Develop Bugs

Should I buy the Galaxy Nexus?

Hello,
Currently, I have two GS2 (i9100 and T989) and a GS3. The problem is that only the T989 works on my data plan (T-Mobile USA 1700/2100MHz HSPA+)
So, now, I'm looking for a phone that combines the speed of the i9100 and GS3 with the AWS frequency support of the T989. The T-Mobile branded GS2 is rather laggy during important tasks (mainly SMS). If I want to send a text in a thread with a long history, the phone lags very badly. Even opening up the SMS app lags that phone. I don't have these problems with the two Exynos based phones. Archiving SMS messages is very important to me, so I can't delete them and need a phone that can handle long threads without massive lag.
How is the Galaxy Nexus at handling lag? I don't really play any intense games (and I'd have the GS3 for that if needed) so really I'm mainly looking to avoid SMS/browser/Gmail/UI lagging.
Additionally, I take pictures a lot. I know the camera on the Nexus is lower, but I've heard that it's about the same quality as the GS2. If that's true, I would be fine with 5MP.
Also, I see a lot of people complaining about factory defects in their phones in this forum.. How bad is the screen burn in issue?
If anyone has used a T989 in the past, how does the GNexus battery life compare?
tl;dr version:
* I need a phone that doesn't lag
* I have really, really long SMS threads
* I like taking pictures. Will I be okay with the Nexus camera? (coming from GS2)
* Should I get the Galaxy Nexus?
Thanks to anyone who can help!

Well, if the GS 2 is laggy (Which it really is, I had it myself), then flash SensatioNROM, that's the best ROM you'll find for the GS 2 and install Siyah, or Darknight kernel...
So much for the GS 2, to the Nexus, only buy this, if you don't mind having no buttons (I'm regretting it) and buy it, if you want to be the first of your friends, to have Android "Jelly Bean", which will be Android 4.1, coming out in the autumn months (For americans, the "fall"), and generally, only get the GNex, if you want PURE Googleness, which I'm also starting to regret, that's why I'm porting TWiz 5.0 to the GNex... But anyways... I'll give you a quote, from a film, 80% (at least) of this forum know:
I can only show you the door. You must go through it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a quote, that I have been using for quite some time, now.

familyguy59 said:
Well, if the GS 2 is laggy (Which it really is, I had it myself), then flash SensatioNROM, that's the best ROM you'll find for the GS 2 and install Siyah, or Darknight kernel...
So much for the GS 2, to the Nexus, only buy this, if you don't mind having no buttons (I'm regretting it) and buy it, if you want to be the first of your friends, to have Android "Jelly Bean", which will be Android 4.1, coming out in the autumn months (For americans, the "fall"), and generally, only get the GNex, if you want PURE Googleness, which I'm also starting to regret, that's why I'm porting TWiz 5.0 to the GNex... But anyways... I'll give you a quote, from a film, 80% (at least) of this forum know: This is a quote, that I have been using for quite some time, now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I can only use a phone with AWS (1700MHz) as my main phone. The i9100 doesn't lag for me.. but the T989 does.
And I'm fine with software buttons. In fact, I think it's better..
Mainly, I'd like to know how the Nexus performs in terms of lagginess compared to i9100 and T989.

I really can't comment compared to the other phones, but the Nexus is perfect for tasks like what you mentioned, I prefer to use ChompSMS for all my texting needs, but I did use the stock Messages app and it handles just fine (even with 400 texts per convo), Gmail runs fine, and is really smooth, browsing is probably the best you can get at the moment (Try Chrome), and overall the UI doesn't lag at all for me. Even when it's 100% stock, it is still really smooth.
I highly recommend this phone, and I think you will be very happy with it

Any phone will get laggy with long sms threads. it uses a database, which get exponentially more taxing to open /w more data.
get sms backup (wise shark software), set it to sd-card only (gmail feature is kinda unreliable) ...it automatically adds sms messages to text files on your sd card, each phone number has its own text file and messages get added to the end of a file with a timestamp and arrow indicating whether they were incoming or outgoing. It should be noted that restoring /w this is worthless too, the restore feature does not work like you would expect and there is no real reason to restore anyway as you allready have all of them searchable and archived. make sure you check "auto-backup", it has allways worked perfectly for me. Also, dont delete the database (.db) file in the smsbackup folder, this is how the app keeps track of what sms have been backed up and which havent.
Next get agrep from the play store and pick the smsBackup directory as a search directory.
to view the text files (as they can get quite large), get jota which can open very very large text files.
Finally, i personally move all the text files out into a different directory on the first of every year into another directory called SmsArchive /w the folder structure (add this folder to agrep's search folders)
SmsArchive>Year>text files
Now you can backup every single sms you ever get while being able to search through them without bogging down the internal sms database.
again, the SMS backup app is kinda weird but I have searched to the ends of the earth, and as far as I know this is the only app for any platform that does this, let alone does this reliably.

Well the only laggy thing I have seen is the lwp. Most lag really bad.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

For taking quick pictures I love the instant responsiveness of the Nexus out of the box.
Its so fast I often take dozens of photos and just delete the ones that aren't 'perfect' (like any photographer does).

Liskrig said:
I really can't comment compared to the other phones, but the Nexus is perfect for tasks like what you mentioned, I prefer to use ChompSMS for all my texting needs, but I did use the stock Messages app and it handles just fine (even with 400 texts per convo), Gmail runs fine, and is really smooth, browsing is probably the best you can get at the moment (Try Chrome), and overall the UI doesn't lag at all for me. Even when it's 100% stock, it is still really smooth.
I highly recommend this phone, and I think you will be very happy with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to hear that! However.. I'm looking at more like ~3000 messages per thread than 400. Hopefully it will be okay.
starnostar said:
get sms backup (wise shark software), set it to sd-card only (gmail feature is kinda unreliable) ...it automatically adds sms messages to text files on your sd card, each phone number has its own text file and messages get added to the end of a file with a timestamp and arrow indicating whether they were incoming or outgoing. It should be noted that restoring /w this is worthless too, the restore feature does not work like you would expect and there is no real reason to restore anyway as you allready have all of them searchable and archived. make sure you check "auto-backup", it has allways worked perfectly for me. Also, dont delete the database (.db) file in the smsbackup folder, this is how the app keeps track of what sms have been backed up and which havent.
again, the SMS backup app is kinda weird but I have searched to the ends of the earth, and as far as I know this is the only app for any platform that does this, let alone does this reliably.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. I've used two SMS backup apps in the past: SMSBackup+(Jan Berkel) and SMSBackup/Restore(Ritesh Sahu). Have you tried these two apps? If so, why did you like Wise Shark's app more? I'd like to know a little more about it if you have time, cause it is $5. Thank you

I like it more because it automatically pushes any new sms messages to the end of an existing text file on the internal storage, /w a text file for each number.
It seems to be the only good solution for a "long-term archive" of text messages, I don't like it when the backup apps tie a name to the number, numbers are static and never change but what if you misspelled a persons name and correct it?...after years of that kind of stuff it turns into a disaster.
I also chose it because I'm a linux nut...text files are the most simplistic type of file this can be put into (next to csv, but csv loses "human readability" in exchange for limited import/export ability), you DON'T want a database for years of sms messages, a database like that will give your computer a run for its money depending on the database structure. Take the simplicity of a text file and add it to the enormous power of grep (and if you wanna get really nerdy, regex) and you can search literally decades of sms messages with very little cpu power/memory in seconds.
It should be dualy noted that I also use rsync to sync my sms-archive (via mobile network) every day to my home-server, at which point a cron-job encrypts it, renames it to the current date/time-stamp and sends this file to dropbox. I backup many other files on my phone and other computers with this method too.....go ahead and make fun if you like
I also try to keep my own data...if you trust gmail for your sms backup, what would you do if something happened to gmail? I like to have my data in a tangible form that I can backup/edit/use without crossing my fingers and relying on the competence of another party.
tl;dr version - simple and portable files that can be read on anything and searched with open source tools, no messy database, its the most simple type of file data like this can be stored in. its also the only app for any phone/platform that I have ever found capable of this, at least without saying "F*^$ it" and making my own app.

So, I decided to buy it!
Thanks to everyone who answered my questions
Some first impressions:
* amazing feeling in hand.. this phone feels great to hold without a case
* updated itself to 4.0.4 automatically..? Saved time; but a warning would have been nice before using up like 60MB data.
* that really nice button glow effect disappeared after 4.0.4 update
* so far, browser performance is amazing, definitely better than the T989
* the LED hardware acts a little weird.. only activates sometimes
* black blobs under the screen.. but I hear that 90% of these phones have this issue
* keeps switching between "3G" and "H." These are the same thing, no?
I'm getting worried hearing about so many people having problems with their phones in this forum...
But so far, asides from some minor problems, the Galaxy Nexus seems like the right choice for me

3g and h (hspa) are indeed the same thing, can't say why they switch randomly though.
As far as all the people with problems with their phones it may be worthwhile to bear in mind that people are much more likely to post if they have problems than if they have none. I personally have no complaints about the phone, in fact I love it, and won't be starting a thread called "omg I love my gnex, it's perfect"
Sent from my Cyanogenmodded GNex

I too have had no problems with gnex. I'm on 4.0.4 stock and its smooth, fast and reliable.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

It's good to know many people have no issues! I hope I won't have any major problems.. :x
Anyone know what's going on with the notification LED though? Is it normal for it to only activate like 50% of the time?
And is it worth asking for a replacement if you have the black blobs under the screen?

3g and h (hspa) are indeed the same thing, can't say why they switch randomly though.
I believe that h shows with an active data connection. When it shows 3g, should be an idle connection.. Dont quote me on that lol but remember reading something bout it..

[Q] Does Family Guy: Quest for Stuff Work?

I just installed the game and it gets stuck at the loading screen. It eventually gives me some null frame error that I've never seen before
Is it an issue with this model tablet or maybe my tablet is just messed up some how? I did go through and turn off/disable some things, but none should have affected this game
Resolved
cpete47 said:
A workaround is to install the kindle version from the Amazon app store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you @cpete47

Works just fine on my 10.5

dcaplinger76 said:
Works just fine on my 10.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hrmm, thanks for the information. I just did a factory reset and am still getting stuck around the 85% part of the loading bar

That's weird... did you install it from the Galaxy Apps ? That's what I did because it says you get $15 in app purchases.

dcaplinger76 said:
That's weird... did you install it from the Galaxy Apps ? That's what I did because it says you get $15 in app purchases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ahha, that fixed it. I had originally downloaded it from the Google Play Store
I'm at the intro cartoon scene now. Let's hope it continues to work. Thanks again

Hrmm, so now that I have attached my Google Play account to the game, when it loads up it tells me that I need to upgrade to the latest version. When I press the upgrade button it takes me to the Galaxy Apps page via Chrome
This is disappointing

Yeah I never tried doing that, that's no good
Edit: Just went into the settings and signed in using Google+ and it signed me into Google Games and worked like it should....can't find the $15 though

Mine did the same thing, but I'll give it a shot from Samsung Apps

rorytmeadows said:
Mine did the same thing, but I'll give it a shot from Samsung Apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That definitely worked for me. When I started to research the original error message, I saw a forum for Blackberry users talking about getting this erorr because they didn't have Google Play Services on their device. Sideloading a Google play services app helped them.
I can only imagine that is what's going on with the Tab S. Something stupid that Samsung has done with TouchWiz. Purely speculation though

Same here with install from Play store: Stuck at loading between 80 and 95% on my Tab S 8.4.
I'm not willing to go through Samsung store, so my testing stops here.
I'm actually growing upset at Samsung with this device. Their bloatware is even more intrusive than Google's and more often impossible to remove/disable. They automatically start and run in the background leeching personal data, memory and battery life without doing much to improve user experience in return.
And no matter if it's a Firmware, TW or Exynos issue, something seems to be messing up with how apps and transition effects perform... and all of the suspects are branded Samsung. I see way too many issues here for a supposedly top notch device positioned in such a high pricing. I see all the elements for a winning product ruined by greed: Poor optimization, integration of a company shipset to save some cash, poor Quality Control (considering the amount of defect units reported), integration of a large amount of bloatware to generate side income at the detriment of user experience.
I hope all of this gets fixed with custom firmwares or future official firmwares, but I'm still upset that Samsung goes for cheap tactics on a wannabe high end product.

ukael said:
Same here with install from Play store: Stuck at loading between 80 and 95% on my Tab S 8.4.
I'm not willing to go through Samsung store, so my testing stops here.
I'm actually growing upset at Samsung with this device. Their bloatware is even more intrusive than Google's and more often impossible to remove/disable. They automatically start and run in the background leeching personal data, memory and battery life without doing much to improve user experience in return.
And no matter if it's a Firmware, TW or Exynos issue, something seems to be messing up with how apps and transition effects perform... and all of the suspects are branded Samsung. I see way too many issues here for a supposedly top notch device positioned in such a high pricing. I see all the elements for a winning product ruined by greed: Poor optimization, integration of a company shipset to save some cash, poor Quality Control (considering the amount of defect units reported), integration of a large amount of bloatware to generate side income at the detriment of user experience.
I hope all of this gets fixed with custom firmwares or future official firmwares, but I'm still upset that Samsung goes for cheap tactics on a wannabe high end product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree.
In the back of my head I'm kind of hoping that it's a faulty device and the rest run better. There's some progress going on a CyanogenMod port. I am hoping this works out nicely so I can enjoy the Tab S as much as I enjoy my two year old nexus 7. And I'm not even a fan of CyanogenMod, lol. But it's the lesser of two evils right now. It could end up being my savior lol. I thought this Exynos chip was comparable to the Snapdragon 800. I knew the Snapdragon performed better GPU wise, but not by this much.

A workaround is to install the kindle version from the Amazon app store.

cpete47 said:
A workaround is to install the kindle version from the Amazon app store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imma go try that right now

cpete47 said:
A workaround is to install the kindle version from the Amazon app store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Amazon Appstore version is giving me some strange graphical glitches, and it also still at 1.1.2 when the version on the Google Play Store has been updated to 1.1.3.
The gaphical glitches are that sometimes when I start the gamne, almost everthing is black. If I force close it and reopen it, it looks normal. Also, a few of the items from the Comicon event are showing in a different location than where I place them. The actual image if the item is above nd to the left of where I actually place it. To click the item, I have to click where I placed the outline, not on the actual image, so it appears to be a display issue.
Does anyone know if a custom ROM will run the Play Store version correctly?

The version on the Galaxy store works now.

jfleegle said:
The gaphical glitches are that sometimes when I start the gamne, almost everthing is black. If I force close it and reopen it, it looks normal. Also, a few of the items from the Comicon event are showing in a different location than where I place them. The actual image if the item is above nd to the left of where I actually place it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happens sometimes with the version provided on the Samsung App Store. It's outdated (one version behind the Google Play store version), but at least, it runs...
I tried the version on the Amazon App Store, but was not able to login with Google+.

If anyone is interested there was an update for this on the play store which i think has fixed the problem

One Month of use and playing with it, here is the result

Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...

I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?

danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towel root works?? We can make a thread in the development forums to guide people to root it. PM me.

bagher said:
I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No to both.
the 3d is just a simulation, but a very convincing one. It uses perspective, and the best guess knowledge it gains from 4 cameras to guess where your head is. In theory, this could be used to watch a 3d movie, or photography, but it would need to be specially formatted for the Fire phone. As far as 3d recording goes, nope.
The 3d they call Dynamic Perspective. It is a lot like looking into a photo, but then being able to look around the inside of the photo as if it were a diorama. They use it in games and throughout the interface, though both are in the early stages.

bagher said:
I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think of it as a 3D phone. Pretty much only the lock screen is 3D. Out of the five cameras on the phone, only one is a camera and the other four are used to track where your head is. That being said, it is a fantastic phone.
---------- Post added at 03:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------
danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you considered that the Ease of Use is hard because you're comparing it to other Android platforms? It really shouldn't be compared to Android at all.

For the Love of Tech said:
Have you considered that the Ease of Use is hard because you're comparing it to other Android platforms? It really shouldn't be compared to Android at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why shouldn't I compare it to android? It is android under the hood with a multitude of tweaks. Even iOS and Windows phone both support having apps arranged in a manner that makes finding them easy and how you want it. So far the Fire has not shown that. I had an original kindle fire, it was quickly rooted and I loaded custom ROMs within a few weeks because the interface was really bad for running multiple apps.
For me personally and anyone else I've shown it to, it is far from user friendly. But again that is my opinion of it and that was what I gave here, my opinion and observations.

danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have it a week , I sideload the 4.6.1 update and updated in 5 minutes, I followed the tutorial to install Google services and play store and works flawlessly, I installed Google maps and youtube and chrome Along with more Google apps and other apps and they work flawlessly , I can install custom launchers and different keyboards but I like the stock launcher as its fresh from just seeing a grid off apps and the stock keyboard is fine, the only work around I did was to manually install the 4.6.1 update sand install Google apps, the phone is fast and never lags and has good speakers and hardware

The home button doubles as a recent app selector. Try installing 4.6.1 like suggested it totally makes the a better experience.

I'm using it for about a month and easy of use is OK, much better than some say it is. I'm using it with stock launcher and I can't understand this obsession of many users here to s**t all over it. Main problem with FireOS is absence of persistent notifications on top bar - system tray, and inability to choose which quick actions you want to have in system tray. Lock screen is also pretty basic but not to bad. Installing other launcher will not solve this problems. UX can be better but can be worse either. Overall its a great phone for price under $200.

One week in: My so-so experience. (Any tips, tricks, etc?)

(Sorry in advance for the super long post)
So, I bought an ATT Unlocked 32GB Fire Phone new for only $80 (free shipping) on Ebay and I've been using it for exactly one week now, and my experience has been so-so. I LOVED the fireos UI on the kindle fire tablets but once I started using it on the smaller screen with the fire phone, I found it to be very cluttered, inefficient, and none of my side loaded apps show up in the UI.
So, two days in I hacked play store and 1mobile market onto the phone and downloaded ZenUi launcher from Asus (which works fantastic on Fire Phone), and now I've been liking the general UI experience. But I've been having a few other minor annoyances about this phone, mostly related to things simply not working.
Heres my biggest annoyance: The facebook suite of apps hardly work. This is a problem for me, because my friends and family, all of them communicate over Facebook, and since Facebook thinks its such a FANTASTIC idea to force you to have messenger to read and send messages (no more messaging through the mobile site), I pretty much HAVE to have messenger. My problem though, is that the facebook app crashes alot on Fire Phone, and messenger is doing the same thing. I had to download all of these through play store because the normal Facebook app isn't even on Amazon App Store, and the messenger app is several versions outdated on the store (apparently they abandoned the platform?), So now, I am basically fighting these to apps to work.
Another problem is Play Services. I am not sure whats going on, but no matter what guide I follow (the one here on XDA, the one on spinyourfire and the one on rootjunkies), after a few resets or after just a few days, play services "break" and any and all apps relying on play services (like snapchat, google apps, etc) refuse to work. So when that happens, I have to purge it all relating to Google and redownload. This is REALLY annoying, because Snapchat is another app I use alot for communications and since Play Services keeps doing this, its becoming really difficult.
Tumblr isn't working either. I guess since the browser version works just fine and unlike facebook you aren't required to have their apps, thats not a MAJOR problem. Now, several other communication apps that I HAVE to sideload, like Badoo, OOvoo and some other chat apps aren't working either no matter what I try.
This being a "Communication" device, I am having a very hard time "Communicating" when this is happening. This is really making me upset because I absolutely LOVE the design of the device, the camera is acceptable, I LOVE firefly and the 3D support, and the specs for the price are fantastic. (How many phones have NFC, 3D, good cameras, 32GB ON BOARD space for $80 new?), but with all these problems, I am highly considering sending the phone back to the vendor and buying something else, and I really don't want to! Games run GREAT on here, like GTA Sanandreas, Sims Freeplay, and Fallout Shelter. The camera works great and like I said, I already am in love with Firefly. But I am upset that all the essential apps pretty much need sideloaded since it seems everyone is abandoning Fire Phone, and side loading isn't working.
I should also mention that I did try CM11 and pretty much right away switched back to fireOS because the cameras were not working. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thank you!

For me google services works fine, one month of using fire phone and I have dust in back camera. So this is the problem for me, and fire os 5.

Are you on the latest update of fireOS? i only switched to the MIUI ROM recently but for the past couple of months when i was still on fireOS, play store and messenger(from play store) have been working fine with no issues. Also please ensure that if you are using google play to take of automatic updates in the amazon store. From experience apps tend to break if not updated from the original source.

for Facebook try using swipe (just search for it in play store). I'm having problems with messenger myself (no notifications) but with swipe i have no problems.

ozan2 said:
For me google services works fine, one month of using fire phone and I have dust in back camera. So this is the problem for me, and fire os 5.
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Click to collapse
I had that as well. Thankfully I was able to get it to move by tapping it.
romario3600 said:
Are you on the latest update of fireOS? i only switched to the MIUI ROM recently but for the past couple of months when i was still on fireOS, play store and messenger(from play store) have been working fine with no issues. Also please ensure that if you are using google play to take of automatic updates in the amazon store. From experience apps tend to break if not updated from the original source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on the latest release of Fire OS and the latest google services files. Nothing. I have auto updates off and I am selectively updating. I can't update SnapChat because everytime I do, it breaks.
dato02 said:
for Facebook try using swipe (just search for it in play store). I'm having problems with messenger myself (no notifications) but with swipe i have no problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried Swipe and it opens a black screen then closes quickly, sadly.

I'm loving mine after installing Google play and I've downloaded all the apps I want through there and not through Amazon appstore. I'm using Nova Launcher and it's pretty much a nice Android experience now. Not many 4.7" android phones with these great specs I got my 64GB for $100. This thing isn't a budget phone by any means. Snapchat also works just fine. Screen quality reminds me of iPhone 6s.

No issues anymore with fire os 4.6.6.1 and current versions of FB and messenger from play store.

Just ordered the Tab S4...any tips for a new owner?

Aside from installing Vanced youtube...I am not sure I need root anymore. Weird to say that as I was big into custom ROMs, root, overclocking my phones back in the day
Anyway, mostly using this to replace my aging original Tab S 10.5 which is now been used inside my PC to display CPU speeds, temps, etc.
It was lagging with EMBY and other things even with custom ROMs but I am glad I was able to find a new home for it to be useful.
Thanks for any feedback!

Same boat, I was really into root and other tweaks, now I'll get frustrated if I have to spend much time getting the experience I supposedly paid for. I actually just browse this forums in hopes of an update on next oneUI versions since they seem to have fixed some of the small caveats I find with the current version; sadly we are probably never going to get it though.
Anyway, the tab is beautiful and fast, and it will do most of the things you are expecting without losing a beat. To get the most out of it I would recommend getting the "good lock" apps to further personalize your experience (I wish someone told me about these before since I used the device for a month before finding them). The one hand operation(together with navigating gestures), the task changer(smaller more manageable app changer menu and initializing apps in floating mode from there), and the multistar(some nice tweaks to the floating mode like swiping from a to corner to start floating an that is already on screen) are the most useful in my perspective. I also downloaded an app called edge gestures to personalize my gesture experience even further, and an app called no keyboard because sometimes you just need to select/move/copy/paste text without the keyboard(even floating) to take any space on your screen.
Other nice apps I would recommend would be concepts(though still in development it is a nice vector based, layer-supporting drawing app), write 3.0 for general note taking(snappier stroke experience you'll get on android, and also vector based), and I cannot believe how much I have gotten into 3d sculpting and modeling with an app called nomad(is just so much fun even without knowing what you are doing).
I hope you have a great time with your tablet!

Pazzu510 said:
Same boat, I was really into root and other tweaks, now I'll get frustrated if I have to spend much time getting the experience I supposedly paid for. I actually just browse this forums in hopes of an update on next oneUI versions since they seem to have fixed some of the small caveats I find with the current version; sadly we are probably never going to get it though.
Anyway, the tab is beautiful and fast, and it will do most of the things you are expecting without losing a beat. To get the most out of it I would recommend getting the "good lock" apps to further personalize your experience (I wish someone told me about these before since I used the device for a month before finding them). The one hand operation(together with navigating gestures), the task changer(smaller more manageable app changer menu and initializing apps in floating mode from there), and the multistar(some nice tweaks to the floating mode like swiping from a to corner to start floating an that is already on screen) are the most useful in my perspective. I also downloaded an app called edge gestures to personalize my gesture experience even further, and an app called no keyboard because sometimes you just need to select/move/copy/paste text without the keyboard(even floating) to take any space on your screen.
Other nice apps I would recommend would be concepts(though still in development it is a nice vector based, layer-supporting drawing app), write 3.0 for general note taking(snappier stroke experience you'll get on android, and also vector based), and I cannot believe how much I have gotten into 3d sculpting and modeling with an app called nomad(is just so much fun even without knowing what you are doing).
I hope you have a great time with your tablet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Than you so much for the information! Mine arrives tomorrow. I will research all the apps you mentioned.

I totally agree with Pazzu510. I use my tablet a looooooot, I use it for work and for media. I'm going to recommed you to give it a try the default samunsg apps that comes with the tablet. I LOVE the file explorer, you can syncronize one note and its just perfect. The browser is awesome too, it has a lot of configurations. I use samsung notes for my college notes, but I already tried noteshelf (very good app too, but samsung works better with the spen in my opinion. Try both and use whatever you like more) Xodo, to annotate on pdf or just open them its just a must have. It has a very good integration with the spen, onenote, etc, and you can have mutiple pdfs open.
I recommend you to set the battery limitation to 85% to protect it. And take a time and configure the energy app administration settings to bring you the best experience.
I'm very very happy with my tablet and I hope you the same!!

InsertCoin_Pls said:
I totally agree with Pazzu510. I use my tablet a looooooot, I use it for work and for media. I'm going to recommed you to give it a try the default samunsg apps that comes with the tablet. I LOVE the file explorer, you can syncronize one note and its just perfect. The browser is awesome too, it has a lot of configurations. I use samsung notes for my college notes, but I already tried noteshelf (very good app too, but samsung works better with the spen in my opinion. Try both and use whatever you like more) Xodo, to annotate on pdf or just open them its just a must have. It has a very good integration with the spen, onenote, etc, and you can have mutiple pdfs open.
I recommend you to set the battery limitation to 85% to protect it. And take a time and configure the energy app administration settings to bring you the best experience.
I'm very very happy with my tablet and I hope you the same!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much. It is on the UPS delivery truck and should be here in the next 3 hours or so. Really pumped to finally upgrade from the old S 10.5
Thanks for the tips!

The tablet is fantastic so far. Just trying to figure out which case style I prefer now. Probably will end up with like 4 cases at least.
The one disappointment was the sound...with the 4 speakers "tuned by akg" I was expecting more. My Mate 20x actually sounds better (which I know is highly regarded for sound but still). Luckily speaker usage is not crucial for me.

shaolin95 said:
The tablet is fantastic so far. Just trying to figure out which case style I prefer now. Probably will end up with like 4 cases at least.
The one disappointment was the sound...with the 4 speakers "tuned by akg" I was expecting more. My Mate 20x actually sounds better (which I know is highly regarded for sound but still). Luckily speaker usage is not crucial for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes,I agree it is very good Tablet
_ I have T830 andoid 10, without root ... I'm using only Vanced Tube, I have removed enough bloatware, and I'm using " Nicelock downloader companion" & some modules for my device.These, I think are enough for this device...
( Nicelock downloader companion thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...p-v2-16-manual-download-links-thread.3923844/
_ (there is also a module for "audio - sound utility" ) : https://sites.google.com/view/nicelockdownloader/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...2020-launcher-w-update-notifications.3908648/ )
_ How to Remove bloatware without Root, for free : https://beebom.com/how-remove-bloatware-android-without-root/

daitalos said:
Yes,I agree it is very good Tablet
_ I have T830 andoid 10, without root ... I'm using only Vanced Tube, I have removed enough bloatware, and I'm using " Nicelock downloader companion" & some modules for my device.These, I think are enough for this device...
( Nicelock downloader companion thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...p-v2-16-manual-download-links-thread.3923844/
_ (there is also a module for "audio - sound utility" ) : https://sites.google.com/view/nicelockdownloader/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...2020-launcher-w-update-notifications.3908648/ )
_ How to Remove bloatware without Root, for free : https://beebom.com/how-remove-bloatware-android-without-root/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information and the link, really appreciated it!!

shaolin95 said:
Aside from installing Vanced youtube...I am not sure I need root anymore. Weird to say that as I was big into custom ROMs, root, overclocking my phones back in the day
Anyway, mostly using this to replace my aging original Tab S 10.5 which is now been used inside my PC to display CPU speeds, temps, etc.
It was lagging with EMBY and other things even with custom ROMs but I am glad I was able to find a new home for it to be useful.
Thanks for any feedback!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same thing. Almost a year later and still no android 11 with the sm-t837T. So that's pretty much my reason for wanting root. Lineage os! I've yet to root this tablet. Wonder is dex is gone it you flash a custom rom