[Q] Stock android vs Samsung/HTC android - Moto G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Having recently bought my wife a Moto G two things immediately stood out. One was how good the hardware was for £100. I could easily live with one if my Galaxy S3 broke. Mainly it would be just the extra screen size I would miss. The other thing that stood out for me was how basic the software was. I had to spend hours researching and installing different apps and widgets whereas my S3 just worked out of the box. Without a launcher you can't even scroll through the screens without having to go back and forwards. I spent ages looking for a free clock/weather widget but never did find one as good as the Samsung. I do like the fact that with android you can change your phone to how you like but I ended up wondering why people love the stripped down version so much?

Now....you say stripped down. But its quite the opposite. This is android. This is how it was meant to be. The skins that manufacturers put over android such as touchwiz or sense or even Motorola's blur skin back in the day is a bloated and horrible thing to do to android. Granted android used to look a LOT worse than it does now, I always very much preferred android without any kind of skin over the interface. I was so happy when I was able to root my droid eris and use the stock launcher/interface years ago.
Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk

jmoore4294 said:
Now....you say stripped down. But its quite the opposite. This is android. This is how it was meant to be. The skins that manufacturers put over android such as touchwiz or sense or even Motorola's blur skin back in the day is a bloated and horrible thing to do to android. Granted android used to look a LOT worse than it does now, I always very much preferred android without any kind of skin over the interface. I was so happy when I was able to root my droid eris and use the stock launcher/interface years ago.
Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, I shouldn't have said "stripped down". It doesn't apply to the Moto G.
The trouble is that after spending hours getting her phone to where it is a pleasure to use I still don't think it works as well as touchwiz. Apart from the clock/weather I mentioned there is for instance the text app. I still haven't found one that shows the number of unread texts on the home screen icon and shows a contact photo next to a contacts text. With touchwiz everything just seems to work.

I like the more elegant look of the stock android more than the horrible cartoony look of TW
Sent from my XT1032 using xda app-developers app

ahardie said:
With touchwiz everything just seems to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...at half the speed

shaftenberg said:
...at half the speed
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Click to collapse
Is it half the speed though shaftenberg? My S3 doesn't seem to be laggy at all. I suppose touchwiz would run slower on a budget phone though.

I would rather spend hours getting my phone to have the features I truly want, than to have a phone bloated with features I will never use.
Sent from my XT1034 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ahardie said:
My S3 doesn't seem to be laggy at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned an S3, so don't tell me...
Moto G even outperformes my Note 2.

Related

Stock Android on Epic

I just want to be sure I am not missing anything - there are not any Epic roms out yet right? to put it a different way, every single epic owner on the planet is currently using the Sprint/Samsung factory version of Android 2.1, yes?
Have spent a number of hours on xda and google, but wanted to be sure I was correct on this one.
Just really anxious to get away from Touchwiz, it doesn't even really feel like Android.
dockular said:
I just want to be sure I am not missing anything - there are not any Epic roms out yet right? to put it a different way, every single epic owner on the planet is currently using the Sprint/Samsung factory version of Android 2.1, yes?
Have spent a number of hours on xda and google, but wanted to be sure I was correct on this one.
Just really anxious to get away from Touchwiz, it doesn't even really feel like Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct, no custom roms yet. In the meantime you could install a different launcher such as launcher pro and adw launcher to give your phone a more aosp look
Sent from the future...
Honestly, after I installed ADW Launcher, Beautiful Widgets, rooted the phone, and uninstalled all the Sprint crap with Root Manager / Titanium Backup, I'm actually happy with what's left of Touch Wiz. The dialer / contacts / integration etc is actually pretty nice. My phone looks like stock 2.2 now, but has a few nice improvements.
legacydevice said:
Honestly, after I installed ADW Launcher, Beautiful Widgets, rooted the phone, and uninstalled all the Sprint crap with Root Manager / Titanium Backup, I'm actually happy with what's left of Touch Wiz. The dialer / contacts / integration etc is actually pretty nice. My phone looks like stock 2.2 now, but has a few nice improvements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I think touchwiz is like a double edgd sword. One the one hand it has a ton of features and usability improvements, on thbe other hand it looks horrible. Launcher pro gets rid of the ugly and adds even more features.
I wouldn't want stock android even if it were available.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
drizek said:
Agreed. I think touchwiz is like a double edgd sword. One the one hand it has a ton of features and usability improvements, on thbe other hand it looks horrible. Launcher pro gets rid of the ugly and adds even more features.
I wouldn't want stock android even if it were available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good info, thanks guys. maybe we'll get a chef who knows how to keep the good and eliminate the useless/ugly... and hopefully froyo to boot
I'm pretty happy with the stock ROM. I just use LauncherPro instead of Samsung's launcher and it's fantastic.
drizek said:
I wouldn't want stock android even if it were available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree 110%, there are some nice improvements once you remove all the crap
To switch to a stock vanilla launcher -- How To: Disable TouchWiz Epic 4G
Although it only has three screens, I've found it to be really really responsive and reliable. It always works very fast.
dockular said:
This is good info, thanks guys. maybe we'll get a chef who knows how to keep the good and eliminate the useless/ugly... and hopefully froyo to boot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if we get good devs for the epic i may buy one. looks as there isn't as much interest as the evo has.
I can't wait to see some roms start to pop up, gonna be nice to have a working hotspot without paying 30 dollars a month
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Sooty305 said:
I can't wait to see some roms start to pop up, gonna be nice to have a working hotspot without paying 30 dollars a month
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already got wifi tethering.....I'm rooted, so I installed the app. I'm now putting out a hotspot on 3 laptops in my home.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

experience with the epic

just rooted my buddies epic, which was definitely not as smooth as the captivate, and got to play around with it for a bit. i have to say, not impressed. feels like a big bulky clunker. not as refined as the captivate and is really a pain in the ass to root. tinkering with the epic made me appreciate my captivate that much more.
anyways just my short story of the day..
Thanks for sharing.
Can you give an example of how the phone was not smooth plz. Everyone else says that its smoother stock than the captivate
Sent from my phone so excuse the spelling errors
the process to root the phone is what i was referring to as not as smooth as our phones. there is a "one click" root for the epic but it took multiple tries to get the
1 click program to even see the phone and then once it saw the phone it was another issue to get the root over to the phone. not an easy update.zip like our phones.
the speed of the phone felt the same as the captivate stock vs. stock. once the dev's get a good root package down for the epic it will be better.
one other thing i didn't like about the epic is that there is no way to change what shortcuts you have running in the touchwiz tray. its the little things i guess.
novajustin said:
one other thing i didn't like about the epic is that there is no way to change what shortcuts you have running in the touchwiz tray. its the little things i guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even after:
Applications -> [Menu] -> View Type -> Customizable Grid -> [Menu] -> Edit
You still can't move applications around? That's trippy. lol
nope, you dont even have that option. when you press menu in the app drawer you get the choice to list or grid. i am thinking it has something to do with the keyboard? i dont know.
How heavy is it? The moment was one heavy phone. I mean HEAVY.
gunnyman said:
How heavy is it? The moment was one heavy phone. I mean HEAVY.
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Click to collapse
it is noticeably heavier than my captivate with the body glove case on it. also the battery cover that it uses is SO cheap. its one piece of very thin plastic that clips on to the back with some really weak clips. i pulled the cover off of his phone with my non existent fingernails with great ease.
EPIC is stuck with an older version of TouchWiz 2.5 and lacks quite a few features TW 3 has on Captivate. The reason is because of the required landscape support for home screen when keyboard slids out.
Why not bake in landscape support on 3.0? Is it that radically different?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
BigJayDogg3 said:
Why not bake in landscape support on 3.0? Is it that radically different?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well uh, I love my Captivate, but lets face it, Samsung hasn't exactly gone the extra mile on these phones.
That's how they get released with things like GPS issues or the lag troubles, etc. (Or the slower 2.2 upgrades.) Could Samsung have built in landscape on 3.0 and make it work with a not unreasonable amount of effort? Absolutely. Did they have to move units? Obviously not. So did they? Nope.
BigJayDogg3 said:
Why not bake in landscape support on 3.0? Is it that radically different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EPIC is the first slider in Galaxy S line. Samsung could wait 6 more months (or even more) to add landscape support in TW 3.0 or release the phone now and sell millions. It's a no brainer.
HTC spent couple years try to make landscape mode work perfectly for TF3D/Sense home screen on WM.
foxbat121 said:
HTC spent couple years try to make landscape mode work perfectly for TF3D/Sense home screen on WM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While that may be true, it didn't take them years to release landscape mode in subsequent releases. If Samsung has figured out landscape in a previous version, I find it a little hard to believe it would have been more than a couple weeks to port it over.
Its not like Samsung's QC is super high. If they ported it and FUBAR'd yet another thing its not like many people would have been surprised.
Then again, im not a programmer, so maybe my POV is unrealistic and skewed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Thoughts on Launcher 7

Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.
sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.
Ace42 said:
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.
As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.
sunsean said:
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i read somewhere that you can change the autobrightness and stuff of the screen and that sense has theirs up more or something, i don't remember.
But i use adw launcher ex and never see it on my battery stats, so i'm guessing that's good. And it never lags for me either, smooth as butter.
sunsean said:
As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really notice a difference with the donate version when i used it other than it looks alot better without the annoying ads.
I installed Launcher 7 and used it pretty exclusively for a while.
I got to really like how the UI operated, and found it very quick. But I eventually stopped using it and uninstalled it.
The idea, for me, was to get to a LiveTiles experience, where I could see at a glance how many new emails and social postings I might like to read, upcoming appointments, etc... without having to deal with the rest of the crummy WP7 interface. So I suppose my goal is probably different than many. But I couldn't get there with Launcher 7 (no surprise, since it's built - and named - as a "launcher").
As a simple app launcher, it was decent, for my most-used apps... though the second I needed to use less-used apps, I was somewhat disappointed/frustrated trying to find and run them.
That and, while I eventually understood it wouldn't take me all the way to LiveTiles, the fact that it didn't have (at the time) a clock/date widget that looked decent within the interface (seems like a stupid thing, but actually became a necessity for me) made me opt for something else.
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.
sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup i used Go launcher Ex ever since i got this mt4g and i can say i like this a lot more than launcher 7 ( tried it for like 2 days and then i just got back to Go L Ex)
It sucks what wit the ad s to I rather use a theme for a another launcher like adw <-, best
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in the settings of Go launcher, look through all the settings, i've ended up on LPP again b/c it has the Sense3 widget skins, and appears to be running faster for me on miui. With GO I would get many fc's and it would lag sometimes, this started on the newer versions of GO though. Sphere is the app drawer effect, look in effects, when on home screen, press menu, goto preference, and look for effects. Sphere effect is with chariot, binary, random, and the other animations.
sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
having just recently moved from a WP7 to an Android phone Launcher 7 made me feel "back home" instantly. I like the WP7/Launcher 7 home screen with the big tiles; IMO it's a nice, fresh look compared to a large number of Android launchers or iOS. I never liked the 2nd page of the WP7 home screen - a one-column alpabetically sorted list of all installed apps? Boring and not very flexible.
I now use Go Launcher Ex and while I still like the look and feel of the Launcher 7 tiles, I do not miss it.

Multitasking: how bad is it?

Hi folks
I'm still on the edge between an iPhone and a HOX. Could someone please discuss the state of the multitasking issues on the AT&T HOX and summary of fixes?
Specifically my question is this: there are some services that always need to be running to get notifications, like free texting apps or skype. Some services upload photos in the background, like Dropbox. Is it true that these services get killed by the multitasking as well on stock?
I've heard that Dropbox does get killed. I've never heard anything about skype and similar apps that need to sit in the background listening, so I imagine they are working fine on stock Sense?
pausaniasx said:
Hi folks
I'm still on the edge between an iPhone and a HOX. Could someone please discuss the state of the multitasking issues on the AT&T HOX and summary of fixes?
Specifically my question is this: there are some services that always need to be running to get notifications, like free texting apps or skype. Some services upload photos in the background, like Dropbox. Is it true that these services get killed by the multitasking as well on stock?
I've heard that Dropbox does get killed. I've never heard anything about skype and similar apps that need to sit in the background listening, so I imagine they are working fine on stock Sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I was on Sense roms with stock multitasking, I never had issues with long-running background services being killed. It was only things like the browser being killed and having to reload and other apps that have their front end killed.
Can't really comment on the services you mentioned, but just some general observations about multi-task:
Some people have complained that during games, if you do something else, like say someone sends you an SMS and you respond, that when you go back to the game, your progress will not have been saved. I don't have time for games these days. So I can't personally comment on that.
Really, it depends on how you use your phone. For some people, the multi-tasking behavior is a deal breaker. For me, I'm fine with it. I mostly only notice it when leaving the browser. It will almost always have to reload the webpage you were looking at.
Have you actually compared the iPhone and the One X in person? There really is no comparison between the two. The huge gorgeous screen of the One X makes the iPhone look like a toy.
You're worried about multitasking but you're willing to go iPhone? Lol hox will be fine
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen. The PPI and brightness are almost the same between iPhone and HOX.
And iphone doesn't kill your game progress and clear your text entry fields when you switch apps. And it doesn't silently kill Dropbox while it's uploading (it does kill it, but gives Dropbox a chance to notify of that first).
The jailbreak tweaks for iPhone are for my purposes completely on par with android.
My only reasons for considering switching is that the iPhone is going to get harder and harder to jailbreak (I'm expecting a 6 month wait this time). plus lose google maps which is a huge debacle.
I'm open to HOX but would need a fix to the multitasking issues.
pausaniasx said:
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's just a rumor, and its been the same (incorrect) rumor for the last 1-2 iPhone versions, at least.
My bet is on the screen size of the iPhone is not changing any time soon. If they make the screen much larger, and keep the resolution the same, it will look like crap. If they change the screen resolution, they fragment the iOS that they have keep pretty much unified for 5 years. People keep talking about the "iPad Mini" (something around a 7" iPad), but my hunch is that is not going to happen either, for the same reasons of not fragmenting iOS. But those are just my personal gut feelings.
And seriously, if you haven't held a One X in person, do it. The screen size is gigantic compared to the iPhone. You have to see it to believe it. My previous phone was a Desire Z, which had a form factor not much different from the iPhone. When I go back to it (pulled some files off it), I can't believe I ever used a phone with a screen that small. Similar feelings when I pick up my wife's iPhone.
pausaniasx said:
I'm open to HOX but would need a fix to the multitasking issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There has been some fixes to multi-tasking, both available as a stand-alone mod, and on custom ROMs. So check out Development, and read more on it if nobody chimes in about those here. As I mentioned, I've been fine with multitasking. So I haven't tried any of the mods.
Also, the Asia 2.23 firmware makes changes to both the multitasking (how aggressively idle processes are killed) and free memory at boot (how much memory Sense takes). A new AT&T firmware (2.20) is just now rolling out OTA as we speak, and likely has the same tweaks. So that in itself might fix what you want. But like I said, I don't game these days, so I can't say.
pausaniasx said:
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's going to be 4.7" big. That's quite a shoe to fill. PPI is less of an issue for both the phones. Unless you have amazing vision or whip out a magnifying glass, you can't even see individual pixels. A higher PPI is usually a better thing, but beyond a certain point, it becomes indistinguishable.
pausaniasx said:
And iphone doesn't kill your game progress and clear your text entry fields when you switch apps. And it doesn't silently kill Dropbox while it's uploading (it does kill it, but gives Dropbox a chance to notify of that first).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least with an HTC One X you can control how the multitasking behaves. However, I do want to address two issues: 1) the clearing of the text boxes has more to do with the apps you're using than the multitasking itself and 2) unlike the HTC One X, apps like Dropbox can't just linger in the background and upload new images as they're taken. I ran into that limitation quite a bit back when I still had my iPhone.
pausaniasx said:
The jailbreak tweaks for iPhone are for my purposes completely on par with android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this may sound like blasphemy in this community, but I wouldn't ever recommend buying a phone simply based on what you can do after you root/jailbreak. Usually you can reasonably expect a method for root/jailbreak to come alone, but you can never guarantee it. Always pick a device based on how it suits your needs and desires without any extensive modifications.
All of this being said, even with multitasking being as it is on the HTC One X, I'd still recommend it over an iPhone. As previous users have mentioned, the effect of the stock multitasking setting is only visible on things like web browsers and some games. If you go under the system settings and modify its behavior, you'll probably achieve the desired effect. If you don't feel like tweaking system settings, you can always install an app like SMS Popup which lets you quick-rely to messages without ever leaving your current task.
One thing I do pride Android on is the ability to have background tasks for applications. With my iPhone I would find that (aside from default apps like Mail and Messages) certain apps wouldn't provide notifications when they should have. For example: if I hadn't launched Words with Friends since a reboot, I'd never get notifications from it. Same thing with uploading images from Dropbox.
The other thing that persuaded me to switch to an Android device was the ability to customize and personalize out of the box. On an iPhone, the most you can do is change backgrounds/sounds/icon arrangement. On an Android device you have full control over your home screen. You can manipulate icons arbitrarily (putting gaps between them, skipping pages, remove icons without uninstalling the app, etc), you can install widgets to quickly access information/settings/apps at a glance, live wallpapers, and even make shortcuts (such as a one-click "Directions to get Home" and "Sound Settings"). Heck, you can even install custom keyboards.
All-in-all it took me about a week to get used to how Android does things, but whenever I play with my old iPhone (my girlfriend uses it now), things just don't feel quite right. The best way to describe it is that on my HTC One X, I get to make the rules. I get to decide how things look and feel and how the system responds to my actions. Playing with my iPhone I feel like I'm not making any of my own rules. Sure, I can change some settings, but compared to Android it feels like a thin veil over how Apple things I should use my device.
Get everything you want now, or wait for a possibility.
Btw multitasking never kills any of those things mentioned. Drop box never stops during uploads.
Android> iOS
Sent from my HTC One X
Thanks for the replies. I have spent about an hour playing with HOX in store and tons of time researching whether it can suit my needs.
Franklly it has been hard to track down android equivalents of everything I can do on jail broken iOS. For reading full emails without unlocking the device it looks like a combination of widget locker and a few widgets can do it, but it just feels a bit hacked together and not as polished as Lockinfo on iOS, which is a one-stop solution. And there doesn't quite appear to be any replacement for Activator, which is a unified gesture framework where you can do things like turn on the flashlight by pushing both volume buttons at the same time and bring up the previous app with a slide on the status bar. Now I know if I look hard enough something similar for android will turn up but will it be as well supported as these iOS tweaks with hundreds of thousands of users? not so sure.
In the I think the iPhone is under appreciated here in terms of how professional the jailbreak community is and how it can easily match android for power and tweak ability. The main issue is that apple is hiring the jailbreak developers and jail breaking itself will be incredibly hard as time progresses because it relies on patching binaries and finding vulnerabilities.
The multitasking seems to be improved in the 4.0.4 update.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
pausaniasx said:
Thanks for the replies. I have spent about an hour playing with HOX in store and tons of time researching whether it can suit my needs.
Franklly it has been hard to track down android equivalents of everything I can do on jail broken iOS. For reading full emails without unlocking the device it looks like a combination of widget locker and a few widgets can do it, but it just feels a bit hacked together and not as polished as Lockinfo on iOS, which is a one-stop solution. And there doesn't quite appear to be any replacement for Activator, which is a unified gesture framework where you can do things like turn on the flashlight by pushing both volume buttons at the same time and bring up the previous app with a slide on the status bar. Now I know if I look hard enough something similar for android will turn up but will it be as well supported as these iOS tweaks with hundreds of thousands of users? not so sure.
In the I think the iPhone is under appreciated here in terms of how professional the jailbreak community is and how it can easily match android for power and tweak ability. The main issue is that apple is hiring the jailbreak developers and jail breaking itself will be incredibly hard as time progresses because it relies on patching binaries and finding vulnerabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android as a whole is much better than ios. I owned four, yes four iterations of the iPhone and jail broke them all. I have also owned 2 android devices. Take it from someone who has owned and rooted/jail broke both. Android is better.
Sent from my One X using xda premium
Hey, if the man wants to create an android vs iPhone thread, then state he wants the iPhone, who are we to correct him. He's not going to change his mind and never had any intention of doing so. Just let the sheep be.
I think you should just get the iPhone.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Some of the people here may say its not that bad, but trust me dude compared to other android phones its pretty damn bad, bad enough for me to get rid of the phone. Ie, if you are listening to music and browsing. Go change the song and come back to be greeted by the web browser reloading the WHOLE PAGE over again.
Really go play with one in the store before you make your decision id say, as a poster before me mentioned one of the gleaming features of android is its ability to multitask amazingly, if thats absent then its terrible. Imo the multi tasking on the hox is below even that of the iphone. Just really play with it before you make a decision, with that said i wouldnt necessarily say the hox is a worser phone than the iphone even, it isnt. Its a great phone and is still imo better than the 4s today.
I REALLLLY do miss my hox sometimes though, the amazing build quality. and the display really owns anything else on the market right now.
unleashed12 said:
Some of the people here may say its not that bad, but trust me dude compared to other android phones its pretty damn bad, bad enough for me to get rid of the phone. Ie, if you are listening to music and browsing. Go change the song and come back to be greeted by the web browser reloading the WHOLE PAGE over again.
Really go play with one in the store before you make your decision id say, as a poster before me mentioned one of the gleaming features of android is its ability to multitask amazingly, if thats absent then its terrible. Imo the multi tasking on the hox is below even that of the iphone. Just really play with it before you make a decision, with that said i wouldnt necessarily say the hox is a worser phone than the iphone even, it isnt. Its a great phone and is still imo better than the 4s today.
I REALLLLY do miss my hox sometimes though, the amazing build quality. and the display really owns anything else on the market right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure that only happes with the stock browser... So that's a pretty damn bad example.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
ECEXCURSION said:
Pretty sure that only happes with the stock browser... So that's a pretty damn bad example.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, i used chrome actually. Also happens with tons of other apps, used to redraw my sms app all the time too.
Doesn't Android have some kind of popup that you can use to control your music without having to leave the app?
unleashed12 said:
Nope, i used chrome actually. Also happens with tons of other apps, used to redraw my sms app all the time too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, just tried both the stock browser with Pandora and the stock browser with google music player.... The page will not reload if I switch apps and change a song. So either you're lying or aren't using HTC's latest code. This is on CleanROM 4.5.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
ECEXCURSION said:
Alright, just tried both the stock browser with Pandora and the stock browser with google music player.... The page will not reload if I switch apps and change a song. So either you're lying or aren't using HTC's latest code. This is on CleanROM 4.5.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not honestly promoting the stock One X's multitasking ability, are you?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.
Well, the new recent update made multitasking a LOT better. As in it doesn't suck.
Vendetta-NY said:
You're not honestly promoting the stock One X's multitasking ability, are you?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
redrubberpenguin said:
Well, the new recent update made multitasking a LOT better. As in it doesn't suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correctamundo... I was referring the very well documented multitasking woes on 1.73 and 1.85. But from all I've read, the new update goes a long way to fix multitasking. Looking forward to getting it! I really love this phone, even if I do stick to only the stock ROMs.

TouchWiz Needs An Overhaul

I think TouchWiz is in need of an overhaul. It just seems way too bloated when compared to stock android and Sense. IMO it's kinda reminiscent of Sense 3.5 before it was greatly improved. I'd just like my phone to be speedy and lag free without having to mod it
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
fredrick1213 said:
I think TouchWiz is in need of an overhaul. It just seems way too bloated when compared to stock android and Sense. IMO it's kinda reminiscent of Sense 3.5 before it was greatly improved. I'd just like my phone to be speedy and lag free without having to mod it
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the last overhaul was the galaxy s3, it wasnt so long ago....
Meh. I really like TouchWiz for what it is. When I was toying with the One before I got my S4, and I thought Sense 5 was still pretty heavily integrated, just as much as TouchWiz is on the S4. I would imagine an overhaul of both stock Android and TouchWiz will come with Key Lime Pie, whenever that is released.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
+1 thats what makes it what it is...tw...runs good...and I have ran every launcher out there....
I have personally thought that although there are tons of bloats, it does its job fairly well. Pretty snappy and responsive. I have looked at sense ui and realized that touchwiz isn't too bad at all.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
I think that on modern phones, if people are running into lag, they don't know how to use their device properly. Disable animations, don't overload it with apps you rarely use, turn off settings you rarely use until you need them. Root helps. Freeze/uninstall bloat. I have no issues at all with both my E4GT and my S4. Why? Because I know how to make the best of it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I say TW is simply scratched and something new is born. Stock TW is garbage.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda app-developers app
Why is it garbage?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
fredrick1213 said:
I think TouchWiz is in need of an overhaul. It just seems way too bloated when compared to stock android and Sense. IMO it's kinda reminiscent of Sense 3.5 before it was greatly improved. I'd just like my phone to be speedy and lag free without having to mod it
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny I think stock android needs an overhaul. Its too plain and lacks of features. I mean it doesnt even have a quick toggle in the dropdown or brightness control. The simplest features.
I agree with all of you, but compared to some launchers...TW works perfect everytime.....it has NEVER locked up on me, like nova and apex..
as far as an overhaul of the stock, again, at least everything works compared to aosp roms that I ran for a couple years with continuous problems one after the other....
naaaaw. tw rocks.....
charge port
TheAxman said:
I agree with all of you, but compared to some launchers...TW works perfect everytime.....it has NEVER locked up on me, like nova and apex..
as far as an overhaul of the stock, again, at least everything works compared to aosp roms that I ran for a couple years with continuous problems one after the other....
naaaaw. tw rocks.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was fan of CyanogenMod for years now, and didn't care that bluetooth FC or something was wonky in the camera, but because of the TV remote?!**^ the first ROM I flashed was GoldenEye with no add ons, and it's my very first TW instead of AOSP.
I used to be a purist too, but TWRP is too easy, those hard button operations I used to have to do in CWM, don't miss it one bit. And this ROM has cool features as is, flashed it with a simple swipe of a slider bar. Mind numbing easy. I even ditched the original nandoid and moved it to the desktop computer to save 3.56 GB of room on my SD card. I used TWRP to make a backup of my presently pleased state of GoldenEye perfection and checked every available box, and only it's 2.47 GB. Big difference!
I flashed my 2.47 GB backup of my GoldenEye, with no add ons, and found no issues. Flawless. Everything works. No bugs. Not one instance of lag or a force close. Call log and texts messages did not go away. I checked every box when I made my backup. Unbelievable perfection in image reflection!
Last week I dropped it in the toilet with the charge port door open on it's otterbox.
When I was no longer able to charge it, I replaced the charging port myself, just to keep MDL and free from having to endure what everyone with MF3 suffers. It wasn't too hard peeling apart the S4 just to replace the charging port. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5e3r_2N15c You don't have to get this deep into it, only one connector up top instead of all five. I bought my replacement charge port from his YouTube link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...veASIN=B00DHZ2KZ8&linkCode=as2&tag=three04-20
It cost me $14.99 delivered in in two days flat. It arrived yesterday on Saturday and I was able to have the desktop recognize it and it charges like new and I am BOASTING!
Sign that petition that's floating around and get the bootloader unlocked. And say nice things about the whiz kids who are trying to find an exploit for all the MF3 borked users. Amen.
Different Strokes for Different Folks--Not much new here--
rugmankc said:
Different Strokes for Different Folks--Not much new here--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see a new thread that looks far more exciting than dropping in a toilet. Right behind you!
fukenbiker said:
I see a new thread that looks far more exciting than dropping in a toilet. Right behind you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, yeah
we posted at same time never read yours before i posted
I loved Cyanogenmod for years on my S1 and S2. Next AOKP on my S2 was the ****e. Then when ShoStock came to be I tried out Touchwiz based Roms. Sammy did it right with TW this time around. Next was my S3 and TW was real nice with LoserRom and his later creations. Yes the bloat ATT adds is crappy and some of Sammy apps as well. But it is fast and smooth and everything works. Run a custom ROM without the bloat, add in what most CM has for mods to it and it is awesome. Now with my S4 I went straight to ShoStock on its very first bootup.
Did I say I hate ATT yet. Last phone I buy from them though with f'd up bootloaders.
Sent From RockRatts Work Phone
Maybe I was a bit too harsh. TW has just been frustrating me. I expect a device with these specs to run almost flawlessly. I'm not new to rooting or android so of course I know how to speed the device up. It does get faster when I do this, but still not where it should be
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
Curious...if people don't like Touchwiz...why buy a Touchwiz phone? Because of proprietary drivers it is difficult to make a bug free AOSP of any kind on it. It is easier to get Touchwiz like features on a Google phone, so maybe you should look for the next one of those.
kennyglass123 said:
Curious...if people don't like Touchwiz...why buy a Touchwiz phone? Because of proprietary drivers it is difficult to make a bug free AOSP of any kind on it. It is easier to get Touchwiz like features on a Google phone, so maybe you should look for the next one of those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, there are many more choices out there, that doesn't have tw as stock launcher.
I dunno, with a few tweaks, tw is super fast.
I actually like TW on the S4 as well. No issue so far here. Smooth and no freezes.
I don't think most people realize it's not tw that's the issue. It's the bloat at&t and Samsung put on the phone. Without that most would love tw. It works!

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