Related
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?
pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate
Samsung packaged their apps such as dialers, keyboards, email clients and all the other stuff you like into the bloat called touchwiz. The vanilla android is lean without those bells and whistles. Like what the previous post said, explore the playstore. There are better apps there than what samsung packaged in the s2. You just need to explore..
Sent from my Nexus 4
2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...
im assuming your still on stock???
1. Not sure about the BCC...but there's a general email that you can use for non-gmail accounts....
2. can be easily solved with dialer mod....most roms comes with this feature
3. i havent been on stock for a while...but im sure Bluetooth toggle would be under quick pull down in the new 4.2.2. If not you can always flash another rom, which is better in my opinion since there are more toggle options.
Bottom line is...
Welcome to the forum (i see that your a new user)
and minor issues like these that can easily be solved on if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section
Yes I agree with the post above. Try cm10.1 it's a way better alternative than stock. If you want more customization go with paranoid android or aokp rom. Nexus 4 is meant to be rooted! There's a sticky on how to root and unlock your bootloader. Very easy. Check out the screen shots in the post your screen shot section and see what other nexus 4 users have done with their phones. It's really an open playground
On stock 4.2.2 you can long press on Bluetooth and WiFi to toggle them on and off in the quick settings menu.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
gee2012 said:
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
EddyOS said:
2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?
ugotproblemz said:
... if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean on this forum?
3. Just download "widgetsoid" app, which implements quick toggles in your notification bar much like Samsung's touch wiz feature.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
You mean on this forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Look at what I'm magically doing here. It's called multi-quote. Learn how to use it.
2. You came here essentially asking for advice. When someone gives you some advice (even if it's not what you wanted to hear) you don't start being rude to them with no valid reason.
3. Hey, here's an idea. If you don't know what CM is (seriously? ) then Google it. There is a 'tutorial' page, it's the first Google result for cyanogenmod.
4. Where else would he be talking about other than on this forum? It doesn't take a genius to navigate to the dev section and check out some of the available ROMs.
5. As for the bluetooth toggle, it takes a swipe down then a click. No more than was needed on TouchWiz.
6. There are tonnes of third party dialers available with T9, pick one and install it. You can almost certainly get a Holo theme for whichever one you choose as well. If you're really that desperate and need it to be within the stock app, flash a custom ROM.
The key is that stock Android is about as lean as you can get. Rather than give you every conceivable bell and whistle, you get a blank slate and the ability to customize everything to YOUR desire, and not Samsung's or HTC's.
Everything you're asking about is available through various apps that are easily installed and just as easily reversed if you don't like them.
Ignore the people telling you to flash roms and stuff like that, those are options for the hobbyists. If you decide to start playing around with the Android system you can make a lot of fun changes, but it's not necessary on the Nexus.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was useful, you have to try and find answers for your question on your own initialy. This is not kindergarten where people hold your hand and tell you everything you want to know. If after searching well enough you can`t get an answer or solution to your problem, then you post your question in the Q&A thread.
Thank you for wasting my time. And btw it is post 3425 and not 3245.
gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
To the original poster, I have the following advice. Read up averything you can on what can be done with this phone. I, like you, came to one from a Galaxy S2. Had it 2 days and sold it. I was disappointed that the so called 4.7 inch screen was in fact smaller than that of my S2 because of the soft buttons. The colour saturation was gash and the camera really was a disappointment. I then went for an S3, Note, Note 2, Lumia 920 and chopped my company Blackberry SIM into an iPhone 4S. I was changing phones faster than most people change underwear....... But all the while I hung out here and read what was going on. Couple of weeks ago I sold the Note 2 and bought another 16GB Nexus 4.
I have flashed the Paranoid Android contrasty kernel and the screen is now 'alive". I installed the Full Screen Toggle app and Button Savior app and now I have the full glory of the 4.7 inch screen. I'm running Launcher8 which gives me and even better live tile system that WP 8.
Got a nice leather flip case which I had to hack and slash to invert as everything seems to open down instead of up like in the old days (think of how the "Beam me up Scotty" communicator flipped open).
Tried most of the enhanced camera apps but sadly the camera still doesn't meet my expectations, but other than that, the Nexus 4 went from a cheap..Meh!!!! phone to being the "Dogs Bolloxs"
Hang in there fella and get flashing
pelesl said:
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you long press the full stop (period) key, a comma will appear. Now you can use commas again
That said, all you need is an empty day and a few hours to play around with the phone to get yourself familiar with it. Then you'll love it more than your S2.
pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For number 3, swipe down the notification tray with 2 fingers at the same time, which takes you to "quick settings". Then long press on the bluetooth icon to turn on or off. For punctuation, long press on the period key and a little pop up will appear with several frequently used punctuation marks. slide to the one you one and let go. easy peasy
pelesl said:
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Swiftkey from the Play store. Great keyboard, I can even have arrow keys. It has a comma left of the space bar, a full stop to the right.
Its autocorrect even gets apostrophes right pretty much all of the time (without the need to type them!). It has a British English dictionary available. Mind you, it is QWERTY not QUERTY in British layout.
I've got emoji (extended smileys) in Handcent, my texting app, but even that only has a smiling old man. Sorry can't help there.
Don't these people ever watch that YouTube video when they signed up at xda-devs?
/sage
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Quote needabottle:
gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
If i would be ranting in all my posts i would be banned 20 times allready. What irritates me is that some users don`t even make an effort to look in Google Play,XDA or on Google search and just post a question for an easy service. You can check all my posts and see i try to help users, And yes i was a noob too when i started with android, but searching and trying gets you a long way. If you are realy stuck or don`t know whta to do then you post a question.
Hi Everyone,
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
- I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
- Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
- Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
- Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
- Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Thank guys, it's a beautiful phone and winning me over the Pixel 2 XL.
boba7523 said:
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
- I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
- Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still will be within the Google ecoystem and can continue using Android the way you always have. No need to start using any of Samsung's services.
- Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so but I could be wrong. Maybe with the Google launcher? Someone else might have to answer this.
- Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I have bixby disabled and have even remapped the dedicated bixby button to bring up Google Assistant with a long press and the flashlight with a double tap. There's an app called BX Actions that makes it easy to do.
- Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's ways to get it close but not exact. Install the Google launcher from the play store, download one of the many stock-ish themes from the theme store, install icon packs, etc... You'll get used to any remaining small differences. My last phone was stock Android and it took a bit for the Note 8's UI to grow on me but it has. I really like the way it looks with the theme I'm using.
The Note 8 is a truly amazing device. You won't be disappointed.
If you don't want the Samsung experience , why not get a Pixel 2 XL or a lg V30? Is there a specific need that the Note satisfies? Pixel will be a vanilla android experience for sure. Seems it would be easier to stay on the Google phones if that's what you are used to.
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
_MetalHead_ said:
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.
Is the s pen fully compatible with Google Keep though? And for off screen memo, is that a separate app or is that Samsung Note?
And also, when I pull out the S Pen, can I configure it to open Google Keep instead of Samsung Note?
Ideally, I'd like all the note taking stuff (including off screen memo) to be under one notes app, which is Google Keep. I just don't want to use so many apps just for note taking and having to share it to my email or something in order to view it on my Macbook... I want to be able to work on the notes on my GN8 and finish them off on my Macbook.
_MetalHead_ said:
I don't use Samsung Note so I can't comment on that, but there is no reason why you can't continue using Google Keep. It's what I've always used, no matter what phone I have.
You still will be within the Google ecoystem and can continue using Android the way you always have. No need to start using any of Samsung's services.
I don't think so but I could be wrong. Maybe with the Google launcher? Someone else might have to answer this.
Yes. I have bixby disabled and have even remapped the dedicated bixby button to bring up Google Assistant with a long press and the flashlight with a double tap. There's an app called BX Actions that makes it easy to do.
There's ways to get it close but not exact. Install the Google launcher from the play store, download one of the many stock-ish themes from the theme store, install icon packs, etc... You'll get used to any remaining small differences. My last phone was stock Android and it took a bit for the Note 8's UI to grow on me but it has. I really like the way it looks with the theme I'm using.
The Note 8 is a truly amazing device. You won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nuclearrage said:
If you don't want the Samsung experience , why not get a Pixel 2 XL or a lg V30? Is there a specific need that the Note satisfies? Pixel will be a vanilla android experience for sure. Seems it would be easier to stay on the Google phones if that's what you are used to.
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Note 2 way back in the day and loved it for its uniqueness. This was back when the Android UI was just butt ugly. My Note 2 had a bunch of bloatware from AT&T and also Samsung, and TouchWiz was horrific.
That deterred me from even consider any of the Note series phones...... Until recently.
I was very excited about the Pixel 2 XL and even pre-ordered it... But excitement quickly died down because of the price and features I'm getting out of it...
Both phones are around the same price, but the GN8 has the S Pen, BEAUTIFUL screen, and a larger display.
If there was a perfect phone for me, it'd be stock Android experience with GN8's beautiful infinity display and display size.
boba7523 said:
I had a Note 2 way back in the day and loved it for its uniqueness. This was back when the Android UI was just butt ugly. My Note 2 had a bunch of bloatware from AT&T and also Samsung, and TouchWiz was horrific.
That deterred me from even consider any of the Note series phones...... Until recently.
I was very excited about the Pixel 2 XL and even pre-ordered it... But excitement quickly died down because of the price and features I'm getting out of it...
Both phones are around the same price, but the GN8 has the S Pen, BEAUTIFUL screen, and a larger display.
If there was a perfect phone for me, it'd be stock Android experience with GN8's beautiful infinity display and display size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You wont be able to get s-pen functionality on keep. Samsung notes is pretty awesome though. To be honest Samsung it a pretty full fledged ecosystem all its own so your concerns are legitimate. There will be compromises. I would suggest buying it and trying it out within the 15 day return policy time and if it doesn't gel just grab the pixel xl 2.
I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.
boba7523 said:
Hi Everyone,
I currently have the Huawei Nexus 6P and have been using the Google ecosystem (mainly Google Assistant, Google Drive and Google Keep) and have a few questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I am not completely in Apple or even Google's ecosystem (I see myself somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram between those and a number of others), I may try to suggest some things.
boba7523 said:
I use Google Keep on my 6P and also my MacBook to take notes and they sync without problems. Can Samsung Note also work on my Mac and also offer the same synchronizing experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I personally prefer using Evernote Plus, what I can say for what you sad is a no. Samsung Notes can only sync with a Samsung account, and is only available on Galaxy phones. Your best bet would to install SideSync on both your phone and laptop, and use your phone on your laptop.
I do use Samsung Notes, but primarily for the "screen off memo" feature.
Even then, I understand why some people don't use Evernote, because they used to allow unlimited devices for free, but later increased that limit to up to 2 devices for free, which means I'm stuck paying for a Plus subscription if I actually want to use the service.
Also, go to the full editor here on XDA, if you want to use other markup features like the bullet points, instead of hyphens. I corrected that for you.
boba7523 said:
Pretty much, I want to stay within the Google ecosystem as much as possible and the stock Android experience.... I don't want to switch to Samsung's ecosystem (or even their cloud) ... Is there a way to do so with Note 8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I do use some of Samsung's services, but mainly because I also have a Galaxy Tab A.
(Yes, 2 out of my 3 Androids are Samsung devices, both on stock software)
Even then, if you want to get the closest to stock Android while staying on the stock Samsung Experience* software, I'll link to what I use.
This theme, (though I wish it would theme the Android "DeviceDefault" theme, but it doesn't). There's also another theme called "Pixel UI", but there are many variants of that. I don't use that or Samsung's default theme because I'm not a fan of unified icon shapes, and I'm also not a fan of ultra-white UIs.
"Navbar Apps" (to force the navigation bar to be black, instead of Samsung's white)
Nova Launcher (but I'm sure there would be something more suited to you, like "Lawnchair")
A bunch of apps from the Play Store that are published by Google themselves. Not counting the Google apps already installed as part of Google Play Services, I only have Gboard, Google Calendar, and Clock. (For other apps, I am already using non-Google apps, such as QuickPic (in addition to the stock Samsung gallery), and Pale Moon + Firefox Focus (web browsers))
*It was called TouchWiz, but with the release of 8.0 on the Galaxy S8, Samsung renamed it to "Samsung Experience". Even then, they have improved since TouchWiz Nature UX 3.5 on my Galaxy Note3 I used to have years ago.
boba7523 said:
Bixby has its own screen when you swipe to the left. Is there a way to disable this and replace it with Google Assistant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is only in the stock Samsung launcher, which I don't use, because it's a little hard to use, has wasted screen real estate (in my opinion), and I'm also more of a stock Android person, but by that I mean stuff like LineageOS, rather than Google Nexus and Pixel devices.
I use Nova Launcher Prime instead. Even if you use Samsung's own launcher, Bixby Home can be disabled, but can't be replaced with the Google app.
The only real downside of not using Samsung's launcher on their phones, besides Bixby Home, is the fact that the fancy Weather widget can only be used within their launcher. I haven't had time to buy this from the Play Store, but I'm sure I can just add a clone of the Samsung weather widget, and have that be linked to open the Samsung weather app, assuming the setting to add the icon to the launcher is enabled.
boba7523 said:
Is there a way to completely disable Bixby if needed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't need to answer that, because MetalHead had already done so.
Even then, I do use Bixby, but only because I don't use Google Assistant due to privacy concerns. (This is actually in contradiction to me completely ignoring S Voice on my Note3)
boba7523 said:
Is there a way to get rid of the Touchwiz experience and replace it with stock Nougat theme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad news: You would have to root the phone, install a custom recovery, and a custom ROM based on stock Android, which gives you a number of consequences, including, but not limited to:
Voided warranty
Samsung Knox security killed off, which means you would never be able to use its features, including Samsung Pay
A number of Samsung features won't work in ROMs based on stock Android (at least on my Note3 many years ago)
Battery charging only up to 80% (based on some rumours I read)
boba7523 said:
Thank guys, it's a beautiful phone and winning me over the Pixel 2 XL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added 23rd October 2017 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 22nd October 2017 at 11:45 PM ----------
Oh! I forgot to mention something! My customisations unfortunately can't cover up the really hard to read Samsung emoji font.
Gee, I wish I had the right contacts to start a petition against Samsung's mobile device division, asking them to give users the option to use stock Android emoji, and also to use free fonts as UI fonts (instead of being restricted to Monotype's ecosystem for the font choices).
krabman said:
I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Have you attempted to just do everything on the Samsung Note? Do you know if there's a way to use Samsung Notes on my Macbook (or any OS in general) and have it auto save to Google Drive? Trying to keep my workflow continuous..
krabman said:
I don't use any of Samsung's services and not using them in no way impacts the google experience, the phone is Android, all it's services work just as expected in the same way they work on any Android phone. Samsung has greatly improved their apps making them worth a look if you're of a mind. I find I like the dialer better than Googles for instance, the calendar less, and so on.
I also use Keep but use Samsung notes as well. It's not quite as wacky as you might think. Long term notes and a few I share with Mrs crab go into keep. Shorter term stuff I do in Samsung. For example take a shopping list. I'll do this by writing on the AOD, minimize it, and later on when I get to the store maximize it. Then my list is up without even turning the phone on. When I'm done I double tap the garbage can and it's gone. Longer term stuff that will often be more typing I simply open Keep and go that way. This works out pretty well because where Samsung notes and the S-pen really excel in comparison to Keep is at jotting down something quickly with the pen which in turn tends to be things you will use quickly and discard. On the other hand keep has more options that can be leveraged and make it the long term choice. The end result is that you spread the workload out using Samsung notes for one thing, Keep for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kbhasi said:
While I am not completely in Apple or even Google's ecosystem (I see myself somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram between those and a number of others), I may try to suggest some things.
While I personally prefer using Evernote Plus, what I can say for what you sad is a no. Samsung Notes can only sync with a Samsung account, and is only available on Galaxy phones. Your best bet would to install SideSync on both your phone and laptop, and use your phone on your laptop.
I do use Samsung Notes, but primarily for the "screen off memo" feature.
Even then, I understand why some people don't use Evernote, because they used to allow unlimited devices for free, but later increased that limit to up to 2 devices for free, which means I'm stuck paying for a Plus subscription if I actually want to use the service.
Also, go to the full editor here on XDA, if you want to use other markup features like the bullet points, instead of hyphens. I corrected that for you.
Well, I do use some of Samsung's services, but mainly because I also have a Galaxy Tab A.
(Yes, 2 out of my 3 Androids are Samsung devices, both on stock software)
Even then, if you want to get the closest to stock Android while staying on the stock Samsung Experience* software, I'll link to what I use.
This theme, (though I wish it would theme the Android "DeviceDefault" theme, but it doesn't). There's also another theme called "Pixel UI", but there are many variants of that. I don't use that or Samsung's default theme because I'm not a fan of unified icon shapes, and I'm also not a fan of ultra-white UIs.
"Navbar Apps" (to force the navigation bar to be black, instead of Samsung's white)
Nova Launcher (but I'm sure there would be something more suited to you, like "Lawnchair")
A bunch of apps from the Play Store that are published by Google themselves. Not counting the Google apps already installed as part of Google Play Services, I only have Gboard, Google Calendar, and Clock. (For other apps, I am already using non-Google apps, such as QuickPic (in addition to the stock Samsung gallery), and Pale Moon + Firefox Focus (web browsers))
*It was called TouchWiz, but with the release of 8.0 on the Galaxy S8, Samsung renamed it to "Samsung Experience". Even then, they have improved since TouchWiz Nature UX 3.5 on my Galaxy Note3 I used to have years ago.
That is only in the stock Samsung launcher, which I don't use, because it's a little hard to use, has wasted screen real estate (in my opinion), and I'm also more of a stock Android person, but by that I mean stuff like LineageOS, rather than Google Nexus and Pixel devices.
I use Nova Launcher Prime instead. Even if you use Samsung's own launcher, Bixby Home can be disabled, but can't be replaced with the Google app.
The only real downside of not using Samsung's launcher on their phones, besides Bixby Home, is the fact that the fancy Weather widget can only be used within their launcher. I haven't had time to buy this from the Play Store, but I'm sure I can just add a clone of the Samsung weather widget, and have that be linked to open the Samsung weather app, assuming the setting to add the icon to the launcher is enabled.
I don't need to answer that, because MetalHead had already done so.
Even then, I do use Bixby, but only because I don't use Google Assistant due to privacy concerns. (This is actually in contradiction to me completely ignoring S Voice on my Note3)
Bad news: You would have to root the phone, install a custom recovery, and a custom ROM based on stock Android, which gives you a number of consequences, including, but not limited to:
Voided warranty
Samsung Knox security killed off, which means you would never be able to use its features, including Samsung Pay
A number of Samsung features won't work in ROMs based on stock Android (at least on my Note3 many years ago)
Battery charging only up to 80% (based on some rumours I read)
---------- Post added 23rd October 2017 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 22nd October 2017 at 11:45 PM ----------
Oh! I forgot to mention something! My customisations unfortunately can't cover up the really hard to read Samsung emoji font.
Gee, I wish I had the right contacts to start a petition against Samsung's mobile device division, asking them to give users the option to use stock Android emoji, and also to use free fonts as UI fonts (instead of being restricted to Monotype's ecosystem for the font choices).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your thorough reply, I appreciate it.
So there's no way to have the Google Now cards (I think that's what they're called) to be on its own screen kind of like how the 6P and Pixels have them? I was hoping I can replace Bixby's card screen with Google Now.
boba7523 said:
So there's no way to have the Google Now cards (I think that's what they're called) to be on its own screen kind of like how the 6P and Pixels have them? I was hoping I can replace Bixby's card screen with Google Now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could, if you do not use the stock Samsung launcher.
I think Nova Launcher has an extension to have Google Now in there, but I think that's only in the upcoming 5.5 version. I think Lawnchair is also the only the only other launcher to support that, but I can't remember.
Another way is to sideload the Pixel Launcher, but some features don't work unless it's installed as a system app, which requires the phone be rooted, but again, that results in the consequences I stated.
boba7523 said:
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Have you attempted to just do everything on the Samsung Note? Do you know if there's a way to use Samsung Notes on my Macbook (or any OS in general) and have it auto save to Google Drive? Trying to keep my workflow continuous..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not something I've tried. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. Keep does the things I do with it seamlessly, I've no reason to change for the sake of change. There is also the question of going back. Who knows what my next phone will be and I've gone back and forth frequently between various Sammy devices, Nexus, Pixel, and a smattering of others. I've found that getting into Samsung is easier than getting out of Samsung whereas the Google services just work across the board. As I said the killer feature of the Note for me is the S-pen. I use it at work to annotate pictures with dimensions and so on and in general use it's excellent for that quick throwaway note jotted down with the pen. The ability to pin to AOD makes the feature a standout for things like shopping lists that can be used from the AOD. For me it is an excellent augment to Keep used in that way because it gives me the use it's best for and leaves the majority of my data in Keep where it will be no matter what device I move to next.
I use Action Launcher, probably the most underrated launcher in the business and one that allows you to set up a swipe to Now screen if you wish. I find it's easier just to have a shortcut set for google as this allows the swipe left to access a widget screen. Another widget screen to the right and you've got all the widgets up most people will need. With AL you can then set up the dock in pages and bury multiple shortcuts under covers. Almost everything I do is directly underneath the main shortcuts in the dock and accessible with a swipe. The ability to set shortcuts that can open the widget or app depending on what you want is a bonus. I could go on for a while but can sum it up in that I was a die hard Nova man but would never consider going back, the covers feature is a killer one that takes a little time to fully get because its quite powerful and creates many options you never had before.
So there is no way to get the S-Pen to activate Google Keep instead of Samsung Note?
There are a lot of good responses in this thread. I have Pixel, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL phones, in addition to Galaxy S6, S7, S8 and Note 8 (and a few older devices like Nexus 5x/6P and samsung Note 5/S6 Edige Plus, and older..)...
I basically install a few apps from the Play Store that are not pre-installed...
Google Drive
Google Photos
Google Docs
Google Calendar
Gboard The Google Keyboard
Google Maps
Contacts
Android Messages (I use this for SMS/MMS instead of Verizon’s Messages+ or the Stock Samsung Messages app)
Hangouts
Google Cloud Print
Calculator
A few extra I get and install to make my Galaxy S7/S8/Note 8 more “Nexus/Pixel” Like. These are NOT from the play store, so you have to allow 3rd party installs, and “side load” these (download to your phone, use a file manager to visit your downloads, and tap the APK file, and let it install)....
Rootless Pixel Launcher (gives you the Pixel launcher, rather than Samsung’s TouchWiz UI) I use the 2.1 version.
Patched Google Phone (gives you the same phone app used on the Nexus/Pixel phones). NOTE: I use 12.0.167196395 which is no longer listed in the thread's OP, but the APK is in the thread... I haven’t tried the newest one yet.
Instead of using the Rootless Pixel Launcher, you could use either of the following...
Google Now Launcher
Rootless Pixel 2 launcher
Because I use Verizon branded Samsungs, there is some bloat I disable... (have to view system apps to see a few of these so they can be disabled).
Caller Name ID
Cloud
DT Ignite (re-check this one after each android update, as the android/phone updates might re-enable it)
Hancom Office Editor
Message+ (Unles you’d rather use this for SMS/MMS Messages. I use a different app for SMS/MMS messages)
Support & Protection
Look at an old app called Note Buddy. Might have some useful features for the SPen. (haven't used it since Note 3)
Suddenly the ability to add specific things to specific notes via bixby stopped working
i have a shopping note and since day 1 i have ben able to say "add butter to the shopping note". This dont work any more. Any ideas?
If I say "add butter to the shopping note" it wants me to choose which note to add it to but it puts the text "butter to the shopping".
If I say "add butter to note" it again asks me for which note but adds "butter" - https://i.imgur.com/nvc0SWE.jpg
Was it previously opening a note titled shopping list or something?
My note was titled shopping.
Until a week ago you could tell bixby to add x to certain titeled notes. You could say add butter to shopping note, and bixby would open the note titled shopping and ad the phrase. Very conviniant. Sucks it dont work anymore.
Now i can say add butter to the first note and it does the same thing, if i constantly keep the shopping note first. But its a hassle. Alot of intelligence have dissapeared from bixby.
How to contact samsung on this matter?
I noticed that the Note 9 has a new option in the Smart View Menu that says "Device to Phone" Im used to using the Phone to device to mirror my phone to different displays but can anyone elaborate on the Device to phone option now? Looks like its just limited to Samsung tv's mirroring to the Note 9? Can a few people try this feature out and see if it works with any other devices maybe. That would be really cool if we could mirror different devices to our phone now and use our phones as a display. Never thought about that as a feature but would be cool if Samsung gives us that option.
I have a T-Mobile Note 9 (just got it today) and it has no SmartView feature anywhere. Very disappointing.
I went to a local shop that had new Samsung QLED TVs. Tested it out with a Q9F. It worked immediately, got a prompt at the TV that a Note 9 want to connect and neede approval. All connection after that did not require approval again. I could see what is on the TV on my Note9 and on the phone I had options like "power" that would retain the movie on Note9 but blank the tv screen. I walked around the shop waching the movie on my Note9. There was a button "source" that I think would let me chose another input attached to the tv like a PS4? Almost like PIP but outside the TV screen. I noticed a small lag that would be irrelevant in movies but annoying on a intense FPS game on PS4. There was a noticeable picture scaling issue I guess because phone and tv have different aspect ratios. Might be fixable. Tried to take a screenshot of it but the screenshot was blacked out because of protected content. Will go back to the shop later and test this feature on other cheaper models. Very excited about this feature. And no one talks about it!
Tmobile Note 9 has Smart view, its in the quick panel
Need the latest update
MaxBuck said:
I have a T-Mobile Note 9 (just got it today) and it has no SmartView feature anywhere. Very disappointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to update your phone to the latest update. Go to settings and check for update. It should be "update 22" I believe. Then after updated it will be in your quick settings. Slide down the home screen and then slide down again to open the quick settings. It will have a smart view button. Click on it and it will have the new option for "phone to device" or "device to phone". Hope this helps
in the sg5 i remember a feature to remove anyone the mess up your photo by walking in,is their a way to put it on note 8,who remember that feature in the stock camera app?
Sadly only in post.
I remember that feature even in the S6. After an Update the Samsung Executives went full iPhone, dumbing down the camera. Even now we got AR crap like Animoji to cater Apple fanboys.
Try a better camera app (Almalence) it's old but still has a remove object feature.
Sadly Samsung is going on the Apple route.
"Smart Multishot" isn't the feature I remember. What I remember is a feature in the "Samsung Studio" or "Editor" that allowed for the cropping out of unwanted sections of a photo where it was blurred (like censorship), or the phone would "guess" what the background looked like without the unwanted person in the photo.
From the S6 to S7 they scrapped the old camera sdk, same from the S8 to S9, then again from the S9 the S10. Now the S10, S20, etc, they all share the same Sdk but who knows when they will kill it again.
Samsung has a history removing features.