Database Users

GB 2.3.x vs ICS 4.0.X ?

Hello my fellow flashing friends!
Is it me or is ICS a bit overrated ? I tried several ICS roms, and apart from the buggy (video)camera still I admit it's not bad, in fact yes, it's quite good and very smooth. But can anyone give me one good reason why a good ICS rom would be BETTER than a good GB ROM ?
Except for being able to "say" that you are running the latest android version, and a few other transition effects in ICS (ok I know there's a bit more to it but you know what I mean) I don't see what would make ICS the better choice over GB.
So far GB can do everything what ICS can do afaik, in the end probably even better (especially for us DHD users). So tell me your motivations why you would run an ICS rom and not a GB one ?
There are many excellent GB roms such as ARHD, CoreDroid, Runnymede, MIUI roms, CM7, etc that in the end imo outclass the ICS ones a bit still..
The only reason I can think of I'd flash an ICS rom for some while is to have something "different" again, but in the end I seem to get back to the good ol' GB everytime..
So tell me your motivations why you'd go for ICS rom or why for GB rom!

Lol, ICS hasn't even come officially to the DHD so you can't compare official GB and ported ICS, GB is going to be extinct once ICS comes offcially
ARHD for example, is official GB and that's way more smoother and performance/batterywise. So GB for now, ICS when it comes offcially

ICS roms are fully functional on DHD already apart of videocamera ofcourse.. But ok even if we take i.e. a Galaxy Nexus then, what's better about it than the DHD with a smooth GB rom ?
It's just something I am trying to figure out.

I would say jz go for ics. If you doesn't mind the camera, or you've boot manager, you would jz go for ics sense 4 rom, den install a stock ics rom in yr sd card in case u need camera, this is what I do right now.

Bert2662 said:
I would say jz go for ics. If you doesn't mind the camera, or you've boot manager, you would jz go for ics sense 4 rom, den install a stock ics rom in yr sd card in case u need camera, this is what I do right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now using the CM9 rom ported by jcmaddox, with blackened ice theme + htc keyboard + working camera and videocamera (but this one lags a bit in 720p), feels pretty nice. But I'm a Sense addict so from the moment a Sense 4.0 rom is available with working camera I will go for that one probably.

ICS = new, nuff said.

shad0wboss said:
ICS = new, nuff said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because new is always better ? No, not quite imfo.

I'm using Primo S just now and I love it for the performance. Nenamark scores have tripled. I know benchmarks don't mean that much but games and the phone overall feels much snappier. Also, it's the first ROM that I can just leave wifi and mobile data switched on without running out of charge halfway through the day. overall, it's the best DHD Sense experience I've had so far.
Maxy
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using xda premium

MaxyDad said:
I'm using Primo S just now and I love it for the performance. Nenamark scores have tripled. I know benchmarks don't mean that much but games and the phone overall feels much snappier. Also, it's the first ROM that I can just leave wifi and mobile data switched on without running out of charge halfway through the day. overall, it's the best DHD Sense experience I've had so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about stock browser (by that, I mean all apps that use the stock browser core too)? I find that it's sluggish compared to GB. In fact, the reviews are in for One V's (Primo S) and they all point to a sluggish web browsing experience with some even saying it locks up for 30 seconds before catching up with processing. I do find that the stock browser in GB is faster than ICS. My wife's SGS2 on the other hand still retains the speed and smoothness of GB stock browser when the phone was upgraded to ICS. I have a feeling HTC has basically relied on AOSP for their webkit whereas Samsung's added their own hw accelerated code to speed it up.
Reason I'm rather particular about the webkit is because a lot of apps use it (e.g. Facebook app) even if you don't use the stock browser.

if you just have to flash a rom as of today... gingerbread big time!
However, many ics innovations (and honeycomb) are developers side. ics brought many new cool features for developing much better applications. And if it's true that iOS fortune is its apps quality and variety, then android is moving in the right direction, giving developers a much better, and appealing environment to work in. So in a not too far future you'll need ics as minimum requirement to run the most cool applications on your android. And they are gonna kick ass, making of your phone an awesome device. till that day you can always stick with gingerbread . do not forget that gingerbread took over froyo as most used android operating system only in december (2011) so most of apps have been developed with that in mind so far. (backward compatibility etc...)
cheers!

personally, since switching to pics from GB, I couldn't imagine running another GB from as my daily. While ICS might not do anything particularly better than GB on the DHD or Inspire, it certainly seems to do all of the things nicer. Simple little features like folders and recent apps windows may not seem that important if you haven't used them, but once you get used to the interface, ICS aosp experience blows GB's out of the water in my opinion. Now if we're talking sense or some other manufacturer overlay it may not be the same, but as far as stock goes I LOVE ics
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA

zachs_xda said:
What about stock browser (by that, I mean all apps that use the stock browser core too)? I find that it's sluggish compared to GB. In fact, the reviews are in for One V's (Primo S) and they all point to a sluggish web browsing experience with some even saying it locks up for 30 seconds before catching up with processing. I do find that the stock browser in GB is faster than ICS. My wife's SGS2 on the other hand still retains the speed and smoothness of GB stock browser when the phone was upgraded to ICS. I have a feeling HTC has basically relied on AOSP for their webkit whereas Samsung's added their own hw accelerated code to speed it up.
Reason I'm rather particular about the webkit is because a lot of apps use it (e.g. Facebook app) even if you don't use the stock browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're probably right about the stock browser. It isn't quite as responsive as the GB one, but it seems to add some nice functionality. The main shortcoming for me though (and I say this quietly) is the camera, or lack thereof. Will get fixed in due course.
Overall, ICS is actually better than I expected.
Maxy
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using xda premium

I was an avid user of ARHD before I switched to IceColdSandwich, now I can't turn back. ICS is smoother, faster and has essentially doubled my battery usage from barely a day to two full days.
I tried the One X ports but they have a terrible battery life and lack AOKP's features. ATM I couldn't be happier with ICS.

ICS is great but then there are a few limitation when you try to get ICS on our phone. ICS is fast, smooth and even better with battery but then a GB ROM would probably give you more functional phone.
Basically depends upon whether you can live without those few features. I f you can ICS should be the way to go. There's a slight catch though DHD isnt really the latest of all devices, so devs would concentrate on the development of ROMs for the new devices. (Lord and Twisted both have moved out DHD ICS development scene but there are still a few great devs working), so regular updates would come less often.
and GB is mature and stable (with almost no updates required).

Yeah the stability is a big issue for me as well, my GPS was working perfectly til I switched over to Ice Cold Sandwich on my DHD.
Although I was able to fix it using a patch, I find GB roms have less problems in the internal side of things...
No doubt ICS feels nicer to have on your phone though
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA

Google Chrome support, folders, smoother, optimized, easier to use. Nuff said

Not to forget HID Support with BT and with Sense

I find that ICS has more to offer feature wise, however I am new to this and haven't had the chance to test many GB ROMs.
Sent from my DHD

wtr_dhd said:
Because new is always better ? No, not quite imfo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gimme one reason to choose GB over ICS when sense 4 is fully ported to DHD...

Ics has a lot of new features and is worth it. But i don't see why you made this thread if your shooting down peoples opinions on the matter
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

Movement Back to GingerBread

So after having been running ICS roms for the past 2 months or so, I decided to switch back to my favorite Gingerbread rom for the hell of it, to see exactly what I'd been giving up for ICS. And WOW, was I blown away. I remember GB was a lot faster than ICS, but geez I did not remember it being this fast. EVERYTHING opens and closes quicker, touch responsiveness is amazing, screens swipe lightning quick, and I'm sorry, even though I did realize ICS improved battery life a little bit from my initial impressions, GB is giving me better battery life than most of the ICS roms I have used. Most importantly to me though, my phone has simply just become more of a joy to use. And less of CHORE. ICS makes texting a pain in the ass. And not only that, but basically doing anything, browsing, having to constantly re-press anything, scrolling.......omg scrolling. Going down your facebook newsfeed is definitely a chore on ICS. Seeing as it goes up a little, half the time you scroll down. But typing is probably the biggest thing for me, since I text a decent amount. I even installed the same GB keyboard I'd used on gingerbread roms (it's a modified stock gb keyboard called "gingerbread keyboard") which I had been able to type so quick and so accuretly with (except for the occasional double letter that the keyboard puts in), but on ICS it was just as inaccurate as any other crap keyboard I'd try out. You just have to type slowwwww, and press hard. Who the hell wants to use their phone like an old person? I sure don't. ICS makes my phone a chore to use.
I'm looking to get some other impressions here, and from both sides (mostly ICS fans, if you don't mind), and just get an overall consensus of what the deal is. I knew I'd missed GB, but I didn't realize it was this much!
Things I'd be missing from ICS: brightness minimum and maximum (having a lower min is really appreciated in my room at night - some later GB roms have this implemented though), the updated Gallery (soo much better on ICS), some features that are nice to have but I don't really change anyway (screen mode, gamma sensitivity, etc.), Chome (LOL jk, chrome sucks **** on mobile), better default video player, having my phone say 4.03, 4.04, or 4.1.1 that's about it. Lemme know some other things you'd miss from ICS if you were to revert back.
Also, I have tried most roms for ICS, ranging from AOKP, AOSP based roms, CM9, Sammywiz ones, MIUI variations. Just for reference, I've tried Shishir, Ressurection AOKP, Foxhound's roms, Basically all of Kaffee's roms, cMIUI, RGUI, AdyScorp's V4, AOKP official, Rootbox, etc. My favorite of those personally was probably Ressurection, and cMIUI. Not a huge fan of AOKP (or the wole CM interface), so cMIUI a bit more.
Btw, the GB rom I'm referring to is AdyScorpius' MIUI GB. Fastest rom I've ever used, period. Battery life from what I remember was not even that good (I mean it's MIUI) even compared to other MIUI's. So considering that I'm noticing it to be on par, if not better than ICS I was running, is noteworthy.
Lay your comments down below.
EDIT: Oh and I've tried a few JB roms already, including CM10, Kaffee's CM10, and X-treme's CM10 based rom. To be honest it's really smooth (coming from ICS though), however it's wayyy too early in the game to compare it to GB for me. To be quite honest, it's really smooth and relatively fast, but since it's still based on ICS, I doubt it will ever feel as good as GB.

I do agree but i got used to ICS and the little problems bundled with it. When samsung decides to update our phones to JB, i hope it'll be a different story
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

VanillaCracker said:
So after having been running ICS roms for the past 2 months or so, I decided to switch back to my favorite Gingerbread rom for the hell of it, to see exactly what I'd been giving up for ICS. And WOW, was I blown away. [...] I'm looking to get some other impressions here, and from both sides (mostly ICS fans, if you don't mind), and just get an overall consensus of what the deal is. I knew I'd missed GB, but I didn't realize it was this much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'm not an pure ICS fan - both versions have their advantages - but I like CM, AOSP and MIUI - and Samsungs camera app. As almost everything here at XDA and other boards is about ICS and now JB I have not expected someone coming up with a thread like this, thanks
I must admit reverting to a 2.6.9 GB MIUI (external link to Fluxi's MIUI GB thread) quite often, too - It somehow just "feels" better than any ICS ROM I tried so far (only 2 months \w I9100, i9000 before, always working on kernels) - touch sensitivity and wakeup lag definately are two reasons for me, too. Battery seems to be almost equal to me.
I'm still looking for "the" firmware, currently testing MIUI 2.7.27 which seems to work quite well, too. But I have a feeling that I'll switch back to GB tonight...
Read in another thread you posted that the WIUI dev might update the GB version, may I ask where you have that information from? Interesting.

Gingerbread was far better than ICS from a raw performance standpoint, i was 100 and 1% happy with the way my phone performed with GB and then i flashed to ICS and got used to extra features (and im the kind of person that doesn't like to be behind the curve).
If google had ported all of the new functionality to GB along with some of the work they did with project butter we would have a MUCH MUCH better platform than we are currently stuck with.
Having a device that doesn't respond the way you would expect to touch input and has noticeable jank and lag in this day and age is NOT acceptable when you have the likes WP7 and iOS out there.
Time is running out Google (& to a degree Samsung) , I've been an Android user since the G1 and 3 devices on my patience is growing short.

We already had these kind of threads before

i will downgrade to 2.3.3 if there isn't a newer 2.3.x of Nee which i believe there is but i ain't finding them
i downgrading due to lockscreen stopped work on Stock ICS but it seems to be working on gingerbread

The only reason why I am on ics is that I can not connect to my college's wifi network... On ics wifi works fine...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

I downgraded from ics back to GB 2.3.4 due to ics bugs, lag on the touch screen (sometimes felt like a resistive screen) jerky swipes between home screens, black screen of death, random shut down and disappearing widgets. Like the op says, GB was a revelation again and the galaxy feels reliable, responsive and fast again. I'm staying put now till next year when my contact ends, I came from iPhone to android and maybe it will be wp8 next, or maybe a galaxy s3.....
I miss the face unlock, swipe to dismiss notifications and the task manager of ics, that's about all
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

ephraim033 said:
I do agree but i got used to ICS and the little problems bundled with it. When samsung decides to update our phones to JB, i hope it'll be a different story
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm hoping the same thing man haha. But honestly I'm not having my hopes up anymore. I know that the CM10 preview builds don't have HW Accelerator working, and that the sensitivity does seem a bit better than ICS (more in the 'ok-eh' category instead of 'bad' like ICS), but I've seen a couple builds that claim to have HW Acceleration working, so if that makes a drastic improvement we'll see. Honestly I thought when ICS came out that it was just early in developemnt and that they'd work out the jags and stuff....yeah no. It's 3 months later and performance-wise it's relatively similar. AOKP has gotten much smoother though, but there's only so much you can do.
mialwe said:
Well, I'm not an pure ICS fan - both versions have their advantages - but I like CM, AOSP and MIUI - and Samsungs camera app. As almost everything here at XDA and other boards is about ICS and now JB I have not expected someone coming up with a thread like this, thanks
I must admit reverting to a 2.6.9 GB MIUI (external link to Fluxi's MIUI GB thread) quite often, too - It somehow just "feels" better than any ICS ROM I tried so far (only 2 months \w I9100, i9000 before, always working on kernels) - touch sensitivity and wakeup lag definately are two reasons for me, too. Battery seems to be almost equal to me.
I'm still looking for "the" firmware, currently testing MIUI 2.7.27 which seems to work quite well, too. But I have a feeling that I'll switch back to GB tonight...
Read in another thread you posted that the WIUI dev might update the GB version, may I ask where you have that information from? Interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really appreciate your comments, especially coming from someone who has experience with kernels, it gives the whole discussion a little more validity. Wake lag is definitely annoying, honestly that's one of those things that by itself, you would think could be dismissed, but when added to the touch sensitivty, and sluggishness, just makes you think..what the hell.
Btw I was actually looking at WIUI last night by chance and also saw that he actually is updating his GB version. I had to re-read it a few times to make sure I wasn't mistaken. He's got a 6.29 version out, and in the comments he said he would do 8.4 (around there). I'll probably flash that, as my April GB rom is probably really outdated....hah.
sabianadmin said:
Gingerbread was far better than ICS from a raw performance standpoint, i was 100 and 1% happy with the way my phone performed with GB and then i flashed to ICS and got used to extra features (and im the kind of person that doesn't like to be behind the curve).
If google had ported all of the new functionality to GB along with some of the work they did with project butter we would have a MUCH MUCH better platform than we are currently stuck with.
Having a device that doesn't respond the way you would expect to touch input and has noticeable jank and lag in this day and age is NOT acceptable when you have the likes WP7 and iOS out there.
Time is running out Google (& to a degree Samsung) , I've been an Android user since the G1 and 3 devices on my patience is growing short.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you that it probably would have made a lot more people happy had they stuck with a thoroughly upgraded GB instead of making a new platform. However although ICS sucks performance-wise (interface, anyway), it is actually pretty good in terms of efficiency. If you notice while restoring text messages or installing something via titanium backup, or shutting off your phone, things run quicker on ICS. ICS is more efficient, for sure. Which is why I hate even more how it is, because it has potential but for some reason still just completely sucks.
I'm gonna have to rant on google: *these are new thoughts just realized a minute ago* Google is definitely behind the ball in terms of what they're releasing. Google has always been out of touch with the people[/B. I'm only 20 but I was able to pick this up over the last couple years. They suck at knowing what people want, or at least are too hung up with their own projections that they don't see the people in which they're serving. You can tell google doesn't know what they're doing because you see it in everything they do. Example 1) Changing Android Market to Google Play Store. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for them to do that (main probably being to get their name out - not everyone knows android is google based, and also to put all their apps into one [google music, google books, ect]), but they could have done that without changing the name to something EVERYONE HATES. Example 2) Google chrome (desktop). I use Chrome on my home PC. It's really fast. Other than that, I hate everything about it. The interface is styled, but looks like it was organized by an amateur, and is poorly structured. Functinoality is splintered and not well thought out. Firefox beats it in every single category, except for performance. Wish I could go back to firefox. Example 3) Chrome (Mobile), this app is unstable, and probably the slowest browser on the market...and yet it is the only video playing browser available on JB (no flash anymore)... Firefox BETA is 300% more stable than chrome's Non Beta app.
GB was fine, but ICS's regression is total bull (and I'm not talking to official update - samsung), and honestly as mentioned above it is just debasing them for the future. Honestly, I had an itouch for a couple years, and have used countless friends iphones over the years, so I know what it's like. Just the simple fact that going back to MIUI GB has made me the happiest I've been in a while...is saying something. I hate to be the ass who brings up negative things, but if they had been doing things right in the first place, things wouldn't have to be mentioned. I'm not too picky, but I do demand quality. Although I've never even considered it in the past, I'm looking forward to seeing what they're rolling out for the iphone 5, cus it may actually make a difference in my next phone.
sahibunlimited said:
We already had these kind of threads before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw one, but it does not discuss the same thing..it meerly has the same subject. This thread heads in a much different direction, also the former post is outdated with the progression of ICS currently.
LastStandingDroid said:
i will downgrade to 2.3.3 if there isn't a newer 2.3.x of Nee which i believe there is but i ain't finding them
i downgrading due to lockscreen stopped work on Stock ICS but it seems to be working on gingerbread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may find one! I know finding official releases past 4.x.x is hard. WIUI is pulling from somewhere though, I know that. Could be it's all just his own input.
Dark Emotion said:
The only reason why I am on ics is that I can not connect to my college's wifi network... On ics wifi works fine...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know ICS has better range for WIFI, other than that I don't know the actual differences.
*Sorry for long post*

It is not the range, it is wpa2 thing...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

Oh no!! This thread is killing me for going back to Gb. Damn damn damn....
Sliding answering options, fantastic lockscreen, system wide font synchronization, what more I am missing....God knows....!!

i never use GB on my phone it came with ICS out of box but i want to try it, stock and custom just wanna see how different it is performance wise.

ithehappy said:
Oh no!! This thread is killing me for going back to Gb. Damn damn damn....
Sliding answering options, fantastic lockscreen, system wide font synchronization, what more I am missing....God knows....!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I hope you're not trolling. Honestly I doubt GB has much of anything that ICS doesn't have. Except ICS option menu is dumb (although samsung's gb is RETARDED), and GB has more simple, intuitive button layout (delete, menu key layout, etc.)
heavens dragon said:
i never use GB on my phone it came with ICS out of box but i want to try it, stock and custom just wanna see how different it is performance wise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I mean if you haven't rooted yet you're definitely missing out on like 50+ roms to try. There's plenty of different categories and types. You'll probably be amazed when you flash one of the latest (or last) GB build roms. They're blazing. Ady MIUI is like iOS on steroids. Cept the battery is meh. That's the only problem. And of course GB seems outdated now, but it's still got higher usability, imo. Part of what kills ICS is it takes so much longer for you to do things on your phone. I bet it drives up screen on time

VanillaCracker said:
Lol I hope you're not trolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever I do, I'll never troll.

after brick my phone with the so called chip bug and change the mb after paying 100 with the same chip with a bug, flashing XWLPO and then XWLPT I decided to go back to 2.3.4. My battery last +2 days (everything disabled and underclocked) and everything looks smooth enogh for me. If you want a cool interface like ICS has (I see no reason at all to run ICS other than the interface) just install the free version of Go Launcher

Yeah I mean if you haven't rooted yet you're definitely missing out on like 50+ roms to try. There's plenty of different categories and types. You'll probably be amazed when you flash one of the latest (or last) GB build roms. They're blazing. Ady MIUI is like iOS on steroids. Cept the battery is meh. That's the only problem. And of course GB seems outdated now, but it's still got higher usability, imo. Part of what kills ICS is it takes so much longer for you to do things on your phone. I bet it drives up screen on time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no my phone is rooted and i already flashed custom roms for more then 10 times( all ics expect 2 latest build of cmx) not a big fan of ios looks but im looking forward to try out other gb roms, but im keep coming back to stock based roms just b'coz of camera and that is wht i really want to see in stock gb : camera
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

ithehappy said:
Whatever I do, I'll never troll.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear it :good:
heavens dragon said:
no my phone is rooted and i already flashed custom roms for more then 10 times( all ics expect 2 latest build of cmx) not a big fan of ios looks but im looking forward to try out other gb roms, but im keep coming back to stock based roms just b'coz of camera and that is wht i really want to see in stock gb : camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I gotcha. Yeah honestly stock camera blows all the other cameras away. Stock ICS camera is pretty decent too, but the button on stock gb is the best. feels more secure, and focus is instantaneous with press. MIUI (GB) is decent too except I found the quality a little worse and instant focus a little less accurate. Anti-shake is terrible on MIUI camera too.

Wow GB. Amazing memories .I think the best GB was XXKI4. But what can I know... I had GB for 2 or 3 months since this year's winter and then Boom! Boot loop. You know why guys?? I had brand XWKI4 and there were battery mods for XXKI4.So I flashed those ;p. And then came XXLPS.Now I am on LQ7 but It's not the same. Thanks bro I was waiting for man wich will lead me to GB. BTW first rom for SGS2 is XWKDD so?! Coman guys we have Gingerbread to flash
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

can someone link the "best" (in his eyes) gb roms ?
i would love to try a few if they are really faster than ics (smoother).
was so close to try cm10 but so much stuff needs to be fixed...
for me the most important thing would be cam and a smooth feeling.
and can i use nova launcher prime on gb (is it looking the same?)
i never tried gb (my s2 came with ics, so....)

I haven't used GB since I got my S2, but I used it exclusively on my original S. When I moved from phone to phone I found the speed increase of GB on an S to ICS on my S2 simply mind blowing. I know it's nearly a 200% processor boost, but still. Now I'm using JellyBean. I get a full day of near constant use with an extended battery. (I'm a teen, we text all the time, so it gets a pretty heavy workout.) and the speed BLOWS AWAY Gingerbread and ICS without question.
So no, I don't miss it personally. And I'm using SwiftKey, which is an absolute dream. Way better than any stock kb I've ever used.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

[Solved] Defy+: What is lost by changing from the official ROM to a custom one?

I have a rooted Defy+, from which I already removed all the cruft I don't need. I am mostly happy with the phone, but there are a few quirks which are making me consider changing to a custom ROM to get a more recent Android version (rather than Gingerbread, 2.3.6).
However, I am concerned about the drawbacks of doing so. For instance, one of my brothers runs a custom ROM as well, and he suffers from random reboots around twice a week.
If I want the best reliability, are the official ROMs my only choice? Or do some of the custom ROMs manage uptime in the range of weeks/months? Also, is there anything else I'd be giving up by changing? Like, I don't know, device drivers/features? (Motorola specific software as MotoBlur I couldn't care less about).
What are your experiences in these areas? I imagine ICS-based ROMs are much more stable than JB ones, but how much?

reply
JB is in my opinion quite stable when considering Sevenrock's version. I have been using Sevenrock's 20130209 CM10 for a month now and I haven't experienced any random reboot. ICS is quite stable with the exception of Wi-Fi tether which is unstable.
You will lose the wallpapers, notification sounds,ringtones,etc. of the official rom while upgrading.

Thanks, a month of uptime sounds quite acceptable.
Regarding loss of features, I can assume that the waterproof/shockproof/etcproof features of the phone are still intact? Those are the actual features that I really care about (the most, at least).
I'll probably try updating to a custom ROM that is considered stable by the maintainers later on

Hello'
I can tell you that on CM10, VPN Tunneling doesn't work
there is a ringtone bug too ( after ? time )

Re: [Q] Defy+: What is lost by changing from the official (rooted) ROM to a custom on
You lose proper 720p recording and overall speed
Waterproof and shock proof etc are hardware features
CM7 and latest CM10 and MS2Ginger are the most "stable", and of these MS2Ginger being stock based has proper 720p recording
Sent from my MB526 using xda premium

thekguy said:
You lose proper 720p recording and overall speed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall speed? Compared to what? To the stock ROM? I was always under the impression that updating the Android version from Gingerbread to ICS or JB would result in a snappier interface.
Anyway, the other "lost" features mentioned so far don't impact me personally at all, so it sounds like it should be safe to update.
Regarding waterproof/etc being hardware features, I recall reading somewhere else that a certain custom ROM did not support that which is why I felt the need to ask.
Thanks again for the additional information.

Re: [Q] Defy+: What is lost by changing from the official (rooted) ROM to a custom on
The stock rom is snappier, but the launcher is not really smooth. By snappier I mean response time. Cm10 is smooth but not very snappy
All custom roms support waterproof/other features.
Sent from my MB526 using xda premium

thekguy said:
The stock rom is snappier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting... looks like I should really try to stick to the stock ROM, after all.
Thanks for all the information, guys, I will consider this topic as dealt with.

What is lost?
>1 minute delay opening google maps
frustration at slow interface
need to recharge every couple of hours
stability / peace of mind
I'm on quarx CM10 20130217 made faster by blechdose cfs 14/03 kernel - really smooth and nice to use. 20130220 was okay, stable and smooth-ish, but incompatible with blechdose kernel, so can't get it as smooth. 20130307, which backtracks further in search of stability, is frustratingly laggy (nowhere near as bad as stock though IMO) - at the moment I have 95 apps and >40GB of music.
That's what you gain, a learning curve, fun fiddles, some bits of the phone work smoother than you could ever imagine, which is great unless there is a bug in something you really want to use (luckily for me, there doesn't seem to be).

[Q] ICS vs GB for HD2

I'm kinda tired of flashing lots of roms to see which one is better. So i did some research and, although i really liked ICS, i've seen someone saying that GB is alot better, since ICS was built for higher-end devices. The matter is that those were old posts, things sure have changed during these years.
The question now is, based on performance, which is better for our HD2? GB or ICS?

g0ldb3rg said:
I'm kinda tired of flashing lots of roms to see which one is better. So i did some research and, although i really liked ICS, i've seen someone saying that GB is alot better, since ICS was built for higher-end devices. The matter is that those were old posts, things sure have changed during these years.
The question now is, based on performance, which is better for our HD2? GB or ICS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GB is more stable and faster for day-to-day usage, BUT has fewer features, an uglier UI and no HWA (making gaming and web browsing comparatively awful).
ICS has HWA so is best for gaming and web browsing and is still reasonably stable and smooth. I personally would go for ICS because it's just nicer to use, but it's all a matter of opinion and nobody can really tell you which to choose.

Nigeldg said:
GB is more stable and faster for day-to-day usage, BUT has fewer features, an uglier UI and no HWA (making gaming and web browsing comparatively awful).
ICS has HWA so is best for gaming and web browsing and is still reasonably stable and smooth. I personally would go for ICS because it's just nicer to use, but it's all a matter of opinion and nobody can really tell you which to choose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what i was missing, HWA. I didn't know GB had no HWA. That really helped, thanks a bunch

g0ldb3rg said:
I'm kinda tired of flashing lots of roms to see which one is better. So i did some research and, although i really liked ICS, i've seen someone saying that GB is alot better, since ICS was built for higher-end devices. The matter is that those were old posts, things sure have changed during these years.
The question now is, based on performance, which is better for our HD2? GB or ICS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive used both ICS and GB. Let me tell you, GB seems to be alot better than ICS for day to day use. The 2D games run fine on GB. And the web browsing, although not BLAZING fast like on ICS, is really tolerable. GB on my specific phone seems alot stable than ICS, faster too. Ive been using Typhoon's rom for the past 2 months and its working GREAT so far.
But if the HD2 is your secondary phone, no need to go for GB. Just use ICS
Cheers

adil1508 said:
Ive used both ICS and GB. Let me tell you, GB seems to be alot better than ICS for day to day use. The 2D games run fine on GB. And the web browsing, although not BLAZING fast like on ICS, is really tolerable. GB on my specific phone seems alot stable than ICS, faster too. Ive been using Typhoon's rom for the past 2 months and its working GREAT so far.
But if the HD2 is your secondary phone, no need to go for GB. Just use ICS
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that. Above all, the data connection is a very little bit more stable under GB. With some effort, but definitely worth to try DataOnExt variants under ICS or JB! If you have time to do that, you can rise your system partition to about 400MBs and have enough space and power to switch to your HD2 as primary phone!
I'm running tytungs NexusHD2-JellyBean-CM10 V1.4a and it works like a charm!
Greetings

I have been using both ICS and GB and to my experience I think GB feels a lot faster and more stable.
Loading a couple of hundreds of SMS messages in ICS for the first time takes ages (while in GB is considerably faster), frequent freezes forcing to take battery out, etc.
On the other hand ICS has more features (HWA, Sound Profiles, Lock Screen Widgets, Quick Settings in Notification, better screen resolution) and I think has better in-call quality than GB.
A word of warning though. The stability and responsiveness depend on the chosen ROM. I personally prefer tytung's ROMS and I usually opt-out for NAND installations (although I have also tried NativeSD version of Jelly Bean with class 10 MicroSD card).
Hope I helped.

GB feels alot faster faster then ICS. and if you dont like the look of GB, try MIUI imo its the best combo for smoothness and stable as stock GB and it looks nice and stylish

Discussion: TouchWiz 4.1.2 vs. Android 4.3

Hello.
I'm in the mood for some discussion. Currently waging which rom to install on my note 2, TouchWiz or latest android (4.3). How would you people rate a 4.1.2 rom built on correct sources against the latest version of Android? Performance, battery and user friendly wise.
Bring it on!
/pemell

I think I know where your going with this but it might turn into something bad. Like comparing roms I think is against the rules.
Comparing Touchwhiz to AOSP usually depends on the needs of user.
I prefer TW than AOSP for the note because if the note 2 pen and camera but hey to each their own!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Which ROM even has 4.3 on the Note 2? CM? I've looked around a little bit but haven't really seen much information in regards to that.
edit: Got my own question answered, disregard this post, I suck at searching.

@jetbruceli it's not about comparison of roms, I would like to discuss platforms in regards of performance, battery and user friendly factors.
@Clyzm there is some, for exempel the unofficial builds of cm 10.2 and paranoid android.
I'm thinking that TouchWiz will serve me good battery wise. For you who currently runs this what is your battery % drain per hour?

pemell said:
@jetbruceli it's not about comparison of roms, I would like to discuss platforms in regards of performance, battery and user friendly factors.
@Clyzm there is some, for exempel the unofficial builds of cm 10.2 and paranoid android.
I'm thinking that TouchWiz will serve me good battery wise. For you who currently runs this what is your battery % drain per hour?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's comparing ROms.
stock vs aosp. Then you will ask which one.
It's better to try on your own.
For Me stock odexed rooted with a lot of bloatware removed works the best
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

pemell said:
It's not about comparison of roms, I would like to discuss platforms in regards of performance, battery and user friendly factors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's not really a lot to discuss because the differences from 4.1>4.2>4.3 really aren't that earth shattering. Especially when you factor in Samsung's s/w modifications. Of the three, 4.1 is considered the most stable with 4.2 having a bunch of issues; some being corrected with 4.2.2 and others not (BT). 4.3 corrects the BT issue which Samsung had already fixed by using their own BT s/w in their 4.2.X ROMs.
Here's a summary of a great 4.1<>4.2 comparison done by Android Authority. A lot of what they are describing doesn't really affect TW-based devices and is more aimed at Nexi users.
So many of the goodies that you love from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean have been carried over to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Most of the stock apps and widgets are similar in both Android versions. To the eyes, there’s no big change in Android 4.2 at all. But, some new significant features and some minor alterations make Android 4.2 sweeter and fun. Here is a brief list of new features from Android 4.2 Jelly Bean:
Support for multiple users (for Android tablets)
Multiple lockscreen pages with widgets Wireless display
Revamped Camera app Photo Sphere HDR Mode (for supported devices)
New Clock app Quick Settings pull-down menu Daydream Gesture typing
Additional options in Developer Options
Magnification Gestures and Explore by Touch accessibility features
Security enhancements
UI design changes
Placed side by side, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean shows a slightly modified and slightly upgraded version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
http://www.androidauthority.com/android-4-1-vs-android-4-2-jelly-bean-149740/​
As for 4.2>4.3 the changes are even fewer.
http://www.android.com/about/jelly-bean/
4.1 is as solid as a rock on the N2 and the new features in 4.2/4.3 are either not that significant or wouldn't apply to a TW-enabled device. I'm looking forward to 4.2/4.3 (supposedly Samsung's skipping 4.2) coming to the N2 primarily to get some of Samsung's "S" additions that were introduced on the SGS4. But I’ll probably get a N3 which will most likely be on 4.3 before the N2 gets upgraded. Of the native Google features the one I'm most interested in is the more flexible lock screen with widget capabilities. Now that Android is mature the days of radically new versions coming out multiple times a year are pretty much over. 4.1 was introduced in June 2012 and here it is August 2013 and the evolution across 4.1/4.2/4.3 is pretty minor.

Some like the Touchwiz functionalities and it supports multi window and s- features. AOSP has other stuffs. basically depends on what u want and what you like

coolkratos said:
Some like the Touchwiz functionalities and it supports multi window and s- features. AOSP has other stuffs. basically depends on what u want and what you like
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I just flashed cm10.1 nightlies and found it super smooth and very well bare for the most part.
Like it felt stripped to the core but super fast and there was no real complaint on my part. You end up with more memory to use and of course it's almost pure stock android with some tweaks. I especially like the blue halo theme!
Now back to Touchwhiz I found myself loving it more than AOSP mainly for this device.
Having s pen related apps and gestures makes it an easy choice. We have pop note and other goodies from the pen.
Air gesture and even without the pen we have built in features like multiwindow and a much better camera experience.
Over all I think when we get 4.3 Touchwhiz, most of the other than users of aosp will switch!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

I like the ProBam ROM, the s-pen features work and it has lots of free RAM. with all apps running the ram usage is around 1.2gb used
jetbruceli said:
Well I just flashed cm10.1 nightlies and found it super smooth and very well bare for the most part.
Like it felt stripped to the core but super fast and there was no real complaint on my part. You end up with more memory to use and of course it's almost pure stock android with some tweaks. I especially like the blue halo theme!
Now back to Touchwhiz I found myself loving it more than AOSP mainly for this device.
Having s pen related apps and gestures makes it an easy choice. We have pop note and other goodies from the pen.
Air gesture and even without the pen we have built in features like multiwindow and a much better camera experience.
Over all I think when we get 4.3 Touchwhiz, most of the other than users of aosp will switch!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

coolkratos said:
I like the ProBam ROM, the s-pen features work and it has lots of free RAM. with all apps running the ram usage is around 1.2gb used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plus with Odexed TW, I believe in my OPINION, that's its the smoothest experience!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

jetbruceli said:
Plus with Odexed TW, I believe in my OPINION, that's its the smoothest experience!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't say I tried ROMs for Samsung, but while I had HTC I did flash a lot - since DHD wasn't getting JB and I experimented a lot with JB ROMS. IMHO, all the "smoothest experience" stuff and how this ROM is better than the other is ONLY due to the fact that when you flash it - your phone is EMPTY. This is also the fact when we buy our phones and we go ooooohh and aaaahhh, how smooth it is. Then, after few months, we fill 'em up with al sorts of widgets and background running processes and they're not so smooth anymore. IMHO, no matter what ROM you use, the performance will always be the same, no matter what. OK, it might be slightly better or worse, but so little that you won't be able to tell. That's why I use stock ROM, since it has most functionality. I just know ANY ROM will be slow after x months of use....

dalanik said:
Can't say I tried ROMs for Samsung, but while I had HTC I did flash a lot - since DHD wasn't getting JB and I experimented a lot with JB ROMS. IMHO, all the "smoothest experience" stuff and how this ROM is better than the other is ONLY due to the fact that when you flash it - your phone is EMPTY. This is also the fact when we buy our phones and we go ooooohh and aaaahhh, how smooth it is. Then, after few months, we fill 'em up with al sorts of widgets and background running processes and they're not so smooth anymore. IMHO, no matter what ROM you use, the performance will always be the same, no matter what. OK, it might be slightly better or worse, but so little that you won't be able to tell. That's why I use stock ROM, since it has most functionality. I just know ANY ROM will be slow after x months of use....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's why when I flash a new ROM. I wait a day after to determine the speed and stability.
Anyone can say this or that about a ROM or system but in the end its about the user. And I use my device like no other. So performance and stability are the main factors for me!!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

I'm also a big fan of stock, rooted. Custom roms are fun and all yet there are times where you will hit issues because the Dev made a mistake or a change inadvertently affected something else. In my experience the improvements in battery life are negligible at best and at the end of the day I need my phone to be reliable. My latest experience with a custom rom has me with a phone which won't wake from deep sleep if I put it in airplane mode. I'm just waiting to get back home from a business trip and then the first thing I'll be doing is reverting my phone to stock. The last thing I need is a phone which randomly dies in my when I'm away from my laptop and regular access to a high speed Internet connection. These days I'm able to travel light. Besides clothes a note 2 and a note 8 are all I need to get things done but they must be reliable above all else.
Sent from my GT-N7100

If you have been on 4.2.2 on an S4 u would not expect to see much other differences on the android front except added security. Whatever goodies samsung adds to the note 3 I would expect to see on the note two update. Therefore we will know nothing until September October.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

I'm running unofficial Cyanogenmod 4.3 on my N7105 and must say it's suprisingly stable. Of course there is a long way to go before it can serve as a daily driver, but it's amazing these guys can do so much in such a short time.

Apart some issues with camera , the cm 10.2 is really smooth and battery life is very ok for me.