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I'll be designing various UI concept improvements for Android and I'll keep them uploaded here.
If you have any ideas then please, let me know
8th January - Notification Concept Improvements Part 1
My first concept interface is done and ready for viewing - as well as feedback and comments.
This concept goes over some of my notification concepts which I feel would make Android a little more functional and fluid. Let me know what you think.
This user interface concept improvement video covers 3 simply tweaks, which I feel improve the functionality of Android.
1) Bigger Notifications
These bigger notifications show the contact picture,and are large enough so the message can be read. They appear over the top of the default notification bar to save space.
Clicking on the notification takes you to the application for which the notification is for. In this case, its the Messaging App
2) Quick Reply
Something I feel that has been missing from Android for some time. When the message arrive, clicking on the message itself will open quick reply.
Quick Reply extends the notification area so you can reply to the message right from the notification area, without leaving the application you are currently in.
3) Swipe to Close/Mark
Notifications have already easy to close in Android by either pressing the 'X' or in Android 4.0, by swiping the notification away.
However, there is no way to mark a message or email as read if you close it from the notification area. This concept means that you can do this. Simply wipe the notification to the left to close it, or swipe it to the right to mark it as read and close it.
There were 2 other videos that didn't make it into the final video - the only reason for this is that they are longer and the size of the video came to about 600mb for a HD one. Hence why they were left out of this video.
You can find more information about these at this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21179299&postcount=62
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All feedback and comments are welcome. Feel free to message me on any of the sites above.
These are just concepts, unfortunately I dont have the coding skills required to make this a reality. However if I can get ideas and make concepts up, a dev from the forums, the cyanogen mode team or perhaps Google themselves if we're lucky will see this and help make them become a reality.
If you would like to incorporate these ideas into a ROM, application etc, then please contact me first
Find me on the following websites:
Twitter
Google+
Facebook
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
They need to add the ability to get rid of the Google Search bar on all homescreens or make it less intrusive on the homescreen.
Evostance said:
All,
Just doing a bit of research.
Even though we all love Android, its still got its gripes. One of those for me is that the interface isn't as fluid or as function as it could be.
As many of you have seen ICS now, what type of enhancements to the interface would you like to see?
To give you an idea of what i'm after: I personally still dont like the notifications. I feel that they are a bit limited as to whats on offer, so I would like to see more function added to them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixing notifications is easy. Just drag and drop custom sounds into notifications, alarm and ringtones folder. Using same nokia notification for text ever since my first smartphone. I have the usual buzzer alarm since ics didnt include it. I would also like option of no search bar or at least pinning it to desired homescreen. It would be nice if google included more in house options for themes, colors and backgrounds. Sms, gmail, calendar and email are ridiculously white. I'd like more black background white text options. We also need a toggle for the gpu clocks or coolbho3000 to hook us up in setcpu. Options for amount of home screens. 32GB and/or micro sd. Better clock options. Damn pogo pins car dock already.
My grandma beat me down and took my nexus. Sent from a jitterbug with beats by dre.
tsunami1609 said:
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stole the words out of my mouth. It sounds like nit-pickey stuff but it really would bring it all together nicely.
tsunami1609 said:
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your second point is fixed in 4.0.3
I agree with the OP I hope google does something new with the notifications.
Even just adding them to the lockscreen like iOS would be awesome
I also dislike how the notifications have a character limit, it would be cool if you had the dropdown open long enough the text would scroll
- I'd love to have swiping away a text or email mark it as read. And while we're on notifications I don't get why contact pics don't display in the drop-down bar for texts, only for emails.
- Swiping away a recent app actually kills it
- Option to easily switch between the phone & people apps
- Option to mute shutter sound right in camera menu
- Notification bar toggles like in CyanogenMod or AOKP
daandman said:
- I'd love to have swiping away a text or email mark it as read. And while we're on notifications I don't get why contact pics don't display in the drop-down bar for texts, only for emails.
- Swiping away a recent app actually kills it
- Option to easily switch between the phone & people apps
- Option to mute shutter sound right in camera menu
- Notification bar toggles like in CyanogenMod or AOKP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiping away apps actually does kill them, you can see the process dying in the logs when removing from recent app list
I would like a new SMS app theme. The current one is pretty ugly. Something like Windows Phone 7's messaging theme would be much nicer.
BlackDino said:
Your second point is fixed in 4.0.3
I agree with the OP I hope google does something new with the notifications.
Even just adding them to the lockscreen like iOS would be awesome
I also dislike how the notifications have a character limit, it would be cool if you had the dropdown open long enough the text would scroll
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I ask is im just doing a concept design for ICS. Not a custom launcher but actual improvements to stock.
For notifications i actually meant the looks and functionality of it. The first concept ive done is to change how the text notifications work.
I don't like the character limit or how restrictive it is, so I've changed it.
Hopefully when I've got my concepts together, someone will be able to help make them a reality, be it a dev, the cyanogen team or google themselves lol.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I would really like a change to the lockscreen while listening to music. I want the bottom half of the screen to be transparent, or to show the wallpaper instead of beeing black. I have been searching through SystemUI, framework-res and android.policy.jar to try and find it, but haven't as of yet.
tristan202 said:
I would really like a change to the lockscreen while listening to music. I want the bottom half of the screen to be transparent, or to show the wallpaper instead of beeing black. I have been searching through SystemUI, framework-res and android.policy.jar to try and find it, but haven't as of yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean where the soft buttons would sit?
You'd like to see music controls in there?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Soft button area supporting gestures
I came to Android from webOS after HP shot themselves in the foot several times and one of the things I miss most is the gesture bar you had at the bottom of the screen. With the advent of the soft button area in ICS I see a real option to enable the area to work in a similar fashion.
For those that are unfamiliar with it it's basically an area at the bottom of the screen blocked off from apps that registers simple finger gestures. This made the basics of actually using a device a breeze and pleasure i.e. no looking for a particular button / tapping the wrong button when you weren't looking and the gestures were consistent no matter what app was running.
The gestures were:
A single swipe up would show you your running apps.
Swiping 2 fingers up would show you the launcher (app drawer).
A leftward swipe would go back.
A full swipe across the entire area going either right or left would take you to the next or previous running app.
Besides the wireless charging the gesture area was one of the webOS killer features you very quickly learned to take for-granted. So yeah, I'd like the soft button area to handle gestures in case you haven't guessed already
Northernmost said:
I came to Android from webOS after HP shot themselves in the foot several times and one of the things I miss most is the gesture bar you had at the bottom of the screen. With the advent of the soft button area in ICS I see a real option to enable the area to work in a similar fashion.
For those that are unfamiliar with it it's basically an area at the bottom of the screen blocked off from apps that registers simple finger gestures. This made the basics of actually using a device a breeze and pleasure i.e. no looking for a particular button / tapping the wrong button when you weren't looking and the gestures were consistent no matter what app was running.
The gestures were:
A single swipe up would show you your running apps.
Swiping 2 fingers up would show you the launcher (app drawer).
A leftward swipe would go back.
A full swipe across the entire area going either right or left would take you to the next or previous running app.
Besides the wireless charging the gesture area was one of the webOS killer features you very quickly learned to take for-granted. So yeah, I'd like the soft button area to handle gestures in case you haven't guessed already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok ill see what I can mock up. I've done a basic notification text, just need to add another feature before i finalise it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Go you! I was hoping this was something Matias Duarte would bring to Android himself.
Evostance said:
Do you mean where the soft buttons would sit?
You'd like to see music controls in there?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's the black part of this screenshot I'd like changed.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
tristan202 said:
No, it's the black part of this screenshot I'd like changed.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow. Thats actually what it looks like when playing music
I think that black part may be for album art?
Evostance said:
Oh wow. Thats actually what it looks like when playing music
I think that black part may be for album art?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it just shows the album art at the very top. Up where the media buttons are.
tristan202 said:
No, it just shows the album art at the very top. Up where the media buttons are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How stupid. Definitely a tweak that should be there
Honestly, the only two things I want to be changed in terms of the UI are
1.) The ability to hide the soft keys at will for example, if I'm playing a game I want to be able to utilize the entire screen. I think a gesture to hide + bring back the soft keys is the solution. Highly unlikely to be implemented anytime soon
2.) Such as many launchers which have the functionality to have scrollable docks, I would like the soft keys to be scrollable. It would be pretty awesome to be able to have different toggles such as wifi, Bluetooth and even apps always available since unlike the notification bar, the soft keys never disappear regardless of the current app.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Tired of moving your fingers up/down your tablet to switch applications? Try out TasKarou!
TasKarou is a multitasking launcher overlay.
Taking inspiration from the 'Quick Controls' feature in the android browser, TasKarou provides a multitasking layer on top of a launcher on tablets.
By swiping anywhere on the left or right edge of your tablet screen, you can activate TasKarou's UI.
It gives you access to a quick, smooth, and intuitive interface to facilitate app launch, transition, and management for the user
The user interface brings a more responsive, and enjoyable level of interaction to your tablet.
Notes:
To use TasKarou, set it as the default home launcher, and from TasKarou's settings, select the actual home launcher you want to overlay.
TasKarou user interface is then triggered by swiping from either the left of right edge of your tablet screen, while still allowing access to the overlaid home launcher through the home button.
The app is also available in the android market.
nice app, but how do i use the browser controls? when im in the browser and put my finger to the side the taskarou menu opens...
kendong2 said:
nice app, but how do i use the browser controls? when im in the browser and put my finger to the side the taskarou menu opens...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not possible to use both at the same time, since both controls rely on the user touching the edge of the screen.
If you have an idea on how I could get around that issue, I'm all ear.
ne0fhyk said:
It's not possible to use both at the same time, since both controls rely on the user touching the edge of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that sucks, because it basically makes the browser unusable.
ne0fhyk said:
If you have an idea on how I could get around that issue, I'm all ear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some ideas from the top of my head:
- disable taskarou menu completely when in browser
- disable one side of the screen (permanently or when in browser)
- disable the upper/lower/middle half of the screen (permanently or when in browser)
on another note, the notification HAS to go. at least make it optional.
that being said, i really do like the concept of the app :good: i found myself regularly swiping in from the screen edges when not in browser, and then being disappointed that nothing happened.
kendong2 said:
that sucks, because it basically makes the browser unusable.
some ideas from the top of my head:
- disable taskarou menu completely when in browser
- disable one side of the screen (permanently or when in browser)
- disable the upper/lower/middle half of the screen (permanently or when in browser)
on another note, the notification HAS to go. at least make it optional.
that being said, i really do like the concept of the app :good: i found myself regularly swiping in from the screen edges when not in browser, and then being disappointed that nothing happened.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestions. I have a few other ideas along with the ones you suggest that I will try to integrate, and test in the following days.
In the meantime, I updated TasKarou to also support android phones. I duplicated this thread in the 'Android Apps and Games' section to make it more visible: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984010
I like this. Definitely a nice addition to my current launcher.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Definitely slick in some aspects. Can't say I really like it as it messes with my LMT set up and takes up more RAM on top of it.
There's a lot to be done like distinguishing different "hotspots" and designating right side only or left side only. Overall though I really enjoy the transitions and how the menu auto-switches based on which choices you're hovering over. Very intuitive choices too that I agree with about which things go where.
Looking forward to the potential this holds in the future. I may just abandon my LMT setup if done right.
Edit: And of course the ability for users to add/edit the options, potentially switch the color for mere superficial reasons. Something like my screenshot.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
ne0fhyk said:
It's not possible to use both at the same time, since both controls rely on the user touching the edge of the screen.
If you have an idea on how I could get around that issue, I'm all ear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe ask SwipePad's developer.
(I'm not being sarcastic)
Really useful. Love the idea, but it does cause a few conflicts with apps that rely on swiping from the sides of the screen. Having said that, when I set the margin to 13 pixels I can use the Dolphin browser (for example) without too many issues by not swiping from the outer edge, but by placing the finger a little more away from the edge and then swiping inwards. Other apps are less forgiving.
What about a button in the notification area, which is visible at all times anyways?
EDIT:
If swiping has the preference, then it would be more logical to align the available programs/tasks to the side from which was swiped. Swiping and selecting can be done with one hand then, regardless of which hand was used to swipe with.
The recents button is useless, I never use it, ever.
I'd like the option to use this instead and just disable the side activation altogether.
Nice idea. However on TF101 after getting the quick control moving the finger to one of the options too fast causes the quick controls to disappear. I have to move the thumb really slow in order to select any option. Hopefully, this will be fixed soon:fingers-crossed:.
ppl get over it, the man is trying to make ur life simpler, so if u don't like some stuff about the app then tell him your opinions in a decent way so he can make a proper development for the app instead of trashing it, otherwise f*** off
I like this!
1. I only see it from the right edge in portrait.
2. Might have a user selected area(s) for its swipe. This would allow those with conflicts to fix them. There is a similar app on Play which just gives a row running/recent apps icons which is not a bad interface. I found its use of the bottom obtrusive.
3. The home key does not go home in the base browser (I am using Trebuchet on a CM10).
4. There is a difference between "running" and "recent" (exited, cached, and still available.) !!
Long press of home gives a vertically tiled thumbnail view of both.
Taskarou shows only icons of running apps, not recent.
Taskarou should show both, either in two panes or in one with some distinction?, i.e. frame around one or the other. I sort of like having the thumbnails and they could be tiled or cascaded. If cascaded, should be focus-able, if tiled, scroll larger view like the app list. Best eliminated the number of apps option or make that for the pane (but that would be scroll-able for more). Cascading the main webOS motif. Flick down to kill?
mosta_9741 said:
ppl get over it, the man is trying to make ur life simpler, so if u don't like some stuff about the app then tell him your opinions in a decent way so he can make a proper development for the app instead of trashing it, otherwise f*** off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, as far as I can see, no one is trashing his app. So maybe lower your tone a bit and at least pretend to be able to communicate in a proper way.instead of telling people to "F-off".
The developer probably appreciates the feedback as he responds to it. Feedback (be it positive or negative) is valuable for both him and the app he works on. The end product can benefit from any kind of feedback as it points out flaws and strong points, and it can give the developer some different perspectives and experiences from different users and from different devices.
The day a developer stops listening to his/her targeted market is the day the product will begin its downfall.
Hey man, I just noticed that you dont have a video demo on google play... would you like one? I can do some switches with a background music... may I do it and you decide after if use it or not?
360porcento said:
Hey man, I just noticed that you dont have a video demo on google play... would you like one? I can do some switches with a background music... may I do it and you decide after if use it or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That'd be cool, thanks.
Was having issues on my Nexus 7 running SmoothRom 4.1.2. Updated to 4.2 and no more disappearing quick controls as soon as my finger leaves the border. To get them to stay I had to leave my finger there for at least 1.5 seconds. Now all is well. Really liking it. I look forward to extended and customizable menus
Update:
Scratch that. Conflict was gesture control. Had it set to consume events in starting zone. So a touch on the edge first went to gesture control. Just an iD10t error.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
ddlooping said:
That'd be cool, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you the the same guy as the OP?
360porcento said:
Are you the the same guy as the OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No but it'd cool regardless as I'd be interested in seeing it in action.
(the app that is)
360porcento said:
Hey man, I just noticed that you dont have a video demo on google play... would you like one? I can do some switches with a background music... may I do it and you decide after if use it or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would loved one, that'd be greatly appreciated... thanks! (i am the op)
I think touchwiz has come a long way. It really adds alot to stock android in my opinion, and im not just talking about the s pen additions.
The dialer, the whole phone app in general, all the motion settings...
What I want to talk about are issues that people have with touchwiz in general, meaning, reasons that you would jump ship to a custom rom, and I'd like to see if anyone would have solutions to these issues.
Ill give you a few examples of my own experiences.
1) I need to have a battery percentage in the status bar. So when youre running any rom worth its salt, there's an option for that. I was going through the settings on the note 2 and there it was, built into the touchwiz settings... im curious to know when this was added because im pretty sure it wasnt there in gingerbread.
2) I like the additions to the stock player but to me, its still not functional enough, I at least need a screen lock. When I mentioned this in a post, someone pointed out that screen lock is built in now, all you need to do is press the power key when playing a video and it locks the screen.
3) I remember someone posting about how on this phone, the calls and messages show up in the call log and how annoying that is. I just looked for a second and realized that theres a way to change that. When youre in the call log, you hit menu then view by.
I think we could all benefit from learning about the other "hidden features and functionality" in touchwiz. For example, I still have an issue with the stock video player that you cant easily fast forward by dragging like other players and there doesnt seem to be any options or preferences built it...
What I want from Touchwiz is wallpaper scrolling and the option to change the screen grid. Other than that, it has really improved a lot and I'm pretty much comfortable using it now.
most touchwiz doesn't work for me because I work in a 240dpi environment and touchwiz doesn't scale well in it. not even the Samsung keyboard loads, it just FCs. I use different launcher, different dialer. stock kernel is not too battery friendly...I got almost 2 days usage with jedi master 2 rom with normal usage (yes, it's touchwiz based but wherever I can change it I do).
why would I jump ship?
- better environment scaling in 240dpi
- better/longer battery life
- faster operations
lennie said:
most touchwiz doesn't work for me because I work in a 240dpi environment and touchwiz doesn't scale well in it. not even the Samsung keyboard loads, it just FCs. I use different launcher, different dialer. stock kernel is not too battery friendly...I got almost 2 days usage with jedi master 2 rom with normal usage (yes, it's touchwiz based but wherever I can change it I do).
why would I jump ship?
- better environment scaling in 240dpi
- better/longer battery life
- faster operations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on Jedi... I consider myself an "advanced" user and stock touchwiz is not quite there yet but if you add Jedi's rom and Nova launcher then it makes the experience much better imo... I don't mess around with dpi settings as I will just wait for a rom that will customize that to my liking. We are lacking in the development department right now but as soon as it picks up there should be lots of great options for us...:fingers-crossed: And as far as scrollable wallpapers... I just download Zedge & an app called wallpaper changer and I have on demand scrollable wallpapers in Nova!
mottyengel said:
I think touchwiz has come a long way. It really adds alot to stock android in my opinion, and im not just talking about the s pen additions.
The dialer, the whole phone app in general, all the motion settings...
What I want to talk about are issues that people have with touchwiz in general, meaning, reasons that you would jump ship to a custom rom, and I'd like to see if anyone would have solutions to these issues.
Ill give you a few examples of my own experiences.
1) I need to have a battery percentage in the status bar. So when youre running any rom worth its salt, there's an option for that. I was going through the settings on the note 2 and there it was, built into the touchwiz settings... im curious to know when this was added because im pretty sure it wasnt there in gingerbread.
2) I like the additions to the stock player but to me, its still not functional enough, I at least need a screen lock. When I mentioned this in a post, someone pointed out that screen lock is built in now, all you need to do is press the power key when playing a video and it locks the screen.
3) I remember someone posting about how on this phone, the calls and messages show up in the call log and how annoying that is. I just looked for a second and realized that theres a way to change that. When youre in the call log, you hit menu then view by.
I think we could all benefit from learning about the other "hidden features and functionality" in touchwiz. For example, I still have an issue with the stock video player that you cant easily fast forward by dragging like other players and there doesnt seem to be any options or preferences built it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi OP,
If u go to Settings -> Display and if you select Display Battery Percentage, it'll show you the battery percentage in the notification bar.
I'd like a better home screen layout. 5x4 is a GINORMOUS waste of space.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
achusaysblessyou said:
Hi OP,
If u go to Settings -> Display and if you select Display Battery Percentage, it'll show you the battery percentage in the notification bar.
I'd like a better home screen layout. 5x4 is a GINORMOUS waste of space.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i guess i wasnt clear, i found it, but i never knew it was there... and the homescreen layout... use a different launcher..
The only thing I missed from a custom launcher are:
1) can't change the icon grid, would like a 5x5 at least.
2) can't lock the home screen. Hate it when I accidentally moved stuff after having it setup perfectly the way I want it.
Also it would be great if we can select which app the page buddy brings up.
The only thing that really pushed me away from TouchWiz is that you can’t move the “Apps” button in the dock. I can’t reach the button when holding the phone in my left hand, one handed.
I really hate the lock screen. I was running a ROM with AOSP JB lock screen on my previous phone. I use the lock screen music controls all the time.
On Touchwiz lock screen if you use the basic swipe lock, you get the quick apps at the bottom, but the music controls don't show up at the top (at least not for Spotify or DoggCatcher). I can turn on pattern unlock, then it will show the lock screen music controls, but I lose the quick apps (I find it useful to access Google Search or Camera from lock screen).
The only solution to get both is to use pattern unlock with swipe gesture. This gives me the swipe lock screen with quick apps at the bottom, then when I swipe it gives me the pattern unlock with music controls at the top. WAY too many steps to access these two features that apparently can't be on the lock screen at the same time.
Can't say I often log in just to reply to a thread here, I'm more of a lurker. But I definitely feel the need to contribute to this.
I actually just returned my Note 2 (with the intention of getting an unlocked Nexus 4 in a couple days) and one of the major reasons was TouchWiz.
I hate it. Hate hate hate it. I hate the notification bar customizations. I hate that they've taken something as wonderful as power toggles in the notification bar and so badly butchered them. The entire notification pulldown is a crowded clusterfk compared to vanilla Android (full disclosure: I'm a long time vanilla Android user through Nexus devices/AOSP ROMs). The low DPI for a phone with such a big screen is damn absurd. I feel like I'm using my 37" computer monitor at 1280*1024. The TouchWiz customizations to the settings UI is just as bad or worse than Sense. If anything the Note 2 should be using the default Android tablet settings UI. The TouchWiz lock screen is a step up in customization from vanilla Android, but I still think it's ugly as all hell. Most of it is fluff that doesn't add any function or aesthetics. Not specifically TouchWiz related, but I loathe that they moved the back button from the left side of the screen as in vanilla JB to the left side via a capacitive hardware button.
I don't hate ALL of Samsung's tinkering. S-Voice was actually a phenomenal surprise and I'm going to dearly miss it. I could actually reliably send text messages with it without ever so much as glancing at the phone. Voice recognition was fantastic and it covered basic phone features better than vanilla Android's default abilities.
What I would really LOVE to have is a Note 2 without the hardware buttons, running AOSP with S-Voice and the S-Pen apps. Perhaps one day if there's a stable CM release where I can install extracted APKs for the Samsung apps I may get another one. Until then I'm going to stick with the Nexus line. TouchWiz really is that bad IMO.
... at least TouchWiz is a lot better than one of the first versions of it with the Behold II *shudders* I used one of those for a week.
hittingsmoke said:
Can't say I often log in just to reply to a thread here, I'm more of a lurker. But I definitely feel the need to contribute to this.
I actually just returned my Note 2 (with the intention of getting an unlocked Nexus 4 in a couple days) and one of the major reasons was TouchWiz.
I hate it. Hate hate hate it. I hate the notification bar customizations. I hate that they've taken something as wonderful as power toggles in the notification bar and so badly butchered them. The entire notification pulldown is a crowded clusterfk compared to vanilla Android (full disclosure: I'm a long time vanilla Android user through Nexus devices/AOSP ROMs). The low DPI for a phone with such a big screen is damn absurd. I feel like I'm using my 37" computer monitor at 1280*1024. The TouchWiz customizations to the settings UI is just as bad or worse than Sense. If anything the Note 2 should be using the default Android tablet settings UI. The TouchWiz lock screen is a step up in customization from vanilla Android, but I still think it's ugly as all hell. Most of it is fluff that doesn't add any function or aesthetics. Not specifically TouchWiz related, but I loathe that they moved the back button from the left side of the screen as in vanilla JB to the left side via a capacitive hardware button.
I don't hate ALL of Samsung's tinkering. S-Voice was actually a phenomenal surprise and I'm going to dearly miss it. I could actually reliably send text messages with it without ever so much as glancing at the phone. Voice recognition was fantastic and it covered basic phone features better than vanilla Android's default abilities.
What I would really LOVE to have is a Note 2 without the hardware buttons, running AOSP with S-Voice and the S-Pen apps. Perhaps one day if there's a stable CM release where I can install extracted APKs for the Samsung apps I may get another one. Until then I'm going to stick with the Nexus line. TouchWiz really is that bad IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find it entertaining that you mentioned you are an avid vanilla android user, then explain how you run custom roms. *boggle* Enjoy the on screen buttons taking up real estate, 16gb of total memory, and yearning for the s-pen. Btw, something as simple as go launcher could allow you to set up plenty of things you want, to include a 5x5 icon set.
I could go on and on, but to be honest, I don't think it will be long for you to realize you are making a mistake. *cough* battery
mdt73 said:
I find it entertaining that you mentioned you are an avid vanilla android user, then explain how you run custom roms. *boggle* Enjoy the on screen buttons taking up real estate, 16gb of total memory, and yearning for the s-pen. Btw, something as simple as go launcher could allow you to set up plenty of things you want, to include a 5x5 icon set.
I could go on and on, but to be honest, I don't think it will be long for you to realize you are making a mistake. *cough* battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He does have a point with a lot of that stuff, particularly the lock screen music control. I just don't understand why it's so hard to add it just under the weather, or as a small bar just above the other lockscreen targets at the bottom of the screen. That's the most frustrating thing for me, as most the the other stuff he mentioned can be changed, and if it can't I'm willing to overlook it for a while because of all the added features this phone brings.
I have been using power amp for music since my DroidX2 back when we yearned for an eq... so its always been there for me (the lock screen music control).
Everything mentioned can be addressed. That's the beauty of android; customizing your android experience. What people have become is lazy because roms do it for you.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
mdt73 said:
I find it entertaining that you mentioned you are an avid vanilla android user, then explain how you run custom roms. *boggle*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How so? AOSP ROMS are pretty well vanilla with very minor tweaks. Nothing like horribly reskinned menus at every turn. *yahtzee*
I use ADW EX to do a hell of a lot more than add icons to my home screen. Changing the launcher can only do so much to fix a horrible complete OS reskin.
hittingsmoke said:
How so? AOSP ROMS are pretty well vanilla with very minor tweaks. Nothing like horribly reskinned menus at every turn. *yahtzee*
I use ADW EX to do a hell of a lot more than add icons to my home screen. Changing the launcher can only do so much to fix a horrible complete OS reskin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing that looks skined on my phobe now isctge lockscreen, and im sure I can fix that with a lock screen app. Otherwise my launcher is now ADW, my notification bar is themed blue with circle battery and stock JB settings/clear all buttons. No brightness bar in notification window either. In all honesty there is not much mire I was able to change on my Galaxy Nexus that I cant on here, visually. In the options department Samsung has done a wonderful job and I currently dont miss anything from AOKP other then the widget popups on nav bar (would love to hold say menu button to get that on here)
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Hello, I like TouchWiz but I want to have some changes. I tried Zero Launcher and kind of like it. The only issue I have is that it does not switch between portrait and landscape modes. Anybody knows how to do it? I have turning on and switching works under apps such as those for pdf viewing. However, on home screen, I cannot get the orientation turning works.
Anybody knows how to set the theme to IOS-like?
Some launchers make it an option to hold portrait or rotate when in the launcher, did you check for that option in your launcher settings?
krabman said:
Some launchers make it an option to hold portrait or rotate when in the launcher, did you check for that option in your launcher settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
petercohen said:
Yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'Yes'...and then what? Now I'm curious too! What did you find on Zero?
I haven't downloaded a single launcher for my Note Pro yet and one of the reasons for that is that as a beginner with those apps, I need better explanations than I see at the app store and the developers' websites offer no additional help. Most of them don't even bother to answer an e-mail. That said, I am grateful to you all here for having taught me so many of the right questions to ask; that's another thing that beginners seldom know.
I hope you'll come back soon and tell us what you found. I almost never use 'portrait' view on my tablet, won't download apps for it that insist on using it and can see no use for a launcher that would give me trouble getting out of it. I'm still shopping for the right launcher and I come to every thread here that mentions one.
Thanks again for a very good question.
The only way you're going to find a Launcher you like is to install them and try them. If you don't like it, uninstall it and you're right back where you started. Installing a launcher isn't going to mess anything up, so just try some. Try all of them. You might like more than one, decide to keep changing them, and you'll never get tired of your tablet.
Rolldog said:
The only way you're going to find a Launcher you like is to install them and try them. If you don't like it, uninstall it and you're right back where you started. Installing a launcher isn't going to mess anything up, so just try some. Try all of them. You might like more than one, decide to keep changing them, and you'll never get tired of your tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's reassuring! In fact I was wondering if I would 'mess anything up' if I did that. The Note Pro is not only my first big tablet: it is my first tablet ever. Unless we also call my Galaxy Note 4 phone a tablet as it does function as one and still I got that not long before the Note Pro. I've lived out in the boonies for over 30 years and got used to the bare minimum in 'under-served' parts of the country. I didn't get greedy till last year and Verizon helped me to upgrade my old flip phone and join the 21st century. I've about worn out my laptop and needed to diversify and of course I'm still having to learn a completely different kind of OS and hardware to do that so I can treat my new friends well. That's taking me a while, as you can tell, but it's not for lack of effort.
Is there some app in the playstore that makes switching back and forth between launchers a little more......streamlined? Should I keep my TouchWiz default whilst I'm doing all the experimenting until I find one I want to keep for a while? I got the cautious mindset from older PC's and hangups or blue screens when I tried to run something too big, and too new, for my hardware, especially, in my experience, when it came to graphics so I really have been afraid of getting into trouble. If I tried switching my whole GUI a half dozen times in one night on a Vista laptop, I'd be reinstalling the whole system by morning, lol.
And then there is OP's question: I admit I rather thought that any developers regularly updating their launchers would be adding the 'rotating' flexibility by default, particularly as large-screen tablets have come out. A lot of apps I've tried (and later dumped) haven't caught up with that, of course, but I didn't think a popular launcher, the principle function of which is the display, would be among them. Now I know what to call it, thanks to OP, I'll look for it on the list of 'features' in the playstore.
There's probably launcher managers out there, I recall using one once a few years back but since it's easy enough to dive into Settings-General-Default Applications-Home and change it I prefer not to load yet another application that has the potential to stay cached/memory resident just for that purpose.
Trying out different launchers won't impact the device much, when you switch back to stock Touchwiz based launcher all of your widgets and icon layouts will be there waiting for you. My advice is to just do one launcher at a time, if you don't like it uninstall it rather than collecting several and switching between them . . the more you load the system down the more risk you have should a launcher you decide to not use has services associated with it that still run or cache themselves in the background taking up resources.
As for screen rotation, the rotation of home screens between portrait and landscape is not my cup of tea. Widgets scale when you rotate to try to adjust for the new aspect ratio that rotation forces upon them and this results in stretch/compression that is unappealing to me. What I use is a rotation manager like Ultimate Rotation Control to force "auto landscape" mode such that my tablet can be used in either landscape orientation (home button up or down) while preserving the ability of all other apps to have the freedom to go portrait or landscape.
muzzy996 said:
There's probably launcher managers out there, I recall using one once a few years back but since it's easy enough to dive into Settings-General-Default Applications-Home and change it I prefer not to load yet another application that has the potential to stay cached/memory resident just for that purpose.
Trying out different launchers won't impact the device much, when you switch back to stock Touchwiz based launcher all of your widgets and icon layouts will be there waiting for you. My advice is to just do one launcher at a time, if you don't like it uninstall it rather than collecting several and switching between them . . the more you load the system down the more risk you have should a launcher you decide to not use has services associated with it that still run or cache themselves in the background taking up resources.
As for screen rotation, the rotation of home screens between portrait and landscape is not my cup of tea. Widgets scale when you rotate to try to adjust for the new aspect ratio that rotation forces upon them and this results in stretch/compression that is unappealing to me. What I use is a rotation manager like Ultimate Rotation Control to force "auto landscape" mode such that my tablet can be used in either landscape orientation (home button up or down) while preserving the ability of all other apps to have the freedom to go portrait or landscape.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I got Nova today and I'll work with it a while before I think of trying another. I might put another one on my phone so I can learn how to use two of them at once. Now I have a couple of 'dumb questions:'
Do you mean locking just the Home screen so when you hit that button it takes you right back to landscape without you having to physically turn the tablet into position and slant it forward in a quick dip (at least I have to do) to make it go back to landscape? Some apps I've downloaded not only insist on going to portrait mode, they hang up my orientation for a few seconds after I've hit that Home button so then I always have to pick the tablet up and do that dip towards me to make it cooperate.
The few that were especially bad about this, I dumped. Clean Master pulled that on me with its battery checker whenever the screen was idle for a while and I got tired of hitting the back button to get my home page back. - especially since I can't see where it is at night and don't always hit it right.
I don't use a lot of lights at night and I know that's the main problem. It's too many years of working by lantern light at night and saving my solar power for the computer and even though I've moved and have grid electricity the last few years now, I'm still way out in the sticks, no 'light pollution,' and can't change the habit of letting it go ahead and be dark at night. Brightly lit rooms when it's 2 in the morning just feel weird and always remind me of my wild youth when night spots would hit the lights at closing time to shoo everybody out. (it worked too, didn't it?)
Now there's a 'widget' I'd like to find, or an app that follows me around: an alternative to that back button. It illuminates only when I hit it right so I'm constantly tapping around the general area trying to find it. I suppose it would drain my battery a little faster if it were lit up all the time but I really do need a way to solve this, since I'm not going to cure myself of all-nighters with my beloved machines. I've been looking at some likely little apps for that today, made for those whose buttons are worn out or not working, but I haven't found one yet that's been updated in the last year. Have you any recommendations? This is just for my tablet. My Note 4 is small enough so it's harder to get it wrong - and I got the white model and a lurid fuschia otter box case so I'm bound to see it easily.
Next dumb question: is there a way to access the Settings faster than apps button and scrolling through the apps in order to get to it? That's as good as saying I've downloaded too many apps if it takes me that long and I fear that's the case. Maybe a launcher will allow me to put a link to it on the Home screen? As you've said, it's a more economical use of resources to go to Settings and do my own errands instead of installing yet another app; I just wish getting there didn't take me so long. TouchWiz isn't going to let me put that icon among the A's.
Samsung (at least according to them when I asked them) won't let me put more than one language on my GUI - well if it's the same alphabet and I give up accents and tone marks, I can be creative in naming my app folders but that's all. They said I had to change the whole interface if I tried to enable another language. (They also offer Thai but discriminate against Lao so I had to go download a whole different application for that keyboard! I had to do the same just to enable one Welsh circumflex. Ridiculous. ) I can't even think in just one language! My dogs and cats are fluent by now in at least 5 of them. Are launchers a bit more open-minded? I understand I can run individual applications in as many languages as they offer, for they are 'self-contained' but sometimes, I like to change names, menus, options or widgets to different things just to keep my mental edge. I can't even display documents I've imported to the tablet that are in languages not available on my Samsung list. I have the Hancom Office and that has the fonts for them but they won't display and I sure can't edit them in those languages. Is there some simple way to manage this dilemma that I'm missing?
Best to not take this thread off topic . . suggest you ask the other questions in a separate thread that you create in the troubleshooting or general forum.
I will say this - the ultimate rotation control application does allow you to force ANY application into an orientation of your chosing which includes the launcher. So yes, if I'm in an app that's portrait and I'm holding the tablet in that portrait orientation when I hit the HOME button my tablet goes into landscape due to the rotation control app overriding the orientation sensors in the tablet.
muzzy996 said:
Best to not take this thread off topic . . suggest you ask the other questions in a separate thread that you create in the troubleshooting or general forum.
I will say this - the ultimate rotation control application does allow you to force ANY application into an orientation of your chosing which includes the launcher. So yes, if I'm in an app that's portrait and I'm holding the tablet in that portrait orientation when I hit the HOME button my tablet goes into landscape due to the rotation control app overriding the orientation sensors in the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good. Thanks. I found that app just now. I will post a thread about the language mix-ups. I just joined here yesterday and don't know my way around yet, but the first thing I noticed is that your membership here covers the globe and I can't possibly be the only one here who's run into this problem.
I have another rotation-related question and it's probably a dumb one too but it occurred to me because my Note 4 and my Note Pro had different rotation issues and I chose different ways of fixing them. For the tablet, I installed Ultimate Rotate Controller because I only wanted to lock my Home sceen in landscape. On the other hand, I didn't want my phone to spontaneously switch to landscape when I was holding it, as it often did, especially if I got a call because the landscape view made those 'accept' and 'reject' buttons harder to see and harder to hit right. So, I went into Settings, Display and unchecked the box for screen rotation to stop that. It worked. So my question is:
Is this kind of thing actually set by the device 'Settings' and not by the Touchwiz launcher? If you've set your device to disallow screen rotation, wouldn't that hold no matter what launcher you used? Or not?
pawpowered said:
I have another rotation-related question and it's probably a dumb one too but it occurred to me because my Note 4 and my Note Pro had different rotation issues and I chose different ways of fixing them. For the tablet, I installed Ultimate Rotate Controller because I only wanted to lock my Home sceen in landscape. On the other hand, I didn't want my phone to spontaneously switch to landscape when I was holding it, as it often did, especially if I got a call because the landscape view made those 'accept' and 'reject' buttons harder to see and harder to hit right. So, I went into Settings, Display and unchecked the box for screen rotation to stop that. It worked. So my question is:
Is this kind of thing actually set by the device 'Settings' and not by the Touchwiz launcher? If you've set your device to disallow screen rotation, wouldn't that hold no matter what launcher you used? Or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using system settings or the quick settings toggle for rotation in the notification tray is a system wide lock of rotation. If your goal is to lock a launcher to a specific rotation then look within the settings of the launcher itself. Some launchers will have a setting to lock orientation, nova does for example. Doing it within the launchers own settings only affects home screen and application tray, not other screens like the call or dialer screen.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk
muzzy996 said:
Using system settings or the quick settings toggle for rotation in the notification tray is a system wide lock of rotation. If your goal is to lock a launcher to a specific rotation then look within the settings of the launcher itself. Some launchers will have a setting to lock orientation, nova does for example. Doing it within the launchers own settings only affects home screen and application tray, not other screens like the call or dialer screen.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clarifying that! Going to system settings looked like the only option to try, long before I started thinking of launchers - or even thinking of Touchwiz as a separate entity. (the Note 4 was my first Android phone too ) It seemed worth the trouble to go back and allow that rotation again at my leisure, when I wasn't doing something risky like driving down the road. Mother always happens to call me when I'm driving back from town on dark mountain roads, so that was about the first thing I learned to do on my phone. Verizon has recently informed me that I can now make and receive calls on my tablet, which brings me to a question only peripherally related, pun intended:
Would you direct me to a thread here, if you happen to know of one, discussing appropriate headsets, something more up to date, for my phone and tablet? I don't know what to call them or the names of the best brands. I only have a 6-year-old little ear piece that I got for my old flip phone and almost never used and it may not be up to the job for these newer devices.
I saw some games to play with your cats on the playstore last night that you use your phone to control - and then your cats get to jump all over your tablet. If you can do that much, could you also affect the screen orientation of your tablet with your phone?
OP, have you tried this launcher: Live Launcher? I saw it on SlideME tonight and it has the 3D effects. It's free.
http://slideme.org/application/live-launcher
If i do not root the telephone, can I use personalized widgets and themes?
Sorry for the quite trivial question but I do not have Samsung experience
trocchietto said:
If i do not root the telephone, can I use personalized widgets and themes?
Sorry for the quite trivial question but I do not have Samsung experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If partner. goes through my web
www.eladiosthemes.com
Enviado desde mi SM-G935F mediante Tapatalk
trocchietto said:
If i do not root the telephone, can I use personalized widgets and themes?
Sorry for the quite trivial question but I do not have Samsung experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely! That's the great thing about Android. You can even choose to go with something completely different than Samsung's launcher. There's lots of different launchers that support themes. Nova and Apex are two popular options. Themes are also available for Samsung.
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk
1. Launcher and theme as mention above.
2. Ads free by Adguard on Play Store.
3. Disable almost apps anf module you want by EZ Disable Package or Package Disable Pro
4. Change dpi by Content Scaling or some commands through adb
Sent from my SM-N930F
I prefer not to root or tinker with my primary business phone because I don't want to have something not work as intended and miss a call or appointment.
The level of customization you can do with launchers and themes these days is almost on par with what you can achieve with a rooted device.
In addition to themes you can also download and install custom icon packs to customize the look of all of your icons.
For widgets you can get something like the Beautiful Widgets app that lets you customize various widgets for the device. It is very popular for people who like the HTC type clock widget look on their home screens.
Just do some searches on the play store for themes, icon packs, widgets, keyboards, etc and there are enough customization options to make your head spin.
For Home screens / App drawer / Folder, any Launcher will do. My all time fav, and most reliable recommendation is easily Nova Launcher.
- Nova lets you customize the font size, label colours, icon sizes, icon packs, homescreen grid, app drawer grid, homescreen gestures and so much more.
For custom button remapping, Button Remapper works perfectly without root. It will let you set custom actions for your physical buttons (swap the recent/back if you wish, or add hold functionality)
- The app is a bit limited without root in regards to added functionality, but its something!
- I believe the non-rooted version also allows you to map volume keys to add Music skip / pause functionality. (Correct me if im wrong!)
For global app / service disabling, definitely use Package Disabler Pro. It has a built in list of (currently) 97 apps considered unneeded, and gives you full control of every app.
- This has been proven to save battery btw!
For added Toggles in the Notification panel (not QuickPanel) there are hundreds of working apps that add their own little notification bar, fully interactive, that shows up as a notification card.
- It may seem a bit redundant considering Samsung's built in QuickPanel does mostly everything, but for a few things that may be missing (ie. Hotspot, Mobile Data, or specific functions like opening apps, setting gps/data to specific modes etc).
For ad blocking, you can use AdGuard. I havent personally tried this app, but it is highly recommended by most users in this forum.
For button backlight disabling / modding, you can use Button Backlight 2.
- It allows you to turn off button backlight completely, add a custom time, or have them on all the time
Android is so vastly open, even without root, if you ever feel like you are missing a certain function / feature, theres a very high chance that a solution would have been made long ago.
It never hurts to google what you wish to do. When I first got my Note 5 for example, the first phone with button backlights, I wanted to turn them off completely as well as swap the layout of them from recents home back, to back home recents. A few minutes later and I found myself using the two apps mentioned above, and a happy camper!
well it looks like I am really grateful to samsung to give me the possibilities under the hood. My dev friends scared me in every way saying that touch wiz is bloatware, that people think is really taking the control of the system, instead I found it effective, and most important of all I am happy samsung is not taking coltan from congolese mines.
I am also really grateful to you.
which tutorial do you recommend me to customize my themes? if there is an app, Gui super, otherwise I am also an android developer, so do not mind also to write some java/xml. Also i guess there is some design involved, which software should i use photoshop or gimp? Last but not least, as I use to test my apps, installing a lot of themes will decrease the perform, or the fact that is run one per time will not affect performance? thank you guys. Customization is everything for me, as bosters creativity and make the day more exciting
EDIT: I am wondering if downloading themes is safe in terms of malicious code.