[Nexus 9 General] GedBlake:
Hi, all...

Some thoughts and ruminations about 5.1.1 and the Nexus 9 in general...

Well, I've had my Nexus 9 since last November (an unexpected birthday gift) and leaving aside

this débâcle

, it initially performed well, running Lollipop 5.0.1. But after a while, I began to experience the kind of problems documented on this thread and elsewhere... Launcher homescreen redraws, apps being kicked out of RAM, overheating, etc.

These problems didn't make the device unusable, but they certainly made using the Nexus 9 a chore. For most of the time since November, my Nexus 9

hasn't

been running pure factory stock. It had TWRP installed, and was rooted of course, but also I had flashed

Paul O'Briens MCR modpack for the Nexus 9

which provided some additional functionality; Expanded power-down menu (power-off, reboot, reboot recovery, reboot bootloader) and a user configurable nav bar, and a few other tweaks.

Further, I also had the ad blocker

Adaway

installed, which modifies the /system/etc/hosts file, and finally the GSAM battery monitor Root Companion, installed as a privileged system app. I mention all of this to make the point that's it's difficult, if not impossible, to know to what extent these modifications impacted the performance of my device.

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As is known, some 10 days ago, Lollipop 5.0.2 was rolled out to the Nexus 9, so I decided to 'wipe the slate clean' (both literally and metaphorically) and so I fastboot flashed the 5.0.2 factory image. A completely clean, virgin install... with no modifications - I didn't even bother rooting it. For the short time I had 5.0.2 installed, the device did perform better, but not substantially so. There was still some overheating, and launcher homescreen redraws continued to occur... but it was better than 5.0.1. I make the allusion here that the modifications to my previous installation of 5.0.1 MAY have played some part in the problems just mentioned.

Anyway, it turns out that that 5.0.2 may only have been intended as a preparatory step, to make ready Nexus 9 devices to receive the 5.1.1 OTA as alluded to in this article...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/0...pdate-from-5-0-1_r1-lrx22c-to-5-0-2_r3-lrx22l

That was over a week ago, so fast forward to about 48 hours ago...

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I decided to update to 5.1.1, again using fastboot and the factory image (I have a distrust of OTAs at the moment, given the spate of bricked Nexus 7s, as a result of recent OTAs - and with fastboot, you have more control over what gets flashed).

So loosely following this

guide

, I updated to 5.1.1 with no loss of data or user installed apps. I then fastboot flashed TWRP and rooted the device.

So, what do I think of 5.1.1 ?...

This is very much a personal opinion of course, and I can only speak from my own experiences... but finally, with Lollipop 5.1.1, my Nexus 9 performs like the flagship premium tablet it was hailed as when it was released, and as reflected in the higher than expected price tag.

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I've been using it pretty much constantly over the past two days, and I've had no launcher homescreen redraws, apps seem to remain persistent in RAM, and I've experienced no overheating... not even when running Chrome. And speaking of Chrome, tabs still occasionally reload, when Chrome is left in the background for too long, but I suspect that's a Chrome issue and not a Nexus 9 issue, as I've seen that kind of behaviour on my Nexus 7. And if my understanding of the underlying architecture of Android is correct, this is actually normal behaviour. Apps/processes that are not accessed for a while are cached, they're still resident but aren't consuming CPU cycles. In any case, when I do bring Chrome to the foreground, and the tabs are reloaded, they are reloaded much quicker than under 5.0.1.

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To summarize... my Nexus 9, now running Lollipop 5.1.1, feels much more fluid and responsive than it has been in my six months of ownership of the device. Of course, I'm only two days into running 5.1.1, so this may yet change. I sincerely hope not, because right now, and for the first time, I'm actually enjoying using my Nexus 9:).

On the Nexus 9 in general...

It seem to me that the Nexus 9 has been a bit of a misfire and a commercial flop for Google. The design is uninspired - let's face it, it might have been built by HTC, but it lacks the design flair of the HTC One M8 (which I have, and I think it's fantastic:))... and then there are the problems with the flexible back and buttons too flush with with the frame/chasis. I haven't had these problems myself, and they may have been subsequently resolved... but first impressions matter. And all it takes are a few bad reviews and they can pretty much kill a device in the minds of the wider public, particularly when faced with the tempting seductions of Apple iPads and shiny Samsung devices.

Also, I think Google have tried to do too much too quickly with the Nexus 9.

They've...

** Replaced the longstanding Dalvik runtime with the new Android Run Time (ART).

** Implemented device encryption by default.

** Built the first Android 64 bit tablet.

I don't pretend to be an expert in these specialised fields, but I suspect doing just one of these things probably presents significant technical challenges. Doing all three, at the same time, in one tablet, sounds like a recipe for disaster... or if not disaster, lots of problems.

The

Google I/O 2015

conference is coming up at the end of this month

(May 28th-May 29th)

, with some speculation that Android M might be announced. Let's hope that Android M brings some real improvements to the Nexus 9.

It both needs it and it deserves it.

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Right, that's enough rumination and excogitation for one post... I'm going to sign off for now and I hope I haven't bored anybody with this lengthy epistle. Congrats if you've stayed with me:).

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Cheers all...

Kind Rgrds,

Ged.

Incidentally, I've typed this entire post on my Nexus 9. Typed first in Google Keep, grammar checked and then copy pasted into the XDA edit box in Chrome... previewed, draft read through it, previewed again, and then I hit the submit button. This is the first time I've been able to easily do this on my Nexus 9 without problems... the difference is... I'm now running Lollipop 5.1.1 :):):).