What does "after the JB update bricked the thing" mean? What happened and what did you do to correct it? What did you add after the Factory Data Reset?
Basically locked up solid. I forget the precise order of things to fix (calls to Motorola, Verizon, etc.), but basically pulled battery and did FDR. I've added various apps since then, if not the bomb-squad-careful method of one app per few days to see if it blows up process you seem to suggest.
I do not use a task killer. The way task killers "nail" a device is they terminate a task running and it that task then restarts. The task killer terminates it again and it restarts. All of this goes on forever and greatly increases the load on the device and everything slows down as a result. Do this for a lot of tasks on a device and REALLY slow it down.
I've cut back resorting to using the task killer when it starts running sluggishly (I'd be hitting that every 37 seconds in that case).
If you want something that is taken care of that you don't need to be involved with .... get an iPhone.
That is becoming an increasingly tantalizing prospect for someone who wants a phone that actually works, well, without constant coddling, caressing and cajoling.
For Android ... start with a Factory Data Reset and it will leave some apps that you don't want that were pre-installed. Leave them alone.
When you add new apps consider what you are doing each time. Task killers can have devastating impacts on your performance. Run it for a week with no new apps added so you can see how it performs. If you want to add apps after that ... go slow ... add something of interest and see if it causes problems for you.
... Thom
While this approach may work, technically and in the abstract sense, but in a broader sense, if I have to spoon-feed apps one at a time per week, monitoring like a potential bomb, just to have some reasonable assurance that my phone will operate properly, then isn't there some inherent problem here? Shouldn't a decently mature OS NOT require such tedious hand holding?
Sorry to whine again, but honestly, shouldn't a smart phone simply work as a smart phone, apps and all, without recourse to such tedious technical work arounds and crutches?