Samsung should take note of its users' concerns, as the Galaxy Note 8 has been reported to have persistent freezing problems for its user-interface (UI).
A number of Galaxy Note 8 users are experiencing sudden unresponsiveness from their phones, usually when accessing the Contacts app, a crucial feature of the smartphone. Apparently, using the speed dial, doing calls from the recent list, tapping a contact, opening the messaging app, and opening a contact while texting are some of the most common causes for the freezing.
The problem is also not limited to communication apps on the phone, as some users who were simply playing Pokemon GO, using Chrome or the Google app, or even opening an Excel spreadsheet, experienced the freeze. Thus, many users have had to perform a hard restart on their devices, which can be annoying as it takes too much time. Other more extreme cases have also surfaced, where some users had to drain the phone's battery in order to access it again.
While frozen, the phone will be unresponsive and inaccessible, attempts to turn it off or perform a hard restart by pressing the power button until it shuts down will not always work. This was also regardless of the mobile carriers or networks that users are using as the problems have existed in both Europe and US from different mobile carriers.
In the meantime, affected users will have to endure the hard restart/reset workaround for the issue, as Samsung has not yet released an official fix. Users must keep in mind though that the hard reset will also restore the phone to its factory settings and erase any personal or added data.
Pressing the Volume up, Bixby, and Power buttons all at the same time for about 30-45 seconds on a frozen Note 8 will bring up the Android Recovery Menu. In the said menu, users will have to select Wipe data/Factory reset option and press the Powerbutton to select it. Doing this does not guarantee that the freeze will not happen again.
At the time of writing, Samsung has not yet commented on the issue, affected users are advised to stay tuned.
