Database Info

Samsunng Infuse 4g Android 4.0

Am I the only one thinking/hoping that we are getting Ice Cream Sandwich??? I mean it releases on October 11124 and we still don't have gingerbread you know? This is just hopeful thinking... it would be nice to have the absolute latest OS and features though
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Doubt it. We'll probably get Ginger in a week or two and come next year sometime, we'll get icecream.maybe.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Nah... ATT is just slow.

Thumb rule: We are always a release behind

I don't mean to be pessimistic but that sounds very unlikely.
Maybe in the long run, but even that seems unlikely since new phones are coming out all the time.
Also, Samsung hasn't expressed much love for the Infuse so I doubt they would spend much time making an official ICS ROM for it.

bscotth said:
I don't mean to be pessimistic but that sounds very unlikely.
Maybe in the long run, but even that seems unlikely since new phones are coming out all the time.
Also, Samsung hasn't expressed much love for the Infuse so I doubt they would spend much time making an official ICS ROM for it.
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Click to collapse
Yea I see what you're saying but I mean something should click in there heads to update a great phone with great firmware, jus makes it better...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Chances of ICS on the Infuse - extremely slim.
They're pretty good for the GSII though.

Just hope for a leak.

KingVekxin said:
Yea I see what you're saying but I mean something should click in there heads to update a great phone with great firmware, jus makes it better...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
It's all about marketing man. Update a phone less, spend money advertising for a better phone (SGSII) and finally get a higher return in $.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

Hell no...
Ex captivate owners will tell you...
People forget that the captivate came with eclair and that gingerbread was released before the captivate even got froyo...
No we will not get ice cream sandwich before gingerbread ...
Sent from my Samsung Infuse 4G - 1.6ghz

I read a lot of places, sorry i do not have the links, that once they have it, it should work with anything, just the software mods itself when it is installed on the phone/tablet/computer (if they make any). It sounds pretty out there, but it is nice to dream. If it would work, then the only updates that the phones would need from the carriers/manufacturers are the modems and kernels.

I would say yes way down the line but the sgs2 is gonna get all the love
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

I took the OP as are we gonna see 4.0 before 2.3.....and that answer is a big fat no....
Are we gonna get ICS at some point? Probably ...
Sent from my Samsung Infuse 4G - 1.6ghz

im probably wrong, but im for sure i read somewhere saying that ICS was gunna be an operating system that was like for all android phones? what i mean is that ICS is gunna be one platform for all android phones like iOS for the iphone. idk

Who cares..., am I the only one who thinks that AAAALLLLL the OS's look the freaking Sam with a different number? Its like with my infuse when we went from froyo to "gingerbread" the only real advantage I noticed was a couple of features added, like tthe FRONT facing camera working with Skype, and other silly stuff like that. For instance, MIUI is a whole new beast on its own but speed dial option is eluding me lol
I guess I'm more or less rudely asking for a bonus feature list from ICS.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

The Infuse is the new Optimus, aka poor mans smart phone. I had a customer tell me today he wouldnt give 2 squirts of piss for the Infuse, that pretty much sums it up.

steezinstangl said:
im probably wrong, but im for sure i read somewhere saying that ICS was gunna be an operating system that was like for all android phones? what i mean is that ICS is gunna be one platform for all android phones like iOS for the iphone. idk
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Click to collapse
"all" in the generic sense - instead of having 2.x for phones and 3.x for tablets, 4.0 will support both phones and tablets.
However, every device that Android runs on needs customizations specific to the hardware. In many cases, those hardware drivers/libraries are closed source so it's not easy to port them unless the manufacturer does.
"all" in this case means a manufacturer can do a device bringup of 4.x on a tablet or a phone. But someone still needs to do the device bringup, and on a device with lots of closed-source proprietary bits, device bringup can be difficult if not impossible. Look at the state of CM7 for example - it didn't really get off the ground until Rogers released Gingerbread because the Froyo libraries weren't compatible with Gingerbread, and even with the Rogers proprietary bits, some things still don't work.

If it comes to the Infuse it won't be before May. Probably closer to a year from now.
The joys of fragmentation.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

Icecream Sandwick
I want icecream but For now I think i am going to stick to dlev rom cause it runs great.

Patience...it's coming
Alot of people don't really understand the process of releasing an OS update for an android. From what I can gather, Google releases the OS to the manufacturers which then tailor it to the individual phones. Then they release it to the providers (AT&T, Sprint etc.) which tailor it to their network and pollute it with bloatware. When they're sure it's somewhat error free, they release it to us.
AT&T for example, is frantically trying to finish their version, but they obviously have an issue or two...or twenty...who knows. They have to finish it, compile it, then do test updates, then test the updates and pray it worked. It takes time. I am far from patient so I already installed the GB 2.3.5 leak and can honestly say it's a major improvement. Bluetooth works better, everything is faster, and those annoying lags whenever you do a level 2 memory clear or detach the USB are fixed. But the leak has its issues, so I'm giving AT&T the benefit of the doubt and waiting to see if the mid October release actually happens. But since they lied and failed to deliver in September, I'm not holding my breath.
As far as ICS is concerned, I doubt AT&T has even had a chance to look at it yet. I would be amazed if we saw it this time next year. But we will get it. LOTS of people have the Infuse so it's not going to be left out or treated like a forgotten step-child like some people claim. It's a great phone with one of the nicest, biggest displays you can get, and it runs anything you throw at it even with its single core processor. What makes the Infuse bad is forcing it to run on AT&T.

How is this phone?

So, I'm getting a new phone. I have a Cliq 2 at the moment and I'm currently debating between this phone and the LG G2x. I've heard tons of good things about both phones.
So, how is this phone? What are its good, and bad things? How is the keyboard?
I'm not asking about which phone I should get, I'm just asking about what are the ups of this phone, and what are its downs? How's the stock rom? How are all the custom roms? And any other useful things you guys can throw in about this phone.
Thanks!
Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk

theholyfork said:
So, I'm getting a new phone. I have a Cliq 2 at the moment and I'm currently debating between this phone and the LG G2x. I've heard tons of good things about both phones.
So, how is this phone? What are its good, and bad things? How is the keyboard?
I'm not asking about which phone I should get, I'm just asking about what are the ups of this phone, and what are its downs? How's the stock rom? How are all the custom roms? And any other useful things you guys can throw in about this phone.
Thanks!
Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to sound overly negative but this phone...cons
Very little ROM support
Stock is MySense 3.0 which is watered down Sense 3.0 and sucks
The dual cores don't seem to fire like they should...my MT4G was faster and only one core..
Keyboard is flat and hard to type....
Pros....
Hmmm Camera is cool....
some love the tv out....
and it should get 4.0

Love it. I amazing build quality, amazing camera, amazing keyboard. Sense launcher sucks and stock it sucks but with a rom its awesome.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Pros:
Very stable
Easily rooted
Gets even faster once the Sense launcher and Rosie are both gone
Cons:
Only two devs actually working on this device (Undeadk9 and Kornyone)
No stable CyanogenMod builds yet
Stock ROM is almost pure bloatware

Well I think this phone is pretty snappy myself.
Undeadk9 has created a very stable Rom with an aosp feel and minimum sense just for the dialer and camera, which is perfect for me atleast.
Undeadk9 also is the first to get gpu ui rendering on any rom, so the phone is finally using the most out of its great hardware specs. I think the dual cores are perfect already, but once we get ics, I think the phone will fully utilize both cores
Sent from my RubiX NonSense using XDA App

Pretty good phone. Easy to root. New version of Bulletproof coming out soon.
I had been using a G1 from the start and took some doing for me to switch. Tried 2 different g2s that didn't work.
I really like the G1 keyboard but am getting used to the 4g slide's.
Only draw back is I work in a roaming area during the week and have trouble getting and making calls. Network problems with T-mobiles "roaming" partner network.
Sent from my Bulletproof_Doubleshot using xda premium

leoilios said:
...
Undeadk9 also is the first to get gpu ui rendering on any rom, so the phone is finally using the most out of its great hardware specs...
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Click to collapse
Not quite true - the pre-1.0 version of Bulletproof had hardware rendering set as the default behavior, which I removed for the 1.0 release, and that was a while ago.
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I love this device, it's fantastic. Beefy hardware and a nice, smaller package, the capabilities of the device we are opening up is fantastic.
love the keyboard, aftermarket anker battery makes the package, and some nice cases out for it now.
Hardware rendering is a bit buggy, and i'm pretty sure it's a kernel issue that can be addressed - i've been studying this problem since about the middle of august and will start to address the issue in another week or so.
It works fine on the phone itself, but once you start using the TV-out function of the phone it gets weird at times.
If nto using hardware decoding, though, playing video games and watching movies on a TV is a fantastic feature without having to carry around the bulky MHL adapter some phones need, and the screen stays active which means you can use it as a controller for whatever you are playing on the TV.
Love the phone, you probably will too if you pick one up.

Blue6IX said:
Not quite true - the pre-1.0 version of Bulletproof had hardware rendering set as the default behavior, which I removed for the 1.0 release, and that was a while ago.
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I love this device, it's fantastic. Beefy hardware and a nice, smaller package, the capabilities of the device we are opening up is fantastic.
love the keyboard, aftermarket anker battery makes the package, and some nice cases out for it now.
Hardware rendering is a bit buggy, and i'm pretty sure it's a kernel issue that can be addressed - i've been studying this problem since about the middle of august and will start to address the issue in another week or so.
It works fine on the phone itself, but once you start using the TV-out function of the phone it gets weird at times.
If nto using hardware decoding, though, playing video games and watching movies on a TV is a fantastic feature without having to carry around the bulky MHL adapter some phones need, and the screen stays active which means you can use it as a controller for whatever you are playing on the TV.
Love the phone, you probably will too if you pick one up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, cool. Before this phone came out I wanted it so bad, but for some reason I just forgot about it haha.
And oh, no CM? My I have it installed on my Cliq2 and I love it. The more custom roms the better haha
Edit: nevermind, just looked at the development section and saw there was a CM rom.
Why did someone say earlier not many ROMs? From what it looks like, there's a lot
Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk

I like it, Im getting used to the keyboard, but it works. The Bulletproof rom is nice and snappy, feels good in my hands.. its a nice improvement over the 3g slide I used to have.
It has a lot of nice features that will be amazing once rom devs (like Blue6IX) tweek the kernel further
And its one of the few dual core phones with a slide out keyboard.

kornyone got himself added to the CM team by porting the majority of it to this device.
He released a rough alpha version of CM7 for the device, which was freakin' awesome! - just with the release of ICS by Google the entire CM crew is working around the clock to get ICS ported back to older devices, so the CM7 project for this device got shelved for a bit.
Because kornyone was interested in this device enough to go ahead and start getting CM7 ported to it, i'd like to think that puts this phone in a good position to get whatever ICS goodness they are working on.
I'm a bug fan of their work, I run CM7 on my Nook Color and love it - it's amazing what they've done.
For this device, personally, i'm preferring to work with Sense, which I know doesn't appeal to everyone. Once ICS hits the phone I think it'll be important to maintain a Sense option for people who would prefer to keep some of the proprietary technologies they've paid for (like TV-out).
I dunno, I bought a second one of these phones for development purposes, so if that says anything about how much I like it

i like the phone a lot as well, and i just can't get myself to flash CyanogenMod on it, haha(i have a G2 for that ). i personally feel HTC did a good job on this Mysense... even on stock, everything seems to work, and it looks great. granted i haven't used tv-out yet, and it sounds like the playback isn't stellar.... yet. the phone also doesn't seem as blazing fast as one might expect, but it is fast enough. i look forward to trying the next release of Bulletproof because it sounds like Blue61x has slimmed it down, while maintaining stability and all the Sense goodies.

I love this phone. I got it through rma from t mobile, brand new. Took a few to get one that I loved, but I'm much pickier than most. Feels very solid, I think its blazing fast.
I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say it isn't fast. I think this phone is a monster. Fastest phone I've used (mt3g, hd2 with android, mt4g). Notice I've only ever had touchscreen phones. I was in love with the galaxy s2, and thought for sure it would be my next phone. Then I got this thing, and I'm pretty darn sure I won't be switching anytime soon.
Sent from my ICS Splashed MT4GS using XDA App

dung8604 said:
I love this phone. I got it through rma from t mobile, brand new. Took a few to get one that I loved, but I'm much pickier than most. Feels very solid, I think its blazing fast.
I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say it isn't fast. I think this phone is a monster. Fastest phone I've used (mt3g, hd2 with android, mt4g). Notice I've only ever had touchscreen phones. I was in love with the galaxy s2, and thought for sure it would be my next phone. Then I got this thing, and I'm pretty darn sure I won't be switching anytime soon.
Sent from my ICS Splashed MT4GS using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I own this since a few days. Its fast as hell...I'm using it with cm7, its working pretty well with it, except the cm7 has 720p video recording only. I'm okay with that. Otherwise its one of the best phones with keyboard. The screen resolution tho is a bit lagging behind the current best ones, but at least this phone fits well in the pocket.
sent from HTC Doubleshot cm7

I'm thinking about getting this phone when I get my discount next month. I've had a chance to handle it a couple times, really like the feel of the slider, and the camera is just great(especially when compared to other HTC phones before it)!
It also looks like there's a couple great devs working on it. I'm following Blue's threads and I'm very impressed, plus korny seems to be making great progress with ICS.
Any chance someone could post a video overview of Bulletproof 1.1? I'd really like to see it in action

Can anyone tell me how the sound quality is - earpiece and speakerphone (calls and music) compared to HD2?

ymmp said:
Can anyone tell me how the sound quality is - earpiece and speakerphone (calls and music) compared to HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally this phone kicks ass. I have both a Sensation, and HD2 along side this baby. The sound quailty is amazing. I kick back, and relax to some biggie all the time. The screen is WVGA, not as clear as a qHD but is still good. The keyboard is much better than the Q2. I need a hardware keyboard since I text the Wife constantly, and its never let me down. The Duel Core shows off its power along side the 220 gpu. Speaker is load, performance is gooood. I use this over my sensation all the time.
But there's not many ROMs for it Xo there's more ROMs by the banished one on rootzwiki. Bulletproof is a good mysense rom, but there's a lot of neet roms. Where getting a true sense 3.0 rom soon. This phone is a must buy.
Sent from my ICS Splashed MT4GS using xda premium

Litesorrows said:
... Where getting a true sense 3.0 rom soon. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock Sense version is true Sense 3.0, not sure what you mean by this?
Maybe you are thinking Sense 3.5?

The phone is a beast on the spec sheet, but the stock rom is a bloated mess. If you're willing to root it, and freeze some of the bloat, stock isn't bad.
The keyboard is not as good as the MT3GS's, but I'm sure that was a tradeoff for the better specifications.
Basically, if you want a high end phone with a keyboard, there really just aren't many alternatives. I'm hoping we get some sort of ICS ROM (either cyanogen or HTC), as that'd extend the phone's life at least another year.

To Lifesorrows and Johnycat26,
Thanks a lot for the info - I just ordered the phone. I'm really impressed with Android on the HD2, but I really miss a hw kbd and having a great camera (and the extra ROM and RAM don't hurt either!)
To Blue61x, maybe he means a regular Sense ROM not the T-Mo modified "My-Sense" (for example w/o shortcuts on lock screen)?

I just got this phone today! I am loving it. So far. The hw keys a little hard to work with, that's about it though. Otherwise.this thing is a beast!! I love it. Came from a SGS4, big difference. That phone was so slow!!.o waving bye bye to it now. Had.a mytouch 4 h before and mt3h slide before that..o also had a cliq .and a.blackberry 9700. ........
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App

[Q] ICS vs GB, performance

How are you guys finding stock ICS vs stock GB
speed
battery life

ICS is so much better in my opinion. Smoother and nicer to look at and use.
Battery life is worse though for me. Having said that I can still get through the working day for my level of use so not really an issue.
I have since switched to CM9 and battery life is better, especially using deep idle.
In my opinion it is worth the upgrade.

There's plenty of Nexus S, ICS vs GB videos on youtube. Nothing says empirical better than proper side-by-side comparisons. Watch a few and let us know what you think!

In my opinion ICS pushes hardware much more than GB but the user experience is much better.
ROM and Kernel mods are not so stable in ICS than GB, probably because ICS is squeezing any hardware drop from Nexus S and mods have to be carefully balanced.

i dont fell any great differences. its very comfy, also a bit buggy sometimes, like the contakts app.

I don´t like ICS...Thats why i am still on GB. I hate it when you push the screen and you have to wait for about 2 to 3 seconds for the app to open. I want it open instantanious.
ICS lags as well. Big Minus in my eyes.
Maybe when Kernels and all that sort of stuff are optimized but i guess i´ll have an Galaxy Note before this will happen.

PLEEZEFRAGME said:
I don´t like ICS...Thats why i am still on GB. I hate it when you push the screen and you have to wait for about 2 to 3 seconds for the app to open. I want it open instantanious.
ICS lags as well. Big Minus in my eyes.
Maybe when Kernels and all that sort of stuff are optimized but i guess i´ll have an Galaxy Note before this will happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Minus the note part.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I feel gb is good for speed and battery life...ics has a lot of changes especially in appearance.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I really like ICS. Runs very well. It does lag a little bit from time to time and the battery is a bit worse, but I get about a day and a half on my normal use(a few phone calls, some 3G, a few texts, maybe some 2D games) and got almost 3 and a half days on very light use (a couple of phone calls and a few texts). So it's not that bad for me.
I loved GB, too, but ICS just feels better. The UI is way better. It just feels right.

PLEEZEFRAGME said:
I don´t like ICS...Thats why i am still on GB. I hate it when you push the screen and you have to wait for about 2 to 3 seconds for the app to open. I want it open instantanious.
ICS lags as well. Big Minus in my eyes.
Maybe when Kernels and all that sort of stuff are optimized but i guess i´ll have an Galaxy Note before this will happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have been through same situation like you , in stock ICS, yes, laggy , but try some ROM like KANG or CM9 , and kernel , like now , i am using Kangy-S ROM with Matr1x 14.5 CFS , i feel it much faster than MIUI 2.3.7B + franco kernel.
of course , somehow , MIUI is slower than stock or CM7 ...

only the browser which renders alot faster than gb where i feel the ics performance
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I've found a little lag versus gingerbread and a little more battery hungry, but it works great with Eugene's icup kernel and bigxie 's lightly modded ics. I got my GSM galaxy nexus finally so the nexus s went to my wife but its working great for her. I still have a soft spot for that phone. I think if the phone weren't always clearing things out due to ram shortages, that battery life would be more comparable to gingerbread. I get a big increase in battery life I believe on the new phone because I've always got over 300 megs free.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

i've just watched a video on youtube form a guy who compared 2 similar nexus s, one with gb, the other with ics. everything seems to be a tad slower on ics, but its much smoother on the other hand.
but then again, the systems are not comparable (one device static wallpaper, the other live wallpaper. one freshly rebooted, the other not etc...)

ICS is great for me way better than GB. Battery life is pretty much the same on ICS as it is on GB.
And you guys act like GB wasn't laggy, it was VERY laggy for me on 2.3.6. I never really had any lag on ICS tho, it's probably because I did a factory reset as soon as the update was installed...

it feels like ICS pushes the hardware more ... :/ GB was a little laggy but ICS is smooth as butter on ice =P

I'm back to GB now. ICS on my Nexus s drains battery too much and a little laggy. My proof is when I am playing and charging with USB in the same time, my battery% is increase very very slower than GB. And now Its not support for my favorite browser "Opera" I hate the way of ICS stock browser. My GPS on ICS seem not stable and the speed of transferring file with PC is very slow.

Part of me has this crazy belief that we should probably be comparing Gingerbread 2.3.1 with Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3, as 2.3 has enjoyed a year of improvement following release, whereas Ice Cream Sandwich is brand new.
But nah. Android is a year later in development.
I didn't like Ice Cream Sandwich at first. It felt smooth but less snappy. However, Gingerbread can also feel less than snappy. After a few weeks (running stock) and having had a fortnight between reboots, I'll say that Ice Cream Sandwich is a more consistent performer on my device. Yes it isn't snappy, but it doesn't do that horrible thing where you try to launch an application and you wait... and wait... and wait and there it goes.
From a user interface perspective, I much prefer Ice Cream Sandwich. The improvements to the keyboard are good. It feels as significant an improvement over 2.3 as 2.3 felt over 2.1.
I don't have enough time with the Nexus S on 2.3.x to give you more than a feel for battery life, which is, it's less, but still adequate for a day of use. Usual caveats apply.

I have no battery probs just few apps not fully compatible with ics much nicer UI and looks more modern seems to me a great upgrade . Running stock
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

I've been running stock ICS for about a month now, and honestly, no complaints on my end. Battery life is amazing; lasts a day and a half sometimes with 3G on all time/WiFi while at work.
Sluggishness is only present when I'm opening certain apps which require data (like Facebook or Tweetdeck) and even then the lag isn't something to really complain about - unless you're reaaaaally impatient.
Can't wait to get the official OTA though since I did mine through the DIY route Thanks again XDA for helping with that!

Anyone with an interest in performance should check my thread.
For kernel benchmarks and more, see here: http://goo.gl/mpeHI

GB or ICS, opinions.

So.. I've owned 1 froyo device, 2 GB devices and now.. A Galaxy Nexus wearing ICS.
Looking at my 4 devices, I havn't been as amazed by the Galaxy Nexus as I were with the Galaxy S and S II, I must admit. I often think back, to the times with Gingerbread aboard.. I think it looked well, it had all the capabilities that I used, and still use in my daily life, on ICS. The only think it didn't have was the "Recent" button, which really is just too obsessive now, lol. I use it well too much. Anyway.. What do you guys think?
I ended up missing some of my older devices. (They are sold.)
- Hm, I know ICS isn't "polished" just yet.. But I don't see anything HUUGE to come, other than 3rd party stuff such as from here. Out of the box.. I was more amazed when I held my Gingerbread devices, than when I held my ICS device. (Maybe it's just me.)
I'm not trying to flame, I am just thinking.. If this has something to do with me also liking Windows XP alot more than I liked Windows 7. Mayby I'm just old fashioned..
I'm interested in hearing from you guys.
CuraeL

I really like ICS and some of the new features it adds. A newer OS version may never live up to the first time you were introduced to the OS as a whole. Mobile OS versions move fast and I imagine a little over a year from now developers will be wanting to drop GB support.

spunker88 said:
I really like ICS and some of the new features it adds. A newer OS version may never live up to the first time you were introduced to the OS as a whole. Mobile OS versions move fast and I imagine a little over a year from now developers will be wanting to drop GB support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally see where you're going. And I agree with you most of the way..
How ever.. I felt that Froyo lacked a few things.. I just think.. That Android in it's prime, was Gingerbread.. Really.. I'm not trying to say that it's how it is at all. I just.. Man.. Gingerbread was just.. Sexy, lol.
But the thing about development for GB, yes, ofc. it someday will be dropped. I like ICS, I do. it just feels like.. A new UI.. Cause I don't use the things.. They have applied under the hood.. Or you know.. I havn't seen the "impact" it has given.. If you know what I mean. For my daily experience, it feels like.. GB and ICS does the job equally good.. Except for that recents button.
Alot of "it feels like"'s.. Wow.

As far as the elegance and fanciness goes, ICS. And if you have a device that offically supported ICS out-of -the-box, there ain't no reason to use Ginga. GB is ideal for those, whom devices doesn't support ICS, or the roms are not yet stable. ICS is also techically better.

Why do people choose pure stock Google over other UIs?

I have been wondering about this for awhile now and can't seem to understand why so many people are crazy about stock android on their devices. I do understand why people buy nexus devices only due to timely updates n all. I guess not just for updates but I'm pretty sure that's one of the main reasons. My main question is why do so many people prefer it even on their devices that aren't running stock? I look at Sense' UI and to me personally, I like their setup of how fast and easy it is to add apps or widgets to a home screen. Or how good the camera is, far better then any nexus device IMO. And a couple other things. Or touchwiz. I still haven't owned a device that had touchwiz but I've played around with the Note 2 and GS3 and tbh, I'm not really crazy about their UI. But the features, holy smokes they are awesome! And then there is just plain ol stock. I have a Galaxy Nexus and when I first bought it I was super happy and excited. I'm running a 4.2.2 ROM on it and its OK n all. But to me, it just feels naked and kinda boring now. Sure, I can flash all sorts of added features and what not but still I'm just like shmeh. I feel the skins over stock makes it so much better IMO. With so many more options to choose from when it comes to features. I look at all the features the Note 2 has and people buy it, root it, then bam CM10 is now running on the device with less features then what the phone comes with. Anyways that's my rant for today. And by no means am I doggin on pure stock or hate it. Just sharing my opinions about what I think is better but don't understand why so many people choose it on their devices that have a skin on top. I would love to see some feedback on this. Thanks
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

I have an s3 and if you've used touchwiz for an extended period of time, you'd see how bad it is. Sure the camera features are awesome, but it's a really heavy firmware with a lot of bugs, lag, and bloatware. Your phone will easily average 1 gb of ram with touchwiz. As for why I switched to stock Android (cm 10.1), I guess it was one of the more popular and well known custom roms when I decided to flash. I wouldn't be opposed to trying an AOKP ROM because all the extra options, but I'm not sure if I need it. What I'm trying to say is less is never a bad thing. Well this is my opinion at least. Hope it helps.
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Because stock android is beautiful and clean while overlays like sense clog it up and slow it down
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

Personally, I like AOSP, but it's not a deciding factor for me. I prefer an S3 and especially my Note 2 over any Nexus device. Why?
1. Touchwiz adds useful features.
2. S-Pen and huge screen are more than enough to win me over.
3. In the case of the Nexus 4, I like the huge REMOVABLE battery in the Note 2 and expandable storage (yes, they're a big deal to me).
4. I can flash AOSP if I want. Yes, on a lot of devices, there are usually more bugs running CM/AOKP/PA than if you just bought a Nexus device, but it's still an option.
5. Samsung releases quick updates. Quicker than any other OEM, besides Nexus devices. Hell, there's even a leaked 4.2.2 (or .1, I forget) update floating around.
6. Alternative launchers and mods for stock ROMs can remove ugly OEM themeing. Look up Jelly Bean Domination for the Galaxy S3 i9300. It looks EXACTLY like AOSP. Here's a screenshot of JBD running on my retired Galaxy S3. This is Touchwiz. Also look up JKay mod; it's a framework mod with an app that lets you change SO many features, it's like being on a Nexus device: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o7r0xpl0zdm03x8/2013-04-01 21.11.03.png
7. For me at least, I don't like on-screen buttons unless you have a Note 2-sized device, because it takes up screen real-estate. I'm aware of PIE-menu for CyanogenMod, but I find it impractical because it requires more button presses than just hitting a button.
8. Ridiculous battery life, even with heavy usage. After 3 hours of screen-on time and data usage pretty much every time the screen is on, I still have 65% battery life after 8 hours off the charger. That's with the stock 3100 mAh battery and the 5.5 inch screen. On top of that, I have the LTE radio on at all times because you can't turn it off on the AT&T model (the modem is locked by AT&T). And at any time I can replace the battery with another one or use an extended one.
To me the hardware comes first, because it can't be changed after the fact. The software...Well that's why we're all on XDA. Because we want to and we can change it. I'm not saying that Nexus devices are inferior or vice versa; I'm saying that having tried a Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4, I wasn't completely satisfied with them. For most people they're perfect. But I demand more, and that's why I love my Galaxy Note 2.

Thanks for the responses everyone See I personally am getting sick and tired of my galaxy nexus especially the battery. I have an extended battery that's a 2100 mah. I know its not a whole lot more, but its still horrible. I don't want a bulky ext battery. I guess I'm kind of a heavy user. Kinda Lol I don't play games a whole lot other than scramble with friends words with friends. Games like that. I do calls, messages, Facebook, and YouTube but gosh the battery is just terrible on the nexus I don't care what anyone says. I want the Note 2 so bad. I want a bigger screen, a big battery that can easily last me throughout my day no matter how much I use it. SD slot is always nice too. I'm really not a huge fan of touchwiz but you're right. I can use launchers to cover it up and yet still keep the awesome features the Note 2 has to offer. My phone is starting to get a bit sluggish on me lately. I click on an app, it take 2 to 3 seconds to open it up. Drives me NUTS Lol. When I played with the note 2 it was so fast and smooth and, amazing. Again thanks for the responses guys I appreciate it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
Thanks for the responses everyone See I personally am getting sick and tired of my galaxy nexus especially the battery. I have an extended battery that's a 2100 mah. I know its not a whole lot more, but its still horrible. I don't want a bulky ext battery. I guess I'm kind of a heavy user. Kinda Lol I don't play games a whole lot other than scramble with friends words with friends. Games like that. I do calls, messages, Facebook, and YouTube but gosh the battery is just terrible on the nexus I don't care what anyone says. I want the Note 2 so bad. I want a bigger screen, a big battery that can easily last me throughout my day no matter how much I use it. SD slot is always nice too. I'm really not a huge fan of touchwiz but you're right. I can use launchers to cover it up and yet still keep the awesome features the Note 2 has to offer. My phone is starting to get a bit sluggish on me lately. I click on an app, it take 2 to 3 seconds to open it up. Drives me NUTS Lol. When I played with the note 2 it was so fast and smooth and, amazing. Again thanks for the responses guys I appreciate it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As another ex-Galaxy Nexus user (though my last phone was the S3), get the Note 2. It's like living a dream. Touchwiz on the Note 2 adds so many features, and the launcher is the only crappy part. I'm using Nova launcher on mine. The notification bar is actually nice with the toggles on top. The S-Pen is crazy in terms of features it adds. It's not a regular stylus. The digitizer and stylus are made by Wacom; you can for example scroll with the stylus just hovering it above the screen. And in terms of battery life, this thing will get you through OVER a day. It's crazy. Get one, you won't regret it. I think this is the best phone I've EVER owned.

Ya I really really want the note 2. I just wish it didn't cost so freaking much. I'm due for an upgrade on Verizon. But I really don't wanna give up my unlimited. Although I'm not to worried about it of I lose it. But I can get the phone off amazonwireless.com for 200. Which is great. I might end up doing that. I too dislike the on-screen buttons. Sometimes they don't work like they should. I love the s-pen on the note 2. I think I'm gonna get it Lol I want to right now
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
Ya I really really want the note 2. I just wish it didn't cost so freaking much. I'm due for an upgrade on Verizon. But I really don't wanna give up my unlimited. Although I'm not to worried about it of I lose it. But I can get the phone off amazonwireless.com for 200. Which is great. I might end up doing that. I too dislike the on-screen buttons. Sometimes they don't work like they should. I love the s-pen on the note 2. I think I'm gonna get it Lol I want to right now
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Wait for the Galaxy S4 to come out this month or early next month, the price should go down substantially. The thing is, the Note 2 is super powerful and super smooth, so even when the S4 is out, the Note 2 is still worthwhile.

Product F(RED) said:
Wait for the Galaxy S4 to come out this month or early next month, the price should go down substantially. The thing is, the Note 2 is super powerful and super smooth, so even when the S4 is out, the Note 2 is still worthwhile.
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Click to collapse
I don't know if I can wait another month Lol. But I'm gonna have to probably. And of course the Note 3 will be out later this year and that is gonna be freakin sweet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
I don't know if I can wait another month Lol. But I'm gonna have to probably. And of course the Note 3 will be out later this year and that is gonna be freakin sweet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
I still have a Samsung galaxy s1 lol
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

Well for me it is a matter of developement. I have had every galaxy device and currently own an s3 9300 (until I can sell it for a nexus.)
Wayne Tech S-III

I prefere htc sense over every UI
My very first android device was the htc g2/vision/desire z (call it what you want xD) and it still is alive, but I run CM10.1, cus the RAM there is way too little for sense 4 (and that's imo the best sense ui ever) and now I got the htc mytouch 4G slide (yeees I'm a hw keyboard lover) and here sense 4 is very smooth
Had a galaxy s between but bricked it anyway...but there the first thing I looked for was a sense port
There was one but the devs kinda stopped (guess cus of RAM or sth)
Now I'm on my mytouch 4G slide on a CM10.1 ROM again, cus the sense ROMs lag too much, and the devs are mostly gone, but I themed it with widgetlocker and CM themes as close to sense as possible
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide

Vauvenal7 said:
I prefere htc sense over every UI
My very first android device was the htc g2/vision/desire z (call it what you want xD) and it still is alive, but I run CM10.1, cus the RAM there is way too little for sense 4 (and that's imo the best sense ui ever) and now I got the htc mytouch 4G slide (yeees I'm a hw keyboard lover) and here sense 4 is very smooth
Had a galaxy s between but bricked it anyway...but there the first thing I looked for was a sense port
There was one but the devs kinda stopped (guess cus of RAM or sth)
Now I'm on my mytouch 4G slide on a CM10.1 ROM again, cus the sense ROMs lag too much, and the devs are mostly gone, but I themed it with widgetlocker and CM themes as close to sense as possible
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to love Sense before it hit android but what HTC did to it on android is just really sad.

zelendel said:
I used to love Sense before it hit android but what HTC did to it on android is just really sad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.

Nigeldg said:
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I am sure it is good if you like the sense look but the color skemes to me are just ugly as all get out. Then you get into themeing it and notice that HTC frameworks are a huge bunch of redundent images and coding that slows sense down alot. If they used the android framework for instead of having 6 of the same images for a button on top of the ones in the android framework then it gets crazy. I have not used Sense in a long time or any custom version of android like TW in a long time. I swear they could double the speed of the UI if they just stopped bloating it.

Nigeldg said:
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like touchwiz lol...
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

The thing is that the android experience given to us by TouchWiz(Though I've never used touchwiz, but the launcher looks crap to me) and Sense UIs have been researched by expert marketing people and psychologists. These people find what an average person is comfortable with. If you're an average person, though no one is an average on xdadevelopers cuz they might never be here if they didn't want a change, then you're comfortable with what those devs over HTC and Samsung give you. They make something that is comfortable to use. Frankly, I used to be a huge fan of Sense in my HTC Desire a few months back. That stopped when I started noticing all the theming sections here on this site, and people's screen shots. That's when I found that there is huge world of change looming here. Now that people are here, including you, my friend, we have started appreciating the change, innovativeness, and uniqueness of Android. Then only we have started theming our phones with so many themes, ROMs, widgets, and what-not. A cousin of mine has a galaxy S2, and he is still using the default wallpaper on his S2, just because he's an average user. When people join xda, they are thinking of a revolution, a change.

alicarbovader said:
The thing is that the android experience given to us by TouchWiz(Though I've never used touchwiz, but the launcher looks crap to me) and Sense UIs have been researched by expert marketing people and psychologists. These people find what an average person is comfortable with. If you're an average person, though no one is an average on xdadevelopers cuz they might never be here if they didn't want a change, then you're comfortable with what those devs over HTC and Samsung give you. They make something that is comfortable to use. Frankly, I used to be a huge fan of Sense in my HTC Desire a few months back. That stopped when I started noticing all the theming sections here on this site, and people's screen shots. That's when I found that there is huge world of change looming here. Now that people are here, including you, my friend, we have started appreciating the change, innovativeness, and uniqueness of Android. Then only we have started theming our phones with so many themes, ROMs, widgets, and what-not. A cousin of mine has a galaxy S2, and he is still using the default wallpaper on his S2, just because he's an average user. When people join xda, they are thinking of a revolution, a change.
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Click to collapse
Well I'm no average user in fact I even build aokp and I'm running CyanogenMod 10.1 but touchwi just seems fluid to me idk why
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I think it all comes down to what people prefer personally. That's why I love android and all the options to choose from. But honestly, hardly any main consumers out there that don't know about rooting n all that, don't really care or know perhaps, about theming ect ect. They just want what either everyone else has, (IPhone) and now the s3 or Note 2 or big screen and oh awesome it can do this and that. Not much do people wonder about processors this 1080ppi that Lol. There is a lot more people that don't care about that stuff then there are people who are here on XDA. I wish I was sorta like them cuz I wouldn't be so crazy about flashing ROMS and/or wanting the latest and greatest phone Lol. But I'm proud to be a bit of a nerd and knowing what I have and how good(or bad) my device is.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
I think it all comes down to what people prefer personally. That's why I love android and all the options to choose from. But honestly, hardly any main consumers out there that don't know about rooting n all that, don't really care or know perhaps, about theming ect ect. They just want what either everyone else has, (IPhone) and now the s3 or Note 2 or big screen and oh awesome it can do this and that. Not much do people wonder about processors this 1080ppi that Lol. There is a lot more people that don't care about that stuff then there are people who are here on XDA. I wish I was sorta like them cuz I wouldn't be so crazy about flashing ROMS and/or wanting the latest and greatest phone Lol. But I'm proud to be a bit of a nerd and knowing what I have and how good(or bad) my device is.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
You are right. We here make up less then 1% of the people that use android. Just have to wait for the hype to die down and then people will go back to their iphones soon enough.