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Common Galaxy Note 4 problems and how to fix them

androidpit samsung galaxy note 4 22
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The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a great device, but like any gadget, it's not immune to the odd hiccup. From noticeable lag to camera crashes, here are the solutions to fix some of the most common problems on the Galaxy Note 4.

androidpit Samsung Galaxy Note4 4
Here's how to fix some common problems with the Galaxy Note 4. / © ANDROIDPIT

Update your Galaxy Note 4

First things first: make sure both your operating system and Samsung’s apps are up to date. Each system update will iron out previous bugs and flaws, so for the most stable user experience, download the latest software version. 

Go to Settings > About phone > Software update and hit refresh to ensure your device has the most recent update.

Galaxy Note 4 camera crashes 

The Galaxy Note 4 camera has the potential to crash when launched from the lock screen. If you've noticed this happening with your camera, or any other app for that matter, the solution is simple.

Go to Settings > Application manager > All > Camera (or other app) > and tap Clear data. If this doesn't help, you might have to sacrifice your saved camera preferences by hitting Clear cache in the same menu.

androidpit galaxy note 4 problems camera
Clearing storage and cache data will often cure app issues. / © ANDROIDPIT

Note 4 wireless and Bluetooth issues

Sometimes cliches are true: have you tried turning it off and on again? Toggling Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off then on again can sometimes solve your Note 4 connection issues. Rebooting your device can also do the trick.

With Bluetooth, the issue might also be with the device you’re trying to connect to: some accessories can only be paired with so many devices before they refuse to talk to any others. Resetting them solves that particular issue.

With Wi-Fi, the culprit could be your router. We have to reboot ours all the time. You could also try an app, such as Wi-Fi solver, to find a better spot for the router.

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If you have signal issues, an app such as Wi-Fi Solver can help find the best spot for your router. / © ANDROIDPIT

How to fix lag on the Galaxy Note 4

If you’re finding the system slow or stuttery, S Voice might be the root of your problems. S Voice can be launched with a double-tap of the home key. If you just tap it once, to go to the home screen, the Note 4 will wait to see if you tap it a second time, before taking you there. That wait can be noticeable. 

You can turn this feature off by launching S Voice and disabling Open Via Home Key.

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There's nothing worse than a laggy smartphone. / © ANDROIDPIT

How to speed up animations on the Galaxy Note 4

  • Go to Settings > More > Developer options

If you don't see Developer options, go into About Device, scroll to Build Number and tap that five times. You should now see a message that tells you "Developer mode has been enabled". Go back and do the previous step again.

  • Scroll down to the section headed Drawing
  • Look for Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale and Animator Duration Scale.

You have two options with each of these: you can turn them off altogether, or you can double their speed by setting the scale to 0.5x (the other options are greater than 1 so they all slow things down even more). The difference is surprising and makes your phone feel much faster.

androidpit developer options animations
Android's animations can make your phone feel slow. Speeding them up makes a real difference. / © ANDROIDPIT

How to disable the Lock Effect on the Galaxy Note 4

Lock screen animations are cute, but they also delay something you do countless times a day unnecessarily. To disable them, go into My Device > Lock Screen and tap on Lock Effect. Choose None to disable the animations.

How to clear the app cache on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

If you’re experiencing the problems with a single app despite running the most up-to-date version of it, there’s a good chance that its cache needs clearing. To do that:

  • Bring down the notification area from the top of the screen and tap on the Settings icon.
  • Move to the Applications section and then look for Application Manager. Tap that and then tap on the name of the app whose cache you want to delete.

You should now see a screen with lots of options and information. The bit we’re looking for is the button that says Clear Cache. Make sure you tap this one and not the one that says Clear Data, because that – as you’d expect – clears all of the data for that application, such as user names, passwords, game progress and so on.

androidpit galaxy note 4 vs galaxy note 3 10
We have plenty of tips to help you fix Note 4 problems. / © ANDROIDPIT

What to do when cache clearing doesn’t fix your app

If you have an app-specific issue and clearing its cache doesn’t work, the next step is to do something that Windows users are well used to: uninstall the app, reboot your device and reinstall it.

In many cases uninstalling the app will also take your data with it, so make sure you back up anything important

How to clear the system cache on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4

In many cases clearing the app cache for a troublesome app can solve your problems, but what happens if the problem is system-wide rather than app specific?

It could be that the System Cache needs a clearout, and you can do that by putting your Note 4 into recovery mode. To do that, you should turn off your Note 4 and then follow these steps:

  • Press Power, Volume Up and Home simultaneously
  • Wait until the phone vibrates and then release Power and Home
  • You should now see the recovery screen. Use the volume buttons to move and select Wipe Cache Partition
  • Press Power to confirm
  • Select Reboot System Now and again, hit Power to confirm
  • Wait until your Note 4 reboots and see if it’s fixed the problem
AndroidPIT Galaxy Note 4 recovery mode clear cache partition
You can clean the system cache from Recovery Mode. / © ANDROIDPIT

What to do if clearing the app cache and system cache don’t work

A factory reset is the nuclear option, and as the name suggests, it means resetting your phone to factory-fresh settings, so it’ll take your data with it. Always back up your stuff before trying this one.

  • Take out your external SD card, just in case. The reset shouldn't affect it, but why risk it?
  • Go into Settings and scroll to User and Backup
  • Tap on Backup and Reset
  • Untick Back Up My Data, as long as you do actually have a backup
  • Tap Factory Data Reset
  • Enter your PIN or password if asked to. Tap Continue
  • Tap on Delete All
  • Wait for your Note 4 to reboot. This may take a while so have patience.
androidpit Samsung Galaxy Note4 2
When all else fails, factory reset your Note 4 / © ANDROIDPIT

Have you encountered a problem we didn’t list here? Did you fix it? Let us know in the comments.

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Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall
Freelance writer

Former lion tamer, Girls Aloud backing dancer and habitual liar Gary Marshall has been writing about technology since Google was two guys in a garage. He's written for many fine magazines, newspapers and websites, written a range of how-to-books and a novel, co-written a BBC documentary series and dishes out weekly tech advice on BBC Radio Scotland.

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22 comments
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  • Jose Plaza 1
    Jose Plaza Oct 31, 2018 Link to comment

    So it worked great (Galaxy note 4) for a few months and then it began to lag so I took it to a repair place and then it started really giving me problems. The weirdest thing is that it will work for awhile but when I try and add a sim card or replace the 🔋it won't turn back on. But if I wait like an hour or so it'll work. Took it back and repair guy tells me it's a motherboard issue. Did he cause this by flashing it the first time or is this an ongoing issue? And how can I fix this once and for all?


  • Ezeabasili Christian 1
    Ezeabasili Christian Aug 23, 2017 Link to comment

    My s pen does not work on my note 4 screen, but works on the bottom keys, the phone notify me when the pen is detached and shows the air command menu but that is all, no hovering just nothing. Anyone with a solution should please help, i need that pen to work.


    • Maker Buddy 1
      Maker Buddy Mar 15, 2018 Link to comment

      HI there!
      It looks like your SPen strip is not connected to motherboard. It's quite tricky to mount it but it's only this matter.


  • Martin Strange 1
    Martin Strange Nov 25, 2016 Link to comment

    How do i clear ram memory of unwanted or useless junk


  • 2
    ROBERTO BRANDON ZELADA Oct 25, 2016 Link to comment

    Hola mi nota 5 Sprint vota La Señal y al rato se Reinicia ESTO CUANDO USO Navegadores Aplicaciones de redes sociales. Pasa Hasta 6 o 8 Veces al dia .. NOTA: ya le flashee Una rom degradada La versión A 5.1.1 INCLUIDO EL ARCHIVO PIT TAMBIEN Aun asi se Reinicia AUNQUE con Menos Frecuencia La Señal simpre La Pierde, Vuelve La Señal repetidas Veces.
    Lo raro es Que pasa en solo pasa CUANDO USO de Internet y La USO Y APLICACIONES Las Navegador. CUANDO esta en espera no pasa. ALGUNA RESPUESTA A ESTO?


  • Madhur 1
    Madhur Aug 16, 2016 Link to comment

    Hey guys.. I'm a note 4 user since 8 months and i haven't faced a problem with lock screen options until yesterday. My device wasn't accepting my screen unlocking pattern. I've made sure I'm giving a correct pattern swipe for the given 5 times my device provided and it got locked out. Then I've made in by giving my email id and password. But now i can't make a new lockscreen password as the device is asking for the old password which i didn't set for. I've tried all known passwords which I usually use, but it's not accepting. Sad part is that I can't even reset my device without this password(PIN). Please help me out.


    • Falak Amjad 1
      Falak Amjad Sep 15, 2016 Link to comment

      I am having the exact same problem since today. :-(


  • Bilby Anthonio 1
    Bilby Anthonio Apr 26, 2016 Link to comment

    Hey I tried everything but it didn't fix my phone..
    First of all my phone is lagging like crazy.It was freezing for a couple seconds and I couldn't do anything, next thing I know is my phone restarting.it happened so often and the last thing happened was, my phone shut off and it couldn't reboot manually, it seems like the software in my phone is not correct or something.
    I did clearing the cache, format my sd card, factory reset but none of them help my phone problem.


    • 1
      Nick Anzel Jun 19, 2016 Link to comment

      Mines doing the exact same thing. Any resolution?


  • C.H. 1
    C.H. Apr 21, 2016 Link to comment

    I have dim screen issues.
    When I first bought the Note4 I was THRILLED with the extra bright screen. I could actually SEE in sunlight. My eyes require reading glasses for most things, but with the bright screen letting more light in my eyes, I rarely needed reading glasses. Since the 5.0.1 update my screen has gone massively dim. It will start bright like normal, then in 15-30 seconds go as dim as in a halfway brightness setting. Now and again, it will pop back to bright, then go back dim. I've check all different settings, tried many different things. No phone not running hot.
    It was nice and bright before, since 5.01 this has been a major issue for me. (I noticed battery life & charging isn't quite as good either). I'm ready to chuck this thing across the highway.
    It wasn't fixed with 5.1.1
    My daughter has the same phone. Hers does the same thing, only it doesn't bother her because she keeps hers dimmer anyway. I can't see crap in sunlight when I could easily before. I don't know what to do about this problem, except maybe waste time transferring all the files to save and do a factory reset. (Will that take me back to 5.0 where I started?)
    Any one know if the updates into Marshmallow now coming fix this kind of problem. ??? Or have any other suggestions? (Note4 /5.1.1 / AT&T)


  • 2
    Zill Ur Mar 2, 2016 Link to comment

    Do you have App to unfreeze mobile if any one have e mail me zill4272gmail.com


  • Marzouq Zyoud 1
    Marzouq Zyoud Feb 29, 2016 Link to comment

    I have some apps on my Note 4 which reminds me for some tasks like prayers, they don't work properly although they work perfectly on lg g3. I stopped optimizing option but nothing happens.


  • Goku Kakarot 1
    Goku Kakarot Feb 26, 2016 Link to comment

    I have a lock screen that will not go away. I have tried the things on list. Nothing seems to help I could clear cache for every single app but I did the ones that seemed to be the problem. I tried turning the lock screen off and it is still there. Any help will be great thanks.


  • 2
    Yoma Ma Dec 21, 2015 Link to comment

    "Go to Settings > Application manager > All > Camera (or other app) > and tap Clear data. If this doesn't help, you might have to sacrifice your saved camera preferences by hitting Clear cache in the same menu."
    Umm, I believe you got it backwards.
    * Cache holds info about the last session and/or ads displayed by some apps.
    Clear Cache and you rid the phone of garbage.
    * Data holds the apps settings.
    Clear Data and you lose settings and other useful app related (non-personal) data, such as web pages left open in your browser for later reading, history, etc.
    Cheers


  • 4
    Helen Prescott Dec 16, 2015 Link to comment

    This will help a lot of people that face these common problems. They can now enjoy their Galaxy Note 4 to the fullest because they are now equipped with information in how to solve these problems.


  • 4
    Barbara Gosman Nov 29, 2015 Link to comment

    I am having trouble with my screen freezing no matter if I am writing a email or making a comment on facebook ect. I have to wait several seconds 30 or more until it unfreezes and I have to reprompt the keyboard or S -pen feature before I can start typing or writing again. It also will misspell words no matter if I am spelling them correctly with the S-pen.IT took me 3X to have to wait for the screen to unfreeze just to write this comment. Any help would he greatly appreciated. I use the Samsung keyboard that came installed on the phone. Thanks again

    C.H.


  • Lee 16
    Lee Mar 15, 2015 Link to comment

    How common is common because my Note 4 and a friends Note 4 doesn't suffer from any of the issues listed here, lol I blame the user's "not all" but some people just ain't smart enough to use a smartphone 😊

    Bojan M.


    • 2
      Phoneuser22 Apr 30, 2015 Link to comment

      I don't think it has anything to so with anyone not being smart enough to use a phone that is brand new and having multiple issues. I have owned my phone for 23 days and have at least 5 issues with it. After the latest update, it has created several new problems. I have owned nothing but Samsung phones and they all pretty much function the same way as far as the operational manner. I have had the Galaxy 2, 3, and 4. I recently upgraded to the Note 4 thinking that it would be better, which I have now found to be very untrue. You may have lucked up and just got a phone from a "good batch"

      Jared Smiley


  • John_X65 1
    John_X65 Mar 15, 2015 Link to comment

    Try your question here Bob... forum.xda-developers.com/note-4


  • Madars G 10
    Madars G Mar 15, 2015 Link to comment

    lol, New smartphone and problems? yeah thats samsung.


  • 2
    bob rogers Mar 15, 2015 Link to comment

    My wife and I both have the galaxy note 4. Big problem on my wife's note 4 is a large battery drain associated with Gsiff_daemon. Have done a lot of reearch on how to fix it, but have found nothing yet. Any ideas would be appreciated.


    • 10
      Moussa Mar 30, 2015 Link to comment

      There might be an app running in the background of your wife's phone that is causing the battery to drain. You might want to check that out.

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