What is it about TouchWiz that is so bad? - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.

Related

[Q] Should I Install CM 10?

I am a long time Android and long time CM user. I have been using an LG G2x for way too long and finally got fed up with it. I have a brand new Galaxy S3 arriving tomorrow and am trying to figure out what to do when I get it.
For those of you have have used both the stock OS and CM 10, what are the advantages of each? By rooting and installing CM 10, what stock Samsung features will I lose? Are there any you think I might actually miss? So just in general, I was hoping someone who used both the stock OS and CM 10 for a decent amount of time could explain to me exactly what I will gain/lose by rooting and installing CM 10 on this phone. Thanks!
Not a good thread at all to start up man, just try them out and see for your self. Every one likes different things so it's kind of hard for us to just assume your needs... you know what I mean? Lots like both for different reasons, some always revert back to a stock rom some always go back to a cm rom.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Leave it stock but rooted for the first few days to see what you think. Many think the extra features and that its stable and fast are worth staying stock based. Still a lot of others opt for cm or aokp regardless. Just give em both their fsir chance!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
flash the latest cm10 nightly. They work for Samsung and all
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
mt3g said:
Not a good thread at all to start up man, just try them out and see for your self. Every one likes different things so it's kind of hard for us to just assume your needs... you know what I mean? Lots like both for different reasons, some always revert back to a stock rom some always go back to a cm rom.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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That is why I didn't ask if I should flash CM 10 or not. I very simply asked what the differences were between stock and CM 10. I am wondering what features I will have with stock that I will lose with CM 10 and vice versa. That is a very fair question to ask of people who have already used both. I am trying to avoid trying both by going through a hassle and having to reinstall my programs and reconfigure my settings multiple times if I don't have to.
You lose all samsung stock features. That should be a no brainer. No motion activities, no smart stay (natively) no touchwiz, no wifi calling. Vanilla stock is what it always is, clean, no bloat, and super fast... what I said wasnt in any way being rude. It was exteremly truthful, and to the point.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
mt3g said:
You lose all samsung stock features. That should be a no brainer. No motion activities, no smart stay (natively) no touchwiz, no wifi calling. Vanilla stock is what it always is, clean, no bloat, and super fast... what I said wasnt in any way being rude. It was exteremly truthful, and to the point.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Wifi calling doesn't work on CM 10? I have been using it on CM 7 for my G2x.
So do you miss any of those Samsung features? I guess are they gimmicky or actually nice to have? From reviews, I have read that stock is really fast, so not sure if I gain speed by going to CM. Have you noticed speed improvements with CM 10 over stock?
I know but its so deeply integrated into framework and settings now its a pain. And no I personally don't miss those gimmicky features, but allot of people do. I stick to tw roms, because of battery. It always seems to last longer on stock based roms for me. Otherwise I prefer cm based roms. Lets just say I'll be moving to cm as soon as I feel it is closer to 100% in my eyes. Or the nexus 4 lol. And the only way I can feel it being 100% is by me testing it, not asking others. That's what I meant with my 1st post.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
I have to agree with mt3g here. AOSP ROMs are not the same as TW ROMs. I used TW for awhile when I first got my SGS3 and flashed pretty much all of them out there. I wasn't concerned with battery use, as I consider myself a battery expert. I was more interested in performance and features that were exclusive to TW and AOSP. They are so different that the only way to really get to know each other is to test drive them yourself.
Now I am on LiquidSmooth (AOSP base) and I love it. I am getting massive battery life, have tethering (I thethered my tablet to is almost all day yesterday after a bad flash [on the tablet not the phone]), Theme chooser springs a bit of life back into the eyecandy part. <--sometimes people flash not bc they want a new ROM but a new look .
Will I go back to TW? Sure. I tested Doc's ROM before he released it and I like it plenty enough to run it as a daily driver. But this is XDA and what are here for?
What do we want? A custom ROM
When do we want it? NO ETAs!!!! :cyclops:
Woodrube said:
I have to agree with mt3g here. AOSP ROMs are not the same as TW ROMs. I used TW for awhile when I first got my SGS3 and flashed pretty much all of them out there. I wasn't concerned with battery use, as I consider myself a battery expert. I was more interested in performance and features that were exclusive to TW and AOSP. They are so different that the only way to really get to know each other is to test drive them yourself.
Now I am on LiquidSmooth (AOSP base) and I love it. I am getting massive battery life, have tethering (I thethered my tablet to is almost all day yesterday after a bad flash [on the tablet not the phone]), Theme chooser springs a bit of life back into the eyecandy part. <--sometimes people flash not bc they want a new ROM but a new look .
Will I go back to TW? Sure. I tested Doc's ROM before he released it and I like it plenty enough to run it as a daily driver. But this is XDA and what are here for?
What do we want? A custom ROM
When do we want it? NO ETAs!!!! :cyclops:
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Click to collapse
Very well said. :good:
I personally never ever ran a touchwiz or sense ROMs on any device I've ever owned for more than a day. I just missed the full control cm ROMs give. Ever since my HD2 I've ran cm7 up to cm10 on my s3. I really never notice the features being lost from a tw ROM mostly because I don't use them. Never really thought their "advertised" features were all that.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
I am running on a CM10 based rom and the only stock Samsung feature I miss is the Smart Stay. Everything else was just too gimmicky
Pretty sure there is an app for most of the samsung features.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
I stuck to stock ICS TW for a couple of days and I didn't enjoy it.
It just seemed too much and I wanted a closer to stock experience.
Made the switch to CM10. Greatest thing ever.
It's simple, effective, and works in pretty much every way that I would like.
The only thing that I miss from TW is the Messaging app.
jimbo831 said:
I am a long time Android and long time CM user. I have been using an LG G2x for way too long and finally got fed up with it. I have a brand new Galaxy S3 arriving tomorrow and am trying to figure out what to do when I get it.
For those of you have have used both the stock OS and CM 10, what are the advantages of each? By rooting and installing CM 10, what stock Samsung features will I lose? Are there any you think I might actually miss? So just in general, I was hoping someone who used both the stock OS and CM 10 for a decent amount of time could explain to me exactly what I will gain/lose by rooting and installing CM 10 on this phone. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you use Skype, Vox, or any other VOIP app? If you do, then don't flash CM10, AOKP or any other AOSP based rom.
sovereignty68 said:
Do you use Skype, Vox, or any other VOIP app? If you do, then don't flash CM10, AOKP or any other AOSP based rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I know why? I'm right now with the Galaxy SI and on CM10, hoping to get the S3 and on the same dilemma. Right now my Skype works well on the CM10, Viber works only on speaker phone.
Having tried cm 10/aokp as well as TW ROMs for extended periods of time, I can say the following:
Although at first missing a certain TW feature might seem like a drawback- the feeling comes from what you're used to, and after a few days or week you will likely forget those features which you previously had which you thought were so important. For me the TW calendar (s Planner) was the big thing I was missing- since for a while I really couldn't find a good substitute which looked as good and performed as well! Finally I found one, so now I don't even compare anymore, but even if I hadn't found a substitute I'm sure I would have moved on at some point.
Point is, base your choice on the majority of the benefits that you'll get from the respective ROM. Personally, I like aokp/cm10 precisely because of its overall simplistic aesthetic ( I'm in love with the native jelly bean fonts used in the notification bar) and its native ability to theme. In terms of performance and extra tweaks, there are plenty of custom TW ROMs which are on par with the aosp ones (IMO). So I think it comes down to the overall feel/look, and pure personal preference.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
jimbo831 said:
I am a long time Android and long time CM user. I have been using an LG G2x for way too long and finally got fed up with it. I have a brand new Galaxy S3 arriving tomorrow and am trying to figure out what to do when I get it.
For those of you have have used both the stock OS and CM 10, what are the advantages of each? By rooting and installing CM 10, what stock Samsung features will I lose? Are there any you think I might actually miss? So just in general, I was hoping someone who used both the stock OS and CM 10 for a decent amount of time could explain to me exactly what I will gain/lose by rooting and installing CM 10 on this phone. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will lose wifi calling, you will lose the ability to upload music straight from the music player to drop box, you will lose your mind, however, once you run a JB ROM and use google now for the first time, and you will go ape over the amount of customization available to cm10 users.
honestly, used "stock" for about 3 weeks when i first got my device back in july, flashed cm10, and never looked back. words cannot describe how amazing and feature-packed a cm10 ROM is...
flash hellfire 1.3 (if you don't mind the red), and give slim bean a shot if you don't want the red. I have had nothing but positive results with those two.
also, follow my guide in this section for the flashing process.
good luck.
WiFi calling
For me WiFi calling is the biggest feature, and extremely important. I don't have T-Mobile signal in my lab, where I spend most of the time and WiFi calling is the only hope. This is why I'm staying with the stock for now.
But if anyone can show me a way to get WiFi calling on CM10, I will be really thankful. Hate the stock rom from the bottom of my heart!!
-Thanks
The camera on cm10 is whats holding me back but once they come out with cm10.1 based on JB 4.2 then i think ill root and rom my phone.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Perofrmance difference between AOSP roms vs Touchwiz roms ?

I just picked up my brand new Note 2 in white from ATT this week, running on Straight Talk. Rooted it before I took the plastic stickers off it, easiest and fastest root ever for me, and I am not a smart techie guy.
Anyways, I wanted to first try out a stock Touchwiz ROM, and found a very popular ROM here, installed it, and then installed Nova launcher with Jellybean theme, and I also installed a few ismc mods to give the phoen a pretty close to stock AOSP Nexus look, while still keeping the good Touchwiz S-Pen apps and widgets.
My last few phones have been One X running CM10, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus-S, Nexus-One. As you see, I am a fan of the pure vanilla look and feel. But it seems to me, that Jellybean has really made non Nexus phones really good, and with a launcher like Nova, and themed like Jellybean, it is darn close to the real nexus deal to me.
My question.
What are the performance numbers or at least your personal feel and opinion if you have used both on the Note 2 ? How does a good AOSP ROM, like CM10.1 run on the Note 2, compared to a stock Touchwiz ROM like cleanROM or JediX. Does the feel feel faster & smoother on AOSP over Touchwiz ? Battery life I am sure better on Tocuhwiz ?
Thanks
Running on JellyBeer, which uses CM10.1 as the base, it feels so much faster than stock. In fact, the battery life is also much much better.
I have to say I am pretty happy with cleanROM and my themes + Nova. Looks just like a Nexus now.
I do love AOSP, and sure it would be faster than Touchwiz ROM's, but I think I will hold off on those till next month, just reading there are few little bugs or minor issues still in these AOSP ROM's. I think another few weeks or month they be ironed out, and good to go.
I would switch to AOSP if its like crazy faster performance over Touchwiz ? If benchmark shows like night and day faster. Is it ?
Zorachus said:
I have to say I am pretty happy with cleanROM and my themes + Nova. Looks just like a Nexus now.
I do love AOSP, and sure it would be faster than Touchwiz ROM's, but I think I will hold off on those till next month, just reading there are few little bugs or minor issues still in these AOSP ROM's. I think another few weeks or month they be ironed out, and good to go.
I would switch to AOSP if its like crazy faster performance over Touchwiz ? If benchmark shows like night and day faster. Is it ?
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I wouldn't call out timelines, but I guarantee you that in a matter of a little over a week, the developers made giant strides to how it is now, which is near perfect. Sure, there's minor bugs, but nothing people can't live with. They're very minor, and most people who complain about certain supposed quirks either complain just to complain (I see them as people who can never be pleased), or haven't explored their settings long enough to realize what they're complaining about, whether something seems missing to them or isn't adjusted to the way they want, is right in front of them.
You are tempting me to try out AOSP Sorry I didn't mean to put a timeline out there, I am sure the good ones are stable and good enough as daily's.
I really am tempted by all these AOSP ROM's. But then with AOSP I lose the S-Pen features. Are the AOSP that much faster and smoother than Touchwiz ROM's, or not really ? Right now with Nova launcher mods + themes my phone looks almost like a Nexus already, is it worth it going to full AOSP ?
Zorachus said:
You are tempting me to try out AOSP Sorry I didn't mean to put a timeline out there, I am sure the good ones are stable and good enough as daily's.
I really am tempted by all these AOSP ROM's. But then with AOSP I lose the S-Pen features. Are the AOSP that much faster and smoother than Touchwiz ROM's, or not really ? Right now with Nova launcher mods + themes my phone looks almost like a Nexus already, is it worth it going to full AOSP ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I recall, some of the ROMs have Nova Launcher included. I'm not sure how a Nexus looks, but I would say it's not too different.
And yes, as I said before, AOSP (and even AOKP) is faster than stock. It's because it gets rid of the bloatware. As for S-Pen features, it depends on you and what you like. Apparently airview and the like won't be available unless someone ports it over, but S Notes can be replicated with another app.
Why not do a nandroid backup and flash a CM10.1 ROM and take it for a spin. You can always go back to your backup. I prefer running CM10.1. simple powerful interface and great performance. Touchwiz is to bulky and if you want spen apps pypirus is a great option
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
I get better battery life and performance out of TW ROMs. I'm running JediX9 with the provided kernel with amazing results. Plus it has the spen features.
I try CM10.1 once in a while and always go back to Jedi.
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
My biggest gripe on CM right now is audio. Incall audio and speaker volume are poor opposed to TW. I talk on the phone quite a bit and I can tell the difference noticeably. It will get ironed out, and I will be on CM for good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I'm running the asylum aosp ROM and I'm having the best performance of any ROM I've tried to date, but on both in benchmark and subjective feel. I do find myself missing touch work tremendously though with some of its features. But I so love that my group messages workwwithout having to install a crappy third party messaging app.
As far as battery life, for me, the difference is negligible.

[Q] Question about TW based ROMs vs AOSP based ROMs.

Hey guys, I read somewhere that Touchwiz based ROMs tend to have better battery life, higher data speeds, and better reception. Is this true? I've been running AOSP ROMs pretty much since the beginning, and can't really find any TW ROMs that sound good. I also dont care about the TW features since they all seem like lazy gimmicks to me. However, if they do have better reception, speeds, and battery life, I might switch.
rizzodg said:
Hey guys, I read somewhere that Touchwiz based ROMs tend to have better battery life, higher data speeds, and better reception. Is this true? I've been running AOSP ROMs pretty much since the beginning, and can't really find any TW ROMs that sound good. I also dont care about the TW features since they all seem like lazy gimmicks to me. However, if they do have better reception, speeds, and battery life, I might switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW has better bluetooth audio...aaaaaaaand thats about the all advantages i can think of think of.
i get hours more battery life on my AOKP rom than my wife does on her stock s3. identical reception. identical LTE. loads more rom/user options. i dont think i have to point out why millions of s3's are running an aosp-based rom. cheers
xBeerdroiDx said:
TW has better bluetooth audio...aaaaaaaand thats about the all advantages i can think of think of.
i get hours more battery life on my AOKP rom than my wife does on her stock s3. identical reception. identical LTE. loads more rom/user options. i dont think i have to point out why millions of s3's are running an aosp-based rom. cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1^^^^^
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
So its not true that TW based ROMs take better quality pictures than AOSP ROMs?
rizzodg said:
So its not true that TW based ROMs take better quality pictures than AOSP ROMs?
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Click to collapse
I believe that picture quality is a subjective metric. Some people prefer the pics from AOSP, some from TW. Other's can't tell the difference. The different frameworks allow for different options. Honestly it is a matter of taste. My best advice is to flash to stock or another TW ROM and take some pictures. Only way you are going to know for sure. Other's experiences may very well be different than your own.
Truly a matter of what ya like, I use task 650 AOKP and could never loose ROM control or the extras I get with AOKP as far as camera, sound and signal being better I see it all about the same, if you can tell a difference you sir are sharper than I. As far as the battery I'm happy, but I've herd of crazy life like 7 days on TW but I don't turn anything off and use my phone a decent amount. Like already stated flash away and test for a few days to see which and report back
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
mshanewalker1 said:
Truly a matter of what ya like, I use task 650 AOKP and could never loose ROM control or the extras I get with AOKP as far as camera, sound and signal being better I see it all about the same, if you can tell a difference you sir are sharper than I. As far as the battery I'm happy, but I've herd of crazy life like 7 days on TW but I don't turn anything off and use my phone a decent amount. Like already stated flash away and test for a few days to see which and report back
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way anyone is getting 7 days on a single charge is with airplane mode on, all other features off and setting it on top of their fridge for a week...especially with TW
xBeerdroiDx said:
The only way anyone is getting 7 days on a single charge is with airplane mode on, all other features off and setting it on top of their fridge for a week...especially with TW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that is true as well. TW has a lot of bloat by design and all of that equals faster battery drain.
Truly a matter of what ya like, I use task 650 AOKP and could never loose ROM control or the extras I get with AOKP as far as camera, sound and signal being better I see it all about the same, if you can tell a difference you sir are sharper than I. As far as the battery I'm happy, but I've herd of crazy life like 7 days on TW but I don't turn anything off and use my phone a decent amount. Like already stated flash away and test for a few days to see which and report back
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
cjranucci said:
I believe that picture quality is a subjective metric. Some people prefer the pics from AOSP, some from TW. Other's can't tell the difference. The different frameworks allow for different options. Honestly it is a matter of taste. My best advice is to flash to stock or another TW ROM and take some pictures. Only way you are going to know for sure. Other's experiences may very well be different than your own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying Task650's AOKP and I don't see too much of a downgrade in camera quality, but camcorder recordings are quite choppy. Other than that, I'd take this rom over TW any day.

For those who moved from TW to AOSP: thoughts?

Got my S4 a couple days ago and flashed AOKP within an hour. I thought the TW bundled with the phone was pretty damn smooth, but AOKP is just insane. It's like something out of a commercial where there's zero lag, but it's not a commercial, it's the actual phone in your hands. When I hit voice search, it pops up INSTANTLY. I've had a couple soft reboots when hitting recent apps from a frozen app, but I'm sure those will be ironed out. I'm not sure the camera pictures I've taken have looked as nice, though. It's hard to tell.
For those of you who made the move from TW to an AOSP-based ROM, what are your thoughts? Has anyone moved back to TW?
I've never used anything but aosp on any phone. Be it cyanogen or aokp or pure aosp.
With my previous HTC devices it was a no brainer to dump Sense ROMs and replace them with anything else. Even my Samsung tablet that came with TW didn't last long but that was because I wanted Jelly Bean on it before the official upgrade came out so TW was gone within 2 days on my tablet. So I've been using aosp for a year and a half without interruption.
When I first turned on my S4 I was shocked at how cluttered everything was. Having been used to aosp I didn't understand how anyone could use this phone as it comes out of the box. There was a new alert every 8 seconds. The notification window was constantly filled with stuff I couldn't have cared less about. Status bar was filled with icons that had no meaning to me. The only feature I thought was really cool was the T Mobile account monitor in the notification window. Everything else was just clutter. Granted, much of that was carrier bloat.
It took me 20 minutes to test all the hardware and make sure the device was not in. Need of an exchange before I rooted it and ever that was kind of painful with the TW interface. I flashed Cyanogen and am not looking back.
Oh, and despite all that about TouchWiz that I didn't like...its about a billion times better than HTC Sense.
I will say that on my unbranded Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablet that is WiFi only and there for completely unbranded with no bloat, the pure TouchWiz interface it came with was very nice. It was much less cluttered and more usable. Just not as configurable as aosp.
Sent from your phone. You should be careful where you leave that thing.
I guess its universal AOSP are always smoother to bloated TouchWiz. I personally prefer TW (yes call me crazy ) Either you love TW or you hate it there's no other option TW with all its goodies is lot cooler than what it used to be..
Sent from the state where marijuana is not illegal !
I've also noticed AOSP feels much faster... virtually no lag to be found. One thing that I have noticed though, and it may be something I'm not doing right with my settings, but TW seems to get better battery life than AOSP. I like TW for certain features such as the camera quality and one or two of the gimmicky features; but halo, unbridled speed, and customization possibilities with AOSP makes it a hard decision of which to stay with.
Overall i find most of the touchwiz features just unnecessary bloatware that you really dont need, thats more for showing off that your phone can do it over actually being practical to keep on all the time. I really like the general smoothness of AOKP much better than touchwiz, but in some areas such as the camera, AOKP really lacks in that department compared to the stock camera app, and i find 3D applications don't perform quite as well as they do on Touchwiz either, and i think most of these issues are probably more driver related than anything.
I used aokp on my s2 and loved it because it doesnt have any samsung goodness like s3 and s4 but on this devices I use TW to utilize full function.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
For those of you who uses AOSP/AOKP/w.e else ....what do you use as alternative camera/gallery? What i love about Samsung is their gallery and camera. I have found mods that transfer AOSP camera / gallery to TW but never vice versa.
I tried Aosp roms on my s3 and s4. I always end up back on tw cuz aosp roms are never 100% stable. The last time I actually stayed on aosp was with my Motorola Triumph and that's because the triumph was stuck on froyo and Cm7 was pretty stable.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Okay, the big question:
Is it possible to use Watch ON (or smart remote, etc) on AOSP/AOKP/Cyanogen/etc? or is this limited to touchwiz only?
As for camera quality, I expect that to start changing for the better once the Nexusized GS4 gets released
adventure_of_link said:
Okay, the big question:
Is it possible to use Watch ON (or smart remote, etc) on AOSP/AOKP/Cyanogen/etc? or is this limited to touchwiz only?
As for camera quality, I expect that to start changing for the better once the Nexusized GS4 gets released
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably TW only
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
adventure_of_link said:
Okay, the big question:
Is it possible to use Watch ON (or smart remote, etc) on AOSP/AOKP/Cyanogen/etc? or is this limited to touchwiz only?
As for camera quality, I expect that to start changing for the better once the Nexusized GS4 gets released
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is in the Play store so I would think so. Try it out and let Us know
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phone: Tmobile Samsung Galaxy s4 m919
Rom: Wicked v2
Kernel: Stock
Radio: Stock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YouCreateGaming said:
It is in the Play store so I would think so. Try it out and let Us know
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phone: Tmobile Samsung Galaxy s4 m919
Rom: Wicked v2
Kernel: Stock
Radio: Stock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty curious about this myself. From what I've heard AOKP/AOSP doesn't have the software to utilize the IR blaster, but I could always be wrong. I use TW , but will almost always run Nova launcher for customization.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Skipjacks said:
Probably TW only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what I thought. thanks.
Oh well, just another reason why I said once before on how I'm happy with my phone's OS as/is.
adventure_of_link said:
Okay, the big question:
Is it possible to use Watch ON (or smart remote, etc) on AOSP/AOKP/Cyanogen/etc? or is this limited to touchwiz only?
As for camera quality, I expect that to start changing for the better once the Nexusized GS4 gets released
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to Cyanogen, the source code for that isn't proprietary. He wants to see what other devs come up with.
Sent from Spaceball One.
blackknightavalon said:
According to Cyanogen, the source code for that isn't proprietary. He wants to see what other devs come up with.
Sent from Spaceball One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The source code for the software might not be, but I think it is for the IR hardware. I know on the Samsung tablets that have an IR blaster they don't work in CM because the hardware drivers are proprietary.
Sent from your phone. You should be careful where you leave that thing.
Ive been running CM10.1 and just switched to SlimBean. I never once missed the new features of TW. The abilities of AOSP far outweigh them in my opinion.
Tw all the way..
I have no issues or lag... I was a big fan of liquid smooth for a bit but I went back to stock
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
for the people that switched
if u change to custom roms do u get any more space out of the sd card?? also does cyanogyn get better battery than stock cus i have ****ty battery life unrooted atm with stock
the67ace said:
if u change to custom roms do u get any more space out of the sd card?? also does cyanogyn get better battery than stock cus i have ****ty battery life unrooted atm with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No to the extra sd space.
Possibly yes to the battery life. It greatly depends on how you set it up and what features you do and don't activate. Also the cm builds are nightly builds, which means any given one of them could have randomly crappy battery life due to a glitch or something. These have been great builds lately but that can always happen with nightlies. That aside though...yes you should get better battery life
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
thanks, i will get a custom rom soon and try it out. this whole thing is just boggling my mind haha. at one point it was draining at around a percent a minute and i just came back from the gym, was listening to music the whole time on my headphones and using voice to control it and in those 45 mins i didnt lose a single percent of battery smh

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.

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