So after having spent quite a bit of time browsing through all the stock touchwhiz apps, I have to say, for the most part I'm really enjoying TouchWhiz. The launcher can be replaced so even if it REALLY bugged me, it is an easy fix. The apps have really impressed me, though. The social integration is quite extensive.
I've gotta say my one beef with it is that there is really a lack of options I would expect in a non-standard app. If TouchWhiz apps had the extensive options seen in replacement apps like Handcent SMS, ADW.Launcher, I don't think I would have anything to complain about. It would be really nice to be able to disable certain tabs and options..
Anyways, what do you guys think? Do you like it overall or just assume get rid of it all? Which things do you love most about it and which do you hate?
I can honestly say that any custom roms without TouchWhiz will have to have something pretty amazing to draw me away from the stock rooted rom or another TouchWhiz based rom.
I agree completely. I am really enjoying touchwiz, but am missing some of the customization i have come to love with Android.
I am hopefull that future updates will address some of this.
So far I am really impressed with TouchWiz3. The contacts app should be ported over for everyone to use. I have the filters to only include contacts with phone numbers, having the ability to jump to a specific letter in the address book and sliding across a name to make a call.
Wish I could select a default calendar to post to instead of the phones My Calendar. I have to keep selecting my google calendar every time I create an appointment. It's a bit annoying.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I'm loving TouchWhiz. Being a long time CMmod and ADW launcher user and having tried the old TouchWhiz version w/ the obnoxious sidebar, I was ready for CM6 before even laying my hands on this phone. Now I seriously doubt I'll switch even when CM6 becomes available.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I have to disagree I'm not happy with TouchWiz and really wish I could get the AOSP contacts and calendar back that's all I really care about...
Calendar most importantly
I really like TouchWiz. I don't like the App Drawer though. I still prefer LauncherPro, so i'll be using that instead.
TouchWiz 3 is particularly ugly. Ugly colors, ugly icons. Just tacky as they come.
I would have returned the phone if it wasn't for LauncherPro.
I miss the flexibility of the vanilla Android 2.1. I've been using CM5 on my G1 prior to buying the Vibrant. Can't wait for CM6 for the Vibrant.
I so so on TW, I'm using LauncherPro at the moment but I wish I could use my samsung widgets
Could've been a 9.5 phone but some small but major annoyances
The touchwiz calendar app is nice, but you are unable to create a new event that defaults to you google calendar...its defaults to the phone's default calendar ("My Calendar"). Also, the default alarm time before an event is set to "none" and can't be changed to the typical 5,10,15..min before event. Why? How can this be useful...The beauty of android is in the cloud. I guess they are trying to appease to folks that don't use google services, but this is a damn Android, so im calling this a dumb and stupid decision. The same logic is somewhat applied when adding a new contact, but a pop up gives you a choice to save to sim, phone or google, so it is definitely better implemented in the add contact option, but I must ask...Who is buying this phone and saving contacts to the sim card? It's a damn Android!
The other issue which I initially didn't use much on my G1 (CM 5.08), but later fell in love with is custom ring tones for a specific caller. The only way to do this with the Samsung Vibrant is to actually save the contact on the phone vs with google. I just don't get this....once again This is an Android phone. Why did they create these additional profiles and not default them to the standard Android behavior. This is why fragmentation of the Android OS can be bad.
These are really my only major gripes after having the phone for less than a week, well besides that annoying shutdown tmobile jingle and the power/unlock button on the side...oh and I wish this phone had hdmi out. The video out is really a neat feature, but its not a good experience using the standard def audio/video out jack.
I know these may seem like minor annoyances, particulalry the calendar and custom ring tone, but getting the basics right is what I think counts the most. Leave well enough alone!
With all that said it is a great phone and once you go superamoled there is no going back.
I forgot to add that I running ADW and there is no way I could run this phone with that awful iphone look alike launcher. I'm also rooted and tethering (wired or wifi) does not seem to work.
I'm hoping Cyanogen works his magic with this device...it will be a beast!
I hate touch wiz and the fact that it looks like an iphone. Don't really like the icons and the accu weather click is hideous. I use beautiful widgets and adw for my launcher. I think adw us the best launcher because of it's ability to customize extensively.
Feeling Vibrant on xda-app
Anyone else having problems with ADW Launcher Notifications bar?
I've got "Hide Status Bar" unchecked and yet it just keeps disappearing, I tried with it checked and got the same result, it'll be there for a while and disappears, even when I pull down the notifications drawer it's still not there just a blank line of wallpaper at the top.
I've actually gone back to the TouchWiz becuase I can't reliably see my batter meter or signal strength.
Anyone get this?
I think a lot of you are missing the fact that the Launcher is not "TouchWiz 3.0". The skin goes much deeper than just the launcher.
Copying contacts to the phone is also very easy. Export them and then Import them. They're on the phone now... not sure if this would work because they're still linked through Google, but they are on the phone now too so you could unlink them from Google.
If you want ugly just look at a stock Android phone. Ugly, tacky.. since when is black and blue tacky? The icon backgrounds in the app menu might not be to everyone's liking but it's still WAY Better than the stock app drawer with it's hideous background and yellow coloring throughout
I agree. I don't mind touchwiz at all. I'd like the option to switch to default Android look though. My main gripe with touchwiz is the calendar and the fact that the applications menu is a cheesy rip of the iPhone menu, come on Samsung. Also, I quite enjoy the AccuWeather clock.
jaxrunner said:
...I know these may seem like minor annoyances, particulalry the calendar and custom ring tone, but getting the basics right is what I think counts the most. Leave well enough alone!
With all that said it is a great phone and once you go superamoled there is no going back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm totally with you on the touchwiz calendar and contacts apps having some serious issues. Though I really like the color scheme, love the subtle grey in notifications, the black task-bar, and the blue menu headings, it looks clean to me.
Anyway, I have found a temporary solueion for the Calendar, for myself at least. Should work for anyone who's rooted.
Grab the Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk from the thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6472313&postcount=674
then use a shell to backup TouchWizCalendar.apk/.odex and TouchWizCalendarProvider.apk/.odex
then remove all 4 files
and install the Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk from the link
and grant permissions to let the new calendar & provider access your data when it asks.
I'm stoked because this brought back the default calendar widget too, which I was seriously missing
Add in the GenieWidget.apk from the nexus one here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=600959
And I'm one step closer to having all the default apps and widgets that I like =)
Now if only I can do the same with the Cyanogen Dialer, Alarm and contacts app... not sure I'm feeling that reckless tonight though, lol.
cheers!
I don't like it in general, but a few additions really ought to get disseminated to every ROM.
I'm using ADW launcher.
You can tell TW is glued on top. It doesn't feel integrated. It actually seems to hamper the nice Google integration I've had. It's great that Tmo wants to offer something, but not letting me change my voicemail number manually (but leaving it in there) is forcing it on me. Makes me bristle.
As far as changing ringtones, I haven't gotten that far. Working on rooting and getting my adb going with it (to get the calendar back to vanilla, frankly). I imagine aContacts might solve that. Thanks for pointing it out.
The blues would be fine (although I'm not a fan since it's much like WM 6.0), except they don't match very well. It almost looks like a corporate argument, or a cheap contracted graphic artist, or both, and someone worked on the WinMo 6 team. And much of the blue-tinted gray text fields don't go with the fully gray Android button color. I'm not a fan of trying to do browns & ambers as accent colors, as a slice of the wheel, fine, but I've tried, and it just doesn't work. Maybe it's the shiny black tube. It just looks 2006 to me.
I love the control bar in notifications. I was doing it with BarControl, then BarTender, but it's so, so much nicer now. Add a "Fastbright" or better yet, replace the silent with it, since I can do that with one of the two hardware keys. The "just took off my rose-colored glasses" tint could definitely go.
I do like the phone app. A lot. Especially in-call. It's clean. The BT took too long to connect if it wasn't enabled first, but I can see this being streamlined, which would be slick. The calculator & dialer ain't as pretty, but being old I like the big, no, HUGE numerals. I like the "0" long-press to vibrate (wish it were customizeable).
I love using a gesture to call or sms. The sideways stuff has been wasted "space" so far. I hate the redundancy of using a line that could show a contact and a space in the menu to add a contact. It's also weird not having a way to go from contacts to favorites. I was having trouble on the CM ROMs, so I guess it's just nice that it works without a bug, too.
I guess I like the updates tab in the contacts app, it's a great way to check what's up before making a call, but I've already got my methods, so if I really feel like I need to know, I'll check first. My guess is it won't take off, not like it is, but it got me thinkin' how nice it would be to pull all those social networking sites together and list them under a contact. Total agregation. So I suppose it's a step in the right direction.
I doubt it qualifies as TouchWiz, but I adore the camera app. That action shot mode could prove useful. And the continuous shooting while holding the "button" is excellent. I don't get the "beauty " mode. Didn't help. (Maybe it's only set up for darker skin as an obscure FU to HP.) What I don't love is that it won't post to Picasa or Facebook by default, a few other third party photo hosting places, but not either of the ones I use... since I got on board with Android. Huh. I smell something here.
Music app is nice & simple. I haven't looked, but I'm guessing it's pretty lightweight. It carries my biggest gripes about the interface, tho, the empty space above and below each line mean less data for me to see on each screen, and it's on a big black, ultra-shiny tube.
regarding the OP: you CAN change the volume of the tmo startuip & shutdown jingle by going to settings-->sound&display-->system volume
the one thing i noticed when i pick my own ringtones that are either in the internal sd OR external sd storage, is that if i set them, then mount sd card, then unmount, then my f**king ringtones and notifications all change back to the annoying as F**K default. !! i would LOVE to be able to mount JUST the external sd OR the internal sd ONE AT A TIME OR both IF i wanted to.
but no... someone at samsung or tmobile didnt think of this. too me a lot of the little things we as smartphone users really care about were entirely overshadowed by the concern for aesthetic beauty of touchwiz 3 by samsung. tmobile or someone needs to push and update that will edify the smartphone features as they should be...
Good find
s0niqu3 said:
Anyway, I have found a temporary solueion for the Calendar, for myself at least. Should work for anyone who's rooted.
Grab the Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk from the thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6472313&postcount=674
then use a shell to backup TouchWizCalendar.apk/.odex and TouchWizCalendarProvider.apk/.odex
then remove all 4 files
and install the Calendar.apk and CalendarProvider.apk from the link
and grant permissions to let the new calendar & provider access your data when it asks.
I'm stoked because this brought back the default calendar widget too, which I was seriously missing
Add in the GenieWidget.apk from the nexus one here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=600959
And I'm one step closer to having all the default apps and widgets that I like =)
Now if only I can do the same with the Cyanogen Dialer, Alarm and contacts app... not sure I'm feeling that reckless tonight though, lol.
cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may just try this...Thanks
Hi Guys,
Wow, not long after I upgraded my Galaxy S to 2.3.3 and totally happy with the increased performance, my phone plan came due for renewal and I secured a Galaxy S2. Two great phones.
But I don't seem to be able to find the Daily Briefing or the really neat "Disc View" in the music section on the S2. Am I pathetic at finding things or are they missing?? If missing, why would Samsung remove the great animation of the Disc View, I really liked that feature.
Has anyone got any ideas?
Daily briefing look under Samsung apps for an update.
Not a clue what disc view is .
jje
ok, I have probably called it by an incorrect name. Sorry 'bout that. What I am referring to is the animation of the albums turning into LP's with the album art on the face, when you turn into landscape mode. You can then thumb thru the cd icons and tap-select the one you want. It then rolls to the left of screen and the song list appears to the right. Have you seen this on the Galaxy S?? What is that feature called??
also... I have checked the Samsung apps and no mention there of Daily Briefing... Did you find it there?? Cause I can't spot it.
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
1) NEXT Launcher 3D
2) NEXT Launcher 3D
3) NEXT Launcher 3D's "Swing with Scroll" feature
Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome aboard! Here's the first thing you'll have to deal with: Size. The Note 3 (I have a Note 2) will seem huge and you may get buyer's remorse. Most of us do. It wears off in a couple of days, though and then you'll wonder how you dealt with such a small phone.
1. I use Apex launcher. Why do I use a launcher? Because I like to change the number of rows/columns from the standard setting. I also like to eliminate the Google search bar. And, I like using gestures to go to apps. I use swipe-up for Google Now and swipe-down for notification shade. Why do I use Apex instead of others? No particular reason but it seemed to have the most available features for a free version at the time. I have since paid for it.
2, There are a bazillion apps. But, coming from the iPhone I would first experiment with keyboard replacements. Why? Because you can and the iphone users can't. Try Swype or Swiftkey. Swiftkey is amazing at guessing what your next word will be. Most of all, get used to swiping instead of typing. Once you get good at it it's MUCH faster than typing. Then show that off to your iPhone buddies and say, "Take that!"
3. If you really want to dazzle people with your new phone find a high def YouTube video (the Vevo ones are good). Playing a beautiful video on a large screen has some really powerful WOW! factor.
4. Some apps I use a lot:
Color Note - A great note and checklist app that syncs via the cloud.
Chrome Beta
Flixter for getting movie times and watching trailers
Gas Buddy to find cheap gasoline
Amazon App store. A free app every day. You have to side load it, it's not in the Play Store.
Droid of the Day - A new app suggestion every day
Timely - One of the most beautiful alarm clock apps. It also syncs with all your devices
The usual apps: Netflix, Pandora, Watch ESPN, HBO Go, Dropbox, et al.
5. I turn off Auto display brightness. I leave my Note 2 at full brightness all the time. The battery can handle this just fine.
I leave GPS, Wifi, and NFC on all the time.
Make sure you setup Google+ to automatically upload your photos
6. Don't go too crazy downloading apps. You may find your battery suddenly draining too fast. If you don't like or use an app delete it immediately so it won't eat battery.
Good luck and have fun.
Impuls3101 said:
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova Prime because it is better than TW in every way.
Ok I will answer some of my own questions from using the device the last 10 or so hours I hope this helps someone else. Please add suggestions because I am still getting used to everything.
1. Nova launcher seems to be easier to use because it takes all ur tw settings and imports them. It makes it easy to switch between the two. I like the tw weather widget better though
2. -I still need to find a good email client that syncs the few accounts that I have together. I haven't looked into this yet.
-Equalizer is a really good app to put more bass or customize the sound of your music.
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
-The adapt sound settings helped make my headphones sound a little better. I use an aux in on my car so it kind of sucks that they don't have profiles for different sources.
3. -Next Launcher is really nice to show people but I don't know if I could use it everyday and its 3x the price of other launchers.
-Real Racing 3 is a nice demo game but good old angry birds star wars 2 probably looks the best and it has a note 3 achievement
-slow mo camera is really nice but anything less than 1/2 speed and the image starts to look very grainy .. 4k really has a wow factor even on the 1080p screen.
4. Sketchbook for Galaxy is a lot of fun to draw in with the s-pen.
5. -I followed this guide for disabling some of the bloatware: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2478448
-I also disabled most of the air hover features because they are nice for demoing the device to someone but I probably won't use them. Plus I wear glasses and it doesn't seem to detect my eyes very well.
-People are reporting poor wifi and one of the settings suggested is to turn off network auto connect.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2472779 .. I experienced the problem but reset my router and it seems fine now.. not sure if its a software glitch or what.
6. -Here is a useful guide on how to transfer your contacts : http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/transfer-iphone-contact-to-android/
-The only thing I am missing from iOS are the nice lock screen notifications. If anyone has a suggestion please let me know
Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I have been using Nova for a while on my Galaxy Nexus, and use it on my N3 now too. It's not too bloated, allows custom number of icons per row/column, gestures, and resize all widgets. I used to use Apex, and that was really good too, but I switched a while ago to Nova because there was some feature Apex didn't have, though honestly I don't remember what now, and they may very well have added it.
2. SketchBook Mobile by Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD and Inventor, among many other engineering-oriented programs) is kind of cool, it's a sketch program that you can do a lot with, and works well with the stylus. Not the most useful app, per se, but a fun "proof of concept" if you will, and it's free. I believe there's more options than the built in equivalent, though I haven't used either a ton yet.
3. Any high def media will look awesome. Show them Netflix streaming, or as someone else said, HD Youtube, or any other HD video. Even pictures taken with the camera look great, simply because of the huge high res screen. Pictures taken with the phone probably would look even better on the screen than ones taken with another phone with a better camera but worse screen, because it's still small enough to cover up minor imperfections, but big and crisp enough to really look amazing.
4. For a music player, I like PowerAmp. It's got a really good equalizer, and a ton of settings to play with. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the interface, but it's not awful. You can also customize the widget as much as you want, in terms of colors, fonts, transparency, buttons, size, what's displayed, etc.
I also use UberSync for Facebook, which lets you use sync HD pictures from facebook as contact photos. You can also import birthdays into your calendar, if you want, and some other info from people's profiles. You can choose what resolution to use, how often to sync, and only use wi-fi if you want.
5. I turned off all of the Smart features and that kind of thing. I don't want to control my phone with my eyes or hand gestures, I want to use it with my hands or S Pen. Of course that's fully a matter of preference. Also I noticed that the setting to alert you if you walk away without putting the S Pen back in is disabled by default, so I enabled that. I still worry I'm going to lose it sometime, but that's just because I'm forgetful.
Impuls3101 said:
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you using Adblock without root??
jmorton10 said:
How are you using Adblock without root??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Firefox with the adblock plugin and its working great. Firefox now flies on this phone.:good:
just switched over
I'm going to post some impressions for future reference.
Lately my 2 years old S2+ had become unbearably slow.
Restoring factory default didn't help.
So I bought a Z1C
Same form factor (I'm using the same belt sleeve), that's one of the reasons, I don't want a big phone.
Way faster that the S2.
I don't like Sony interface. There's no way to set a live wallpaper on the lock screen (Muzei)
Available settings are less that stock android: no way to define multiple users, difficult to pick up non standard ringtones.
I'm using aFirewall to block calls in non working hours: on the S2 the hang up was nearly immediate, on the Z1 the other party gets a full ring tone before getting the hang up: too unpolite....
I miss some Samsung widgets: the calendar that shows a full month with appointments on screen at once and the flashlight.
as a followup, I've found that Root Call Blocker does not suffer the "one ring before hangup" problem
Alessandro71 said:
the flashlight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really a big contribution, but the flashlight I use is:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.surpax.ledflashlight.panel
Very satisfied with it.
hello everyone. I am back on Android after using the initial HTC M7 for an year and then migrating back to iOS. With new nothing new on iOS atleast for an year and the fact that my i6 broke, i thought it was the perfect time to try Android in its new avatar. Used the LG G5 for a week, but then shifted to S7 Edge (this phone felt a bit premium and had a bigger screen). I would like to tell Android certainly feels liberating after iOS. I can download torrents, stream stuff, customize my phone etc. Overall feels good.
Anyway too much of history. It would be great if members can help me with two things. First I just cant get albumArt of Now Playing music on my lock screen. It just shows a widget. The LG G5 used to show the full Album Art so I realize its not a Marshamallow issue but Samsung specific. So guys please help me in getting back the album art. Some blogs suggested changing the launcher, but then that disables fingerprint unlock.
Second is my Standby time. There is a considerable battery drain when phone is idle. Is this normal for android? I know my iPhone would hardly sip battery when in standby. Anything i can do to improve this? Furthermore can someone give a ball park figure of percentage dip in standby for an hour.?
Thanks in advance
Did you figure out how to get album art?
The Good Lock app in the Samsung Galaxy Apps store will give you album art on the lock screen. Good Lock replaces the stock lock screen and gives other customization options.
I recommender c locker.a lot of configuration options :good:
U can add weather widget,music etc