Why should I do CyanogenMod on a Nexus S? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Go gentle on this newbie-droid -
What are the reasons for giving up the warranty on my Nexus S and install CyanogenMod?
Thanks!

Short answer - it's awesome and it has a lot more options and features than stock.
Long answer -
1st, I wouldn't be too concerned about voiding warranty. Depending on how you root, "unrooting" will be easy as pie. If you have a problem with the phone, flash back to stock, lock the bootloader, and no one will know the wiser.
2nd - A lot of people are kinda under the impression that CM on the SNS may not be necessary because their though is that since the SNS is "vanilla" already, there's no point.
On devices that aren't vanilla already the jump to CM is much more dramatic, for sure. On the SNS the differences are more like subtle enhancements that really make the device more customizable.
You can change the lockscreen; you can add widgets to the notification bar to control things like wifi, BT, etc; you have many more options in Browser (remove those zoom controls) and Messaging (dark theme FTW); you have album art and music controls on the lock screen; you can choose a "render effect" to make the display use less battery; you can set up gestures for lockscreen shortcuts and messaging; the list goes on and on.
Once you get used the the features of CM it will be horribly painful to have to go back to stock for any reason. You may not notice them at first, but dig deep and play around with them and you'll see what all the fuss is about. Definately worth it.

CM7 runs faster and smoother and allot snappier than stock.
Pretty much what fchipm said
BTW you wont void your warranty rooting and installing 3rd party ROMS...you can unroot and re-lock the bootloader.

Faster and smoother .. Thats should be great ! Its my first android phone and already find it smokin' slick ;-)

201102 said:
Go gentle on this newbie-droid -
What are the reasons for giving up the warranty on my Nexus S and install CyanogenMod?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it makes bacon...

It makes an island and then transforms your phone into a jet and flys you to that island

simms22 said:
it makes bacon...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Well, thanks to the educational replies and also to the well meaning ones who think they are funny.
I'll probably waiting till it's past alpha/beta.

slowz3r said:
It makes an island and then transforms your phone into a jet and flys you to that island
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it have the GB's?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

201102 said:
Well, thanks to the educational replies and also to the well meaning ones who think they are funny.
I'll probably waiting till it's past alpha/beta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should give it a try. I've never had any issues with core apps throughout all of CM7s nightlies. RC1 extremely stable, IMO enough to be a stable release. There's nothing to lose because you could always return to stock and not void warranty. CM7 is superior to stock in all aspects. Speed, sound, display, battery, themes, Widgets and many other features. For example, one of the reasons I find myself going back to CM7 is for the notification bar toggles. The kernels available should you decide to root are also amazing. Voodoo sound provides superior audio clarity, and voodoo color fixes any maroon grey tint you might experience. Couple this with CM7, and it'll leave you smiling.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

seriouslyjeff said:
Does it have the GB's?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Click to collapse
actually yes

Google's own blog specifically says they made the Nexus S easy to root and install custom roms on; I sincerely doubt that installing a custom rom would void your warranty in 99% of situations, despite that warning on the fastboot oem unlock command. (Example, if you get a dead pixel, that's nothing to do with a custom rom and your warranty should still be effective.)
Of interest is that the oem unlock is NOT necessary to root the phone, or flash custom roms, and that the oem unlock is the only place you get a "you'll void your warranty" screen. I would argue that if you skip the oem unlock you've not voided your warranty because you didn't see the warning, and you never acknowledged it.

peeturr said:
You should give it a try. I've never had any issues with core apps throughout all of CM7s nightlies. RC1 extremely stable, IMO enough to be a stable release. There's nothing to lose because you could always return to stock and not void warranty. CM7 is superior to stock in all asp..................
............ maroon grey tint you might experience. Couple this with CM7, and it'll leave you smiling.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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hi, newbie here, dont mind me asking wats the diff between Rc1 and alpha etc, saw a few CM threads here
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tishfire said:
hi, newbie here, dont mind me asking wats the diff between Rc1 and alpha etc, saw a few CM threads here
Nightlies are built each night by a program called the build not and sometimes incorporate small changes others times not. A RC or release candidate is a when all of the little changes get polished up and put together by a human and put out as a sort of beta.
Sent via Picopad
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Click to collapse
Sent from my MattedBlue CM7 Google Nexus S!

Related

[Q] Cognition vs. CM6

I've been using Cognition 2.1 and SRE since I got my Captivate. I have to say that I am very pleased with designgears stock rebuilds and they definitely made the user experience of the phone much better.
However, having come from a SE x10a, I never really had the opportunity to run any Cyanogen roms, much less CM6, on a phone meant specifically for Android (I did get it running on my HTC Touch Pro and HD2).
Does anyone have any first hand experience with running CM6 on a "real" Android phone and how does it compare to the current Cognition 2.1.5? Should I be holding my breath for CM6 or are the differences minimal (minus Froyo of course)?
Well, considering Cognition is just sourced together improvements in an all in one package, and Cyanogen mod is re-worked code they aren't even in the same ballpark. If and when CM drops it will be very different from Cognition.
Yeah I've had experience with Cyanogen on a Nexus one, and the speed improvements and big updates that add a lot of features, i used Cognition, and i have a couple gripes. first DG updates too frequently, i hate having to keeping using titanium backup, it literally takes an hour to get all my stuff back the way i want, he updates like everyday i swear. Secondly the updates are really buggy still, i had issues on my phone getting really random errors. Cyan has a ton of developers behind it, it really makes the phone, can't wait for it to be on Captivate.
sold1erjjt said:
Yeah I've had experience with Cyanogen on a Nexus one, and the speed improvements and big updates that add a lot of features, i used Cognition, and i have a couple gripes. first DG updates too frequently, i hate having to keeping using titanium backup, it literally takes an hour to get all my stuff back the way i want, he updates like everyday i swear. Secondly the updates are really buggy still, i had issues on my phone getting really random errors. Cyan has a ton of developers behind it, it really makes the phone, can't wait for it to be on Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do realize that he releases UPDATES that dont require you to back up and restore every time?
I'm not sure if I would be willing to give up touch wiz for CM. I really think touch wiz with launcher pro is the way to go. Stock android despite what some really loud people think, is not am improvement over sense and touch wiz. At least not for me.
k2snowboards88 said:
I'm not sure if I would be willing to give up touch wiz for CM. I really think touch wiz with launcher pro is the way to go. Stock android despite what some really loud people think, is not am improvement over sense and touch wiz. At least not for me.
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Click to collapse
I agree. The TW calendar and contact list is pretty, and LP makes the rest pretty and functional. Good combination IMO
waiting4gingerbread said:
I agree. The TW calendar and contact list is pretty, and LP makes the rest pretty and functional. Good combination IMO
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Click to collapse
I especially appreciate the wifi, bluetooth, silent and vibrate controls. And I use the lock screen music controls all the time. I don't know how people get along without them.
freddieman23 said:
iOS 4.2 is better and has TRUE multitasking.
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troll
10 chars
Pirateghost said:
you do realize that he releases UPDATES that dont require you to back up and restore every time?
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Click to collapse
Hmm well i didn't know for sure, he updates too much, i just stopped after 2.1.1, i hate updating, and flashing, and troubleshooting if something goes wrong haha, i mean Cog is something needed to push development on the Captivate. I mean IMO I'm not a big fan of COG, but its good to know people are working hard on our phone despite all the attention on the Vibrant.
sold1erjjt said:
Hmm well i didn't know for sure, he updates too much, i just stopped after 2.1.1, i hate updating, and flashing, and troubleshooting if something goes wrong haha, i mean Cog is something needed to push development on the Captivate. I mean IMO I'm not a big fan of COG, but its good to know people are working hard on our phone despite all the attention on the Vibrant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it was after 2.1.1 when he started releasing update versions that don't touch /data so leave your apps & settings alone. I do agree though that the releases are too frequent, I'd expect such frequent releases when during the 0.X stage not 2.X.
I'm currently on 2.1.4 and am waiting for 2.1.6 to be released & for other guinea pigs to test it before I upgrade as even just disabling the voodoo lagfix, updating and re-enabling the lag fix is a pain.
k2snowboards88 said:
I'm not sure if I would be willing to give up touch wiz for CM. I really think touch wiz with launcher pro is the way to go. Stock android despite what some really loud people think, is not am improvement over sense and touch wiz. At least not for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, at least for touchwiz. Not sure about Sense.
Having said that, I understand CM makes changes to stock, so it sounds like it's basically a light skin as well. So not sure if those features are worth it. I love the TW brightness change on notification bar swype. If I knew how to submit ideas to CM, I would submit that. Swiping contacts is very nice too. And of course the notification bar toggles are great.
Launcher pro fixes the rest.
seriously, QQ moar, you're honestly complaining about having too many updates and too much support from the dev community? Look at the other galaxy S forums, they dont even have anything as cool as that, I mean Cognition is just 20 steps rolled into one ROM of what you'll do anyway, stripping many annoying things of the rom out and adding a few patches here and there.. its NOT a vanilla rom, its not anything thats not heavily based on what samsung/ATT put out there.
Its a dude constantly trying to make your phone better, thats hardly a bad thing. You can stick to Cognition 2.1 as i'm doing if you want and just wait for whatever else comes out based on a new samsung/ATT firmware. No one is forcing you to update, read the changelog and if nothing affects you leave your phone as it is.
waiting4gingerbread said:
I agree. The TW calendar and contact list is pretty, and LP makes the rest pretty and functional. Good combination IMO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I dont mind touchwiz so much. But the one thing I HATE about it is the fact that Samsung did away with the stock Android bluetooth stack and replaced it with one of their own, now we cant use bluetooth game controllers with it.
But other than that, TW with LauncherPro on top of it is pretty good.
E_man5112 said:
Agreed, at least for touchwiz. Not sure about Sense.
Having said that, I understand CM makes changes to stock, so it sounds like it's basically a light skin as well. So not sure if those features are worth it. I love the TW brightness change on notification bar swype. If I knew how to submit ideas to CM, I would submit that. Swiping contacts is very nice too. And of course the notification bar toggles are great.
Launcher pro fixes the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just leave my brightness set to auto. I tried the swiping to change brightness, but didnt like it. One swipe to the left made it go lowest brightness and one swipe to the right made maximum brightness, nothing in between. Thats why I use Auto. But I do love the notification area toggles for Wifi, bluetooth, etc. Just wish they had GPS in there as well like the other phones do.
derek4484 said:
Yea, I dont mind touchwiz so much. But the one thing I HATE about it is the fact that Samsung did away with the stock Android bluetooth stack and replaced it with one of their own, now we cant use bluetooth game controllers with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My MSI Bluetooth GamePad works great. It's the Wii controller that doesn't play well.
I love the development on the Captivate i just don't particularly like all the enhancements that DG has added on the COG ROM. Battery drained like crazy with it. but anyways. yeah TW does have something special about it. some really neat enhancements over that stock experience, i haven't had any experience with Sense but hopefully a ROM will come out soon.
If and when cyan is released for this phone I will swap in a heart beat.
You get a customized light install with all of your favorite mods already installed already. Plus you get updated pushed directly to your phone.
Plus all the stuff that TW has you won't miss.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
derek4484 said:
I just leave my brightness set to auto. I tried the swiping to change brightness, but didnt like it. One swipe to the left made it go lowest brightness and one swipe to the right made maximum brightness, nothing in between. Thats why I use Auto. But I do love the notification area toggles for Wifi, bluetooth, etc. Just wish they had GPS in there as well like the other phones do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a trick to the brightness slider. In order to keep you from changing brightness accidentally, they made the initial spot you touch a dead zone. What you have to do is if you want the screen to be set somewhere on the lower end of the brightness scale, start swiping on the right side and work your way down. If you want to be on the brighter end of the scale, start all the way to the left and work your way up. If you want to be in the middle, just start at either extreme. It seems complicated at first, but it gets to be second nature really fast.
avgjoegeek said:
If and when cyan is released for this phone I will swap in a heart beat.
You get a customized light install with all of your favorite mods already installed already. Plus you get updated pushed directly to your phone.
Plus all the stuff that TW has you won't miss.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll miss plenty. Also, since samsung doesn't release driver source code, CM to leave the galaxyies behind when 3.0 comes out until (and if) samsung releases or leaks some 3.0 roms.
If I update to Cyanogen (when it comes out) or Cognition will I lose Swype?

what/where/how is ICS better then GB ???

i just don't see this point ...
It looks clean and makes less 'fragmentation'. It also has roboto font and face unlock, but not much else
qtwrk said:
i just don't see this point ...
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Click to collapse
Faster smoother all around GPU acceleration, smooth browser.
All around better experience than GB
like having a new phone
Have u even tried it?
demo23019 said:
Faster smoother all around GPU acceleration, smooth browser.
All around better experience than GB
like having a new phone
Have u even tried it?
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Click to collapse
yes , like MIUI , DIANXIN , CM9 and STOCK , brah brah
smooth ? i'm quite happy with what i have now , browser as well.
...
shadowskorch said:
It looks clean and makes less 'fragmentation'. It also has roboto font and face unlock, but not much else
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hmmm , i don't have any sight problem ...so roboto font isn't much good to me
face unlock ...yeah , that google employee had failed face-unlock representation in EXPO ... -___________-!!!
Ics rocks!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
mathkid95 said:
Ics rocks!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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= = , but how ?
How was 2.3 better than 2.2.
If you have an upgrade up for grabs without any concequences, why not take it and try it out?
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium
It seems better to me in every way except time allowed for devs to find tweeks. A true comparison would be stock to stock.
qtwrk said:
i just don't see this point ...
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Click to collapse
1. swipe away notifications
2. more consistent look-and-feel with the fonts and colours
3. much nicer stock gapps
4. a better unlock screen, including the camera unlock and "My name" text option
5. resizable widgets
6. better organization of menus and submenus
7. works on tablets AND phones
8. more intuitive way to add widgets and organize your home screens with folders
9. better multi-tasking with the recent apps screen
10. face unlock
kto_matchu said:
1. swipe away notifications
2. more consistent look-and-feel with the fonts and colours
3. much nicer stock gapps
4. a better unlock screen, including the camera unlock and "My name" text option
5. resizable widgets
6. better organization of menus and submenus
7. works on tablets AND phones
8. more intuitive way to add widgets and organize your home screens with folders
9. better multi-tasking with the recent apps screen
10. face unlock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of this is available in CM7, ADW Ex, some add ons etc.
Many don't care about face unlock, multitask changes but the honeycomb style gmail widget is nice.
bjrmd said:
Most of this is available in CM7, ADW Ex, some add ons etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then what's so great about Gingerbread? You can find most of the GB advantages in Froyo custom ROMs. Or most of FROYO custom ROMs in Eclair custom ROMs. This kinda defeats the point of the question, right?
bjrmd said:
Many don't care about face unlock, multitask changes
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Click to collapse
Hey, they're still fair answers someone will care about them and they're still technically "an advantage"
Not everyone is gonna like it, but I've been running various ICS roms since it came out, and I can't go back to GB. To be honest, when I use a phone with GB now, I immediately think "eww..." in my head. It just feels really ghetto compared to ICS.
kto_matchu said:
Then what's so great about Gingerbread? You can find most of the GB advantages in Froyo custom ROMs. Or most of FROYO custom ROMs in Eclair custom ROMs. This kinda defeats the point of the question, right?
Oh
Hey, they're still fair answers someone will care about them and they're still technically "an advantage"
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Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.
Addons are now optonal instead of mandatory to get a good experience. That's a huge improvement already.
Previous I wouldn't upgrade to other roms cause it took forever to add everything back. Now things just work out of the box. It's kinda like going to a mac from a PC.
You mean spending twice the money for the same hardware?
albundy2010 said:
You mean spending twice the money for the same hardware?
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My company pays for my laptops so money doesnt matter. Sometimes you pay more than twice the money for less hardware if you really look at it.
I'm just saying that its easier to get up and running with a mac than a pc (and to try and bring it back to the original topic) just like it is easier to get up and running with ics than gb
Disagree with both.
maybe you've never really given both a honest try.
I have given both a honest try. That is irrelevant anyways

Who cares about a locked bootloader any ways.

Yes I love Cyanogen and it would be nice to have a recovery but what about all the great things from TouchWiz.
If Dan does have an unlock and does release it then yes I probably will unlock but I don't think I can part from TouchWiz. Yet...
Since I bought my wife an S4 also we use S-Beam for sharing pictures of the kids a LOT! That brings me to my next point, the camera is ridiculously good. I don't need to mention how handy the multi-window is...
Will probably run modified stock Roms. Comments?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
So far the mods to TW have been quite impressive, Nottach's Framework for example and P-ROM. Still would very much like a true pure Android experience that I can play with and mod myself. Can't do that without the bootloader unlock though but I can definitely live with what we got for quite a while if I had too
ZPaul2Fresh8 said:
Yes I love Cyanogen and it would be nice to have a recovery but what about all the great things from TouchWiz.
If Dan does have an unlock and does release it then yes I probably will unlock but I don't think I can part from TouchWiz. Yet...
Will probably run modified stock Roms. Comments?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a perfect example of not reading the threads. Do you even know what to do with the fix when you see it? will you know how to apply it? Not bashing you, but sir, I think before you even see a fix, you need to read way more, what is Cyanogen? is it some kind of recovery method? answer to your question is yes, it allows to run other modified TW roms also. This ain't no damn iPhone.
TheAxman said:
This is a perfect example of not reading the threads. Do you even know what to do with the fix when you see it? will you know how to apply it? Not bashing you, but sir, I think before you even see a fix, you need to read way more, what is Cyanogen? is it some kind of recovery method? answer to your question is yes, it allows to run other modified TW roms also. This ain't no damn iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, I'd listen to your own advice there, chief.
He didn't even have a question, and from the way it sounds he is plenty aware of the difference between a custom ROM and a recovery. What are you talking about?
And OP, I think I'm having the same dilemma...the mods that have come out for TW have been amazing - and honestly I don't know of any specific features on AOSP ROMs that I DON'T have right now.
And let's be real, I enjoy it when people were are like, "ooh, is that an S4?" And I respond by turning off a random TV in the area, or by scrolling through my gallery just by waving my hand. I'd miss that I think
So yeah I'll definitely unlock once available, but I'll most likely stick with stock-based ROMs too.
CPA Poke said:
Uh, I'd listen to your own advice there, chief.
He didn't even have a question, and from the way it sounds he is plenty aware of the difference between a custom ROM and a recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, I was actually commenting on his TW opinion, it is a comment. And I prefer TW roms also. more stable.
Choice is always a good thing, just because you have a unlocked bootloader doesn't mean you have to get rid of tw.
For me I always like to just fix what ever I feel is wrong or missing or locked out from a stock rom.
At the end of the day people have to use what makes then happy.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
TheAxman said:
This is a perfect example of not reading the threads. Do you even know what to do with the fix when you see it? will you know how to apply it? Not bashing you, but sir, I think before you even see a fix, you need to read way more, what is Cyanogen? is it some kind of recovery method? answer to your question is yes, it allows to run other modified TW roms also. This ain't no damn iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're on crack. LMAO. It hurts to ponder what you THOUGHT you read.
And I did forget to mention the IR blaster. But they're is finally an alternative to SmartON. Try SmartRemote made specifically for the S4 but it is $9.99. It does allow you to make custom remotes so you can place buttons from any device all onto just 1 remote. Also allows custom commands through Pronto HEX codes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
ZPaul2Fresh8 said:
I think you're on crack. LMAO. It hurts to ponder what you THOUGHT you read.
And I did forget to mention the IR blaster. But they're is finally an alternative to SmartON. Try SmartRemote made specifically for the S4 but it is $9.99. It does allow you to make custom remotes so you can place buttons from any device all onto just 1 remote. Also allows custom commands through Pronto HEX codes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I should not have added bourbon to my coffee.
TheAxman said:
Actually, I should not have added bourbon to my coffee.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all good. I've woken up a few times still half asleep having that same problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
ZPaul2Fresh8 said:
Yes I love Cyanogen and it would be nice to have a recovery but what about all the great things from TouchWiz.
If Dan does have an unlock and does release it then yes I probably will unlock but I don't think I can part from TouchWiz. Yet...
Since I bought my wife an S4 also we use S-Beam for sharing pictures of the kids a LOT! That brings me to my next point, the camera is ridiculously good. I don't need to mention how handy the multi-window is...
Will probably run modified stock Roms. Comments?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am surprised to find I am starting to feel the same way. I've modified, configured and optimized the stock ROM quite a bit now and it is running very nicely. Looking forward to flashing a custom recovery so I can backup and restore and experiment with what's out there, but it's going to be a tough decision to run modified stock versus CM. I have also found battery life to be excellent with the Stock ROM.
Been trying out the new Samsung features for a while. To me they're nothing more than gimmicks. They're great for making a cool looking commercial, but mostly useless in real life. Air gestures? Please....I'm an adult, how often are my fingers too filthy to touch my phone? The eye tracking features worked sporadically, at best. And not at all in a dimly lit room. Can't wait to unlock this bootloader, flash a ROM, and get rid the mountain of Samsung bloat apps...not to mention AT&T's contribution to that mountain...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
ZPaul2Fresh8 said:
Yes I love Cyanogen and it would be nice to have a recovery but what about all the great things from TouchWiz.
If Dan does have an unlock and does release it then yes I probably will unlock but I don't think I can part from TouchWiz. Yet...
Since I bought my wife an S4 also we use S-Beam for sharing pictures of the kids a LOT! That brings me to my next point, the camera is ridiculously good. I don't need to mention how handy the multi-window is...
Will probably run modified stock Roms. Comments?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BlastTyrantKM said:
Been trying out the new Samsung features for a while. To me they're nothing more than gimmicks. They're great for making a cool looking commercial, but mostly useless in real life. Air gestures? Please....I'm an adult, how often are my fingers too filthy to touch my phone? The eye tracking features worked sporadically, at best. And not at all in a dimly lit room. Can't wait to unlock this bootloader, flash a ROM, and get rid the mountain of Samsung bloat apps...not to mention AT&T's contribution to that mountain...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I jump back and forth between these two ends of the opinion spectrum in regards to TW and Samsung's (AT&T's) stock ROM. This is probably the first android phone that I could honestly be okay with never flashing a custom rom on. I will still unlock the bootloader when it becomes available. I will still flash a custom recovery (nandroid backups are a really nice thing to have, and I'm disappointed that carriers don't include this) when it becomes available as well. I *might* flash a custom rom based on the stock rom, but I think I'd rather stick to stock as much as possible, at least for some time.
As for the gimmicky features it comes with, I sort of agree, yet it's fun to show off to friends. I normally keep the gestures and eye scrolling turned off, and I keep the NFC turned off when not in use. I did buy the $9.99 remote app, and I'm surprisingly content with it. I need to offer some feedback about being able to actually drag/drop to change the order of the buttons on the other screen, but otherwise it's so much better than the WatchOn stuff that I have recently frozen using TiBu.
And on to speaking of freezing apps. With root, I'm pretty content. I can use TiBu Pro (to anyone reading this, go buy the Pro version - it's completely worth it!!) to freeze all the bloatware that I don't like. Every few days since I got my phone, I re-evaluate the list in TiBu and check into any blaotware I haven't frozen yet. "Do I need this? Have I used this? Nope! Frozen." I've done this for nearly all of the "Samsung ____" apps, including the Samsung store and all the associated apps (Samsung account, etc.). Did the same for every "AT&T ___" app that it came with - they're all garbage to me. Next on my list to evaluate and possibly freeze is all the printing services - do I really need to print from my phone? Maybe if it were my work phone...
I suppose one good reason I would want to flash a customized stock-based rom would be to free up some space. Having a 16gb version is no different than my S2 was... but I definitely had a few more GB's of room to store all the cool photos. And with larger picture files, and a faster camera, the storage is suddenly a bit more important to me.
And finally, the camera, and its associated apps/modes. I see a lot of people freezing some of the apps that allow some of the cool modes this camera can use. I'm not a professional photographer, but I love taking awesome pictures with this phone. It rival's my wife's Nikon 9300 point-and-shoot, with the exception of the Nikon's zoom lens. But as far as features and quality are concerned, it's possibly better.
This thing has been pretty smooth since day negative-one for me. Even better when we got root and the bloatware was frozen. Even snappier and better on battery once that first OTA dropped. I'm pretty impressed, and it certainly is a huge step up from my S2 running CM10.1.
TL;DR: I really like the stock rom and all the cool things it offers. The performance is great. I do like some of the gimmicky things, even if I rarely use them. With the root ability to freeze things I don't use, I could definitely see keeping this thing "stock" for this device's lifetime.
PS: It's also nice to see the "Official" status, as though I haven't violated the phone too badly...
Couldn't agree more. As you all mentioned, the security of having a custom recovery + Nandroid really opens up a lot of ground for flashing new mods and having the comfort of that fallback instead of only being able to Odin back to stock if I jack something up (which has NEVER happened or anything...lol).
@Aou I too use a Titanium Backup Pro and freeze the bloat. But I kept the Samsung Apps because it had some that you can't find on Google like the Video Editor app.
Let me remind you that the Xposed framework adds new functionality without the need to flash roms. As you can see from the screen shot I was able to mod the screen without touching the framework. Easy and reversible.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
I don't unlock and root my devices to get rid of the stock interface (Touchwiz, Sense etc) i simply do it for a better rom with tweaks that makes it faster and battery life better..
and when i finally get sick of my stock interface ill flash a AOSP rom
i know some people disagree but i think the stock rom on this phone is laggy.. even after disabling S Voice and Smart stay/Air view
Wierd I couldn't add the image.
There we go lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
ZPaul2Fresh8 said:
Yes I love Cyanogen and it would be nice to have a recovery but what about all the great things from TouchWiz.
If Dan does have an unlock and does release it then yes I probably will unlock but I don't think I can part from TouchWiz. Yet...
Since I bought my wife an S4 also we use S-Beam for sharing pictures of the kids a LOT! That brings me to my next point, the camera is ridiculously good. I don't need to mention how handy the multi-window is...
Will probably run modified stock Roms. Comments?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dunno if anyone else pointed this out to you yet, but even without s beam, non touchwiz phones still all have Android Beam (you know.. the concept S Beam was based off of?)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
BlastTyrantKM said:
Air gestures? Please....I'm an adult, how often are my fingers too filthy to touch my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O you must be working in an extra clean environment. I know I don't. My hands get dirty often and these air gestures work for me.
Aside from that, what I am looking forward to is being able to have a pattern unlock And lock screen widgets at the same time. Unless Samsung releases an update for that.
Already a thread on this a few threads away

New Nexus 5 Owner

So I'm new to the Nexus 5. Mine will be hear tonight. What are some really nice things I can look forward to?
Thanks
defectiveleader said:
So I'm new to the Nexus 5. Mine will be hear tonight. What are some really nice things I can look forward to?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations on you new device.
The first thing I noticed was the speed and smoothness and crisp, bright screen.
You should enable the ART runtime in Developer options as soon as you can.
defectiveleader said:
So I'm new to the Nexus 5. Mine will be hear tonight. What are some really nice things I can look forward to?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mean to be rude, but there are about 50 threads exactly like this. No one can really tell you what to expect besides yourself. :good:
But just to give you something. Unlock the boot loader as soon as you get it.
You have an awesome experience to look forward to, that's what.
What device are you coming from?
Love these threads. Agree 100% unlock bootloader. Rom. Mod. Profit
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
TurdWiper said:
Love these threads. Agree 100% unlock bootloader. Rom. Mod. Profit
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id just hold on stock for now Android 4.5 is coming
markdapimp said:
Id just hold on stock for now Android 4.5 is coming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sillys and your obsession with stock and ota updates. You know you can manually get the newest likely even before ota is pushed. But if you want to sit around and wait that hopefully it gets pushed on time, go right ahead. Plus its a nexus. Returning to stock after unlocking is so incredibly easy that you should not fear experimenting in the meantime. But do as you wish, its your device.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Understandable, and definitely exciting, mine was shipped when I was away from home on vacation, so not only did I have to wait for it to become available, but then for it to ship home, and then again for me to return home. The wait is well worth it.
Unlock the bootloader, as if you decide to do this later it will wipe your data if you do not backup
Unlock developer options and switch from dalvik to ART runtime. This will make your device run much smoother than it does
Disable unused and background processes ( I disable Cloud, Printing, Language packs personally )
Under developer options, I personally change "Don't Keep Activities" as I notice it greatly assists my battery life.
Everyone's experience may vary, but have fun finding out what works for you.
TurdWiper said:
You sillys and your obsession with stock and ota updates. You know you can manually get the newest likely even before ota is pushed. But if you want to sit around and wait that hopefully it gets pushed on time, go right ahead. Plus its a nexus. Returning to stock after unlocking is so incredibly easy that you should not fear experimenting in the meantime. But do as you wish, its your device.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love stock i don't need to worry about losing my IEMI randomly, or some random bug/ random reboot, battery drain and all those other hassles
Personally me coming from an iPhone i like stock and that's how some people think it should be
markdapimp said:
I love stock i don't need to worry about losing my IEMI randomly, or some random bug/ random reboot, battery drain and all those other hassles
Personally me coming from an iPhone i like stock and that's how some people think it should be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the power to you. Good luck.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
my 2 cents are: for a few days / weeks keep the thing as it came. if there are any hidden bugs, well it will be easier to rma.
then up to you what you want to do, there are "endless" possibilities.
I always like to unlock the bootloader first at least, before I get too comfortable with stock.
Thanks everyone! I too love threads like these. Feels like I'm part of the community
So I'm going to unlock the bootloader, root, enable ART (which should be fun to try out!), and pull out a few tweaks.
I think I will stay stock, but maybe use Xposed.
Thanks for all the input! I really like the suggestions.
jsgraphicart said:
You have an awesome experience to look forward to, that's what.
What device are you coming from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm coming from the Galaxy Note 3
defectiveleader said:
Thanks everyone! I too love threads like these. Feels like I'm part of the community
So I'm going to unlock the bootloader, root, enable ART (which should be fun to try out!), and pull out a few tweaks.
I think I will stay stock, but maybe use Xposed.
Thanks for all the input! I really like the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, Xposed doesnt work with ART. The Nexus 5 works great on Dalvik anyway.
defectiveleader said:
I'm coming from the Galaxy Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're coming from a fast phone to another fast phone. The things the Nexus 5 has over the Note 3 is better Google Experience, better customization, no crappy TouchWiz.
defectiveleader said:
Thanks everyone! I too love threads like these. Feels like I'm part of the community
So I'm going to unlock the bootloader, root, enable ART (which should be fun to try out!), and pull out a few tweaks.
I think I will stay stock, but maybe use Xposed.
Thanks for all the input! I really like the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using ART for a while, but switched back so I could try Xposed + GravityBox. Not going back to ART now... the customization features GravityBox provides are worth way more than the minor speed increase ART gives... and with those features I don't really even feel the need to use a custom ROM. If there's one thing I could recommend, it would definitely be this.
Yes I would educate myself about rooting/ unlocking the bootloader and make that one of the first things, reason being is that unlocking the bootloader erases everything on the phone. I mean you can make backups but I personally have never made a backup of anything.

[Q] why there is no special features like as in lg g2 or any other high end phones

hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
That's because Nexus line of devices come with pure vanilla android!
If you want those effects, there are tons of apps available on the playstore
You do realise what Vanilla means right?
Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated its because we have pure "vanilla" android. It's a bit boring to some but its exciting for those that want speed and love to hack/modify.
Think of it this way. The Nexus 5 is like a Lamborghini (uncomfortable to drive, but very fast), phones like the G2 are like a Mercedes still pretty fast (not as fast as the Lambo) but its more luxurious and packed with features.
The main feature exclusive to the Nexus 5 is timely updates straight from Google.
sent from my neXus 5
ArtieQ said:
You do realise what Vanilla means right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_software
Anyway the reason is of course that the software is built from aosp with Google addons, while this is also the case for any other device, except those have their respective customisations on top of aosp and Google addons.
So nexus 5 has plenty of special features, they are just not exclusive, as Google is about software and makes money from all android devices, and allows all OEMS to use these features, while the OEMS want to keep their features exclusive in order to attract customers to their devices.
So every time Google adds new features, its also rolled out to all other android devices.
Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the forum!
The features you mentioned are really easy to add if you are rooted. BEFORE you root, however, I strongly suggest that you read everything you can about the phone to become familiar with its native functionality (e.g., the sticky threads at the top of this forum) as well as the N5 Apps and Themes forum to get an idea of how you can mod (Browsing the Play Store and trying out apps is also a lot of fun). ONLY after you have read thoroughly everything mentioned above, you can decide if you'd like to root (which I recommend, because many great apps and mods require root) and, perhaps, try flashing some custom roms and kernels.
I'm familiar with Google play and have installed many apps from there, but I've not owned another Android phone. So I don't know what capabilities other high end phones have that are missing on the N5.
What are some of the better customizations some high end phones have that I could add to the N5 using which apps? I am rooted but would prefer to remain with stock rom 4.4.2 rather than flash a new rom.
Thanks.
Actually, we're still slightly modified from vanilla aosp. We have Google dialer lookup and photosphere.
Nexus 5 is developers phone and built on a budget
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
rootSU said:
Actually, we're still slightly modified from vanilla aosp. We have Google dialer lookup and photosphere.
Nexus 5 is developers phone and built on a budget
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's right. AOSP also has Browser by default (not Chrome) and many other things...
We (Nexus + GPE Devices) have:
AOSP + Google Apps - Some AOSP Apps (that were replaced).
Sent from my Nexus 5
Anderson2 said:
I'm familiar with Google play and have installed many apps from there, but I've not owned another Android phone. So I don't know what capabilities other high end phones have that are missing on the N5.
What are some of the better customizations some high end phones have that I could add to the N5 using which apps? I am rooted but would prefer to remain with stock rom 4.4.2 rather than flash a new rom.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you are rooted, I would suggest perhaps looking into xposed framework and the gravity box module, since it's essentially made for phones this close to stock android. You can enable a ton of useful features from there, all on the stock ROM. There are also kernels you can flash to attain certain features, such as the knock on screen to activate thingy that comes with the LG G2. There aren't really a tone of features that other phones have that the N5 doesn't, The base functions are essentially the same, they just present a ton of different ways to go about it. With gravity box, for example, you can make it so when you tap on the status bar the phone goes to sleep. You can really do anything you want as far as customization, but all smartphones essentially do the same thing ie:internet, phone calls, camera, bt, music etc. Since you went ahead and rooted, research custom recoveries and start going to town exploring options. There are a ton for a phone such as this, it's just a matter of sifting through all the option until you find exactly what you want. You can google the highlights that other OEMs provide and find a close-as-possible match for that feature, whether it be a module, rom or kernel. There are A TON of options, so don't get overwhelmed and have fun brother! Modding a Nexus is, in my opinion, more about the journey of exploring the possibilities rather than searching for the perfect set up. Welcome to the best phone out right now and if there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to PM me.
Thanks for replying. Because I've never used one of the other phones I just didn't know what I was "giving up" by going with Nexus.
I've been a user of Xposed Framework, Xgravity, Xprivacy, and Boot manager for some time and love them. Also greenify, titanium backup, Nova prime, and TWRP. I'm delighted with the phone but had no previous experience to compare it with which is why I asked the question.
For instance I've heard some users rave about their MotoX interface but I don't know what made it so special. Do you know?
(Still scared to go into kernels and different roms because everything is working so well and I don't want to mess things up).
Anderson2 said:
Thanks for replying. Because I've never used one of the other phones I just didn't know what I was "giving up" by going with Nexus.
I've been a user of Xposed Framework, Xgravity, Xprivacy, and Boot manager for some time and love them. Also greenify, titanium backup, Nova prime, and TWRP. I'm delighted with the phone but had no previous experience to compare it with which is why I asked the question.
For instance I've heard some users rave about their MotoX interface but I don't know what made it so special. Do you know?
(Still scared to go into kernels and different roms because everything is working so well and I don't want to mess things up).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 2 biggest aspects, as far as I understand, to what makes the Moto X so unique is the "always listening" feature, which we have with ok Google and the active display lockscreen, which shows messages and content from the lockscreen using a black background. Since it is AMOLED, that uses less battery than actually turning on the phone to look at the message. There are a couple app that can perform this function for any phone (AcDisplay and Dynamic Notifications.) While they are certainly cool, doesn't do us much good battery-savingwise because we don't have AMOLED screens. Moto X also uses its core in some way that is supposed to be more efficient...but I honesty haven't looked into it much : ) I completely understand about be wary with kernels and ROMs! I've been flashing assorted mods for a couple of years, but it took me some time to commit myself to doing it and I read and read and read because I didn't wanna jack anything up. Inevitably I did, but it was a learning experience. I completely understand about the stock ROM as well. I have tried a few ROMs and kernels on this phone and decided that I was perfectly happy with stock. I'm not even rooted anymore and I locked my bootloader back (shameful, I know. and though this kind of contradicts what I was saying about experimenting, stock is where I am the most satisfied...I've tried plenty of other ROMs, but I've found I crave true stability) This phone is a beast as is and the only reason I would ever root is just for gravity box, but I'm content for now. There are some bugs with stock, but Google is working on them and there should be an update in the near future.
Thank you.
Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does. It's the easiest phone to mod and comes with the largest mod community. That's a special feature that's why I buy it
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
you guys forget that it does have a special feature, its googles baby, its a nexus. and like all nexus, its freedom in a device
Anderson2 said:
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NP bud
Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's special because I CHOSE what makes it special. I can have camera effects or unique home screens with ease....it was built that way.
Thanks to all... But I don't know how to root.. And rooting will void my warranty.. And if in case something goes wrong in route then I will regret for it..
Nikhil.1105 said:
Thanks to all... But I don't know how to root.. And rooting will void my warranty.. And if in case something goes wrong in route then I will regret for it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be happier with a different phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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