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Always seems to be a ton of threads about why people hate touchwiz and how eager they are to get rid of it but...what do you like about what Samsung did different?
I absolutely love the pulldown menu modifications
I love the music/call controls in the pull down, and like the power widget there. This is something I really wish that Google would adopt/roll into stock android later on (or at least Cyanogen).
I also like the shortcut to adjust your phone's brightness (rolling finger across the top bar).
I personally prefer the way this phone handles making a call on a 2nd line and conferencing people in...it's much better than stock android (I came from a Moto droid and conferencing in a new # was always kind of a pain in the ass).
I personally prefer the way they redid the calendar to stock (I seem to be in the minority here though).
I use google voice for all SMS, so I can't really comment on that.
I use LauncherPro, so the actual look of the launcher doesn't bug me...
Actually, the only thing I truly hate about the modifications Samsung made was the damn alarm program..it's way worse than the droids, and it's way too easy to turn off...and the snooze button is hard to differentiate from the turn off alarm button.
Overall, Samsung has some nice stuff if they just abandon the cartoony iPhones look of the launcher and work on a few of the performance hickups here and there.
hydrogenman said:
I absolutely love the pulldown menu modifications
I love the music/call controls in the pull down, and like the power widget there. This is something I really wish that Google would adopt/roll into stock android later on (or at least Cyanogen).
I also like the shortcut to adjust your phone's brightness (rolling finger across the top bar).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than the calendar (which is a near-total fail for me; maybe others' calendars don't have the same bugs as mine - which is a scary thought, b/c it makes a global "fix" seem less likely), I really like TouchWiz - particularly the features listed above. The "Power Control" Android widget (or whatever it's called) - which is normally crucial - becomes almost unnecessary, provided you're OK with using the pulldown for toggling GPS, Wifi, etc.; and sliding finger for brightness. (The only Power Control item you can't toggle using pulldown is "Sync," which I almost never turn off anyway).
I like how the TW icons look; and I dig the app drawer, b/c I prefer the "list" view that it offers. I may try another launcher someday, but right now I feel no need -- I'm digging TW (and much prefer it to stock Android).
Don't care for the Samsung widgets at all, but their functions can easily be bested with stuff in the Market.
pavvy said:
Other than the calendar (which is a near-total fail for me; maybe others' calendars don't have the same bugs as mine - which is a scary thought, b/c it makes a global "fix" seem less likely), I really like TouchWiz - particularly the features listed above. The "Power Control" Android widget (or whatever it's called) - which is normally crucial - becomes almost unnecessary, provided you're OK with using the pulldown for toggling GPS, Wifi, etc.; and sliding finger for brightness. (The only Power Control item you can't toggle using pulldown is "Sync," which I almost never turn off anyway).
I like how the TW icons look; and I dig the app drawer, b/c I prefer the "list" view that it offers. I may try another launcher someday, but right now I feel no need -- I'm digging TW (and much prefer it to stock Android).
Don't care for the Samsung widgets at all, but their functions can easily be bested with stuff in the Market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never once used any of the TW widgets...that's one thing that was a bit of fail
BTW, you can get the TW style of app drawer on 3rd party launchers
I was rather pleasantly surprised with TouchWiz. I think it's much better than Stock Android. I'm not sure exactly why people are complaining about it.
What I like about it.
1. WebOS like UI controls for Music and Toggles in the Notification drop down.
2. Paged scrolling of apps in the App Drawer. I hate inertial list scrolling.
3. Some of the widgets like dual clock and calendar clock. If there is no place to add a widget on that screen, it finds a screen with space. Buddies Now is a nice widget, but it's slow and buggy.
4. The interface to add/remove screens and move screens around.
What I dislike.
1. It syncs all contacts instead of just "My Contacts". Of course this is not the launcher, but the app. But other than this, the contacts and dialer are much better than stock.
2. Pressing the Home button, sends it off to Screen 4 on my phone instead of the center screen. Very annoying.
3. There is an Android bug that prevents folders from being opened. With LauncherPro, I can restart the launcher which fixes the problem. No such ability in TW.
4. Can only change two of the 4 icons at the bottom.
Likes:
Messaging/calling through contacts.
Power control in notification drawer
Launcher is starting to grow on me
The interface when a call is in progress
Puzzle piece notifications
Dislikes:
Music player can't distinguish between songs and ringtones
Nearly the same issue with gallery and album art
Can't set the home screen when less than 5 screens
Lock screen but that's purely cosmetic
The media scanner, but I don't think that's TW specific (Be awesome to have it scan on demand)
I really don't like how all the Samsung widgets want to take up an entire screen.
hydrogenman said:
BTW, you can get the TW style of app drawer on 3rd party launchers
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Click to collapse
Thanks, that's good to know... I'll have to try 'em sometime, I know they have lots of fans around here.
I actually prefer TW to LauncherPro or ADW. So far everything works pretty well.
I do wish that the samsung widgets were re-sizeable so they didn't take up the whole screen. I like the app drawer, it is just copying the iPhone, but I don't visit it a whole lot thanks to the FolderOrganizer widget. That widget should have come stock with the phone IMHO.
i really like some of the modifications that samsung has added, especially in the dialer and contacts apps (they have already been mentioned). i found another one last night in the calendar app, if you add a location to an entry it shows you a map of the location from the calendar entry.
wolfvgang said:
I actually prefer TW to LauncherPro or ADW. So far everything works pretty well.
I do wish that the samsung widgets were re-sizeable so they didn't take up the whole screen. ......
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Click to collapse
Hey. If I do understand you correctly, you are using ADW or LauncherPro and mention that 'everything is working pretty well, also referring to 'samsung widgets'?
How do you access 'samsung widgets' from say ADW Launcher - ESPECIALLY BuddiesNow ??
I can only access it from the default launcher, but do prefer ADW also - but am stuck
Thanks for your help or ideas.
I don't understand anyone wouldn't use LauncherPro.
The scrolling dock is genius. I have about 15 apps that I use regularly, so the dock does a really great job to accommodate that. Also, you can easily add your own custom icons, and do away with the default ones that come with TW and LP.
I also hate that on TW, you have the home screen # indicators at the top, giving you a lot less home screen space.
The app drawer, though not as easy to use as the Applications viewer in TW, is at least original. This phone already looks like an iPhone, so having a very Android-esque applications viewer is refreshing.
TW does a lot fantastic things, some of which you guys mentioned, but the general layout of it is pretty ****ty, and LauncherPro is just about perfect... and free.
I like the toggles on the notification pull down. I don't like how the brightness slider has no visual feedback to determine what the current bright is set at. If there was a slider widget attached to the bottom or a popup when the slider is in use that would make it easier.
I like the swipe on contacts for the call/sms.
After loading JI6, I tried using the TW launcher again, but I couldn't find any of the TW widgets compelling so I'm back to Launcherpro.
Just found this out, if you dislike the iPhone style of the app drawer, left to right, changing it to Alphabetical list gives me the normalish way we are used to the app drawer working, up and down.
Now if we could just remove the annoying outline on the icons I'd be set
Coming from an iPhone, Touchwiz was a bit too iphone-ripoff for me. I personally use Launcher+ but TW did have some good points.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
my biggest dislike is that contacts and dialer are no longer the same application. I never had a dialer shortcut on my phone before because I could just use contacts, now I have to use up 1 more space for the dialer.
Owenv said:
my biggest dislike is that contacts and dialer are no longer the same application. I never had a dialer shortcut on my phone before because I could just use contacts, now I have to use up 1 more space for the dialer.
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Click to collapse
You can access the contacts from the dialer, would be an extra click if you really want to not have that extra icon
z0phi3l said:
You can access the contacts from the dialer, would be an extra click if you really want to not have that extra icon
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Click to collapse
yeah but as far as I know you can't get to dialer from contacts, and I'm used to having the contacts icon on my home screen. I know I could just change it but you know what they say about old habits. however it isn't a problem since I have another contacts app that solved it for me.
My favorite feature is the dialer. I love the fact that it has speed dial unlike stock android. I also love the predictive dialing. These two are the biggest for me.
I am thinking of using Nova Launcher, but wondering if I will loose any functionality. Does any one know if this is the case?
Try it and let us know!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
I'm using it. You don't lose a great deal - page buddy and the very nice weather widgets are all I can think of that make a daily difference. All the big features still work, including multi-view.
You get rid of most of Touchwiz though, which is a massive advantage.
@ekerbuddyeker - am trying it, but as this is my first Samsung device (only got it today), and never used any of the Samsung features before; I wouldn't have known if I was missing out on anything. Thanks for your contribution though
Seems to be running well so far. Just reading up on "Page Buddy" to see if I think I need it (Thanks Robster83 for that info).
The main advantages of Nova so far are that I can increase the amount of rows and columns on the desktop. I have just come from Paranoid Android on the Galaxy Nexus and with the large screen and default DPI everything on the Note 2 looks VERY BIG. Also finding the swipe down gesture to open up the notifications useful as my fingers struggle to get to the top of the screen when holding the phone in one hand.
Im using Nova and I think its a better option. I can still get Snote to open when I remove the pen so for me losing page buddy doesn't matter. The extra customization is well worth it.
+1 to nova here, much better than tw
Nova is pretty good although does anyone know how to get the S Planner Calendar Widget working with it? The S Planner Calendar widget is so much more advanced than the standard calendar widget and it kinda sucks for that to be the one thing that gets removed when I use Nova.
Crazypinoy9 said:
Nova is pretty good although does anyone know how to get the S Planner Calendar Widget working with it? The S Planner Calendar widget is so much more advanced than the standard calendar widget and it kinda sucks for that to be the one thing that gets removed when I use Nova.
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Click to collapse
same for me, using nova from day one and missing splanner widget...
using acalendar+ instead, but missing some features!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
PageBuddy does not work with Nova launcher or GO launcher.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Crazypinoy9 said:
Nova is pretty good although does anyone know how to get the S Planner Calendar Widget working with it? The S Planner Calendar widget is so much more advanced than the standard calendar widget and it kinda sucks for that to be the one thing that gets removed when I use Nova.
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Click to collapse
SPlanner is built into the TouchWiz Launcher, making it impossible to get the widget on anything else other than stock launcher.
Crazypinoy9 said:
Nova is pretty good although does anyone know how to get the S Planner Calendar Widget working with it? The S Planner Calendar widget is so much more advanced than the standard calendar widget and it kinda sucks for that to be the one thing that gets removed when I use Nova.
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Click to collapse
+1
I agree with everyone here. Definetly a +1 for Nova over TW.
But since I had page buddy setup to launch Rocket player when my headphones were attached, it seems as though it is locked into that setting. I tried going back to the TW environment to turn it off but it didn't work
Go Launcher is a better option for me, than any other launcher, I would urge those who haven't tried it to give it a go. Loads of customisation possible and the go ex notification add-on is nice.
In terms of calendar widget. Ive also tried loads and best I have found is Pure Calendar Widget.
+1 on Pure Calendar. Also Wizz widget is fine, also free.
I know its not a calendar thread, but if you have already mentioned calendars, then Business Calendar Free!
I'm using nova for two years. After installing it I immediately delete touchwiz launcher. Best launcher I ever tried.
Do any of the new Note 3 features (pen or not) get impacted from using a different launcher?
polstein said:
Do any of the new Note 3 features (pen or not) get impacted from using a different launcher?
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Click to collapse
some widgets does not work. (like s planner)
muhtesem insan said:
some widgets does not work. (like s planner)
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I can live with that - was thinking the swipe up scrapbook & other functions. One way to tell - try!
Delete my response please.
no everything seems to work fine im using action launcher pro and ive had no issues .. air command still pops up when the stylus is removed all the samsung and S apps stay there .
all s PEN functions work
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
The swipe up/home button press my magazine gets removed. Thats it.
You can overcome this, (Im using apex) and you can bind my magazine to a home button press if you miss it.
Using Nova Launcher Prime, all of the spen features work perfect, haven't noticed anything that is broken yet.
Can I disable My Magazine?
I'm coming from the other direction. I like the stock launcher and everything Touchwiz and S-pen related, I just want the swipe-up My Magazine feature to be disabled. Is there a way to do this without rooting or using a different launcher? Thanks in advance,
Nate
N8shon said:
I'm coming from the other direction. I like the stock launcher and everything Touchwiz and S-pen related, I just want the swipe-up My Magazine feature to be disabled. Is there a way to do this without rooting or using a different launcher? Thanks in advance,
Nate
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Click to collapse
I tried to remove my magazine with titanium backup. Now touchwiz crashes when i press home button on home screen.
Sent from my SM-N9000Q using Tapatalk now Free
I thought I heard that there was a way to Launch 'My Magazine' using gesture/swipe up in Nova Settings. All I see there is the APP DRAWER. Can you launch specific apps in the launch draw (like 'my magazine') using gesture/swipe up ?
as long as the app is available in the gesture settings it'll launch it. i know smart launcher does and i currently have it set for that. i'll probably change it since i use feedly far more than i'll use the my magazine app.
edit: oh snap! i didn't pay attention that i posted in the note 3 forum. i thought i was in the gn10.1 2014 forum, lol. either way it's all the same.
I found the setting for 'My Magazine' but unfortunately Swipe Up is not doing anything (& swipe up in nova says "my magazine" now). Perhaps NOVA needs a restart. Trying that next.
My gestures work -in my use i find if you make sure you touch a part of the screen not covered by a widget or button then do the motion -the action gets carried out
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
MistaSergio said:
My gestures work -in my use i find if you make sure you touch a part of the screen not covered by a widget or button then do the motion -the action gets carried out
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
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That was it, thanks sent. I had a widget blocking my swipe, I guess.
Glad it helped! You can even do the gestures along the furthest side of the screen and it'll work so no worries about having to leave a space open to do it!
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
On my Note 2, S-Note had widgets you could create for individual note pages - I believe they were large by default (4x3 maybe?) but with Nova you could resize they and they'd display the whole content of that page - tapping them would open S-Note to that page ready to write. --- and it was -only- the note itself comprising the widget - no border, no menus, no overlaid titles. So if you had a black background and created a note with an all-black background, it would blend in perfectly and just show your writing overlaid on your homescreen.
This was extremely valuable to me. On the Note 3, with the revamped S-Note, there's only one widget option and it's a tabbed overview of all notes/most recent notes. Lots of border crap, wasted space, view of the notebooks, etc. It sucks.
Anyone have a replacement widget to emulate the old one??
not sure if this is what you want but the app "sweet Notes" can do something like that
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I know exactly what you are talking about and it is also the biggest thing I loved in my Note 8. I am also wondering why they removed that feature. I hope there is a way to bring it back.
aresinuae said:
I know exactly what you are talking about and it is also the biggest thing I loved in my Note 8. I am also wondering why they removed that feature. I hope there is a way to bring it back.
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I haven't found anything to help. I'll mail Samsung and may go back to the S Notes version from the Note 2, I have a Titanium backup of it. Hopefully that would work.
Yeah i too noticed the absence of that widget. I really liked it and used it alot on my s4 and s3. If someone figures out a way to bring it back I would like to know as well.
This is the first thing I noticed, and is now part of a very long list of things my Note 2 did much better than my Note 3. I wish it wasn't so popular for companies to constantly change/update things that are steps backwards. Updates should just add new features, not change for the sake of changing.
The closest thing I can find to emulate this missing feature is to take a screenshot of your S-Note page, then add that to your homescreen as a "picture" widget. It's a hassle and doesn't scale as intuitively as the old version of S-Note though.
Note 3 -- Tapatalk
This has bothered me as well, but now I found that you can long-press the folder of the note and choose the option to "add shortcut to home" and then you have direct access to the note via the created icon. You can rename the note's folder first if you choose to do so. Put the icon whereever you choose. Works for me.
balliet said:
This has bothered me as well, but now I found that you can long-press the folder of the note and choose the option to "add shortcut to home" and then you have direct access to the note via the created icon. You can rename the note's folder first if you choose to do so. Put the icon whereever you choose. Works for me.
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Click to collapse
This is just adding an icon, completely different than a versatile, re-sizable, widget containing a scalable image of the note itself.
Note 3 -- Tapatalk
JVogler said:
This is just adding an icon, completely different than a versatile, re-sizable, widget containing a scalable image of the note itself.
Note 3 -- Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I tried restoring old S Note from my Note 2 backups and things broke, so no go on that front - at least just a basic restore didn't work. I didn't dig deeper, but I'm guessing there are various other dependent libraries that have been updated.
I did find an old S Memo flashable zip I had used on the 2, which is what S Note used to be. I might give that a try - I don't recall if it comes with the page widget.
bigillz said:
I tried restoring old S Note from my Note 2 backups and things broke, so no go on that front - at least just a basic restore didn't work. I didn't dig deeper, but I'm guessing there are various other dependent libraries that have been updated.
I did find an old S Memo flashable zip I had used on the 2, which is what S Note used to be. I might give that a try - I don't recall if it comes with the page widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At&t screwed me over, and locked up the Note 3 bootloader pretty tight. Interested if the S Memo works for you though, as I'm sure someone will crack the At&t version soon as the bounty is getting pretty high.
Note 3 -- Tapatalk
No luck. I flashed my S-Memo installed and it ran without crashing anything but wouldn't receive any pen input, as well as a few minor display/function things.
UGH.
Action Memo does this.
I used that feature a lot, for my To Do's. Action Memo does the trick.
nyeazyone said:
Action Memo does this.
I used that feature a lot, for my To Do's. Action Memo does the trick.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, not really the same at all. First, the Action Memo widget is only available on the stock TW launcher - not in Nova/Apex/etc, which makes it a non-starter. Next, it's not resizable, because TW doesn't allow arbitrary widget resizing.
Sucks.
bigillz said:
Unfortunately, not really the same at all. First, the Action Memo widget is only available on the stock TW launcher - not in Nova/Apex/etc, which makes it a non-starter. Next, it's not resizable, because TW doesn't allow arbitrary widget resizing.
Sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally I found a solution...Lecture Notes can make widgets from individual pages resized with Nova Launcher.
Note 3 -- Tapatalk
I'm still looking for a way to do this. I have the latest S5 S Note app and still no S Note Page widget.
Anyone ever find a working solution (not for a different note app)?
bigillz said:
On my Note 2, S-Note had widgets you could create for individual note pages - I believe they were large by default (4x3 maybe?) but with Nova you could resize they and they'd display the whole content of that page - tapping them would open S-Note to that page ready to write. --- and it was -only- the note itself comprising the widget - no border, no menus, no overlaid titles. So if you had a black background and created a note with an all-black background, it would blend in perfectly and just show your writing overlaid on your homescreen.
This was extremely valuable to me. On the Note 3, with the revamped S-Note, there's only one widget option and it's a tabbed overview of all notes/most recent notes. Lots of border crap, wasted space, view of the notebooks, etc. It sucks.
Anyone have a replacement widget to emulate the old one??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try App Memo from play store. I too missed the old widget from my Note 1. the full version of App memo allows you to use an actual memo as a widget, various size options available. Although it has less functions than the S note app, for simple memo's, I find it easier and quicker to use.