My Nexus 7 is from 2012, it’s not rooted, and about two weeks ago, I received the 5.0.2 update! I was finally going to try Material Design… but nothing could be further from the truth. I quickly noticed that it took forever to turn on, animations and transitions were painfully slow, and even opening the browser with a simple webpage was a struggle… In short, all sorts of performance issues that I blamed on the new Android version, since the problems started right after the update.

Considering that, as of today, there doesn’t seem to be any 5.0.3 or higher update on the horizon, I thought… either I fix it, or I’m left with a fancy Nexus-branded paperweight.

After searching online, I found that some Nexus 7 users (especially the 2012 version) were experiencing issues with this update. However, most of the problems were related to WiFi or Bluetooth, rather than performance. This link lists some possible fixes:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2014/12/29/android-5-0-2-problems-fixes/

For my specific issue, I found three possible solutions:

  1. Access a hidden Google menu and follow a series of steps.
  2. Factory reset the tablet, which would erase all my data, apps, etc.
  3. Root the tablet and install Android KitKat, which had been working fine.

In any case, it seemed like the solution involved deleting data and apps. Well, none of these three solutions worked for me.

I had an app installed to extend battery life (I won’t mention the name to avoid any trouble), and I thought it might be conflicting with Android 5.0.2—since one of the new version’s selling points was improved battery life. I uninstalled it, and BOOM! The tablet was running as smoothly as it did with KitKat.

So, in conclusion, if you’re reading this post because you’re having issues with your Nexus 7, before trying anything complicated, check your apps! Be suspicious of the latest ones you installed, as they might not be updated to work with the new Android version. Uninstall them first. If that doesn’t fix it… well, then you can start thinking about rooting your device.