Samsung Galaxy Note 9 screen starts to flicker after the Android 9.0 Pie update

Screen flickering issues can either be due to a minor firmware problem or a serious hardware issue involving the display itself. Some owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 reported that shortly after they updated their phones to Android 9.0 Pie, the screen started to flicker. Assuming that there’s no sign of physical or liquid damage, it’s most likely due to a software-related issue.

So, in this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Note 9 with a screen flickering issue. If you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently being bugged by a similar problem, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.

Now, before anything else, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already provided solutions to hundreds of problems reported by our readers. Odds are that we may have already provided a solution to the problem you currently have so try to find issues that are similar with yours on that page and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

The following are things you can do if your Galaxy Note 9 has a screen flickering issue after the Android Pie update…

1. Run your phone in Safe Mode and continue using it.
2. Uninstall third-party apps that may be causing the problem.
3. Wipe cache partition to delete and replace old system cache.
4. Factory reset your phone.

You have already rebooted your phone many times but if still not, then try that and see if that improves your phone’s performance or get rid of the flickering. If not,then try running your device in safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party applications. There are times when third-party apps cause the screen to flicker especially CPU- and GPU-intensive ones. This is how you restart your Note 9 in safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.

Assuming the screen flickering issue doesn’t occur in this mode, the next thing you have to do is find out which of your apps is causing the problem and uninstall it. That should take care of the problem.

However, if the issue continues even in safe mode, then you have to delete the old system cache so that it will replaced with a new one. You can do so by running your phone in recovery mode and wiping the cache partition. Android will automatically create a new cache for the new firmware. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

It will take a little while for your phone to boot up as the cache is being rebuilt. Once it becomes active, try to see if the flickering continues and if so, then you have to backup your files and data and then factory reset  your phone. It’s necessary at this point to rule out the possibility that it’s just a firmware-related concern. So, take time moving your important files over to your SD card, computer or to the cloud. After that, remove your Google account from your phone and then follow these steps to reset your device:

1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Samsung account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Samsung credentials to finish the master reset.
2. Turn off the device.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
4. 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).
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the problem continues after the reset, bring your phone to the shop so the technician can check it for you.

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