Develop Bugs

What's the advantage of rooting Galaxy S2

Hey people, I just came over to the Samsung Galaxy S2 from Evo 3D. I was rooted on 3D and running Fresh rom, which was basically a stock rom, stripped down and ran smooth. I rooted because HTC's Sense Roms are so laggy and slow sometimes they really need a quad core processor to keep up with the S2's dual core processor IMO. I also had the WiFi tethering, but RARELY used it as nowadays, I can jump on the internet with my WiFi only tablet just about anywhere I go (Thank\ you McDonalds and Starbucks), so I don't really NEED WiFi anymore.
I just want to know if there is an advantage to rooting this particular device in your opinions? I get great batt life so far and use it all day. It's fast, no lag at all. My wife has the iPhone 4S and this seems to be as smooth as her iPhone in every way!
Would love to hear your thoughts...

Do it! Its dead simple and unlocks the potential of your device!
What's the advantage of rooting? Ultimate customization, removing bloatware, you can install some really great and fast roms including ICS, improved speed and battery life, not to mention rooting the epic 4g touch is really, really easy and straightforward. I'd say root it without a doubt, that's my two cents...not to mention i enjoy doing nerdy **** like that anyway. Go for it man!

mxmr said:
What's the advantage of rooting? Ultimate customization, removing bloatware, you can install some really great and fast roms including ICS, improved speed and battery life, not to mention rooting the epic 4g touch is really, really easy and straightforward. I'd say root it without a doubt, that's my two cents...not to mention i enjoy doing nerdy **** like that anyway. Go for it man!
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I def appreciate your input. I'm not a huge customizer anyway, but I do like to remove bloatware... Thanks...

Removing bloat, a few apps requiring root...
But to be frank, this phone runs so well OOTB, debatable if it's in anyway necessary. I ran stock with no custom roms for weeks before the itch overtook me.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

SugarCoatedAngel said:
Hey people, I just came over to the Samsung Galaxy S2 from Evo 3D.
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I made the same move and could not be happier. Save for the network.
I prefer the resolution and this device is amazing.
I root devices just to have complete control.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II via XDA Premium

Reasons to keep your root
I don't know how much ads in your games and other apps bother you. But some of the Roms for E4GT has the built in ad block, it has its advantages when it comes to getting a free app or a paid app. Also the developers are very conscious of conserving battery usage in their roms make for longer charge in your phone. I think that alone with great developers showing their talents are worth the reason of rooting, along with the other reasons in this post.

I had the same question so here's the benefits of rooting this phone that I've found
When I rooted my Evo 4g, it got a lot faster, smoother, etc.. it was way better
I haven't found a ROM that's really faster per se.. but what I have found is ICS (which I actually love by the way), and just a generally more usable phone since the settings and what not are more customizable..
If you're not a "customizer" and aren't looking to try ICS now then I really wouldn't worry about... but this is from someone who got extremely good speed and battery life out of the stock phone... that's my $0.02

I really like the input you all gave. I went ahead and rooted, on Caulks Rom now, and so far enjoying it. Put Tiffany's theme (ICS with a little Honey) and it looks really sweet. Wanted to try customizing a bit... OOTB this phone is sick fast and overall just runs great! That is the biggest reason why I didn't want to bother rooting, but then I had a spare 15 minutes in my life yesterday and read your comments. I knew it only took about 5 mins to root, so I did it... So far seems great, runs fast, and looks sexy. I did like the Go Launcher though, but one of my favorite things (Go Launcher Notification) doesn't seem to work with the ROM I am running. Caulks Rom is ICS based, and I don't want to go back to Ginger, so I'll patiently wait for the GO team to fix this issue...
Anyway thanks again all! I made sure to thank all your comments.....I think...lol

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.
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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.
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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?
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[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? :/
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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*
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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
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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.
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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
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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

Honeycomb vs ICS: not seeing a huge difference

OK so after what seemed an eternity I finally got my update.. Other than a few visual cues I am not seeing a major difference from HC to ICS.. Am I the missing the point? I I never had too many complaints with HC and I am liking ICS so far. Just wondering if there is anything else I should be looking for.
I did download Chrome and like it..Anything else?

Dont know really. I bought mine yesterday for $80 and started playing.with it. Like all my android devices i wanted to test and tinker with it. But im still trying to get the darn thing to root lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA

Not much visually but the guts of Android have substantial changes between HC an ICS. Apps that are written for ICS on phones can also run on tablets, thus you will notice more apps show up in the PlayStore you didn't see before in HC. As for Acer A100 specific, the supersensitive touchscreen bug is fixed in ICS. The ICS theme is also better looking than HC.
Try the Apex launcher, written specifically for ICS.
Camera ICS is also another good one.
My A100 used to be a dust collector since there wasn't much I could do. The stupid touchscreen issue really rendered the usability of the tablet useless. I'm using it much more now. I'm a tinkerer so unlocked bootloader, custom recovery, tuned ROM, all wonderful things a tinkerer would hope for.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

You can eliminate task from the recent apps list and the notifications with a swipe now.... Would've better if we got the Acer ring. ....
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using XDA

ICS whats the point?

I just pulled the trigger on ics with Kies. I had not gotten the ota update. But with the fix figured I'd try it. I'm not impressed. Some silly minor interface tweaks. Stronger anti alias. Face detect. Wooo.
Chrome sucks. The rendering engine doesn't reflow text. It uses twice as much memory at idle. It's horrible with no pluses that I can see. And of course the battery drain. It's pretty much just a pig with lip gloss.
Am I missing something? At this rate I'm going back to gb. I wouldn't want ics ona galaxy s 4. Is this typical of Android upgrades?

Gingerbread has been my favorite os for android since having it on my og Tmobile g1, ICS just seems like a cluttered battery hog.
Hopefully jellybean fixes the mess that is ics and key lime pie blows away all previous versions with a complete ui overhaul, not impressed with ics ui.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

ICS/JB UI = Meh
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

well i guess i'll chime in. gb blows compared to ics/jb on every aspect. dont use stock roms, there are plenty of straight vanilla/CM builds of either version to fit anyones liking. GB is old, blocky, and slow compared to newer versions of android. Don't base your opinion of an updated OS off of what samsung gives you.

You're not going to see many ui changes when using a mfg skinned os. If you want to see the major changes try an aosp build, like pure aosp, cm, or aokp. And most of your issues are because you didn't do a clean install and more than likely have an app not updated to work on ics causing a wakelock which eats ram and battery. Try doing a full clean install of cm9 or aosp ics and then comeback and say there were no major changes over GB
We are legion, for we are many.
Sent from the DarkSide of the GalaXy with a MEK device

OK. I went back to el29 which of course required a wipe and backup. And as soon as I got back, I got the ota notification. I figured well I just wiped and have everything backed up sooooo. I'm back with ics but on a pretty fresh platform. Chrome seems better now. But I am thoroughly annoyed by the lack of reflow.
Oh and I didn't unroot so now I have no root and a useless su button. No harm there right? And I did goof around with some other launchers including straight ics. It is a tad less of a resource pig now. Is ics more sensitive to app shutdowns than gb?

To get the ICS look which I recommend go to settings,apps then hit all, go down to twlauncher and clear defaults hit the home key and select twlauncher I set it as default you can change the icons at the bottom of the home screen to whatever you want since you probably don't want the sprint id on the bottom. There is a lot of killer things in ICS it is much improved over GB in my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

2xHorn said:
OK. I went back to el29 which of course required a wipe and backup. And as soon as I got back, I got the ota notification. I figured well I just wiped and have everything backed up sooooo. I'm back with ics but on a pretty fresh platform. Chrome seems better now. But I am thoroughly annoyed by the lack of reflow.
Oh and I didn't unroot so now I have no root and a useless su button. No harm there right? And I did goof around with some other launchers including straight ics. It is a tad less of a resource pig now. Is ics more sensitive to app shutdowns than gb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome has reflow, check the settings
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

Dolphin browser beta has been working great for me on ics
Sent from my Malata SMBA1002 using xda app-developers app

Dolphin seems to be a battery drain for me although I like it pretty well. It doesnt reflow either on ics, so it's obviously employing the same rendering engine as stock/chrome. Where might I find the reflow setting? It works tolerably with autozoom, but I had gotten used to reflow where I could view any page in full at any zoom.
Its working reasonably well after the reset/install, but I'm overall not particularly impressed with the interface vs. gingerbread. I can see how some might think it more ios-like. But if I valued looks over function . . . .
And yes, I have played with the native launcher, ADW, and Launcher Pro, as well as Nova. For some reason, Pro and Nova crashed a bit, but ADW has been stable and is my default for now.

The upgrade to ICS from GB was great for me. I admit I had a few issues in the beginning, but most were shortly resolved by custom roms such as CM. I am now on a CM10(Jelly Bean) based rom and love it. Project Butter is amazing. I would take ICS or JB over GB any day, even with the annoying battery problems. I carry a spare with me anyways because of my crazy schedules. One can never be too careful.

Just received a replacement from samsung because I sent mine in for repair after bricking a while back. Long story short my repair was placed on hold for two weeks waiting on parts, they sent me a BNIB Epic 4G Touch for the wait.
It came pre-loaded with FF18 and I'll say, this thing is running smooth. I have no issues at all. GPS locks with 6 meter accuracy within 5 seconds, battery life is fine, chrome works no problem, etc.
Perhaps you need to do a clean install...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I started off only flashing leaked updates. I was scared to brick my phone with anything truly custom,but i just couldn't resist cM10. I tried it because I felt limited by touchWiz and now I realize hide truly right I was.
Do not judge Android updates based on a manufacturer skin. they are going to make sure they keep a consistent look and feel. JB offers a ridiculous amount of customization and google now is just too much fun.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

[Q] New to the Phone, What should I do?

Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.

Androidawg said:
Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the community!
Glad you chose the OG, It's an awesome phone, with a great dev community

Androidawg said:
Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as the camera, download the Google Play Edition Camera apk. Way better. As far as launchers, go with either nova launcher or Apex launcher with a JB Skin. I use it over holo launcher because I can hide apps in the app drawer and make the search bar persistent. I also use Holo Locker as my lock screen.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda premium

This is an awesome phone with great devs. Just make sure you unlock the bootloader before debloating
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda app-developers app

This device is one of the best you can get, and at the same time, can be one of the biggest pains you can buy as well. But, with some patience, balls, and a little insight, you can be running anything you want. If your interests are more towards stock, Lifeless and Vectus are both very good ROMs with plenty of features. If you prefer custom ROMs with lots of extras and choices, I personally would recommend one of the ROMs I work on, Beanstalk and JellyBeer. There are also AOKP, CM10, CM10 w/ Linaro, Rootbox, and others that will give you pretty much any kind of experience you want. Just make sure you read the rooting and unlocking thread very carefully and follow the instructions to the letter to avoid any hiccups. Also worth mentioning is the fact that all ROMs do have quirks and imperfections to them(I believe Lifeless is as close to complete stability as you can get, but it also is as close to stock as any of the others). All of these works are constantly being updated with fixes and new features, but our device can be finicky, so if you require total stability, you may just want to stay with stock. If you need any help, you can PM me, and if you want to learn to build on your own, take a look at Project Rookie II. Be cool

Welcome. I myself had to make a decision between this and the other 2 phones. I'm glad in a way I went with this 1. Its definitely on par with the other "big names" and its just as good spec wise. Only problem i have is the camera when its zoomed. I'm going to try the google play edition like danny stated. As far as rom goes, I believe Lifeless has pretty much the most stable rom going. Its pretty much stock but without bloat. Battery has been good to me, only app that I had problems with was Pro Player, so I got GMMP and its been better on the battery. Great phone overall but kit didn't get the recognition it deserved.
I dont really know LG's track record on phones, but I hope they dont EOL it before KLP. I have a feeling they will because OG2 and OG Pro are out, but then again like I said I dont know how LG works.

I am still completely stock, just added a new launcher, locker, and the Play Camera. I have a completely working photosphere (awesome, something I really missed from my Gal Nex). I have noticed that when taking macro shots, the Play Camera focuses better. But I was able to get some decent macro shots on the stock camera by getting the focus set from farther back and zooming in. I am still tinkering with white balance and ISO settings. But the flash seems to be bright as the sun and I can't do much with it, my pics keep getting washed out with the flash. But the performance, holy crap this thing is fun to use. Everything just pops.