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Android 4.3 Issues Continue Plaguing Nexus Users

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Android 4.3 bugs continue to plague Nexus owners with the latest reported issue being a problem with automatically reconnecting to Wi-Fi on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4.

Since the debut of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in July, Nexus owners have been voicing concern over a growing number of bugs discovered within Google’s new software. The issues have ranged from poor battery life across Nexus devices to Nexus 4’s locking up at the boot screen to compatibility issues with Bluetooth keyboards.

Read: Android 4.3: 7 Things Users and Buyers Need to Know.

Android 4.3 bugs continue to plague Nexus owners.

Android 4.3 bugs continue to plague Nexus owners.

Google already helped tackle one major Android 4.3 bug, an issue with Netflix, but there are still several lingering issues that continue to frustrate owners of Google’s Nexus smartphones and tablets. And it appears that the list keeps growing as another fairly major issues being reported by Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 owners have sprouted to the surface on Google’s website and XDA-Developers.

The issue, first spotted by Android Police, pertains to issues that Galaxy Nexus and some Nexus 4 owners are having when it comes to automatically reconnecting to a home or foreign Wi-Fi network. It appears that Wi-Fi connections that drop when out of range are not picked up again, automatically, when reentering Wi-Fi range.

It appears that the issue has a quick fix as users can simply toggle the Wi-Fi on or off to get it working again. Users can also enter the list of Wi-Fi networks to reconnect manually it seems. This is a big problem for a number of reasons.

Galaxy Nexus owners are complaining about Wi-Fi issues after Android 4.3.

Galaxy Nexus owners are complaining about Wi-Fi issues after Android 4.3.

One, Wi-Fi is a crucial element of any mobile device. And with it not functioning as normal, plenty of people are going to be experiencing headaches until Google patches this up. Second, and more importantly, unaware users might be utilizing cellular data instead of Wi-Fi which not only eats at data plans but can hurt battery life.

So until Google rolls out a fix for this, if it even does at all, users will need to rely on manual fixes for the issue. With Android 4.3 bugs mounting, it should be only a matter of time before Google issues Android 4.3.1 to Nexus owners, an update that could potentially relive some of the problems that Android 4.3 brought with it.

47 Comments

47 Comments

  1. Vic Matson

    08/16/2013 at 3:25 pm

    I don’t get this, Google sells these things without testing them? Wasn’t Eric Emerson Schmidt seen using one! Google if you see this, send me one of everything and I’ll test the crap out of it.

  2. Say Kai Lee

    08/16/2013 at 4:16 pm

    4.3 only helped my Nexus 4… no problems at all here

    • chris

      08/16/2013 at 8:25 pm

      Agreed. I have not had any issues at all on my Nexus 4. Makes me kinda wonder.

    • Jax

      08/17/2013 at 12:34 am

      I’m on a GNex and haven’t had any problems either, UK based which might make a difference.

  3. Hildy J

    08/16/2013 at 6:34 pm

    I have a Galaxy Nexus and lately have been noticing this issue. Turning WiFi off and on doesn’t always work. However going into and out of airplane mode does.

    Note one word, “lately”. I got the update pushed to me in one of the early batches but didn’t see the problem immediately. I’m wondering if one of the updares to one of the Google apps messed it up?

    • Matt

      08/16/2013 at 11:46 pm

      Must only affect some. I’ve noticed nothing on my GNex except a boring update that may boring me closer to dumping

    • Kid Android

      08/17/2013 at 10:06 am

      Do you root and flash custom ROM’S on your infected device?

    • Steve Mullen

      10/06/2013 at 6:21 pm

      You have saved the day. Going in and out of airplane mode has fixed my problem. I’ve spent a week looking into how to resolve this. Was just about to opt for factory reboot. Cheers!

  4. Cecil Gabriel

    08/16/2013 at 8:21 pm

    I have always had Wifi issues unless it is a really strong signal.

  5. Peter

    08/16/2013 at 11:36 pm

    My Nexus 4 has had no problems since the update, in fact Bluetooth connectivity is better. My Galaxy Nexus has not received the update and is still at 4.2.1

    • Matt

      08/16/2013 at 11:49 pm

      Is your GNex on VZ? 4.21 would be two versions ago. It was 4.22 until the recent 4.3 I find my gsm unlocked version gers all Android updates directly from Google in under a week. Waiting to see if Key Lime brings anything exciting to prevent me from switching

  6. Tom Staggs

    08/17/2013 at 7:55 am

    Since 4.3 my Nexus 4 will not link to any device! 8-(

    • Kid Android

      08/17/2013 at 10:08 am

      Have you run custom ROM’S on your affected device?

  7. Kid Android

    08/17/2013 at 10:11 am

    I have a sneaking suspicion this is only affecting ppl who have put custom ROM’S on their device. Especially seeing how most reports are on XDA Developers website.

    • Truelitistnot

      08/17/2013 at 5:48 pm

      Nope. Affecting many stock rom people.

    • Truelitistnot

      08/17/2013 at 5:53 pm

      Not only are many of the affected devices stock rom, they are not rooted, locked, no custom recovery and factory reset. And still 4.3 runs like cr@p on a lot of nexus devices.

    • chrisy

      09/03/2013 at 3:20 pm

      on the contrary, I was actually hoping that if I rooted my device it might SOLVE my existing bluetooth issues, but now i’m reading that there is no way to solve them. all i know is that it really does suck to have a brand new car and a brand new phone that can’t be paired. the iphone 3 and my old htc vivid worked flawlessly. the nexus 4 just constantly connects/reconnects in the car which makes it not only impossible to make/receive calls but also canes the battery as you can imagine. to make matters worse, i also can’t charge it in the car because it discharges faster than it charges. really renders the phone absolutely useless in long car journeys. i just ordered a special charger with higher ampage to see if that resolves at least the charging issue. I blame LG more than google for the issues. LG have a notoriously shoddy hardware history, not sure how I fell for it again.

  8. Ronald Geiken

    08/17/2013 at 11:20 am

    Using the Nexus 10 for external keyboard typing before 4.3 was really frustrating and so I installed External Keyboard Helper Pro which seemed to help with the BT on 4.2.2 and earlier which was BT 3.0. On Android 4.3, they are now using BT 4.0 which is the low energy version. I disabled all the things that I had installed to try to make the external keyboard more friendlier, and now have installed an app BT OnOff. Now the BT 4.0 comes on in less than a second, so it is possible to have a good typing experience. If you have a Nexus 10 or 7 with External Keyboard Helper Pro, disable that and if necessary install the free app BT OnOff. Android works much smoother like that even though it is a short delay (probably less than 1 second), you can get good operation out of it. The BT OnOff app seems to help keep BT alive. My BT mouse has always worked acceptably, but with the fixes I put in, now both the mouse and keyboard work OK. I have had extensive problems with the Nexus 10 and BT 3.0. If you are currently having bad keyboard experiences, try this out for a fix. The original problem with Android 4.2.2 and BT 3.0 on Nexus 10 is that the Nexus continuously turned the BT off so if you tried to type, it just didn’t work acceptably.

  9. Andy Miller

    08/17/2013 at 2:42 pm

    Absolutely n problems on my Nexus 4 after the update. Best phone I’ve had in years.

  10. Truelitistnot

    08/17/2013 at 5:45 pm

    The Wifi issue is only one major issue with 4.3. There are many other major issues. 4.3 should not have been released in its current state. It is basically at an alpha state, not even beta and nowhere near final phase. Battery drain is another major issue on nexus devices with 4.3. 4.3 drains some nexus batteries really quick. Some devices are randomly rebooting, shutting down, losing data. Then there is the memory leak issue. Something in the OS is eating up memory like mad. Then there is the blue tooth not working right. Some apps don’t work with 4.3. Some controls in 4.3 exhibit strange behavior, buttons don’t click, screens won’t slide, etc. 4.3 is a disaster. I downgraded back to 4.2.2 which works, takes less memory and is faster. If I were apple my ad company would be all over Google major screw up called 4.3

    • Ronald Geiken

      08/17/2013 at 6:23 pm

      I agree that Android 4.3 was some trouble to me too, but fortunately I overcame the things that were causing me heart burn. I only use BT for a Keyboard and mouse, and the mouse has always worked OK, but trying to use the keyboard with 4.2.2 was a real frustration. With 4.3, BT 4.0 is installed, and unfortunately it seems to go to sleep at times and you have to wake it up. On my BT keyboard, there is a FN key next to the Alt. key and i just flick that a few times and wakes up BT, then when I type the first word, it starts putting text down and things are OK. Sometimes I can just hit the first key and wait and second on so and will enter, and then I can continue. This is not ideal, but for me personally it is a satisfactory work around from what problems I have had in the past. Seems i Pads have had BT 4.0 for a while and that works OK. Google has not provided any ability to set the delay for BT, so you are saddled with a default that may not work to your satisfaction. I also have an app BT OnOff installed, and that may help. That seems to tell Android to keep the BT running all the time. It is a frustrating problem, but I just wanted a work around, and now I have that. I usually use the Nexus 10 connected to power most of the time, so those other problems aren’t really affecting me. Right now, I can use a Nexus 10 with Android 4.3 and BT 4.0 and it performs nearly as well as a Windows computer. It is sure not as powerful, but I have W7 computers for when I need that. Truthfully with Android 4.3 my Nexus 10 is fun to use.

      • Truelitistnot

        08/17/2013 at 7:41 pm

        My GNEX (gsm, not rooted, factory reset) was a disaster in 4.3. Battery life cut to about 2 hours, Wifi would not reconnect, Wifi was slow, memory was being eaten up by something, and the phone was super sluggish and non responsive much of the time. Anyway, apparently there are many people out there suffering one or more of these issues. 4.3 works for some and for others it sort of works and for others it acts as if it is a virus and doesn’t work at all.

    • mingh

      09/11/2013 at 2:05 pm

      I seem to have all of the above, plus exchange email sync being dead. I though it was me having messed something up, but i have found several people with the same issue. Mine’s a samsung nexus phone.

  11. Max Cao

    08/18/2013 at 4:08 pm

    Ever since the update my Nexus 4 battery life has been horrible. It last only for 1 day just from minimal use. Anyone have any suggestions?

  12. Glen

    08/18/2013 at 10:29 pm

    I had that wifi problem on 4.2.2 until it is updated to 4.3 on my Nexus 4. I’m not sure this is the problem as described by the author, I have 2 wifi networks at home, when my phone was initially connected to wifi A and I switch the connection to wifi B or vice versa, wifi A “disappeared” where it showed up in the wifi list on my phone as “Not in range” when I was 100% sure I was in range like about <1m away from the router. Anyway, I think they got it fixed since I've not encountered the problem ever since I'm on 4.3.

  13. brian

    08/19/2013 at 8:23 am

    I went to update my Nexus 7 to Android 4.3 and it totally bhung on X and went back to Asus. It was returned today and asked if I wanted to update to 4.3- like a fool I said yes and its totally stuck on the X again. Spoke to Asus who want it back- anyone else had this experience ?

  14. Sammy

    08/19/2013 at 3:37 pm

    My Nexus 4 Bricked after the 4.3 update. Comments in Android forums indicate that the 4.3 update problems are widespread. Surprising that Google has not issued a public statement on what appears a fiasco.

  15. Allan Thomas

    08/20/2013 at 1:35 pm

    No problems whatsoever on my Nexus 4, Sydney, Australia

  16. bill

    08/26/2013 at 10:51 am

    Having issues with my Nexus 4 unlocking in my pocket (swipe) and launching apps and such… killing the battery and making the phone hot. I switched to a PIN unlock to see if it would help. Had not had this issue until I updated to 4.3 yesterday.

  17. zzz8

    08/31/2013 at 6:54 am

    I bet none of your Galaxy Nexus users ever tried to play 1080p video. 4.3’s HW codec is broken, and cannot play 1080p video smoothly anymore (actually many 720p videos also cannot be played smoothly). Just try it, every single Galaxy Nexus is affected.

  18. Doug Reynolds (@djreynolds)

    09/01/2013 at 12:10 pm

    I update my Nexus 7 16 GB to 4.3. Now, I cannot connect to any WiFi access points. In order to use the device, I had to download 4.2.2 and flash it back to 4.2.2. I tried the factory reset and removing the saved WiFi access points did not work. After downgrading to 4.2.2, everything works fine again.

    • Brian

      09/01/2013 at 12:37 pm

      seems problems with Nexus 7 rather than 4

    • Ronald Geiken

      09/01/2013 at 1:39 pm

      My Nexus 10 Wi-Fi works just fine and as far as I know it does not cut out. I have had 4.3 installed for several weeks, and the Bluetooth 4.0 is a real plus, since my keyboard works pretty good. Still has a lag sometimes, so I hit a key on my BT keyboard that seems to wake BT 4.0 up in the nexus 10, and then it works OK. It still seems to have a delay of a couple of hundred milliseconds or a bit more. Because of the BT problem, I can not recommend Nexus products to anyone. Better to buy an equivalent Samsung Tablet. I did put a BT always On app on my Nexus 10, and that might help Seems like all the Tablet makers are playing it close to the vest and not really helping to solve problems. Most of the time we are trying to find work arounds for the problem if possible.

  19. Al Robidoux

    09/01/2013 at 4:10 pm

    I have a Nexus 4 and after the update, my cell service is intermittent in and around my home, I have to keep turning my airplane mode on and off just to get cell service back and my data speed is currently sitting at around less then a MB per second download and half that upload. Not sure what is happening as this is the second device that it is popping up on and it is the second SIM card. Might try going back to 4.2 to see if that fixes it…

  20. Paul B

    09/02/2013 at 2:23 am

    The issues are very real for a lot of nexus / android 4.3 users – see this google group: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/ZoVBDVPPEKg

    So far no feedback or fixes from anyone at Google. I had to factory reset my phone and flash it back to the last google build of 4.2.2 to get it working properly again, it had so many issues on 4.3 (regular crashing, terrible battery life, no wifi or phone signal, camera bugs). In short, 4.3 completely crippled my phone. Now that I’m back on 4.2.2 the battery lasts for two days and I have constant mobile service back (something you’d expect from any phone). People are posting crazy fixes – toggling airplane mode, switching to 2G etc – all these are ridiculous sticking plasters (that mostly don’t work) for a serious problem that simply shouldn’t still be there over a month after 4.3 started rolling out to Nexus devices.

    • Ronald Geiken

      09/02/2013 at 8:01 am

      Sounds like Google doesn’t do enough Beta testing on these releases. Some of the problems might even be an interaction with background programs running.They probably don’t have a big enough engineering group to solve these things. Seems like every new build brings it’s own sets of problems. One thing with 4.3, it did improve BT operation with BT 4.0 Besides my Nexus 10, I also have a Note 10.1 that is on Android 4.1.2 right now and works just fine. Samsung irons out the problems before they send the updates out to their customers.

  21. K-Mo

    09/02/2013 at 2:45 am

    I started experiencing wifi issues with 4.2 and still have to toggle wifi off and back on numerous times a day. Google dropped the ball on this one (nexus 10)

  22. JIMGR

    09/04/2013 at 10:52 am

    I updated today to 4.3 version but when i am on the menu the “play store” icon on the top on the right does not respond. It seems to be useless. Don’t know why… The icons itself work s good as an icon the device..

  23. James Tallson

    09/04/2013 at 1:28 pm

    After I updated to 4.3, my battery died, and now my Nexus 7 (version 1) won’t take a charge. Is this a known problem? The same thing happened to my brother’s Nexus 7

    • Ronald Geiken

      09/04/2013 at 2:16 pm

      The ASUS charger for the Nexus 7 was not too good. I finally had one the was returned to me after I sent one back for not being able to charge. The second one exhibited the same problem. Make sure you see the Lightning bolt on the screen to indicate that it is charging. Better yet, see if you can get ahold of a Nexus 10 charger made by Samsung. When I plugged in my Nexus 10 charger, the unit came on and told me that is was discharged and to plug in my charger which I proceeded to do and it charged OK. I immediately purchased another charger to replace the one that was supplied with the Nexus 7

  24. Hugo

    09/06/2013 at 10:56 am

    There are several issues to be fixed. In my personal experience: overheat, slow wifi amd H+ speeds , random software updates every day, battery duration and it goes on.
    Just got my nexus4 3 weeks ago the first week spent with my mobile was great, made mistake and updated to 4.3 and now im missing my old blackberry phone.

  25. Adnan

    09/12/2013 at 7:38 pm

    Since the upgrade ( both V and Y) I m having problems charging my nexus 4. Sometimes it doesn’t recognise the charger and doesn’t charge even though it is connected to it. I thought it was the charger at first so used it on another phone which started charging straight away. So now I got worried that my device was faulty. I then rebooted the phone which fixed the problem. However sometimes it still happens and I have to take out and re-insert the charger which seems to work. Yesterday I had to revert to rebooting the phone again. Anyone had this problem?

  26. chrisy

    09/13/2013 at 12:23 pm

    UPDATE! I seem to have resolved my bluetooth pairing problems with my Nexus 4/2012 Honda Civic. I did the factory reset, and also I cleared all of the other bluetooth devices from my car’s paired handsets list. I can now leave the wifi and bluetooth enabled and everything still works. To resolve the charging problem I purchased a $10 3.6amp lighter charger from amazon (PowerGen brand) and my Nexus now charges happily in my car. For the heat problem I tried removing the GO Launcher app (just didn’t re-install it after factory reset) and I don’t have any heat problems. I’m still on the latest firmware update(4.3). Good luck to the rest of you.

  27. Awr46 nordstrom

    09/13/2013 at 9:40 pm

    Since upgrade to android 4.3, my nexus 7 1st generation freezes completely, requiring a reboot. 4.2.2 was very stable for me.

  28. Glen Lancaster

    10/04/2013 at 9:43 am

    Google drive crashes every time on Nexus 4 with Android 4.3

  29. Varun

    10/13/2013 at 11:36 pm

    I am using Google Nexus smartphone. Lately I’ve noticed that 4.3 OS is eating up my battery. It used to be better with the earlier version. Hope Google releases a fix for this

  30. mihir

    10/14/2013 at 1:13 pm

    my Galaxy Nexus has trouble when the wifi is turned on, it hangs a lot, has lags and eventually gets mpore tedious. i have to turn off the wifi to stop these issues. i really hope these problems would be catered along in the android 4.4 version. i wish it realeases sooner.

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