Samsung Galaxy S3 Problem: "Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home has stopped"

Are you getting the error message "Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home has stopped" on your Samsung Galaxy S3? If so, this post can help you fix it. The Galaxy S3 actually comes with Samsung's proprietary interface known to many as TouchWiz (TW). While there are some who think of it as an advantage over other devices that use only Android's stock interface, many are disappointed because it is often the cause of freezes and lags in the phone.

"Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home has stopped" is the exact error message you'll get whenever the service stops functioning and there is nothing you can but tap on that 'OK' button as if you're agreeing to it. It can be fixed and if you're lucky, you can do so in one easy procedure. However, the best solution for this is knowing the reason why the problem happens in the first place. If you have an idea why the problem occurred, you can easily find a solution yourself.

For example, you installed a third-party app and the error message came up. There's no better solution than to uninstall the app you just installed and reboot the phone. But for those who have no clue what to do, follow the procedures below.

Observation Procedure

1. Remove the battery while the phone is on for 30 seconds.
2. Place the battery back and boot the phone up.
3. If you're lucky, you can boot up successfully without being welcomed by the error message. If this was the case, continue using the phone. You're still in observation period.

If, however, you can't use the phone because the error message pops up before you reach the Home screen, turn the phone back off and follow the next procedure.

Boot To Safe Mode

1. While the phone is off, press and hold the Power button.
2. When the Samsung Galaxy S3 screen appears, release the Power button.
3. Immediately after releasing the button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
4. Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone finished restarting.
5. 'Safe Mode' will be seen in the bottom left corner of the screen. 

Clear Cache & Data

1. While in Safe Mode, tap the Apps icon.
2. Touch the Settings app.
3. Tap More tab.
4. Choose Application Manager.
5. Swipe right to display All tab's contents.
6. Find TouchWiz.
7. Tap Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons. (NOTE: You will lose all your customizations in your Home screens but it's worth it)
8. Reboot the phone normally.

Observe if the error message still pops up. If it does, follow the next procedure.

Wipe Cache Partition

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons simultaneously.
3. Once the phone vibrates, release the Power button but continue holding the other two buttons.
4. Release the Volume Up and Home buttons when the Android System Recovery screen appears.
5. Highlight 'wipe cache partition' and press the Power button.
6. Once done, highlight the 'reboot system now' options and press the Power button.

That should do it, but in case it won't, the last resort is to perform Factory Reset. You need to backup your data first.

Workarounds

In case the problem persists after the Factory Reset, I'm afraid it's a firmware issue already. There is, however, a couple of workarounds to try:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Home screen mode.
3. Select Easy mode, and then click Apply.
4. If this doesn't solve it, go back to Settings.
5. Tap Developer options.
6. Touch Window Animation Scale, choose .5x.
7. Do the same for Transition Animation Scale and Animator Duration Scale.

I hope everything works out after all these procedures. I'm happy to hear your experiences, though. Contact me anytime.