Pretty sure I should root, but should I switch from TouchWiz? - Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just got a Rogers Note 4 in Canada and spent the past few days customizing things to my liking. I am a minimalist and using Nova, ZUI Locker and Whicons (and a new Dialer) I have everything looking great. The only thing I can't stand is the Notification bar pull down thing. I can't change anything about it without rooting and it's insanely ugly. I'd also like to change the status bar. So, I should probably root and use Xposed (I think?) to change that to my liking. I'm a very aesthetically driven person and rooting just to change that fugly bar is enough reason for me.
But on the subject of switching from TW, I'm not really sure what to do. My last phone was a 5 year old Windows 7 phone so this one has been a dream so far. It feels snappy, I don't notice any lag, and there isn't a lot of bloatware that I can see. Some S stuff I'll probably never use, but storage out of the box was only a few GB (sits at 6GB atm with some large games installed) and RAM usage after a boot is around 60%.
Anyway with all these things considered, should I bother changing ROMs? I know people hate TW, but other than the Notification/Status bar being unchangeable, I can't really find any issues. Just looking for some thoughts from the experts.

Related

MIUI rom - why?

I've just checked out a couple of vids on Youtube of the MIUI rom on the Mytouch 4G. It has some nice looking animations, but I don't otherwise get why an Android user would want this rom. It looks like an iPhone - the system takes a big steaming dump of apps all over your home screens, and no launcher. It seems like a step backwards to me.
Can someone who uses this rom please convince me otherwise? What does it have that I can't get elsewhere?
I used to think the same, but when I gave it a bash it was VERY smooth! And with Launcher Pro on it, near perfect.
But there are so many more settings you can fiddle with on CM, I always go back to the best.
Flashed a CM7 nightly this morning,.... AMAAAAZING!
So you CAN install a launcher on it? I got the impression that you couldn't. Hmmm, I might give it a try when I have some time. What's battery life like - one video (admittedly for the MT4G) said it was pretty crap. That same video also said that RAM usage was considerably lower than Sense, which interests me.
Yeah man, standard MIUI launcher is junk IMO, no app drawer? Huh? Definitely get your launcher of choice on there straight away.
From what I remember (since November ish) battery life was ok, RAM was vgood. Yeah give it a bash,... the guy who has done the port has updated quite a few times since I tried it.
I love the standard launcher after 2 years of seeing either stock android launcher or ones similar to it , it is a nice change of pace
I didn't like miui at first but it grew on me. I was constantly trying to find the app launcher it runs fast and you can customize the heck out of it!
Sent from my Pear phone.
I was really impressed with it, actually. Very lightweight on the system.
If you don't like the lack of drawer (I hate it...thinking a hybrid with an app drawer would be perfection) you can get stuff tucked away in folders, or use launcher pro.
It just looks and feels so fresh and clean...but it's just not what I personally love about Android. A great option that's totally different.
It's also a great UI for iphone converters...
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
setspeed said:
I've just checked out a couple of vids on Youtube of the MIUI rom on the Mytouch 4G. It has some nice looking animations, but I don't otherwise get why an Android user would want this rom. It looks like an iPhone - the system takes a big steaming dump of apps all over your home screens, and no launcher. It seems like a step backwards to me.
Can someone who uses this rom please convince me otherwise? What does it have that I can't get elsewhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly it, MIUI is just like an I phone without restrictions! You can add, take away and do anything You want with it maintaining its beauty and speed! Ive tryed every rom, after playing w/ rom's UI for a few minutes I went bak to MIUI. Theres nothing like it try MIUI and you'll never go bak.
MIUI = ew
That's just me though, I'm a CM fanboii
omarsalmin said:
MIUI = ew
That's just me though, I'm a CM fanboii
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm inclined to agree with you. I gave it a try, but those iPhone-esque menus had me running for the hills - it just seemed wrong!
In the last couple of days I've been through the stock Sense rom (too heavy on the hardware), MIUI (just no), Enomther's Official (battery life poor) and CM 6.1.1 (battery life poor). I'm currently draining the battery so I can charge properly and wipe batt stats on CM - hopefully that will help. But if not then I'm going to have to roll back to the stock rom, which is a real shame because all the others run so quick even at 800mhz...
setspeed said:
I've just checked out a couple of vids on Youtube of the MIUI rom on the Mytouch 4G. It has some nice looking animations, but I don't otherwise get why an Android user would want this rom. It looks like an iPhone - the system takes a big steaming dump of apps all over your home screens, and no launcher. It seems like a step backwards to me.
Can someone who uses this rom please convince me otherwise? What does it have that I can't get elsewhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly it, MIUI is just like an I phone without restrictions! You can add, take away and do anything You want with it maintaining its beauty and speed! Ive tryed every rom, after playing w/ rom's UI for a few minutes I went bak to MIUI. Theres nothing like it try MIUI and you'll never go bak.
Try It!
i have been running CyanM since went to Android with tthe N1 and I can say its making me think! I like the polish. The initial setup was a little slower because of the lack of app draw and having to tuck things away. After that I can say I am really digging the Rom
I really like the notification put-down with the toggles at the bottom. Looks so good and super functional.
Edit: but I use virtuous as my daily.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I've finally settled on a ROM - Sparksmod Extra HotSauce. Basically CMod with loads of pretty icons and animations. I love it so much, it's satisfied both the need for speed/lightweight on RAM, and having the eye candy to show off.
Install a decent laucher like ADW EX or LauncherPro (which now has transition animations too), and it blows anything else away. I can't recommend it highly enough. My iPhone-toting friends are jealous as well.
At first I didn't like it... Then it grew on me.... Then I didn't like it again (had too many apps on homescreen)... Now I like it again..... I like just installed Touchwiz launcher (I know.. Wut? ) and love it again IMO Touchwiz launcher is like MIUI's with an app drawer xD (I prefer though )
my question is : why not
the easy theme-ing + change icons / pull down widget = win
if u dont like the iphone-ish look, put ADW EX on top of it
i do like how i can organize stuff with the folders
that + the ease of uninstalling apps when i dont like them,
it sucks having to wait to go through setting and wait 30 secs to generate the whole list.
oh the smoothness too
Seriously... why not?? I use miui for a few reasons..
1. Bad ass lock screen.. by far the best. IMHO (Music control, custom wallpaper, quick launch phone and messaging app) yeah you COULD just use widget locker.. but that slows phone down and drains battery life.. not as sick as default miui I think.
2. Themes.. the themes available look amazing, completely customize all your icons, better than you can get with adw, lp or any made for cyanogenmod.. and you can mix and match what themes parts you want applied.
3. Notification bar.. toggles on the pulldown are great.. ya you can do basically the same with cyanogenmod, but not as polished IMO..
4. battery life isn't an issue for me.. or ram.. basically the same as cyanogen 6.1.1... haven't tried cm7. So no input there.
5. Updated every Friday. which is nice..
Yeah its iphone-ish since all the icons are uniformed.. and menus, I don't spend all my time changing settings so menus don't bother me.. easier to navigate then stock android IMO but with icons I actually like that about it.. I use adw launcher ex. So I have a launcher.. I don't use the stock launcher with miui. Personally I don't care for it.. i hate apps on my homescreen... IMO they belong in the launcher.. widgets belong on the homescreen. But that's just me.. to each there own. I switch between cyanogen mod 6.1.1 and miui... I just nand backup each so I can switch between both whenever I feel the need. there both esentially set up the exact same. Same apps and launchers.. I'm been on cyanogen mod since I had a mytouch 18 months ago till miui was ported.. it mixes things up, I don't think it takes away from android.. it gives you the best of both worlds in my opinion..
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I have to say, that Im loving the Miui. Sure, it comes with no app drawer and it looks too close to an iphone, but one thing I give credit to apple, is the glossy and high resolution look to their icons and layouts.
I use Launcher pro and it makes me a happy Android fan. I get to load new themes with the least amount of effort whatsoever. Its amazing how quickly you can change the look of your phone.
The lockscreen is the best ive seen. I dont experience lags for a rom that is quite stylish and has so many features. The customization on this rom is out of this world. There's a setting for anything Ive wanted to change (minus changing the color of the notification bar).
So, to summerize: It runs fast, it looks really good with easy theme changing ability and it lets you customize the heck out of it.
The battery life is decent. I havent noticed a major difference between any of the roms ive tried when it comes to that. Btw, I have been on CM 6.1.1 and supervillianz and the default sense. This is the only rom that made me NOT change and try other roms. Im quite happy with what I have. Why look elsewhere

Horrible Samsung Firmware, any alternatives?

Hello,
So I bought this device a week ago and the lag really bothers me. I noticed this device runs 70+ processes in the background and uses half of its memory on boot!
I remember when I installed cyanogenmod on my original Samsung Galaxy Tab, the thing was flying, even web browsing was several times smoother. Also it gives CPU clock options, and it gave me an option to adjust minimum CPU clock, this way a lot of lag just went away.
Thanks!
No custom ROMs yet. We just got a recovery so custom roms can now be used. Also what little lag I saw went away with the latest update. It is a good idea to get all the updates then wipe and start fresh.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2513532
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2508143
none of those do much of anything to speed up my device overall. just faster homescreen swiping. i've always used alternative launchers mainly for the customizations, whatever speed they grant is negligible since i spend so little time in the launchers themselves. the majority of the apps disabled in that list i've had frozen since root came out. i even refreshed for the hell of it and no difference.
i love the device, but samsung has done some crappy work on the software.
madsquabbles said:
none of those do much of anything to speed up my device overall. just faster homescreen swiping. i've always used alternative launchers mainly for the customizations, whatever speed they grant is negligible since i spend so little time in the launchers themselves. the majority of the apps disabled in that list i've had frozen since root came out. i even refreshed for the hell of it and no difference.
i love the device, but samsung has done some crappy work on the software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only issue I see with custom roms is the loss of spen functionality which is really a shame. Without the spen this is just another 10in tab. Samsung has added some great functionality with snote, the air dock, multi Windows.. Etc.
Hopefully we get a de bloated rom soon. But as others have said, the lag has somewhat improved with the latest patch. But I feel where you're coming from, the first thing I noticed when I turned it on was lag. In fact, I should post the gtalk conversation I had with my tech buddy the dash I got it.
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk
a TW based custom ROM won't lose any of the S Pen stuff.
Design
More horrible is the Design of the Firmware. I mean look at that statusbar with that buttons for WLAN , GPS and so on. It looks like some ugly quaters.

Resurrecting the spark Galaxy S5 somehow lost

I feel like my phone got extremely boring and harsh to use day to day, it lacks the initial freshness and stuff like that, it just isn't so fly like it was a few weeks ago. I was wondering if someone could bring up some root tweaks to refresh the user experience, possibly without losing the original rom
main43 said:
I feel like my phone got extremely boring and harsh to use day to day, it lacks the initial freshness and stuff like that, it just isn't so fly like it was a few weeks ago. I was wondering if someone could bring up some root tweaks to refresh the user experience, possibly without losing the original rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try installing Xposed installer, it has some nice modules to add looks and fuctionality to the phone.
First, thank you for your quick response.
I already have Wanam and squashed every fancy bit out of it, but it just doesn't feel so alive even through it looks at it best. I would apprecciate if someone could acknowledge some tweaks that can do things like gesture swiping between multitasked applications, like in chrome for android and its tabs, or as it was on old iPhones with some tweaks from Cydia.
I feel the same way too. Unfortunately, the phone really was well made and Android has come a long way. There aren't many things to really mod.
Even the kernels aren't important as much because the battery life is far superior to previous Samsung phones.
The only reason I use a custom kernel is for the fast charge.
A potential bug for installing xposed is S Health not working(can work through build prop edit ) and air gestures not working at all.
Air gestures work well with mine, i thought something should be worked out with the basic framework, like they did with the volume panel when you increase or decrease the volume, it moves smoothly now, not in small cut steps like on previous firmwares. Small bits like that add to the experience and when they are composed good, it can turn out very well. Aah if i could work in some UI development..
I love that you came up with this thread! I have been feeling the same way. Got everything pretty close to how I like it between rooting and many xposed mods. Don't really want to accept that maybe I don't need to constantly be on XDA finding new tweaks to try. I guess with my previous S3 I got so used to all the custom roms I could play with that would each feel a little different. I think a big problem with the xposed mods is that once you have found and used them they are pretty much always available whatever ROM you use as long as you have root. Once you have found that particular module and enjoyed its unique abilities it becomes an expected part of your experience from then on. And now most of them can do almost all the same things as the most feature rich custom Roms. Thankfully it looks like CM is finally starting to roll out for the S5 and hopefully the usual suspects and some surprise Roms will pop up. Unfortunately I've already played with almost all of the CM11 based ones on my S3 already so I think there will not be a whole lot of freshness there. Oh poor me! Bring on Android L!
Tapped It!
I hope something will be done with system physics and touch picking behaviour, i love Android and would love it to have the same feel like iPhone when scrolling etc. Try it and you will know what i mean. And i know it is very possible even with an open OS like Android so shut up and develop the fresh out of it.

What do you like/not like about the stock launcher?

It's been getting a lot of hate, and I can't figure out why. I'm coming from Sense (which I liked a lot, and this one doesn't really compare to), but I'm not seeing anything too terrible about the stock launcher here. It's just kind of meh.
Are you guys just seeing a ton of lag? Because I don't think I am.
I would agree with you. It's less wow than Sense, but I like it better than TW. It's smooth enough for my liking. I don't have any lag. I'm still learning it, as I've been with Sense or TW for last 2 years...
I just wish I could theme it the way I would like to. It's nice they have themes available for download, but they all look like they were designed for teenage girls in mind for the most part....too pastel and too bright. I'm more of a fan of darks and rather violent looking...
Th3Bill said:
I would agree with you. It's less wow than Sense, but I like it better than TW. It's smooth enough for my liking. I don't have any lag. I'm still learning it, as I've been with Sense or TW for last 2 years...
I just wish I could theme it the way I would like to. It's nice they have themes available for download, but they all look like they were designed for teenage girls in mind for the most part....too pastel and too bright. I'm more of a fan of darks and rather violent looking...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah - me too. I've been on sense since the evo 4g, and never used any other smartphone ui, so this one is taking some getting used to for me also. I'm starting to get used to the brightness and how colorful everything is, and some of it's even starting to grow on me. I'm not seeing much lag - and I tried nova, but it broke stock messaging, and smart notice (which I didn't think I would like at all, but I've really been digging it).
and the less said about tw, the better
fachadick said:
Yeah - me too. I've been on sense since the evo 4g, and never used any other smartphone ui, so this one is taking some getting used to for me also. I'm starting to get used to the brightness and how colorful everything is, and some of it's even starting to grow on me. I'm not seeing much lag - and I tried nova, but it broke stock messaging, and smart notice (which I didn't think I would like at all, but I've really been digging it).
and the less said about tw, the better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have an Evo 4G. My 6 year old uses it to play games with...she still loves the thing. Runs great, except the usb port broke straight out of it, so charging requires battery removal until I fix it...LOL
I was thinking of doing the "Blinkfeed for all" install on the G4, but really like how UX works, though Accuweather's predictions have been terrible so far. Keeps telling me to bring an umbrella for rain and it hasn't rained here in over a week LOL.
I honestly didn't actually like anything about the stock launcher and went to Google now launcher.
JedixJarf said:
I honestly didn't actually like anything about the stock launcher and went to Google now launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. Why do I want these stupid smart cards when Google already forced their Google now cards down my throat
Because it's not Nova.
Seriously though, I'm too attached to the gesture controls that came with Nova Prime to use any other launcher. When combined with Five Wallpaper, I get a mostly buttery smooth experience with numerous customization options. I don't mind some of the LG background items like menu theme.
fachadick said:
It's been getting a lot of hate, and I can't figure out why. I'm coming from Sense (which I liked a lot, and this one doesn't really compare to), but I'm not seeing anything too terrible about the stock launcher here. It's just kind of meh.
Are you guys just seeing a ton of lag? Because I don't think I am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't figure out why all the hate either. I'm coming from TouchWiz and this is so fresh and new to me. I love my G4
Major0CEL0T said:
I can't figure out why all the hate either. I'm coming from TouchWiz and this is so fresh and new to me. I love my G4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I can understand hating TouchWiz, what a pile of @#$%.
I spent a full week with the stock LG launcher and while it's fine, functional, works well, etc... I just prefer Sense and BlinkFeed better (too bad they can't build a decent device) so as of today I have sense and blinkfeed on my G4 and it's sweet!!!
ThePhoneGeek said:
Well I can understand hating TouchWiz, what a pile of @#$%.
I spent a full week with the stock LG launcher and while it's fine, functional, works well, etc... I just prefer Sense and BlinkFeed better (too bad they can't build a decent device) so as of today I have sense and blinkfeed on my G4 and it's sweet!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a feeling there will be a decent number of us on the G4 that were HTC users who just couldn't see upgrading to the m9 and will be missing Sense.
TW is just so heavy...coming from Sense, it was like going from driving a Lotus to driving a Dumptruck.
I don't hate the stock launcher, but I do prefer Nova. Mostly because I can resize the grid. I like to use 6x5. Plus I can resize widgets any way i want. And of course it's faster, plus gestures.
I used it all of 1 minute while the google experience launcher downloaded. But then again I came from an 3 years of nexus use.
Stock launcher is actually really cool. I love love love the domino transition effect. My only complaint was the lack of icon packs and the icon background (to make them uniform). The theme packs were ok but contained limited icons.
Nothing I didnt like but what it lacked aka what Nova could do more.
player911 said:
Stock launcher is actually really cool. I love love love the domino transition effect. My only complaint was the lack of icon packs and the icon background (to make them uniform). The theme packs were ok but contained limited icons.
Nothing I didnt like but what it lacked aka what Nova could do more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this guys! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jbrtechies.LGlollipop
Stock OEM launchers are terrible. Had to switch to Nova after a day. It's clunky and barely customizable. And it has terrible, terrible themes.
What's good about it and the only thing good about it is the Smart Bulletin and Smart Notice widget. Also, LG calendar widget is good, too.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I was really hung on the Google Launcher on my Nexus. So I downloaded on my LG4 as well.. But it only gives 4 apps per row. That's way too little on a 5.5 inch phone..
The stock launcher isn't bad.. Only think I would like to see is that a swipe to the right would give me Google Now instead of LG thingie..
I dont hate the stock launcher im coming from the note 4 with tw so this is a step up but i prefer nova on all phones
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
I think I remember the Stock launcher being somewhat customizable as far as number of apps in the bottom row (I like 7) and it allows widgets to resize. The Themes do kinda suck but still pretty cool to have an option. They are just icon packs basically.
The App Grid doesn't really bother me any more. I have 3 homescreens. Full Page Twitter Widget, Blank Home, Full Page Facebook Widget (currently broke).
If they released a huge LG Home MIUI theme with tons of icons, then I could use it. Otherwise, I like my icons to be uniform (similar background / style). Plus for some reason Verizon pulled out the themes support on their G4
Th3Bill said:
I would agree with you. It's less wow than Sense, but I like it better than TW. It's smooth enough for my liking. I don't have any lag. I'm still learning it, as I've been with Sense or TW for last 2 years...
I just wish I could theme it the way I would like to. It's nice they have themes available for download, but they all look like they were designed for teenage girls in mind for the most part....too pastel and too bright. I'm more of a fan of darks and rather violent looking...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using this theme and I love it. It themes everything across the board: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jbrtechies.LGlollipop
---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 AM ----------
Xcore66 said:
I used it all of 1 minute while the google experience launcher downloaded. But then again I came from an 3 years of nexus use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the only thing you are not able to double tap to sleep your device, correct? I love Google Launcher I used to have it on my G3 , but with xposed and GEL Settings so I have all the functionalities.
I played with it for a couple of hours then went to my go-to Nova!! Especially don't like that the launcher doesn't rotate.
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Themes on Note 4 stock android?

Hey all,
Need a new Android phone and I think the Note 4 is the way to go, I've had one before and I enjoyed it but that was a while ago. Note 5 doesn't have the removal battery that I need.
I hate the Samsung theme though it's so ugly, so is there any way I can change it easily to something stock android looking with a custom rom?
Thanks
jameslfc5 said:
Hey all,
Need a new Android phone and I think the Note 4 is the way to go, I've had one before and I enjoyed it but that was a while ago. Note 5 doesn't have the removal battery that I need.
I hate the Samsung theme though it's so ugly, so is there any way I can change it easily to something stock android looking with a custom rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
offtopic- don't buy a note 4 its has aged now ....camera isn't too good and it lags.
jameslfc5 said:
Hey all,
Need a new Android phone and I think the Note 4 is the way to go, I've had one before and I enjoyed it but that was a while ago. Note 5 doesn't have the removal battery that I need.
I hate the Samsung theme though it's so ugly, so is there any way I can change it easily to something stock android looking with a custom rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my Note 4 so I would highly recommend it. The Note 5 is a total deal-breaker for me with no removable battery and no SD card slot either. The mind boggles with those choices by Samsung. Anyway, I totally support the move to the Note 4. It is a damn fine phone. Although the second poster is right, the camera can tend to lag. But personally, it's not a big issue for me. In fact, I've just upgraded to an S7 so we can sell it and get a Note 4 for my best friend. That's how much we love this model.
As for theme changing, the easiest way to do that is to just load a launcher onto your device. Even the best launchers have free options.
My top 3 favourite Launchers are Nova, Apex and LINE Launchers.
If you prefer fancy widgets and 3D options, look at Go Launcher or Next Launcher. But they are riddled with ads for their other products.
You will find a lot more options available through a Launcher in terms of customising your device to look and feel how you want it to. For most, it's as simple as downloading a theme and activating it through your launcher settings. Very easy and straight forward.
You don't need a custom ROM for that, http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/official-layers-bitsyko-apps-rro-t3012172
And this is one of the best time to buy Note 4 by the way, price is low, camera is still solid, one of the fastest I have used, don't know exactly how much faster the camera on the Note 5 is to call Note 4 camera laggy and slow!, but it is irrelevant to me, can't ever touch a mess of greasy glass nuisance.
Anthro.Girl said:
I love my Note 4 so I would highly recommend it. The Note 5 is a total deal-breaker for me with no removable battery and no SD card slot either. The mind boggles with those choices by Samsung. Anyway, I totally support the move to the Note 4. It is a damn fine phone. Although the second poster is right, the camera can tend to lag. But personally, it's not a big issue for me. In fact, I've just upgraded to an S7 so we can sell it and get a Note 4 for my best friend. That's how much we love this model.
As for theme changing, the easiest way to do that is to just load a launcher onto your device. Even the best launchers have free options.
My top 3 favourite Launchers are Nova, Apex and LINE Launchers.
If you prefer fancy widgets and 3D options, look at Go Launcher or Next Launcher. But they are riddled with ads for their other products.
You will find a lot more options available through a Launcher in terms of customising your device to look and feel how you want it to. For most, it's as simple as downloading a theme and activating it through your launcher settings. Very easy and straight forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Anthro- I am receiving my Note 4 today and need it for a long plane journey so I can have a removable battery and keep a spare, also I want the SD card function to switch between the phone and my GoPro on holiday. Hopefully with a ROM like Dr.Keaton it will be fast and smooth. As for the theme advice, thanks for that but I like a full theme which themes the full system like the setting and pull down menu etc. I am sure Iw ill figure this all out tonight when playing with my phone.
I may consider the Note 5 in the future but I can't seem to get one in the UK at the minute.
Thanks again

Categories

Resources