Xoom living up to its potential

Xoom living up to its potential - Xoom General

It's unbelievable the transformation over the past few weeks with the release of ICS source code. My Xoom went from being my favorite device, to being my favorite device that I want to brag about and show everyone. I feel like an iTard selling everyone on how awesome my device is. So what exactly has ICS done for me?
1) Much smoother interface. The Tiamat kernel was already smooth but ICS version is silky smooth.
2) New Interface. Significant improvement over the HC interface. As an example, the built in folder system is great, the way you access widgets is fantastic, and I love the new color scheme.
3) Data monitoring. I know there are apps for this but I love the fact that I can set the system to warn me if I am reaching my limit. It shows me which apps have used what.
4) Face unlock. So cool.
5) Panoramic Picture taking. Some people say this is a novelty, but I really like being able to take these kind of pictures. They can be so artistic and fun to develop
6)Better web client. On HC there were several pages that would just crash for me. I have yet to have the web client crash and have noticed no lag on any pages so far. I will continue to look out for issues but so far it has been noticeably better
7)Active application list. Love this thing. I use it way more since it serves the purpose of multi-tasking and the ability to free up memory if I want it.
Big thanks to Team EOS for putting out such a sick nightly run.
So what is it about ICS that you all like?

Re: Xoom
My Xoom is screaming ever since I took the plung and installed Team EOS ICS on my Xoom. its like having a brandnew Xoom. I love it so much that I will be bringing to work and show it off to others. Thank you so very much Team EOS! You guys rock!..

Related

Battle of the MIUI roms!

So now we have several MIUI roms for N1 but which one is the best?
Stability,performance,packed goodies....
Which MIUI is the best and why for you?

Why is MIUI so special? Just go buy an iPhone, it's kind the same... Really, I don't find anything special but heavy modded graphics. What do you use MIUI features for?

It's simply the fastest roms for N1, the menus just fly

I find Enomther's really fast.

elegos said:
Why is MIUI so special? Just go buy an iPhone, it's kind the same... Really, I don't find anything special but heavy modded graphics. What do you use MIUI features for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe some would love the UI but hate the OS?
I have seen some people adding WP7 UI like into Galaxy S. All these just show how flexible Android can be.

That's true, but being like that, someone could just create a iPhone-like launcher touching nothing else.

If you keep using the MIUI stock Launcher than yes it looks like a far family member of iphone, but if you use the exellent ADW you gain the extra speed from MIUI + some goodies like the Themes while having an Android UI
CM7 is also very fast but unstable for me whatever is the build: dead touchscreen when calling could happen any time

lenrek said:
Maybe some would love the UI but hate the OS?
I have seen some people adding WP7 UI like into Galaxy S. All these just show how flexible Android can be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate people who attempt to re-create WP7's UI on Android. There is no way you can properly emulate the simplicity and beauty of WP7 with static blue icons. MIUI may try to copy the iPhone over to Android, but even then you have to remember it is simply a User Interface. Android is still under there, not iOS. Everyone knows out off all the major mobile operating systems Android lacks in the UI department (opinion, of course).
And MIUI attempts to remedy that problem.

i tested [ROM] Miui-AU ROM (english/german) but it isn't that fast.
The Launcher ist laggy (compared to GO or LP) and no scrollable widgets...
i know you can use a different launcher, but then i dont need MIUI...

I just want to recall that this topic is about which MIUI is the best, not if MIUI is good or not...

Ive been using Eveek's eMIUI for a while. I reckon its the best one out of the lot simply cos its the most stable version around.. Also Ive noticed this rom is near enough stock with very minor tweaks. Compare it to others they have heavily modded the stock version which wasnt to my liking!

i had no idea MIUI was so much faster. why is it faster? i only watched one video on MIUI and it was kinda cool but i never tried it out. am i missing something by not trying it?

MIUI is always ahead of the curve when it comes to design and innovation. It was the first with lockscreen music control, the first with power control in the notification bar, the first with a built in theme manager system (with an online data base for easy theme searching and downloading), the first with FM radio on the N1 etc. Not only did it do these things first, but it does them the best.
It has an absolutely gorgeous UI (hi-resolution icons, transitions, themes and menus that blow stock Android out of the water). It's fast and has amazing battery life. The folder system for App organization is light years ahead of the app drawer, which is archaic and inefficient. Also, the support for this ROM is amazing!
Let's get real, it takes some of the best elements of the iPhone UI (ex high resolution, unified icons) and combines it with everything great about Android. Those saying it's just trying o copy the iPhone are ignorant and should really just get their heads out of their asses.
Sure, it might not be for everyone but I would encourage people to try it first before they dismiss it. I was skeptical at first as well but I've been using it for months now and have no intentions of going back to anything else. I flashed CM7 to try out but it doesn't compare, that is my opinion.
And I would recommend getting the stock ROM from miui-dev.com just because the support for the stock ROM is so much better than the MIUI ROMs here. There is an online theme database that comes as an app with the ROM anyways, so you can change up the look very easily if you choose to do so.

ya you are missing out, it is highly optimized, solid fast, great battery life, weekly updates, everything makes sense..hence why cyanogen has borrowed some ideas/stuff. Most people just talk **** about miui cuz it looks iphonish, let them be nubs because from the ground up miui has alot more development and is way more advanced than alot of other roms out there, just my two cents but they are worth more than others

I'm not sure whenever I'd consider MIUI one step ahead the current UIs. I find no user friendly evolution, just reordered things. I mean, no intelligent way to launch an application (and no, gestures are NOT the way it will be as you have to remember the gesture), no "outstanding" graphics (I'm not impressed by them, not after 5 minutes handling it).
Is it fast? People in this thread have already replied: it's not fast, it may be faster than CM (which IMHO is getting too choppy due to too many under-the-hood things users are not interested in), but it's not faster than Enomther's, for example. No way.
Why is it followed then? Really simple: it's not the usual CM ROM. If only there was another launcher, people may not idolize this ROM. Kudos to the developers for developing it though, otherwise CM would be the (choppy) standard.
jasrups said:
[...]Those saying it's just trying o copy the iPhone are ignorant and should really just get their heads out of their asses.
Sure, it might not be for everyone but I would encourage people to try it first before they dismiss it. [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I well tested it as I pushed forward the italian translation, but I always been perplexed about its app management and launcher in general. Yes, I prefere the archaic and - IMHO - efficient current one. And no, there is not so much other code I'd import in any other ROM. From my point of view it's just a (shining?) iPhone UI with FM radio. Kudos for them releasing the radio part. That's all.

elegos said:
I'm not sure whenever I'd consider MIUI one step ahead the current UIs. I find no user friendly evolution, just reordered things. I mean, no intelligent way to launch an application (and no, gestures are NOT the way it will be as you have to remember the gesture), no "outstanding" graphics (I'm not impressed by them, not after 5 minutes handling it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give some examples of an intelligent way to launch an application? Just curious.

I'm partial to formel. He keeps up with the latest and its a one shot you're done rom. No need to fiddle with the language packs. I was using enom before which was a very good rom. I get similar batt with formel and the performance is a little smoother. I'm using adw as I'm not fond of the iphone layout anyways. IMO this is a good start for those that want to scope out miui and see what its about. Its pretty much bug free and stable for day to day use which for me is important. I need my phone to work.

I was an Enom fan too, complete rom and very stable but...you get tired pretty soon!
I used to play with Rodriguez's MIUI because it was full of goodies but God knows why he disapeared all of a sudden
Now I am trying Moviestar HD which seems stable but the Theme app can't apply themes downloaded even renamed into mtz, I heard MIUI-AU is the best on Desire but its adaptation on N1 is unstable

The themes work on formel except for the sms skinning. Dont believe that one is figured out yet. The rodriguez rom is good but is 3 releases back now and it has a fair few bugs I turned up in just a few days of usage. Overall the goodies didnt equal out to a newer and quite a bit more tuned up version of miui. I have not tried moviestar yet. Frankly I"m pretty happy with formel. It flat works.

I figured that I can use a custom theme via File Manager but sms app doesn't change like on Formel.
I think a newer theme app is available because it says so when I use it but when I try to download the link is not working!
I hope in next versions of Formel and Moviestar they will use the new fixed one, dunno about MIUI-AU

Best Stock Honeycomb Rom. (No Touchwiz)

Basically what the title has said. I'm looking for a rom that has stock honeycomb on it. I'm not really a fan of touchwiz never really was. I know that I could of search for it. I got distracted about reading about the Newton rings. Apparently there on my tablet. If someone can help me I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium

But without touchwiz you will lose important hardware features of the tablet. Stock honeycomb is a highly incomplete OS and touchwiz fills in many of the gaps.

5thElement said:
But without touchwiz you will lose important hardware features of the tablet. Stock honeycomb is a highly incomplete OS and touchwiz fills in many of the gaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically there's no hope in me getting a non honeycomb rom?

Alopez_45 said:
So basically there's no hope in me getting a non honeycomb rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you're rooted. Maybe if someone had a nandroid of the virgin HC rom for you to download?
BTW, I assume you mean "non-TouchWiz"

Alopez_45 said:
Basically what the title has said. I'm looking for a rom that has stock honeycomb on it. I'm not really a fan of touchwiz never really was. I know that I could of search for it. I got distracted about reading about the Newton rings. Apparently there on my tablet. If someone can help me I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a sticky bigger than me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1171089
It helps if you visit the dev forum...

Phantom Hacker is working on a vanilla 3.2 port as we speak
Sent from your mothers house.

5thElement said:
But without touchwiz you will lose important hardware features of the tablet. Stock honeycomb is a highly incomplete OS and touchwiz fills in many of the gaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like what exactly? That doesn't even make sense.. Are you forgetting the 10.1 shipped with stock 3.1?

PhantomHacker said:
Like what exactly? That doesn't even make sense.. Are you forgetting the 10.1 shipped with stock 3.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't bother PH, you don't know what you are getting into.

5thElement said:
But without touchwiz you will lose important hardware features of the tablet. Stock honeycomb is a highly incomplete OS and touchwiz fills in many of the gaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also like to know what exactly Touchwiz adds (besides cartoonish icons, widgets and a few new bugs that vanilla HC didn't have)?
BTW I know what i'm getting into

Alopez_45 said:
Basically what the title has said. I'm looking for a rom that has stock honeycomb on it. I'm not really a fan of touchwiz never really was. I know that I could of search for it. I got distracted about reading about the Newton rings. Apparently there on my tablet. If someone can help me I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I run the Blazar non-TW ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1200387&highlight=blazar
Not a single problem, and managed to watch video for pretty much all of a 10.5 hour flight the other week.

poisike said:
I would also like to know what exactly Touchwiz adds (besides cartoonish icons, widgets and a few new bugs that vanilla HC didn't have)?
BTW I know what i'm getting into
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get the all important screenshot button right next to the most used button on the status bar, so whenever you accidentally hit it instead of the button you wanted you get a pointless image added to your gallery.

Tee Hee that made me laugh.
I am disappointed at the lack of dev activity though. I too prefer AOSP to TW and was hoping for a huge dev scene.

Im honestly amazed at how little education people here have about TouchWiz.
TouchWiz is by far the most advanced software you currently can get on a tablet. The user experience it provides is light years ahead of anything else out there, even Honeycomb 3.2.
Not only that but TouchWiz gives you access to specific hardware you cant access without it. The ability to change color temperature of the screen is a HUGE feature you can only have with toucwiz.
Here are just a few of the features you get from TouchWiz that you cant get anywhere else :
1. REAL multitasking just like in Windows. You can have TWO apps open at once on the same screen and not have to switch back and forth. There is nothing like this available in the market or in 3.2. HUGE props to Samsung for doing this.
2. Ability to change color temperature of the screen.
3. One touch wifi file access to tablet from PC <-- AWESOME
4. Sluggish menu scrolling in vanilla Honeycomb are gone! It looks like
Samsung devs used video hardware acceleration for scrolling which creates a smooth experience compared to Vanilla honeycombs laggy jumpy scrolling in may menus.
5. Awesomenew notification/settings popup menu. FAR superior to stock Honeycomb.
6. One touch screen capture button in the task bar takes a snap shot of the screen and automatically saves to a folder.
7. Lots of cool QUALITY widgets not like the junk you find in the market.
8. Motion gestures
9. Superior App Manager/ RAM manager which can run ON TOP of any app you are running.
10. BEST Music app and runs super smooth. Much better than stock H.C. or anything in the market
11. BEST Ebook reader app you can get.
12. Your tablet will run FASTEST with touchwiz. Samsung is using hardware acceleration for menus like Apple. Stock HC uses software rendering which is why its so slow and laggy. You cant get hardware acceleration if you dont have TouchWiz. No the Devs here will not be able to add it as its beyond their capabilities.
The list goes on and on. TouchWiz is simply a superior experience than stock HC. I would even dream of using my tab without it. Your tablet is incomplete and missing features to access hardware if you dont have TouchWiz.

Really? I guess it's a personal thing then. I used TW for a week before deciding I COULD do without out LOL.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought TW was JUST a GUI and nothing else! It shouldn't offer superior app management and ram management... and as for the apps you mention, well we all have choices via the android market.

5thElement said:
Im honestly amazed at how little education people here have about TouchWiz.
TouchWiz is by far the most advanced software you currently can get on a tablet. The user experience it provides is light years ahead of anything else out there, even Honeycomb 3.2.
Not only that but TouchWiz gives you access to specific hardware you cant access without it. The ability to change color temperature of the screen is a HUGE feature you can only have with toucwiz.
Here are just a few of the features you get from TouchWiz that you cant get anywhere else :
1. REAL multitasking just like in Windows. You can have TWO apps open at once on the same screen and not have to switch back and forth. There is nothing like this available in the market or in 3.2. HUGE props to Samsung for doing this.
2. Ability to change color temperature of the screen.
3. One touch wifi file access to tablet from PC <-- AWESOME
4. Sluggish menu scrolling in vanilla Honeycomb are gone! It looks like
Samsung devs used video hardware acceleration for scrolling which creates a smooth experience compared to Vanilla honeycombs laggy jumpy scrolling in may menus.
5. Awesomenew notification/settings popup menu. FAR superior to stock Honeycomb.
6. One touch screen capture button in the task bar takes a snap shot of the screen and automatically saves to a folder.
7. Lots of cool QUALITY widgets not like the junk you find in the market.
8. Motion gestures
9. Superior App Manager/ RAM manager which can run ON TOP of any app you are running.
10. BEST Music app and runs super smooth. Much better than stock H.C. or anything in the market
11. BEST Ebook reader app you can get.
12. Your tablet will run FASTEST with touchwiz. Samsung is using hardware acceleration for menus like Apple. Stock HC uses software rendering which is why its so slow and laggy. You cant get hardware acceleration if you dont have TouchWiz. No the Devs here will not be able to add it as its beyond their capabilities.
The list goes on and on. TouchWiz is simply a superior experience than stock HC. I would even dream of using my tab without it. Your tablet is incomplete and missing features to access hardware if you dont have TouchWiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. 6 predefined apps, you call this REAL multitasking!? I have no use for these apps, except maybe calculator that i have used once.
2. I have no need for that. And i think there are apps in Market that can do this?
3. How? Has this something to do with that thing called Kies? I refuse to use this ****.
4. The menu scrolling has never been sluggish on my Xoom, so i don't know what you are talking about.
5. Awesomenew notification/settings popup menu? Yeah, design is little different.
6. I have accidentally used that screen capture button a few times, other then that i have no use for this. There are lot of apps in Market that can make screenshots.
7. I really tried to use those "cool QUALITY widgets" just to give Samsung and Touchwiz a fair chance. I couldn't stand them for longer then a week. Then i downloaded the same widgets i used on my Xoom.
8. Motion gestures... yes, this feature bugged me also until i chose "never ask again".
9. I have never used or needed a App Manager/ RAM manager on Xoom. Why would i want to use this on GT10.1?
10. I must admit, i have never tried the BEST Music app. I use Google Music.
11. I have never used the BEST Ebook reader app either, so i can't comment on this.
12. Your tablet will run FASTEST with touchwiz? Maybe my GT10.1 has a hardware problem, but i don't see that it runs faster then my Xoom.
So i don't really see what touchwiz added, besides that gray bottom bar, which really bothers me the most. If i could get a vanilla 3.2 ROM, i would be very happy.
Of course this is my personal opinion and i'm not saying that GT10.1 isn't a good tablet.

poisike said:
So i don't really see what touchwiz added, besides that gray bottom bar, which really bothers me the most. If i could get a vanilla 3.2 ROM, i would be very happy.
Of course this is my personal opinion and i'm not saying that GT10.1 isn't a good tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is recommended to read the white papers on TouchWiz to understand why its so important if you have a Tab 10. Lag of hardware acceleration without it is one feature alone that should have everyone on board with TouchWiz. Not only that but samsung is releasing an api to allow you to add any app into the mini launch bar.

steve664npc said:
Really? I guess it's a personal thing then. I used TW for a week before deciding I COULD do without out LOL.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought TW was JUST a GUI and nothing else! It shouldn't offer superior app management and ram management... and as for the apps you mention, well we all have choices via the android market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you do without touchwiz? Sure if you only use your unit to check email and view a webpage but then why did you buy a tab 10? Also you are wrong on many account...
There are no apps in the android market that will give you true multitasking like touchwiz.
There are no apps in the market that will allow you to change the color temps of the screen.
There are no apps that will allow you to obtain a superior notification menu
There are no apps in the market that will allow you to add hardware acceleration to the GUI.
There are no apps in the market that will allow you to do a at LEAST a dozen more important Tab 10 related features.

5thElement said:
Not only that but samsung is releasing an api to allow you to add any app into the mini launch bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be great, but I would like to see proof of this statement.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium

5thElement said:
Im honestly amazed at how little education people here have about TouchWiz.
TouchWiz is by far the most advanced software you currently can get on a tablet. The user experience it provides is light years ahead of anything else out there, even Honeycomb 3.2.
Not only that but TouchWiz gives you access to specific hardware you cant access without it. The ability to change color temperature of the screen is a HUGE feature you can only have with toucwiz.
Here are just a few of the features you get from TouchWiz that you cant get anywhere else :
1. REAL multitasking just like in Windows. You can have TWO apps open at once on the same screen and not have to switch back and forth. There is nothing like this available in the market or in 3.2. HUGE props to Samsung for doing this.
2. Ability to change color temperature of the screen.
3. One touch wifi file access to tablet from PC <-- AWESOME
4. Sluggish menu scrolling in vanilla Honeycomb are gone! It looks like
Samsung devs used video hardware acceleration for scrolling which creates a smooth experience compared to Vanilla honeycombs laggy jumpy scrolling in may menus.
5. Awesomenew notification/settings popup menu. FAR superior to stock Honeycomb.
6. One touch screen capture button in the task bar takes a snap shot of the screen and automatically saves to a folder.
7. Lots of cool QUALITY widgets not like the junk you find in the market.
8. Motion gestures
9. Superior App Manager/ RAM manager which can run ON TOP of any app you are running.
10. BEST Music app and runs super smooth. Much better than stock H.C. or anything in the market
11. BEST Ebook reader app you can get.
12. Your tablet will run FASTEST with touchwiz. Samsung is using hardware acceleration for menus like Apple. Stock HC uses software rendering which is why its so slow and laggy. You cant get hardware acceleration if you dont have TouchWiz. No the Devs here will not be able to add it as its beyond their capabilities.
The list goes on and on. TouchWiz is simply a superior experience than stock HC. I would even dream of using my tab without it. Your tablet is incomplete and missing features to access hardware if you dont have TouchWiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm sorry, but TW doesn't improve my experience.
As a matter of fact, TW seems to have been designed by Samsung to lock users in to their proprietary ecosystem. Unfortunately, I do not believe software development--on the scale that Apple and Google, and allegedly Amazon is building out--is a part of their core competency. I am not sure Samsung has what it takes to build an ecosystem that provides the user experience on the level that Google already provides--so I do not want Samsung's Social Widgets, Music Hub, or whatever other service they are trying to push on me.
The only reason I purchased the Galaxt Tab 10.1 is because of the superior hardware design and quality with respects to other Android Tablet manufacturers, and quite frankly, their TW software just gets in the way. I really dislike having their proprietary software forced down my throat.
If their interface and software bundle is so great, why doesn't Samsung let users choose to install their software via the market or some other option?
--my two cents.

ICS - am I missing something?

I've patiently been waiting and flashing the alpha/beta ICS ROMs onto my phone as and when they come (thanks devs!).
What I am wondering is, why am I distinctly unimpressed with ICS?
Sure it looks pretty, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, it seems to be form over function. The launcher now takes several swipes to access an app which I could previously have got to in one flick. The task switcher which used to be just long-press on home button then bam, touch your desired app, is now a case of long-press then swiping through a long list of pretty windows to find the one you need. Don't get me wrong, the changes to the built-in apps are good (and necessary - having to press menu to get to the draft new email button was ridiculously bad UI) - but I'm just left unimpressed overall.
And still we have the poor choppy scrolling performance that iOS and WP users laugh at instead of the ultra-smooth buttery goodness they enjoy (although it is better than it used to be I admit).
I know the ICS ROMs are a work in progress still, and I've not spent any time using a Galaxy Nexus - perhaps it all makes sense on a superphone with dual-cores and a massive screen, and these are non-issues for those people. But I am in no position to get a new phone (need a hardware keyboard and there aren't any better ones around) and hence I don't see much compelling reason to get ICS over GB - except for the apps maybe.
Am I the only person feeling this way?

Take into consideration these are ALPHA and BETA stages..cameras still don't even work. Just be patient
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

Hm, I'd have to agree with you about the Task Switcher. There is little to no functionality to it. May I add widget grouping in the Drawer would also be a great addition. Otherwise, I liked most of the changes.
Although, I have two questions. What ICS ROM did/are you test(ing)? And did you try Overclocking? I'm currently running Virtuous Quattro (Beta 8) and have an overclock of up to 1,6GHz, and I can tell everything is running smooth as silk. Of course you don't have to OC to upto 1,6, but 1,2-1,3 would definitely suffice.
Edit: As spastic909 said, there will be a LOT of changes in the upcoming updates, this is only a preview of what we're soon going to get.

As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.

setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the addition of hardware acceleration for moving UI elements doesn't function in CPU realtime like the iPhone or Windows Phones? I'm still running Virtuous G-Lite here, haven't flashed any ICS roms yet as they are all in beta.

setspeed said:
Am I the only person feeling this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel exactly the same way especially in regards to the app list and recently used apps. I think those are steps backward which is keeping me on GB. However ICS does have some improvements in other areas of the OS which I wish I could enjoy.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fast real-time UI scrolling has very little to do with actual performance. From what I loosely understand, Android is fundamentally more ambitious. Rather than being flawed compared to her competitors. iOS and WP7(Not 100% sure about this.) has the UI on some kind of urgent priority line to render scrolling at 60fps. Android on the other hand, won't forsake any other tasks for the UI scrolling. In essence, Android is closer to a true computer.
That said, I'm guessing the only way to stamp out Android's inherent lagginess is to brute force it with increasingly advanced hardware. Or in my case, using MIUI bulletproof w/ that Charger V6 script thingie gives it a comparable homescreen scrolling speed to the iPhone 3GS.

setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a very good explanation to why you would be seeing this that I unfortunately don't remember where I found it, but it was a google employee explaining why android will never LOOK as smooth as iOs (despite both being almost the same) what it is, is that with iOS it prioritizes interaction above everything else, including rendering, in that, if you were to load a page on safari or whatever and while its loading start moving the page around, all rendering will stop, whereas with android it will try to do both simultaneous thereby resulting in what appears to be a choppier experience. As for google fixing this, they cannot (or rather will not) because it would literally require an overhaul of everything that is android to fix, yes it's do-able, but it would result in everything that we know to be android restarting practically from scratch (with some trial and error already done for us IE we know what works so we can implement it from the beginning) Hope this answers your concerns!

noneabove said:
iOS it prioritizes interaction above everything else, including rendering, in that, if you were to load a page on safari or whatever and while its loading start moving the page around, all rendering will stop, whereas with android it will try to do both simultaneous thereby resulting in what appears to be a choppier experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. I'd read about it somewhere. And I'd also read elsewhere that the google devs wanted to find a decent middle ground to reduce this "choppiness" as well.

This the article others are referring to - https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/2FXDCz8x93s
Also, another one from the same source (a senior Google/Android engineer) - https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/XAZ4CeVP6DC
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.

Yeah I was already aware of those posts by Dianne Hackborn and others. It also seems that NO-ONE including Hackborn herself can give a definitive answer (which doesn't then get refuted by someone) as to why iOS can achieve 60fps animation pretty much everywhere, and Android just fails spectacularly at it.
The technical issues are way above my head, and I have no real interest in changing that - I'm just a normal end-user (albeit one who likes to meddle, hence why I have an XDA account). What I would like to hear is that Google has a plan for fixing Android, whether that be through a rewrite or whatever, to nail this final issue of stuttery, laggy performance compared to the competition.
I think the original point of my post was that ICS doesn't seem to offer me much in the way of actual advantages over GB (except for apps). The launcher appears smoother (at the cost of now having to make mutliple swipes - a choice made to get around the abysmal list-scrolling performance). The task manager is prettier but less functional. It just seems like it's been tarted up, with none of the actual underlying issues fixed. That's how it is from my perspective.
I wish there was a viable alternative, as I am truly starting to get itchy feet. I know that I won't go anywhere at the moment, but one phone that really interested me was the Nokia N9. I never got the chance to actually use it, but all the reviews said that the Meego interface was a joy (despite a couple of minor performance issues and the fact Nokia killed it before it was born).
I think I'm starting to question whether in fact I need the advantages that Android offers at all. On a daily basis there is only one root app that I use and that is Adfree Android. Could I live without it - probably.
And although I love flashing new ROMs on my phone, and the choice that brings, ultimately I'm only trying to fix deficiencies with the software my phone came with. This DZ was dead slow when I first got it - overclocking and a new ROM fixed that. But when the competition is fast and smooth, would I feel the need for any of that? I suspect the answer is probably "Yes, I would miss it like anything". But the fact I'm asking myself these questions tells me I'm not perfectly happy with Android the way it is. iPhone users don't have that feeling. I know they expect less of a computer and more of an appliance, but when they have an amazing experience day after day, and I'm being frustrated day after day, I ask myself who really is the smarter one?

setspeed said:
I'm being frustrated day after day, I ask myself who really is the smarter one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one is smarter than anyone for choosing one particular brand over another. Its just a preference in the end.
While it's short sighted of you to equate UI scrolling to actual performance, you're quite entitled to love smooth scrolling.
And if 60 fps scrolling is your thing and if the lag bothers you that much. Then it would be wise to move to the iPhone or Windows. Especially if you believe it to be the smarter choice.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Smarter as in "not spending a lot of time babying my phone". Is it possible to make the transition from phone tweaker to just phone user, and enjoy those benefits (scrolling performance, better quality of apps) instead of enjoying total control and customisation?? Who knows, but when my contract's up and if there isn't a decent qwerty Android on the market (highly likely) then maybe I should try a change!

The scrolling lag of Android is a software design "flaw" if you can call it that. Someone wrote a nice article on G+ about it. Essentially, Android spawns a thread for the UI and lets it do its thing. That's why when you scroll down, not only does the existing content move, but new content is also added on the fly. And this happens across the OS - when you are updating an app, the phone also is trying to address your latest command of swiping homescreens. The author went on to show how in iOS this is not the case, that when a webpage is loading and the user begins to scroll, the page stops loading and full processor power is dedicated to the scrolling, thus resulting in a smoother performance. Apparently, it is baked too deep into the kernel and changing that is not a trivial issue. thus, the only solution now is to throw more HP at it, which is why the latest crop of phones don't stutter too much.

I think I'm a victim of my own anticipation. Like most people here I check Android news on a daily basis. When a major version revision like 4.0 is announced I buy into all the hype and by the time it gets to release I'm ready for the second coming of Jesus. When that doesn't happen then I've set myself up for a major fall. ICS brings some welcome (and some not so welcome) changes, but there's nothing earth shattering here, it feels like an incremental improvement.
I'm setting myself up for some major flaming here, but I would like Google to pull out the big guns and wow us with something. Something like Siri.
Before you all lambast me, let me state my position - I don't think Siri will set the world on fire like Apple hopes it will, we're just not ready for it yet. And I know all us jaded tech types can sneer and say "I could do all this ages ago with Tasker and Voice Search and Vlingo etc etc". But what Apple has done is wrap it all up into a nice useable package that anyone can easily access, without having to think about it, or search the Market for apps. There is nothing wrong in spotting something that you think is great and adding it to your OS. And if you try and deny that this will how we will interact with our phones in 20yrs time (or perhaps via mind control!) then you are kidding yourself.
I know Apple bought it from an iOS dev, but equally they've polished it into something that is talked about by everyone - everyone has an opinion on it when they become aware of it. What does Android do (for the average user, who doesn't root/flash custom ROMs) that's anywhere near the same level of impressive? Widgets and nice Maps? I admit voice nav is a great selling point, but seriously, I think Google needs to step up it's game and start bringing out the big guns to compete with iOS which, although limiting in lots of ways, clearly has the most polished apps, the best user interaction in the mobile world when it comes to scrolling and smoothness, and they bring futuristic stuff like Siri to the party as a part of their standard OS. It's not about bragging rights, or showing off or anything like that - it's about being the best OS around, and at the moment, aside from the fact Android is very customisable even without root, I can't say it's 100% the best OS. It is for me, at the moment, and probably for you too if you're on this site, but for the rest of the general population I can see why Android doesn't really hold a candle to iOS in the layman's eyes.
Rant over!

The one major thing you're missing is that ICS was designed mainly to integrate functionality between both tablets and phones. Google made a decision and then decided they weren't to keep on developing Honeycomb nor likely wanted current tablets running cropped versions of GB when it was solely made as a phone OS.
So there was a notion to make a unification with devices running Gingerbread/Froyo along with tablets running GB/HC, thus ICS was formed.

ashwinmudigonda said:
The scrolling lag of Android is a software design "flaw" if you can call it that. Someone wrote a nice article on G+ about it. Essentially, Android spawns a thread for the UI and lets it do its thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're referring to the post from a guy who used to be an intern at Google, then that second article link I posted (from Dianne Hackborn) is basically pointing out how that guy posted some incorrect stuff.
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.

steviewevie said:
If you're referring to the post from a guy who used to be an intern at Google, then that second article link I posted (from Dianne Hackborn) is basically pointing out how that guy posted some incorrect stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't matter if the guy posted incorrect stuff.
The empirical evidence and summary is that Android does not prioritize UI and UI animations (nor sound threads), and never will this point forward, so far.
Dianne also pointed out a deficiency in the kernel for high-priority/foreground threads which they gave up on fixing since Android 1.6.

I notice this every day but I'm a tech if it ain't broken i don't want it...

I'm just throwing my thoughts around here, please correct me if I'm wrong and flame me if you must, I'm kind of just interested in this topic.
I've had an ipod touch. I've played with the iphone 3gs. I've seen the iphone 4g. I've even been offered to try siri for a few weeks. The 3gs actually wasn't a huge leap from an ipod touch. They pretty much slapped a phone on it, right? There was nothing I could do on a 3gs that I couldn't do on an itouch connected to wifi. Literally nothing. The change from 3gs to 4g was just that. 3g changed to 4g. Beyond that, the user experience was identical. Nothing had changed. The addition of siri added 100 bucks of value to the 4g though? Yeah, that kinda didn't make sense to me, as there are literally free apps that did the same thing. But behind siri was the same phone. Ios hasn't changed drastically since the first time we saw it. Granted it's ALREADY such a great phone.
But look at android. Younger, and from the g1 to the nexus s, HUGE improvements, and for pennies to the dollar cheaper. Android WILL improve. There's no question of that. At this point, my phone has literally replaced my desktop; and from a phone that has already reached EOL, that's quite an accomplishment. the next gen phones have way more muscle to swing out at the graphical glitches that plague us, and the OS just keeps improving.
ICS is merely a stepping stone into something bigger. And android, being as customizable as it is, offers ui similar to ios through miui (soon miuiv4). You can't put off the changes made between cupcake, eclair, froyo and gingerbread. How you can put off the changes yet to be made, however, is quite staggering.

[app]naked browser

Despite whatever impressions you may
have gotten from the title, we’re here to
look at a web browser; sorry to
disappoint you. The browser in question
has been developed by XDA Forum
Member aminaked because in his own
words, “I was fed up with the privacy
violations , bloat, instability, and general
stupid functionality of Android browsers.
I decided to make my own.”
The browser itself is pretty minimal, but
contains all the core functionality that
you’ll need to navigate your way around
the net. The primary focus of the
developer has been speed, efficiency,
privacy, and keeping the application as
streamlined as possible. Weighing in at
only 95 KB, I’d say he’s done a pretty
good job. There are no superfluous
functions or bloat of any kind, and you
aren’t even expected to put up with ads.
Features of the browser include:
Crash restore
Undo the closing of a tab
One finger zoom
Infinite tabs
Now before you check out this app, be
warned: Keeping things this small and
fast has a price—eye candy.
Aminaked openly admits that, “I prefer it
to look crappy but run great. Later it can
look and run great.” The general
feedback does indeed seem to be that
this browser is very fast and efficient.
However if you like your apps to look the
part, you may want to give this one a
little time to mature, as it’s currently in a
very early stage of development.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...gle&utm_medium=organic&utm_term=naked+browser

I'll check it out. I've been using dolphin browser mini (black edition) for quite some time, maybe this one will eventually be a replacment. I'll edit this post with what I like/dislike.
*Edit*
Likes: smooth, fast, stable. Minimalist.
- loads pages quickly
- saves passwords, history, cookies if you want it to
- plenty of security type features to play around with
- hides the top menu but not the status bar (me likey)
Dislikes:
- some places I'd like to see more style/color ( I know it's early in development, I'm just putting this here for the future updates)
- the selected tab you're currently viewing will close if you touch it
Great browser for those minimalists out there
Current ROM: CM7.2 Euroskank Cherry Picks | Bravo port by skeevy420

Holo browser is also a great browser.

vikasb32 said:
Holo browser is also a great browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember of holo that much but I think its In Chinese text or something am I right

This app is incompatible with your TATA DOCOMO LGE LG-P500.

for me this is the best browser ever.

fancccc said:
for me this is the best browser ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its good to help

Disappointed with JellyBean?

First of all, this is in no way a criticism of the Rom devs who have released JB Roms so far, and its not trolling, just my observations on the JB Roms (based on what we have seen so far).
I've been running CleanNote 6 with Speedmod for a few months now (with a few mods - removed lots of bloat, added Google Now, new Gmail etc). Its very fast, smooth, and has brilliant battery life. But like most people on here, I've been trying out the JB Roms since they first appeared. Problem is, I keep coming back to CleanNote. Maybe some of these can be resolved once Samsung decides to finish JB for the Note, although some appear to be features rather than bugs.
So here's my list of moans
- Overall, its no where near as 'smooth' as CleanNote - this will hopefully improve once JB is officially out - (or maybe a new speedmod will come out for JB?)
- The Gallery - there's that 'stutter' whenever you load an album that isn't there in CleanNote (again, should be fixed in official release) Images often appear pixelated for a second before clearing up - not a problem in LRQ/CleanNote Roms.
- The new Notification drop down looks ugly for me - personal taste but not for me
- Font sizes are too big - system fonts are too large, changing to tiny or small makes third party apps look odd (hopefully fixed in official release)
- The share / open with dialogues are not as nice - the list in 4.0.4 LRQ works great - the icon / grid system in JB is awkward (eg click to open a link from twitter and it asks you which browser to use - instead of a nice neat list we have a messy grid of icons.
- Not able to access app info directly from the app drawer.
These next ones might be more controversial
- AirView - not really sure why this is useful - its novel, but can't imagine using it - maybe better on a large tablet size device but not jumping at me as something I would ever need.
- MultiView - nice idea, but even with the Note's large screen, you are left with two windows that aren't really practical to work with . I tried to look at a map and website at the same time - it worked, but it was pointless - much better to switch between than try to manage both at once. On a 10 inch tablet I can see this as useful maybe though.
- Paper Artist - not interested - its just a novelty app - pretty pointless really.
Things I do like
- The launcher bug from LRQ 4.0.4 is gone (apps on SD would vanish from homescreen on restart)
- Long app names run to two lines rather than just cutting off like they used to
On previous phones (Galaxy S, Desire, Desire HD), I've quickly ended up on CM or MIUI based roms - but with the note it seems silly to lose the unique features you only get with a TW Roms.
These are just my thoughts based on the leaks we have seen so far -
Please feel free to disagree and convince me otherwise (or ignore if you like!) -but don't accuse me of trolling or start flaming - I'm just sharing my ideas.

I agree with you on that, a lot of the jb features are gimmicks and probably won't get used that often.
But that doesn't mean no one will ever use them some people may find it really useful?
I agree that ics (expecially clean note) is a lot smoother than jb but I believe mainly this is because jb is still kind of in beta stage so it's an unfinished release.
The galaxy s2 has had jb update but it requires being updated via Kies only as the whole device needs to be repartitioned taking up to 1 hour to complete.
Maybe something similar will be required for the note? If it does require repartitioning it may solve some of the existing issues such as memory leaking and storage issues and general lagging.
Who knows? All we can do and see what happens when it's released.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

zongamin said:
First of all, this is in no way a criticism of the Rom devs who have released JB Roms so far, and its not trolling, just my observations on the JB Roms (based on what we have seen so far).
I've been running CleanNote 6 with Speedmod for a few months now (with a few mods - removed lots of bloat, added Google Now, new Gmail etc). Its very fast, smooth, and has brilliant battery life. But like most people on here, I've been trying out the JB Roms since they first appeared. Problem is, I keep coming back to CleanNote. Maybe some of these can be resolved once Samsung decides to finish JB for the Note, although some appear to be features rather than bugs.
So here's my list of moans
- Overall, its no where near as 'smooth' as CleanNote - this will hopefully improve once JB is officially out - (or maybe a new speedmod will come out for JB?)
- The Gallery - there's that 'stutter' whenever you load an album that isn't there in CleanNote (again, should be fixed in official release) Images often appear pixelated for a second before clearing up - not a problem in LRQ/CleanNote Roms.
- The new Notification drop down looks ugly for me - personal taste but not for me
- Font sizes are too big - system fonts are too large, changing to tiny or small makes third party apps look odd (hopefully fixed in official release)
- The share / open with dialogues are not as nice - the list in 4.0.4 LRQ works great - the icon / grid system in JB is awkward (eg click to open a link from twitter and it asks you which browser to use - instead of a nice neat list we have a messy grid of icons.
- Not able to access app info directly from the app drawer.
These next ones might be more controversial
- AirView - not really sure why this is useful - its novel, but can't imagine using it - maybe better on a large tablet size device but not jumping at me as something I would ever need.
- MultiView - nice idea, but even with the Note's large screen, you are left with two windows that aren't really practical to work with . I tried to look at a map and website at the same time - it worked, but it was pointless - much better to switch between than try to manage both at once. On a 10 inch tablet I can see this as useful maybe though.
- Paper Artist - not interested - its just a novelty app - pretty pointless really.
Things I do like
- The launcher bug from LRQ 4.0.4 is gone (apps on SD would vanish from homescreen on restart)
- Long app names run to two lines rather than just cutting off like they used to
On previous phones (Galaxy S, Desire, Desire HD), I've quickly ended up on CM or MIUI based roms - but with the note it seems silly to lose the unique features you only get with a TW Roms.
These are just my thoughts based on the leaks we have seen so far -
Please feel free to disagree and convince me otherwise (or ignore if you like!) -but don't accuse me of trolling or start flaming - I'm just sharing my ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 and addition to this when you are in settings and tap on a option like display it takes 2-3 seconds to open and show some glitch and also the boot menu i don't like it.. but i love jb so i switched to official cm 10.1 it's so smooth
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

After almost two months of trying various JB roms last week I returned back to Rocket Rom V12 and what a difference it made. So yesterday I went online to write similar thoughts to yours but got destructed by a post and spent my time reading it instead. All I can do now is to say: +1 on that

Thanks for replies
I'm pretty sure that the smoothness will come in the official release - I just tried the latest version of BURTROM and its pretty nice - Usable as a daily driver if you feel like you have to have JB already.
Final thought - I guess that the JB update will be the last major official OS update for our Notes - the S4 and Note 3 will be out this year (and who knows how many others) - our old Notes will be 2 years old and I guess many of us will be upgrading soon anyway. We will have had 2 major updates (GB>ICS>JB) which is 2 more than most Androids get anyway. This time next year it will be S3 and Note 2 owners complaining about the updates that take months and don't work as well as the old versions!

Why did you make a new thread and why didn't you use the existing ones for JB discussions?

zongamin said:
- AirView - not really sure why this is useful - its novel, but can't imagine using it - maybe better on a large tablet size device but not jumping at me as something I would ever need.
- MultiView - nice idea, but even with the Note's large screen, you are left with two windows that aren't really practical to work with . I tried to look at a map and website at the same time - it worked, but it was pointless - much better to switch between than try to manage both at once. On a 10 inch tablet I can see this as useful maybe though.
- Paper Artist - not interested - its just a novelty app - pretty pointless really.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CleanNote 6 + NoteCore 14 was the best combo for me on TW - with best batt life on my device
- (also previous user of imilkas PA 0,4)
Playing with JB leaks from the first one - and now back to ICS again. We have now leaks only, so there is no need to be dissapointed. The thing is, even with release of Note2, samsung pushed all of its features into this "old" device. Hardware is still capable, but in term of bussines is our device no more interersting for samsung - so their move to bring up those features is simply great when you compare other makers. For sure those features might be just "gimmick" - but it will definitelly aim me to buy next Samsung device....and i believe the same for SOME current S2 S3 users,
Ask your friend what new he got with JB on HTC, Sony etc...new sets of icons and weather widget???
JB so on my N1 far:
-smoother launcher (who cares about small lags on ICS - but i know that a lot of people just care about lag in the launcher...)
-loading apps - definitelly a bit quicker on ICS
-bat life - might be on par stock ICS/stock JB
-Gallery JB - i like it more then ICS but there are also other PlayStore alternatives
-AirView - nice feature but really never used it that much, so...
-multiview stock - also do not use as i use something else...
When you debloat JB then it is better (in that case BurtRom is nice performer, and chipwizz went even further to debloat
Samsung also lost a lot of N2 customers that wanted to switch from N1 (like myself), cause we have got the same features (but N2 is definitelly better specced device), but for me as a "non gamer" N2s quadcore has no meaning untill (probably N3).
What i would expect from N3 - is full phablet mini PC with ability to stick HDMI screen and perform standard office tasks. I can do it now, but there is problem somewhere else..so hopefully multitasking in next android will be better. Hopefully N3 will not bring just bigger screen...

All well said. I am simply sticking to leaked jb(ultimate 5.1) without going back to ics with a fond hope that official jb will be rolling out soon.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

if upgrading to official JB on Note will involve repartitioning then i hope we can still go back and forth between older ics ..leak jbs.....aosp...cm roms. hope our experts will advise us accordingly

Thread closed. Please search and use one of the other JB threads instead of opening an entirely new thread.

Database Users

welcome