TouchWiz > Vanilla Android - Vibrant General

Okay, the title is not totally true - but I had to name this post something to get your attention.
The point of this post is to inquire about why so many people hate on TouchWiz. I sold my Vibrant and moved to Nexus S for a various of reasons but I find myself missing quite a few aspects of TouchWiz.
For example, how Samsung put the bluetooth/GPS/silence/WiFi buttons in the pull down menu - brilliant use of otherwise empty space. How on the dialpad you could easily call someone without having to access contacts by simply typing their name. How the SMS app had great alternating text/color chat (yes I know handsent app, etc. but I am talking about stock). (And of course, I like TouchWiz launcher over Vanilla launcher but that is more of a personal preference than a superior feature.)
I am sure there are advantages Vanilla has over TouchWiz but after using both I hardly see why TouchWiz gets so much hate.
Okay I am back to trolling Nexus S forums.

Not a big fan of the iphone-esque square icons so I use launcherpro, but otherwise, it's great.

I like TW and ADW.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

TW + launcher pro is >>>> all
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Also there is great syncing between contacts in MMS app as well.
I type the company name of some contact and name appears in messaging app.

DarkAgent said:
Okay, the title is not totally true - but I had to name this post something to get your attention.
The point of this post is to inquire about why so many people hate on TouchWiz. I sold my Vibrant and moved to Nexus S for a various of reasons but I find myself missing quite a few aspects of TouchWiz.
For example, how Samsung put the bluetooth/GPS/silence/WiFi buttons in the pull down menu - brilliant use of otherwise empty space. How on the dialpad you could easily call someone without having to access contacts by simply typing their name. How the SMS app had great alternating text/color chat (yes I know handsent app, etc. but I am talking about stock). (And of course, I like TouchWiz launcher over Vanilla launcher but that is more of a personal preference than a superior feature.)
I am sure there are advantages Vanilla has over TouchWiz but after using both I hardly see why TouchWiz gets so much hate.
Okay I am back to trolling Nexus S forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vanilla has no advantages. Touchwiz just adds extra features and functions on top of Vanilla. I personally dont like the launcher and running Launcher Pro Plus with Gingerbread theme. The people that say TW is not good, simply are too stupid to understand what Touchwiz is
Its hard to go back to Vannilla.........

I like the notification toggles and the full codec support (which isn't really TW, just Samsung). I hate the dialer / contacts changes, really miss old-school CM-modified contacts/dialer app. Launcher & messaging just don't matter one way or another because they're so easily replaced by superior apps.

Saiboogu said:
I like the notification toggles and the full codec support (which isn't really TW, just Samsung). I hate the dialer / contacts changes, really miss old-school CM-modified contacts/dialer app. Launcher & messaging just don't matter one way or another because they're so easily replaced by superior apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually prefer TW dialer vs stock.
Sense is another overlay. even better then Touchwiz. I heard MotoBlur sucks.

Yeah the only thing I hate about Twiz is the launcher. The other enhancements are great.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

TouchWiz is good. It's just ill-optimized.
Stock Android does not look good.

N8ter said:
TouchWiz is good. It's just ill-optimized.
Stock Android does not look good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gingerbread changes all that Vanilla android (pre 2.3) in my opinion looks fine. I prefer features than it looking pretty.

The launcher is the only part i dont like.
Everything else is awsome, I looked it over sense because sense feels heavy.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

zephiK said:
Gingerbread changes all that Vanilla android (pre 2.3) in my opinion looks fine. I prefer features than it looking pretty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense. Some things like Mobile AP were huge advances over what Stock Android had to offer, not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets), as well as its Social Network integration.
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Also, Gingerbread doesn't change anything. You can go use a Nexus S and see. It changes very little. A few cosmetic changes, and that's it.
You can buy a better keyboard on FroYo or Eclair no problem (or use Skype).
The UI overhauls were pushed back to Honeycomb, and I don't have much faith in Google - who have historically proved they are inept when to comes to UI design. I think they did buy a company that does this kind of work, so maybe they'll suprise me.
Doubt I'll be on Android by the time that's released, though, unless they change the way the phones are updated.

I like the Tw extra features, the look of it not so much. I use it with launcher pro which just gives a your own look, I didn't know how I would like it coming from MT3G LE. But I gotta say that's one of the features holding me back from buying the nexus s.
Vibrant

N8ter said:
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense. Some things like Mobile AP were huge advances over what Stock Android had to offer, not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets), as well as its Social Network integration.
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Also, Gingerbread doesn't change anything. You can go use a Nexus S and see. It changes very little. A few cosmetic changes, and that's it.
You can buy a better keyboard on FroYo or Eclair no problem (or use Skype).
The UI overhauls were pushed back to Honeycomb, and I don't have much faith in Google - who have historically proved they are inept when to comes to UI design. I think they did buy a company that does this kind of work, so maybe they'll suprise me.
Doubt I'll be on Android by the time that's released, though, unless they change the way the phones are updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google also hired one of the guys who was in charge of WebOS UI design so I think they may have something stellar with Honeycomb.
Back on topic, all the things I hate about TouchWiz are easily replaced by Launcher Pro Plus.
The other TouchWiz additions are pretty functional and add a lot of value.

N8ter said:
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a diehard CM fan form the G1 days, so TW was a bit of culture shock to me. Even ignoring the visual changes, and swapping out the launcher, I was cursing the dialer everytime I went to switch from dialer to contacts, or try to check how long ago I called someone.
N8ter said:
not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock widgets are functional. Sleek and functional too. Maybe not flashy, but they work. TW widgets? Ugh, don't get me started on that bit of bloat. LauncherPro widgets have them both beat though - better functionality than stock, better look than TW.
N8ter said:
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is why all I ask is they keep the changes modular. Leave stock launcher in, they have more than enough room to spare. Keep core functionality like the dialer standard across the board. Nothing to stop them from doing some "People" app or something like that to house the dialer changes.
The one thing I'll give Samsung, from a power user point of view - notification bar toggles were brilliant. Other than that, I cringe when I boot a new ROM and see stock TWlauncher, or just about every time I fire up the dialer.

Samsung's stock widgets are terrible compared to Moto and HTC's. Even SE and LG has better widgets.
The TW Launcher looks decent but it was rushed together to look like iOS and not much beyond that.
A widget slashed down to 4x1 or 4x2 (Daily Briefing with Just Calendar)taking up an entire home screen is not Sleek or Functional. No Mail, SMS/MMS, Calendar, Media Player widget. Not to mention they all look terrible, especially the Title Bars and bevels around most of them.
TouchWiz gives you less at a glance than Sense and the Droid X UI (which isn't really MotoBlur), so I tend to waste more time finding information on my Vibrant than I did on my HTC device.
If the market was full of good widgets, I guess I wouldn't have this particular problem.
Most of the other changes attributed to TouchWiz aren't necessarily linked to TouchWiz (or rather, can be implemented without being dependent on it).
Media Codecs can be added to Stock Android. DLNA, MobileAP, etc. can all be added to Stock Android.
Also, the inability to edit the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen coupled with the inability to set a decent home screen makes TouchWiz a PITA to use. You're basically forced to used 7 home screens unless you want to have a very odd Home Page setup with uneven scrolling to get from screen to screen.
Another thing I noticed is that icon placement seems to be different than other launchers. GMail unread count is played perfectly in Sense, but in TouchWiz the icon is set way lower than everything else. Motorola implemented unread counts into their Launcher, and I hope everyone else does the same (for Messaging, Email, Gmail, etc.).

Kubernetes said:
Yeah the only thing I hate about Twiz is the launcher. The other enhancements are great.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/Twerd.
-bZj

Related

Whether you hate to hear this or not

but, everyone loves Touchwiz.
At the onset of SGS release, a large portion of us, excluding me for sure, has harshly criticized the Samsung's iPhone-wannabe TouchWiz UI.
However, I have seen a trend lately. The TouchWiz UI has gained its popularity from other android device communities. For example, TouchWiz launcher has ported to Nexus One and HTC Desire .
What do you think? Love for SGS is emerging? :]
Remember, this is only for discussion sake, no need to flame. It's just an interesting finding for me.
I love it much much more than HTC's Sense because it is like iPhone. It's far more useable and functional this way. My sons and wife thought that it was a new iPhone. In fact, I think the body of the phone looks more iPhone than iPhone 4.
eaglesteve said:
I love it much much more than HTC's Sense because it is like iPhone. It's far more useable and functional this way. My sons and wife thought that it was a new iPhone. In fact, I think the body of the phone looks more iPhone than iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha Ha, well since the iphone 4 is broken and is about to have either a massive recall or suffer endless ridicule, the SGS might just be the "new" iphone
Personally I thought the widgets were annoying, too much clutter in them, like stocks and things that I didn't want, nor need.
The page-flips in the apps-listing was annoying, took me too long to go through it, and it made sorting a *****.
It's buggersome and slow, at least at the moment.
LauncherPro on the other hand, now there's a gem! Grey and sleek icons, sweet previews, and fast, even on the luggy SGS.
Morghus said:
Personally I thought the widgets were annoying, too much clutter in them, like stocks and things that I didn't want, nor need.
The page-flips in the apps-listing was annoying, took me too long to go through it, and it made sorting a *****.
It's buggersome and slow, at least at the moment.
LauncherPro on the other hand, now there's a gem! Grey and sleek icons, sweet previews, and fast, even on the luggy SGS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. I feel much the same. Launcher Pro makes a big visual difference.
TouchWiz looks nothing like the iPhone -- it's garish and tacky.
I've seen quite the contrary, in fact the first thing i did to my phone was to install HTC sense UI
accinfo said:
but, everyone loves Touchwiz.
At the onset of SGS release, a large portion of us, excluding me for sure, has harshly criticized the Samsung's iPhone-wannabe TouchWiz UI.
However, I have seen a trend lately. The TouchWiz UI has gained its popularity from other android device communities. For example, TouchWiz launcher has ported to Nexus One and HTC Desire .
What do you think? Love for SGS is emerging? :]
Remember, this is only for discussion sake, no need to flame. It's just an interesting finding for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AllGamer said:
I've seen quite the contrary, in fact the first thing i did to my phone was to install HTC sense UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I wanted an iPhone look and feel I would have bought the iPhone 3gs, but I want something new, interesting, and completely original. Touchwiz is not that and the htc sense is. In addition the stock Android 2.2 is extremely powerful and very user friendly. I really wish the hardware developers started learning that all they need to do to the phone is customize the OS to work the best on the phone. Do not add any UI flavors, because the customer will do that. The android system was designed so that the customer can customize their phone. Yes the touchwiz is pretty cool, but that is not why I would buy the phone.
ritkit said:
If I wanted an iPhone look and feel I would have bought the iPhone 3gs, but I want something new, interesting, and completely original. Touchwiz is not that and the htc sense is. In addition the stock Android 2.2 is extremely powerful and very user friendly. I really wish the hardware developers started learning that all they need to do to the phone is customize the OS to work the best on the phone. Do not add any UI flavors, because the customer will do that. The android system was designed so that the customer can customize their phone. Yes the touchwiz is pretty cool, but that is not why I would buy the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you that manufacturers should not be adding any UI "enhancements."
I feel that TouchWiz is really ugly (colors, icons) and Sense is just tacky (the curved "dock" at the bottom). We should be able to go to the Market to get any UI customization we need.
I am hoping Google will just ban integrated "enhancements" on Android 3.0.
I hate Sense, if I could have TouchFlo 3D on Android that would be good.
TouchWiz is shameless iPhone rip-off but I prefer it over stock and Sense.
I really like touchwiz.. It's straightforward, very consequent and the widgets look not grey/boring like sense on my Hero. Only thing what's missing, is exchange widget. Also i like the fact that touchwiz is not drifting too far from stock android.
I must say that i'm not constantly comparing it to the iPhone and have an unbiased view of the shell.. And in that view: I like it!!
us1111 said:
I really like touchwiz.. It's straightforward, very consequent and the widgets look not grey/boring like sense on my Hero. Only thing what's missing, is exchange widget. Also i like the fact that touchwiz is not drifting too far from stock android.
I must say that i'm not constantly comparing it to the iPhone and have an unbiased view of the shell.. And in that view: I like it!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a nice UI enhancement, but it like trying to put a Ferrari body on a truck frame. Just does not work very well enough.
I have seen the video demo of Wiz3 earlier and I still have to say.. the UI is gay.
because of 2 main reasons:
1. no vertical scrolling of apps
2. no cool gadgets on home screen
if samsung ever fixes this, then the UI would be the best one out there.
emclondon said:
I have seen the video demo of Wiz3 earlier and I still have to say.. the UI is gay.
because of 2 main reasons:
1. no vertical scrolling of apps
2. no cool gadgets on home screen
if samsung ever fixes this, then the UI would be the best one out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I hate vertical scrolling. Love the way it's done in Samsung.
err.. well, its matter of user preference. I say samsung must include settings for UI where one can change the orientation to cater users with different preferences.
I personally "hate" the list view. been seeing list view ever since i was a kid, why do i need it in a smart phone?
i like some of its features but dont like that if set up a certain way it mimics ios. overall win though, just needs some optimization.
emclondon said:
1. no vertical scrolling of
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong
In the app drawer, press menu and select list view
though I can understand somewhat the similarity between touchwiz UI and IPhone UI, the similarity are so minor and stopped at the side scrolling applications.
If something works then it works, no point in avoiding it for the sake of being original. You could as well call iphone for copying palm device for the shape of their phone and windows mobile for the dail pad.

CM6/AOSP has really helped me appreciate Sense!

I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Really? It makes me realize how bloated and completely unnessecary Sense is, but that's just me... Personally, I don't have any problem with taking the time to download my own widgets and apps so I can customize everything exactly how I want it.
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Aridon said:
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LauncherPro Plus has the contacts widget.
PFx00 said:
I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
A week or so ago there was a 'scrollable contact widget' in the market that worked great. It was free too. Maybe HTC C&D'd them too.
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love sense and customizing my phone. And i am not a Iphone type user.. You shouldnt really categorize people. it just boils down to the old saying "to each their own"
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm all for customizing but I like for my phone to have a consistent look and feel between all of the widgets too. Like I said, it took not using sense for a while to appreciate this.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt that there are more options and, with some effort, you can get close to the same experience. I thought CM6 and Launcher Pro was the way to go until yesterday. Now I'm torn.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Cons for sense: Slow as balls, no customization, gives me some weird purplish tint on my nova,slow, has those stupid sprint apps, slow, aaaand did I mention slow?
Pros for launcher/adw/whatever's not sense: Customization is AWESOME, can do whatever I want, from changing the app drawer opening time to the color of my task bar (cm6), if I see it I can change it.
Fast as HELL- Pretty much gives you a brand new phone; really makes it feel worth the $350 I paid for it on launch.
Cons For launcher/adw/whatever: Customization- Some people really don't want the hassle of having to set up EVERYTHING to their liking, sense really simplifies the overall experience.
Widgets-While there are competitors out there, I've yet to find widgets that truly replace some of the htc widget's for me. And I can use my yahoo mail account with sense so that's definitely a factor to me lol
At the end of the day, it really is up to personal taste. After all, this is android and android DOES everything you want it to. What's great is we're given so many awesome choices; and even when finding flaws in both their still better than anything else you can find on the market. To me, the real winner is the evo+the supporters that have made this phone what it is today-awesome.
p.s-I hope this thread doesn't turn into a pissing ground against sense or people who choose something different than what you have; it's called an opinion and everybody's is different, grow up if you can't understand that.
To be more specific about what I like ... and remember this is personal preference with zero effort to setup:
Clock - Sure clock widgets are a dime a dozen but I've become accustomed to the Sense's clock and weather. You can use beautiful/fancy but neither have the full screen weather animation (which serves no purpose but I think its pretty cool).
Copy and Paste - I love that copy and paste functionality is built in across all applications. I use this most in the web browser. I'm not a fan of the select text feature.
Keyboard - I like the haptic feedback when I type, I also like having the arrow keys (both took a while to grow on me). Plus, the keys seem a little bigger so its easier for me to type on. I was using various keyboard mods but they stopped working on CM6
Touch to focus camera I never really knew how much I missed this until now. Such a handy feature. Hopefully they'll get this working when a new kernel source is released.
Facebook Contact Integration Sure you can load a hacked .apk but I also think HTC's integration is a little better than stock. Especially how they pull other peoples' pictures into the gallery.
Dialer- Was using Dialer One, but still like the look and feel of HTC's better. Also, the contact pictures that are synced from Facebook are much higher quality.
Calendar Widget- I never really found a good free replacement for the HTC Calendar Widget. Several people have recommended a paid calendar grid app.
4G Toggle Widget- Never really looked for an alternative but missed it when it was gone.
Radio- I never used this but thought I'd throw it in the list.
HTC Sync- This is the only option to get my work calendar on my phone because Google sync doesn't work with Office 2010 and Windows 7. There are 3rd party applications but I don't want to load them on the secured network at work.
Other Misc Widgets These are kind of useless to me but still nice to have options that are skinned to match perfectly - Music, Friend Stream, Day in History, News, Weather, Etc.
Don't get me wrong. CM has an awesome ROM that I'm sure I'll go back to at some point but I'm lovin' me some Sense right now.
edtate said:
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I liked Sense when I first got the Evo (new to Android) I think your pros pointed out exactly why I sought out and found LauncherPro so quickly. I don't use any of the Sense widgets! the first thing I did was remove friendstream, book marks, messaging and mail widgets.
In any case, Sense UI is a good UI for people who take advantage of all the widgets but others may see it as 'bloated' if they don't. I like paring down my screen real estate and LauncherPro allows me to do that easily. But it does take up time and effort to set things up just so.
kong97 said:
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still there. I just did a search for it.
Both have thier pros and cons. I personally love sense. The only things I wish it had is the normal bluetooth stack so that I could run wiimote and then I wish sense would go into landscape. And also I like the 3D app drawer.
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That has nothing to do with LauncherPro. You do that with the Facebook app.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook will link some of that information to your contacts by default but that function is broke in 2.2 right now. There is a hack that you can run in the shell to fix it or search for the hacked .apk on these forums.

Not down with the TouchWiz UI

I just upgraded from a G1 to the Vibrant and I gotta say, I'm not impressed with the iphone like UI. Is there a way to install the stock android UI on the Vibrant?
I don't like it either. Give launcherpro a try...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
LauncherPro (what I'm using) or ADW will get rid of *some* of the iPhone-ish Touchwiz UI -- but not all of it. The drawer is much improved, but it leaves some of the decent Touchwiz features -- like the pull down capability to switch wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, etc.. Pretty cool, actually.
Give 'em a try.
I think the Touch Wiz UI improves on and polishes the Android UI quite as bit. I will say I'm not a fan of the app drawer nor do I like any of Samsung's included widgets. I do love what they did with the contacts menu. I think the whole swyping right to call or swyping left to text a contact is genius and original. Samsung also made it easier to navigate through the contacts. I also find the WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and silent toggles built in to the notification bar come in handy quite a bit.
I could go on but I need to get to bed.
If you can get past the visuals in TW it really isn't a bad UI.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I personally have no problem with it aside from the supposed performance issues and prefer it to the stock android user interface and some other custom android IU implemented by other companies.
Positives:
App drawer scrolls horizontally, which seems more natural to me(like turning a page in a book).
Wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS, and Vibrate controls integrated into the notification bar removing the need of the power control widget
Music App appearing notification area when screen saver is up removing the need to unlock the phone to switch songs
I still use launcher pro, though
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, give another vote for TW from me. I always hated vanilla Android, on my G1 I used to change themes daily cause of it. I used LP for a bit but went back to TW. I Use that pull down toggle way too much.
TouchWiz actually had me against getting this phone before it came out. The whole "iphone-looking" app drawer icons was a huge disappointment. But being a big ADW supporter (and knowing this phone would have plenty of development behind it), I checked it out on launch day and walked out of the store with it.
Granted, I installed ADW before even paying for the phone. Plus side...the power and music controls are still there. I'd definitely give TW a thumbs up (minus the app drawer icons).
LauncherPro (my choice) and ADW are the best of both worlds. You get some of the more polished TW apps and skins, but no BS iPhone clone homescreen.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
The fact that the only thing people can complain about it is that it looks too much like an iPhone means to me that it's a pretty solid interface.
I love it in any case.
People need to get over their iPhone to Android superiority complex.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, to be fair, 2.2 android looks good, but when compared to touchcwiz, doesn't even compare. even on my nexus, I always run skins.
Anyway, I personally like the way vibrant looks.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I personally don't care for appearances, I prefer having the latest features and newest versions of Android. I care more about the features that is included rather than how it looks because honestly.. skinning isn't that difficult but waiting for these manufacturers to port their custom skins take too long. Skinning is just so simple in Android with metamorphing, alternative launchers etc.
Take a look at Nexus One, it already has Android 2.2 while other phones have to wait so much longer. Or even Motorola Droid, they're supposedly getting 2.2 this week and running vanilla Android. I rather have the latest and skin it on my own. This of course will definitely all change when CM6 is released for the Vibrant.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeppers. Big Android fan but the default Android UI is like the default UI on a Linux system, plain and boring.
Love ADW but need to port the TW widgets over, or at least install some of the stock widgets. One of these days...
For the moment I don't set a default for either and just select whichever one I need when I press home. I know it's an extra button to press but I like the option.
TW would be great if there was a way to customize things more. Like getting rid of the horizontal app drawer and changing the default home screen when the numbers of screens are changed.
I read on another post that LauncherPro might be causing a little extra battery drain. I just switched from LP to ADW to see if I can notice a difference.
The samsung video app is so much better. I had to use DoubleTwist to convert every movie I put on my myTouch but with my Vibrant almost every file I've tried works. The contacts app is nice but a little buggy for me sometimes.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using the XDA app
badaphooko01 said:
Agreed, give another vote for TW from me. I always hated vanilla Android, on my G1 I used to change themes daily cause of it. I used LP for a bit but went back to TW. I Use that pull down toggle way too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That pulldown toggle is still there when you switch to launcherpro or adw.
sent from my Samsung Vibrant
I can't stand the ugly blue tabs they put on all their apps. They look like the 80s vision of 'futuristic' (and they're way too big). Also, they hid a lot of features of the stock google apps -- for instance, you can't set your alarm ringtone in calendar.

Am I the only one who enjoys motoblur?

I see all the hate on this forum about motoblur and how crappy it is. I seem to be the only one who likes it.
I've used TouchWiz, Sense, Stock and MotoBlur, and Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
Ya not a fan of motoblur at all when I get this phone I'm going to be running launcher pro plus on this for sure might give blur five minutes of my time but that's it....
yes u are the only one
I like Blur better than sense and definitely touchwiz, but I think most people prefer the speed that the "vanilla" experience android delivers.
I have not owned a Motorola phone since the Verizon Moto Q, so I cannot say Blur is terrible or good, but from the looks of it the only thing I dislike is the blue and green call/contacts button. If I end up hating it I will just load up Launcher Pro or hopefully I will see some custom roms with stock at some point in the future.
I don't like blur but I can live with it. I find it better than HTC sense and the like but at least give us an option to turn it off like seriously Motorola.
PixoNova said:
I see all the hate on this forum about motoblur and how crappy it is. I seem to be the only one who likes it.
I've used TouchWiz, Sense, Stock and MotoBlur, and Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I feel as well, although I do prefer "vanilla" over all...
I can see why some people might prefer the vanilla/stock android experience. But I always hear how Blur can be laggy on phones and such. I haven't experienced any lag (Moto FlipSide)
I do kind-of like Sense. Only if it's on a nice sized screen, unlike the Aria. But I most likely will be keeping Blur, as I like all the widgets available.
YES!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I have tried droid x. Blur sucks. Even with the latest update the system was laggy. However it will work great sometimes but had sudden lags in launching browser. Sometimes it would hang and take a few seconds to go back to home screen. I returned it and will be getting thunderbolt when it comes out. I went back to att for 2-3 weeks until thunderbolt comes out. i will be porting my number back if I decide to get thunderbolt. I like htc sense specially the newest version that is in the inspire 4g and will be on the thunderbolt as well. It is snappy as hell. It might have to do with the second gen snapdragon processor.
I haven't used it yet, but the only thing I can see hating about it is the contact button (along with only having a three icon dock, but I could deal with that). Why the hell does there need to be a contact button? If you open the phone app you can go to your contacts right from there. I'd much rather see messaging or the browser. Some kind of central messaging app that pulled in all of one's SMS, emails, facebook, twitter, etc would be cool, I suppose. Better than contacts, at least.
That's a damn good idea a centralized notification button... But I guess it would have a big similarity to the notification bar tho. Still think that's a good idea tho
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
At first I was OK with blur but once you try out other options like Launcher Pro or ADW you might change your mind. Granted, Blur does have decent widgets to supplement it but it left me wanting more.
Now I'm using Launcher Pro + Beautiful Widgets and am loving it.
johnnydeathmatch said:
I haven't used it yet, but the only thing I can see hating about it is the contact button (along with only having a three icon dock, but I could deal with that). Why the hell does there need to be a contact button? If you open the phone app you can go to your contacts right from there. I'd much rather see messaging or the browser. Some kind of central messaging app that pulled in all of one's SMS, emails, facebook, twitter, etc would be cool, I suppose. Better than contacts, at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blur contacts works differently than standard android contacts, as it integrates with the social networking. I'd give more detail, but I haven't touched my backflip in a month and haven't had it on a stock ROM since ~november so I don't remember all the specifics. (Used a "deblurred" ROM someone at M3 cooked up till I got a free Aria)
The messaging app does provide a universal inbox. the one one my backflip would pull everything but my gmail into it, and I'm sure I could have set it up so that it pulled that too.
PixoNova said:
...Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thunderpack said:
I like Blur better than sense and definitely touchwiz...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay please state why you like Blur better. I've never used it but am trying to keep an open mind. I just love Sense and as of now am not sure I can function without it so lets hear it. Obviously it's a personal thing but is there anything in particular...?
lol
yes you are
looks so simple and ****ty
opensourcefan said:
Okay please state why you like Blur better. I've never used it but am trying to keep an open mind. I just love Sense and as of now am not sure I can function without it so lets hear it. Obviously it's a personal thing but is there anything in particular...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much the style. I don't hate Sense, like I said, it comes second IMO. Overall, through general usage, that's how I determine if I like it or not.
As far as moto blur is concerned, IMO it works just fine as a launcher.
So here are the Pros and Cons as I see them
Pro
Simple Layout
Decent Widgets
Unified inbox
Motoblur.com (find my phone, contacts back and edit, remote wipe etc...)
Cons
Does not have a polished look or feel like stock or Sense
I feel like it was an interface designed for teens
Cannot customize the shortcuts on the launch bar
Only 3 shortcuts on the launch bar
Occasional lag when launching apps (this could be that I have only used blur on low-end to mid-level android phones)
No option to bypass motoblur account setup
Overall, it comes down to personal preference and how you feel about it. You won't know until you try it. So far, I have used launcher pro on every android phone I have ever owned, but I always started with the out of box experience before I made the switch each time. I like that LP is customizable, and fast, and you can make just about any device look similar to stock/vanilla android id you want. The only problem with LP is that when I tried it on the Inspire 4G it disabled all of the kick butt HTC widgets, but there are alternatives such as Beautiful Widgets.
My nervousness falls around the screen resolution. I tried Laucnher Pro on my galaxy tab. and it didn't look right with that screen resolution. The resolution on the tab is high enough to have 5 shortcuts on the home screen side by side, and LP only has 4 so things looked oddly proportioned and stretched...
Blur itself has some good features - namely remote wipe and the news widgets that you can set to sync over wifi only - if you want.
If you are really into account integration you get to mix them all into one interface...
twitter, myspace, facebook, photobucket, linkedin, picasa, etc.
I prefer to just use the apps for these products and not do the MotoBlur integration - and you can do this - just don't set them up in MotoBlur. If you don't use Motoblur widgets, then you never really see MotoBlur. Change the launcher to ADW and you are done.
Compared to the captivate and Touchwiz, Motoblur is a lot less intrusive. Calendar, Contacts and Email work the way they are supposed - and are easy to use. I bought my captivate for specs, but the software mods on calendar and email suck.
The only MotoBlur thing you can't turn off is the sync of contacts and settings that are done on the phone. So if you create a new contact on the phone it is also created on the Blur server as backup - you can't turn this off.
On the good side, if you wipe your phone and you have to set it up from scratch, using the same blur account, it recreates most of your settings and widgets and email accounts.
As for Lag - people complain about it, but I have had Droid X and Bravo and they run fine. But, again, i only use the news widget and no social network accounts.

[Q] Would you preferred Samsung's new phone come with or without touchwiz

With all of the free and paid launchers out their would you prefer the Samsung Epic come with or without Touchwiz framework.
Personally dont care for the launcher but I like the little things like the task manager which is light weight and the quick panel toggles and little things like that. They're not a deal breaker for me but they're nice to have. Also some of the apps tied around TW are really nice like the camara, video player and music app. Those actually might be the most important to me anyway. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I like the fact when you have a AOSP Rom you can have more custom Roms and Kernals. AOSP rom can use the camera, music player and video player too. Plus you don't have to wait for Samsung to come out with the source code for updates. Since Samsung knows it own drivers they can make a pure google phone with full functionality. But hey if touchwiz is important to you then vote on it. Touch wiz has some benefits too.
I like the functionality tw adds(task manager, music controls in various places, codec support, etc), but I wish it was implemented better.
Posted by Mr. Z's Epic 4G.
Doesn't the TW framework add cpu optimization and stuff? you mean the Touch Wiz launcher?
Realistically speaking I think they should load it up with TW, but give users an easy way to go ASOP if they choose. Personally the TouchWiz launcher is great for the average individual, its simple and clean ui.
gTen said:
Doesn't the TW framework add cpu optimization and stuff? you mean the Touch Wiz launcher?
Realistically speaking I think they should load it up with TW, but give users an easy way to go ASOP if they choose. Personally the TouchWiz launcher is great for the average individual, its simple and clean ui.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they should have made the drivers independent of Touchwiz. Our developers have to rewrite all the drivers just so we can get an AOSP rom to work, I think this is non-sense. It also makes the samsung epic the last to get updates. On one hand we like the cpu optimization but one the other hand we complain when the when it takes 3 to 4 months later to get updates. We can have it both ways. If you like the cpu optimization then you should expect the updates to take longer you should also expect incompatibly as well.
only thing i like about tw is the camera.. which i can get over, i dislike anything that isnt pure google....i miss my OG droid..
I miss one thing about touchwiz, and that's dragging my finger across a text convo and automaticly calling them. The Nexus S is the finest phone I've ever owned, I will never buy another phone that isn't 100 percent Google.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
I don't think I can live without the adjustable brightness bar at the top.
I'm looking forward to official gb release to have tw again. I actually find myself missing it.
I just want a "new and improved EPIC"
I'd prefer it without TW. I think it looks gawdy.
Lack of customization, and it not being a "sense-quality" launcher, I'll stick to Launcher Pro until I find something better. ADW, GoLauncher, arc launcher, even dell stage I've tried, launcher pro beats everything.
Another vote for launcher pro. Best launcher out there.
- Ron
Are the widgets in the pulldown notification area part of TouchWiz? If so, I'd prefer touchwiz.
Don't really care what they put on. I'll ****-can it immediately for go launcher
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Tw4 ftw
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
We aren't talking about launchers people...we're talking about the true touchwiz, the deep down stuff that adds functionality to the device.
Posted by Mr. Z's Epic 4G.
Guys think about it, it would be a new phone meaning it would come with TW4, and I don't know about you guys but it looks pretty sexy.
I'm using the TW4 launcher and icons and must say it's looking great.
And I'm sure the rest of TW4 on the SGS2 is amazing.
You've all seen the leaked images of the Within, right?
Oh the excitement.
I will never buy another phone with TouchWiz unless it already has official CM on it. Same goes for all other crappy UIs. Its either CM7+ or a Nexus from here on out.

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