Both my n7 and galaxy nexus have this type of problem. It seemed to start when I got close to using up all the available storage(due to google music caching). I cleared up some space(down to 30% used) and the issue has persisted. No recent updates have fixed the issue. On my GN, it's so bad that using google now, the navigation confirmation times out before it ever shows the dialog. Also, sometimes pages refuse to load in chrome and a hard reset is all that will fix it. It's a real issue, but not everyone seems to have the problem. This leads me to think it's probably hardware related(memory bin/batch perhaps?).
Do you know how to run logcat[1] after connecting a USB cable and enabling USB ebugging and downloading and install Android SDK? It's not that hard. You may see some error messages in the output. That might give you a clue.
Otherwise back everything up (this is not that hard at all) and do a reset. If you navigate to Google Play on a PC you'll see a list of your devices and have a history of all the apps you ever installed and you can reinstall them remotely from the PC. It's cool to see them pushed from the PC through the cloud to your mobile device. Just make sure to back up your contacts (should be automatic by Google I've found, don't ask me how ... but anyway you can make a backup to be sure to be sure by going into contacts and playing around), your SMSes (I use SMS backup app for this to do this automatically), any pics (though you should be using dropbox to do this automatically) and so on.
I'm not saying that this should be happening. It's crap that it is. Maybe Android is the new Windows. Quick ... defrag!
> If you navigate to Google Play on a PC you'll see a list of your devices and have a history of all the apps you ever installed and you can reinstall them remotely from the PC.
Yeah... About that... Google removed that feature.
What feature? Are you sure? I just remotely installed an app to test it out. Google Play still has a My Apps section. And if you go to https://play.google.com/settings you'll see your devices. Which feature do you think is gone?
You know, I was having this problem on my GN for a long time. I was convinced I was experiencing the storage deterioration problem. My GN is rooted and I've been running custom ROMs for a long time, keeping them up to date as time went on, and performance was fine. I was running JDX [1], and was happy with it... but as time went on, the device got slower, and all indications to me were that it was the storage deterioration problem. But then I switched to a more basic ROM [2], and now my GN is running perfect. Google Now is so much faster, switching apps is smooth, etc. etc. A world of difference. This post is now coming off as an ad for this ROM that I'm using... but I just wanted to share my experience. If you're looking into buying a new phone because of the slowness, trying out this ROM might be a last ditch effort to give your GN some new life.
> It just aggravates me that Google doesn't acknowledge the issue.
I guess my point is that "the issue" might not be storage deterioration (for which you'd be inclined to blame Google, or Samsung). Perhaps the ROM you're using (sent to you by your carrier, right?) is the issue. If the custom ROM solves your problem, you'll both a) learn that the issue wasn't storage degradation, and b) make your phone usable. Again, if you're considering getting a new phone anyway (because it's slow), it's worth a shot. And it's kinda fun to hack into your phone, anyway, right?
I had the same problem, and bought an HTC One. I cleared the phone out to give it to my dad, and now it is very, very noticeably faster. It would take 20-30 seconds to launch Chrome (the screen would turn off before the keyboard appeared), but now it takes around a second.
I think it's because I freed lots of space, as I noticed this after I removed most of the apps (before a factory reset or anything else). It might work for you too.
