts might phone at 3am every day 🙂