Database Users

Galaxy SIII Annoyances Megathread

Galaxy SIII is a fantastic phone, but I seem to be constantly let down by touchwiz stuff. My idea for this thread is a big, long list of annoyances and suggestions for fixing them.
For example, an annoyance: TW doesn't support sorting the app drawer by name, you have to manually sort things and that goes slow. You would have thought they'd have a better way to manage the app drawer by now, but alas, no.
Solution: AppZorter Lite is a free solution that will sort your app drawer for you. Bonus: I like a nice empty app list, so I've gotten it hidden (one thing TW does do) and just launch it from the store when I need to.
Two that I haven't solved:
1) Facebook has filled my contact list with a huge number of people I don't care about, seems to have ignored the "only sync with existing contacts". Removing facebook users is a process: hold on the user, press delete, confirm that it isn't actually deleting.
2) The default MMS app seems to send (or displays?) all picture messages as slideshows. Super lame. Is there any way to turn this out without installing a 3rd party app?

App drawer, menu, view type, alphabetical grid or list.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

lopezpm said:
App drawer, menu, view type, alphabetical grid or list.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
much easier than my solution. skipped right over that option.
Thanks.
Trying out Pansi SMS as my sms solution, though it's a bummer that it doesn't interact with the lock screen like the native one.

kayakyakr said:
Galaxy SIII is a fantastic phone, but I seem to be constantly let down by touchwiz stuff. My idea for this thread is a big, long list of annoyances and suggestions for fixing them.
For example, an annoyance: TW doesn't support sorting the app drawer by name, you have to manually sort things and that goes slow. You would have thought they'd have a better way to manage the app drawer by now, but alas, no.
Solution: AppZorter Lite is a free solution that will sort your app drawer for you. Bonus: I like a nice empty app list, so I've gotten it hidden (one thing TW does do) and just launch it from the store when I need to.
Two that I haven't solved:
1) Facebook has filled my contact list with a huge number of people I don't care about, seems to have ignored the "only sync with existing contacts". Removing facebook users is a process: hold on the user, press delete, confirm that it isn't actually deleting.
2) The default MMS app seems to send (or displays?) all picture messages as slideshows. Super lame. Is there any way to turn this out without installing a 3rd party app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you goto phone contacts menu display you can remove fb contacts for ppl you dont want

Scrolling wallpapers!!!! (Already made a thread for it)
The app drawer thing is why I didn't use the TW launcher on the Epic. At least now I can install Apex or Nova in the system/app folder.
Network errors, Sprints fault, not the phone.
Oh, I asked that S-Voice b*tch where she was from and she didn't understand. Guess that's what I get for hitting on my phone. :crying:

kayakyakr said:
For example, an annoyance: TW doesn't support sorting the app drawer by name, you have to manually sort things and that goes slow. You would have thought they'd have a better way to manage the app drawer by now, but alas, no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appdrawer -> Menu button -> View Type -> Alphabetical grid
nvm, someone already posted it.

TouchWiz in general is just a piece of ****. Still running the Epic here and I cursed my phone every day until I put launcher pro on it and it was manageable. Didn't actually like my phone until I rooted and got CM9. My wife is getting the S3 upgrade but CM9 will go on as soon as it is available. She knows how ****ty TW is.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

danipoak said:
TouchWiz in general is just a piece of ****. Still running the Epic here and I cursed my phone every day until I put launcher pro on it and it was manageable. Didn't actually like my phone until I rooted and got CM9. My wife is getting the S3 upgrade but CM9 will go on as soon as it is available. She knows how ****ty TW is.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW isn't that bad, it's manageable but obviously they are better options.

Magic Oreo said:
TW isn't that bad, it's manageable but obviously they are better options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh. To each his own. I used to own an iphone and found it boring and featureless. TW just reminds me of the iphone too much. Not as bad as miui though.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

try out handcent messaging app. Your right the stock messaging app is crap

i must be one of the few people in the community that like the galaxy s3 touchwiz and "motion". Maybe I'm just on that "new phone" high.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

Anyone seeing black ink spots on screen. They are invisible but I noticed them when I had the lights off and went into the settings. I can see some black ink spots
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

I hate the home button. Hate

jvjidNite said:
Anyone seeing black ink spots on screen. They are invisible but I noticed them when I had the lights off and went into the settings. I can see some black ink spots
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the i9300 thread in general there is a topic on it
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

No swiping the notification bar to adjust brightness.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

I wish when you pressed the home button it was a lkttle quicker
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

bmoreboy02 said:
I wish when you pressed the home button it was a lkttle quicker
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off double ppress for svoice. It is quicker. The reason food the delay is that it is giving the user a chance to double press
Sent from my SPH-L710

Pissed that BB had no accessories when i picked up the phone and i now have 2 micro scratches on the screen from screen sliding along a piece of paper on my desk at work.
I hate the purple/baby blue rim around the phone.
Waiting for a black TPU bumper and black metal battery cover replacement from china to resolve these issues.
Outside of that- much more impressed with the form factor than that of the EVO LTE which i traded for it. The S3 is very comfortable in hand.
Phone is way too slippery!
BTW- Touchwiz sucks! i installed Apex while waiting to check out at BestBuy.

knives of ice said:
I hate the home button. Hate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't hate the home button but would have preferred all capacitive buttons.
____________
Just Flash It !!!

Wi-Fi turns on by itself
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

Some help filling up the Nexus screens?

Hi guys,
First, I'm a developer who spends a lot of time with his nose into terminal windows and editors... so please forgive me if I'm used to the "boring" stuff. I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions what widgets should I use to fill few of the tablet screens. So far, the main apps I use on the tablet are the Terminal (go figure) to manage my Linux boxes and my 3 Google Apps accounts (drive, mail, etc.)
I looked on the internet at those "popular widgets" postings and they all show crappy stuff like Google Play, Beautiful Widgets, Facebook etc. With no disrespect, they are useless to me. I'm looking more into "geek" factor, like some nice tablet memory/kernel stats and other cool widgets I could make use of. I know is hard what I ask but I'm looking for input from tech people who use the tablet to manage mostly Linux related stuff, not just the Google Play library.
It sucks to have all those screens empty, thank you for your help.
Floren

You could actually design a fancy-nothing widget by yourself that could show random stuff, like stats, load, cool pictures, links to websites, etc, periodically. Resizable, and repicable. That would be nice.
Sent from my GT-I9103 using xda app-developers app

For a self-proclaimed dev, this guy sure is lazy. ****, app inventor takes no time.
Sent from my LG-C800 using xda app-developers app

ace7196 said:
For a self-proclaimed dev, this guy sure is lazy. ****, app inventor takes no time.
Sent from my LG-C800 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't write Android apps. I did wrote from scratch the XDA search you use it every day and helped the guys to optimize their servers, so you can post your content easier. Thanks for the nice insults.

Yea wth?
Anyway. I suggest Android Pro Widgets. Its free but I recommend buying it for themeing ablilities. They are scrollable Widgets for Facebook, twitter, calendar, favorites, etc. I have a page dedicated to these alone. I like my main homescreen very minimalistic.
Outside of that I use some sort of weather widget. I don't listen to music often and my status bar has toggles. Not sure what else you would need.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Could try minimalistic text and create your own text widgets showing stats of the tablet.

Does anyone got any good music widgets?

Battery Monitor Widget Pro and System Tuner Pro have some decent geeky widgets. Not great though. I'd like to find some more too.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

TECK said:
I don't write Android apps. I did wrote from scratch the XDA search you use it every day and helped the guys to optimize their servers, so you can post your content easier. Thanks for the nice insults.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry about responses like that one. They are a dime a dozen and provide nothing to these forums/communities. Best to ignore nay sayers...
Some suggestions for widgets would definitely be a weather widget, gmail/email widget, play music widget. Just to name a few a lot of it is personal preference from what I see...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Has anyone tried elixr2? Has quite a few widgets like the OP asked for.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

dante32278 said:
Has anyone tried elixr2? Has quite a few widgets like the OP asked for.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You beat me too it. Elixr2 is good. I used to use it on my gtablet while testing roms. It was really helpful

I'm sorry if you understood my comment as an insult. I was actually giving a nice idea. I have developed some apps for diferrent purposes, and I found your post interesting - some widgets to beautify your screens. I could simply not mention any idea, but you know, I like brainstorming.
Sent from my GT-I9103 using xda app-developers app

I made a widget once for a friend that showed either his stats or his teams stats from World Community Grid, but it only seems to work on 2.1 and I'm not a Dev....no idea how to fix it. LOL
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

TECK said:
Hi guys,
First, I'm a developer who spends a lot of time with his nose into terminal windows and editors... so please forgive me if I'm used to the "boring" stuff. I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions what widgets should I use to fill few of the tablet screens. So far, the main apps I use on the tablet are the Terminal (go figure) to manage my Linux boxes and my 3 Google Apps accounts (drive, mail, etc.)
I looked on the internet at those "popular widgets" postings and they all show crappy stuff like Google Play, Beautiful Widgets, Facebook etc. With no disrespect, they are useless to me. I'm looking more into "geek" factor, like some nice tablet memory/kernel stats and other cool widgets I could make use of. I know is hard what I ask but I'm looking for input from tech people who use the tablet to manage mostly Linux related stuff, not just the Google Play library.
It sucks to have all those screens empty, thank you for your help.
Floren
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I strongly recommend Elixir Widgets 2. Highly customizable, lots of options (more than any other), sips battery and CPU.
Here is my main 'reporting' page.
Also I reduced to 3 home screens... psychological reduction in empty space.

josjator said:
I'm sorry if you understood my comment as an insult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was quoting ace7196, not you. Thanks though.

How much would you miss tablet UI?

Apparently it's going. I will really miss it. I don't think there is any need for two thick black bars on a 7 inch device. I like having the extra space and I like the aesthetics of the tablet UI, especially with a reduced nav bar. I don't know why they are removing tablet UI and if the devs can do anything about it. I hope they can! Will you miss it too or is it just me?
Edit: Turns out it's just a rumour, phew!

Most will miss the 10" tablet UI but honestly, I don't expect that I will. The centered buttons are not that big a deal and the "Odd" way the Nexus 7's notification system lurks around, unobtrusive enough that I probably won't care.
I will be more interested in things like Miracast support and web browsing performance than I will be in the UI changes.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

StrangerWeather said:
Apparently it's going. I will really miss it. I don't think there is any need for two thick black bars on a 7 inch device. I like having the extra space and I like the aesthetics of the tablet UI, especially with a reduced nav bar. I don't know why they are removing tablet UI and if the devs can do anything about it. I hope they can! Will you miss it too or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a bunch of ROMs with tablet UI actually. I'm using smooth ROM with it and its irreplaceable

I know, I'm on PA, but once the update kicks in the ROMs won't have tablet UI. Correct me if I'm wrong!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

I will miss it alot. I do not see why they would get rid of something like that.
Btw where did you see it was removed and are we talking about the 4.2 update?
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

I thought I would hate it when I first saw it
But honestly, I like it. I was forced to use it for the first month before I rooted my n7, and I got used to it. Then I installed a tabui ROM and imo it doesn't work properly on a 7 inch screen. I know a lot will disagree but I am just sayin
I use the normal phone ui now, its just more consistent and easier to use for me. If I want more screen space, I will remove the bars with 'expand desktop' on the ROMs I use
Sent from my Nexus 7 using the xda app

Devs will port it over it's not going anywhere
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

DirtyShroomz said:
Devs will port it over it's not going anywhere
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
things i hate about standard nexus 7 UI
no quick access to brightness. in tablet UI i can quickly tap the time in lower left hand corner and adjust brightness on the fly.. cant do that with nexus 7 UI
i hate how i dont get Tablet APPs and instead get the phone app for youtube gmail etc..
those are the only things that make me to to tablet ui..
if i could have quick access to Brightness AND native tablet youtube and gmail apps in the standard nexus 7 UI then id be fine.
i really do love the expanded youtube app in tablet UI 4 nice rows in portrait mode compared to phone youtube app. yuck.

Yea the tablet mode is supreme. If it doesn't "work" right then it isn't implemented right. EOS has it so stupidly simple that it is a godsend. You can enable/disable it on the fly and it doesn't screw with your other apps. Just combines the bars into 1.
The notification pulldown menu on the stock UI is horrible. Needs fullscreen or something. Looks tacked on like an afterthought.
I will be disappointed once 4.2 hits and it goes away. Remember tablet UI has to be present to unlock it. Google may remove it completely to streamline their OSs.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

player911 said:
Yea the tablet mode is supreme. If it doesn't "work" right then it isn't implemented right. EOS has it so stupidly simple that it is a godsend. You can enable/disable it on the fly and it doesn't screw with your other apps. Just combines the bars into 1.
The notification pulldown menu on the stock UI is horrible. Needs fullscreen or something. Looks tacked on like an afterthought.
I will be disappointed once 4.2 hits and it goes away. Remember tablet UI has to be present to unlock it. Google may remove it completely to streamline their OSs.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone somewhere will find a way...
Sent from my Nexus 7

xopher.hunter said:
I will miss it alot. I do not see why they would get rid of something like that.
Btw where did you see it was removed and are we talking about the 4.2 update?
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, apparently the update doesn't allow for tablet UI. I read about it over on the PA thread.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

StrangerWeather said:
Yes, apparently the update doesn't allow for tablet UI. I read about it over on the PA thread.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Link?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

It's all over the place in the ROMs threads but there is a discussion kinda starting here in the PA thread:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33692765 . Reading this again there seems to be some uncertainty about it. So that's something I guess...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

No one knows what Google have done with the code and the xml layouts until they release 4.2 sources. Until then your guess is as good as mine.
Sent from my Xperia T using Tapatalk 2

Action Launcher

So is anyone currently using this new launcher? It's nice to see something new so I would love to hear some feedback from you guys
Action Launcher

4$? I'll rather save up that other dollar and buy myself some lunch at subway
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

It wouldn't be your app by any chance would it?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

blade30p said:
It wouldn't be your app by any chance would it?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not mine. Thinking of giving it a test drive once more features crop up though
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Ngo93 said:
So is anyone currently using this new launcher? It's nice to see something new so I would love to hear some feedback from you guys
Action Launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have it, it is very nice, not too many features yet, and it has a very noticeable lag time. Otherwise it looks great and has good ideas, just not implemented to the top standards yet.

Brendan12695 said:
I have it, it is very nice, not too many features yet, and it has a very noticeable lag time. Otherwise it looks great and has good ideas, just not implemented to the top standards yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't noticed any lag with it And I agree it looks great and has great ideas, but it's just lacking in features. The way I use my phone tho, the missing features don't bother me.

It's a launcher developed by Chris Lacy. He does good work. I use his twitter app, tweet lanes. It's one of the better twitter clients imho. He's very responsive to user feedback. This launcher is in its infancy so it'll get better
muffin approved this message.....

If in its infancy than why charge so much?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

$4 is the going rate. It's the same price as apex and Nova even when they were brand new. It's very nice because it's actually different than the standard android launchers besides obviously the $10-17 ones.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I'm using it currently. I like it as it's simple but a bit different to what you normally get. Gotta have the apps list transparent as well as the homescreen bar.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

It has become my daily driver. I love the smoothness and the simplicity of it. Very fast too work with and look good. No lag at all here. The covers are great too. Specially for phone and browser.
Tapatalked

I'm using this one since today on my Xperia Play ( My N4 hasn't arrived yet.. Germany - 'preordered' ****up )
And it runs smoothly even on this old device.

What stopped me from using it is the app drawer in the top left. It'd be a nuisance for me to reach all the way up there every time I needed to access the drawer o_0
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

droidmakespwn said:
$4 is the going rate. It's the same price as apex and Nova even when they were brand new. It's very nice because it's actually different than the standard android launchers besides obviously the $10-17 ones.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova and Apex are free, there are paid versions which you can unlock certain features. Completely different to Action Launcher which doesn't offer a free/trial version.
At least with Nova/Apex you can see how it runs on your device over a day or two compared to Action Launcher which you basically have 15 minutes to trial it and if you don't like it you only have 15 minutes to request a refund.

Ngo93 said:
What stopped me from using it is the app drawer in the top left. It'd be a nuisance for me to reach all the way up there every time I needed to access the drawer o_0
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was concerned about this too - I think you can open the app drawer with the home button, but some apps you want will still be at the top of the list. Infact, if you use the A-Z most will be at the top.
Does anyone know if there is a way around this (e.g, when you press the letter they are offset from the top by a couple of apps)?
I will certainly keep an eye on this, I was quite impressed with the frequent updates for tweetlanes.

The app drawer isn't really on the top left, you can press the home button and it will open, and you can also just swipe right when you are on your "left most" home screen.
I use this on my Nexus 7, and I think its great, good to see something different and not horrifically overpriced!
For me, all it needs is a landscape option, I wouldn't really use landscape on my N4, but I would use it quite a bit on my N7!

Brendan12695 said:
I have it, it is very nice, not too many features yet, and it has a very noticeable lag time. Otherwise it looks great and has good ideas, just not implemented to the top standards yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got zero lag on mine and Chris Lacy fixed the FC when adding widgets. This launcher is my daily driver now. The price is awesome considering that you pay about the same for Nova/Apex too...
Enlightened with Paranoid Android on the Nexus 4 and XDA Premium

aSquard said:
This launcher is my daily driver now. The price is awesome considering that you pay about the same for Nova/Apex too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely different.

Why are mobile phone users so cheap in general? Skip your pizza next Friday.
Tapatalked

dannejanne said:
It has become my daily driver. I love the smoothness and the simplicity of it. Very fast too work with and look good. No lag at all here. The covers are great too. Specially for phone and browser.
Tapatalked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't figure out how to make covers. Any help?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Request] Devs pls unite!

Hey everyone!
This phone is awesome but it has IMHO a small fallback which is the lack of some true multitasking capabilities.
What I mean is although we have Qslide it is most probably useless if we can't run any app in it.
Just like Galaxy Note series have the Multiwindow manager app or Spwn window app that allows just any app to run in this mode, we should have this on our G2 with Qslide.
It will be awesome. Just imagine you are playing a game and you get whatsapp so you check it on the go and continue playing. Or browsing the web and you check the gmail you just got without leaving the browser.
BTW that's what I do with Halo on Paranoid android on my Nexus 4. However it's a waste to dumb the awesome stock Rom of the G2 to just get this advantage.
Please devs consider this as a serious and urgent request. I know many want this.
Hope I was a dev, I would have helped but I am willing to test.
Thanks and regards!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Well looks like I was wrong! It looks like nobody wants this feature!
But what is bugging me is that with over 60 views, I didn't get any "+1" or "agreed" replies, or even "no need" or "STFU" replies or any kind of reply.
Have a nice day everyone!

+1. Nice to have Whatsup on the top and scrolling through news for example. Nice feature to get. I am sure someday we can get it. ))

It's probably just a matter of the apps being built for it, and tricking the Qslide into letting you use non LG apps for it.
The Devs did it fairly quickly on my Galaxy Note 10.1

I'm afraid it's not THAT easy for us as it was on the note. I had it on my note 10.1 and it's now available on note 3. Also let's not forget about the half-screen double apps running at same time (i dunno what it's called ); they also modified it to allow any app do that.
Wish it happens anytime soon!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Life Engineer said:
I'm afraid it's not THAT easy for us as it was on the note. I had it on my note 10.1 and it's now available on note 3. Also let's not forget about the half-screen double apps running at same time (i dunno what it's called ); they also modified it to allow any app do that.
Wish it happens anytime soon!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand why someone would even want qslide when you have the native android multi tasking abilities?

I told you why bro. It's just like Halo if you ever tried it on Paranoid android Roms. The native multitasking requires you to quite one app to be able to use the other.
Qslide (and multiwindow in note) allows you to run an app simultaneously while you are using another app and on top of it.
It's much much more convenient. If you've never tried it I can understand your thoughts!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Life Engineer said:
I told you why bro. It's just like Halo if you ever tried it on Paranoid android Roms. The native multitasking requires you to quite one app to be able to use the other.
Qslide (and multiwindow in note) allows you to run an app simultaneously while you are using another app and on top of it.
It's much much more convenient. If you've never tried it I can understand your thoughts!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't deny your point at all. Once I tried the Halo from PA I really think this guy bring the multi-tasking to another level by other means. Brilliant feature! Custom ROM with Halo is the first choice of my flashing hobby by then.
However, with LG G2 I would like to stay with the stock. It has really good features with ease to access and use that makes all the things so convenience. I would also like to see very much the implementation of Qslide with any 3rd party apps...or Halo ported to stock ROM since it's open source now