Did the leak make anyone decide on getting the Nexus? - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

So playing around with the leak the past day and half has made me decide that I'll be getting the Nexus when it comes out, or waiting for another ICS device released with it out the box.
It was way to Gingerbread feeling for me. It didn't feel new to me. Even with the ICS launcher instead of the TW one. I know it isn't a final release, but this is basically what we are going to see.
I also know the devs do an awesome job for this phone, but I don't know if they are going to fix this up good enough for me not to just jump on what ICS was meant to be.
I understand why Samsung did it this way, but huge disappointment.

You do realize that someone, here in our very own forum, is working on putting aosp on our phone, right? Which means it will be _exactly_ what ics was meant to be.

tejasrichard said:
You do realize that someone, here in our very own forum, is working on putting aosp on our phone, right? Which means it will be _exactly_ what ics was meant to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realize that, but we still don't have an AOSP GB that works perfectly......
Like I said I love the devs....but idk I'll wait and see if they get it done.

Go get the Nexus, enjoy!

I might be a minority in thought, but I actually am not impressed with ASOP, for some reason, it just feels a little half baked. Back in the day, I flashed an ASOP rom on my original Epic and EVO, and let a normal user try it for a day. They looked so lost compared to their iPhone.
Not wanting to make this into a pissing match, but I see the appeal of overlays such as TouchWiz or HTC Sense. From a customer experience perspective, the overlay is what sells the device, not the version of Android. The users of this board, and similar forums, make up a small percentage of actual buyers.

gpgorbosjr said:
Even with the ICS launcher instead of the TW one. I know it isn't a final release, but this is basically what we are going to see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does not compute. ICS launcher on our phone will be the same as the ICS launcher on the Nexus....

DevalB said:
I might be a minority in thought, but I actually am not impressed with ASOP, for some reason, it just feels a little half baked. Back in the day, I flashed an ASOP rom on my original Epic and EVO, and let a normal user try it for a day. They looked so lost compared to their iPhone.
Not wanting to make this into a pissing match, but I see the appeal of overlays such as TouchWiz or HTC Sense. From a customer experience perspective, the overlay is what sells the device, not the version of Android. The users of this board, and similar forums, make up a small percentage of actual buyers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is AOSP. And a normal user is an iPhone user? This statement is just full of not adding up, huh?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Nothing wrong with it... Its ics power with the colorfull look and feel of gb... Its a phone patna not a lexus!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Galaxy !?!?!
Pshhhh
iPhone is where it's at

cnstarz said:
does not compute. ICS launcher on our phone will be the same as the ICS launcher on the Nexus....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm not mistaken you cannot resize widgets on our phone like you can with the Nexus....
Also, I'm wondering if the widgets function differently on a normal ICS install....for example adding a contact to the home screen. On the preview it shows that what they text you comes up on the home screen, but in actual usage of it only their name comes up and never switches from that..

gpgorbosjr said:
If I'm not mistaken you cannot resize widgets on our phone like you can with the Nexus....
Also, I'm wondering if the widgets function differently on a normal ICS install....for example adding a contact to the home screen. On the preview it shows that what they text you comes up on the home screen, but in actual usage of it only their name comes up and never switches from that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's because we only have a leaked beta version...

cnstarz said:
that's because we only have a leaked beta version...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not convinced, but we will see......
Are the new ICS widgets available using the TW Launcher? I am currently restoring EL29 and can't check. I thought they didn't when I was using it but am not sure.
I'm not totally convinced Samsung intends on including some of the features like resizing widgets, but I guess I'll have to wait and find out...

Samsung will try o deliver as much of a user-friendly experience as they can.
Remember that Google put a lot of restrictions on OEM skins with ICS. You aren't going to get the heavy skinning on ICS like you did with GB. They did this because they want ICS to look like ICS, not TouchWiz, MotoBlur, or Sense. That's why you have the option to revert to the ICS launcher. If you want AOSP experience, simply stick with Calkulin's leaked version and run ICS launcher until Cyanogen comes out with CM9.
But then again, I don't make six figures and have $600+ to blow on a Nexus, so.

dude
I've had the ics on my nexus and also on my vibrant but ONCE again the potential of this device overshadows any type of os for me and for most .. idk I just find myself actually using the browser ..phone ... apps..watching movies more than the little things a lot of the people talk about getting a nexus s for.... I say have fun I'm about the go not the show. Just like my cars

azyouthinkeyeiz said:
It is AOSP. And a normal user is an iPhone user? This statement is just full of not adding up, huh?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's what happens when you think faster than you type.
What I was trying to say is that when you compare ICS as a build and UI experience, it is catching up, but there is a reason why overlays such as Sense and TouchWiz exist, as they really improve the experience for that common Android user. I've used the Nexus, and I still go back to the Epic Touch, just feels better in my opinion.

iSaint said:
Galaxy !?!?!
Pshhhh
iPhone is where it's at
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pffft yeah right! It's all about the galaxy nexus
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Tripsyk said:
Samsung will try o deliver as much of a user-friendly experience as they can.
Remember that Google put a lot of restrictions on OEM skins with ICS. You aren't going to get the heavy skinning on ICS like you did with GB. They did this because they want ICS to look like ICS, not TouchWiz, MotoBlur, or Sense. That's why you have the option to revert to the ICS launcher. If you want AOSP experience, simply stick with Calkulin's leaked version and run ICS launcher until Cyanogen comes out with CM9.
But then again, I don't make six figures and have $600+ to blow on a Nexus, so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither do I, but I didn't use my upgrade on my E4GT.....I used a combination of my old phones and some video games in a Craigslist trade. So I still have an upgrade for when the Nexus comes out, but I was hoping to keep the E4GT and wait on the upgrade if ICS impressed me enough on it.

gpgorbosjr said:
If I'm not mistaken you cannot resize widgets on our phone like you can with the Nexus....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running NOVA right now and I am able to resize widgets, there is an option in NOVA settings. i am not sure about AOSP launcher but you can do it with NOVA.

durhamite said:
I am running NOVA right now and I am able to resize widgets, there is an option in NOVA settings. i am not sure about AOSP launcher but you can do it with NOVA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll check it out when one of the devs get a smoother ICS rom up and running.
I actually went back to Blazer for now because the phone ran a little bit sluggish compared to GB and sometimes my notifications dont work....if I turned system sounds off it would stop my text notifications....and the vibration doesn't work unless the phone is on vibrate.......both things I understand are from it being a leak.

I applaud the dev's for putting up with so much whining. It's a beta build leak and the aosp is an alpha build. If dev dont release a beta build people whine saying it takes to long. When they give this forum whatever they have finished so far... more whining about bugs and stuff not working... -_- .

Related

Vinilla ICS

Im just curious if we will ever get a rom that is based on vanilla ICS and not CM9 or MIUI? I know that We wont ever get an official update, but ive seen a bunch of different handsets that dont have official roms with a working ICS vanilla rom in progress or already working.
Why? Cm9 is better optimized and has fixes
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
metalblaster said:
Im just curious if we will ever get a rom that is based on vanilla ICS and not CM9 or MIUI? I know that We wont ever get an official update, but ive seen a bunch of different handsets that dont have official roms with a working ICS vanilla rom in progress or already working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can make cm9 as vanilla as you want. Its more customizable than stock...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Higher powers forbid you to ever say anything remotely negative about CM. But I'll second that. "CleanICS" would be sweet.
CM6 I wouldn't touch because the bug list was huge. Sure, you can have CM, but your phone wont properly work.
I tried CM7 and found it about as comfortable for a daily runner as wearing a burlap undershirt.
CM9 is still just an Alpha, so even though folks are raving about it there's still little chance it's any better than the above. All that customization, I don't give a rip. I'd rather have my phone working, normally.
sent from my secret underground bunker
mjben said:
Higher powers forbid you to ever say anything remotely negative about CM. But I'll second that. "CleanICS" would be sweet.
CM6 I wouldn't touch because the bug list was huge. Sure, you can have CM, but your phone wont properly work.
I tried CM7 and found it about as comfortable for a daily runner as wearing a burlap undershirt.
CM9 is still just an Alpha, so even though folks are raving about it there's still little chance it's any better than the above. All that customization, I don't give a rip. I'd rather have my phone working, normally.
sent from my secret underground bunker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a fan of as many options and ROMS for our phones as we can have. I guess my point is you can make CM9 as watered down as you want. CM9 is as close to an ICS release as we will ever see on the Epic, seeing as there will never be a "stock" version. I guess its just user preference and I am a fan of all ROMS really. But it sounds like all you need, is to pick the ROM you want to run and apply an ICS theme.
adamdelozier said:
I am a fan of as many options and ROMS for our phones as we can have. I guess my point is you can make CM9 as watered down as you want. CM9 is as close to an ICS release as we will ever see on the Epic, seeing as there will never be a "stock" version. I guess its just user preference and I am a fan of all ROMS really. But it sounds like all you need, is to pick the ROM you want to run and apply an ICS theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i was talking to a sprint rep a few weeks ago and i was talking to him about ICS and hey basically said " Yeah!, i was talking to samsung and they straight up told me we wouldn't be able to ICS on the phone because the TW UI requires a lot and all the software they bloat it on" But you'd think even if they did update it and stripped TW simple and clean but yet stylish and removed excess bloatware and a few mods it could happen. That it still would make people buy newer products but also have more support for them because their throwing newer support for old tech.
I guess i just dont see why devs would go through the trouble of making an aosp ics build for us when we already have cm9 which is based on it, just with some enhancements. Aosp would not somehow run better or be a better option for a daily driver.. its just a step backward from cm in terms of options and customizability.
By a gnex if u really want haha
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Is ICS really that good?

I don't know :/ Initially everything I read about it suggested that it used some form of hardware acceleration to make phones run much smoother. However, after seeing many speed tests between the Droid Razr and the Galaxy Nexus (both using TI OMAP4 chips, razr has GB and GN uses ICS) the Razr smokes the Nexus in every aspect. And I understand there are many other factors involved that could play into that, but in general it seems people's experiences with ICS point to it being much more bogged down then GB ever was. I don't know, anyone else have thoughts on this :/
Honestly I don't think it is that great. For me it is the eyecandy and a couple of cool new features that make ICS so interesting. But after running ICS for a while I went back to GB and was astonished by how good GB was. By no means is ICS bad, I just don't think that it is on GB level of performance.
It probably just depends on optimization and other stuffs. Processor doesn't determine everything, although it does help. I personally like the TW ICS and it's pretty smooth to me.
Ics gapps like youtube is one of the big big reasons why I stay and its just something different from gingerbread.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
EpicFlair said:
Honestly I don't think it is that great. For me it is the eyecandy and a couple of cool new features that make ICS so interesting. But after running ICS for a while I went back to GB and was astonished by how good GB was. By no means is ICS bad, I just don't think that it is on GB level of performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much my experience as well. It seems they tried to make ICS very perty. And it is, it's got lots of nice transitions and neat features and a nice UI, but after going back to GB I realized how slow ICS actually is.
Perhaps that's why Google has already started Jelly bean, because they realized ICS isn't that great? :/
ICS on my phone is a minimum upgrade that works good for me but when my tab went from Honeycomb to ICS it made a much larger impact. I think ICS brings all the capable devices together and Jellybean will be the one that solidifies Android.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
We all love something new, and we all love eyecandy.
If GB is working fine for you right now, you won't gain much at all moving to ICS.
The only thing I like about ICS is that elastic scrolling of a zoomed in page works.
Samsung GB is a mess. Doubletap on any content and scroll in 1 direction, it's all over the place with no elastic snap on either X or Y axis.
pbassjunk said:
The only thing I like about ICS is that elastic scrolling of a zoomed in page works.
Samsung GB is a mess. Doubletap on any content and scroll in 1 direction, it's all over the place with no elastic snap on either X or Y axis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So out of all the new features, elastic scrolling is most important to you?
batting1000 said:
So out of all the new features, elastic scrolling is most important to you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[fwiw, I really dig MIUI. It's my go-to.]
I haven't experienced much in ICS (leaks) that has really improved much over what we already had. Gallery is better, but Gallery ICS+ is in the market for 2.3.
*shrug*
MultiLockOn said:
Pretty much my experience as well. It seems they tried to make ICS very perty. And it is, it's got lots of nice transitions and neat features and a nice UI, but after going back to GB I realized how slow ICS actually is.
Perhaps that's why Google has already started Jelly bean, because they realized ICS isn't that great? :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is on a yearly release schedule for major Android releases. Jelly Bean or whatever it'll be called was planned well before ICS was shown to the public.
And ICS on skinned devices isn't much of an upgrade, especially with the mess that is Touchwiz. This is due to the (correct) belief on Samsung's part that Android is more complicated and "ugly" than the average user wants/expects. Some of their feature enhancements are useful, but the visual is just awful. On its own, Touchwiz isn't worse than vanilla GB, but you can't use Touchwiz on its own. There are always elements of vanilla GB that show and that makes the entire thing an uncoordinated mess.
Android has reached a point where Google can work on refining the OS with small features. More importantly, ICS is the start of a unified and unique theme that can set Android visually apart from iOS and WP7 which look much better than any Android phone shipping with GB.
Of course, none of that matters since OEMs insist on skinning their phones. I had hoped Samsung would've followed HTC and toned down the skinning for the new version of Touchwiz, but that was a pipe dream considering the number of SGSII's they sold. My biggest problem with Touchwiz is that it doesn't mesh with the Holo theme at all which I hope app developers would use, allowing for a more unified Android look.
What I'm trying to say is: No, ICS is not that much of an upgrade from GB. But, ICS is that important to Android and its future.
pbassjunk said:
[fwiw, I really dig MIUI. It's my go-to.]
I haven't experienced much in ICS (leaks) that has really improved much over what we already had. Gallery is better, but Gallery ICS+ is in the market for 2.3.
*shrug*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually love ICS especially the last few leaks. Everything seems so fast and efficient to me
Oh and my friend finally solved 4g on Miui so be on the lookout for that sometime in the near future
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
JohnCorleone said:
Oh and my friend finally solved 4g on Miui so be on the lookout for that sometime in the near future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now THATS interesting news!
the one thing that's really kept me from playing with miui.
and, in general, i could not disagree with many of the responses here more. (and agree with JC)
ics runs smooth, quick, and the gapps are a Major upgrade, worth it alone, imho.
kingdazy said:
now THATS interesting news!
the one thing that's really kept me from playing with miui.
and, in general, i could not disagree with many of the responses here more. (and agree with JC)
ics runs smooth, quick, and the gapps are a Major upgrade, worth it alone, imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Miui with 4g will be huge! He solved it on NS4G and is building a ROM now. After that (or maybe already) other Miui.us guys like TCP should have access to his code or changes to the code
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2
I had some serious battery issues, but I didn't tweak much and didn't want to. I wanted to see the experience Android/Samsung intended us to have.
My favorite aspect of ICS: the ability to disable built in apps. I don't use media hub. I don't use social hub. I don't use Sprint bloatware. ETC. I love having the option of disabling crap I don't use but being able to restore it if it causes OS problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
in its stock form hell yea
TrayLunch said:
I had some serious battery issues, but I didn't tweak much and didn't want to. I wanted to see the experience Android/Samsung intended us to have.
My favorite aspect of ICS: the ability to disable built in apps. I don't use media hub. I don't use social hub. I don't use Sprint bloatware. ETC. I love having the option of disabling crap I don't use but being able to restore it if it causes OS problems.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do that?
______
DT
Well, I had it switched from the touchwiz launcher to the stock launcher. I don't think that makes a difference though. Manage apps> all> select an app> if it's a stock app instead of the uninstall option, it'll have disable. Beats the greyed out block that's on GB.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Yes ics is awesomee it's still being worked on and im surprised how nice it is. But like others say if u like GB then stay on it. if u want to try ics do it if u don't like it go back no big deall
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Majin101 said:
Yes ics is awesomee it's still being worked on and im surprised how nice it is. But like others say if u like GB then stay on it. if u want to try ics do it if u don't like it go back no big deall
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree with you, and I did the latter because of the battery life and I'm waiting for them to polish out the bugs I found. The title of the thread is asking for peoples opinions and evaluations of ICS. You have to understand that some people are not going to share your point of view.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

What is it about TouchWiz that is so bad?

I'm just curious about why Stock TouchWiz releases or TW custom ROMs get such a bad rap here at xda?
I do love AOSP or CM custom ROMs and all their customizability but I do also like some of the TW features and layouts, etc...
I'm just curious if I'm missing something here and if there are inherent bugs, flaws, etc with TW ROMs that make them rather unpopular?
Or is this simply personal preference again and one that has a big consensus majority here for whatever reasons?
Thanks
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I think it's mainly preferences. I prefer mess gimmicky functions so I flashed cm10. It feels like I'm using less battery regardless if I actually am or not.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Deoxlar said:
I think it's mainly preferences. I prefer mess gimmicky functions so I flashed cm10. It feels like I'm using less battery regardless if I actually am or not.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is the only reason why I refuse to leave TW, it's simply better. TW itself isn't that bad at all either.
I agree on this one and it's better stock features. But I hated cm intill I gave it three days now I love it snapper more basic features customizable and support now there are things that I hate speakerphone doesn't work can't find task manager I don't get why it's not there like touchwiz but I'm a noob so I think these issues will resolve themselves over time with me understanding how to use root explorer nova launcher etc.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Yea... i'd have to say the camera is my biggest draw towards sticking with a TouchWiz based ROM. Touchwiz has a nice camera.... yet CM/AOKP seem to have far superior battery life.
I wouldn't exactly say that Touchwiz ROM's get a bad rep here. I mean... look at how many there are.
Its strictly preference. Tw doesn't offer as much user customization, whereas most aosp based roms do. I've tried both, i like both.
megagodx said:
The camera is the only reason why I refuse to leave TW, it's simply better. TW itself isn't that bad at all either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
elementaldragon said:
Yea... i'd have to say the camera is my biggest draw towards sticking with a TouchWiz based ROM. Touchwiz has a nice camera.... yet CM/AOKP seem to have far superior battery life.
I wouldn't exactly say that Touchwiz ROM's get a bad rep here. I mean... look at how many there are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just restored back to stock ICS after running CM10 for 10 days. I really dig the camera on TW.
Another thing I like about TW is the Contacts integration with Swiping Left to Text / Right to Call. I noticed this was the biggest thing that I was missing when using CM10.
Other than that, I don't use any of the Social integration, so I wouldn't know about that.
elementaldragon said:
Yea... i'd have to say the camera is my biggest draw towards sticking with a TouchWiz based ROM. Touchwiz has a nice camera.... yet CM/AOKP seem to have far superior battery life.
I wouldn't exactly say that Touchwiz ROM's get a bad rep here. I mean... look at how many there are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was getting 5 hours of screen time using LTE for most the day and almost 6 hours (5.58) using just Wi-Fi. This was on TouchWiz with the standard 2,100 mAh battery on a TW JB leak ROM. Not to mention a bunch of widgets on my home screen. CM10/ASKP really tops that?
megagodx said:
The camera is the only reason why I refuse to leave TW, it's simply better. TW itself isn't that bad at all either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here! I have tried many ROMS in the past week. I loved many of them..AOKP...CM..but the one thing that kills it for me is the camera. The stock camera is great. Cant even find anything comparable in the play store to use with another ROM
only thing i hate about TW is that it is BUTT UGLY. It still looks like gingerbread still... I understand that green uses less power than blue, but the rest of the UI is just really bad. I am staying with stock only because of camera quality, dock compatibility, and allshare cast compatibility. If it werent for those things, I wouldve stayed on my Galaxy Nexus
megagodx said:
I was getting 5 hours of screen time using LTE for most the day and almost 6 hours (5.58) using just Wi-Fi. This was on TouchWiz with the standard 2,100 mAh battery on a TW JB leak ROM. Not to mention a bunch of widgets on my home screen. CM10/ASKP really tops that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.... i didn't really use my phone heavily today..... but about 17.5 hours on battery with about an hour and a half of screen on time, and it's still at 47%.
elementaldragon said:
I wouldn't exactly say that Touchwiz ROM's get a bad rep here. I mean... look at how many there are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried to do a search over in the Android Dev section on 'TouchWiz', but i didn't see too many.
the one that stood out to me was JellyBean747 Milestone 7 Graystone Edition.
i would like to switch back to TouchWiz, but only if its JellyBean. either 4.1, 4.1.1, or 4.1.2, any suggestions?
edit: also found FrostyJB_4.1.1-v3~[10.24.2012]
Uh... EVERY Rom in the android dev section is based on Touchwiz.
As for a recommendation... drewgaren's Serenity Rom is quite nice... haven't tried his Milestone 7 Rom yet, but I used previous Milestone versions and also had no issues. Difference between the Milestone roms and Serenity is that Serenity is built off of the stock Galaxy Note 2 Rom, whereas the Milestones are based on GS3 leaks.

First Android phone that I've preferred stock launcher...

As title states...every Android I've had (and I've had a bunch), first thing I do is install Nova Launcher. I did that with my Note 2 immediately and kept it that way for a couple days without ever playing with touchwiz. However, a few days ago I figured I'd give TW a try and found that I actually prefer it to Nova! I was shocked, but pleased nonetheless. I find it (for the first time) every bit as smooth as Nova and I like the idea of Pagebuddy and the s pen utility icons that pop up in the notification tray. I have also found that the stock launcher seems to use less system resources than Nova...at least from what I can see by available ram.
Anyone else experience the above, or have I lost my mind?...haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
My exact same experience from nova prime to the default launcher. Having the S calendar widgets is a bonus too
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I really like the app drawer and folder animations.
i just hate tw icons.....and the placement of the app icon! they should allow us to at least chnage those childish looking icons!
powerwagon said:
As title states...every Android I've had (and I've had a bunch), first thing I do is install Nova Launcher. I did that with my Note 2 immediately and kept it that way for a couple days without ever playing with touchwiz. However, a few days ago I figured I'd give TW a try and found that I actually prefer it to Nova! I was shocked, but pleased nonetheless. I find it (for the first time) every bit as smooth as Nova and I like the idea of Pagebuddy and the s pen utility icons that pop up in the notification tray. I have also found that the stock launcher seems to use less system resources than Nova...at least from what I can see by available ram.
Anyone else experience the above, or have I lost my mind?...haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm still using Touchmywiz after a full two weeks now. that's amazing. Me changing themes all the time with Go Launcher or Nova got boring...every theme had at least one ICON or something I didn't like to sticking with stock launcher is kind of a nice. Especially since it's so smooth.
powerwagon said:
As title states...every Android I've had (and I've had a bunch), first thing I do is install Nova Launcher. I did that with my Note 2 immediately and kept it that way for a couple days without ever playing with touchwiz. However, a few days ago I figured I'd give TW a try and found that I actually prefer it to Nova! I was shocked, but pleased nonetheless. I find it (for the first time) every bit as smooth as Nova and I like the idea of Pagebuddy and the s pen utility icons that pop up in the notification tray. I have also found that the stock launcher seems to use less system resources than Nova...at least from what I can see by available ram.
Anyone else experience the above, or have I lost my mind?...haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. Totally stock everything here and can't find any lacking options. Samsung nailed the software on this device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
I totally agree. TW is finally nice to have for once. The only additional thing i would like to have is quick reply for text without having to use go sms or sms popup.
Count me in too. I love it as-is. Which is a bummer, as I enjoyed flashing all the time, but for now, no-more. I had to root it, but that's it.
I cant believe how much I like tw I just wish it had force close any thing. Miui built in feature. Any one know a solution?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
I respect all of your opinions here. I hear what you guys are saying and understand it at a logical level. But, no. Just, no. Every skinned version of Android should be nuked and destroyed. Every carrier or OEM that tries to add to the Android experience should be forced to spend time for crimes against humanity.
As soon as mine gets here on Tuesday: Root and flash to the closest thing to AOSP.
bmstrong said:
I respect all of your opinions here. I hear what you guys are saying and understand it at a logical level. But, no. Just, no. Every skinned version of Android should be nuked and destroyed. Every carrier or OEM that tries to add to the Android experience should be forced to spend time for crimes against humanity.
As soon as mine gets here on Tuesday: Root and flash to the closest thing to AOSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting opinion considering you haven't even used it yet...haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
powerwagon said:
Interesting opinion considering you haven't even used it yet...haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I certainly have. I just don't own one yet. Had a day on the Verizon one yesterday. Used the T-Mobile for a few hours the day before. My personal AT&T one is coming in the mail. And my original Note is running CM10.
I have to agree, the TW launcher and Note 2 software are spot on. I love CM/AOSP but the stock rom is going to give CM/AOSP a run for the money. Now, if CM/AOSP can integrate the S-Pen features (note, memo, calendar and gestures) then will definitely be moving over, but for now stock (with root) is staying put. Well done Samsung!
Keeping in mind we are all sharing opinions and everyone is very velcome to voice there own. Mine is a torn one. Im very aware of the sweetness custom launchers and roms offer. My conflict is the TW launcher has so much proprietary and necessary fuction in direct relation to the phones core features I feel I woild be missing out on some potential with anything else loaded. I have been useing a modified TW launcher since day one and feel its the best experience. Considering all I have done is removed all bloat and added all the features everyone else has. Then wave around the middle finger to whomever is responsible for ATT borking it in the first place.
As its been mentioned before. If a CM or other shows up with all the TW apps and SPen compatible I would dive right in. Considering Samsung had a good lockdown on anything document related to the chipset I dont see that hapening anytime soon. The CM team has already stated they are not happy about samsungs lockdown and have suggested they might drop it all together to focus on other phones. :banghead:
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Wow. First I've seen of CM thinking of dropping support. I might just return the Note and not even open it then. Where is the best place to go for CM news?
Stock was great and all, but this is the first phone i actually ran a different launcher on it instead of stock. I was just way too annoyed about the icon size and the space between them. Got nova launcher to fix that.
bmstrong said:
Wow. First I've seen of CM thinking of dropping support. I might just return the Note and not even open it then. Where is the best place to go for CM news?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Says the brainwashed "AOSP OR NOTHING IT PWNZ0RZ" Nazi. Seriously of you're gonna load CM and ultimately kill one of the 3 main selling points (spen) why the hell would you even consider the note 2? Seems like the Droid DNA, where running CM/AOSP wouldn't cost you a single feature, would be a MUCH better choice for you.
As for CM: drop the Note 2. I don't care as ill never use it. All CM does to the note 2 is remove features. Want a "stock" look? Get apex or Nova launcher. Looks like CM and still gives you full spen support.
The note 2 is *****ing fast. It has killer battery life. Those were two main selling points of flashing cm/aosp. What do you gain by flashing cm/aosp? You lose features and can almost exactly replicate the look via a launcher. Its simply not needed on the note 2.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8000 using xda premium
Err0xx said:
Says the brainwashed "AOSP OR NOTHING IT PWNZ0RZ" Nazi. Seriously of you're gonna load CM and ultimately kill one of the 3 main selling points (spen) why the hell would you even consider the note 2? Seems like the Droid DNA, where running CM/AOSP wouldn't cost you a single feature, would be a MUCH better choice for you.
As for CM: drop the Note 2. I don't care as ill never use it. All CM does to the note 2 is remove features. Want a "stock" look? Get apex or Nova launcher. Looks like CM and still gives you full spen support.
The note 2 is *****ing fast. It has killer battery life. Those were two main selling points of flashing cm/aosp. What do you gain by flashing cm/aosp? You lose features and can almost exactly replicate the look via a launcher. Its simply not needed on the note 2.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You lost me when you wrote the words “feature" and “S-Pen". I'm also really not keen on being compared to a Nazi.
Obviously, this can get into another pointless forum thread where we waste time and effort and energy posting back and forth. The OP asked a question and I answered with my opinion. You are certainly entitled to yours. And good for you, I'm glad it works for you. I'll move along.
Totally agree, bone stock here. Not even rooted. Haven't found a need to. The device is aces. Samsung nailed it.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda premium
The main reason I flashed a ROM was multi-view. Once the AT&T version gets the multi-view I will probably jump to a rooted stock ROM. The other thing I would miss on stock is the ability to choose the notification toggles.
I am running Nova just because I like a tighter icon layout. Right now I'm on 5x8 (including the dock). Samsung loves adding in little features, I wonder why choosing more layouts wasn't one of the things they added to such a large phone.
I loved AOKP on the S II. Sorely missed a stable build with decent battery life on the One X. But, the Note is a wholly different stock experience.
I chose the Note for the TouchWiz stuff and S-Pen. It really isn't that much bigger than the S III (my coworkers S III + case is bigger than my naked Note). I knew I wanted stuff like smart stay and smart alert. All the stuff I would lose on AOSP bases. Even multi view is coming to TouchWiz JB update to the S II. Samsung has this software down, really brought their A-Game. If I stretch I can only think of two things I would have wanted stock: more freedom in row/column in the launcher, and ability to select and order the notification toggles. Nothing like the laundry list I can come up with about Sense 4+.
Sent from my Note ][

Share your experience with TouchWiz discussion

If you love TouchWiz tell us why.
If you don't like TouchWiz tell us why.
I look forward to hear your thoughts.
Cheers
I really don't mind TouchWiz myself. Since I came from an LG G2 which had a godawful stock interface this phone felt like a breath of fresh air. I use Nova Launcher so I'm not exposed much to a lot of TouchWiz but I think it is fluid overall. If Samsung would cut down on the bloat apps like Google has it would be great. I also miss the quick settings of AOSP, the implementation on this phone gets the job done though. Overall I'm alright with it but I hope we see improvements.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
alone-together said:
I really don't mind TouchWiz myself. Since I came from an LG G2 which had a godawful stock interface this phone felt like a breath of fresh air. I use Nova Launcher so I'm not exposed much to a lot of TouchWiz but I think it is fluid overall. If Samsung would cut down on the bloat apps like Google has it would be great. I also miss the quick settings of AOSP, the implementation on this phone gets the job done though. Overall I'm alright with it but I hope we see improvements.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you there.
quick settings of AOSP is awesome
What I noticed was the large storage consumption and not good for battery life. I remember reading one of the comments here in XDA that TW slow downed his beast phone GN3.
Lorettaa said:
What I noticed was the large storage consumption and not good for battery life. I remember reading one of the comments here in XDA that TW slow downed his beast phone GN3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW isnt an issue for me though i do use Nova Prime. Before I put Nova on the Note 3 was supremely fast without any lag that i could notice. I then activated the developer options and i set all 3 animations to x.5, with that, no root needed and the Note 3 is probably the fastest phone out there. At least until there are SD 805's out there. once Nova is on the phone, forget it, it's as smooth as butter.
I'm really not a fan of ASOP anymore. I used to use it on my Bionic but with S4 and now the Note 3, I have enjoyed TW mostly. I just cant stand how ASOP just looks like a old and dated UI. It's so basic and boring (like settings and the toggles) that it just looks like something a 10 year old would make. lol to me it's like watching an old 70's or 80's TV show today. You look at it and you can tell it's not current. I just like how a UI looks, not like a fisher price look like the S5 but not bland like ASOP either.
Battery life on stock rooted and debloated i was still getting like 8 hours of screen time. So the battery wasn't an issue for me from the get go.
USBhost said:
I hate TouchWiz with all my mind.
I hate apple with all my mind and soul.
Well the reason why I don't like touchwiz is because it reminds me of apple
And its just so hard to work with and I'm bound by it because I need WiFi calling.
I grew up with the Google version of Android
Its so nice and fun to use. it looks complex but it's simple and in a nice format.
But TouchWiz looks too simple/complex and in a bad format.
Also TouchWiz is full of stuff I don't even know that its for and it takes so much
Room 1.5g+ but in Google version of Android its 150mb+ now that's a big difference.
It almost seems like TouchWiz ROMs are built with apps there are like 300+ apps in a
TouchWiz ROM, but in a true android rom its like 50+ apps. If your like me who deletes
Apps that I don't need that will be a problem with TouchWiz roms. The apps are the firmware that will make deleting apps with a lot more consequence. And with all those apps it will bring down the performance of your phone.
writing this down helped me relieve my frustrations with TouchWiz.
Share your experience with your TouchWiz experience so we can all suffer together.
If you love TouchWiz tell us why.
I look forward to hear your thoughts.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow...there are a lot of misconceptions here.
First you do not need a Touchwiz phone to have wifi calling. The Xperia Z1S, the HTC One M8, LG G2, Flex, Optimus and other phones support wifi calling...Google phones do not because they get their software from Google without the carrier files. So you are not stuck with Touchwiz.
The amount of apps on your phone do not impede performance. It would be the amount of apps running and syncing that would do that.
Touchwiz is a UI...not just apps or the launcher as someone mentioned using Nova...you are still on Touchwiz..just not the TW launcher.
So it is true that a UI sitting on top of a base OS can only slow things down a little...think Windows on top of DOS for us old folks.
As TW phones are made for the common folk, there are a lot of included TW tied in apps for the general consumer so they do not have to spend hours searching Play for that perfect Sticky note app, or music player, or whatever...These apps can certainly be removed or frozen.
Also included in the 1.5GB of OS is all the carrier support files and all the Google Apps...that 150MB you mention for AOSP has no Gapps included.
I, too have tried AOSP ROMs...and found them to be no different with how they operate except all the nice shortcuts are gone and all the TW apps and widgets too. All are very Apple-like to me. I always got the best battery life on ROMs based on stock (TW).
KennyG123 said:
Wow...there are a lot of misconceptions here.
First you do not need a Touchwiz phone to have wifi calling. The Xperia Z1S, the HTC One M8, LG G2, Flex, Optimus and other phones support wifi calling...Google phones do not because they get their software from Google without the carrier files. So you are not stuck with Touchwiz.
The amount of apps on your phone do not impede performance. It would be the amount of apps running and syncing that would do that.
Touchwiz is a UI...not just apps or the launcher as someone mentioned using Nova...you are still on Touchwiz..just not the TW launcher.
So it is true that a UI sitting on top of a base OS can only slow things down a little...think Windows on top of DOS for us old folks.
As TW phones are made for the common folk, there are a lot of included TW tied in apps for the general consumer so they do not have to spend hours searching Play for that perfect Sticky note app, or music player, or whatever...These apps can certainly be removed or frozen.
Also included in the 1.5GB of OS is all the carrier support files and all the Google Apps...that 150MB you mention for AOSP has no Gapps included.
I, too have tried AOSP ROMs...and found them to be no different with how they operate except all the nice shortcuts are gone and all the TW apps and widgets too. All are very Apple-like to me. I always got the best battery life on ROMs based on stock (TW).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's true there are misconceptions but that's how it see things.
But When you said I don't need a TouchWiz to have wifi calling sns/mms that's true but I don't have those phones
And what did you mean about "carrier support files"
So wifi calling uses a Giga of Space
USBhost said:
Well the reason why I don't like touchwiz is because it reminds me of apple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offence but this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. Please do tell how vastly different and inferior TW reminds you of anything that apple puts out. Do tell.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
nohcho said:
No offence but this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. Please do tell how vastly different and inferior TW reminds you of anything that apple puts out. Do tell.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offence taken but I just want you to understand
Every one has there different feelings
TW is different to Apple that's a given
Its just TW is closer to apples ui
I'm just Apple hater that's me
So if something is close to Apple I just don't like it
USBhost said:
Yes it's true there are misconceptions but that's how it see things.
But When you said I don't need a TouchWiz to have wifi calling sns/mms that's true but I don't have those phones
And what did you mean about "carrier support files".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nohcho said:
No offence but this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. Please do tell how vastly different and inferior TW reminds you of anything that apple puts out. Do tell.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol sorry but i have to ask as well. You say "inferior" to Apple, I'd have to say that's inaccurate but subjective at best. If you mean inferior to an OS that is basically nothing but an app drawer, then ok I guess.
USBhost said:
Yes it's true there are misconceptions but that's how it see things.
But When you said I don't need a TouchWiz to have wifi calling sns/mms that's true but I don't have those phones
And what did you mean about "carrier support files"
So wifi calling uses a Giga of Space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carrier support files are all those wonderful things you guys like like CIQ, and can't speak for T-mobile but Sprint adds things like Sprint Zone, Sprint Connection Optimizer and many more..so T-mobile has their own brand of similar files.
You complained about Touchwiz...is this your first Touchwiz phone? You stated you had to have it..I guess if you are stuck with this phone then yes..even the Nexus 5 does not have wifi calling and there is nothing they can do about it..so at least you have a choice. If this is not your first Touchwiz phone then...why?
Wifi calling does not use a gig of space...however Google apps and Touchwiz apps and support files together do. Samsung is lazy...if you ever decompile one of their apps you will see 1000's of icons that are never used...because the same TW app works on the other carrier phones as well as many other models so the icon packs included have to cover many resolutions so there are redundant folders. It is not cost effective to them to trim down all these apps and custom tune them for each phone they include them on...and then they would have to do the same for each update. Regardless, they do steal a little less than a GB of internal storage space. If you were to take an AOSP ROM, add gapps, and also download an equivalent app from Play for what is included in Touchwiz ROMs you would start nearing the same size. Debloated TW ROMs are about half the size of full stock.
Don't like the idea of being stuck with TW. I actually prefer AOSP but on the note3, TW is just so much smoother and has everything I need and there aren't any problems. I love how I can use the full function of the phones (s-pen and things affiliate with it) without worrying to find good working apps that would be as remotely easy to use).
Even before my root and custom rom installation, my stock note 3 was as smooth as butter. So all in all, TW doesn't bother me as much as it does some people.
I don't see why you don't just flash a Aosp theme if you don't like the look of touchwiz. I'm all for AOSP but there are just things that touchwiz has that makes me want to stay like Pen window.
Techniques said:
I don't see why you don't just flash a Aosp theme if you don't like the look of touchwiz. I'm all for AOSP but there are just things that touchwiz has that makes me want to stay like Pen window.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dose Aosp theme change the look of settings to aosp
I am actually a major HTC fan and since I have owned my note 3 I have enjoyed the TW experience except for the fact that it is a ram hog
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
R187J said:
I am actually a major HTC fan and since I have owned my note 3 I have enjoyed the TW experience except for the fact that it is a ram hog
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know
Well in my experience , touchwiz isn't all that bad at all. It does lag here and there but with the right kernel and rom, it is very much usable and fluid. I used to use Nova exclusively but after going back to touchwiz these past fewweeks, I realized it's pretty good.
messiahfreedom said:
Well in my experience , touchwiz isn't all that bad at all. It does lag here and there but with the right kernel and rom, it is very much usable and fluid. I used to use Nova exclusively but after going back to touchwiz these past fewweeks, I realized it's pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK...again...Touchwiz is a UI. Nova replaces the TW Launcher...not Touchwiz itself....the slide to call or message, settings options, the apps that are TW exclusive and much more is Touchwiz.
Oh my bad. You meant the touchwiz as a whole. Well, as a whole. Anyway touchwiz for the most part is simple enough. It takes some playing with in order to realize it's features, but for the most part it is alright. It's more simple than what the iPhone offers, at least in my opinion.
New Touchwiz
The new Touchwiz on GS5 is acceptable, closer to flat design, i like it.

Categories

Resources