App, Alert, WiFi, MMS Issues

[slaterlillieb]

Hello! I upgraded to a Sony Xperia Z3v about a month and a half ago. Ever since I received the phone, I have had issues with it. At first they were minor ones, but now they are just piling up and it's extremely irritating! Here are the main issues:

1. My WiFi cuts in and out all the time. I can have perfect signal and yet the WiFi will continue to turn itself off and then back on.

2. My apps force close constantly. Sometimes I will be able to get on the app and mess around a bit before it freezes then boots me off while other times, it won't even open the app before displaying an error message.

3. My picture messaging is spotty. Sometimes I am able to send/receive picture messages, but most of the time it is a hassle and I have resorted to just sending them through Facebook Messenger. This happens even with perfect service.

4. My notification volume does not play as loud as it should. I can have the notification volume all the way up and it will be loud when I preview the tone, but as soon as a real notification comes through, it's so quiet! I miss it often. I have messed around with a few tones that are louder and the issue continues to be the same.

5. When I am in the middle of a call, a very loud alert beeps. It is not an alert that I have set for anything. It isn't an incoming call, it isn't a message, there are no alerts for lost service, it doesn't indicate the battery is getting low, or even the phone getting too hot. It just loudly plays and there is nothing with it. It's frustrating because it hurts my ear and it doesn't mean anything. Tonight it happened four or five times and two of the times were within a five minute span.

6. When I try to turn the phone off, my notification tone plays with the menu that pops up. I can't take a screenshot using the actual screenshot button, restart the phone, or turn it off without this happening.

I am becoming so angry with this phone. I love the screen size and the camera, but it's not enough to keep me happy when the phone has so many other issues. I have tried everything from deleting apps to even a factory reset with no back up. Nothing is helping. I have contacted the technical support center for Verizon and the only things they could tell me to do were to factory reset the device or turn it in to get a warranty replacement. I'm more than likely going to have to just get another phone through the warranty, but I would like to know if there are any ways to fix any of these issues beforehand. I would also like to know if these are common issues with Sony devices so that I can be prepared to possibly encounter any or all with the new device.

Thank you!

[Qatrium]

If you didn't try it already, I'd suggest that you do a PC Companion phone repair, this will do a clean installation of the latest firmware and will also wipe your internal memory. It's more effective than factory reset and totally different from it.

Open PC companion -> Support zone -> Phone/tablet software update -> Repair my phone/tablet (blue link style). Follow the steps given, do not connect your phone until prompted to press volume down while plugging USB cable.
http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/tools/pc-companion/

[slaterlillieb]

Thank you! I will try that! I'm hoping this will work because I really don't want to have to use my warranty so soon. I'm trying to save it in case I drop the phone or something else happens to it where it absolutely cannot be used at all.

[slaterlillieb]

Quick update. It turns out that my phone is not supported with PC Companion. I downloaded the program, hooked my phone up, found out it wasn't charged enough for the repair, waited almost two hours for the phone to be charged, and only ended up not being able to find my device in the listings. I did a Google search and found out on another forum that Verizon doesn't allow the Z3v to be paired with PC Companion because of a difference in software or something along those lines. I looks like I will not be able to use the repair to fix my issues and now, I will not be able to use PC Companion to safely assure future updates. Verizon will be getting a complaint from me very soon. 

[Uliwooly]

@slaterlillieb

It seems that big red has done it, killing such a great feature (using PCC),

the alrternative

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-123968/

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-123010/

which is not good enough. 

[slaterlillieb]

I contacted Verizon and the only thing they could do was send out a replacement. I guess it will be arriving on Tuesday. They have claimed that after a factory reset, the only thing left is to replace the device because it is then a problem with Sony and not Verizon since Sony is the manufacturer. Also, she told me that they have no control over the Lollipop update. I explained that part of the reason I agreed to get this phone was because everything said it would eventually receive Lollipop. I thought maybe that was part of the reason the system is going haywire. She says it isn't and that Sony will push out the update whenever they will and Verizon won't have anything to do with them doing that. I don't know if that is how it works or not. Either way, I can't do much else except wait for the second phone and hope it doesn't malfunction as much. I will bookmark those reset pages you have shared so that if the second one malfunctions, I have more options in repairing the phone. Go figure this would be the only thing Verizon would be able to do. They have killed a really great phone with nonsense and no ways to repair it.

[stockyvillage]

I think you were misled Verizon do control the update.The update has to be approved by them .The update will come through Sony.servers but not till it is given on.Plus didn't google pull the plug on them on the nexus 4 and 5 because Verizon wanted to put their software on them

[slaterlillieb]

That's what I thought too. I was always under the assumption that once a phone manufacturer pushed the updates out, it was then up to the carrier to test it and then send it out to their subscribers. Verizon is claiming that this is not how it works. Verizon puts their software on quite a few things I have come to realize. I wish they would have simply left the phone a Z3 instead of putting their own branding on the phone.

[stockyvillage]

Think the thing about the Z3v was all about money saving.Why use a Z2 and it put a few new specs in it and call it a Z3v.Its code name is Sirius which is same as Z2,whereas code name for Z3 is leo

[Uliwooly]

@slaterlillieb

As usual, a carrier doesn't want to admit their wrong doing, you are correct, Sony release the update > the carrier, Verizon, add their bloatware, customize it, test it then release it.