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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 However Android started to look beautiful from ICS and on and most of these skins now look ugly and outdated.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
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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.
[Q] Seriously considering buying GS6 but I have questions regarding UI mods & roms
First off, a huge thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer these. This might be the first non-AOSP phone i've ever bought.
I know all of the answers will be somewhat speculation since the GS6 is still new but mostly I'm just looking for what's been done in the past with the Samsung Exynos processors. And if I do get one I most likely will be getting a T-Mobile branded one as there does not seem to be a Samsung unlocked version sold in the US, if I'm wrong please correct me there.
So essentially my question is, will these changes be most likely possible.
1) Removing AM/PM from 12 hour clock.
2) Disabling capacitive button light and remapping buttons back to left, multitask to right. or
3) Getting nexus-style soft keys and disabling capacitive buttons.
4) Installing the AOSP Google Dialer and contacts.
So second part is about ROMS.
Now to my understanding the Exynos essentially means no stable 100% working AOSP roms ever. That has been my understanding and part of my reason for staying away from Galaxy S phones. Recently I've seen many places where people are saying just put CM12 on it but then in my own research CM12 or anything similar either seems to not be available or has serious bugs. So is it possible, lets say more than 50% chance that the GS6 will get a 100% stable bug free AOSP rom.
As a follow up to that, if it is possible, based on earlier phones and AOSP roms, does the camera suffer or does it retain the same quality. Sony phones for example, the camera breaks badly if you unlock the bootloader and install AOSP. It requires a locked bootloader and Sony rom to function properly. Also anyway for the fingerprint reader to still work on AOSP?
Second question regarding modded touchwiz roms. Can things like my above questions, and more AOSP like mods be done in these custom roms? Such as full AOSP theming of Samsung apps, stock google apps, and would apps like T-Mobile WiFi calling still work in modded touchwiz roms.
Once again a huge thanks in advance to anyone who helps out with these questions.
1.) Yes, I have done that on my S5.
2.)Once again yes, I have done that on my S5.
3.) I'm sure there's an app for that lol
4.) Idk but I've been wondering the same thing!
Check out MOAR ROM for the Sprint S5, that's what I'm running right now, just to give you an idea of all the mods possible.
From what I've heard, AOSP build will be damn near impossible on the S6, and also from what I've read, the camera does take a major hit in quality. AOSP themeing can be done once Samsung releases the theme SDK that is built into the new TouchWiz in the S6!
JoeFCaputo113 said:
1.) Yes, I have done that on my S5.
2.)Once again yes, I have done that on my S5.
3.) I'm sure there's an app for that lol
4.) Idk but I've been wondering the same thing!
Check out MOAR ROM for the Sprint S5, that's what I'm running right now, just to give you an idea of all the mods possible.
From what I've heard, AOSP build will be damn near impossible on the S6, and also from what I've read, the camera does take a major hit in quality. AOSP themeing can be done once Samsung releases the theme SDK that is built into the new TouchWiz in the S6!
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Click to collapse
That rom seems perfect for what I would want, hope the GS6 gets something on par. I love AOSP but luckily Samsung has actually done a pretty decent job with TouchWiz on lollipop and since I simply don't trust Google to make a Nexus phone with a good camera or battery anymore after the N6 I'm really considering the GS6 and I've really been enjoying playing around with it at best buy but obviously coming from 7 years of AOSP it's tough to leave.
Glad 1 and 2 are a yes. Probably my biggest annoyances. Though you mention the S5, that's on a snapdragon correct? I assume from your yes those should still be possible regardless of chipset.
I really hope 4 is possible. I've done a lot of searching but haven't found anything unfortountly. I could live with the Samsung dialer, but I would much prefer to have the Google one.
If the camera quality will degrade with AOSP than I just wouldn't even bother. Camera is probably my biggest reason for the S6 over a new Nexus.
neok44 said:
That rom seems perfect for what I would want, hope the GS6 gets something on par. I love AOSP but luckily Samsung has actually done a pretty decent job with TouchWiz on lollipop and since I simply don't trust Google to make a Nexus phone with a good camera or battery anymore after the N6 I'm really considering the GS6 and I've really been enjoying playing around with it at best buy but obviously coming from 7 years of AOSP it's tough to leave.
Glad 1 and 2 are a yes. Probably my biggest annoyances. Though you mention the S5, that's on a snapdragon correct? I assume from your yes those should still be possible regardless of chipset.
I really hope 4 is possible. I've done a lot of searching but haven't found anything unfortountly. I could live with the Samsung dialer, but I would much prefer to have the Google one.
If the camera quality will degrade with AOSP than I just wouldn't even bother. Camera is probably my biggest reason for the S6 over a new Nexus.
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Yeah man, that ROM made my S5 the amazing phone that I love haha, so much freakn customization within the ROM.
Yes the S5 is on Snapdragon, but MOAR is a TouchWiz based ROM, not AOSP.... and TouchWiz based ROMs won't be a proble, regardless of the chip that's used. And I also would love to see #4 too, but I'm guessing it would have to somehow be ported to work with the S6 & TouchWiz.
Some info on camera quality:
I've had every galaxy phone since the Note 2 / S3.
The camera is always MUCH worse on AOSP/CM roms. Worse than the difference on a Sony going from stock to AOSP.
However now with the new camera API and better 3rd party apps coming out I think it may not be an issue.
I tried the "Snap Camera" app on my Galaxy S6 today and it seemed just as good as the stock Samsung app but I'll have to do more testing.
play2lose said:
Some info on camera quality:
I've had every galaxy phone since the Note 2 / S3.
The camera is always MUCH worse on AOSP/CM roms. Worse than the difference on a Sony going from stock to AOSP.
However now with the new camera API and better 3rd party apps coming out I think it may not be an issue.
I tried the "Snap Camera" app on my Galaxy S6 today and it seemed just as good as the stock Samsung app but I'll have to do more testing.
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Click to collapse
Ouch. Well no need to really worry about AOSP now though it would be nice one day. Always the hope Google actually makes a good Nexus 5 again though :laugh: . I would hope that third party apps would retain quality though the new Camera app from Samsung is excellent from my experience demoing it.
JoeFCaputo113 said:
1.) Yes, I have done that on my S5.
2.)Once again yes, I have done that on my S5.
3.) I'm sure there's an app for that lol
4.) Idk but I've been wondering the same thing!
Check out MOAR ROM for the Sprint S5, that's what I'm running right now, just to give you an idea of all the mods possible.
From what I've heard, AOSP build will be damn near impossible on the S6, and also from what I've read, the camera does take a major hit in quality. AOSP themeing can be done once Samsung releases the theme SDK that is built into the new TouchWiz in the S6!
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Click to collapse
where have you heard aosp will be impossible?
nflwideout86 said:
where have you heard aosp will be impossible?
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Click to collapse
Exynos is not as open (or open at all?) like Qualcom is. Therefore it is REALLY dang hard to get AOSP ROMs.
Just bought an S6 and if my past phones were any indication I will want to remove as much vendor android customization as possible.
I don't care about warranty and am happy to root/unlock/s-off/etc my phones.
How's development looking for the S6, has anyone produced a rom with the samsung stuff stripped out?
I don't need a ROM with gizmos, just the samsung stuff and preinstalled apps taken off.
They is a great topic , i was just talking to my coworkers from tmobile that im litterally gonna switch to the g3 or htc m8 because the development on here is so sad its driving crazy (yeah yeah, i know if i want a rom i should build it myself) well if i had the BRAINS that these developers have i would exploit my knowledge but because I dont have the knowledge then we can only depend on the developers...just imagine cm 12 running on a 64bit processor...jesus.... instant nerd boner... seriously... we need to use our phones full potential...if not then why the strong processsors for? Why all the specs... htc m8/moto X 2nd gen/Lg G3/nexus 5 (for that android M)
Any feedback? I feel like ppl are afriad to speak on this topic that they dont just so they dont get flamed... but someone has to stand up and bring it to attention...
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
I agree. I would love to see some cm/aosp. I think about switching to another device that can run it every day
Yeah, I agree to. I'm waiting for CM or AOSP rom. I want imagine a pure stock on my phone...But I thing maybe it's difficult with Knox or Samsung bloadware to make different rom who can run on our phone. All we have actually are based on Samsung rom... So wait and see...
The s6 has the least amount of preinstaled apps ... and a lot of them you can remove ... why do you people even buy phones from Samsung if you need to change every little detail about it ... maybe the best advice is that you make your own phone at home ....
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA Free mobile app
I don't see how stripping out most of the features and adding on a buggy CM software is "getting the full potential" of the phone.
A 64 bit processor vs 32 is negligible anyway, and Cm, really? That's like equipping Iron Man's suit with a ZX spectrum computer.
zdravkodubravec said:
The s6 has the least amount of preinstaled apps ... and a lot of them you can remove ... why do you people even buy phones from Samsung if you need to change every little detail about it ... maybe the best advice is that you make your own phone at home ....
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Why do i buy phones from samsung? Umm lets see it has the latest hardware, camera, processor, screen display.... that was a really dumb question...smh... vs one plus one or a moto x 2014... i wanna run cm on a 64 bit processor.
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
OP, what you are looking for is called Android Open Source Project or AOSP for Short. AOSP is the Google's Android Source Code Repository. It has a code base for your phone's Processor (SoC). There are several Developers who utilize this Google Source to create Custom Roms with Features that are not available in Samsung's Touchwiz rom. You can review this list
for currently available Roms on your Device. Essentially what is called "Play Store Edition" of a device, is basically the same thing as regular Device but has AOSP Rom.
Unfortunately this thread is a duplicate of Does Exynos = no custom ROMs? So please carry on the Discussion over there,
Thread closed.
So I've been thinking of swapping out my Galaxy S6 for either a Oneplus two or Nexus 6P
It's not that I hate the galaxy S6 as it is, but the damn touchwiz sometimes ruins the experience. Considering the closed source nature of the Exynos, is there even a possibility in the near future for the S6 to have near stock android roms like Cyanogenmod? I do want to stay with the S6 because of the beastly exynos chip and the great camera, and also android marshmallow is coming near for the galaxy devices, it's just that the software is kinda laggy.
can you give me some of your thoughts?
There is an active github for development of a CM ROM. That said, I'm not dev savvy enough to know where it stands and don' want to bother the Dev as that is pretty close to an ETA question. But it is in the works. Not too thrilled with the new Nexus devices personally. too large in form factor or underwhelming in specs.
magoo5289 said:
There is an active github for development of a CM ROM. That said, I'm not dev savvy enough to know where it stands and don' want to bother the Dev as that is pretty close to an ETA question. But it is in the works. Not too thrilled with the new Nexus devices personally. too large in form factor or underwhelming in specs.
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Same. I'd really love to have an AOSP rom for the Galaxy S6. Only reason I'm looking forward for the nexus or onplus devices is because of the stock android experience. Tbh, Touchwiz can be kinda boring, and lagging sometimes. Not to mention the horrible RAM management. If it weren't for the Exynos chip, I would have gotten the Oneplus or Nexus devices lol
As of late, I've seen the thread where a certain dev was working on CM, but I think on the last post on that thread, i believe he closed it due to lack of people working on it. I dunno
Hopefully someone can clarify if there really is a dev working on an AOSP, I really want to stay with the S6.
shigi1231 said:
Same. I'd really love to have an AOSP rom for the Galaxy S6. Only reason I'm looking forward for the nexus or onplus devices is because of the stock android experience. Tbh, Touchwiz can be kinda boring, and lagging sometimes. Not to mention the horrible RAM management. If it weren't for the Exynos chip, I would have gotten the Oneplus or Nexus devices lol
As of late, I've seen the thread where a certain dev was working on CM, but I think on the last post on that thread, i believe he closed it due to lack of people working on it. I dunno
Hopefully someone can clarify if there really is a dev working on an AOSP, I really want to stay with the S6.
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Click to collapse
With the proper kernel settings and ROM, this phone is as smooth as nexus device with much faster loading times for apps. Not to mention great multitasking (literally had 15 apps open at once and none of them reloaded) and amazing battery life ~6hr SOT. I can say that Vindicator kernel with xtrestolie is one of the best
There are some opengl problems with 5.1.1 tw roms. So the performance is not good as 5.0.1. I am also considering to change my phone to nexus 6P.
crzykiller said:
With the proper kernel settings and ROM, this phone is as smooth as nexus device with much faster loading times for apps. Not to mention great multitasking (literally had 15 apps open at once and none of them reloaded) and amazing battery life ~6hr SOT. I can say that Vindicator kernel with xtrestolie is one of the best
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Click to collapse
I've recently installed xtroleti with Unikernel on it, set on Medium profile. Do you think the vindicator kernel is better? If so, on what terms?
damnn, still waiting if we'll ever have AOSP roms
I'm waiting for AOSP roms too. Thinking about selling my S6 to get a nexus 6p.
swa100 said:
I'm waiting for AOSP roms too. Thinking about selling my S6 to get a nexus 6p.
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Click to collapse
to be honest, with the available custom roms and kernels right now for galaxy s6, the s6 runs almost 99 % smooth, no stuttering whatsoever. I'm using Xtrolite with unikernel set on medium profile, the device is flawless in terms of software (excluding the ram management of course).
but yeah, I'm really hoping for AOSP roms, particularly Cyanogenmod. Can someone confirm if certain devs are working on it? I'm willing to donate
Im pretty sure we will see cyanogenmod 13 aprox a month after the first marshmallow release of samsung for any exynos 7420 device.
reasons?
1. Big demand since there are 4 exynos 7420 devices (s6, s6 edge+, s6 edge plus and note 5)
2. This also means there is a bigger dev base compared to older exynos devices from samsung.
And srsly guys do you think the phone of the year wont get aosp? We just need a bit more patience.
1% near impossible, well at least a stable rom.
nadejo said:
Im pretty sure we will see cyanogenmod 13 aprox a month after the first marshmallow release of samsung for any exynos 7420 device.
reasons?
1. Big demand since there are 4 exynos 7420 devices (s6, s6 edge+, s6 edge plus and note 5)
2. This also means there is a bigger dev base compared to older exynos devices from samsung.
And srsly guys do you think the phone of the year wont get aosp? We just need a bit more patience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theres no exynos sources so it could take months to even get the screen to work.
Rekan_ said:
Theres no exynos sources so it could take months to even get the screen to work.
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Click to collapse
As it was the case on the s4 i9500 and s5 but still donne pretty well thanks to developers like arter.
nadejo said:
As it was the case on the s4 i9500 and s5 but still donne pretty well thanks to developers like arter.
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Click to collapse
Yes, however, many developers don't even think of the S6 because of the S2 (CM built but LAGGY).
I doubt Arter would try to develop CM for the S6, he develops the Note 5 ROM which I use
Rekan_ said:
Yes, however, many developers don't even think of the S6 because of the S2 (CM built but LAGGY).
I doubt Arter would try to develop CM for the S6, he develops the Note 5 ROM which I use
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Click to collapse
I use that aswell but there is someone else who portet already cm recovery. He also plans to build cm for the s6
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/development/recovery-cyanogen-recovery-galaxy-s6-t3158428
and im pretty sure anything that was running on the s2 was laggy
shigi1231 said:
I've recently installed xtroleti with Unikernel on it, set on Medium profile. Do you think the vindicator kernel is better? If so, on what terms?
damnn, still waiting if we'll ever have AOSP roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vindicator i personally think blows every kernel out of the water. Best battery life by far but performance does take a hit unless you get kernel aduitor and set enforcing mode to 1 in interactive governor settings for both cores. That will make your phone smoother than any other kernel by far. Battery life is still much better than any other kernel. GPU overclocking is also included which i like lol. The only problem is the very rare crash to lockscreen that sometimes happens on the test builds (which are the best ones).
I absolutely think it is the best phone currently in the market and all it needs is stock rom, to make it smoother faster and simpler.
Will it ever get stock android and how many are looking forward to it?
I wonder how many people are happy with TW and not bothered about custom roms or stock android?
I use Nova Launcher and very happy. Stock Android is dull as dishwater. I enjoy some of the Samsung apps. If you don't like them, disable them. Samsung won't ever provide stock. They'll have nothing to sell! Its not in their interest.
A S8+ with stock android would lose all of the features that make it a great phone. (ie. Edge apps, themes, bluetooth sound on 2 devices, IRIS Scanner, Gear VR, Samsung Pay)
Exactly. Giving the Galaxy S8 phones stock Android from Samsung itself would ruin the whole point of the Galaxy S8 phones. You would lose so many features that way that the Galaxy S8 / S8+ would just be a blinged out Pixel phone.
Ofc, having the ability to install a custom Stock Android version is always a nice idea to have for those who really want it. But having that as an option from Samsung directly is NOT a good idea.
EDIT: riz157, the UX / UI is not called TouchWiz anylonger. It's called Samsung Experience now on the Galaxy S8 phones. When Galaxy S6 and S7 phones got Android 7.0, they got the earlier Grace UX that was before Samsung Experience.
Just and FYI.......Bluetooth on two devices at the same time is a product of Bluetooth 5.0 not Samsung.
Used custom rom on my S7E, (AOSP - which sucked ass, no features, then I used SupermanROM and I sticked to that.
Now I got my S8+ and I'm pretty happy with Samsung experience, so I won't be doing anything at all, I'll keep my Knox: 0x0 for now.
Interesting looks like most people are quite happy with Samsung experience. Admittedly it's vastly improved from previous versions but still shows signs of delay lag etc.
Not as buttery smooth as stock android.
I personally don't use Samsung stock apps other then email app.
Bump up
I would love of the old GPE program came back. Then I'd be happy to spend $850 on a S8+ GPE. It's just WAY SMOOTHER and cleaner UI and always up to date. But Samsung makes the best hardware.
I love the S8+ and feel the Samsung features built into it help make it special. I always flash custom roms, but they keep many of the Samsung tools/TW tools I like. Having said that, I also like AOSP based roms and if the S7 Edge is any example, it won't be too long until we get some to play with on our S8+ phones sometime in the future. (it took about 8 months or close to a year before AOSP Roms were available on the S7 edge) - but considering how close the S7 is to the S8 - it may not take that long. Time will tell.
And NO I am not bothered - what is there to be bothered about?
I'm looking forward to more custom roms because it gives s8 more freedom and change the themes fonts etc easily without having to purchase from Samsung and be limited to their poor options.
Samsung are trying to be apple of android, want you to purchase from there store themes etc. So glad there's competition in android world otherwise we would be locked down to samsung and apple!!
Doubt it, and I am not bothered.
Personally I find the S8+ faster and mostly smoother than the Pixel I had before. Mainly because the Pixel lags to hell and back in apps like Instagram and Facebook whereas the Exynos S8+ doesn't.
Over time I am sure the S8+ will slow down but like PC's I will just "Format it" and it will back to being much faster and generally smoother than the Pixel (and less buggy than the pixel)
riz157 said:
I absolutely think it is the best phone currently in the market and all it needs is stock rom, to make it smoother faster and simpler.
Will it ever get stock android and how many are looking forward to it?
I wonder how many people are happy with TW and not bothered about custom roms or stock android?
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Click to collapse
No, and no.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Most people prefer TW, after using it for several weeks on my S8 plus I'm still not convinced.
I still would like stock and more custom Roma, at the moment there's not much choice which is a shame.
I certainly hope that changes in the coming weeks.
Not bothered at all. My personal opinion:
Want stock Android? Get a Pixel (or Nexus)
Want bleeding edge hardware? Get any flagship Android phone
The nice thing about Android is the individuality of each company brings. Samsung with its own Samsung UX for the S8 (not TouchWiz, not Grace UX), LG with their Full-Screen UX for the G6, Huawei with EMUI for their Mate 9 and P10, and so on.. They all put in their own features that would make their phones stand out. They all work quite well and I never had to install a launcher since my S6 Edge Plus. But still the option is there if you want/need to.
Has everybody forgotten that this happened once?
https://www.engadget.com/2013/07/06/samsung-galaxy-s-4-google-play-edition-review/
I would love to see a developer edition of this phone (aka stock android). I do like that TouchWiz isn't so smothering lately, but there are many aosp-isms that I miss.
My perfect phone would be a pixel that looked like an S8+ running stock Android. That would be one sexy piece of kit. I hope we can at least root and rom this puppy one day. I'm a dreamer...
samsung ui got better, but I'm using a moto z2 play now for half the price and......they understood perfectly what a manufacturer has to do. Moto has pretty much vanilla experience except of some apps, some add on funcionality, it's far more sexy than samsung. It's extremely speedier with half the price, it's a pain that samsung always bloat their software for no new functionalities (irid scanner? ahahahahah, samsung pay? ==> android pay, side apps? always the first thing I disable in samsung edges). It got better then natural ui on s4, yes, but that was a big ****, this is only a little and less smelly **** compared to stock experience....to me, obviously
This is dumb. If I wanted stock Android I wouldn't buy a Samsung.
You needing to take the time out of the day to write this is dumb lol