Favorite Live Wallpaper? - Nexus S General

Mine has to be the microbes one partially because it uses 3 times less ram and just looks so unique.

my is MICROBES!!!! Love the complimentary colors against the new framework. It's also cool how the bacteria attack and eat their food. ONLY gripe is it kinda bogs system down.

Mario!
+10

Microbes

Related

smooth scrolling?

what's the reason that our phones don't have smooth scrolling across the home screens like the iPhone does? even the way the scrolling is in the weather /news app would be perfect
I think you might want to send your phone away to be replaced
uhm... looks pretty smooth to me are you using the stock rom? maybe try a factory reset?
This is a documented thing. It is smoother than the droid, but compared to the iPhone it is choppy, hopefully it is a software thing that can be fixed.
Try helixlauncher
I know what you mean. The iPhone is smooth and Nexus is occationally choppy & sometimes stutters - its simply not as smooth.
The best way I can describe this to persons not familiar with iPhone is screen scrolling on the iphone looks like an animation with about 25~30fps, the nexus one looks like an animation with about 5~15fps. While not the end of the world, it certainly annoys me (and others)!
I have noticed also that the appearance of this less than smooth side scolling is further visible with live backgrounds & lighter wallpapers (where as a pretty much black wallpaper seems to reduce the visible stuttering).
Does the iPhone use OPENGL thoughout its OS - I seem to remember reading something like this. Perhaps if launcher was redone for OPENGL...?
This annoys the hell out of me. what annoys me more is that our phones are capable of silky smooth scrolling. It seems that the gpu downclocks itself most of the time and just refuses to display more than 5-10 fps. it's certainly not a limitation of the hardware since reducing the graphics load by using a stationary wallpaper (one that doesn't even slide side to side like the stock picture wallpaper does) or just black still results in the horrid framerates.
i've found a workaround however. using a live wallpaper which demands a high framerate such as silhouette or my current favorite: unixseb's bootanimation: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5697670&postcount=28. with either of these wallpapers running our phones seem to kick it up a notch and give >30fps silkyness :-D
this is all with helixlauncher2 btw
it drives me daft as well everytime it happens i think to myself this never happened on the iphone ,it just stutters before it moves and when imputting phone numbers in ,there just seams just a slight delay and considering this has a faster processer it should be lightning fast no stutter ,and if you cant see it your lying to yourself ,or you have never had an iphone, slower processer but the ui is just much quicker, but dont get me wrong i wouldnt go back to the the 3gs from my n1 but i will probably move to the iphone 4g
innisdb said:
what's the reason that our phones don't have smooth scrolling across the home screens like the iPhone does? even the way the scrolling is in the weather /news app would be perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the iPhone is a nasty black screen with nothing but icons but the Nexus One has Live Wallpapers / normal wallpapers, interactive & updating Widgets, and a screen with 2.5 times the resolution?
Paul22000 said:
Because the iPhone is a nasty black screen with nothing but icons but the Nexus One has Live Wallpapers / normal wallpapers, interactive & updating Widgets, and a screen with 2.5 times the resolution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is no excuse, Sense has this and more; and the scrolling is quite silky. It obviously just isn't a smooth, Launcher2 I mean.
Notice that Helix Launcher2 is the Nexus Launcher2 but it is 10x more smooth as that standard unchanged home. Obviously Google just didn't do something right, the scrolling is down right pitiful on the Home screen - where it could have been easily as smooth as the iPhone.
I get what you mean though, the iPhone doesn't have much to slow it down. Therefore no reason to be not smooth.
Paul22000 said:
Because the iPhone is a nasty black screen with nothing but icons but the Nexus One has Live Wallpapers / normal wallpapers, interactive & updating Widgets, and a screen with 2.5 times the resolution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically, this. The resolution thing in particular is a huge factor. We aren't just talking about merely double the resolution, here.
Try something, guys. Dig up your oldest, ****tiest laptop/PC. Increase resolution to the highest it will support and see if your performance suffers. Or try this with a game, for that matter, and compare the framerate of 800*600 with 1920*1200.
from what I've read, apple uses a different physics engine than android.
I have to say that indeed the iphone has such a better swiping/scrolling experience than my N1 (even w/ an overclocked desire ROM). The N1, despite it's less powerful GPU as compared to the iphone's is supposed to compensate with its snapdragon cpu. It would be interesting to see how the samsung with the a better cpu and gpu will perform.
from: http://androidandme.com/2010/03/new...bird-chip-to-have-3x-gpu-power-of-snapdragon/
Here is a GPU comparison for some of the leading smartphones:
Motorola Droid: TI OMAP3430 with PowerVR SGX530 = 7-14 million(?) triangles/sec
Nexus One: Qualcomm QSD8×50 with Adreno 200 = 22 million triangles/sec
iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 28 million triangles/sec
Samsung Galaxy S: S5PC110 with PowerVR SGX540 = 90 million triangles/sec
And for comparison a few consoles:
PS3: 250 million triangles/sec
Xbox 360: 500 million triangles/sec
grainysand said:
Basically, this. The resolution thing in particular is a huge factor. We aren't just talking about merely double the resolution, here.
Try something, guys. Dig up your oldest, ****tiest laptop/PC. Increase resolution to the highest it will support and see if your performance suffers. Or try this with a game, for that matter, and compare the framerate of 800*600 with 1920*1200.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
has nothing really to do with resolution in this case it have everything to do with the launcher. If resolution was the factor then home replacements like pandahome would not but insanely smooth on my N1.
Have a Touch and a N1 and can't really tell any real difference between scrolling on both
Sometimes I wonder in N1 users are just more anal that most
has nothing to do with being anal but some people just notice smaller details than others. fact is that the scrolling has a low framerate like what everyone else on here is saying. if ur on cyanogen mod try scrolling from one home screen to the other as slow as possible and see how it stutters its way across and if you do it on an iphone it will go across perfectly smooth
Sense on htc desire is very fast and smooth for why on nexus no ???? for why im perturbed
this is one of the worst things about android for me as well - just a small thing like this has so much of an effect on the user experience, and it's why people always will say the touch screen is 'better' on an iphone than an android phone (especially stock) when they're side to side.
i think it's basically to do with the fact the gpu isn't used. there's a link here about it where people with a lot more knowledge than me shed some light on the subject as well.
also i seem to remember it having something to do with obtaining licences from the cpu manufacturers or something to get access to the gpu code or something or other. although i cant find the link to where i read that and i dont fully understand what i said lol so take it with a pinch of salt.
://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=6914
(add http in front of the link above btw)
either way i think this is definitely something google needs to address.
but I was just comparing this to an iPhone 3g yesterday and they both seemed the same to me. scrolling between homescreens was equally choppy (or lack there of, imo). or is the iPhone 3gs improved over the 3g? either way I think its a rather small complaint.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
RogerPodacter said:
but I was just comparing this to an iPhone 3g yesterday and they both seemed the same to me. scrolling between homescreens was equally choppy (or lack there of, imo). or is the iPhone 3gs improved over the 3g? either way I think its a rather small complaint.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well the 3gs is almost twice as fast as the 3g (if im not mistaken). so there is a difference between the two. i used to compare my 3gs to my moms 3g and would tell her she needs to upgrade. LOL
and the 3gs is smoother than both n1 and 3g scrolling wise. Im sure itll be a software fix down the line.

Nexus-S blows away iPhone4

I bought the Nexus-S on Thursday it is my 3rd Android device, first was the MyTouch3G, and the EVO. I did have a iPhone3G back in the day.
My siblings were over for a Christmas party last night, and my brother and sister both own the iPhopne4, and boy does that OS look and feel dated.
I keep reading how awesome the iPhone 4 is, supposed to be the #1 best smartphone on the market ? I will agree, the look and design of the phone itself is very nice, and feels very solid well put together. But the OS just seems so 3 years ago, with just a screen full of app icons, and no notifications, no widgets, and a small 3.5" just not doing it for me. I think my Nexus-S is a much better product, the live wallpapers might be a gimmick, but I love my starfield one, looks very StarTrek cool. Plus the Super AMOLED screen is so much nicer than the retina display.
I am not bashing Apple, I would possibly buy an iPhone 5, if they make a larger screen, and must add in widgets and a notification system.
One last beef, is the middle thumb button on the iPhone, oh my God, that has to go. I think I would throw the phone against the wall if that's the only button to press. Where is the menu button, and back button ? Just having a home button would be annoying.
Zorachus said:
I bought the Nexus-S on Thursday it is my 3rd Android device, first was the MyTouch3G, and the EVO. I did have a iPhone3G back in the day.
My siblings were over for a Christmas party last night, and my brother and sister both own the iPhopne4, and boy does that OS look and feel dated.
I keep reading how awesome the iPhone 4 is, supposed to be the #1 best smartphone on the market ? I will agree, the look and design of the phone itself is very nice, and feels very solid well put together. But the OS just seems so 3 years ago, with just a screen full of app icons, and no notifications, no widgets, and a small 3.5" just not doing it for me. I think my Nexus-S is a much better product, the live wallpapers might be a gimmick, but I love my starfield one, looks very StarTrek cool. Plus the Super AMOLED screen is so much nicer than the retina display.
I am not bashing Apple, I would possibly buy an iPhone 5, if they make a larger screen, and must add in widgets and a notification system.
One last beef, is the middle thumb button on the iPhone, oh my God, that has to go. I think I would throw the phone against the wall if that's the only button to press. Where is the menu button, and back button ? Just having a home button would be annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To each, his own my good man, but I am definitely with you there... Like looking back (to five days ago) I don't know what I was thinking haha. iPhone 4 is terrible, I don't ever want to buy another Apple phone, but I somehow always do... Hopefully I'll break the tradition in '11.
The OS may feel "dated" but it is much more polished than Android is.
And that's coming from an iPhone user for the past 2+ years who just made the switch to Android with Nexus S.
Welcome to android. All that was true even a year ago with the nexus one. Android OS is just so much more interesting and useful and functional than iOS. It's not even close.
But apple OS does look more polished for some things. To me personally I don't see a huge difference though.
RogerPodacter said:
Welcome to android. All that was true even a year ago with the nexus one. Android OS is just so much more interesting and useful and functional than iOS. It's not even close.
But apple OS does look more polished for some things. To me personally I don't see a huge difference though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this isn't my first Android device. I was an early adopter with the G1 when it first came out, but ditched it after 6 months or so.
That said, the major area where iOS beats Android is the lack of pop up menus. The flow in iOS is very nice and intuitive. Keyboard is also better plus things like copy and paste, scrolling in the browser etc. App quality and selection is still superior on iOS.
Give Android one, at best two more years, and Apple will piss into its pants.
Thought the same thing ... screen looks tiny and. Os feels out dated... and I have a vibrant..
I do agree the iphones features are very well put together and polished but. It gets boring it super difficult to customize.. also sucks how every single app has to have a back button.. also u can only have 3g only on att Wich sucks cuz att sucks! Just to put it plain and simple the iphone is well made but its boring ... alot of. More fun with android especially playing with ur home screen
The only thing i miss is the ability to take a screenshot w/o a 3rd party app. haha
There are two things iphone/ipod/ipad never has:
ogg vorbis support (much better fidelity than mp3)
adobe flash
The screen on NS is simply the best
color: NS>MT4>nexus one
contrast: NS>nexus one (both have unlimited contrast)>MT4
I also found antenna jack uncovered on NS, so you can plug external antenna when driving to get much more constant reception.
In addition, micro/miniUSB data/charging jack is much more common on smartphones now.
Im just glad people are starting to notice how Android is ahead of iOS even at its early stages..oh BTW I LOVE NEXUS S! Coming from N1
mingkee said:
I also found antenna jack uncovered on NS, so you can plug external antenna when driving to get much more constant reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you provide more details on that? Where's this uncovered antenna jack at?
Are you talking about the little micro-connector to the right of the batter, near the lower volume rocker, when the battery cover is removed? What kind of external antenna are you using?
My brother a big tech geek like myself, makes this comment on my Nexus-S, he says, "yeah your phone looks pretty, the weather widget w/clock, and live starfield wallpaper, and fancy Super AMOLED screen are great and all, but I like the iPhone for it's simplicity, I like to turn the phone on, see my app I want, and click it and go to it. I am not going to stare at some pretty home screen all day, that doesn't matter to me. I just want my apps, and get to them right away."
Zorachus said:
My brother a big tech geek like myself, makes this comment on my Nexus-S, he says, "yeah your phone looks pretty, the weather widget w/clock, and live starfield wallpaper, and fancy Super AMOLED screen are great and all, but I like the iPhone for it's simplicity, I like to turn the phone on, see my app I want, and click it and go to it. I am not going to stare at some pretty home screen all day, that doesn't matter to me. I just want my apps, and get to them right away."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's extremely easy on android. lol, just open the app drawer, drag and drop any app you would like on your homescreen or any other screen and THERE YOU HAVE IT!! turn screen on and tap the app! how hard was that?
Zorachus said:
My brother a big tech geek like myself, makes this comment on my Nexus-S, he says, "yeah your phone looks pretty, the weather widget w/clock, and live starfield wallpaper, and fancy Super AMOLED screen are great and all, but I like the iPhone for it's simplicity, I like to turn the phone on, see my app I want, and click it and go to it. I am not going to stare at some pretty home screen all day, that doesn't matter to me. I just want my apps, and get to them right away."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on that statement your bro doesn't even sound Techy/nerdy...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Ios is horrible......... it isn't meant for super users at all. Its a trendy os and nothing more. Android owns. Yes I have owned an iPhone.. worst mistake in technological history.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
meetagrawal said:
The OS may feel "dated" but it is much more polished than Android is.
And that's coming from an iPhone user for the past 2+ years who just made the switch to Android with Nexus S.
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Click to collapse
I would agree with you prior to the Nexus S....but this new Google phone is every bit as good and polished as the iphone 4 IMO.
Some general questions about ios vs android?
1)We are all saying that android is open source and ios is not...why then all the great hackers like Musclenerd, Saurik and Geohot are interested more in iphone?....which hach scene is larger?
2)Why android manufactors dont build a direct iphone killer device which also has the same top build quality and design with iphone?
3)Ok i dont like ios cause of its simplicity...but generally it is a lot user friendly.... android as rubin said is getting day by day better in tha area....but when you touch even the old iphone 3gs the smoothness of scrolling is sth unmatched by any high end android device i have used in 2010....like galaxy s with lagfix or Desire HD.....i mean the response and smooth scrolling is amazing.It feels so natural.
iPhone is cool too, unlike Nexus S, people actually put their thought in to it. Of course pure google with android is better then ios
iPhone4 owner who just bought a Nexus S here.
I am more productive on the iPhone.
Can't search through my Exchange mailbox (email app) on the Nexus? WHAT?
Can't subscribe to more than one folder in the email app?
(FYI: email app needed to connect via activesync to my corp mail server - K9 doesn't work either. GMail app is great...but since I have to use 2 different email apps, that means no unified inbox).
The Android facebook app is absolute *crap* (can't even tag people in photos, lame).
Evernote/Mint/etc look much better on the iPhone.
iPhone's battery life is SO much better than the Nexus S (anandtech's review showed you can browse the web for *twice* as long on the iPhone)
AT&Ts 3G is much better...
The iPhone's notification (screen on + pop-up) works great for me... can't even get Tasker to turn on the screen when a notification is received with Gingerbread.
There are obviously things I love about Android.. but I don't know which one I'll keep at this point.
pkx said:
iPhone4 owner who just bought a Nexus S here.
I am more productive on the iPhone.
Can't search through my Exchange mailbox (email app) on the Nexus? WHAT?
Can't subscribe to more than one folder in the email app?
(FYI: email app needed to connect via activesync to my corp mail server - K9 doesn't work either. GMail app is great...but since I have to use 2 different email apps, that means no unified inbox).
The Android facebook app is absolute *crap* (can't even tag people in photos, lame).
Evernote/Mint/etc look much better on the iPhone.
iPhone's battery life is SO much better than the Nexus S (anandtech's review showed you can browse the web for *twice* as long on the iPhone)
AT&Ts 3G is much better...
The iPhone's notification (screen on + pop-up) works great for me... can't even get Tasker to turn on the screen when a notification is received with Gingerbread.
There are obviously things I love about Android.. but I don't know which one I'll keep at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with most of your reasoning and anandtech's review was biased, just another iPhone fan boy reviewing an Android phone? c'mon now.... Esp the battery life he claims it identical to Nexus One? He must have a defect because the battery life is a HUGE improvement and there are many forums to prove this. And speaking of notification, Android BROUGHT notification to the game. There's more than just a pop up screen that we could use. I understand maybe for the Nexus S yea it doesnt have LED but I actually think No Led is clean and unique.

Curtain effect concept i saw

This looks amazing!
Here is the curtain effect concept
Sent from my always stock, EC05 Epic 4G
Looks too unreal
They should tone it down a bit
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
bleh.. it's kinda gimmicky.. in a cool way, but gimmicky..
I use spare parts to turn off all window animations and transitions LOL..
when i click something, i want it now. don't wanna wait for the screen to "transition" .. that curtain effect would be cool for a day or 2 but I'd get sick of it after a while LOL..
that's just me though
In the same as daddymikey. I turn off all animations myself. It looks cool for a little bit bit it would get annoying
Sent From My Evo Killer!!
In the description it says its made for tablets, not phones. Cool idea though
Sent from my Samsung Epic
If this goes anywhere, it will be a last ditch effort to save RIM from the bowels of Mobility Hell. TAT was acquired by RIM December of last year. There UI ideas are very interesting concepts, but I doubt many of them would work on a day to day use device.
TAT Would have probably made a ton more money selling their launchers in the Market instead of selling out to a larger company. That and they probably won't have a job in 12 months when RIM tanks.
Kcarpenter said:
TAT Would have probably made a ton more money selling their launchers in the Market instead of selling out to a larger company. That and they probably won't have a job in 12 months when RIM tanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I give RIM longer than that - let's wait, first of all, on sales results of the PlayBook, which even Apple fanboys BGR admit is a good tablet, if not completely polished. It's a device that even I'd look at. And, making more money selling on the Market? Tenuous (edit: was right the first time, never mind) at best. I wouldn't trade a six-figure salary at one of the biggest smartphone makers in the world for peddling software in a market already taken over by the likes of LauncherPro. Remember, TAT doesn't just design silly little things like launchers - they work on the entire OS.
That is actually sick. I'm hoping the future of android sees some port of compiz fusion. I know the phones can handle it maybe not the full desktop cube with gears and stacked windows yet but many of the customizations seem realistic
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
I saw this last night, and I was like "Wow, that's cool, I'm sharing that." I for one have all screen animations on, cause I like things like: On Regina or Xperia Arc launcher, when you delete a shortcut or widget, it looks really cool.
Sent from my always stock, EC05 Epic 4G
It's neat to see on YouTube but I too don't like transitions that slow down my access to information. With the exception of the homescreens, mine are turned off.
dchawk81 said:
It's neat to see on YouTube but I too don't like transitions that slow down my access to information. With the exception of the homescreens, mine are turned off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't use spare parts and speed the animations to full speed it is a pain but when they fly its awesome
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
daddymikey1975 said:
bleh.. it's kinda gimmicky.. in a cool way, but gimmicky..
I use spare parts to turn off all window animations and transitions LOL..
when i click something, i want it now. don't wanna wait for the screen to "transition" .. that curtain effect would be cool for a day or 2 but I'd get sick of it after a while LOL..
that's just me though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my thinking.
Especially when my battery life drops from having to render a bunch of 3D animations while flipping around on my homescreen.
To each his own I suppose though.
Not only gimmicky, but stupid looking IMO. It's a prime example of over-doing it to the point where it's not even practical.

Changing from iphone4

Hey all
Looking to change from iphone4. Had every iPhone since launch and am just bored of em now
Looking at android phone and the sgs2 caught my eye
However have seen a lot of negativity about it in here and elsewhere
So do you think it's a good move or should I hang on for the HTC sensation (which sounds brilliant)
iPhone user here.
Apps are far better on iOS. You wont find some apps on Android that are on iOS. Thats my only dislike about Android but thats down to the developer. Im missing loads of apps, first direct, sky sports, bbc and so on. You can use the brower for all these wit Flash though
The SGS2 is by far the best Android phone. If your truely bored of iOS then get this, its worth it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
However have seen a lot of negativity about it in here and elsewhere
Loads on negativity about IPhone all over the net .
Point is that this forum is new and not yet representative of a large number of users .
Personally i thought the SGS 1 was as good as the IPhone 4 though some users preferred the HTc interface but i did not .
You really got to try them and read the reviews on al the phones .
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s2-930907/review
I am not missing any apps that i want .
Have Sky Sports news > BBC >
jje
Hello
I got bored too
I have just done the swap to a SGS2 from a iphone 4(well still have it)
Before the ip4 I was a long time winmo user
there are good and bad points to both phones
ios is slick on ip4 and does its job well...but also so limiting even with jailbreak
I f you love tweaking then get a droid phone thats why I have now bought 1
as for the negatives how many did the ip4 have @ the start
Tbh I think the ui on sgs is poor
Much prefer HTC sense (have messed about with mates)
Garfs said:
Tbh I think the ui on sgs is poor
Much prefer HTC sense (have messed about with mates)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the HTC desire for a while, and now I've got a SGS2, and I really prefer TouchWiz 4.0 over HTC sense. TouchWiz is really good on this phone. HTC Sense, never really liked it.
I've just received my Galaxy S2 today, a bit of an act of faith after the first one, which was IMO at first a very flawed device (a little digging and you can find my previous postings about this).
I've just come from an iPhone 4 myself, via an HTC Incredible S, so I think I can comment on here. To me, the Samsung clearly takes design cues from the iphone, in the design of the icons, the central home button and even the design and some of the features (like the screen shot - home + power)... to me, the SGS2 is like a bastard child of the best android phone and the iphone mixed into one....
IMO this is a good thing. I was bored silly with the iphone, and was sick of how restricted it was, even when Jailbreaked. The iphone 4 is a very nice phone for sure, but really boring to use in the long term (although some like it, and I can see why).
With the SGS2 you get a similar UI, but you also get androids superior functions as well (widgets, live wallpaper, notifications, google integration etc).
As for the SGS2 versus Sense, well TBH I was going to wait for the Sensation, and in the meantime, I made a profit from selling my ip4 and swapping for an Incredible S, and I did so so that I could get a taste of Sense UI. Now, I will say that Sense UI is quite nice, but if I'm being totally honest here, the only things I feel I will miss all that much are the weather and clock widget on Sense and the facebook integration. I do quite like the design of the interface on Sense... and obviously the Sensation is going to have a lot more eye candy again...
Having said all that, there are some things I am not so keen on with Sense. For example, it can at times feel a little "clunky" in places, I am not a fan of the keyboard (I know this can be changed) what with the arrow buttons underneath (not needed IMO), and I just got a feeling that it was slowing the phone down slightly.
Now, when I got the SGS2 I did feel as though I'd probably just dump TWLauncher straight away, but you know what, I think Samsung have really done quite a good job with TW4 to the point where I'm honestly not sure that I can say I prefer Sense any longer. It feels lighter and less bloated, it has some nice touches (task manager, power toggles in the notification, resizing widgets, deleting screens (which you STILL can't do in Sense), folders in the App drawer and so on). Now I'm still not a huge fan of some of the included widgets (but the new calendar widget is superb IMO), and I don't think I'll use the hubs much.
I'm not actually sure whether the Sensation will be able to compete in pure speed and performance terms with the SGS2 which frankly seems to go like a rocket. In fact, the SGS2 seems to fix much of what was wrong with the first phone. I really like it.... BUT... I haven't tested the GPS, yet!
As for the iphone 4 versus the SGS2, once you get over the fact the apps quality isn't quite up there (especially games), you won't look back. Although the iphone 4 feels and looks a more premium product, the Samsung is actually a nicer thing to handle, feels more comfortable in the hand... but other than that, seriously, there seems to be no competition here really, the SGS2 is MUCH better than the iphone 4 really... better camera, MUCH faster, far bigger screen (trust me the iphone 4 looks REALLY tiny compared) and far less restricted.
If this phone lives up to its early promise then I can tell you now that this is one fine phone, and Samsung may have finally delivered the kind of phone everyone knew they could if they put their mind to it... but time will tell
Garfs said:
Tbh I think the ui on sgs is poor
Much prefer HTC sense (have messed about with mates)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really a matter of taste, if you want a perfect Sense experience, then buying this phone wouldn't be a good choice I think
I've never really have experience on Sense (people around me use either iPhone 4 or BB!), but this Touchwiz isn't that bad except for one, no alphabetical sort in grid view on the apps drawer
I've been an iPhone user for 3 years and gone from the 3g to 3gs to the iPhone 4. I have also been an Android user for 1 year, I started with the Desire and upgraded to the SGS1. Despite liking Android a lot, I couldn't really make the switch to being a full time Android user. Mainly becasue I have bought a bunch of really specialized (medical) expensive apps on the iPhone. I dont't mind the iPhone having certain limitations as I have learnt to work around them. Also by also having an Android phone with me, they don't matter.
Like you I have grown tired of the iOS UI, especially the infamous Pop Up Notifications. As a geek I really like Android, trying out custom ROMs, not having any limitations in terms of what apps to install and being able to open web sites with flash are all part of the joy...
Currently I have sold my SGS1 and am waiting for the SGS2 to become available in Slovenia. I dont't think it will full replace my iPhone 4, but it seems it will at least keep me from buying an iPhone 5. A feat Desire couldn't manage to do!
As for the HTC vs Samsung debate. Sense is widely considered the premium Android experience, which I think it also is. But HTC is still using sub par components in its phones: the awful tiny speaker, the bad camera sensor and the worst mics for audio recording. It is for these reasons I won't be buying the Sensation but the SGS2.
Me i prefer Touchwiz and dont like sense .
jje
I'd probably pick Touchwiz over Sense too, also the first SGS imo was as good as the iPhone 4. SGSII is just so gooood....
bigmo7 said:
the first SGS imo was as good as the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would have been if it hadn't been filled with bugs.
bigmo7 said:
I'd probably pick Touchwiz over Sense too, also the first SGS imo was as good as the iPhone 4. SGSII is just so gooood....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotta disagree with you there mate
Mate has a galaxy s and it's not a patch on iphone4 I'm afraid
I'm not a fan of TW or Sense, I find them both to be very simple almost condesending, like they were built for kids or blind people to use. You cannot change the screen density with them so you have to stick with 240 which I personally dont find appealing.
I much prefer a stock android framework with ADW Ex.
I am really looking forward to some custom ROM's comming out for the SGS2.
I was a WinMo user right from 1.0 to 6.5 and loved every minute of it. After my HD2 I took a jump and tried out Android, and now I'm hooked! WP7 does look very nice, but it needs to be more open before I switch to it.
I have never owned an iphone. I had a gen1 ipod touch and couldn't stand Itunes so this put me off apple for good, plus I don't like their business model.
Garfs said:
Gotta disagree with you there mate
Mate has a galaxy s and it's not a patch on iphone4 I'm afraid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just personal opinion, my mate has a SGS and I have to say without the bugs it had I would easily choose it over the iP4 in terms of software that is, can't stand the way the SGS looks.
Garfs said:
Gotta disagree with you there mate
Mate has a galaxy s and it's not a patch on iphone4 I'm afraid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is better on the Iphone ???+
I tested three a few weeks ago over three days .IOS4 SGS 1 not SGS2 and Win 7 on a HTC . Hardly any difference between them all down in my opinion to user choice .
jje
First post here so go easy guys -.-
Though coming from webOS 2 on the Pre 2, then to iPhone 4 with iOS 4, and now to SGSII I'd like to think I've experience the best of Mobile UI's.
And Like you, I was bored on iPhone4, the grid of Icons just didnt cut it out for me and seemed something more akin to fisher price, Loved webOS, though the sub-part hardware and lack of Apps killed it for me.
For me the SGSII is the best of both worlds, the screen is absolutely fantastic and has to be seen to believe, the Applications arent quite iPhone but nonetheless are excellent and I have found a suitable replacement for 95% of the ones I use.
I'm also picky when It comes to butter smooth UI's, and Samsung with the implementation of Touchwiz 4 has nailed It, I'm not sure about other Android phones (This being my first) but Samsung has definately implemented GPU Acceleration into the UI, and It's butter smooth, everywhere, browsing and all, It's what really sold this device to me.
I actually hate Sense, It just looks fugly in my opinion, but to each their own, I applaud Samsung, they've done a good job on Touchwiz, I wanted iPhone style Grid Icons and not the standard App Drawer so It was perfect for me, You'll feel right at home as well with the addition of folders, pages etc
My only real Gripes are the fact It's a tad on the big side, though I have small hands and that It's a dust magnet, either that or I'm OCD which I probably am (I wipe the **** out of my screens, make sure they're speckle free ^^)
SAMOLED Plus, 1.2 GHz Blazing fast Exynos CPU, Quad Core Mali GPU, 1080p Recording, 8MP Back 2MP Front, Gingerbread with Butter Smooth Awesome UI & Customization and It's not hard to see why It's possibly the best phone yet.
Chronicles404 said:
First post here so go easy guys -.-
Though coming from webOS 2 on the Pre 2, then to iPhone 4 with iOS 4, and now to SGSII I'd like to think I've experience the best of Mobile UI's.
And Like you, I was bored on iPhone4, the grid of Icons just didnt cut it out for me and seemed something more akin to fisher price, Loved webOS, though the sub-part hardware and lack of Apps killed it for me.
For me the SGSII is the best of both worlds, the screen is absolutely fantastic and has to be seen to believe, the Applications arent quite iPhone but nonetheless are excellent and I have found a suitable replacement for 95% of the ones I use.
I'm also picky when It comes to butter smooth UI's, and Samsung with the implementation of Touchwiz 4 has nailed It, I'm not sure about other Android phones (This being my first) but Samsung has definately implemented GPU Acceleration into the UI, and It's butter smooth, everywhere, browsing and all, It's what really sold this device to me.
I actually hate Sense, It just looks fugly in my opinion, but to each their own, I applaud Samsung, they've done a good job on Touchwiz, I wanted iPhone style Grid Icons and not the standard App Drawer so It was perfect for me, You'll feel right at home as well with the addition of folders, pages etc
My only real Gripes are the fact It's a tad on the big side, though I have small hands and that It's a dust magnet, either that or I'm OCD which I probably am (I wipe the **** out of my screens, make sure they're speckle free ^^)
SAMOLED Plus, 1.2 GHz Blazing fast Exynos CPU, Quad Core Mali GPU, 1080p Recording, 8MP Back 2MP Front, Gingerbread with Butter Smooth Awesome UI & Customization and It's not hard to see why It's possibly the best phone yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Best response yet. This may actually have sold this to me
May have to pop Into town and check one out
Garfs said:
Thank you. Best response yet. This may actually have sold this to me
May have to pop Into town and check one out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anytime, and trust me you owe It to yourself
There's quite a few Customizations I've made to the Lock and Home Screen If you don't prefer the actual stock widgets so bear that in Mind, It looks pretty awesome now, mate which still has an iPhone was pretty impressed considering.
Not forgetting there's also the HSPA+ radio, In some areas (And depending on network) expect 4MB+ easily, It's also the thinnest smartphone in Class though using a case makes It to normal thin Slab size, I can't really fault It, the only niggle Is battery Life but then again I've been using it 24/7 and I'm yet to properly cycle the battery though early reports suggest you'll easily get a day's worth.
One of the very big plus points for some users but not all users is the ability to customize Android .You do not have to stick with the defaults themes roms kernels etc etc as you like .
jje

HTC One - mini review... feels dated :-\

Finally got some play time on the HTC One, and coming from a Nexus 4, the One felt dated to me. The Sense UI just kills the One. I didn't realize how modern Jellybean 4.2.2 feels compared to Sense until I spent time with them side by side. The One's hardware fit and finish are nice but I can't say it feels any more premium than the Nexus 4. In my hands, the Nexus glass body feels more comfortable than the aluminum on the One. Speedtest results (LTE) were little below average compared to other devices I tested but not dismal.
The One has some nice features (1080p, IR remote, dual front speakers, NFC, LTE) and if it can be flashed with stock Jellybean while keeping those features working, it would be so much better.
Just wanted to share a few thoughts about the One. I went in to buy the One but came back with a renewed appreciation for the Nexus.
Go home, you're drunk.
Sent from my M7 using xda premium
g1bJ1 said:
Finally got some play time on the HTC One, and coming from a Nexus 4, the One felt dated to me. The Sense UI just kills the One. I didn't realize how modern Jellybean 4.2.2 feels compared to Sense until I spent time with them side by side. The One's hardware fit and finish are nice but I can't say it feels any more premium than the Nexus 4. In my hands, the Nexus glass body feels more comfortable than the aluminum on the One. Speedtest results (LTE) were little below average compared to other devices I tested but not dismal.
The One has some features (IR remote, dual front speakers, NFC, LTE) and if it can be flashed with stock Jellybean while keeping those features working, it would be so much better.
Just wanted to share a few thoughts about the One. I went in to buy the One but came back with a renewed appreciation for the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sell your phone please to us....
mgxplyr said:
Go home, you're drunk.
Sent from my M7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Yay apparently going to a phone with LTE is going backwards! :silly:
So LG is paying people to come on sites and say this stuff now too?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
I went in to buy a new IPhone after coming from an Iphone and.........
One of the great things about Android is choice. We have Nexus devices, Sense, Touchwiz, and lots of launchers and skins.....gotta Love it. Rubin and Duarte are fans of skins and overlays as well. El goog even praised Facebook home as an example of what is possible with open source.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
He's right about the sens UI part..
Why isn't this closed yet?
Choices are great to have, I agree. I loved my OG HTC EVO which had an older version of Sense. But with the improvements Google has made with stock Android, Sense didn't seem that great to me. For example, the stock icon layouts didn't take advantage of the nice 1080 resolution display, only 3 icons across with huge gaps between them.
Anyhow I'm just sharing my initial impression of the HTC One. After reading all the glorious reviews of the One I had higher expectations.
Good thread, would read again.
Lol sucks to have your brain.
He's just jelly, it's his friends phone lol.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
g1bJ1 said:
Finally got some play time on the HTC One, and coming from a Nexus 4, the One felt dated to me. The Sense UI just kills the One. I didn't realize how modern Jellybean 4.2.2 feels compared to Sense until I spent time with them side by side. The One's hardware fit and finish are nice but I can't say it feels any more premium than the Nexus 4. In my hands, the Nexus glass body feels more comfortable than the aluminum on the One. Speedtest results (LTE) were little below average compared to other devices I tested but not dismal.
The One has some nice features (1080p, IR remote, dual front speakers, NFC, LTE) and if it can be flashed with stock Jellybean while keeping those features working, it would be so much better.
Just wanted to share a few thoughts about the One. I went in to buy the One but came back with a renewed appreciation for the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't agree.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
The bloke is perfectly entitled to express his personal opinion and I'm in total agreement about his views on sense vs stock - that's just my preference.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
g1bJ1 said:
Finally got some play time on the HTC One, and coming from a Nexus 4, the One felt dated to me. The Sense UI just kills the One. I didn't realize how modern Jellybean 4.2.2 feels compared to Sense until I spent time with them side by side. The One's hardware fit and finish are nice but I can't say it feels any more premium than the Nexus 4. In my hands, the Nexus glass body feels more comfortable than the aluminum on the One. Speedtest results (LTE) were little below average compared to other devices I tested but not dismal.
The One has some nice features (1080p, IR remote, dual front speakers, NFC, LTE) and if it can be flashed with stock Jellybean while keeping those features working, it would be so much better.
Just wanted to share a few thoughts about the One. I went in to buy the One but came back with a renewed appreciation for the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I buy HTC devices because of Sense. If the One came without sense I would have bought the S4. I have tried AOSP roms but I come screaming back to sense within minutes, they are just too limited, too spartan.
Stock android is so highly over rated it is unreal.
The only main thing that I love about it, is the stock android theme. Less amount of apps preinstalled is a bonus too
For me sense is superior to stock for these reasons:
- the apps kick ass especially the camera (zoe, more options and filter effects to choose from and a nicer, more functional UI), gallery (live tiles/thumbnails plus other wee things like being able to take a photo of a moment in video playback and even more effects) and browser app (text reflow when you pinch to zoom and double tap, modified quick thumb controls that are pure win, flash player, fast and smooth and most importantly it renders text and web sites correctly)
- unified feel, no skin can match sense in this area (aside from possibly motorola's newest skin), everything feels unified throughout, same colour scheme and same layout unlike stock; dialer has the black/blue theme, SMS and calendar etc. has the white theme, play music has a blue theme, clock has a grey theme, the menu button placement is either on the bottom or the top and then the settings menu has a holo theme throughout, minor things but damn annoying for me
If you really want stock android look without having to root, you can install the following:
stock android keyboard
stock Alarm clock
Stock SMS app
Dialer with this theme
Stock calendar
stock camera & Gallery
Nova launcher prime with the built in stock android icons
Lock screen (can get the stock lock screen theme/UI)
Stock (CM10) calculator
Multi-tasking window
And disable whatever you don't like about sense through the app settings.
Terminator19 said:
Stock android is so highly over rated it is unreal.
The only main thing that I love about it, is the stock android theme. Less amount of apps preinstalled is a bonus too
For me sense is superior to stock for these reasons:
- the apps kick ass especially the camera (zoe, more options and filter effects to choose from and a nicer, more functional UI), gallery (live tiles/thumbnails plus other wee things like being able to take a photo of a moment in video playback and even more effects) and browser app (text reflow when you pinch to zoom and double tap, modified quick thumb controls that are pure win, flash player, fast and smooth and most importantly it renders text and web sites correctly)
- unified feel, no skin can match sense in this area (aside from possibly motorola's newest skin), everything feels unified throughout, same colour scheme and same layout unlike stock; dialer has the black/blue theme, SMS and calendar etc. has the white theme, play music has a blue theme, clock has a grey theme, the menu button placement is either on the bottom or the top and then the settings menu has a holo theme throughout, minor things but damn annoying for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really is a personal preference and so he should be able to express his own opinion thus I don't really understand why people are bashing him. It's not like the Nexus 4 is a iphone3gs or something. I feel like his opinion is reasonable. I have always liked how sense has looked and felt (smoothness scrolling compared to stock android) and all that but it definitely is something you have to get used to. I definitely prefer sense over that samsung junk they call touchwiz and all that but stock is nice! although yes it might be a little overrated, it's still nice! But I have to agree with on that three icon thing... it just doesn't really make sense. I'm not really feeling the menus but I will have to wait til I actually get the phone, whenever the preorder fiasco finally works out..
Anyways, to each their own.
Yeah stock android is great. That's why there are hundreds of replacements in Play Store for every single element of it.
I sort of agree with his post. Just picked up my One this morning and it feels dated even compared to my HTC Evo 3D in terms of UI. It seems to be less customizable than my EVO 3D running stock sense for some reason. It seems like HTC is going with Microsoft "simple is better" approach.
I already miss the physical settings button my EVO 3D had. I also don't like how the power/volume buttons are flush with the body. The buttons should protrude a bit imo... but I suppose these are things I'll get used to it in time.
A problem I've been noticing so far is I'm losing home screen settings. For example I add all 5 home screens to expand the default 3, arranged my icons, widgets etc. This is now the second time where it randomly gets reset and I've lost settings. Now I have to go back and add the additional home screens/apps/widgets etc.
When I finished setting up the phone, storage use already showed 9GB out of 32GB before I even transferred my data (apps/music/photos/etc). Why is it using 9GB of storage out of the box?
@AndrewAmazed
Yup, all personal preference the software, just to clear things up, I wasn't bashing his opinion at all , just stating that I think stock is highly over rated, I always see people saying things like "stock android is 100 times better than everything", "never buying a non-nexus device again", review sites much preferring it to the OEM skins etc. it is good but it isn't "that" good imo.
Indeed, touchwiz is just awful, nice features etc. but everything else is a joke, completely disjointed feel throughout, horrible colour scheme, overall it just feels like a 10 year old has designed it.
All HTC need to do imo is go with a nice holo/dark theme instead of mostly white and drop some of the pointless apps, widgets.
All google need to do is sort the unified feel out (most people have already done this here for them) and add more features/options plus bring the old browser back! chrome is trash imo.

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