Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update most problematic release yet
Last week Google released the latest version of its mobile operating system Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but the trouble is as every day passes we are hearing more users having problems with the new software, and it makes you think this could be the most problematic Android release yet.
Late last week we first started to hear of users complaining of problems with their Nexus 7’s after updating the hardware to Android 4.2 that at first just seemed to centre around using the Bluetooth connection on the device for streaming music. Trouble is this quickly grew to more serious issues being reported with numerous owners reporting their device randomly rebooting, which obviously can be more than just frustrating depending on what you are doing at the time.
We have also heard users complaining of the auto-brightness feature becoming unstable and there are now reports on some forums that this problem is also affecting the Nexus 10, and it also seems the rebooting issues are affecting users of the Nexus 10 a lot more as well.
Another worrying problem reported by many Nexus 7 owners is the sudden lag in the UI when in use, with some apps taking an age to open now but some users have said that a factory reset improved things temporally, but others have stated it makes no difference at all.
There have been some suggestions that the multi-user option with Android 4.2 may be the route of the problems now being experienced by Nexus 7 owners, with some saying that after deleting the second account things improved.
Other problems being complained about is the battery life decreasing a lot quicker than before with Wi-Fi connections also dropping out suddenly, and we have also heard some complaints of the lockscreen widgets being unstable or disappearing altogether.
Earlier today we told you about the problems with the People App and Google leaving out the month of December altogether, so users won’t see friends birthdays or Christmas. While the Android 4.2 update is currently only running on a tiny fraction of Android devices, there are many that have purchased the Nexus 7 since it was released back in the summer, and would have obviously excitedly updated the device to the new firmware when it was released last week.
We have yet to hear anything official from Google about the problems affecting the software, but you would have thought the company would already have its software engineers hard at work finding a fix for all the issues that have come to light.
Have you had issues with the Android 4.2 update?
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10 thoughts on “Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update most problematic release yet”
My N7 was doing random reboots every 30 minutes or so. Did a factory reset and all seemed well until the next day and it started doing it again, albeit with less frequency. I rooted it and flashed it back to 4.1.2. Waiting for a new stable release.
Also, Amazon Appstore is broken with 4.2. It won’t stay logged in or verify account permissions after you lock the screen. You have to sign back in, which has another side effect of creating a whole new device in amazon’s database.
Number of problems with Android 4.2 on the N7:
a) Status Bar doesn’t have the usual Screen rotation lock icons and the name of the WIFI network that the device is currently connected to. These used to be VERY useful features. Gone.
b) Auto brightness is definitely a problem
c) Wifi keeps dropping out. Says it is connected but no data is transferred. After turning the Wifi off and on, things start working back again.
DEAR GOOGLE, WE PAYING CUSTOMERS ARE *NOT* ALPHA TESTERS.
kudos to that last statement — i took a chance with your device and you thanked me by discontinuing it and then passing off the shittiest update possible… real nice… guess who won’t be getting my next tablet purchase dollars…?
Auto brightness keeps changing (just annoying). But more serious are issues with Gmail – notifications often don’t appear & mail dissapears from my inbox (I archive 1note BUT 2 go)
Several games and apps not work with 4.2, it is also too laggy specially google play and also battery drains very quickly.
Got my Nexus 10 on 11/16. Everything looks great, but the Wi-Fi connections just drops for no reason, I have a guest network setup at home, so just trying to change networks and it just completely looses the network connection. The battery barely goes for 2-3 days with moderate usage, so the stand-by time really sucks.
the update to my nexus 7 has caused lots of crashes, a number of apps don’t work properly [JuiceDefender and Wifi Manager, to name two]… the update wiped out my entire OverDrive Media Console ebook library and i had to remove the app, reinstall and then reload 175 titles manually, TWICE… the trash icons disappeared from Gallery… i liked those — useful… the new lockscreen looks LAME in comparison to the old one… keep your widgets… when i was a little boy, my father told me “if something’s not broken, don’t try to fix it…” hear that, Google…? you stuck it up my ass once when you discontinued the 8GB nexus 7 46 days after i purchased it… then this LAME release… you fixed everything that WASN’T broken, and broke the things that didn’t need fixing… “don’t be evil,” right…? well, being stupid and ignorantly dicking your customer base around might not be evil, but it still oughtn’t be done… if i want to go back to 4.1.2, which i was very, very happy with, i have to root the device and lose all my stuff, right…? how can such brilliant people be so stupid…?!
The only issue I have had since the update is with the new clock. That issue is purely aesthetic anyway. The blue night mode was beautiful and classy. The new white digital “flip board” clock just looks unpleasant.
Some of the problems reported have been issues since launch. Problems with flickering on auto-brightness are irritating and have affected me from the day I received my N7. I’ve had problems with random wireless dropping while I’m streaming radio as well, which oddly have improved for me since 4.2. The only real issue I’ve noticed since the update, and it’s a serious one, is system instability. Some apps now hang and the UI lags badly from time to time. This began after I added a second user account.
I’m currently using my nexus 7 and didn’t have any of the problems described above except for some rare extreme UI slowness.