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Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

Started Oct 21, 2019 | Polls
(unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,057
Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

I have tried Lightroom on 2 Android devices and many wifi networks around the world and it is too slow to use. It works fine on my wife's iPad and my Windows laptop, but I love the convenience of editing on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 with the S pen from my Samsung Galaxy Note FE (7), which I can also edit on occasionally.

So I would appreciate you answering this poll to help me decide whether I need to upgrade my Android tablet or give up on LR Android. The positive reviews on the Google Play store look mostly fake to me, but some with newer Android phones report it being painfully slow too. Thanks.

POLL
Too slow
75% 3  votes
Fast enough
0% 0  votes
Other (please leave comment)
25% 1  vote
  Show results
Jostian
Jostian Veteran Member • Posts: 4,882
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?
1

MatMayer wrote:

I have tried Lightroom on 2 Android devices and many wifi networks around the world and it is too slow to use. It works fine on my wife's iPad and my Windows laptop, but I love the convenience of editing on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 with the S pen from my Samsung Galaxy Note FE (7), which I can also edit on occasionally.

So I would appreciate you answering this poll to help me decide whether I need to upgrade my Android tablet or give up on LR Android. The positive reviews on the Google Play store look mostly fake to me, but some with newer Android phones report it being painfully slow too. Thanks.

Not sure which year your Tab A 10.1 is from, and which specs it has, if its the older and lower spec'd one its going to struggle, your wifes iPad has got way more processing power than the mid-range Tab A (if you only have the 2GIG RAM version, you will struggle) . I would suggest upgrading to the Samsung Tab S4 or suchlike which has way more processing power.

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Robert Zanatta Senior Member • Posts: 2,630
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

Depends on what model year you have for the Tab A.

The latest iPad with the A12 processor is a lot faster than the 2019 Tab A (or any Samsung Galaxy tablet).

The Tab S5e is noticeably faster than the  Tab A, but has no sPen.  The Tab S4 is even faster, and it has the sPen.

Only unknown is whether LR is optimized better for the iPad, the Galaxy Tab, or neither.

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OP (unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,057
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

The Tab A was released May 2016 and has 3GB RAM. It runs anything else fine. It is just the loading of photos that is slow, not any rendering/editing. Our iPad of the same age loads photos as fast as the wifi will allow, but there is an understandable pause when any edits are made whilst it computes.

The Note 7 came out August 2016 and has 4GB RAM. Maybe I am getting old, but 4GB of RAM sounds a lot to me still and LR not working on a 3 year old flagship doesn't seem acceptable. I could understand it being poor on the cheap Tab.

Just waiting for the wife to make some space on her S9 so I can try on that, which was released in March 2018. Have only heard a couple of mixed reports on how well it works on newer devices.

Jostian
Jostian Veteran Member • Posts: 4,882
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

MatMayer wrote:

The Tab A was released May 2016 and has 3GB RAM. It runs anything else fine. It is just the loading of photos that is slow, not any rendering/editing. Our iPad of the same age loads photos as fast as the wifi will allow, but there is an understandable pause when any edits are made whilst it computes.

The Note 7 came out August 2016 and has 4GB RAM. Maybe I am getting old, but 4GB of RAM sounds a lot to me still and LR not working on a 3 year old flagship doesn't seem acceptable. I could understand it being poor on the cheap Tab.

Just waiting for the wife to make some space on her S9 so I can try on that, which was released in March 2018. Have only heard a couple of mixed reports on how well it works on newer devices.

is your note on Pie or still Oreo? if on Oreo then that may be a contributing factor as most apps are now optimised for Pie and Android 10 (Q).

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OP (unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,057
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

Jostian wrote:

is your note on Pie or still Oreo? if on Oreo then that may be a contributing factor as most apps are now optimised for Pie and Android 10 (Q).

It is Android 9 = Pie. The tab is Android 8 = Oreo.

Don't fancy having to buy latest devices forever just for Lightroom.

Jostian
Jostian Veteran Member • Posts: 4,882
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

MatMayer wrote:

Jostian wrote:

is your note on Pie or still Oreo? if on Oreo then that may be a contributing factor as most apps are now optimised for Pie and Android 10 (Q).

It is Android 9 = Pie. The tab is Android 8 = Oreo.

Don't fancy having to buy latest devices forever just for Lightroom.

Hi, dont think it so much related to Oreo or Pie but the cumulative effect maybe contributing to the lag...

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OP (unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,057
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?

Just got a chance to try Lightroom on a Samsung S9. It is nice and fast, so it is the age of my phone and tablet which are the problem.

Having to keep up to date with the latest devices (or latest but one) is quite an extra expense, so will mull over whether to switch devices or just use JPG and Google Photos again (for travel and street photos). Can always do some landscapes and whatnot in raw on the laptop, so would still have the option there.

Jostian
Jostian Veteran Member • Posts: 4,882
Re: Is Lightroom on Android also too slow for you?
1

MatMayer wrote:

Just got a chance to try Lightroom on a Samsung S9. It is nice and fast, so it is the age of my phone and tablet which are the problem.

Thought it might be.

Having to keep up to date with the latest devices (or latest but one) is quite an extra expense, so will mull over whether to switch devices or just use JPG and Google Photos again (for travel and street photos). Can always do some landscapes and whatnot in raw on the laptop, so would still have the option there.

I just found that Google photos uses a lot of data and resources (battery) in the background, definitely has an impact on battery, not a big issue but something to consider.

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