Windows Phone 7.8 performance changes

[Bogdan Badea]

Hi guys,

Yesterday I managed to update my Lumia 800 to Windows Phone 7.8, yeey.

What I like is of course the new start screen, bluetooth share and the new theme colors. But the best new feature for me is actually the Xbox Live Games that have now been enabled for my country (Romania).
What I like less is that I feel the phone has become a little laggy especially in the start screen. Before the update I have almost never asked myself if my touch has been registered because the screen would react immediatly to any input from me. After the update it seems to be less responsive, there is a sizeable delay from a tile press to the actual program launch and I found myself several times thinking that my touch is not registered.

What do you think? Do you feel any difference?

 

[cheesemoo]

I have to agree with you. I am running 7.8 on my ATT L900. while swiping the start screen up or down, or swiping over to get to the app list. No issues. But it seem to lag a bit when tapping on icons. Not sure if there is actually a difference, but any mail icon seems to take a second before launching the inbox, atleast more than any other icon.

 

[sinlessearth]

I agree. Scrolling seems to be slower and lags some with the icons. Sometimes I also find myself touch the mail icon more than once just to make sure it opens.

 

[inteller]

so apparently you need dual cores to animate smaller squares.


no really what I am noticing is that they have added an extra animation step where it shows your tap was confirmed.registered with a little depression of the tile, then it animates just as fast as before. When swiping between the apps list and the start screen there seems to be a rendering order of how the tiles are drawn in. It is all weird and I wish you could at least turn off the tap confirmation.

 

[Bogdan Badea]

I thought about the same thing, but from what I can remember there is some kind of "tap animation" in wp7.5 as well. Could be wrong. And also this kind of animation is not even visible for small tiles (my thumb covers it all up). Maybe that's why I get the impression it is slower.

There are also some occasional hiccups while using the keyboard that were not there before.

 

[stewpeanut]

same. not sure if it's an animation change or input lag, but the implementation makes it seem like a lag and i find myself tapping tiles multiple times now.

 

[akar33]

I concur. I was wondering why the update would make things slower but to say the least, I am a bit disheartened. Reminds me of the android days when the phone would get slower over time and with any new update.

 

[Jalik]

I made a similar observation. I think it's the animation which makes it look slower. But I'm not absolutely sure about this.

 

[lippidp]

I thought about the same thing, but from what I can remember there is some kind of "tap animation" in wp7.5 as well. Could be wrong. And also this kind of animation is not even visible for small tiles (my thumb covers it all up). Maybe that's why I get the impression it is slower.

There are also some occasional hiccups while using the keyboard that were not there before.

I'm still on 7.5 build 8779 and can say that when you tap a tile it appears to press in like a button for an instant, then the tiles do a page turn sort of thing, then the app opens. It all happens quickly.

 

[RSB54]

mine is noticeably slower. I was chalking it up to being a rather old LG Quantum, but guess it impacts even the newer models.

 

[snowmutt]

Huh. Strange.

A bit more lag may be the trade off. My hope was that they were taking so much time that they actually would have it perfect when they released it. But any big "after market" upgrade will change your devices perfromance.

When the operation was as smooth as WP 7.5 was, you most likely have nowhere to go but down. The only question:

Is the 7.8 update worth a little lag?

 

[iloveamystery]

Huh. Strange.

A bit more lag may be the trade off. My hope was that they were taking so much time that they actually would have it perfect when they released it. But any big "after market" upgrade will change your devices perfromance.

When the operation was as smooth as WP 7.5 was, you most likely have nowhere to go but down. The only question:

Is the 7.8 update worth a little lag?

It's noticeably slower but not by enough for it to bother me more than a miniscule amount. This is on a 900 though; I'm not sure if lower end phones like the 610 would be affected more so than mine. But I think it's worth it since I can fit so much more on my screen. Plus I'm enjoying the Bing wallpapers.

 

[Jalik]

I'm still on 7.5 build 8779 and can say that when you tap a tile it appears to press in like a button for an instant, then the tiles do a page turn sort of thing, then the app opens. It all happens quickly.

hmm that's basically what it does in 7.8. All tile sizes. Than maybe it really is loading slower. What have they done? If that's a purely cosmetic update I wouldn't expect this.

 

[DontHate707]

i say it varies, at times the phone seems snapper and sometimes it seems to lag with the animations as others describe. Even battery dies fast sometimes and then other times it slower. Idk it was still worth it to upgrade i used the cab method so that must be the issue im sure a official one would work alot better.

 

[slobydamn]

Hmm, that's odd. I'd say my Lumia 800 is noticeable snappier and more responsive since the update. Most apps load faster and the my internet experience is more satisfying than ever.

 

[thed]

Verizon Trophy here. I'm running a custom ROM based on 7.8 and I noticed the lag when tapping on a tile as well. I thought it was just an issue with the ROM I'm using at first. I guess it's kind of good to know that other are seeing the same thing. I say "kind of" because I doubt that there will ever be another update that addresses this. I guess I'll get used to it eventually.

 

[Bahlas]

I did the upgrade on LG-E900 ... it says update completed .. but I do not see any changes on the home screen. it is still the same old screen, two columns of tiles jut gotten a little bit bigger! no blue tooth changes, nothing ... Am I missing something? The only change I see is the new theme colors!
OS Version 7.10.8858.136.. Model LG LG-900

 

[thed]

I did the upgrade on LG-E900 ... it says update completed .. but I do not see any changes on the home screen. it is still the same old screen, two columns of tiles jut gotten a little bit bigger! no blue tooth changes, nothing ... Am I missing something? The only change I see is the new theme colors!
OS Version 7.10.8858.136.. Model LG LG-900

If you tap and hold on a tile, you'll see a little arrow icon that lets you resize the tile. Other than that, not much changed.

 

[Bahlas]

never noticed it, my big fingers covered the lower corner!! I wish they published some release notes on the new features ... mega thanks. I'll keep searching for other tips and hints, but I'm relaxed now ... on the performance front, all is good, no negative impact at all... so far!

 

[lonbraj]

Windows Phone 7.8 brings only aesthetics changes but also affect badly the responsiveness of the phone. I was able to hit Mail live tile then Messages and have both apps load showing how slow this update makes your phone. I hope Microsoft address this problem since WPC reported that there are rumors of 7.8+ updates to come, at least Nokia should fix this.