Fix: Butterfly App Freezing On Large Documents

Nov 26, 2025 by Alex Johnson 47 views

Bug: Butterfly Freezes After Inserting a Few Strokes in Documents That Have Many Pages

Introduction

We're diving deep into an issue reported by a Butterfly app user, where the application freezes when editing documents with a large number of pages. This can be a frustrating experience, especially when you're in the middle of working on important notes. In this article, we'll explore the details of the problem, the troubleshooting steps taken, and potential solutions. If you're experiencing similar issues with the Butterfly app, or any application for that matter, understanding the root causes and how to address them can save you a lot of headaches. Let's get started!

What Happened?

The core issue reported is that the Butterfly app freezes after a few edits are made in a document containing many pages. Imagine you're working on a detailed project, adding crucial information, and suddenly the app becomes unresponsive. Any attempt to interact with the interface proves futile, forcing you to close and reopen the application. While the changes are saved, the interruption is undoubtedly disruptive.

This freezing issue appears to be linked to memory usage, particularly when dealing with large documents. The user noted that the app sometimes consumes up to 2GB of memory, which is significant, especially on devices with limited RAM. For instance, the user's Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, equipped with 4GB of RAM, struggles when the app's memory footprint is this high. This highlights the importance of efficient memory management in applications, especially those handling large files or complex operations. Efficient memory management ensures smooth performance and prevents crashes or freezes.

The user even provided a video demonstrating the issue. The video clearly shows the app freezing after a few strokes were added to a document. The content being inserted was a simple sequence of numbers, "1 + 2 + 3 ... + 18 + 19 +," but this was enough to trigger the freeze. Interestingly, the user attempted to use the built-in screen recorder to capture the issue, but the recorder crashed as well, suggesting a potential memory overload due to both applications running simultaneously. This further emphasizes the strain on system resources when dealing with memory-intensive tasks.

In contrast, another video showed that the app didn't freeze when inserting many strokes into a new document. The content inserted was a longer sequence, "1 + 2 + 3 + .... + 100," yet the app remained responsive. This comparison suggests that the issue isn't simply about the number of strokes or the complexity of the content, but rather the combination of content and the size of the document. This could indicate an issue with how the app handles and updates large documents in memory, potentially leading to performance bottlenecks and crashes. Understanding these nuances is crucial for developers to optimize the application's performance and user experience.

Technical Details

Version

The user reported using Black Hairstreak 2.4.1, which is the version of the Butterfly app they were experiencing the issue with. Knowing the specific version number is crucial for developers as it allows them to pinpoint the exact codebase where the bug might exist. Different versions of an application often have different features, optimizations, and bug fixes, so identifying the version helps in narrowing down the scope of the problem. For example, if the issue is specific to version 2.4.1, developers can focus their efforts on examining the changes made in that version compared to previous ones.

Platform

The platform in question is Android, which is one of the most widely used mobile operating systems globally. This information is essential because applications often behave differently across various platforms due to variations in hardware, software, and system-level configurations. An issue that occurs on Android might not necessarily occur on iOS or a desktop operating system. Understanding the platform helps developers tailor their debugging and testing efforts to the specific environment where the problem arises. Android, with its diverse range of devices and configurations, presents unique challenges in terms of ensuring consistent app performance and stability. Therefore, knowing that the issue is on Android is a critical piece of the puzzle in resolving the bug.

Relevant Log Output

Unfortunately, no relevant log output was provided in the initial report. Log files are invaluable for debugging as they contain detailed information about the application's behavior, including errors, warnings, and informational messages. These logs can provide clues about what might be going wrong under the hood. For instance, a log might reveal a specific function that is causing a crash, a memory leak, or an unexpected error condition. In the absence of log output, troubleshooting becomes more challenging, as developers need to rely on other methods, such as code analysis, to identify the root cause of the issue. Encouraging users to provide log files when reporting bugs is a best practice, as it significantly accelerates the debugging process and increases the likelihood of finding a solution quickly.

User's Willingness to Help

The user has expressed a strong willingness to devote time to provide logs, which is incredibly helpful in resolving the issue. User collaboration is a key component of effective software development and bug fixing. When users actively participate in the debugging process, they can provide valuable insights and information that developers might not be able to obtain otherwise. By offering to provide logs, the user is essentially offering a window into the application's behavior on their device, which can reveal patterns and anomalies that lead to the root cause of the problem. This proactive approach not only helps in fixing the specific issue but also contributes to the overall improvement of the application's stability and performance. Developers often rely on such user feedback to make their applications more robust and user-friendly. The user's commitment to helping underscores the importance of a collaborative relationship between developers and users in the software development lifecycle.

Troubleshooting and Potential Solutions

Given the information provided, here are some potential troubleshooting steps and solutions that developers might consider:

Memory Management Optimization: The primary suspect appears to be memory usage. Developers should profile the application's memory consumption when handling large documents. Tools like Android Studio's Memory Profiler can help identify memory leaks, inefficient data structures, or other memory-related issues. Optimizing memory usage could involve techniques such as lazy loading, object pooling, or reducing the memory footprint of in-memory data structures. For example, if the application is storing the entire document content in memory, it might be beneficial to load only the visible portions or use a more efficient data structure for storing the document content.
Document Rendering and Caching: The way the application renders and caches document content can also impact performance. If the application is re-rendering the entire document on every edit, this could lead to performance bottlenecks. Implementing a caching mechanism or using a differential rendering approach, where only the changed portions are re-rendered, can significantly improve performance. This is particularly relevant when dealing with large documents where re-rendering the entire content can be resource-intensive. Efficient caching strategies can also reduce the amount of data that needs to be loaded into memory, further alleviating memory pressure.
Background Processing: Some operations, such as saving changes or indexing content, might be performed in the background to prevent the UI from freezing. However, if these background processes are not properly managed, they can still impact performance. Ensuring that background tasks are executed efficiently and do not consume excessive resources is crucial. This might involve using techniques such as thread pooling, task prioritization, or limiting the number of concurrent background operations. Proper management of background processing can ensure that the application remains responsive even when performing resource-intensive tasks.
Database Optimization: If the application uses a database to store document content or metadata, optimizing database queries and schema can improve performance. Inefficient queries or a poorly designed database schema can lead to slow data access and increased memory usage. Techniques such as indexing, query optimization, and database caching can help improve database performance. Regularly reviewing the database schema and query patterns can identify potential bottlenecks and areas for optimization. This is especially important for applications that handle large volumes of data or complex data relationships.
Garbage Collection Tuning: The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) uses garbage collection to automatically manage memory. However, if garbage collection is not tuned properly, it can lead to performance issues. Understanding the garbage collection algorithms and tuning parameters can help optimize memory management. For example, using a different garbage collector or adjusting heap size can improve performance in certain scenarios. Monitoring garbage collection activity and identifying long pauses or inefficient memory reclamation can help in tuning the garbage collection process. This is an advanced optimization technique that requires a deep understanding of the JVM and memory management principles.
Code Review and Profiling: A thorough code review can help identify potential performance bottlenecks or memory leaks. Profiling tools can also provide insights into the application's runtime behavior, such as CPU usage, memory allocation, and thread activity. Identifying and addressing performance hotspots in the code can significantly improve the application's performance. Code reviews should focus on identifying inefficient algorithms, redundant operations, and areas where memory could be better managed. Profiling can pinpoint specific functions or code sections that are consuming excessive resources.
Hardware Acceleration: Utilizing hardware acceleration, such as GPU rendering, can improve the application's performance, especially when dealing with graphics-intensive operations. If the application is not leveraging hardware acceleration, enabling it can offload some of the processing from the CPU to the GPU, which can result in smoother performance and reduced memory usage. Hardware acceleration is particularly beneficial for applications that perform complex rendering or animations. However, it is essential to ensure that hardware acceleration is implemented correctly, as incorrect usage can sometimes lead to compatibility issues or performance degradation.

Conclusion

The issue of the Butterfly app freezing when editing large documents highlights the importance of efficient memory management and performance optimization in software development. By understanding the details of the problem, the troubleshooting steps taken, and potential solutions, developers can effectively address such issues and improve the user experience. The willingness of users to provide detailed reports and collaborate in the debugging process is invaluable in resolving complex problems. As we've seen, a combination of technical analysis, user feedback, and systematic troubleshooting can lead to effective solutions.

For further reading on Android app optimization, you might find the resources at Android Developers helpful. This website offers a wealth of information on best practices for Android development, including performance optimization, memory management, and debugging techniques.