[Q] Need stock Android - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727

Hi. I don't have very much experience rooting(1 N1) or jailbreaking (3 iphones) but my girlfriend just got the Skyrocket (coming from a Nexus S) and hates touchwiz. I don't think she'll really be into flashing custom ROMs and I want to make this as easy for her and myself as possible so what is the easiest way to disable touchwiz and go to good ole android?

There is no asop rom yet for the skyrocket

So until the AOSP is released, we're stuck with Touchwiz no matter which ROM we use? I'm in a similar boat as this guy. I came from the N1 with stock/CM7 and I am not thrilled with the style touchwiz does. For one I HATE the launcher (which Launcher Pro quickly remedied) but I hate the big colorful dialing buttons along with the iOS rip off messaging system. Seriously, Apple should sue Samsung for THAT as opposed to claiming their phones simply look similar (which frankly could be said about nearly every smartphone made since 2009.)

Related

Touchwiz UI vs Sense UI on Android

Hi guys,
Saw the Samsung Galaxy S and love it! The hardware is great!
But I read a lot of previews that the Touchwiz UI is not as good/fun as the Sense UI by HTC.
What's so good about the Sense UI and what's so bad about Touchwiz?
Also, if there's a cooked rom for Samsung Galaxy S with Sense UI, will it affect the way HD video is being played on the phone or even the HD recording? I'm sure Samsung did some tweaking on the software (maybe Touchwiz media player is better than Sense media player?) to fully harness the hardware capabilities. So will there be a performance drop if Sense UI is used instead of the stock Touchwiz UI?
Thanks for your replies in advance.
wulunzun said:
Hi guys,
Saw the Samsung Galaxy S and love it! The hardware is great!
But I read a lot of previews that the Touchwiz UI is not as good/fun as the Sense UI by HTC.
What's so good about the Sense UI and what's so bad about Touchwiz?
Also, if there's a cooked rom for Samsung Galaxy S with Sense UI, will it affect the way HD video is being played on the phone or even the HD recording? I'm sure Samsung did some tweaking on the software (maybe Touchwiz media player is better than Sense media player?) to fully harness the hardware capabilities. So will there be a performance drop if Sense UI is used instead of the stock Touchwiz UI?
Thanks for your replies in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find touchwhiz very ugly. Sense UI is nice and simple, ORIGINAL (the new touchwhiz on the galaxy s is an iphone knock off IMO) and it has GREAT SOCIAL INTERGRATION like in sense ui 2.1 you can import all your facebook friends as actual contacts now.
I prefer the Sense UI over touchwhiz.
UberMario said:
I find touchwhiz very ugly. Sense UI is nice and simple, ORIGINAL (the new touchwhiz on the galaxy s is an iphone knock off IMO) and it has GREAT SOCIAL INTERGRATION like in sense ui 2.1 you can import all your facebook friends as actual contacts now.
I prefer the Sense UI over touchwhiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will never understand why people would want a full screen weather plugin. It's impractical and any kind continuous animation drains your battery very fast.
TouchWiz may not be as funky as HTC Sense, so all the < 15 consumers will go for that. I like the well-organized main screen of the TouchWiz interface. It's showing useful information (TEXT) put together from various widgets.
HTC sense is a work of art. The best OS GUI I have ever used on any hardware platform ( PC, Phone, Microwave oven ).
I have an Aria and just got the Captivate and have used it for 24 hrs.
So on Captivate, even with Launcherpro loaded, Touchwiz is, by comparison, clunky, ugly, and often requires two or three taps to accomplish a task that is done in one task in HTC sense.
However, Touchwiz is light years beyond windows mobile 6.5 which just disgusts me to even type about it.
Can you put Sense on a Captivate?
LauncherPro or ADWLauncher are the best, production company skins/themes always lack key elements that make android so snappy and crisp as it should be enjoyed
So I have played with sense on the HD2, Hero, Magic, and MyTouch Slide, (not counting the g1 bc is was always slow and never really stable).. I have used TouchWiz on the Vibrant and a behold 2....
Sense was really clean and simple to me back in the day.. The black on the lo res screens just look good to me, I loved the flash lite, Every aspect it touched on just got a little cleaner.. that said it slowed the phone down horribly.. The Slide has changed that.. it seems responsive and more customizable to the average consumer... hopefully that wont just be a mytouch series thing.. but no live wallpapers and no bettercut,
Touchwiz was taken off the behold 2 as soon as I could.. It was just an epic fail.. especially after using almost every android phone so far... I dont even have to explain myself on that one... And then the vibrant came out... I was really reluctant until I got to play with it... Im more pleased with the ui but its not a step up from vanilla.. not like sense is..
its a personal preference but I prefer vanilla android...

Do you hate or like mySense?

So, what do my fellow MT4G'ers think of mySense? Love, hate, indifference?
Coming from TouchWiz, I must say I deplore mySense. I seriously don't understand why people rag on TouchWiz and claim Sense is amazing -- my experience says otherwise: I absolutely loved TouchWiz. Then again, most of this is subjective to personal preferences; so cast your vote and let us know how you feel!
Can you add an option for "I haven't seen it since day one"?
Sense was great on WinMo because the alternative was horrid. I'm not a fan on Android, but I have to say the day I got it I played with it and it's not as bad as full blown Sense IMO.
I had a Samsung captivate on att. It had touchwiz 3.0. I found it to be very usable... particularly because of how well it mimiced iOS which I just switched from. I liked the slide contact to call feature. And although the samoled was rich, I find this screen to be sharper... almost on par with iPhone 4.... but definitely washed out. I am surprisingly liking he UI on this phone. I haven't even bothered to perm root it yet. I like the fact that it all just works.
On the captivate I ran launcher pro. On this phone I have no real desire to change launchers.... and the sense clock and weather widget is frikkin sweet.
I don't find the UI to be intrusive and some of the added features are the best I have seen on a phone... in particular the copy context menu where you can look up anything your browsing is better than iOS. Hands down.
My smartphone acquisition disorder has been quelled.... for the moment.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
I saw on your "what rich colors" thread you mentioned your love for touchwiz.
I think if manufacturers were to make their UI an app instead of implementing it on their devices it would speed the updates. And they could sell them on the market for $2 make some money and please a lot more people than they are now. Just my opinion.
I'm impartial, would prefer Vanilla android though.
mySense is growing on me, I'm starting to love it.
I like it so far..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Adw launcher + mysense framework = bliss
Sent from my anti titanic
Only thing I can say I TRULY hate about it is the blocks around the icons on the desktop and in the application drawer...
Other than that I have no problems with it!
I've used vanilla 2.2 (N1) and TW (Vibrant) and I can say that MySense isn't bad at all... do away with those blocks and it's golden - definitely better than TW.
Been using it for about 20 mins now and HATE it. Theres a reason my buddies on the Hero and Aria (that i flashed with cm6) dont miss that crap, because its just that, crap.
I'll pray every night for a vanilla rom until its available.
I have been a vanilla android user since my G1 (then N1). The mysense is starting to grow on me. There are some good functions that aren't on vanilla android.
thelamacmdr said:
Adw launcher + mysense framework = bliss
Sent from my anti titanic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just downloaded ADW from the market and im deff loving my phone more with this launcher, altho i must say, its a bandaid fix at best.
Im a Keep It Simple STUPID!!!! type of guy and dont like the thought of one launcher overlayed over the sense launcher thats running in the background.
only used sense for the first day then downloaded and upgraded to launcherpro plus!! amazing!!!!
I'm gettin use to it. used launcher pro plus for a min, but came back.
DarkAgent said:
So, what do my fellow MT4G'ers think of mySense? Love, hate, indifference?
Coming from TouchWiz, I must say I deplore mySense. I seriously don't understand why people rag on TouchWiz and claim Sense is amazing -- my experience says otherwise: I absolutely loved TouchWiz. Then again, most of this is subjective to personal preferences; so cast your vote and let us know how you feel!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is tmobile version of sense....not a true rep of the HTC sense~
it's ok to me...coming from a vanilla G1 and vanilla G2
Up in the air
I'm not sure what to think about the UI. There's elements of Sense that I like and there are those that I could do without.
I wish I could have the ADW Launcher with the Sense widgets since I hate the boxes around every icon and the mySense Launcher is kinda weak.
The theming idea is cool for those that don't want to run custom ROMs... maybe CM will port some of the goodies over.
What I would REALLY want is the ability to use HTCSense.com... Here's to the Sense port team!!!
It's ok with me for now. The MT4G has more than enough memory to support it, so the whole "slow" factor is irrelevant really. If it had a proper bluetooth stack so I could use my wiimote I would be much happier.
I like it better than vanilla Android but not a big fan of the launcher or app drawer
I'd like the original Sense UI personally
- White MyTouch 4G -
Permaroot + S=Off
I thought it ran pretty good! Installled launcher pro after a day. I just like the look alot better now.
Its not true sense but espresso or mysense or whatever they are calling it. I really don't like it tbh. I hate the fact that I have to choose a theme, which I think all look like crap. I love Launcher Pro and that gets rid of most of the sense ui. Just waiting for CM6.1.

[Q] OEMs putting stock Android on their phones

Guys I've be wondering...why do OEMs always skin up their UI in a way so that it becomes disgusting to use...
Many custom ROMs sure only exists just to bring the native Android feeling like on the Nexus devices to those phones, right?
I myself own a Galaxy Note, and the day I bought it I feel its system was so crapped over with all that Touchwiz bs and Samsung Apps that nobody is going to use but still runs in the background.
So, if OEMs start building 'stock' Android firmwares and only add the essential features (like S-Pen Apps), wouldn't that be awesome for its users and for the OEM, due to not having to port everyting over once a new Android version arrives, which maybe means lower costs and faster updates?
I know that it would be making phones harder to differentiate, and marketing those would be harder, but they could make two production lines or two software versions and let the users choose which they want to update to...
Maybe I am just too naive lol, but I've been searching for a phablet with as much stock UI as possible and eventually I gave up
Any answers appreciated
This already started during Gingerbread and I think even before, back then Android looked hideous and the phone manufacturers actually did a decent job back then like HTC with it's 'Sense'. I think the manufacturers are still stuck in their old habits, and trying to differentiate themselves from competitors just like before. However Android started to look beautiful from ICS and on and most of these skins now look ugly and outdated.
I think the manufacturers have to step up their game just like google did with ICS, with either improving their skins or just remove their custom skins all together.
If you want the AOSP look, buy a nexus device or flash a ROM. You will just have to trust me when I say the masses like things the way they are. Stock Android is getting pretty good, but Sony's UI I just love, and I can see a lot of things which Sony and other OEMs bring to their skin a whole version before Google does
I for myself hate Touchwiz, but if you say so
You may dislike touchwiz UI (join the club) but the fact is Samsung has a lot of closed source features not available on stock AOSP.
As mentioned before it is just brand differentiation.
Sent from my SGH-I747
Sense is my custom skin, and I honestly don't mind Touchwiz, but stock jb or ICS is beautiful.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Bull_Moose said:
Sense is my custom skin, and I honestly don't mind Touchwiz, but stock jb or ICS is beautiful.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While it would be nice to have the option of choosing Stock or Skin at setup, it would be difficult because their software is completely different. I personally like Stock Android and would rather not go back to any skin for that matter.
You could also just use a launcher (and de-bloat if it's an issue for you) to get a "look".
On my phone, I only use a launcher so that I can get T-Mobile's native WIFI-calling that's TW-only. I really didn't mind TW and there were some things I really liked - but the dealbreaker was lack of customisation - little changes that I wanted to make that made the phone go from good to awesome.
If you just want the look, try Apex or Nova launcher - you don't even necessarily need root.

Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4 for me

Disclaimer!!
This thread ain't intended to start a flame war or to bash me because you can download new diallers, contacts etc just my opinion on touchwiz after seeing various youtube video's and to see if I am not the only one who feels this way.
First of all I am a fanatic bordering on OCD when it comes to the look and feel of the OS as well as the apps which run on top of it and my biggest gripe back when I had my first android phone was that applications varied wildly in the quality of design and aesthetics and Google had a lot of work ahead of it to tidy up the UI to get it up to the standard of iOS for a uniform feel and to get developers to have a similar feel across the board for their apps.
Android is and always was a superior OS just to clear that up I am not an iOS fanboy!
Fast forward to today and Android has changed so much it blew me away all the apps now look and feel like they follow the guidelines set out by Google with the holo theme (I had a Google Nexus 720p and sold it purely because all the apps looked well out of place) and everything is very smooth with next to no lag or stutter so consider me impressed.
However this is what bugs me now, when I first got a Galaxy S II touchwiz looked good and it added some nice little touches and over all and made a very nice change to Sense which was bloated and slow now fast forward to the Galaxy S IV announcement and touchwiz now looks very dated and from what I can gather it does not follow the holo guidelines whatsoever and the enhancements are a slightly more toned down look (still cartoony like in appearance) and whites in the menu's.
So here is a breakdown of my gripes/concerns about Touchwiz on this flagship phone.
The dialler looks absolutely awful and seriously dated by todays standards
The contact list and/or contacts follows the same lines as the dialler and looks very dated
The camera icons have a fake metal look and stick out a mile
Basically Touchwiz looks way too cartoony, garish and lacks the polish and finish of the Nexus range and even the HTC One.
And last things last I appreciate that you can customise the hell out of Android with new diallers, new themes, tweaks and what not but this post is purely about the stock experience.
Aside from that Touchwiz does have some nice touches just Samsung need to bring it out of the gingerbread days and screaming and kicking into the holo days.
One last note I own a windows phone purely because of the aesthetics and all applications follow the same guidelines but there is such a lack of support I am coming back to Android at some point in the very near future.
Samsung always had a bunch of awful designers. They desperately need to hire better designers.
Re: Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4
All those complaints can be changed with simple fixes right here on XDA...
NightHawkUndead said:
All those complaints can be changed with simple fixes right here on XDA...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely agree not denying that whatsoever and my complaints are purely about the design and look of Touchwiz not how to fix it
Some like it, some don't. Touchwiz UI never looks great to me, and its features (s voice, s beam, palm swipe screen capture etc) are nothing but bloats for me. However if you're gonna buy a S4 you'll have to find a way to like Touchwiz. Don't think you'll be able to flash CM or AOSP on an S4 and everything's gonna work well and great. With the lack of support and Samsung's attitude towards devs, open source development on this device is gonna be a pain.
Or you use a different launcher.
I'm riding the same boat as you mate, currently a Lumia 920 owner, came from S2 and Nexuses aren't sold in the country I live in. Samsung's totally effed it up, it looks so gingerbread :x
BoneXDA said:
Or you use a different launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchwiz is not just the launcher. It's the whole experience.
Livebyte said:
Touchwiz is not just the launcher. It's the whole experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't of said it better myself and also nice signature, typing on a Macbook Pro Retina as we speak
Re: Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4
Livebyte said:
Touchwiz is not just the launcher. It's the whole experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly correct which is why when u change the launcher it's different because the experience changes
And you can still flash a rom anyway
PHONE SLOW CLICK ME?
1 days 2 s4​
Totally agree with you.
Amoled display on Touchwiz added insult to injury. Its oversaturated/ unrealistic colors made it look more awful.
I'm not against samsung or its nature UX, I've seen the S4 personally and its display is really gorgeous. its just that just like you, i'm not into the outdated user experience with added features from the gingerbread days.
Re: Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4
Have to disagree. Love the touchwiz. And absolutely love most of the things u guys call 'bloat'.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
NightHawkUndead said:
All those complaints can be changed with simple fixes right here on XDA...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Samsung has no use for OCD types....They will never be satisfied and are too infinitesimal in the millions and millions of sold product. I don;t like TW. I use Nova Problem solved.
My feelings are if you are paying for a top end flagship device then everything should ooze quality and Touchwiz is firmly stuck in the days of gingerbread and it's getting totally left behind.
Launchers can only do so much imho.
tbong777 said:
+1
Samsung has no use for OCD types....They will never be satisfied and are too infinitesimal in the millions and millions of sold product. I don;t like TW. I use Nova Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova launcher is slick.
deleted
daleski75 said:
My feelings are if you are paying for a top end flagship device then everything should ooze quality and Touchwiz is firmly stuck in the days of gingerbread and it's getting totally left behind.
Launchers can only do so much imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launchers can and do COMPLETELY change the experience. They do a lot. and then even more... In fact the problem people are having with TW can be completely eradicated with a very large choice of proven launchers.
REAL Flagship devices don't become antiquated in 6 months. I think the word "flagship" in this world of Mobile devices is over used. carries to high of expectations, and is over exaggerated for a $600 all in one device. The Note 3 will be the flagship device in a few months...Then what?
For MOST the S4 WILL "ooze quality" I know a few non rooting users who cannot wait to get their upgrades and have been completely satissfied with their S3s. WE in XDA are very very tiny consumer base for Samsung. They throw a few bones to developers for their own benefit so we can beta test their new stock firmwares. But tey are not building these devices for hackers who will run Cyanogen on them or care about slightly blue tints or plastic cases and screens (which are likely to be covered with the latest Otter box and ZAGG crap)
OCD/Anal users usually don't run their devices out of the box bare as designed, like I do. So does the plastic body and slick glass really matter?
Touchwiz came a long way since gingerbread. It's only downfall is that it's still choppy in very few areas (like widgets tab). Other than that, I'd rather have it then Sense (which comes with features you can't disable, at Touchwiz gives you the option to disable features you don't want) or stock android which is bare-boned and lacks features.
Just wait for custom roms.
They will bring new life to the s4.
TingTingin said:
Exactly correct which is why when u change the launcher it's different because the experience changes
And you can still flash a rom anyway
PHONE SLOW CLICK ME?
1 days 2 s4​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​
So RUN AOSP in it, or run a Touchwiz run de-touchiwzed.

Will S8 Plus ever get Stock Android and are you bothered?

I absolutely think it is the best phone currently in the market and all it needs is stock rom, to make it smoother faster and simpler.
Will it ever get stock android and how many are looking forward to it?
I wonder how many people are happy with TW and not bothered about custom roms or stock android?
I use Nova Launcher and very happy. Stock Android is dull as dishwater. I enjoy some of the Samsung apps. If you don't like them, disable them. Samsung won't ever provide stock. They'll have nothing to sell! Its not in their interest.
A S8+ with stock android would lose all of the features that make it a great phone. (ie. Edge apps, themes, bluetooth sound on 2 devices, IRIS Scanner, Gear VR, Samsung Pay)
Exactly. Giving the Galaxy S8 phones stock Android from Samsung itself would ruin the whole point of the Galaxy S8 phones. You would lose so many features that way that the Galaxy S8 / S8+ would just be a blinged out Pixel phone.
Ofc, having the ability to install a custom Stock Android version is always a nice idea to have for those who really want it. But having that as an option from Samsung directly is NOT a good idea.
EDIT: riz157, the UX / UI is not called TouchWiz anylonger. It's called Samsung Experience now on the Galaxy S8 phones. When Galaxy S6 and S7 phones got Android 7.0, they got the earlier Grace UX that was before Samsung Experience.
Just and FYI.......Bluetooth on two devices at the same time is a product of Bluetooth 5.0 not Samsung.
Used custom rom on my S7E, (AOSP - which sucked ass, no features, then I used SupermanROM and I sticked to that.
Now I got my S8+ and I'm pretty happy with Samsung experience, so I won't be doing anything at all, I'll keep my Knox: 0x0 for now.
Interesting looks like most people are quite happy with Samsung experience. Admittedly it's vastly improved from previous versions but still shows signs of delay lag etc.
Not as buttery smooth as stock android.
I personally don't use Samsung stock apps other then email app.
Bump up
I would love of the old GPE program came back. Then I'd be happy to spend $850 on a S8+ GPE. It's just WAY SMOOTHER and cleaner UI and always up to date. But Samsung makes the best hardware.
I love the S8+ and feel the Samsung features built into it help make it special. I always flash custom roms, but they keep many of the Samsung tools/TW tools I like. Having said that, I also like AOSP based roms and if the S7 Edge is any example, it won't be too long until we get some to play with on our S8+ phones sometime in the future. (it took about 8 months or close to a year before AOSP Roms were available on the S7 edge) - but considering how close the S7 is to the S8 - it may not take that long. Time will tell.
And NO I am not bothered - what is there to be bothered about?
I'm looking forward to more custom roms because it gives s8 more freedom and change the themes fonts etc easily without having to purchase from Samsung and be limited to their poor options.
Samsung are trying to be apple of android, want you to purchase from there store themes etc. So glad there's competition in android world otherwise we would be locked down to samsung and apple!!
Doubt it, and I am not bothered.
Personally I find the S8+ faster and mostly smoother than the Pixel I had before. Mainly because the Pixel lags to hell and back in apps like Instagram and Facebook whereas the Exynos S8+ doesn't.
Over time I am sure the S8+ will slow down but like PC's I will just "Format it" and it will back to being much faster and generally smoother than the Pixel (and less buggy than the pixel)
riz157 said:
I absolutely think it is the best phone currently in the market and all it needs is stock rom, to make it smoother faster and simpler.
Will it ever get stock android and how many are looking forward to it?
I wonder how many people are happy with TW and not bothered about custom roms or stock android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, and no.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Most people prefer TW, after using it for several weeks on my S8 plus I'm still not convinced.
I still would like stock and more custom Roma, at the moment there's not much choice which is a shame.
I certainly hope that changes in the coming weeks.
Not bothered at all. My personal opinion:
Want stock Android? Get a Pixel (or Nexus)
Want bleeding edge hardware? Get any flagship Android phone
The nice thing about Android is the individuality of each company brings. Samsung with its own Samsung UX for the S8 (not TouchWiz, not Grace UX), LG with their Full-Screen UX for the G6, Huawei with EMUI for their Mate 9 and P10, and so on.. They all put in their own features that would make their phones stand out. They all work quite well and I never had to install a launcher since my S6 Edge Plus. But still the option is there if you want/need to.
Has everybody forgotten that this happened once?
https://www.engadget.com/2013/07/06/samsung-galaxy-s-4-google-play-edition-review/
I would love to see a developer edition of this phone (aka stock android). I do like that TouchWiz isn't so smothering lately, but there are many aosp-isms that I miss.
My perfect phone would be a pixel that looked like an S8+ running stock Android. That would be one sexy piece of kit. I hope we can at least root and rom this puppy one day. I'm a dreamer...
samsung ui got better, but I'm using a moto z2 play now for half the price and......they understood perfectly what a manufacturer has to do. Moto has pretty much vanilla experience except of some apps, some add on funcionality, it's far more sexy than samsung. It's extremely speedier with half the price, it's a pain that samsung always bloat their software for no new functionalities (irid scanner? ahahahahah, samsung pay? ==> android pay, side apps? always the first thing I disable in samsung edges). It got better then natural ui on s4, yes, but that was a big ****, this is only a little and less smelly **** compared to stock experience....to me, obviously
This is dumb. If I wanted stock Android I wouldn't buy a Samsung.
You needing to take the time out of the day to write this is dumb lol

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