Android Lollipop memory woes resolved, fix incoming

Launching an operating system update isn't easy (just ask Apple). It's especially difficult when you make a lot of visual changes, which in turn alter how the hardware is used. With Android Lollipop, users are delighted by the visual change, with it's colorful cards and subtly useful animations. With the update came some issues, and many users reported some memory woes with Lollipop. Without much fanfare, it seems Google has identified the problem, and marked it closed for inclusion in a future Lollipop update.

The issue centers around Lollipop's (Android, really) use of RAM. Instead of judiciously sipping RAM, Lollipop's 5.0.1 update was found to take as much as 1.3GB, and sometimes more. If you're on an older device with 2GB RAM, you might have noticed apps running slowly or force closing without provocation.

The problems were reported across Android, too, so no handset is safe. Older devices obviously felt the pinch a bit more than newer, but the problem is widespread.

Google has marked the issue resolved in their AOSP bug tracker and marked it as "FutureRelease", which typically means the next Android version will address the problem. We're not yet sure when that release might be coming, though, leaving affected users wanting for more.

It's reminiscent of Apple's iOS update which took the stumble-out-of-the-gate OS update a bit further by breaking cellular service for the iPhone. Though memory over-use is a pain in the rear, at least Android users are still able to call others to complain about their Lollipop upgrade.

Source: AOSP

Via: Phone Arena