[Q] Why are Nexus 10 handwriting apps always lagging?

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bsara

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2011
51
35
Utah
bsara.github.io
So I just bought a nexus 10 and among the many reasons for getting one, I want to take notes with it. I've bought myself a nice stylus that works wonderfully on iPads and my galaxy nexus phone. However, writing with the same stylus and exact same apps on my nexus 10 isn't working as one would hope. It seems to lag quite badly in picking up where my stylus is and this forces me to write very slowly so that it will pick up all of my strokes, thus making it pretty much useless in a classroom setting, but, like I said before, I don't see this at all with my galaxy nexus.

So, why am I seeing such a huge difference in performance between these two devices when (I assume) the nexus 10 would be so much more powerful than my phone? Is it the apps or the hardware? And how do I fix this issue without just writing my own note taking app?
 

devilcaeser2010

Senior Member
Sep 29, 2012
51
4
I faced no problems working on freenote/ handwriting or myscript calculator ?? I might loook at the stylus and not the N10
 

bsara

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2011
51
35
Utah
bsara.github.io
I faced no problems working on freenote/ handwriting or myscript calculator ?? I might loook at the stylus and not the N10

But I've seen this issue regardless of the stylus used... Even with my finger I see a lag.

I also tried free note on my phone and tablet and am seeing a lag only on the nexus 10. I seriously doubt that it's the stylus, it seems to be isolated to my device...though, I haven't tried this with any other nexus 10 device. I don't know anyone else who has one.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
 
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mbeltoft

Senior Member
Aug 15, 2010
100
10
a wild guess could be that the app aren't optimized for the high resolution screen and that is why they have trouble keeping up.
I haven't tried it myself yet but I will when I get my Nexus next week
 

bsara

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2011
51
35
Utah
bsara.github.io
a wild guess could be that the app aren't optimized for the high resolution screen and that is why they have trouble keeping up.
I haven't tried it myself yet but I will when I get my Nexus next week

That's my best guess so far as well. Thanks in advance for trying this out

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
 
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EniGmA1987

Senior Member
Sep 21, 2010
2,064
807
Are you on stock? Or did you root and install a custom ROM? what about a custom kernel?
I have found some ROMs to have far more input lag than others, so that is why I am wondering.
 

EniGmA1987

Senior Member
Sep 21, 2010
2,064
807
Well stock should be ok. I see the most input lag with custom roms that do a lot to the framework and launcher, such as Paranoid Android.
 

jrod091

Senior Member
Feb 13, 2012
337
88
Atlanta, GA
I use lecturenotes from the play store, haven't had much of a lag issue

Using latest AOKP PUB build and Ktmanta

Also have force 2d GPU rendering on dev options

Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
 
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bsara

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2011
51
35
Utah
bsara.github.io
I use lecturenotes from the play store, haven't had much of a lag issue

Using latest AOKP PUB build and Ktmanta

Also have force 2d GPU rendering on dev options

Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app

Just tried this with both lecture notes and free note (free note had less lag of the two from what I could tell)... It did improve the lag quite a bit, but I'm still seeing a noticeable and significant enough (in my opinion) lag. Seems that one step has been taken... Anybody got any others?

Also, I tried using Seeder but saw no significant difference on my device.

FYI, I'm now rooted but still using stock ROM/kernel.
 
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jrod091

Senior Member
Feb 13, 2012
337
88
Atlanta, GA
Just tried this with both lecture notes and free note (free note had less lag of the two from what I could tell)... It did improve the lag quite a bit, but I'm still seeing a noticeable and significant enough (in my opinion) lag. Seems that one step has been taken... Anybody got any others?

Also, I tried using Seeder but saw no significant difference on my device.

FYI, I'm now rooted but still using stock ROM/kernel.

Sorry about that, my lag seems very minimal, I've been taking notes in class all semester and it sends I've been able to take them quicker in my n10 then on paper, lol

I'm rooted running AOKP PUB 2/11 wit KTManta kernel (this setup, along with sine customizations to the kernel, have made my tablet really responsive and smooth)

Edit: I guess I don't remember what I had previously written, lol my bad

Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
 

demonguard

Member
Dec 19, 2010
8
0
I'm still having this problem on stock 4.2.2 (as well as the latest CM nightly), and was wondering if anyone had any fixes. My Jot Classic works okay, but not well enough for any serious note-taking, and considerably slower than the same app/stylus on my nexus 4 and 7. My main issue is that it isn't sensitive enough to write small exponents and subscripts.
 

jrod091

Senior Member
Feb 13, 2012
337
88
Atlanta, GA
I'm still having this problem on stock 4.2.2 (as well as the latest CM nightly), and was wondering if anyone had any fixes. My Jot Classic works okay, but not well enough for any serious note-taking, and considerably slower than the same app/stylus on my nexus 4 and 7. My main issue is that it isn't sensitive enough to write small exponents and subscripts.

Do you have force GPU rendering on in developer options? If so, turn that off, it got rid if my lag on lecturenotes after the 4.2.2 update

Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
 
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acadoid

Senior Member
Apr 29, 2012
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www.acadoid.com
Today, I finally got my Nexus 10 and I started to investigate this ominous delay or lag. I indeed observe this lag on my Nexus 10 in LectureNotes and all other handwriting apps that I tested. As far as LectureNotes is concerned, I did a number of careful timing measurements and I think I can definitely exclude that the delay is due to slow drawing or anything like that. It seems that, on a Nexus 10, Android sends input events with a noticeable delay of around 250ms or so if they origin from touching the display, this is why a drawn line lags behind your stylus or finger. However, the delay is absent if you use a mouse (connected via Bluetooth), and hence there is no lag and the line follows the mouse pointer very closely. This is somewhat bad news, as this means that this problem cannot be solved within LectureNotes.
 
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EniGmA1987

Senior Member
Sep 21, 2010
2,064
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Today, I finally got my Nexus 10 and I started to investigate this ominous delay or lag. I indeed observe this lag on my Nexus 10 in LectureNotes and all other handwriting apps that I tested. As far as LectureNotes is concerned, I did a number of careful timing measurements and I think I can definitely exclude that the delay is due to slow drawing or anything like that. It seems that, on a Nexus 10, Android sends input events with a noticeable delay of around 250ms or so if they origin from touching the display, this is why a drawn line lags behind your stylus or finger. However, the delay is absent if you use a mouse (connected via Bluetooth), and hence there is no lag and the line follows the mouse pointer very closely. This is somewhat bad news, as this means that this problem cannot be solved within LectureNotes.

If that is the case, could the input delay be tweaked or removed through kernel modifications?
 

acadoid

Senior Member
Apr 29, 2012
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www.acadoid.com
@EniGmA1987: If my explanation is correct and if one can modify the input handling, this might be possible. It seems that users with non-stock ROMS do not suffer from this problem, but this is just my impression based on contacts with LectureNotes' users and might be wrong.
 

jrod091

Senior Member
Feb 13, 2012
337
88
Atlanta, GA
@EniGmA1987: If my explanation is correct and if one can modify the input handling, this might be possible. It seems that users with non-stock ROMS do not suffer from this problem, but this is just my impression based on contacts with LectureNotes' users and might be wrong.

Hey, I'm one of the people that has contacted you, and I can say that the input lag is significantly less on a custom ROM then on stock. Still there, but very slight

Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
 
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bsara

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2011
51
35
Utah
bsara.github.io
Today, I finally got my Nexus 10 and I started to investigate this ominous delay or lag. I indeed observe this lag on my Nexus 10 in LectureNotes and all other handwriting apps that I tested. As far as LectureNotes is concerned, I did a number of careful timing measurements and I think I can definitely exclude that the delay is due to slow drawing or anything like that. It seems that, on a Nexus 10, Android sends input events with a noticeable delay of around 250ms or so if they origin from touching the display, this is why a drawn line lags behind your stylus or finger. However, the delay is absent if you use a mouse (connected via Bluetooth), and hence there is no lag and the line follows the mouse pointer very closely. This is somewhat bad news, as this means that this problem cannot be solved within LectureNotes.

Sorry for not being more involved in this thread...been really busy lately.

I feel that have solved this issue for my current configuration. I've found that with the following setup, any lag that may be occurring is so slight that I either don't notice or I don't mind it:
-Get a stylus that actually works well (I had accidentally bought the first generation of the Adonit Jot Pro which has horrible sensitivity. However, after obtaining the 2nd generation, I've had no problems at all... one of my biggest reasons behind the lag was this 1st generation stylus)
-Stock 4.2.2
-Run Seeder 2.0
-DON'T force GPU handling
-Using LectureNotes Pro
-Create all lecture notes notebooks with a much higher resolution than what is initially set as the default. (This is what made the biggest difference)

From what I've observed, it seems to me that the best explanation behind any significant lag on this device is its extremely high resolution. I assume that most handwriting apps are programmed in such a way that the increase in pixel count hinders the sensitivity of the app itself.
 

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    Today, I finally got my Nexus 10 and I started to investigate this ominous delay or lag. I indeed observe this lag on my Nexus 10 in LectureNotes and all other handwriting apps that I tested. As far as LectureNotes is concerned, I did a number of careful timing measurements and I think I can definitely exclude that the delay is due to slow drawing or anything like that. It seems that, on a Nexus 10, Android sends input events with a noticeable delay of around 250ms or so if they origin from touching the display, this is why a drawn line lags behind your stylus or finger. However, the delay is absent if you use a mouse (connected via Bluetooth), and hence there is no lag and the line follows the mouse pointer very closely. This is somewhat bad news, as this means that this problem cannot be solved within LectureNotes.
    1
    I use lecturenotes from the play store, haven't had much of a lag issue

    Using latest AOKP PUB build and Ktmanta

    Also have force 2d GPU rendering on dev options

    Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
    1
    I'm still having this problem on stock 4.2.2 (as well as the latest CM nightly), and was wondering if anyone had any fixes. My Jot Classic works okay, but not well enough for any serious note-taking, and considerably slower than the same app/stylus on my nexus 4 and 7. My main issue is that it isn't sensitive enough to write small exponents and subscripts.

    Do you have force GPU rendering on in developer options? If so, turn that off, it got rid if my lag on lecturenotes after the 4.2.2 update

    Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
    1
    @EniGmA1987: If my explanation is correct and if one can modify the input handling, this might be possible. It seems that users with non-stock ROMS do not suffer from this problem, but this is just my impression based on contacts with LectureNotes' users and might be wrong.

    Hey, I'm one of the people that has contacted you, and I can say that the input lag is significantly less on a custom ROM then on stock. Still there, but very slight

    Sent from my SGH-i777 using xda app-developers app
    1
    Out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is an issue with Handy Note Pro? I need a 10-inch tablet for handwritten notetaking for the Fall and I'm debating with myself whether I should give the Nexus 10 another shot after 2 disastrous attempts at launch (the biggest plus being proper stock and updated Android), or giving that shot to the upcoming Tegra 4 Toshiba Write that has a digitizer (the biggest minus being Toshiba's sorry Android update reputation).

    The placement of the rear camera is also an issue — I like to snap pics of the blackboard and write on them. Since I notetake on portrait mode, I'd prefer a more orientation-agnostic rear camera position which the Nexus 10 sadly doesn't have. I don't know about the Toshiba Write and anything else by Samsung is out of the question.

    I recently tried a Sony Xperia Tablet Z but it had a whole slew of hardware defects and issues so I returned it.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

    I've been taking notes with lecture notes all semester long and have had no issues. I don't take snap shots of the board so I can't really help you there. I will say this, I tried every trial or free handwriting app that I could find on the market and some that I got for free from amazon's free app of the day and lecture notes had the most features by far and was the most intuitive to use. However, I feel like the app is still lacking in how intuitive it is. As much as I hate to say this, iPad seems to have the best apps when it comes to handwriting apps.