Database Users

[Q] best way to start w/vibrant

OK, so I had a Vibrant and spend some time trying to tweak it to resolve the short battery life and GPS problems, however, at the end of my two-week "buyers remorse" period it still wasn't working very well (in fact, the last day it was working significantly worse - using Google Nav crashed the thing 4 times in a row!), so I took it back rather than get stuck w/it for a two-year contract.
However, looking at the alternatives, I'm not convinced there is anything better than a WORKING Vibrant, and reading more on various forums it sounds like I may have just had a bad unit ... or not applied the right tweaks to it. So I'm thinking I may get another unit and give it another try. But before I do I'd like to know the best way to prep/tweak the thing straight out of the box so I can start from the best possible baseline. I'm pretty tech savy so I'm not afraid of rooting or removing bloatware but I also don't want to spend the whole time trying to install some esoteric custom Android build. Can anybody provide a short list of the best things to do to improve the over all phone performance and reliability?
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Root
Remove bloat
Install autostarts
Install LauncherPro (runs better than adw imo)
Follow the sticky for other random tips
Don't screw around with face book sync
Install a custom rom soon (i don't think it's prime time, yet)

which bloatware apps can i safely remove? i have read a lot of warnings about being careful what you remove. how do you do it - is it a simple matter of deleting a file, or is there more to it?

so can anybody recommmend which apps to remove, and how to do it w/out shooting myself in the foot?!
thanks!
joe

joecooler said:
so can anybody recommmend which apps to remove, and how to do it w/out shooting myself in the foot?!
thanks!
joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=726637&highlight=Stock
Or just flash Eugene's Vibrant4 that comes with tweaks and removed bloatware (find it in dev forum)
A good way to start is to read the STICKIED post. it has a lot of the information that you're looking for there

I would just use Root Explorer to remove the apps, or Titanium Backup does this also I think. This is all in the sticky.

I am new to Android and have been learning the ropes and tweaking slowly. I followed the recommendation to try ADW or Launcherpro and am glad I did. I happened to give Launcherpro a try first and have found its ability to customize the dock great. I would recommend giving it a shot if you are trying to customize the phone to your liking.

Is my phone broken/bad? Q scores <900

Is something wrong with my phone? My Quadrant scores are NO where NEAR where they should be. I just got a whopping 872 I avg 900-1000. I know it might not matter, and that those scores can be manipulated. But a few have suggested this might actually indicate that my phone is messed up and if so – I want to get another one from Sprint.
Basics – I am rooted, custom rom (myn’s), stock htc10 kernel. I don’t know what other information is need to get help with this. I have tried running Q scores as soon as I do a wipe cache/dalvik thinking maybe it’s just slow after that stuff clogs it up. Same result. I have tried moving as much stuff off my sd card and now leave about 1.5 available ( I’ve slimmed my music down as much as I’m willing to do . I’ve tried running the Q score with the kernel set to performance, etc. I saw 1250-1350 one time, but I was using a kernel that was so unstable on my phone I had to ditch it pretty fast (multiple reboots, severe lag, etc).
I also wonder if there is something wrong with my phone because it does not seem to be able to handle anything other than the stock kernel very well. The phone completely spazzzes out with almost every kernel I have tried except for two. I am happy with the stock and have no complaints about battery life. I use the phone when I want and how I want and easily go 24hrs without having to charge. But the fact that only stock and 2 other kernels (king’11 and netarchys) are stable makes me wonder….
If anyone has any suggestions, opinion, thoughts, etc I would appreciate. I have searched and not seen this specific issue addressed.
If this helps, when I check my Running Services, this is what I see and this list varies very little.
Blik Calendar Widget
Y5 Battery Saver
More Icons Widget
AndLock
Handscent SMS
Antivirus
Calendar
Com.smithmicro.dm (have no idea what this is)
New and Weather (I have use the glass clock)
Google Service Framework (cloud to device; messaging)
HTC DM (no idea)
HTC IQAgent (no idea)
Voicemail
Ultra Keyboard

Def sounds sluggy.
My recommendation would unfortunately be to start from scratch. Backup only needed apps that you may not be able to download from the market and completely wipe, flash a stock OTA root ROM, completely wipe again, and flash whatever ROM you like after that.
I know it sounds like a huge PITA, but it should definitely help out.
I had a similar situation once, and this did the trick.

Ugh. Ok. I can try that. I did a full wipe/factory reset less than 2 weeks ago. I use Titanium so getting it all back up is not bad. I also sync to AppBrain so at least if I start with a clean slate I would know what Apps I did have.
Thanks for the help and suggestion.

to eliminate as many variables as possible, i'd do a nand backup, install your ROM of choice with no additional apps except the ones you use to benchmark and perform your tests. give it an hour or so after you flash to let the phone settle down (sync, etc.). you may have apps may be hogging resources or be running in the background (i.e. y5, antivirus) which will effect your tests. report back.

I will try that way first
Yes - antivirus and Y5 are always running in the background. Always.
ha - maybe I'll freeze most of the apps I listed as Running Services, wipe cache/dalvik, reboot and THEN see what I get. But I'm not ever going to realically run my phone without Y5, Handscent, UltraKeyboard, antivirus, etc. I could probably get rid of the More Icons widget now that I have Apps Organizer, but I really really like having one, 1/3 page widget with 8 icones that have ALL my apps organized.

Does your phone seem slow? That is what I would base the speed of my phone on not some q-score. What if you never ran the test would you be concerned.?.?

I would try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=836728 after your nand backup. That has the latest ota, kernel and you would not loose root.

I'll have time on Sunday to try some of the suggestions. Thanks again for the help, I really do appreciate it. I was with a friend this evening, his Evo is rooted and running Myn's rls3 just like mine. He scored around 1300.
And no - my phone doesn't seem slow to me at all. But I've also not used another to know how it might "feel" if there is a difference. I more curious than anything - I tend to research things to death just so I'll know. And I find it curious that my phone is both low on Q scores and can't handle many kernels without it spazzing out.

Worth rooting and using custom ROMs?

Hi,
My warranty is running out so I'm on the fence: look for a new phone or go the rooting and custom ROM path and continue using Note 4.
So as we have now MM and some updated apps, air command and other stuff is updated.. so what additional benefits custom ROM could give?
Speed? I do some gaming and can't complain that Note 4 is slow. It's really fast.
Disable more apps? That would be a benefit coz now not all apps can be disabled.
Remove quick connect buttons?
What else am I missing?
Launcher tweaks? But we use Nova. You don't need root for Nova
What else?
Thanks!!!

I'm using stock MM 6.0.1 (DPB1) and it's great. Still a fantastic phone for 2016 and really fast. I only root for Titanium Backup to freeze all the crap and to boost the headphone output level.
Only wish is for universal DPI adjustment as I can't be arsed messing about with xposed framework and the like but it's not a biggie.
You can root without installing a custom ROM and it takes literally 2 minutes.

What exactly do you freeze which cannot be disabled in Application Manager? And what benefits those freezed app give?
Will Greenify give any noticable battery life? As I understood Greenify needs root as well.

Here's a list of my disabled apps.
https://imgur.com/a/X0Zjv
What you freezed with tibackup?

For me the main reason for rooting is to be able to get the huge games I have downloaded over the years to all fit onto my ext SD card. I also enjoy the ability to use apps like Cerberus,, Greenify and SD Maid.... etc. to their absolute full potential.

I root phones because I want things the way I want them. For example I don't like the quick connect logos when I lower the screen to see any alerts. I also don't like how the phone warns me that the volume is getting loud. As if I don't know how.loud the phone is. Little thing like that drive me crazy. I root the phone so I can deal with those little announces like that.

If you have to ask whether its worth rooting or not, then I am not sure you are in the right place man. Said it plenty times before, saying it again, I don't really see the point of using Android without rooting, unless you need that KNOX thingy. Why? I can't even start to mention. Take AdAway for example, and that's the first step only of a journey of countless steps.
Custom ROMs on the other hand? If you see a really good dev, then yes, like Arya, or Omega etc., otherwise no comments.

ithehappy said:
If you have to ask whether its worth rooting or not, then I am not sure you are in the right place man. Said it plenty times before, saying it again, I don't really see the point of using Android without rooting, unless you need that KNOX thingy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if one isn't rooting, then one might as well use...what, an iOS device? That doesn't make sense to me. There are plenty of compelling reasons to use Android over alternate mobile OS'es, even if one is using unrooted Android. Even if one is using unrooted, unmodified, BAD skinned Android.

What exactly do you freeze which cannot be disabled in Application Manager? And what benefits those freezed app give?
I have 96 apps frozen. Mostly pre-installed crap and many system apps including all the wireless/remote/sharing stuff I don't need. You need to choose what's important to you but it makes a massive difference to battery life.

If you don't know what is rooting for, you should forget about it.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I know what rooting is and I've used it in my previous phones (Nexus mainly) for many many things.
Why? Because Nexus didn't have all the features I needed.
And now Note 4 has battery optimization feature (so no need for Greenify), all those notification buttons, quick buttons, side buttons you name it (no custom rom is needed), basic backup function works to Samsung cloud (it partially covers tibackup) etc etc.
Well.. AdAway is a different thing.

Looking for a fresh start - Rooted N910T, Maximum OvrDriVE MM v3.2, heavily tweaked

I have a rooted Galaxy Note 4 (T-Mobile), with TWRP recovery, and the Maximum OvrDriVE custom ROM installed. I used several apps to perform various tweaks on my device, and lost track of what all tweaks I've done, over the last couple of years. Somewhere along the lines, I think I used some tweaks that are either incompatible with each other, or with the device itself. It has been spontaneously rebooting at random, for several months now, and I've gotten frustrated enough to do a full factory reset.
However, it's been so long since I rooted, and first installed a custom ROM, that I need some help, particularly since OvrDriVE is no longer developing for the Note 4. I'm looking for a replacement ROM, with the following qualifications:
- Overall TouchWiz/Samsung Experience, or at least those features unique to the Note line, or even Samsung/Galaxy in general.
- COMPATIBILITY! I need for the ROM (or launcher) to not break apps or features. I still want to be able to use the full functionality of the S-Pen, split-screen apps, THE CAMERA, ability to write to external storage, all wireless connectivity, etc. I'm fine with a ROM ported from a later Note series device, as long as it doesn't break anything.
- Reduced bloat: I don't necessarily want ALL "bloat" apps removed, but I DO want to know what each actually DOES. I want space freed up, but I also don't want to reduce/eliminate functionality. I'm perfectly fine with adding GApps - either individually, or as a package - after installation.
- Customizable capacitive buttons functions. I realize this was probably a feature of some app, but I can't remember what app/tweak/whatever I used, for this customization.
- Various root/ROM options/preferences which, while currently made available by root, would be made more accessible.
- Ongoing development. I don't want to install a ROM, only to have it turn into abandonware, 3-4 months from now
I probably want plenty of other things, but those are the core features I want to keep. Please let me know what ROM(s) come closest to meeting the above requirements.
I prefer to do as much of this as possible from the device itself, but if connecting it to my PC would yield better results, I'm more than willing to do so. I'd like step-by-step instructions, when possible, too. I want to do a full factory reset, and after installing everything, I want the latest versions of TWRP recovery, a custom ROM fitting the above requirements, and a custom launcher (I currently use Nova Launcher, and see no reason to change). I've already backed up all my apps and contact/sms data, so I'm ready to wipe and reinstall, as soon as I've got a ROM picked out, and good, detailed instructions.
TL;DR
I want to wipe my phone, and start over with a new custom ROM that is as close to the stock Samsung Experience as possible. I want to remove/reduce bloatware, without sacrificing features/functionality unique to the Note series or Samsung devices in general. I want good, detailed, step-by-step instructions.

Have you lost any functionality when switching to a custom ROM? (i.e. Lineage)

Hello,
I want to start by excusing myself for asking such a question. Probably some will tell me to just start trying ROM's. To those I would say that I don't want to spend days trying different ROM's when others have the answers already.
I like to customize my phone and I was very happy with my setup (OxygenOS, Magisk, Xposed, GravityBox, Flat Style Bar Indicators) until my several apps (including banking) started disliking Xposed. So now I am only left with OxygenOS, Magisk and a very limited number of customizations. This made me think about the possibility of getting back in the game of using a custom ROM, most probably LineageOS, which I used and liked for many years on my previous phones.
As I was saying, I don't want to waste too much time blindly trying a custom ROM a day, but ask you guys:
Did you feel that when you've switched to a custom ROM you missed something from Oxygen OS? Did you find any functionality that was only working well or correctly in OxygenOS?
I am asking this knowing that for example with smartphones from other OEM's the camera might give worse shots with custom ROM's.
Thanks!

Just have a look at rom video review thread and the thread for similar questions I mentioned both here https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/help/rom-using-t3791697/post76543724

VoLTE and WiFi Calling support is probably better on OOS right now. Custom ROMs on some devices are behind the curve on this.

you'll loose oos camera .. not a big deal specially if u use gcam but still i feel like stock cam is more reliable

Yes, 3gb of ram seems to be the limit on any lineage or aosp rom. Even with a build prop edit of more background tasks and light oom killing or none and keeping ram management light my phone would refuse to hold background apps past about 8-10 no matter how many fresh installs or updates the rom went through.