I am having the same crashing issues as you. Facebook, ChompSMS, the browser, camera... so on and so forth. It only got worse after the ICS update.
I have found, however, that there is at least something you can do to mitigate it a little and recover some battery life.
1.) Go to settings and then Apps:
2.) Change the tab to All
3.) Click on the Smart Actions application and click disable.
4.) Repeat for VZ Navigator and MOTOACTV
Right after the update, my battery life went from a good 28 hours+ down to about 6 if I was lucky. I discovered that these apps, especially the Smart Actions app, were draining the battery like you wouldn't believe. The phone also became a little more stable after these apps were disabled, although not by much.
It's not a perfect fix, but it's at least something you can do in the meantime. Hopefully it helps.
I have to tell you that I have had most of those issues with my Bionic PRE-ICS and Motorola did put out updates / new OS to remediate that. Since ICS I have had NO issues at all and my phone works better then it ever has, as well as better then my Droid Razr Maxx.
You say that you have been in Technology for over a decade so you must remember little things like Microsoft Update which schedules updates for every single first Tuesday in the month and they schedule these before they even know of issues because they know there will be issues. Then you get little things like SP1 and SP2 and SP3 which all address issues and SP3 pretty much re-wrote the OS in XP. Then there was Vista which was so bad, the replaced it real fast with Windows 7 which was somewhat better and they are replacing it with Windows 8.
The point is that ALL of those issues you described are software related. I did not see if anyone asked if you have any third party apps on your phone as these are notorious for causing issues especially Facebook. As far as Smart Actions. You do have a point there and depending on how you have it set up, it will work the phone harder then others. With that though you do have a choice and that is to disable it and not use it then your issue goes away. Unfortunately when you use Smart actions and set it up, Smart Actions itself now needs to monitor your GPS or Location if you have any location triggers set up. It also has to watch the clock for time related items and all of the watching itself does use battery.
You will NOT be able to uninstall stuff that is part of the OS Image (MyVerizon, Slacker, You Tube etc... as Verizon feels that since they made deals with these companies to get paid if you use them, that the apps should reside on your phone for ever because you might after months of not using it decide to give them a try. Unfortunately most of the apps they force on the phones (Bloatware) are garbage and in my mind Malware itself.
So you cannot remove them from your phone but you can disable them so they are not using any of your phones resources except physical storage.
There are many more apps which you can disable that will make the phone more stable. Removing Facebook will give you the most improvement on the phone as the Facebook app itself is riddled with problems causing reboots, freezes, slowness and many more.
My list of what can be disabled is as follows (unless for some reason you do use them)
Amazon Kindle
Amazon MP3
V-Cast Apps
Backup Assistant
Citrix Receiver
Google Play Books
Google+
MOG Music
Music Store
My Verizon Mobile (largest abuser of resources)
NFL Mobile
Slacker Radio
Slingbox
Smart Actions
Vcast Tones
Verizon Video
VZ Navigator
You Tube
I do realize that a lot of what is wrong with the Bionic is software related. I don't personally believe that the Microsoft experience concerning their operating systems is directly analogous to software involved with cellphones. Seeing as Verizon has to customize Android and each iteration of their custom build to each phone (which is why updates are so often delayed compared to other phones) I would still think that the point is pertinent when dealing with the Bionic as a whole. Now, if Microsoft had to tailor make their operating systems individually to work with AMD, Intel, Via, and all other sorts of different hardware architectures and combinations I'd agree with you. That being said, it would still raise the issue that the software intended for use with the problematic device is faulty, thus making the device itself faulty, since it is an integral and specialized portion of the device.
Indeed, some of the updates did fix my issues... for awhile. Over time, however, they either cropped up again, spawned new ones, or became worse. ICS introduced some new ones, and fixed some others.
I think if you'll read my initial post again, you'll find that I did in fact rule out 3rd party apps. The problems persisted even with a completely wiped and restored phone with no 3rd party apps installed. Also, with Smart Actions, I never even touched the profiles. I never activated it, and yet it was still running in the background by default. Disabling it was the only option available, and it solved a lot of problems. On a whim, I decided to try enabling it and setting up a profile to determine if simply giving it something to look for would "calm it down." No joy. It remains disabled.
If your Bionic is working well for you, then I'm glad. I've done everything I can short of rooting it and installing a custom ROM to bring my phone to full functionality. Any phone, or indeed, any hardware platform that requires me to disable key features, applications, and the like in order to gain usability is a failure in my estimation. I don't include 3rd party trivial features in that list, things such as Smart Actions. I mean the programs and management software that is intended to give the phone the connectivity that it is advertised to have and supposedly designed to handle. If I have to hamstring my phone, it's pointless.
So a quick question for you. have you done a phone cache wipe? Very easy to do and it removed a lot of remnants of old stuff left behind. It does wonders for a phone. It does NOT wipe any of your app cache, just the phone cache itself. The nice thing about doing this is it does not require you to re upload anything or reset any of your custom settings on it. It is just short of doing a Factory Data Reset.
Verizon Wireless Customer Support
Bionic ICS
I have had many problems, but one vexing one, which seems to have been with me since ICS, and related to several posts here.
I dont get LTE any more.
When I switch to LTE/CDMA/EvDo
on the Phone Info page
Sometimes (just sometimes) when I am NOT in an LTE area it will go to 3G, but mostly will go to no data and white bars on the phone signal
Always when in an LTE area it will go to No Data and white bars on the phone signal.
I took it to verizon, the technician looked at many things, replaced the LTE SIM card, still no help. He said that several people had been in with a similar or the same problem.
Any suggestions? Is there a different blog thread I should wade through?
P.S. When I reboot it always returns to
CDMA auto (PRL)
and connects via 3G or 1X
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