Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update problems deepen
Owners of the Samsung Galaxy S3 have been having some serious issues over the last few days if they installed the latest operating system for the device. Hundreds of our readers have contacted us complaining about the issue as the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update problems deepen.
Shortly after providing the news that the latest Android Jelly Bean update had been released for the Samsung Galaxy S3 in the UK we quickly became aware of some serious issues with the update. For a while it seemed as if the update had been pulled as it was unavailable for a while, but it continued later that day and has even seen calls for Android 4.4 KitKat to be quickly rolled out.
The biggest problems that have affected users have been battery life and the handset completely freezing up, and some users have had problems receiving incoming calls. A few days ago we received an email from a reader called Dan who had updated his handset via Virgin Mobile who highlighted another big problem with the handset after installing the new firmware.
There has been a problem with the notification bar that keeps repeating notifications for 2 files that have been downloaded, and these files were originally downloaded around 3 months ago and the image that you can see on this page was supplied highlighting the problem.
It doesn’t matter how many times he reboots the device or clears the app cache the problem won’t go away. The notifications will disappear when the notification bar returns to the top of the display but the download icon still appears.
He has encountered the same issues as a lot of our other readers such as a slow laggy device with problems waking the handset via the power button, along with apps and the phone itself often crashing and then restarting.
Some have suggested that it’s the added bloatware that has been added by the various carriers that has caused the problems, but owners of unlocked versions of the handset have also encountered these problems.
There are so many comments from people affected with this problem that have stated that they would never purchase another Samsung smartphone, but these problems can affect any mobile device and over the years we have reported on other Android hardware having issues along with certain iPhone models.
It does seem though as if the Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update has turned out to be the most problematic firmware update we have seen in recent times. We stress to anyone that owns the handset to avoid updating the device to Android 4.3 at all costs until Google and Samsung provide a solution to all these problems so at least you will still have a stable and responsive handset to use.
Have you had the problem of the device being stuck in a download loop like this?
Comments
270 thoughts on “Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 update problems deepen”
I have experienced slowness of handset when unlocking. Also the phantom downloaded files. A factory reset sorted out the download files issue. But my colleague has just got a brand new Sony experia phone and he has slowness and download issues also.
Yes, I had the same problem with 3 download files which kept appearing. I tried the same- clearing cache, restarting etc and nothing worked. Everytime i cleared them they reappeared. I did “clear data” on the download program which was pulling these files through and it worked BUT that also cleared out my texts! So frustrating – why would Samsung release such an apparently poorly tested OS!?
Just go to downloads and delete the file download from there. I had the same problem but this resolved it 😀
Not an issue here. Works great.
Man I hate this phone. Raging I bowed to the hype and got an s3 instead of the HTC equivalent. Never had any hassles with them.
I have all of these problems. Took 12 hours to charge to 100% and then that battery life doesn’t even last 12 hours on low usage/data, wifi, gps turned off. It’s an absolute outrage and I am fuming! The phone is pretty much useless and yet we will all still be paying our monthly bills. I backed up my phone and restored factory settings to find that 4.3 was still on my phone! Samsung would want to sort this out asap or you will be losing a lot of customers. You would think that it would be just common manners to update their customers on how they are going to solve this problem but it appears that they are just ignoring their customers
I am using S3 in India , unlocked, there’s no update available as of yet , I am reading several articles on internet regarding problems with the new firmware update, I personally believe that in owe of competition in market many and many big names in market have dropped down the quality of service they have been providing since before when there was a relatively less hype of smartphones and other peripherals, Now a days such companies are less concerned about what quality goes out of the manufacturing factory despite the fact that now they should increase their services and set up new standards they are more concerned to how much profit they get , my S3 has not been performing as a 1.2 ghz 1gb ram device and my usage is very limited. When the demand grows a company would roll out models even with noticeable defects in market not caring about the hard earned money that customers spend to buy a so called quality product. This is no lie that in coming years we will be seeing many problems as such and our minds wilk be feeded that it was just temporary and won’t continue. All that I am saying now is based on a Nokia E51 that I had , being a adam’s era smartphone it beats my S3 in many aspects it has faster 3g receiving and its sounds quality is 50times better than s3 and it came of almost same price as of s3 this year. I hope someone reads it and bring back quality to products and not loot common people for fake quality products.
Yep, all the same issues here! phone is slow to respond, a download which i cant clear and battery life is now rubbish! May have to try a factory reset which i am not pleased about. grrrr
Yep I’m in Australia and my s3 started playing up not long after the download, first I lost my call button on my screen so I tried a factory reset and lost all my contacts and apps. I obviously knew that this would occur so I wasn’t too worried.
However I lost my Google play store app and have tried various avenues to download it back. Now I cannot open a single thing I’ve downloaded.
I’ve rebooted my phone lost everything on my phone and it’s still laggy can’t play songs propley and lags when I text and takes 2 minutes to actually turn on it pathetic and battery drains within 3 hours
I had bad problems until I set to factory reset. Since then has worked great.
I hope it remains great for you, I did the same 3 days ago and did factory reset, I2 days later it all starts to slow down again, cant listen to music without screen on, waiting ages for screen to wake up etc.
Music lag, slow response and it boots windows media player if I try to sync to it .
Lagging like mad .turns it self off .now having to get battery out to start phone again .
going slow is not the word
I’ve had the notification bar problem and the battery life has just gone through the floor not to mention the fact that i can’t answer calls because the display won’t turn on. Thanks samsung for ruining a perfectly good phone. Just hope they can roll out a fix as soon as possible.
Since the update, my battery takes all night to charge and only lasts around 5 hours. The phone has frozen 4 times and I’ve had to remove the battery to reset it. Hope they release an update to fix this soon.
Having some problems with 4.3 update mainly audio breaking up and slow wake up. I think the problem is exacerbated by too much crap in the main memory. Partly solved it by disabling some samsung apps and uninstalling Facebook as facebook take a lot memory in background.
I had problems with 4 downloads repeatedly showing as complete after upgrading to 4.3. I went into the Downloads app, selected “Other Downloads” and then pressed “Clear List”. After clearing the download history, I have not experienced this issue again.
My S3 has also rebooted once, but my main annoyance is the time it takes to power on from sleep. It has taken over 10 seconds on occasion and often leaves me wondering if I have pressed the power button or not.
Overall, I am starting to lose faith in Samsung. My Galaxy Tab 7.7 (P6810) never received an update to Jelly Bean despite the 3G (P6800) version receiving an update and the official extended battery cover for my S3 is starting to disintegrate after only 8 months of ownership. Unfortunately Samsung only warrants accessories for 6 months 🙁
If the issues aren’t resolved by the end of the month, I think I’ll pick up a Motorola Moto G instead.
I have had multiple problems since the update, battery life, downloads, freezing, its a huge annoyance and takes away all enjoyment. Worse update. Idk why they did it. I liked everyhig the way it was the layout the setup I never had a problem before this
Same as below. Go into downloads in ur apps and clear your history. Problem solved. Clearing off notification panel makes no difference. My s3 has been terrible since update. Overnight it loses over 50%+ battery life, once it goes into standby can take upto 10 secs to respond.Internet just cuts out to homescreen continuously, phone calls & texts not comin in either. Seriously flawed update. Get the 4.3.1 uodate out asap please. I upgrade in Feb & this is enough to push me towards apple device if not sorted soon. Ya mobile is a part of your body nowadays. Sort it out Samsung
Same as everyone else. The battery life is dire as in no more than 6 hours standby and it can be laggy as hell. WHat I have noticed though is if I go into airplane mode the power drain disappears. Completely useless I know but maybe this point to it being something wrong with the software/drivers that run the radios. My phone is international unlocked and I dont use any of the samsung apps, they are all disabled. I dont even use touchwiz and use nova instead so I doubt it is anything to do with bloatware.
I updated to 4.3 the other day and ever since the phone has been randomly knocking off and wont turn back on unless I take the battery out and put it back in..Also it takes about 5 seconds for the lockscreen to appear after pressing the button….Any Solutions?????
Man, do factory reset. This problem will be settled. I did that. It works great. It gives after update 31hrs battery life. Pictures and videos have better clarity. I love it. As Chinese version 4.3 has rolls out with different change logs from any other earlier releases [Germany, swizerland & UK]. I wanted Chinese version to installed on my S3 but Odin never allows me to that 🙂 I love 4.3 OS though it shows as an emulated version on my S3 😀
Hi, all
that situation with the notification bar
can be solved very easy. I was in the same situation.
By keeping pressed on the file you downloaded long time ago
will apear “App info”.
By pressing “Clear cache” followed by “Clear data” you are away
from repeating notification.
You will not lose any of your downloaded data 😉
Bellu ka S3
Ray
Have reseted my phone twice now. Its still slow. Home button freezes constantly. Its rubbish. Will buy iphone next time. I have unlocked phone, live in uk…
I’m on leaked version of 4.3 because my carrier hasn’t rolled out the update by now but I cannot confirm any of these problems except some little lags that I got rid of by using a custom kernel.
I dont have a single problem as mentioned above. Its little bit lagging. Actually I downloaded the firmware in ibtimes.Its perfect.
i have major problems with mine !! infact my S3 is pretty much useless since this update in the UK
I’m getting every problem out there ie phone freeze, crash, non responsive and the battery lasts about 4hours and that’s me not using it. I can’t pick up my wifi anymore and I keep get a notification that ” google play has stopped working” ever 7/8 seconds. My handset is also over heating and again I’m not even using it at 1 point last night I had to turn it off because I thought it was going to go on fire in my pocket. This has been a total nightmare as I need my phone for my work but still doesn’t seem to be a fix coming anytime soon.
This is the worst update, I tried to roll back to 4.1.2 as my phone was virtually unusable and now its stuck in a boot loop! Unbranded UK phone
Same problems, also issues with the media player when playing music it sounds like a scratched CD. Also don’t not always notify you of an incoming call. Really annoyed with it, barley usable.
I have the same issue as many, in your report you say about issues on stuck downloads in the notification window, on the Virgin Mobile Carrier. I too have the same issue but disable the notifcation via the app info options and turning off the download manager for the time being.
I get issues where my screen stays locked off, even pressing the side unlock button does not wake the screen and when the screen finally unlocks, I have missed calls, texts etc but the phone never makes a sound. EXTREMELY annoying.
Overall;-
Sluggish, freezing, crashing apps, unresponsive to buttons, battery dieing extremely fast with little warning, rebooting itself for no apparent reason at random times
Rubbish update.
Same problems here, i.e. Wi Fi, bluetooth, terrible wake up lag, missing calls, freezing, audio distortion during calls, restarting itself, permanent notification download complete icon. I also had terrible battery drain until I backed up everything to Kies and did a factory reset. This sorted out the battery and the permanent notification icon problems, but alas all the others are still there!!! It’s been a full week now! My girlfriend has the same Samsung S3 with all the same problems, ever since that Samsung Vodafone Ireland update. Terrible service!!!!
I have had so many issues with it too. that will teach me to update without reading online first. although when i did update i didn’t get any information regarding the update, just the option to. my phone is unlocked and so doesn’t have any network bloatware but has had many of the problems listed here. crashing apps, blank screen when phone calls come in meaning answering them is impossible. i’ve found that restarting the phone fixes issues for about 5 minutes then they all slowly drift back like my phone is giving up. the worst is the amount of time it takes to activate the screen. i can press home or the power button and it can be at least 5-6 seconds before it responds. annoyingly the phone then thinks i’m doing nothing with the screen so just as the lock screen appears the screen goes off again!
worst update ever!
I feel so lucky that I didn’t receive any notification for update even thougb I wanted it so badly… My phone is still on 4.1.2 and works perfectly… I hope that they will fix the 4.3 though because samsung phones are cool and I’ve always loved them… I will be soooo dissatisfied if they will noy fix the 4.3 upgrade
I have all those problems, the one with showing latest downloaded files in notificaton can be easilly `disabled`. Just go to your downloads and delete ENTIRE hostiry and it wont happen again.. But rest of the problems are still there. Sometimes tke phone up to 3 seconds to wake up when I press either of the buttons on it in sleep mode.
These are the exact same issues I’m having with my s3. Certain programs run another, opening the contacts and phone applications work quicker. But I also had the downloaded file issue, a micro sd problem, and obviously the battery life is atrocious. This must get fixed! NOW! Or bring on kit kat.
My main problem is when the screen is off sometimes it can take minutes for me to be ab to switch it back on, sometimes the device shuts off altogether… I don’t understand how these problems can be universal yet got through any kind of testing…
You have to clear your downloads folder to stop it
The 4.3 update is a disaster. Myself and my wife both have Galaxy S3 phones, and we are both on different networks, but we are both plagued by lagging, diminished battery life, crashing apps, slow startup from sleep mode, intermittent video faults, constantly saying apps are being downloaded, wifi turning itself off, and phones restarting.
Get it sorted …… what was a great phone has become a joke !!!
ita been a nightmare, laggy ui is abysmal crashing and maybe just me but music playback has been cutting out. I thought this was a memory issue so copied all music files and reformatted sd card only for problems to persist pls patch this asap samsung ffs. Not happy
Absolutely gutted. Feel totally let down.
Not just S3 same problems on S4 the so called flagship smart phone that samsung want us to invest in.
Samsung get a grip.. give us back the old software version at least it worked… I want a phone that works not this Lada
I am regretting after updating to official 4.3 on my Galaxy S3.
Few of the problems i am facing as follows :-
1: Old downloads keep showing in notification bar, i got rid of that by clearing downloads list.
2: I am not able to get multitasking window by keep pressing back button, it doesnt appear to me anymore whereas it was working perfectly fine in past.
3: My S3 has become so laggy and un responsive that if i press any button to unlock screen, so either screen will take 5-6 seconds to turn on or it wont turn on at all, and in that case i have to restart mobile by takin out battery.
4: Where i used to keep battery for atleast 18hrs before update, after updating to 4.3 , it doesnt even run for more than 3-4hrs.
5: Sometimes it restarts itself.
6: What features list i see in new android update, i didnt get all of them at all.
Got my SD card corrupted and lost all camera pictures from card, thanks to god i have backup in dropbox.
I guess this is my last samsung product, got tired of late updates and buggy updates.
Same problems. Worst being thr lag in the phone when waking from sleep mode. Done factory reset but 4.3 remains
After the update my phone screen doesn’t turn back on wheb I press power and it restarts throughout the day. Samsung do something about it quickly
All confirmed. Same issues. Occasional total black out. Removing battery for a while is the only thing that can reboot it. Thank god for the removeable battery, that’s all I can say. This was once a flagship device! Runs like a dog now.
The smart stay funcion is not working at all!!
besides all the other problems that came along with the update
have the same problem. the phone lags a lot now and it take almost 1 min to wake-up after idle. the 4.3 is really a pain
my list is as bad with old emails continually re loading and a -1 showing on the email app icon. hows that happen??? spoke to Samsung for over 2 hours no help whats so ever. very disapointed
I am on the three network with an unlocked s3 from carphone warehouse. Updated to 4.3 last week and have had so many problems it is unbelievable! Phone takes ages to wake up and sometimes does not respond meaning you have to put the power off and then power back on. It is definitely laggy as hell, the music playback is no longerworking right, the audio keeps skipping in winamp pro, what the hell is going on! did these eejits not test the update before rolling out? My phone is now virtually unusable, alarms dont work, missing calls WTF!!!!!!
The battery drain is unbelievable, on standby mode my S3 does not last longer than 15 hrs, music player is buggy, every few seconds it freezes, popup download notifications reappear every 2 mins, incoming calls do not even show up, and if it freezes, the only solution is to remove the battery.
PLEASE FIX THIS OR LAUNCH 4.4 THAT WORKS!!
I regret the decision to update to 4.3 immensely. The battery life on my S3 is now appalling! I used to be able to get through the entire day and then charge it overnight, but now I’m having to plug it in twice during the day as well. Also the response time on wake-up is awful, used to be near instantaneous and now lags by about 10 seconds. Avoid the 4.3 update at all costs!
I have the same download loop problem. Not that only that, but the response time of my handset is even slower than before! I have to wait 5-6 seconds for my screen to come to life when I press home button, and the apps take a long time to load too.
Yesterday my phone just switched off even though the battery was fully charged. I’m not happy at all, especially considering my handset is only 7 months old.
Is there any way to change back to the previous update?
Any word of a Samsung fix
I received the update OTA and installed it straight away. After the installation my phone freezes, becomes irresponsive and it doesn’t ring when someone calls me. It doesn’t even wake up when it should ring. The battery is a disaster. It only lasts 4-5 hours with data and wifi switched off and without playing with the phone at all. I wish Samsung rolled back the firmware somehow. Or rollout 4.4.
Solution for stacked download is to clear cache of download manager application. Locate it via application manager and clear is cache. That worked for me. Btw, hope Samsung will fix s3 waking issues.
thanks that fixed the problem
this works!!! fixed the problem also! thank you so much!! it was getting annoying 🙂
Thank you. MIght want to add when you go to application manager you need to go to the All page. By default it opens to downloaded applications.
Now that that is fixed its working great. I like the new email changes.
Worked great!!!! Thank you.
As others have said, this appears to work. Thank you!
I just updated in the U.S. today for the tmobile galaxy s3. I have the download loop also. I think it happened when I owned the vibrant also. I’m thinking of year-end the phone to factory settings and then update it again.
It was the best phone I have used.
Is there a solution coming?
What do we do now??
Samsung listen to us, Please!!
yes. i am having the same problem, and i do notice that my battery drains very fast, in the morning, right after i unplug my charger, within 10 mins i am down from 100% to 95%. and keep have download complete loop showing on notification bar too.
I am having the notifications come up for 15 documents over and over… Make it stop!!!!
My S3 is unacceptably slow, unresponsive and battery life has become terrible after the update, this needs to be fixed asap
Following a 4.3 update, I cannot clear my notification bar of a list of about 9 jpg photos and 2 pdf files that I downloaded a couple of months ago. Tried rebooting, removing the battery, & gone into the application manager and cleared the cache in the download manager. No joy. My phone is also very slow to wake up. Can anyone help me please as I’m lost??
Thanks.
I am also getting the download notification loop. I found the files it was referring to and deleted them but it is still showing up. Any idea when this will be resolved?
I have been experiencing the download notification loop as well. There are about 7 files that I downloaded anywhere from 3-6 months ago, and I cannot get them to stay away no matter what I do. I have not had the laggy performance that others have mentioned.
I also experienced the notifications with about 12 files. I was finally able to fix it by going to “Downloads” folder in Apps and clearing the lists. Hope this helps!
HELP!!! Since the update rolled out my problem is with the phone. ..how can I turn off the speaker. Its now on anytime I receive or make a call.
Go to Settings -> Application manager -> ALL, scroll down and find ‘Downloads’ (there are two of them) and Clear cache, Clear data and Force close. Then restart the phone.
Thank you!!
Worked perfectly!!
Thanks…but just to be clear for other people reading this, the app causing the issue is labeled ‘Download manager.’ The one labeled ‘Downloads’ won’t allow you to clear the cache or the data…or at least it wouldn’t on my device. I cleared the cache on the Download manager and it resolved my issue.
It let me clear data and cache of the “downloads”, but “download manager” is the one that fixed my issue. Thank god. Was about to do a factory reset. It was super annoying. Every 5 minutes it’d refil my notification bar and block out any new notifications.
Clearing the download cash seems to do the trick.
Find downloads in your apps and clear history, remember to clear internet downloads and other downloads.
Clearing cache doesn’t work. What do you mean clear history?
unlock your phone then open the the Apps icon looks like 4×4 stacked blocks. Scrool through your Apps to find the Downloads App and open this. you will have two tabs Internet downloads and other downloads. there are option at the bottom of this screen to delete history. empty both and the downloads should stop.
Clearing the history in my download app worked for me. I had taken my phone into a Samsung dealer and they had no idea what was going on! ggrrr Also is anyone else experiencing the camera flashing after emails are downloaded? This also started after updating my S3! Very annoying and once again the tech at the store didn’t have any idea of how to fix it.
I am having the same issue with the status/download bar. It keeps showing my last 15 downlaods from the past few months…over…and over…no matter if I delete or reboot. Fix it soon Samsung!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was getting the same repeated download notifications for seven images that were originally received via text message many months ago. I finally pushed and held the downloaded file name from the notification bar and then APP INFO popped up. I selected the APP INFO and it was for an android app called download manager. Cleaning the cache did not help. Neither did deleting the image files from my download folder. I unchecked the Display Notifications check box and my notification stopped. It doesn’t fix the problem, but it stopped the annoying notices.
Im having two major problems, the screen takes an unusual amount of time to wake from sleep. The other being that music is occasionally jittery when the screen isn’t on. Am I the only one having thjs problem?
Samsung Galaxy S3 updated to 4.3. I’m having the same download problem… only it’s with like 30 pictures. I’m considering a factory reset, but I like all my game saves, so I’m not sure what I’ll do. Also, the lock screen is laggy. Can’t really tell if my battery is getting drained faster though, yet.
I have about 30 different items showing up on my notification bar as download complete. It’s really annoying. Anyone know how to fix it?
I have a same problem too. and I found out how to fix it. Go to Apps click on download icon and clear all download files in there.and it will not show up anymore. It works for me.
Bless you Kristy! Your fix seems to have solved my phantom downloads problem.
This is the worst update ive ever seen… phone becomes unresponsive, freezes while texting, while playing games or apps it does the same too.. desperately need to resolve this and quick! I’m using a S4 and still experiencing the issues as listed
After this update My text messages are being fully displayed rather than me just getting a notification. I hate to think of the person next to me glancing over and being able to read texts. Can anyone tell me how to fix the way its displayed? I cant find anything anywhere
volume key will adjust the size of text
Okay as with all updates I do not expect the phone to be the
same, however the latest update to my galaxy S3 to Version 4.3 is unacceptable
First and formats the text notifications, the fact that
messages show up on a locked screen defeats the purpose of a lock screen
entirely, I did find the setting that allows me to turn off the message
preview, however I still get an enormous box stating I have a new message, a
lock screen is all about privacy in the first place, the only option is to turn
it off entirely so I will not receive a notification even when I am unlocked.
And then now I can no longer drag icons from one panel to the
next on the app screens, this is beyond annoying.
The real problem I see is you are allowing children’s input
as to the preferred operational functions, they are of course in control of the
world and the day to day operations for the rest of your consumers.
IMHO all future changes from an update should be introduced
as a you tube video or a complete explanation of the functions that will be
removed on an update, if I was made aware of these changes I would not have
performed the update, now along with the reception issues I have considered
switching from US Cellular to Verizon, now I think I need to re-evaluate the
Samsung products all together.
I’m 16 and I HATE this update. It was just fine the way it was before. I despise having the stupid music player on my home screen, it looks HORRIBLE, and WTF android? Why the hell would you want your messages displayed on the home screen?! It looks bloody awful, and I think they were drunk when they made it. Its all glitch and complicated to use.
What happened to the swipe screen? And the settings? I decided that if this update isn’t fixed within the next week, I’m switching to apple.
Why is your age relevant? Very curious.
apparently someone wasn’t paying attention, just like Samsung when they made this “update”
When is samsung going to fix this or will we need to get new phones?
Missing calls, repeated download, slow wake up, missing alarms, slow performance, the list goes on.
If this is not fixed soon then I need to switch to another phone. Are these issues seen on other android phones. Seems like Samsung are focused on the S4….
Lost allot of credibility in samsung. Even looked at an iphone the other day as a reliable phone is essential.
I’ve got the exact same problem with repeated, unending notification of pdfs downloaded months ago. Also, is there any way to turn off the camera flash when the phone rings? Why the hell would you even add that in? This is as bad as Windows 8.1. Why change things just for the sake of changing them? I loved my S3 when I first received it, but the last few updates have absolutely ruined the interface. Sad.
Yes. Installed yesterday and despite reboots I am getting the repeated and repeated notifications of old jpgs from ages ago. Filling up the notification bar with this garbage so I can’t see real time notifications makes it worthless.
after updating to 4.3 my s3 is difficult to be waken after locking, it may takes it more than 15 sec., imagine that you need to make a quick call and you should wait 15 sec., anyone can help?
I updated to 4.3 yesterday and begin to have issues with repeating download notifications.
there is a solution for that. one commenter posted it. clear download cache.
Except many users, myself included, are unable to clear the cache due to some type of restriction.
Edit: It appears that it actually did clear the cache for most apps, but there are one or two that are restricted. It seems to have worked.
Mine is stuck in this “download loop” too and it will NOT STOP!!! It is frustrating and it cannot be good for the battery life considering the phone is always doing something or notifying me of these “downloads”–some of which, I cannot figure out what they even are because when I click on it, it says it cannot be found….(If it can’t be found, then why the heck is it downloading at all????)
Same problem here, with the repeated downloaded notifications for old files.
Grrr.
I get the perpetual “download complete” notifications, also now my camera flash inexplicably flashes every time I get an email (I did not alter any settings to do this) and all of my previous notification settings were reset. WTF Samsung?? Anyone have any solutions for these issues?
same here. Im like …”when did ask for the flash??”
I fixed the flashing. Go to setting -> accessibility -> Flash Notification. My Flash Notification was actually off. I turned it on. A pop up came up (I don’t recall exactly what it said). I turned it back off and “hurray!” the Flash Notifications stopped.
Thanks, works great
I just did the update yesterday and immediately started having the download notification problem. It just kept downloading an enormous amount of things all from ages ago. Rebooting and complete restarting didn’t solve the problem. Finally saw a post here about clearing the cache (in settings under “more” then in “storage”) and that seems to have solved the problem. It’s been an hour, and no more downloads. Pfffff! Updates!! Should have learned by now that you shouldn’t do them right away!!!
Just to keep bumping the solution to the Download Loop to the top of this list…
Menu > Settings > More > Storage > Cached data… clicking on this will clear the cache and no more loop
Having the same problem as everyone else but when I go to clear the cached data it says security policy restricts clearing of the app’s cache. How do I get around this?
Went into the Security, Device Admin, turned off all of them and went back into the cache and it worked for me.
My apps are crashing. I un installed then tried to reinstall apps like IG, BBM etc, but the playstore will not DOWNLOAD them. This update suckss!
Had the same prob with notification loop… To solve this…
Apps > download icon > clear (check box) “internet” as well as “other” download files… > clear files
If this doesn’t work even though it should…
Menu > Settings > More > Storage > Cached data
Problem solved…
Awesome, worked! Upvoting so others can see
Same. Thank you!
This worked for me as well… Once I cleared the downloads, they’re no longer there. Only time will tell if it happens again when there are more downloads in there. thanks!
I have not been able to figure out how to do your little trick…
Aerie, it is a bit confusing…he means do this:
Open your app folder (where all of your apps are located that aren’t present on your home screen), you will have a folder named “DOWNLOADS” click this folder, select the items and CLEAR them. Hope this helped..
Just got the 4.3 update for my Virgin Mobile S3 the other day, biggest issues are battery life now being significantly shorter, seems to be draining at almost 4x the rate as it used to just in standby mode. Other than that, slow app close/open times. Just rather buggy overall.
Got the 4.3 OTA from US VM this morning. Mobile data & airplane mode are gone from the drop down menu. I also have 3 files that constantly download.
Menu> settings> Display> notifications panel
You should be able to highlight which items you want available in the drop down
experiencing same notification issues. files are non existent and drop box related.
me too!! someone help!
I’m having the same problems with pictures I downloaded months ago continuously notifying me…it gets really annoying when I have to keep clearing my notifications.
That is exactly what i have going on, but with almost 70 photos. Its more like spam.
This is the same problem I’ve been having and it’s so annoying!! Is there anyway to fix it??
I don’t know if I messed something up, but I disabled and removed ALLSHARE CAST DONGLE S/W UPDATE app and the download insanity has stopped?
Well that didn’t work, the downloads are back. Wow what a mess.
I have a Galaxy 3: I opened downloads app, cleared both Internet & Other downloads list haven’t received the repeat downloads since (over 12 hours)?
I downloaded an app off of the playstore and that seemed to reset notifications for me. That problem is gone, but a new one now plagues me. Problem that I have: While running any app, I constantly have the settings pop open and it’s an easy 3 minute battle of hitting the back button to get it to go away completely. Give it another 30 minutes and I have to do battle again. Almost renders the phone unusable.
Yes that has been happening to me also. But instead of like 2 its like 10downloads of pictures that I already have, and it happens all through the day! And I don’t know why but my email stopped notifying me when I updated my phone.
I’m having the same download loop problem except mine is like 20 downloads and is killing my battery within two hours. Really ticking me off!
Apps>Downloads> CLEAR internet/Other downloads. Should fix it.
This worked!! I had called Sprint prior to seeing this thread and they couldn’t even give me the proper steps to clear my notifications…thanks!!
Could you please elaborate the steps? I do not see these options on my Galaxy S3 Android 4.3. Thanks!
@24930c874f193937b422dec180e4544d:disqus, Turn on your screen, go into your apps..which is the middle button at the bottom of the screen, which you use to access any apps that are no present on the screen. From there, find an app that says “downloads” open that, and clear the internet and other. Should fix it.
Thank you for posting!!!!
I followed your steps also, this worked. thanks for the help
Thanks Boca2608 that corrected the problem on my Samsung Galaxy S3 by Sprint.
@24930c874f193937b422dec180e4544d:disqus that did it for me also. Thanks a million.
My notification bar has disappeared and my phone won’t allow me to end my tasks through task manager. When I try to kill the running apps, my phone says… security policy restricts using task manager… help!!!
I too had the download loop problem. Before I discovered this thread, I turned off the notification box in what I believe was called the “download manager”, which I accessed by holding down one of the download notifications. I can’t find this screen again to turn it back on. Where is it??????
Go to settings – application manager – scroll to your right and you should see a tab saying TURN OFF. You’ll find it there.
Had same with over 50 continuously appearing (after clearing from notifications bar). TO FIX: in the Applications folder there is an app called “Download”. Click on it and there you can clear all download history, both internet and other. That did the trick!
This works. Thanks
THANK YOU! I had 90 downloads and they were driving me NUTS.
Oh my, thank you!
Works. You can also find the individual offending files in the lists though they may not appear unless you tap the “Older” list header.
Thanks Fred…this worked for me!
Thanks! Updated on T-Mobile and this was driving me nuts!
Thanks Fred, this worked!
Worked for me as well. thanks a million Fred, that was really driving me nuts!
Thanks Fred! Finally!
Fred, I could kiss you! Thank you!
Thanks Fred! I was having the same problem with 3 old downloads continuing to show up in the notifications bar over and over again. Fred’s fix seems to have done the trick though. I’ve also noticed that since doing the software update I’m getting calendar reminders for past events. For example, today a calendar notification showed up for a task that was dated April 10, 2012. This is frustrating but this is still the best phone I’ve ever had.
My android 4.3 works perfectly! Oh yeah! Thats because I have AOKP! Yea for rooting! P.S You guys have fun with your buggy stock firmware 😉
Same issues… Horrible battery life and like twenty downloads from monthd ago keep showing up in my notification bar. Any idea when this will be fixed?!?
Not sure about the battery life, but the notifications are annoying. I’m not having problems with lock-ups or a slow device, but I will warn hubby and the DD away from accepting this update that Sprint forced on me.
I have the download loop also. My old downloads from. Months ago keep appearing ever since I updated. I have sprit. I thought it was just my phone. Its been doin it for about 4-5 days now since I updated. I just googled it and found this page.
Have you figured out how to get rid of them? This is annoying!
Same Problem!!!!! Any fixes for this??? It’s annoying as heck.
Sometimes I wanna throw my phone to the garbage can, the notification bar is always full with more than 50 old files I downloaded, it’s annoying, no matter how many times I clear the notificatios bar, they are appearing.I hate this last update X [
fred’s solution worked for me. thanks!
If you got to the downloads app and clear it, all those downloads notifications go away! Easy fix to the problem. 🙂
have done that as many times as I have cleared the notification bar – comes back every time
To clarify, go to Apps, Downloads, clear any on the Internet Downloads screen THEN click the Other Downloads screen and clear those. This has gotten rid of the downloads that keep coming back. You MUST delete them from both locations.
This has worked for me so far (about 20 minutes).
When you say ‘clear’, do you mean uninstall?
No, it just clears the history. The app still remains installed on the phone.
Ok so can someone plz help me and what is the app that every one is talking about
Just did Fred’s solution. Seems to work for now. Candies, go to apps and find “downloads”. Select “other downloads”. If there is anything in the list, clear the list. Should fix the reoccurring downloads
Thank you, Dan! It’s been irritating me for days!
Thanks Fred
I also have the download notification and for some reason the camera flash now goes off in the morning with the my alarm and with incoming calls. It’s not pleasant to have bright lights in your face first thing. Does anyone know how to get rid of this?
Joe,
Try this fix. Worked for me
1-Go to “Settings”
2-Select “My Device” from the top
3-Select “Accessibility”
4-Scroll down and check “Flash Notification”
Close the settings menu and then go through the same steps and unselect the “Flash Notification”.
Should fix the l=flash problem. Did for me.
Thank you! I would not have thought to look there! It was unchecked when I got there, but I checked it and then unchecked it again, and the flashing seems to have stopped. Makes total sense right? Now if I could go back to the old version of navigation and if my new keyboard didn’t get stupider while looking like the font from “Law and Order,” I would be happy with my phone again!
Thanks Joe forthe solution.
I have recently upgraded the firmware on my galaxy s3 and since then my aol e-mail account doesn’t work, I just keep getting the message that e mail has stopped. Does anyone know what I can do to remedy this. Thank you
Yes. My phone is stuck in the download loop but that is the only problem I have encountered so far.
Wondering if there still an setting to allow emails with images in them to automatically load the images? Now when I get an email with an image i get a button “Show Image” to click in order to view it. It gets kind of annoying if you have to clink on this every time when open an email with image. Have Google place this option someplace else?4
I have had all of the same problems mentioned above after updating my firmware and it is driving me crazy. Missed calls, lagging device while opening the home screen and other applications and also answering calls. The worse of them all for me is having the camera light flash while receiving a call. I have yet found a solution.
Thanks Joe for the solution with the flashing light while receiving incoming calls.
I have the problem where the same two things keep downloading -.- it’s driving me insane…. so there is no way to make it stop?
yup, updated a few days ago and the download icons for the same 6 images keep reappearing.
Just found a fix that has worked for me. go to Apps, Downloads, clear any on the Internet Downloads screen THEN click the Other Downloads screen and clear those. This has gotten rid of the downloads that keep coming back. You MUST delete them from both locations.This has worked for me so far (about 20 minutes).
Thanks Rob. Fix worked for me!
I have the exact same issue and it is driving me nuts. Can you explain the navigation for your fix more clearly please? When i select Apps, I just see a bunch of apps. Thanks in advance.
I figured it out. Thanks for the tip.
Thank you, I was like “why does it keep telling me about these files from the summertime?!” lol I was starting to get annoyed b/c it was like 30 damn files so I couldn’t get to my legit notifications.
RobbieB, you are my hero. That fixed the issue. Only one issue left, the vibrate on new gmail mails when I thought I had it turned off. Other than those two things, the 4.3 update has actually been pretty awesome for me.
Can you give as a play by play how to navigate to exactly where you went and what you did to fix the continuing d/l notification? I am like bheem. I go to the Settings:,to More:, to Application Manager. In application Manager it shows up as a complete list of Downloaded Apps, then a 2nd column of your SD Card storage apps, Then Running Apps, then a column that has all the apps. So, is this where RobbieB & You went to fix it? Because I do not see anything in this section that says “Internet Downloads” screens? Please help, cuz if not I am going to call my 21yo Son over who updated my phone last night w/o asking and now has caused me this cluster F**K of a mess and murder him stone cold dead! 🙁
No need for murder. Have a look on your home screen for the icon that looks a bit like a chequers board titled ‘Apps’. Click on that. Scroll through your apps for one called ‘Downloads’ and click on that (if you can’t find it, try arranging your apps alphabetically by clicking on the lower left soft key and selecting app type then selecting an alphabetical sort option). Once you open the ‘Downloads’ app you see two tabs at the top ‘Internet downloads’ and ‘other downloads’. Click on one and clear it, then do the same to the other.
God Bless You! Perfect Instructions. Did exactly what you said and so far (30 mins) no repeat notifications… How absolutely mind numbingly frustrating. I had been an Iphone 3 user for 6 years (never needed to upgrade to the 3s, 4 or 5) since the 1st one was still doing me great. But, last Christmas I finally decided to upgrade, being the 1st Iphone ever made, I was finding it harder and harder to find apps that were compatiable with such an old Iphone. There was a huge sale on the new Samsung Galaxy 3s last year it was too good to pass up compared to the new Iphone 5’s. So, I thought I would try something new. I am sorry to say, but I have never gotten use to the Android system, I don’t like that I can’t restore back to the last version if something like this happens and that all my personal info is on some data cloud and not safe on my computer where I know where it is and that it is safe as well as have access to it. Now with this new upgrade and the problems it has caused. I am ruing the day I ever bought this phone and switched to the Android operating systems. I know no one is ever completely perfect, but for me I am seriously going to end my involvement with this phone, Samsung and the Android system as soon as my contract on this phone is finally up. Again, Thank you so very, very much for taking the time to write me back, explaining to me with good instructions how to fix this glitch and saving me more hours than not trying to fix it on my own. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful new year. xoxoxox
wooohoo – your a star! was driving me nuts yesterday after my update! Yes battery is running out quicker, but overall its a decent update 🙂
where is this.. i cant find what your talking about.?
dont work. it downloads again. dagnabbit
Thanks Rob that worked…but I will wait til tomorrow to see if they are gone for sure.
Thank you sooo much……This was driving me crazy and that is not to far to go…..
Brilliant, thanks very much, Rob!
I clear the downloads but my S3 still turning off every couple minutes
Brilliant, RobbeiB, thanks very much!!!
YES!!! As soon as I installed the update to Android for my Galaxy S3, I’ve been receiving incessant notifications for about 20 previous pic file downloads that had occurred many many months earlier. Just got off the phone with T-Mobile technician, who says their only solution would be be ( surprise! surprise!) a full factory reset…such a lame solution their f-ed up phones/software/system.
I’m having this same problem with my Sprint Galaxy S3 since the update. This is incredibly annoying! Did a factory reset resolve your problem?
we have a problem the phone keep popping up play store when you open it
yes! I keep getting notifications of downloaded files over and over and over,I cant make them stop! Also battery life is much shorter now 🙁
Having that downloading issue as well! very annoying, ugh. Otherwise, I like the update.
will these things go away if it is factory reseted
Just downloaded jelly bean 4.3 to my Samsung s3 but now I can’t download any pictures or documents to my phone from the web ! Anyone else had this problem?
David.
yes now i cant save photos from text messages and i have the same file downloading all day long. if i clear the notice it downloads again.
Just un installed my file managers app and reinstalled it seems to be working now:-)
I have a Galaxy S3 and I just downloaded 4.3 and I cannot find how to shut OFF the message preview pane on the lock screen. I have looked everywhere. Is this a bug???
Brilliant!
Fixed in a jiffy and many, many thanks Pud.
Your blow by blow was perfect.
Thanks again from England
I updated my Samsung galaxy s3 phone today with the latest firmware and now it won’t restart past the Samsung logo screen and the blue light stays on. I’ve tried pulling the battery and then restarting it and I’ve also tried deleting the cache on the recovering menu, I’ve also tried a reboot a few times but nothing seems to work so far, is there anything else I can do? I don’t know if a factory reset will work and I’m afraid I’ll lose pictures f I do, any ideas?
I had to call t-mobile tech support in order to get mine fixed
I think most of the posts here are fake and written by Apple users.
I heard that the new update makes the phone turn humans into “cry babies” that would freak out if electricity was ever turned off.
Has anyone figured out how to remove the “missed call” box that appears on the lock screen?
I have that issue now with the download on my S3. Get a grip samsung
i’ve got the same problem, called the helpline and they knew nothing of it! just said take the battery out for half an hour. Any way of getting the old software back????
Same here with repeated downloads. Over and over again with the same old files. WTF!
12-23-13 Awoke this morning and my Sprint S3 stated update pending. No indication of update version. Preformed update and what-last V4.3 and sure enough notification bar continues to pop up indicating download successful but for one. Something about resize…. and download unsuccessful! Long press on the individual unsuccessful notification to APP INFO. thus Android Download Manager. Cant uninstall only stop. Thus warning = could create problems doing so. NOT COOL.
has anyone experienced messaging problems….outgoing ones specifically. my keyboard will stop and have to catch up, which was never a problem prior to the upgrade, and then when i send a message it literally takes 2 minutes to send it on its’ way. it was almost always pretty instantanious in the past.
This repeat notifications has affected me as well – I originally thought my phone contracted a virus… instead it had just contracted update issues. Lovely.
DOWNLOADED FILES REAPPEAR… Possible Fix.
I went into the”Download Manager”, cleared the “Cache”, “Force Stop”, and restarted the phone. Nothing has reappeared since doing this.
Hope it works.
This worked for me. Thanks for sharing!!!
You can go to the Download app and select Other Downloads. Select the Clear List button. This should also stop the reoccurring downloads.
I had PFD files that were download months ago that kept reappearing. I had to Clear the Application Data before mine stopped reappearing.
From the home screen, click the Apps icon
Open the “Downloads” app
In my case the files that kept showing up in the notification pull down were in the Other Downloads tab
Click the “Clear list” button at the bottom of the screen
After a restart I didn’t get any more notifications.
Awesome! This worked for me as well!
I have downloaded the new software and keep getting the same problem with old notifications for downloaded files its driving me mad
my new update keeps telling me my WiFi is not stable so having problems uploading from the web
we have 2 S3’s and both of them have this problem since the update. My girlfriend’s keeps notifying about a specific jpeg and mine is a specific pdf file. They both appear to have originally have been mail attachments.hoping the android team fixes this fast.
Yes and with old email repeatedly downloading. Wish I had never done it
If you go to the download app, the one with the green arrow pointing down, Select “Other Downloads” and click on “Clear List”. That should stop the repeated downloads from occurring.
Thank you, this fixed it for me. I was having the same issues as Jane, only it was images and documents that kept showing up “download complete” over and over again. It didn’t really do anything, it was just amazingly annoying.
thank you so much!!
Thanks a lot!!
So greatful!! Thanks a ton!!!
Oh my goodness thank you so much! I tried so hard to not download the update but after a while my phone wouldn’t let me do anything with out it crashing. So basically I was forced to update :/ then after the update I got stuck with the forever annoying notification loop of 20+ pics and documents. This tip got rid of the problem! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was about to chuck my phone at someone’s head, lol.
After reading the posts here I was able to escape the download notification loop and shut off the camera flash notification alert, but what I haven’t seen is anyone address the saved pages problem. Everyone one of my saved pages from before the upgrade are unavailable. Every time I click on them I get this error message “Unfortunately, Internet has stopped” I was able to work around some of the them by using “Go Live” and bringing up the current page, but some of the pages are dead links that you can no longer connect to the internet. Anyone have any solutions
Just to let you all know…. I switched off smart stay (the feature that keeps the screen on as long as you are looking at it) and it seems that the problem with the phone lagging has gone away. In fact it seems to have sped up the phone (at least thats the feeling i get). Its a shame that we have a feature that needs to be switched off for the phone to behave…
You can get rid of this notifications by clearing the data of the downloadmanager!
You can find this by holding your finger at a notification, “app info” will appear press this button. In the shown screen you will be able to remove the data.
This worked for me anyways!!
This works!
thank you so much, been trying to figure this out for days
Did not work for me. It cleared the notification bar, like when you hit clear, but all the repeat notifications came back when I restarted the phone.
You should clear the data from the downloadmanager itself, not only the notifications bar 😉
It works!!!! Thank you very much for your time.
Had the same problem. Worked for me. Thanks a lot!!
Works, thanks!!
Yes I have the down load loop problem as well.
Yep, this is seriously abnoxious. I finally downloaded the update about a week ago. Why hasn’t this been fixed yet?
I may have found a solution to this problem! I have been having the same problem the past few days since I updated. It showed that all the images from my Gallery had been downloaded, but when I cleared the notifications they would reappear. But I went to settings tried enabling Blocking Mode, this disables all notifications from the apps you choose, keep all apps selected. I left it on for a minute or two then disabled it again, allowing notifications to be received. I hope I’m not speaking too soon but so far I haven’t had the problem.
Trying that now! Thanks for the suggestion.
The problems with 4.3 are ridiculous. How could they continue to distribute this piece of garbage with so many bugs? Here is a list of some of the issues:
– Constant notifications that WI-FI connection is unstable – no matter which WI-FI connection. Random disconnects.
– Whoever thought to flash the camera LED whenever a message arrives should be shot in the head.
– The voice for Google Navigator reverted to a horrible machine sounding voice. Samsung pops up and says you can update it if you sign-up for a Samsung account. That is complete garbage! It worked, don’t freaking break it.
– It completely uninstalled my paid for version of Swiftkey.
– Battery life is at least 30% worse and the phone always runs hot now.
What a complete failure by Samsung or whomever decided to roll out this disgusting excuse for an update.
My notification bar doesn’t even open!!
After the update I cant even open my notification bar
i had the same issue, two download history keeps showing up!!!!!!!
my phone forced me to do this update and now i keep getting all my old calendar events popping up in my notification bar a couple minutes after i clear the list. Deleted app cache and it still happens. I don’t need to know that i had a dentist appointment half a year ago. Any suggestions? Tried cache delete and blocking mode so far
I keep having this issue as well, only it’s more like a year and a half ago. Also old dwnlds keep showing up. I have ATT and I keep getting this notification that my contacts will sync when I’m on the network, but I have been on the network for 3 days.
Anyone figured out the weak wifi signal notification thing yet?
Dozens of prior downloads coming up in the notification bar, cleared just to pop up again. 4 past calendar dates popping up repeatedly, up to a year and a half ago. Wifi signal weak notification. At&t notification that says something like will sync contacts when on the network, yet I have been on the network since the update. Tried clearing data, battery pull, but all these things keep coming up again, and again.
did u find any solution?
My S3 just did the newest update yesterday, and I am now experiencing the download notification issue for a dozen files. Did you ever discover a solution?
Help! I can not download anything from the web with this update. Wtf?
Can’t we go back to the old original software. I am really anoyed with this one. Battery finishes quickly, the web pages closes constantly while I am reading, everything is slow. Have to wait until bars close, an anoying bar of information keeps popping through everything I am doing etc etc etc. Can’t we go back to the last software????
I never update anything. I’ve learned “update” never means improvement. My phone is just
I never update anything. I’ve learned “update” never means improvement. My phone is just now slowing down ( after 2 yrs) & many of the battery problems I had turned out to be BAD CHARGERS! I may try clearing the cache to.speed up phone.
Hi Everyone,
Since the 4.3 update my 6 month old S3 had been virtually useless. No end of problems including serious lagging, poor battery life, freezing and more. I eventually gave up on Samsung fixing this. I am so disgusted with them for leaving so many customers in this position. I will NEVER buy another Samsung product for this reason.
As of last night my phone has been transformed and is now running better than ever. I installed CyanogenMod 11. I was previously aware of CM but was wary of bricking my phone, after all a poorly performing phone is better than a dead one, just.
If you look on the CM website you will see there is an app which you download onto your S3. This app sets the phone up for the procedure. You then install the windows (or Mac) app which flashes the new ROM. This didn’t work first time as it couldn’t talk to my phone. I then read I needed to install, then update the Android SDK. Once SDK updated the process worked flawlessly. Since booting into CM 11 which is Android 4.4.2 it has been totally lag free and everything has been fast and responsive. I wish I had done this months ago.
If you have a rubbish S3 and are reading this, the I urge you to do as I did. Of course, it could go wrong and kill the phone but for me this has been the miracle cure I was searching for.
Samsung have lost me for life.