# Why do I have to restart my smartphone once a week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741 "2011-12-01T20:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741/21 "2011-12-03T00:50:53Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Not to say this isn’t happening to you..but since this is the SDMB: Technically, text messages come over a separate channel from data. If you aren’t getting your text messages, it’s not because your data connection got dropped. That would be a reason you can’t surf the web or read e-mail. Of course, the SW on your phone could plumb them together in such a way that if data were unavailable, the text message interface would hang as well. As a side effect. On Android phones, it’s possible to use third-party texting apps (Google Voice being the most popular) that do send texts over the data, not cell, connection. It’s what I do…but yeah, if I’m in a 3G deadzone, I can’t receive texts…I can still send them, I just have to go into my normal texting app, not the Google Voice app…but since GV “takes over,” for lack of a better word, the incoming texts, there’s no way to get any response. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741/22 "2011-12-03T02:34:22Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > [Here](http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2951) is what T-mobile says about it, which is more or less what’s been said here. While a reboot never hurts, I imagine that’s probably their advice for phones across the board and probably does help quite a few. Not all phones are smart. > > I take it you guys were never around any frustrated Linux admins who had to deal with the 2.4 kernel bug which required a reboot every 16 months. No, but everyday I look in the mirror at a frustrated cell phone tech who has seen a battery pull/power cycle fix the buggiest of smartphones. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741/23 "2011-12-03T03:22:52Z")
I haven’t rebooted by iPhone 4 in 82 days, and my MacBook in 75. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741/24 "2011-12-03T03:27:57Z")
My Windows phone reboots itself at random times and then hangs in the middle of the reboot, requiring a battery pull to get it started again. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741/25 "2011-12-03T04:26:24Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > On Android phones, it’s possible to use third-party texting apps (Google Voice being the most popular) that do send texts over the data, not cell, connection. > > It’s what I do…but yeah, if I’m in a 3G deadzone, I can’t receive texts…I can still send them, I just have to go into my normal texting app, not the Google Voice app…but since GV “takes over,” for lack of a better word, the incoming texts, there’s no way to get any response. But you’re not really sending a text. You’re sending a data packet to a server, which sends a text on your behalf. It sure LOOKS like you’re sending a text..but I don’t think it’s what you’re doing from a protocol perspective. Disclaimer: I’m a baseband guy, not a radio guy..so there may be some nuances in the spec that I’m not aware of. -D/a [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-restart-my-smartphone-once-a-week/604741.md?page=1)