Touchwiz Vs HTC Sense (What is the Real Advantage / Disadvantage?) - Epic 4G General

I've read the pundits comparasion, but I really want a "User's" experience opinion. Since I'm coming from HTC with Sense UI and going to Samsung with TouchWiz UI, what I'm I really gaining or loosing?

agonzalez1010 said:
I've read the pundits comparasion, but I really want a "User's" experience opinion. Since I'm coming from HTC with Sense UI and going to Samsung with TouchWiz UI, what I'm I really gaining or loosing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Losing, nothing beat's Sense

Sense(evo) Touchwiz(captivate)
widgets
10/10 1/10
Bottom Icons
8/10 10/10
App menu
8/10 10/10
Dialer
8/10 10/10
Music player
8/10 6/10
Video player
8/10 10/10

shep211 said:
Sense(evo) Touchwiz(captivate)
widgets
10/10 1/10
Bottom Icons
8/10 10/10
App menu
8/10 10/10
Dialer
8/10 10/10
Music player
8/10 6/10
Video player
8/10 10/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Shep211, This is the kind of stats I want....

shep211 said:
Sense(evo) Touchwiz(captivate)
widgets
10/10 1/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why 1/10 for widgets? while they may not have as many as sense ui you can still use Android widgets as well as Samsung widgets...it at least warrants more then 1/10 >.>
Also aren't all the old widgets from winmo, symbian and even new ones from bada compatible with TouchWiz?

gTen said:
Why 1/10 for widgets? while they may not have as many as sense ui you can still use Android widgets as well as Samsung widgets...it at least warrants more then 1/10 >.>
Also aren't all the old widgets from winmo, symbian and even new ones from bada compatible with TouchWiz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the touchwiz widgets are useless but androids are fine. I dont use any of the touchwiz widgets so thats why i said 1/10. Not sure about winmo, symbian and bada compatibility.

shep211 said:
I think the touchwiz widgets are useless but androids are fine. I dont use any of the touchwiz widgets so thats why i said 1/10. Not sure about winmo, symbian and bada compatibility.
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Click to collapse
This is an old article so don't know if they kept it with TouchWiz 3.0..but thats whats it states :/
http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/08/...third-parties-by-launching-mobile-widget-sdk/
If someone could test it, then it would bee interesting :/

IMO, they both suck. Sense sucks less in that it is more refined but is far more pervasive. You really can't just turn it off as its fully integrated in the os. Touch wiz is easier to just get rid of.

Aridon said:
IMO, they both suck. Sense sucks less in that it is more refined but is far more pervasive. You really can't just turn it off as its fully integrated in the os. Touch wiz is easier to just get rid of.
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Click to collapse
Agreed. Now that applications can integrate accounts into Android, I don't think Sense brings any extra functionality to the table. At least Touchwiz has the power controls on the notification drawer, but I'd have stock Android over either. Pretty much a lose/lose.
If I had to choose to keep one, I suppose I'd say Sense, just because I (perhaps irrationally) enjoy using it more. I do love Sense's weather widget, and I haven't found anything close enough in the Market.

gophergun said:
Agreed. Now that applications can integrate accounts into Android, I don't think Sense brings any extra functionality to the table. At least Touchwiz has the power controls on the notification drawer, but I'd have stock Android over either. Pretty much a lose/lose.
If I had to choose to keep one, I suppose I'd say Sense, just because I (perhaps irrationally) enjoy using it more. I do love Sense's weather widget, and I haven't found anything close enough in the Market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try weather & toggle widget. The default skin sucks but load the htc one and it looks just like htcs. It even has the weather animations. The pic in my profile is my n1 with the weather widget.

shep211 said:
Try weather & toggle widget. The default skin sucks but load the htc one and it looks just like htcs. It even has the weather animations. The pic in my profile is my n1 with the weather widget.
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Click to collapse
The flip clock's fine, but the weather widget looks completely dissimilar.

If you want something exactly like the htc clock widget google "fancy widget"

This is great stuff folks. I really appreciate all the feedback. I am hoping this little "comparasion" thread will help others coming into the EPIC know what they are getting. It's better to hear it from real life users then the tech pundits...
Thanks to all...

I'm a big fan of Sense, but really the only thing I'll miss is the clock/weather (I alreeady have the weather toggle widget) and the HTC calendar, which I think is the perfect calendar widget. I was using Pure Calendar widget, but it didn't fit my needs as well as the HTC one did.

The main reason that someone wouldn't like Touchwiz is because they're so used to Sense. It's just like going from iPhone to Android. The person that's used to the iPhone would prefer the iPhone over an Android phone, and vice versa.

shep211 said:
Sense(evo) Touchwiz(captivate)
widgets
10/10 1/10
Bottom Icons
8/10 10/10
App menu
8/10 10/10
Dialer
8/10 10/10
Music player
8/10 6/10
Video player
8/10 10/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They both come with the same stock music player.

I came from my touch 3g.. On att so no 3g and it was my first android experience. I was sold within a week then waited for captivate to come out to use my upgrade. Never going back. Sense vs touchwiz is moot if you actually plan on using all the great upgrades in these forums. Stock stuff can and usually should be replaced even if its super duper pretty. Set priorities on hardware.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

For those who are coming from sense and love the weather and clock widget, google "fancy widget". Its an exact duplicate. If you miss the other widgets from sense like the bookmarks, calander, people, etc., Launcher Pro has your back there. It is bringing all the sense ui goods

I'm coming from WinMo 6.5. I liked Sense, but are Sense, TouchWiz, etc. really even needed? I played with the Android port to WM, and IIRC, you can install widgets and such on top of stock Android. Just wondering if there would be more benefit to just rooting and getting that off the phone period.

TripleAgent said:
I'm coming from WinMo 6.5. I liked Sense, but are Sense, TouchWiz, etc. really even needed? I played with the Android port to WM, and IIRC, you can install widgets and such on top of stock Android. Just wondering if there would be more benefit to just rooting and getting that off the phone period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely not, in the end they add very little in the way of functionality, though at least Touchwiz attempts to with 5.1 sound and the power control shortcuts in the notification bar.

Related

Stock vs Sense UI

I'm leaning towards Sense UI. They made a lot of changes to android that I like and it seems faster than the stock launcher and other home replacements.
iVisionX01 said:
I'm leaning towards Sense UI. They made a lot of changes to android that I like and it seems faster than the stock launcher and other home replacements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The custom ROM that is in alpha by Modaco made me want to switch to it already. It has some bugs that I could not handle so I had to reflash my nandroid back up.
But that ROM is going to be awesome.
I tried the Desire Rom but franky I don´t like the sense interface. I flashed back after two hours
Having used sense on WiMo and now having used and seen what can be achieved on Android (via widgets etc) have to say MUCH prefer the stock UI + a few widgets.
I'm digging the pinch-to-zoom for seven home screens feature, but not a big fan of the ^ Phone + tab at the bottom. Way too big, feels like a waste of screen real estate.
I must admit that HTC's widgets do eliminate the need for beautiful widgets/pure calendar/et al, though. And the browser is a great improvement over stock for the most part (barring the bookmarks, which is something of a clusterfuck). Gallery performs better and faster than stock 2.1 but, of course, lacks the 3D eyecandy.
I'm not really a fan of sense.. Yea its nice, but its very serious and too luxurious.. like an Armani suit. Yea it looks good but like a nice but it just feels constricting to me. And i know its a beta but the scrolling it way way smoother on the nexus with the .32 highmem kernel. Once the rom has gone beta with a highmem kernel i guess I'll give it another shot.
Sense UI isn't bad at all. Sense is a godsend for WinMo, whereas for andriod I do prefer stock over Sense.
rydr1 said:
The custom ROM that is in alpha by Modaco made me want to switch to it already. It has some bugs that I could not handle so I had to reflash my nandroid back up.
But that ROM is going to be awesome.
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Click to collapse
True Indeed.. This ROM has been very nice.. I have been with him since Alpha 0-1. So This is nice.. Now, Sense UI is for the intuitive individual.. If you dont like fancy things then stay away from even an Android Device.. Stock Is great, But remember, That's not it, 1.5 and 1.6 even 2.0.1 were very diff from what we posses on 2.1. Much of what was changed, was Devoted per say to an Evolution, not revolution...
From There we have seen it go from Crap to finesse. Now, Sense UI is much more capable than Stock which is why MODACO did what he did.. It was needed Dude, Freaking Needed.. Put it this way, if all you look at is the Stock version of 2.1 all day then that is what you will love... If your an individual like me who has had EVERY ANDROID PHONE MADE, EVERY ONE... you understand the differences.. and appreciate the Sense UI...
Jesus Cat...
Makaijin said:
Sense UI isn't bad at all. Sense is a godsend for WinMo, whereas for andriod I do prefer stock over Sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, Sense is like make-up. Sure, it hugely improves the dog that is WinMo but Android is pretty sexy without it and, actually, it makes her look a bit slaggy
Sense icons are fugly.
It would be nice to have the Sense widgets though.
Sense is nice. it just seems too cluttered. its a nice clean, slick clutter. stock UI would be great with a pinch of sense UI thrown in. like the home screen pinch. the browser was nice...the mag while dragging finger across text...etc.
Aw man. I was so excited to get my Sense UI running. But after reading this thread, I got depressed
...
After a little while, I am now thinking about it and I can see it objectively:
+ Sense Widgets: Simply awesome
+ Browser: Amazing (I absolutely LOVE the 100% full-screen browser. The scroll bars even fade out, which Dolphin does not do)
+ Flash Lite: Nuff said
+ Pinch to zoom to see all home screens: I have fallen in love with this feature. I can't imagine how I lived without it!
- The bottom bar with the tray and phone is ridiculously ugly, large, and useless. I almost never use the phone (ironic eh? ), so having such a HUGE shortcut on every damn screen is horrible. 100% absolute crap. I miss stock Android's simplicity with its single tiny grid box.
- Menus like contacts that are all white with black borders etc -- these screens make me want to PUKE they are so UGLY!!! I'd rather have stock Android's black menus than these.​
Stock Android + Sense Widgets + Browser + Flash + Home Screen Pinch to Zoom and BAM, best ROM ever!
The question is... Can it be done??????
jp_macaroni said:
Sense icons are fugly.
It would be nice to have the Sense widgets though.
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Click to collapse
Agreed... these are the only advantages Sense has over stock. As long as we get flash, of course.
Looks like the debate between Sense and Stock depend on personal taste. I think Sense UI looks great. Not to mention there are a lot of small tweaks that I like and wish were in the stock UI such as When you turn your ringer down all the way it goes to vibrate not silent also when you get notifications while playing music the notifications play with the music instead of stopping the music.
For me sense –
Widgets (manly music player and calendar widget)
Smart dial pad
HTC keyboard
And the overall look of sense i think looks quite nice.
Yeah..someone should make a Fusion ROM. then give use a kitchen.
seriously tho...the HTC keyboard that doesn't put a space after every correction...that's what I like and am running right now...how did Google f that up?
There isn't anything on the Sense UI that I can't do with stock and a few nice widgets.
I, personally, think the Sense UI for Android is overrated and carrys too much overhead.
Now, for WinMo, yeah, it was pretty much a given that it was needed, the default UI sucked pretty hard...
Talderon said:
There isn't anything on the Sense UI that I can't do with stock and a few nice widgets.
I, personally, think the Sense UI for Android is overrated and carrys too much overhead.
Now, for WinMo, yeah, it was pretty much a given that it was needed, the default UI sucked pretty hard...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Nice weather animation if you have the clock & weather widget
-Leap/Multitouch home screen
-Scrollable widgets
-Music Controls on lockscreen with cover art.
Paul22000 said:
Stock Android + Sense Widgets + Browser + Flash + Home Screen Pinch to Zoom and BAM, best ROM ever!
The question is... Can it be done??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh man, this has been talked about since the day Sense was first out for the G1!
Sadly, Sense UI's widgets, Browser, and other stuff works only with Sense UI because of the way the apps are deeply embedded into the framework of the build, we can pull the apps and install them to stock, but they need Sense to actually run.
I missed Sense UI, so I'm glad it's been ported.
urfavoriteemo said:
Oh man, this has been talked about since the day Sense was first out for the G1!
Sadly, Sense UI's widgets, Browser, and other stuff works only with Sense UI because of the way the apps are deeply embedded into the framework of the build, we can pull the apps and install them to stock, but they need Sense to actually run.
I missed Sense UI, so I'm glad it's been ported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
http://picardvader.ytmnd.com

CM6/AOSP has really helped me appreciate Sense!

I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Really? It makes me realize how bloated and completely unnessecary Sense is, but that's just me... Personally, I don't have any problem with taking the time to download my own widgets and apps so I can customize everything exactly how I want it.
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Aridon said:
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LauncherPro Plus has the contacts widget.
PFx00 said:
I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
A week or so ago there was a 'scrollable contact widget' in the market that worked great. It was free too. Maybe HTC C&D'd them too.
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love sense and customizing my phone. And i am not a Iphone type user.. You shouldnt really categorize people. it just boils down to the old saying "to each their own"
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm all for customizing but I like for my phone to have a consistent look and feel between all of the widgets too. Like I said, it took not using sense for a while to appreciate this.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt that there are more options and, with some effort, you can get close to the same experience. I thought CM6 and Launcher Pro was the way to go until yesterday. Now I'm torn.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Cons for sense: Slow as balls, no customization, gives me some weird purplish tint on my nova,slow, has those stupid sprint apps, slow, aaaand did I mention slow?
Pros for launcher/adw/whatever's not sense: Customization is AWESOME, can do whatever I want, from changing the app drawer opening time to the color of my task bar (cm6), if I see it I can change it.
Fast as HELL- Pretty much gives you a brand new phone; really makes it feel worth the $350 I paid for it on launch.
Cons For launcher/adw/whatever: Customization- Some people really don't want the hassle of having to set up EVERYTHING to their liking, sense really simplifies the overall experience.
Widgets-While there are competitors out there, I've yet to find widgets that truly replace some of the htc widget's for me. And I can use my yahoo mail account with sense so that's definitely a factor to me lol
At the end of the day, it really is up to personal taste. After all, this is android and android DOES everything you want it to. What's great is we're given so many awesome choices; and even when finding flaws in both their still better than anything else you can find on the market. To me, the real winner is the evo+the supporters that have made this phone what it is today-awesome.
p.s-I hope this thread doesn't turn into a pissing ground against sense or people who choose something different than what you have; it's called an opinion and everybody's is different, grow up if you can't understand that.
To be more specific about what I like ... and remember this is personal preference with zero effort to setup:
Clock - Sure clock widgets are a dime a dozen but I've become accustomed to the Sense's clock and weather. You can use beautiful/fancy but neither have the full screen weather animation (which serves no purpose but I think its pretty cool).
Copy and Paste - I love that copy and paste functionality is built in across all applications. I use this most in the web browser. I'm not a fan of the select text feature.
Keyboard - I like the haptic feedback when I type, I also like having the arrow keys (both took a while to grow on me). Plus, the keys seem a little bigger so its easier for me to type on. I was using various keyboard mods but they stopped working on CM6
Touch to focus camera I never really knew how much I missed this until now. Such a handy feature. Hopefully they'll get this working when a new kernel source is released.
Facebook Contact Integration Sure you can load a hacked .apk but I also think HTC's integration is a little better than stock. Especially how they pull other peoples' pictures into the gallery.
Dialer- Was using Dialer One, but still like the look and feel of HTC's better. Also, the contact pictures that are synced from Facebook are much higher quality.
Calendar Widget- I never really found a good free replacement for the HTC Calendar Widget. Several people have recommended a paid calendar grid app.
4G Toggle Widget- Never really looked for an alternative but missed it when it was gone.
Radio- I never used this but thought I'd throw it in the list.
HTC Sync- This is the only option to get my work calendar on my phone because Google sync doesn't work with Office 2010 and Windows 7. There are 3rd party applications but I don't want to load them on the secured network at work.
Other Misc Widgets These are kind of useless to me but still nice to have options that are skinned to match perfectly - Music, Friend Stream, Day in History, News, Weather, Etc.
Don't get me wrong. CM has an awesome ROM that I'm sure I'll go back to at some point but I'm lovin' me some Sense right now.
edtate said:
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I liked Sense when I first got the Evo (new to Android) I think your pros pointed out exactly why I sought out and found LauncherPro so quickly. I don't use any of the Sense widgets! the first thing I did was remove friendstream, book marks, messaging and mail widgets.
In any case, Sense UI is a good UI for people who take advantage of all the widgets but others may see it as 'bloated' if they don't. I like paring down my screen real estate and LauncherPro allows me to do that easily. But it does take up time and effort to set things up just so.
kong97 said:
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still there. I just did a search for it.
Both have thier pros and cons. I personally love sense. The only things I wish it had is the normal bluetooth stack so that I could run wiimote and then I wish sense would go into landscape. And also I like the 3D app drawer.
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That has nothing to do with LauncherPro. You do that with the Facebook app.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook will link some of that information to your contacts by default but that function is broke in 2.2 right now. There is a hack that you can run in the shell to fix it or search for the hacked .apk on these forums.

Not down with the TouchWiz UI

I just upgraded from a G1 to the Vibrant and I gotta say, I'm not impressed with the iphone like UI. Is there a way to install the stock android UI on the Vibrant?
I don't like it either. Give launcherpro a try...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
LauncherPro (what I'm using) or ADW will get rid of *some* of the iPhone-ish Touchwiz UI -- but not all of it. The drawer is much improved, but it leaves some of the decent Touchwiz features -- like the pull down capability to switch wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, etc.. Pretty cool, actually.
Give 'em a try.
I think the Touch Wiz UI improves on and polishes the Android UI quite as bit. I will say I'm not a fan of the app drawer nor do I like any of Samsung's included widgets. I do love what they did with the contacts menu. I think the whole swyping right to call or swyping left to text a contact is genius and original. Samsung also made it easier to navigate through the contacts. I also find the WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and silent toggles built in to the notification bar come in handy quite a bit.
I could go on but I need to get to bed.
If you can get past the visuals in TW it really isn't a bad UI.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I personally have no problem with it aside from the supposed performance issues and prefer it to the stock android user interface and some other custom android IU implemented by other companies.
Positives:
App drawer scrolls horizontally, which seems more natural to me(like turning a page in a book).
Wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS, and Vibrate controls integrated into the notification bar removing the need of the power control widget
Music App appearing notification area when screen saver is up removing the need to unlock the phone to switch songs
I still use launcher pro, though
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, give another vote for TW from me. I always hated vanilla Android, on my G1 I used to change themes daily cause of it. I used LP for a bit but went back to TW. I Use that pull down toggle way too much.
TouchWiz actually had me against getting this phone before it came out. The whole "iphone-looking" app drawer icons was a huge disappointment. But being a big ADW supporter (and knowing this phone would have plenty of development behind it), I checked it out on launch day and walked out of the store with it.
Granted, I installed ADW before even paying for the phone. Plus side...the power and music controls are still there. I'd definitely give TW a thumbs up (minus the app drawer icons).
LauncherPro (my choice) and ADW are the best of both worlds. You get some of the more polished TW apps and skins, but no BS iPhone clone homescreen.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
The fact that the only thing people can complain about it is that it looks too much like an iPhone means to me that it's a pretty solid interface.
I love it in any case.
People need to get over their iPhone to Android superiority complex.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, to be fair, 2.2 android looks good, but when compared to touchcwiz, doesn't even compare. even on my nexus, I always run skins.
Anyway, I personally like the way vibrant looks.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I personally don't care for appearances, I prefer having the latest features and newest versions of Android. I care more about the features that is included rather than how it looks because honestly.. skinning isn't that difficult but waiting for these manufacturers to port their custom skins take too long. Skinning is just so simple in Android with metamorphing, alternative launchers etc.
Take a look at Nexus One, it already has Android 2.2 while other phones have to wait so much longer. Or even Motorola Droid, they're supposedly getting 2.2 this week and running vanilla Android. I rather have the latest and skin it on my own. This of course will definitely all change when CM6 is released for the Vibrant.
heygrl said:
Are you aware of the fact that the Launcher is NOT the only aspect of TouchWiz UI? Nope.. Stock Android is fugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeppers. Big Android fan but the default Android UI is like the default UI on a Linux system, plain and boring.
Love ADW but need to port the TW widgets over, or at least install some of the stock widgets. One of these days...
For the moment I don't set a default for either and just select whichever one I need when I press home. I know it's an extra button to press but I like the option.
TW would be great if there was a way to customize things more. Like getting rid of the horizontal app drawer and changing the default home screen when the numbers of screens are changed.
I read on another post that LauncherPro might be causing a little extra battery drain. I just switched from LP to ADW to see if I can notice a difference.
The samsung video app is so much better. I had to use DoubleTwist to convert every movie I put on my myTouch but with my Vibrant almost every file I've tried works. The contacts app is nice but a little buggy for me sometimes.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using the XDA app
badaphooko01 said:
Agreed, give another vote for TW from me. I always hated vanilla Android, on my G1 I used to change themes daily cause of it. I used LP for a bit but went back to TW. I Use that pull down toggle way too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That pulldown toggle is still there when you switch to launcherpro or adw.
sent from my Samsung Vibrant
I can't stand the ugly blue tabs they put on all their apps. They look like the 80s vision of 'futuristic' (and they're way too big). Also, they hid a lot of features of the stock google apps -- for instance, you can't set your alarm ringtone in calendar.

TouchWiz > Vanilla Android

Okay, the title is not totally true - but I had to name this post something to get your attention.
The point of this post is to inquire about why so many people hate on TouchWiz. I sold my Vibrant and moved to Nexus S for a various of reasons but I find myself missing quite a few aspects of TouchWiz.
For example, how Samsung put the bluetooth/GPS/silence/WiFi buttons in the pull down menu - brilliant use of otherwise empty space. How on the dialpad you could easily call someone without having to access contacts by simply typing their name. How the SMS app had great alternating text/color chat (yes I know handsent app, etc. but I am talking about stock). (And of course, I like TouchWiz launcher over Vanilla launcher but that is more of a personal preference than a superior feature.)
I am sure there are advantages Vanilla has over TouchWiz but after using both I hardly see why TouchWiz gets so much hate.
Okay I am back to trolling Nexus S forums.
Not a big fan of the iphone-esque square icons so I use launcherpro, but otherwise, it's great.
I like TW and ADW.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
TW + launcher pro is >>>> all
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Also there is great syncing between contacts in MMS app as well.
I type the company name of some contact and name appears in messaging app.
DarkAgent said:
Okay, the title is not totally true - but I had to name this post something to get your attention.
The point of this post is to inquire about why so many people hate on TouchWiz. I sold my Vibrant and moved to Nexus S for a various of reasons but I find myself missing quite a few aspects of TouchWiz.
For example, how Samsung put the bluetooth/GPS/silence/WiFi buttons in the pull down menu - brilliant use of otherwise empty space. How on the dialpad you could easily call someone without having to access contacts by simply typing their name. How the SMS app had great alternating text/color chat (yes I know handsent app, etc. but I am talking about stock). (And of course, I like TouchWiz launcher over Vanilla launcher but that is more of a personal preference than a superior feature.)
I am sure there are advantages Vanilla has over TouchWiz but after using both I hardly see why TouchWiz gets so much hate.
Okay I am back to trolling Nexus S forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vanilla has no advantages. Touchwiz just adds extra features and functions on top of Vanilla. I personally dont like the launcher and running Launcher Pro Plus with Gingerbread theme. The people that say TW is not good, simply are too stupid to understand what Touchwiz is
Its hard to go back to Vannilla.........
I like the notification toggles and the full codec support (which isn't really TW, just Samsung). I hate the dialer / contacts changes, really miss old-school CM-modified contacts/dialer app. Launcher & messaging just don't matter one way or another because they're so easily replaced by superior apps.
Saiboogu said:
I like the notification toggles and the full codec support (which isn't really TW, just Samsung). I hate the dialer / contacts changes, really miss old-school CM-modified contacts/dialer app. Launcher & messaging just don't matter one way or another because they're so easily replaced by superior apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually prefer TW dialer vs stock.
Sense is another overlay. even better then Touchwiz. I heard MotoBlur sucks.
Yeah the only thing I hate about Twiz is the launcher. The other enhancements are great.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
TouchWiz is good. It's just ill-optimized.
Stock Android does not look good.
N8ter said:
TouchWiz is good. It's just ill-optimized.
Stock Android does not look good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gingerbread changes all that Vanilla android (pre 2.3) in my opinion looks fine. I prefer features than it looking pretty.
The launcher is the only part i dont like.
Everything else is awsome, I looked it over sense because sense feels heavy.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
zephiK said:
Gingerbread changes all that Vanilla android (pre 2.3) in my opinion looks fine. I prefer features than it looking pretty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense. Some things like Mobile AP were huge advances over what Stock Android had to offer, not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets), as well as its Social Network integration.
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Also, Gingerbread doesn't change anything. You can go use a Nexus S and see. It changes very little. A few cosmetic changes, and that's it.
You can buy a better keyboard on FroYo or Eclair no problem (or use Skype).
The UI overhauls were pushed back to Honeycomb, and I don't have much faith in Google - who have historically proved they are inept when to comes to UI design. I think they did buy a company that does this kind of work, so maybe they'll suprise me.
Doubt I'll be on Android by the time that's released, though, unless they change the way the phones are updated.
I like the Tw extra features, the look of it not so much. I use it with launcher pro which just gives a your own look, I didn't know how I would like it coming from MT3G LE. But I gotta say that's one of the features holding me back from buying the nexus s.
Vibrant
N8ter said:
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense. Some things like Mobile AP were huge advances over what Stock Android had to offer, not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets), as well as its Social Network integration.
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Also, Gingerbread doesn't change anything. You can go use a Nexus S and see. It changes very little. A few cosmetic changes, and that's it.
You can buy a better keyboard on FroYo or Eclair no problem (or use Skype).
The UI overhauls were pushed back to Honeycomb, and I don't have much faith in Google - who have historically proved they are inept when to comes to UI design. I think they did buy a company that does this kind of work, so maybe they'll suprise me.
Doubt I'll be on Android by the time that's released, though, unless they change the way the phones are updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google also hired one of the guys who was in charge of WebOS UI design so I think they may have something stellar with Honeycomb.
Back on topic, all the things I hate about TouchWiz are easily replaced by Launcher Pro Plus.
The other TouchWiz additions are pretty functional and add a lot of value.
N8ter said:
TouchWiz adds features to Android. It doesn't take anything away, so that part of you statement (the last sentence) makes zero (0) sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a diehard CM fan form the G1 days, so TW was a bit of culture shock to me. Even ignoring the visual changes, and swapping out the launcher, I was cursing the dialer everytime I went to switch from dialer to contacts, or try to check how long ago I called someone.
N8ter said:
not to mention the fact that Stock Android Widgets are simply terrible as well (which is part of HTC Sense's allure - it has Awesome widgets),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock widgets are functional. Sleek and functional too. Maybe not flashy, but they work. TW widgets? Ugh, don't get me started on that bit of bloat. LauncherPro widgets have them both beat though - better functionality than stock, better look than TW.
N8ter said:
I think you should think of these things more as a consumer than a tinkerer. They do outnumber "us" and they have expectations and requirements that the minority takes for granted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is why all I ask is they keep the changes modular. Leave stock launcher in, they have more than enough room to spare. Keep core functionality like the dialer standard across the board. Nothing to stop them from doing some "People" app or something like that to house the dialer changes.
The one thing I'll give Samsung, from a power user point of view - notification bar toggles were brilliant. Other than that, I cringe when I boot a new ROM and see stock TWlauncher, or just about every time I fire up the dialer.
Samsung's stock widgets are terrible compared to Moto and HTC's. Even SE and LG has better widgets.
The TW Launcher looks decent but it was rushed together to look like iOS and not much beyond that.
A widget slashed down to 4x1 or 4x2 (Daily Briefing with Just Calendar)taking up an entire home screen is not Sleek or Functional. No Mail, SMS/MMS, Calendar, Media Player widget. Not to mention they all look terrible, especially the Title Bars and bevels around most of them.
TouchWiz gives you less at a glance than Sense and the Droid X UI (which isn't really MotoBlur), so I tend to waste more time finding information on my Vibrant than I did on my HTC device.
If the market was full of good widgets, I guess I wouldn't have this particular problem.
Most of the other changes attributed to TouchWiz aren't necessarily linked to TouchWiz (or rather, can be implemented without being dependent on it).
Media Codecs can be added to Stock Android. DLNA, MobileAP, etc. can all be added to Stock Android.
Also, the inability to edit the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen coupled with the inability to set a decent home screen makes TouchWiz a PITA to use. You're basically forced to used 7 home screens unless you want to have a very odd Home Page setup with uneven scrolling to get from screen to screen.
Another thing I noticed is that icon placement seems to be different than other launchers. GMail unread count is played perfectly in Sense, but in TouchWiz the icon is set way lower than everything else. Motorola implemented unread counts into their Launcher, and I hope everyone else does the same (for Messaging, Email, Gmail, etc.).
Kubernetes said:
Yeah the only thing I hate about Twiz is the launcher. The other enhancements are great.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/Twerd.
-bZj

Who else here will miss Touchwiz?

I will be exchanging my Epic for the first dual-core phone on Sprint (don't try to convince me otherwise!)
Anyways, I'm sure it'll be an HTC EVO type of phone, so it will be lacking Touchwiz. I have gotten so used to the touchwiz Lockscreen (I text ALOT!) and it's beautiful UI.
Will you miss Touchwiz when you get a new phone?
P.S. I stay away from roms that don't have touchwiz launcher. LOL
Meh. There are other lock screens and ADW gives me better functionality than TW - particularly the ability to organize the app drawer into groups.
Beautiful UI? Touchwiz?! You must be using a different version of touchwiz then
Personally all I will miss about touchwiz will be systematically hunting down and getting rid of any elements of it.
063_XOBX said:
Beautiful UI? Touchwiz?! You must be using a different version of touchwiz then
Personally all I will miss about touchwiz will be systematically hunting down and getting rid of any elements of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1,000 millions
Never use it. The first thing I do when I flash a new ROM is install a 3rd party launcher.
stir fry a lot said:
+1,000 millions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be + billions then
I actually think Go Launcher is very good. Touchwiz is somewhat limited on features.
Hey hey, it's very basic and the size of the dock is perfect for my setup. I came from sense and I have a sense ui feel to my Touchwiz, but as stated, touchwiz lockscreen wont be on HTC phones, which is why I will miss it.
bjhill2112 said:
Meh. There are other lock screens and ADW gives me better functionality than TW - particularly the ability to organize the app drawer into groups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And eww. I tried ADW, waaayyy too many options/preferences when adding just a single shortcut. Select shortcut name, icon, destination, etc. I just want to place the damn thing on the homescreen!
When I open up TW drawer, I can simply long press on any app and it'll drag it to the current homescreen I'm on.
Overstew said:
And eww. I tried ADW, waaayyy too many options/preferences when adding just a single shortcut. Select shortcut name, icon, destination, etc. I just want to place the damn thing on the homescreen!
When I open up TW drawer, I can simply long press on any app and it'll drag it to the current homescreen I'm on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with ADW too. Actually, I think that has worked on every home replacement I've tried...
bjhill2112 said:
Works with ADW too. Actually, I think that has worked on every home replacement I've tried...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launcher Pro does.
I will only miss one thing: the slide to adjust brightness on the notification bar.
TW has its good points - the music player's above average and has nice dropdown controls, and the lock screen is useful. The launcher, however, is a real piece of crap, and I wouldn't miss it. There's plenty of good music players out there.
I don't.mind touchwiz but I like launcher pro the.best.
Sent From My Evo Killer!
Samsung would be better off using Launcher Pro and Beautiful widgets.
If Samsung is smart they would just have the developers for Launcher pro with Beautiful widgets work for them. I use the android AOSP lock screen and I am set the only thing I hate is when I get an incoming phone call I have to swype the screen to answer the call. I hate twiz is sucks!!! It slows your phone down and it does not have very many features. Your benchmark score improve considerably without touch wiz. But I do like the hardware on the Samsung phone better the Samsung camera and screen are why better than HTC. Superior product inferior customer service. But I understand HTC does not update their hardware so it is easier to update their phone while as Samsung updates their hardware all the time so they need new code to get the with the newest hardware working at it's optimal level.
I wont miss touxhwiz...
Ill miss the wobble of the slider
If you think touchwiz is bad, wait till you get SenseUI. At least with touchwiz you can put on a new launcher and pretend it's not there.
k0nane said:
TW has its good points - the music player's above average and has nice dropdown controls, and the lock screen is useful. The launcher, however, is a real piece of crap, and I wouldn't miss it. There's plenty of good music players out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you say the Launcher is crap, out of curiosity?
iSaint said:
I wont miss touxhwiz...
Ill miss the wobble of the slider
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. My slider wobbles too!
nutswillkillme said:
If you think touchwiz is bad, wait till you get SenseUI. At least with touchwiz you can put on a new launcher and pretend it's not there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with sense
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
marcusant said:
Same with sense
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind of. The htc dialer, messaging app, and email app are dumb and ugly as butt.

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