Samsung listened? TouchWiz Replaced?

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CHANG3D

Supreme [H]ardness
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http://bgr.com/2014/10/10/samsung-android-touch-wiz-ui/

There are two things you can bring up that will almost instantly annoy certain diehard Android fans: The first is mentioning what a drag it is to wait so long for the latest software updates thanks to carrier and OEM constraints. The other is Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which is to many Android fans what Jar Jar Binks is to Star Wars fans or what Nikki and Paulo were for Lost fans — that is, something that’s capable of single-handedly wrecking something they otherwise love.

Why do many Android fans dislike TouchWiz so? For a couple of important reasons. In the first place, TouchWiz often hinders Android’s performance on Samsung’s flagship smartphones, which can be surprisingly laggy given their often gaudy specifications, though some of the blame for that also goes to the insane amount of bloatware that Samsung clogs onto its devices. Second, because Samsung is by far the biggest Android vendor out there, many people assume that all Android phones offer the same kind of experience as TouchWiz-enhanced phones, which thus hurts Android’s reputation.

Now PhoneArena points us to some new leaked concept images posted at GalaxyClub.nl that indicate Samsung has a new UI in the works called Iconic UX that will hopefully be a lighter touch than TouchWiz.
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I welcome this news with open arms!
 
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As long as I can snag the Google Now launcher from the market (or sideload it), I don't really care anymore what Samsung does.

Having said that... it's about time. I wonder if they will roll this out to previous devices like the Note 4, or if only new devices after it's released will get it.
 
marshac said:
As long as I can snag the Google Now launcher from the market (or sideload it), I don't really care anymore what Samsung does.

Having said that... it's about time. I wonder if they will roll this out to previous devices like the Note 4, or if only new devices after it's released will get it.
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An oem skin is much more than just a launcher. And this just looks like a new version of Magainze UX.
 
CHANG3D said:
http://bgr.com/2014/10/10/samsung-android-touch-wiz-ui/

I welcome this news with open arms!
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Folks: it's just a patent, not a product roadmap. It may take a while before you see it, if you see it at all. For example: Samsung got a patent for Google Glass-style eyewear about a year ago, but it hasn't released anything of the sort.

Remember, companies frequently apply for patents simply because they thought of clever ideas during the R&D phase for a product. They're hedging to prevent someone else from using their idea, even if they ultimately decide against implementing that idea.

Besides, Samsung's cross-licensing deal with Google probably prevents it from veering too far from the standard Android path. That's why the Magazine UX didn't survive past the Galaxy Tab Pro series.
 
After switching from a GS3 to my Nexus 5, I can't imagine myself ever using anything other than vanilla Android ever again. It is so much more intuitive, fluid and simple.
 
I use nova launcher on my note 4 and it solved any lag problems i had. I also used nova launcher on my nexus 5.
 
marshac said:
As long as I can snag the Google Now launcher from the market (or sideload it), I don't really care anymore what Samsung does.

Having said that... it's about time. I wonder if they will roll this out to previous devices like the Note 4, or if only new devices after it's released will get it.
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Have you ever compared the memory usage of a Moto X to a Samsung Galaxy S5 upon initial boot? There is over a 650mb+ difference in available RAM. Replacing the launcher is not going to magically fix that.

TouchWiz is a bloated skin filled with unnecessary gimmicks that add little value to the phone. It's nice to see other OEM's finally start to take a piece of their pie.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Have you ever compared the memory usage of a Moto X to a Samsung Galaxy S5 upon initial boot? There is over a 650mb+ difference in available RAM. Replacing the launcher is not going to magically fix that.

TouchWiz is a bloated skin filled with unnecessary gimmicks that add little value to the phone. It's nice to see other OEM's finally start to take a piece of their pie.
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that's bit going far calling all of features unnecessary gimmicks

i use s-pen and its features / multi window + pop up window / reducing screen size for one handed operation daily

and with google launcher
i dont have lag people have been complaining
and yes it still uses same amount of ram with google launcher but as long as i don't have slow downs/freeze while multitasking it's all good
unused ram is wasted ram
 
PeeWeePee said:
unused ram is wasted ram
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Not from my point of view - the fact that I have to reload Feedly every time I switch between Chrome to Gmail back to Feedly, causing me to lose my place infuriates me to no end on the S5. No such problems with my Droid Maxx.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Not from my point of view - the fact that I have to reload Feedly every time I switch between Chrome to Gmail back to Feedly, causing me to lose my place infuriates me to no end on the S5. No such problems with my Droid Maxx.
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yea i see your point... lol @ samsung with their 2gb ram decision on s5.
 
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touchwiz is bloat city, the problem is the normal google interface is a UI mess, the dialer and contact apps are plain aweful and I hate white backgrounds.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Not from my point of view - the fact that I have to reload Feedly every time I switch between Chrome to Gmail back to Feedly, causing me to lose my place infuriates me to no end on the S5. No such problems with my Droid Maxx.
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It's always amusing how Samsung apologists will be quick to tout how much RAM there is... but the truth is, Samsung needs it to compensate for TouchWiz being such a hog. There are phones with 1GB of RAM that run more efficiently (including the iPhone 6), for goodness' sake. Ideally you'd have both a lot of RAM and a low memory footprint, but I'd rather have the latter if I had to choose only one.
 
chrcoluk said:
touchwiz is bloat city, the problem is the normal google interface is a UI mess, the dialer and contact apps are plain aweful and I hate white backgrounds.
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Thing is white backgrounds are great for readability in any conditions other than pitch black. How often are you using your phone in pitch black?

Try reading your phone's dialer in direct sunlight with a dark theme...it is a struggle.
 
If sammobile could come around and say TouchWiz sucks, I sure hope Samsung is listening...

In my mind, I still don't think true multitasking is needed for cellphones. The way Apple and Microsoft does their pseudo-multitasking (with a few exceptions for true multitasking) is the best way to go for extending battery life, less tax on CPU which means more speed for what you want to do, and also less tax on RAM.

There's a reason why WP and iOS on "inferior" hw still runs smoother than androids. The best example is HTC One M8 vs itself with Windows. Having the same hardware, Windows totally destroys Android, other than the app store...

One thing for sure is that had it not been for Android, ARM wouldn't have made so much advances in these recent years.
 
CHANG3D said:
If sammobile could come around and say TouchWiz sucks, I sure hope Samsung is listening...

In my mind, I still don't think true multitasking is needed for cellphones. The way Apple and Microsoft does their pseudo-multitasking (with a few exceptions for true multitasking) is the best way to go for extending battery life, less tax on CPU which means more speed for what you want to do, and also less tax on RAM.

There's a reason why WP and iOS on "inferior" hw still runs smoother than androids. The best example is HTC One M8 vs itself with Windows. Having the same hardware, Windows totally destroys Android, other than the app store...

One thing for sure is that had it not been for Android, ARM wouldn't have made so much advances in these recent years.
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Ya, on my Note 2 I found the multitasking thing useless. Most apps just do not have a GUI designed for the space constraints of a multiwindow setup. And with how easy multitasking is on Android at stock, there's just little point.
 
If you're clueless and run it the way it is out of the box then you don't care which is most of the general public.

If you're on [H] and have a clue about fundamentals you'll disable unneeded services and apps to free up CPU cycles and memory. And, disable UI animations through developer options if you prefer snappy vs eye candy (same with enabling reduced motion, reduced transparency, etc. on iOS 8).

While Feedly looks like a badly written app since it doesn't always scale pictures correctly I can switch between it, Chrome, Gmail and YouTube without losing state and it's generally snappy even on a 2GB DRAM 2012 Note II since it helps to have unneeded stock services and apps disabled.

Amazon
Amazon app suite
Amazon Kindle
Amazon MP3
Appstore
Audible
Face Unlock
HP Print Service Plugin
IMDb
My Verizon Mobile
NFL Mobile
PEN.UP
S Suggest
S Voice
Samsung Link
Samsung Print Service Plugin
Samsung Push Service
Sync Service
Verizon Tones
VZ Navigator
VZAVSService

On a device with half the DRAM like the iPhone 6+ it tends to reload and lose app state after switching between 2 apps/tabs so about half.

If you don't like Touchwiz get something else like HTC One M8. Wanting everything to run Sense is as silly as forcing a particular desktop environment on all Linux distributions that's why they offer Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, XFCE, Openbox, etc. with varying degree of features vs load. Even Sense isn't lag free:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2720551

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2777476

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2752761

BTW, BGR is a clueless hand waving site so I wouldn't be so quick to quote them.
 
How nice of you to join this thread.

Nothing you suggest would significantly reduce RAM usage from TouchWiz. And, I'll let the Apple folks talk about your statement iPhone vs GS5/N4 app switching. Everything I've seen shows iPhones switch through apps much quicker than any Android phones.

No one else here have suggested that we need Sense UI on everything; once again, you did. So don't attribute this to anyone else.

Using links to malfunctioning HTC One's (one describes hardware malfunction, another describes a game using current beta ART lags, and the next is a 4-posts issue about maybe a HTC keyboard issue with the OP saying that he still went back to the HTC keyboard even after discovering that SwiftKey works fine) is not that same as saying EVERY SINGLE GALAXY S5 LAGS DUE TO TOUCHWIZ. Your "proof" that HTC One M8 lags as much and as bad as GS5's is TOTAL FAIL.

What is true is that Samsung patented another type of UI, which could be an alternative to TouchWiz. From that, BGR ask the question, is Samsung making an alternative to TouchWiz for its android flagship phones? They could have drawn the wrong conclusion, who knows? If you're referring to BGR bashing TouchWiz in the article, then I'm pretty sure those folks from SAMMOBILE are evidently clueless too!
 
People are defending white backgrounds? Now I've seen everything.
 
Megalith said:
People are defending white backgrounds? Now I've seen everything.
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There's an easy explanation for that. LCD looks like crap with uneven backlight bleed on a black background. Glad Google went OLED with Nexus 6 and hope there's a way to customize the app background to black.
 
Less hand waving and more [H]ardness.

Stock Note 4 Exynos with no bloat disabled surpassing iPhone 6+ on app switching and this is just Dalvik just-in-time compiler compared to iOS ahead-of-time compiler. With Android Lollipop with ART ahead-of-time compiler it'll be even faster.

http://youtu.be/GVkaY-F6Zhs
 
Didnt watch the video but Note 4 caters to a different audience I suppose.

Droid turbo needs some updates to claim the 2 days of battery according to the initial review units
Nexus 6....maybe more then the turbo, but can the screen estate and price tag be wary?
 
I brought back my Note 4 after exactly 14 days of use... the hardware and camera are great. Touchwiz, even with GNL, sucks. Too much lag. There is zero reason why a phone with those specs should be anything short of smooth when sliding between home nav panels. The whole thing locks up for nearly a second when pulling up the running apps list. Super frustrating- it really makes me wonder how much they use these devices prior to dumping them onto the public, or how much (little?) time they spend optimizing their terrible software. The G3 is smoother despite having lesser specs. Seriously lame Samsung...
 
What carrier? I read that last minute Verizon OTA update introduced issues.
 
Another skin? yay?
Just go stock android and let the users decide what they want to do with their phone.
 
More likely way too many running services than Touchwiz. They should make an easy way to toggle off unneeded services like if you don't print then turn off all the Samsung and HP print services, don't own watch then turn off Health services, etc. so you don't have to go through and disable them manually like if you were to get a new laptop and turn off all the unneeded services bloat.
 
Like I said before, disabling those services won't magically give you a gig of RAM back. Adding another launcher on top of TouchWiz will likely just use more RAM.
 
Owning stock Touchwiz Note II which I'm using right now and Note 3 I have more experience. Have never experienced any lag even before disabling unused services and bloat. Lag is my first gen Galaxy S because of limited memory running Android 4.4.4 and lag with HTC Thunderbolt because of old Crapdragon and Sense.
 
mi7chy said:
Owning stock Touchwiz Note II which I'm using right now and Note 3 I have more experience. Have never experienced any lag even before disabling unused services and bloat. Lag is my first gen Galaxy S because of limited memory running Android 4.4.4 and lag with HTC Thunderbolt because of old Crapdragon and Sense.
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The main reason why Galaxy S lags is the piss poor nand. Some newer batches had faster nand but mine has the piss poor one. Every time my phone starts to install app updates I can't do anything with it. Lack of ram is big issue too but that nand... Nokia 3310 is a speed demon compared to it (and unbreakable).
 
marshac said:
I brought back my Note 4 after exactly 14 days of use... the hardware and camera are great. Touchwiz, even with GNL, sucks. Too much lag. There is zero reason why a phone with those specs should be anything short of smooth when sliding between home nav panels. The whole thing locks up for nearly a second when pulling up the running apps list. Super frustrating- it really makes me wonder how much they use these devices prior to dumping them onto the public, or how much (little?) time they spend optimizing their terrible software. The G3 is smoother despite having lesser specs. Seriously lame Samsung...
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Interesting i have a note 4. No lag here. But its tmobile so phone didnt come with too much bloat. Disabled a few services. Sucker is butter smooth
 
If the full image is available first thing I'd try is reflash with ODIN or KIES. Or, take it to the Samsung kiosk and see if they can reimage it before exchanging it which is the discussed fix on XDA.
 
Filter said:
Interesting i have a note 4. No lag here. But its tmobile so phone didnt come with too much bloat. Disabled a few services. Sucker is butter smooth
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have you actually used anything other than Samsung phones for an extended amount of time?
 
Have you ever used a Note II, 3 or 4 for an extended amount of time?

Considering the internals like the SoC is usually similar across comparable models the difference is the OS does more or less in terms of features. Sure, I can downgrade the OS on my PC to Windows 3.1 to make it a little faster but is it worth the trade off in losing the advancements and features of Windows 8.1? No. I can strip my car of AC, moon roof, power windows, remove the passenger seats/spare tire, etc. and it'll be faster but will I notice in normal daily driving. No. Will downgrading from a Note 4 to a One M8 without software layers for precision pen, multiwindow multitasking, eye stay, QHD and so on be fast without using a stop watch? No. :D
 
I had a nexus 5 running stock and then tried lollipop preview and switched to a note 4 on spot sprint and i don't notice and lag or slow downs. It feels a little quicker. I think most of the precieved lag is from the animation transition speed. If you turn it off or speed it up you n notice its as fast or faster than any other phone. I recommend trying nova launcher on the note 4. I get really awesome battery life compared to t the nexus 5. I can't go back!
 
How well do the newer Samsungs perform using a different ROM?
I'm really interested in the stock version of Lollipop but don't really hate TouchWiz as much as some people. It isn't great, but there are some things I like it about it...at least related to the default Google apps.
 
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