Claims of FPS Lag on Droid Running Android 2.1

Over at Android Central (and many other sites) they've been discussing the possibility that Android 2.1 has now hobbled the Droid's graphics processing capabilities.   There is a small .APK you can download to run a "Lag Test" to see what your Droid's FPS is.  The claim is that on 2.0.1 the Droid got a solid 60FPS and now can only do about 50 under 2.1 update 1.  Their tests were run with no live wallpapers or extra apps/processes running.

I ran that same test.  However, I ran it with my live wallpaper (PopSquares) running along with all of the other processes I am usually running.  I have Beautiful Widgets, Gmail Unread Count, Pure Calendar, Touiteur widget, and a BatteryLife widgets running on my home screens and a couple of services that update apps, like Google Voice voicemail.

I wish the picture of my phone were clearer, but my camera isn't too good with reflective surfaces.  However, you can still see my results.  My phone is capable of of 68 maximum FPS.  The average of 38 and minimum of 24 seems discouraging, but I have not noticed any slow down in my games or videos.  I also have those extra processes running and a live wallpaper.  I took that picture after the app had run for roughly 5 minutes.  I didn't conduct this very scientifically (but neither did they, really).  I didn't have this .APK pre-2.1 so I don't have any point of reference for my phone and I'm not willing to ravage my phone's settings and widgets to see if it makes a difference.   However, my results seem to disprove the theory that 2.1 is ruining the Droid's graphics processing.

It may be that those suffering a decrease in performance post-2.1 are really suffering from a bad update.  Myself?  I used the 2.1 update.zip that was hosted by Google.  Perhaps that makes a bit of difference.  I'll be interested to see if all of this talk actually reveals anything substantial.

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Reprogramming Your Motorola Droid: Hissing During a Call

I have only had one problem with my Motorola Droid since the first day I got it -- A terrible hissing sound during some phone calls.

The hiss (like the sound of a tea kettle) would start at the beginning of a call and would often coincide with complaints that I sounded too soft during if it was an outgoing calls or I would have the same problem during incoming calls. It was becoming quite a nuisance.  I put off exchanging it because I read similar complaints and Verizon said the issue would be fixed with the 2.0.1 update in December.  I has misunderstood them.  The problem that was addressed was apparently the music player causing some hissing/feedback.

Today I finally tried reprogramming my phone.  An exhcnage is a frightening thing considering I have hours of customization poured into my Droid as well as over 80 apps.  I am pleased to say I have yet to have any hissing issues!  Hooray!

If you have this problem you can give this a try:

1. Go to your phone dialer and enter ##PROGRAM then Call
2. Enter 000000 for the code and hit Verify
3. Select option 04 VOCODE
4. Change the option to EVRC-B and press Apply
5. Press your Home button to exit
6. Let your phone restart

Note:  Do not mess with any other options or you might brick your phone.  I am not responsible for any mishaps.

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