Locus crashes and how to minimize them

[UKlocusfan]

What crashes?
Over the past few weeks I've had Locus crash a few times whilst I have been tracking recording, and unlike previously Locus is not restarting itself (as a service or not as a service) and so if remained unchecked I lose a huge amount of tracked walking - much to my anger.

Well your device must be rubbish then
Not so, I don't have the best Android phone but the Moto G has enough free storage space on it and with 1 GB of RAM that should be fine too.

You say unlike previous Locus versions, what do you mean?
I have a beep set in Locus that happens when it obtains a GPS signal.  Now, what used to happen on this and other phones was that Locus would crash but would then instantly restart with the track recording paused.  But because it restarted itself and would immediately find a GPS signal it would beep and I'd suddenly know it had crashed and restarted at which point I would unpause the track recording and all would be fine without missing any of the track recording.  But... it doesnt do that anymore.

Surely you have RAM heavy apps running that shouldnt be?
Yes and No.
When out walking/hiking I have been listening to Google Music app on Android and every so often check the internet for a moment using Cheetah Browser.  Apart from that I only have Locus running although the way the Android system works - there is alot of RAM constantly being taken up at the same time

So you are running out of RAM then?
Quite possibly.
So I have been monitoring things very carefully.
On my phone, the background services and everything else use about 75% of the RAM leaving about 210mb free it seems (approx).
The 3 main culprits of high RAM use are Locus Pro, Nova Launcher and Cheetah Browser.
I obviously cant help that Locus Pro is using alot of RAM and despite Nova using about 50mb I use that launcher as it is a vast improvement over stock.  But as for Cheetah browser, well I simply don't use it whilst Locus is open as that too gobbles up about 50mb and for a lightweight simple browser is quite heavy on RAM use.

So how do you actually minimize your chances of Locus crashing?  Tell me.
I've now downloaded a new music app which is easier on the RAM and have a widget called Free Memory Plus on my homescreen all the time so I can constantly see what RAM is free.  I don't use other apps whilst logging tracks and I certainly don't browse the internet.  The main thing I have found however is to swipe closed all the apps in your recent apps listing.

The recent apps listing wont help though surely?
It certainly does.
I have tested alot of things and one thing is for certain, using a task or app killer is pointless as alot of apps just restart even without being used.  It is like fighting a losing battle using task killers that are automatic or manual and hasnt helped me at all.
Also, its not worth going into the setting and apps to manually 'stop' the apps as that doesnt seem to help much either as apps still restart and some cant be stopped at all.
Now, I just thought that swiping away the recent apps was simply that.... swiping them away.  But although how this function works is open to much interpretation, I have done some reading and tested it a few times.
For example, I've just used some regular apps like camera, phone dailer, photos etc etc and my free memory widget is reading: 21% 187mb free.
I've just swipe closed all those few recent apps and the widget for free RAM instantly changed to: 25% 214mb free.
Thats not a huge different but its a very quick and safe way of rescuing some RAM and giving as much as possible to Locus Pro to use.

Thats helps I suppose, but have you anymore tips?
Yes.
Apps that run in the background like Facebook, Whatsapp, BBC Weather etc etc all use RAM and reduce what you have to play with.  You can go into SETTINGS > APPS and then swipe to the 'running' list to see what apps are using.  For example, I have just noticed that Chess With Friends app is constantly running and is taking up 18mb of RAM.  Dont get this confused with space it takes up on your phone memory as that is 37.62mb. It is actually constantly using 18mb of RAM and I hardly use that app these days so I've just uninstalled it along with another app and with then swiping shut the 'setting' app from the recently used listing my RAM widget is now reporting 30% 261mb free.  Great!
Its also a good idea to reboot your phone around once a week I find too so that anything that is stuck or being problematic behind the scenes that you don't know about can be terminated.  And not in a hasta la vista baby way. ha ha ha

So, has Locus stopped crashing for you?
I think so.
I've recently been keeping a close eye on what is running and I'm swiping closed all the things I use whilst Locus is running  so they dont appear in the recently used listing.  I can honestly say that will a little thought and consideration - I havent had a crash in Locus since acting on all of the above.   That said however, if you have a 2 GB RAM phone you might think that is the answer to all things and it may well be, but unfortunately although I have one of the best phones released in 2013 - it isnt excessively powerful.  But hey, even if you have a 2 GB RAM phone... if you have tons of apps you dont use that keep starting up and running background services it is still going to eat into your RAM and you could be in the same position as me.

These are my experiences and tests and I hope it gives a little insight into what I've discovered as running/walking/biking/hiking and putting a great deal of effort into those hobbies can be disastrous if you think you've got it all logged but your app crashed an hour ago.  Locus is the greatest app ever made for any device and so this is why I have taken to the time to write this piece.

[Menion]

Hello UKlocusfan,

nice story, believe it will be useful for few people .

Just my two cents - with RAM it is not so bad since Android 4.0. Locus consume quite a lot of memory based on what you do and what you display. Anyway Android should be clever enough, to automatically remove all unneded applications when any other app require more free RAM memory. So it should be really rare, that Locus crash on Android 4 device on OutOfMemory issue.

Really best way how to solve any problem is being able to simulate that problem. if this is not possible like in this case, just try to create a logcat error message as soon after crash as possible. In logcat should be visible (if took soon enough after crash), main reason why this happen.

[UKlocusfan]

Hi Menion,
Thanks for the kudos.
yeah, I agree RAM seems to be handled much better in 4.0 but it is supposed to clear down RAM from dormant apps when new apps need to use it, but I don't think it works that well on a day to day basis.
I did used to use CatLog to report to your good self but I believe that is now for rooted devices only.
Just looked at .Logcat though and so will install it try and replicate a crash to see if it is down to a RAM issue.
Thanks Menion.

[Menion]

Sure, you're welcome.

We have description for creating logs (divided by Android version) here: http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php?id=manual:faq:how_to_create_debug_log , so maybe it should be useful information too.