Fix for Note8 that is lagging when using the internet (whether on wifi or mobile data)

This troubleshooting article addresses an issue with the #GalaxyNote8 that appears to be lagging when connected to the internet. Lagging issue in this case appears all over, regardless what the user does so the device is obviously having a general poor performance problem. If you have a similar situation or problem, this post should help.

Today’s problem: Note8 that is lagging when using the internet (whether on wifi or mobile data)

Hello. well first of all almost all phones nowadays you can’t get access to the battery specially the Note8 since it’s water proof so let’s just get that out of the way first.

Oddly as I’m writing this my keyboard swift key is acting really slow. As I type, the words are taking an eternity; this is really troubling. But among this and many other mysteries, I’m having a pain in the butt with my connection.

I can get half full or 4 bars of wifi no less and I get these horrible lags or Youtube videos keep cutting off. For example, pages take longer to boot, apps do the same now. In fact I’m seeing this effect because it’s lagging as I text. All this never happened before, it happens when I’m on 4G specially but I guess that’s the reception and data¡ used for respecting situations.

I don’t know if it’s maybe a setting or a bug or what I really don’t know what to do. My phone is fairly new since my old one broke. I thought having a new phone was a good thing, my updates are in full and I always run maintenance.

And oh, in maintenance something odd happened. I keep getting the same file over and over. it’s a document and it keeps coming back. Also one time and it happens a lot which didn’t in my last phone. Please help me out, I beg.

I’m going to try and reboot my phone and clear cache parts then run it in safe mode thinly. Problem is that I don’t know what to look for in safe mode. Thank you so much anybody. — Patricio Abello

Solution: Hello there Patricio. Old or new phones, just like a computer, tend to slow down and show poor performance for a number of reasons. In order know where the problem may lie, you’ll need to perform a series of troubleshooting steps. Slow performance can be caused by software-related bugs, bad apps, corrupted cache, or hardware malfunction. This short article should guide you how to identify the cause.

Restart regularly

Computers like your phone can get benefits if they’re rebooted regularly. The longer a device runs, the more likely it can encounter errors which can affect its performance in general. While these errors may not be serious enough to warrant serious problems, they can be annoying because they tend to affect how fast your phone reacts or its job when you ask it to perform a normal task. Ideally, you should restart your phone once every few days in order to avoid minor performance bugs.

Soft reset

Soft reset is a fancy term for a restart. The only difference soft reset has with normal restart is how it’s achieved. With Samsung moving away from removable battery packs on its Galaxy flagship devices, it has to come up with a way to simulate the effect of pulling the battery out. Removing the battery from a phone is one of the effective ways to fix issues in devices with removable battery packs in the past. Starting with Samsung Galaxy S6, flagship phones no longer enjoy this troubleshooting convenience so Samsung has to build a way to simulate it on devices with non-removable batteries. This procedure is now called soft reset.

If you’re wondering how to perform soft reset on your Note8, follow these steps:

Press and hold the Volume Down button first but don’t release it.
While holding it down, press and hold the Power key.
Keep both keys held down for 10 seconds or more.

Install app and Android updates

Known bugs, glitches and performance issues are sometimes fixed by doing a simple step of updating. We understand your Note8 has been recently updated so that’s a good thing but what about your apps? Both apps and operating system must be updated to minimize bugs that might lead to performance issues. Be sure to also check for app updates so you can install them whenever they become available. App updates tend to be more often than Android updates so if you did not set Play Store app to automatically download and install them, be sure to check for them regularly.

Clear cache partition

Your Note8 uses a special set of files and folders called system cache stored in the cache partition to load apps quickly. Sometimes, this system cache gets corrupted so you should regularly delete it. Doing so will force the device build a new cache from scratch. Clearing the cache partition is also an effective way to fix many performance-related issues. Make sure that you do this solution by following these steps:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Boot to safe mode and observe

Not everyone knows that apps you install from the Play Store can result to problems. Yes, that’s right. Not all apps are created with the same level of expertise and experience. Some may work flawlessly while others not so. If you usually install apps on your device without checking whether or not they’re from a reputable source, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll encounter problems or even worse, compromise the security of your personal information.

For troubleshooting purposes in your case, booting to safe mode is a good way to know if your slow performing Note8 is being caused by an app or not. While in this mode, all apps that were downloaded and installed after unboxing your device won’t be allowed to run. So, if your Note8 will work normally, that’s a sign that one of the apps is causing the trouble.

To run your Note8 to safe mode, follow these steps:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Let your Note8 run for 24 hours in this mode. Make sure NOT to restart it in order to avoid booting it back to Normal mode.

After 24 hours, you should be able to tell if there’s any difference. If your Note8 works properly and it doesn’t lag or perform poorly, that’s a sign that you have a problematic third party app. To know which app is causing the problem, you must invest time and effort in identifying it. Remember, safe mode will not pinpoint the exact app. You’ll have to do that yourself and that’s done by doing a cycle of uninstalling, observing, and uninstalling. Basically, what you want to do is to:

uninstall an app,
restart the device, and
observe the phone for a few hours.

If your Note8 works normally after removing an app, or while observing, then the recently deleted app is to blame. If there’s no change at all, do the same cycle detailed above until you’ve identified the culprit.

We understand that this process can take some time but it’s the only way to know what app is causing the issue.

Factory reset

Ideally, your Note8 should already be fixed by now but if that won’t happen at all after doing all the suggestions above, you have no choice but to do a factory reset. As its name suggests, all your software settings will be returned to their factory defaults. We know that factory state software won’t slow down a Note8 so if the issue issue operating system related, factory reset should help.

To factory reset your Note8, follow these steps:

Create a backup of your personal data such as photos, videos, documents, etc.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Get professional help

Finally, if all else fail, you can only assume that bad hardware is to blame. As pointed out earlier, an issue like this can be caused by a lot of things, including the possibility of a bad hardware. All our recommended troubleshooting steps above are meant to know one thing — to see if an app or software bug is causing your Note8 to perform horribly. Since not one of these suggestions help, there’s only one conclusion — your Note8 has a hardware problem. To fix it, you need to send it in so it can be repaired or replaced.