How to fix “Unfortunately, TouchWiz home has stopped working”

Samsung-galaxy-touchwiz-home-interface
Don’t you hate it when Touchwiz Home has stopped again?

Samsung installed TouchWiz Home has stopped is a common problem among older Samsung phones.

But sometimes, users get the dreaded UI crash error. “Unfortunately, Touchwiz Home has stopped working”

I mean who else wanted to receive those error boxes?

In this article, we will teach you how to get your Samsung device back on track.

NOTE: The steps might vary especially when you have the newer versions of Touhcwiz Home but the general idea remains the same.

What is TouchWiz?

Touchwiz-home-UI
Touchwiz Home of the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung developed and installed Touchwiz  Home as its own, original user interface for smartphones, feature phones, and tablets. Proprietary rights protect it and as such, it is should only be legally available for on Samsung devices.

It was introduced in 2008 with the launch of the original Samsung Solstice and has been in development ever since before being eventually replaced by the Samsung Experience.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is one of the last phones to ever receive the Touchwiz Home UI but most old model phones of Samsung have this as its main UI.

Galaxy-S5-Touchwiz
The S5 still has Touchwiz Home.

Related: 12 Authentic Samsung Galaxy S5 Reviews

But the problem is most of them frequently receives the error box with “Unfortunately, TouchWiz home has stopped.”

Why is this? Read on to know more.

What causes this error?

touchwiz-home-has-stopped
Ugh… This dreaded error box again.

There is plenty of factors that cause this error. However, it is commonly a software issue. Have you ever noticed that only old devices are prone to this problem?

Why?

This is caused by the pile of updates, or the lack thereof. Sometimes the phones are just too dated to cope with the quickly changing technology that Samsung releases.

This is the reason why most users and developers suggest to stop downloading updates after a particular download.

Interesting, right?

Now, let’s begin to dig more deeply into fixing this problem.

8 Easy Touchwiz Home Error Solutions

1. Clear the Cache Data of Touchwiz

The first thing that you need to do is to clear the cache data of your Samsung device through your settings.

One of the most common incidences when the error mostly occurs is when you downloaded a fresh phone update. This is because Samsung doesn’t erase the cache and data used in the previous version, clogging up precious free space.

Get it? Not let’s get right into the steps.

clear-cache-data-touchwiz
Press both of these commands to free up space!
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Look for Applications and navigate to Applications Manager.
  3. Then choose Touchwiz and perform both “Clear Cache” and “Clear Data” functions.
  4. Finally, when both commands are done, restart your device.

This will erase all of the data that is bogging your system down and creates lots of free space for your device to work sufficiently.

2. Disable Motion and Gesture Settings

phone-shake-to-answer
Shake-to-answer or shake-to-SLOWER?

Yes, that shake-to-answer phone calls and other gestures might seem cool and convenient. We admit that.

But what’s the catch?

It’s slowing your phone down.

Samsung devices, especially those that run Android before the Marshmallow update, are prone to get Touchwiz Home errors.

This problem can actually be fixed by a single, simple tweak.

And you know what that is?

It’s disabling the motion and gesture settings.

These settings, as we have mentioned, allow you to control your device by unique actions performed by the user. Of course, like any other setting, this uses lots of power and resources. With this feature on, the user unknowingly hinders their phone’s performance. This is especially true when they don’t even use the feature.

And guess what? It’s very easy to disable these settings.

Just follow these steps:

  1. Go to “Settings” and choose “Motions and Gestures” from the menu.
  2. Next, simply turn off all the motions and gestures functions.
  3. Press “Home” and see the difference.

3. Tweak the Animation Scale

People that do not like the Touchwiz UI tend to say that it is ‘”heavy.”

And do you wanna know why?

This is because Touchwiz UI consumes lots of memory usage because of the way it is designed. Touchwiz UI needs plenty of graphic maintenance and most phones simply just don’t have the capacity to support it sufficiently. And the animations that Touchwiz incorporated in its interface just gets the matter worse.

It sure would make navigating through your device look pretty, though.

Take note: older phones are prone to encounter this problem when those uncountable updates pile up.

To make this change, make sure that you have unlocked the “Developer Options” or else you won’t be able to tweak a thing. If you still haven’t enabled Developer Options, check out How to Enable Developer Options on Any Android Phone to walk you through the process.

touchwiz-phone-animation-tweak
The lower the value, the better the performance.
  1. Go to Settings and press “Developer Options”
  2. Locate Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Duration Scale.
  3. Now, begin tweaking their values according to how you like them.

Always remember that the lesser the value, the snappier your device will be. For our preference, we want to keep it to a minimum of x.5 to retain slight animations as to carry out functions a little smoother without interfering with the performance.

4. Wipe Cache Partition

Recovery mode wipe cache partition option
This will fix your minor software problems.

In the case that the above solutions do not work, this is the time to take it to a higher level. Now, you need to clear the Cache Partition.

Sounds familiar?

Of course, this is because clearing the Cache Partition is a standard troubleshooting procedure and it is one of the most effective methods to fix minor software issues on Android. Since that error notification can be classified as a minor software issue, there’s nothing to lose by trying this method.

Let’s begin!

  1. First, you need to turn off your device.
  2. Then go to recovery mode by simultaneously pressing the “Power” and “Volume Up” buttons until your phone lights up.
  3. From the options, navigate to “Wipe Cache Partition” by using your Volume buttons and use the power button to select.
  4. Wait for the command to finish then confirm to reboot your device using your power button.

This should fix the problem! If not, unfortunately for you as you have more work to do.

5. Set to Easy Mode

Easy Mode
Easy mode hides all the complexities.

Any User Interface can seem so complex when viewed through the untrained eyes. Thankfully, Samsung allows you to a less complex interface named “Easy Mode.”

Easy Mode will eliminate complex features and strip down the interface with all unnecessary apps and features that you don’t necessarily need.

What’s more?

These apps, the ones you rarely use, are sometimes the ones that eat the most memory.

Sucks, right?

But don’t worry. Easy mode will come to save the day.

Don’t worry, we’ll walk you right through the process.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Then navigate to Personalization.
  3. Then just press “Easy Mode.”

Try and see if the error still pops out. If it does, proceed to the next step.

6. Boot in Safe Mode

safe mode-samsung-touchwiz
‘Safe mode’ can be seen bottom of the screen.

The next solution is the standard procedure in troubleshooting android phones: Booting in safe mode.

One of the reasons is because your system was corrupted by a third-party app. Booting in safe mode will disable these apps temporarily. If the issue doesn’t persist, then it is safe to assume that the problem is due to a third-party app.

Beat with me here… this might sound redundant but still, this is a pretty standard troubleshooting procedure.

  1. Go to recovery mode by pressing the power button until you see the logo of the device shows up.
  2. Then release the power button and hold the volume down button until the device booted successfully.
  3. The device should now be in safe mode with the words printed on the lower-left portion of the screen.

Now that you are in Safe mode, work on your phone for a while and see if the error notification still pops out. If not, then some third-party apps might be the root of the problem. Return to normal boot and uninstall these apps.

7. Try a new launcher

samsung-nova-launcher-alternative
Why not try the famous Nova launcher?

Since Touchwiz is the frontend UI of Samsung, you can mask this one with a third-party launcher that you can download over at google store.

Getting a new launcher is the easiest and most straightforward way of getting rid of the Touchwiz UI.

Must Read: Fastest Android Launcher: 14 Top Android Launchers Tested

While you may think that additional software will probably slow your phone down to a crawl, some launchers—like the Google Now—will have significant effects on perceived performance.

And what does this mean?

Perceived performance refers to how snappy and responsive your device according to how you see and feel it.

Why don’t you give Nova launcher a try and for a change of scenery?

Download on Google Play

8. Reset Factory Setting

If everything that we have mentioned so far went down the drain, then unfortunately for you.

It all boils down to this:

Factory reset.

factory-reset-samsung-touchwiz
Brace yourself for factory reset!

Factory reset will bring your phone back to the same state as when it went out of the factory. This goes without saying that it will eliminate almost every software issue that you have had.

  1. Go to Settings and choose “Backup & Reset” from the menu.
  2. Make sure that you have your back up option enabled or else you might lose everything.
  3. Now, select “Factory Data Reset” and confirm it.

Related: How to Factory Reset Android Phone/Tablet (Hard & Soft reset)

You don’t have to worry about losing all your files and data if you made sure to create a backup. After all these steps, your device should feel brand new and your Touchwiz Home should be fixed.

People Also Ask


Keep your phone error-free!

We get it. Everybody gets it.

We all don’t like getting that error notification box and it is best if we can quickly repair it.

And let’s be real.

These methods might seem like a drag but the results will be more than worth the effort.

So what are you waiting for? Get your Touchwiz fixed up ASAP!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below in the comments

featured image credits

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