Database Info

Does anyone else hate Sense UI?

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this because it seems everyone around here is in love with Sense UI, but it drives me nuts. Especially that stupid Genius button. I now have to waste an entire row of my home screen with the Google search widget.
I...
****ing...
hate...
Sense!
Seriously, I can't stand it. I LOVE the hardware on this phone but am thinking of returning it and buying something used and rootable so I can install a vanilla version of Android.
Despite the facts that I would never use the physical keyboard and would rather have the front facing camera and the faster processor, I almost bought the G2 just for the clean version of Android.
Just curious if anyone else feels this way. I swear, if I could just double the RAM on my original MT3G, I would be satisfied to overclock it to 614 or so and go on my merry way.

I feel your pain.
I'm not a fan of any UI overlays, they just don't seem to add much. Most of their features are already part of Android.
I'm leaning to purchasing the MT4G, just waiting for full root first. Pretty sure I'm going to drop some coins into the pot for the devs next pay day.

1. G2 and mt4g have simlar processors, just that the g2 is underclocked. So they are capable of the SAME SPEEDS.
2. Sense, especially expresso on the mytouch, is absolute garbage! Its so ugly I can't believe people actually like it. It looks waaay to much like an iphone...only uglier.
3. I honetly don't care about ffc, if I need to video chat, then I can just use the one on the back of the g2.
4. Keyboard on the g2 is brilliant. Add in the fact that it comes with swype makes it ridiculous. Sorry you don't like physical keyboards, but I absolutely love this one. By far one of the p-keyboards...ever.
5. Screen on the g2 is slcd, unlike the mt4g which has an absolutley crap screen, reminds me of the screen on the motorola cliq.
6. G2 is amazing, sorry you made the wrong choice, should def switch back
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

pierrekid said:
1. G2 and mt4g have simlar processors, just that the g2 is underclocked. So they are capable of the SAME SPEEDS.
2. Sense, especially expresso on the mytouch, is absolute garbage! Its so ugly I can't believe people actually like it. It looks waaay to much like an iphone...only uglier.
3. I honetly don't care about ffc, if I need to video chat, then I can just use the one on the back of the g2.
4. Keyboard on the g2 is brilliant. Add in the fact that it comes with swype makes it ridiculous. Sorry you don't like physical keyboards, but I absolutely love this one. By far one of the p-keyboards...ever.
5. Screen on the g2 is slcd, unlike the mt4g which has an absolutley crap screen, reminds me of the screen on the motorola cliq.
6. G2 is amazing, sorry you made the wrong choice, should def switch back
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All good to know. I never said I don't like physical keyboards. In fact I really like the one on the G2.
I just don't think I'll end up using it because touchscreen typing is faster/easier for me.

It's ok. You can install another launcher to make it look different. The genius button, however, is a whole different matter. There is no way to override its behavior, so that really bothers me.

I hear you! I hate sense as well and it reminds me of Windows Mobile to much!!! I just use LauncherPro which is great!

I like it. I'd rather not see all the crazy widgets that it ships with however. I do like that it's prettier than stock Vanilla. I mean, I want to kill myself looking at some of the stock apps. I'd just as soon send them back to 2004. And, having that ugly Android robot thingy peeking out from the corner? Talk about tacky!
OK, flame away.

floepie said:
I like it. I'd rather not see all the crazy widgets that it ships with however. I do like that it's prettier than stock Vanilla. I mean, I want to kill myself looking at some of the stock apps. I'd just as soon send them back to 2004. And, having that ugly Android robot thingy peeking out from the corner? Talk about tacky!
OK, flame away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you kidding me? Sense, especially expresso, is one of the ugliest UI's I've ever seen. But if you like it....to each their own. I actually like what android was meant to look like. If I wanted that look I would have went with an iphone...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Stock android is boring and lacks the great builtvin features that HTC Sense has. The menus, widgets, and built in functionality name HTC Sense more fun to use for me. I doubt many of you G2 owners have even used a myTouch 4G. The UI is a lot more polished than stock android 2.2.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

pierrekid said:
Are you kidding me? Sense, especially expresso, is one of the ugliest UI's I've ever seen. But if you like it....to each their own. I actually like what android was meant to look like. If I wanted that look I would have went with an iphone...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, coming from the Vibrant, I like it much better. The Vibrant's UI was little Fisher-Price for my tastes. This just seems a little more fresh, almost business-modern. Why does everyone come back to the iphone when this topic arises anyway? We're here to stay, so let's just drop the iphone comparison. There is almost unanimous agreement that the iOS offers one of the greatest UI experience bar none. It's too bad there are too many glaring omissions in its functionality. So, to compare this UI to the iphone's isn't a bad thing in my book. I mean, if this Android phone were encased in an iphone's garments, complete with a skin that looked exactly like the iphone's, I would be no more apt to go with an iphone. To suggest that you would points to your obsession with that device, no?

I understand that, hence why if you love the iphone UI, you should go get one. If you don't, stick to a UI that does not resemble iphone ie anything not sense...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Personally I like the functionality that expresso brings to the table. Its like an ugly girl that has a great package who gives a great blowjob in return atleast that's how I see it.

pierrekid said:
I understand that, hence why if you love the iphone UI, you should go get one. If you don't, stick to a UI that does not resemble iphone ie anything not sense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, I don't even think this looks remotely like iOS, let's be reasonable. OK, perhaps a *tad* bit more than stock or TouchWiz. Secondly, I won't hide my affection for the iOS's UI. It's very nice. But, your reasoning still alludes me. Why "should I get one" if I like its UI only? Android is infinitely more customizable and inherently more powerful and scalable - not to mention, it's a lot more open-source-y. I make my decision based on the whole package, not simply a phone's UI. While important, it's not the end all. So, can we stop the whole childish "if you love the iphone UI, you should go get one" bit? Really. While it may not be apparent, you're giving the iphone more credit than it deserves by bringing it up in the context of an Android overlay.

Preference. Sense has a huge following and for good reason. Not just the widgets but browser functionality and mail pinch to zoom. The cut, c.c.p. and dictionary search, language translation is nice to have. If stock Android had the, desk clock, browser, mail pinch to zoom, FM radio, wifi calling, Flip weather clock, bookmark widget and ffc, I wouldn't mind vanilla. Just that HTC brings nice functionality that many of us prefer. All you have to do is venture over to Nexus development and check out Evil D's following and the EVO and DINC, Desire and you will pretty much see there is a huge market for the Sense UI. If you don't like it or think it is ugly then by all means have you some Cyanogen or Enom or MIUI. Coming on here crying about your preference is kinda lame and retarded.

Phateless said:
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this because it seems everyone around here is in love with Sense UI, but it drives me nuts. Especially that stupid Genius button. I now have to waste an entire row of my home screen with the Google search widget.
I...
****ing...
hate...
Sense!
Seriously, I can't stand it. I LOVE the hardware on this phone but am thinking of returning it and buying something used and rootable so I can install a vanilla version of Android.
Despite the facts that I would never use the physical keyboard and would rather have the front facing camera and the faster processor, I almost bought the G2 just for the clean version of Android.
Just curious if anyone else feels this way. I swear, if I could just double the RAM on my original MT3G, I would be satisfied to overclock it to 614 or so and go on my merry way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install launcher pro, and enjoy having the best of both worlds. The sense launcher sucks (in my opinion), and launcher pro gets rid of that problem. Then the things that the sense UI does better (like the lock screen) you still have. I hate sense, and after minor tweaks and mods, like my MT4G way better than my G2.

RealityDesign said:
Install launcher pro, and enjoy having the best of both worlds. The sense launcher sucks (in my opinion), and launcher pro gets rid of that problem. Then the things that the sense UI does better (like the lock screen) you still have. I hate sense, and after minor tweaks and mods, like my MT4G way better than my G2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mt4g sense is still running smart one, so you loose all that great ram while at the same time running launcherpro. Meaning a severe decrease is resources.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I have always been a vanilla Android fan, I always bought vanilla handsets and the OS updates, and stock features were more than enough for me.
However, I was open and gave mySense a shot on this phone and I have been impressed so far. The contacts, gallery, music, alarm clock and several other apps are so much more fully featured and integrated than I thought. Also, if you pick the right theme, widgets and wallpaper combination, the UI can really be beautiful. I think I would have a hard time going back to stock android now.
For example, I really miss having the vibrate slider on my lock screen like my Nexus had, but with this phone I get a seperate lock screen wallpaper for more customization and I can read text messages and emails on the lock screen. The trade off works for me.
Obviously it's a matter of personal preference, but bashing someone for liking a skin is idiotic. I have an iPod Touch, and I cannot stand iOS, I think it's hard to understand, boring and limited, but most of the world thinks it's the greatest OS on the planet. I don't bash iPhone owners for liking it. Like most things, you just have to have an open mind, give it a shot and maybe you will be surprised.
I prefer mySense now for what it can do, but I will jump to the next great handset in another year or so and be perfectly happy. If that phone happens to be vanilla or sense I have no idea, but I would be cool with either.

I don't mean to sound rude, but is installing Launcher Pro really that hard?

I'm just waiting to being able to install miui on this phone. Expresso sense is not THAT bad... i could do without some bloatware but it doesn't bother me much. I happily retired my nexus and traded in the bulky g2 for this phone.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

SE7EN- said:
Personally I like the functionality that expresso brings to the table. Its like an ugly girl that has a great package who gives a great blowjob in return atleast that's how I see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't have put it any better myself

[REQ] TouchWiz Rom Port

i have been trying to port the SG2 Dump (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1048960) to no avail. I have about giiven up as i am a amateur developer. if any experienced devs can try that would be awesome.

Motorola Droid 3 port would be also awesome, but I am also amateur..
Drivers are the most important.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App

I would be interested in a Touchwiz port as well. Mostly just for the puzzle lock and the messaging app.

If you are interested in TouchWiz,why don't you buy a galaxy s2?

You actually WANT Touchwiz? *mind explodes*

Fun fact: not everyone dislikes TW or likes Sense.

now let me get this straight !
you want 2 replace sense with touchwiz ??? ! ?
please tell me that I got this wrong pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

I like Touch Wiz better than Sense as well. It looks more like vanilla Android minus the horizontal app drawer. I can't stand the new version of Sense. Its not optimized and it has too much eye candy to apease the mainstream user. In my opinion, Touch Wiz is the more polished UI. We all know its more optimized.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

i would love to see this happen too, tw is really clean and seems like it would run smooth on the sensation. i love sense but its just eye candy and slows down performance

I don't want to replace it. I just want to see how it looks . a problem is it would be the sense 3 port all over again only in reverse. Sgs2 has a 800x400 display unlike the sensation's 960x540 display
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Wanna try it? http://mobileplanet-waryam.blogspot.com/2011/06/tw-launcher-45-v143-hacked-touchwiz-4.html

This thread is funny. Not only does someone actually want TouchWiz, but someone else said they want MotoBlur. While we're at it maybe someone can also get a working BB os7 os port working on our phone.

Paging Dr B said:
This thread is funny. Not only does someone actually want TouchWiz, but someone else said they want MotoBlur. While we're at it maybe someone can also get a working BB os7 os port working on our phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides the horizontal app drawer. What is wrong with Touch Wiz? It comes with a better email and text client. Its contacts client is miles better and the swiping on contacts to call and text is one of the best features I've ever seen. Its twitter and Facebook integration is also better and its dock icons are interchangeable unlock the dock on Sense.
It doesn't have all that useless eye candy like Sense does. Who the hell needs the home screen to zoom in when unlocking their device. That's just stupid. Don't even get me started on the useless carousel feature. That right there is as worthless as a female in the fire department.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

jrwingate6 said:
Besides the horizontal app drawer. What is wrong with Touch Wiz? It comes with a better email and text client. Its contacts client is miles better and the swiping on contacts to call and text is one of the best features I've ever seen. Its twitter and Facebook integration is also better and its dock icons are interchangeable unlock the dock on Sense.
It doesn't have all that useless eye candy like Sense does. Who the hell needs the home screen to zoom in when unlocking their device. That's just stupid. Don't even get me started on the useless carousel feature. That right there is as worthless as a female in the fire department.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW contacts is nice I'll give you that. Swiping to the left or right is a great feature. When my Vibrant was my daily driver, all everyone could talk about was getting rid of TW. The launcher sucks, the icons/theme is gross, and samsung widgets aren't better than sense widgets. In my opinion of course. Lol, in fact if you go over to Galaxy S forums they ask about porting Sense to TW devices. The grass is always greener on the other side I suppose.
The sexism in your post wasn't needed though. You don't need a (man part) to be an EMT, or climb a ladder.

Paging Dr B said:
TW contacts is nice I'll give you that. Swiping to the left or right is a great feature. When my Vibrant was my daily driver, all everyone could talk about was getting rid of TW. The launcher sucks, the icons/theme is gross, and samsung widgets aren't better than sense widgets. In my opinion of course. Lol, in fact if you go over to Galaxy S forums they ask about porting Sense to TW devices. The grass is always greener on the other side I suppose.
The sexism in your post wasn't needed though. You don't need a (man part) to be an EMT, or climb a ladder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, your right. Women make great EMT's and they can climb a ladder. Its the throwing of a ladder they cant seem to accomplish. They also have trouble dragging a fully charged 2 inch hose up a flight of steps. It just aint happening my friend. I work in one of the busiest city's for fires. Not some jolly volly company out in the boondocks who only see fire twice a year. I see this **** first hand and I'm telling you. Women do not have the upper body strength to perform the duty s of this job. Hell, there's some men who don't belong doing this job.
It's not sexism if it's the truth. I'm not PC and that's whats wrong with today's society. We don't have standards and we try to meet quotas to appease the minority's. Whatever happened to BEST MAN FOR THE JOB!
When it comes to Sense widgets being better than TW widgets, your right. However, I don't use any of the widgets. When it comes to the icons on TW looking bad. I don't understand how they do. They look the same to me.

How many of you have even seen or used TW4? Not many unless you have friends with an imported SGS2. I came from ADW and find TW totally inoffensive. Like JR said, it's light, fast, and doesn't screw with the native Android feel of the phone. I totally get why people would like the all-in integrated experience of Sense but TW is a totally different approach. Other than less UI customization options it's no different than any other launcher out there. And some of the Samsung widgets which are exclusive to TW are pretty cool. Starting at the bottom of the thread below I posted pics of TW4 configured on my phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1172992&page=25

BarryH_GEG said:
How many of you have even seen or used TW4? Not many unless you have friends with an imported SGS2. I came from ADW and find TW totally inoffensive. Like JR said, it's light, fast, and doesn't screw with the native Android feel of the phone. I totally get why people would like the all-in integrated experience of Sense but TW is a totally different approach. Other than less UI customization options it's no different than any other launcher out there. And some of the Samsung widgets which are exclusive to TW are pretty cool. Starting at the bottom of the thread below I posted pics of TW4 configured on my phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1172992&page=25
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right. Most of these people haven't even used the new version of TW. Like the one guy who said the Icons were ugly. I can see how one would think that with TW 3.0 when it had the colored boxes surrounding them but now that they were removed, there is no difference in the looks of the icons. Like you said. TW 4 is the least intrusive UI and is also the most polished/optimized UI. There is absolutely no reason to hate it unless you dislike vanilla Android.

And to prove the grass is always greener somewhere else, here's a thread in the SGS2 forum where people are looking for a Sense 3.0 port.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1156233

BarryH_GEG said:
And to prove the grass is always greener somewhere else, here's a thread in the SGS2 forum where people are looking for a Sense 3.0 port.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1156233
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every forum you read, people are always looking for UI ports. It the norm these days. People want options and everyone has a different preference.

Touchwiz 3 is horrible, touchwiz 4 is nice.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using XDA App

[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.

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.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

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
Click to expand...
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.

Sense vs. Touch wiz

I don't want to start a bunch of trouble here I just want give my opinion. As a long time sense user from back when it was windows mobile 6.5 to my sensation that I loved so much. I always notice the battle between sense and aosp. I liked many things about both and that's why I was using hybrids. In the end we where all chasing something. The sensation had too much lag and not enough power to drive htc sense. Sense was cool but bulky and slowing it down. I guess I was in denial that I baught a great phone and it never turned out how I hoped it would. I also noticed how many people talking bad about Touch WIZ. So many people said such bad thing about it and Samsung that I never even thought about it. Well with all the problems I had i decided to jump ship to the Galaxy s4. Let me tell you how impressed I am with the performance and Touch Wiz. Touch wiz is like the best of both worlds and has such a great layout. Many feature I never new existed. I just want to share this with you and hope some of you can relate to my frustrations I had with htc. The grass is greener on the other side and I wish I hadnt been so conviced by what I hear everyone say here on xda. In the end they were just people's opinions just like mine. Goodbye sensation people we had a good run. Many of you helped me so much. Hope to see some of you on the other side.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

Well, its hard to compare when you're comparing with Samsung's Top Notch Flagship.
I came from Samsung W, and boy I was so amazed by HTC I sworn I'll never go back to Samsung(unless its free or I just happen to pick one up somewhere).
From build quality to performance, (lets not compare S4, its completely overpowered), I can make my buddy with his S3 cry like a kid.
Sense Vs TouchWiz is strictly arguable, but I dare not say which is better. But when both placed beside AOSP its like child's play to me. Sense UI is known for its conveniences and functionality, and TouchWiz is more on userbased experience. So its never really comparable any way. And TouchWiz 3.0 is quite old already, so in the front of powerful device like S4, fluidity is a must or else Samsung better pack up.
All above is just my personal opinion. And the part about S3 is true because I can play most games more smoother on Senny(mostly because I have lots of RAM by killing nearly 50% of built in app in AOSP, never know. I get up to 300 free when I uninstalled default launcher)

of course, at least comparison should be fair.
take your time and compare S4 vs HTC One (on same chipsets).

I think it is really all based on individual opinion no matter where you go you will have lovers and haters in everything. It really just depends on what you like and what you use it for.

If you want to compare either do HTC sensation vs galaxy s2 or HTC one and galaxy s4. Either of those should be fair comparisons as they were from the same time period and is more fair than sensation vs s4. I think the problem you had with the sensation was the low ram and the (now) outdated processor
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I bet if you compare Sensation's with it's fake twin brother, Samsung S2, I'm willing to bet my left nut HTC will send Touchwiz home with a hat trick

sense vs touchwiz...
I cannot say which one is better but if you need eye candy with beautiness,Sense is much better but if you are a lover of nature or need something lite and easy to use,Touchwiz is better.

Wow you're telling the exact same story that happened to me I also was never really satisfied with my sensation's performence, even with AOSP ROMs. Some time ago I decided to buy a SGS4 and I was impressed by TW. It really is the best of both worlds, the functionality of a real UI like Sense and the speed and smoothness of AOSP. But still I have to say I somehow miss Sense. It's bulky but a very beautiful and elegant skin which worked super smooth even under 4.0.4 (Sense 4.1). And now I see that some devs are porting Sense 5 to the SGS4 and already have a working and pretty stable version of it and it makes me happy that I will be able to use Sense even though I'm not using HTC.
Sent from my flying Galaxy S4 GT-I9505

.TanTien said:
Wow you're telling the exact same story that happened to me I also was never really satisfied with my sensation's performence, even with AOSP ROMs. Some time ago I decided to buy a SGS4 and I was impressed by TW. It really is the best of both worlds, the functionality of a real UI like Sense and the speed and smoothness of AOSP. But still I have to say I somehow miss Sense. It's bulky but a very beautiful and elegant skin which worked super smooth even under 4.0.4 (Sense 4.1). And now I see that some devs are porting Sense 5 to the SGS4 and already have a working and pretty stable version of it and it makes me happy that I will be able to use Sense even though I'm not using HTC.
Sent from my flying Galaxy S4 GT-I9505
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know this well cmon pay the rezound some mind. Sense 5 s4 is great tho
Sent from my Infected Rezound using xda app-developers app

Sense is the best
I think, Sense is the best choice

You come to an Italian restaurant asking customers if they like pasta or sushi ,of course everyone will say pasta ...question more suited I n general android forum not here ...