Database Develop

[Q] Galaxy S5 vs Iphone 5s thoughts.

Hi,
I have been an IOS user for quite a while, with brief excursions into Android land usually without much success. I am trying hard this time because I actually prefer a lot of things about Android (specifically the S5) ... less restrictive, removable battery, storage etc..
However some of the things I really struggle with and wonder if anybody has any answers before are listed below !
Lock screen preview of mail and txt's , I have downloaded an app called NILS but it seems to be such a hack and is not very seamless, anybody else have a better suggestions?
Bluetooth, when I get in my car , the phone starts playing the last thing i was listening to , that's fine & is similar to the iPhone, however the iPhone knows the difference between a call and music and if I turn the car off and get out , it switches off the music (but does not hang up calls). The S5 just carries on playing whatever i was listening to. I cannot find any way of changing this behaviour (any ideas ?).
Quick access to search, with the iPhone you swipe from the top and type the first couple of letters of an app to run it , sometimes this is really useful. The closest i have found is to go into the pull down notification bar and click sfinder... yeuch , any better ideas?
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Do not disturb mode, (blocking) , well its crap on the S5 compared to the Iphone. None of the functionality that i am used to such as letting repeated calls through and setting specific schedules is available. I have downloaded an app called do not disturb which does most of this stuff but i am sure this is also contributing to lag and memory usage. Also annoyingly it does not return the phone to the state it was in before it activated do not disturb. What do i mean by this ? I am the kind of person that has my phone on silent 99% of the time with vibrate, when do not disturb is active i want all vibrations and screen alters disabled (it does this) , but when coming out of do not disturb it switches the phone to full sounds on.
I am trying not to be down, there is a lot to like with this phone and if I could resolve some of the above I would be much happier with it.
Hope to hear some of your suggestions.

Acdisplay for lockscreen. Used it on on RAZR Maxx but not yet on my s5
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

zero66 said:
Acdisplay for lockscreen. Used it on on RAZR Maxx but not yet on my s5
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try that.

Download Apex launcher or any other launchers for lag problem, put in mind that Android uses more ram and cpu processing than IOS, that's why they keep on increasing ram, also turn off as much bloatware (apps came with phone) as possible, another very useful tip is to turn of your phone every day for few mins like your computer this will clear ram.
Welcome to the future

Don't use task killers. They don't help. Android will automatically kill off apps when it needs to. Task killers will kill off apps that will be autostarted again and this becomes a loop leading to lag and battery drain.

Hellscythe said:
Don't use task killers. They don't help. Android will automatically kill off apps when it needs to. Task killers will kill off apps that will be autostarted again and this becomes a loop leading to lag and battery drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh thanks for this , I will try that.

Lockscreen preview of text and mails is already in touchwiz you just have to switch it on so it will show you the preview via settings.
For quick access to applications long press on the home button will bring you google now and from there you can open your apps easily.

noideaforusername said:
Lockscreen preview of text and mails is already in touchwiz you just have to switch it on so it will show you the preview via settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes for the messaging app, however I use a third party app for email, (nine), this does not seem to support this. Anyway my use case is that when my phone is lying on the desk and mails / sms etc come in , I would like it to wake up briefly and display a preview so that I can decide to ignore it or continue on with whatever it is that i was doing. NILs does this quite well, but seems like a bit of a hack.
noideaforusername said:
For quick access to applications long press on the home button will bring you google now and from there you can open your apps easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This works fairly well.

mah123 said:
Hi,
I have been an IOS user for quite a while, with brief excursions into Android land usually without much success. I am trying hard this time because I actually prefer a lot of things about Android (specifically the S5) ... less restrictive, removable battery, storage etc..
However some of the things I really struggle with and wonder if anybody has any answers before are listed below !
Lock screen preview of mail and txt's , I have downloaded an app called NILS but it seems to be such a hack and is not very seamless, anybody else have a better suggestions?
Bluetooth, when I get in my car , the phone starts playing the last thing i was listening to , that's fine & is similar to the iPhone, however the iPhone knows the difference between a call and music and if I turn the car off and get out , it switches off the music (but does not hang up calls). The S5 just carries on playing whatever i was listening to. I cannot find any way of changing this behaviour (any ideas ?).
Quick access to search, with the iPhone you swipe from the top and type the first couple of letters of an app to run it , sometimes this is really useful. The closest i have found is to go into the pull down notification bar and click sfinder... yeuch , any better ideas?
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Do not disturb mode, (blocking) , well its crap on the S5 compared to the Iphone. None of the functionality that i am used to such as letting repeated calls through and setting specific schedules is available. I have downloaded an app called do not disturb which does most of this stuff but i am sure this is also contributing to lag and memory usage. Also annoyingly it does not return the phone to the state it was in before it activated do not disturb. What do i mean by this ? I am the kind of person that has my phone on silent 99% of the time with vibrate, when do not disturb is active i want all vibrations and screen alters disabled (it does this) , but when coming out of do not disturb it switches the phone to full sounds on.
I am trying not to be down, there is a lot to like with this phone and if I could resolve some of the above I would be much happier with it.
Hope to hear some of your suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

thegrants82 said:
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely disagree. I love my S5 and the HW integration.
But each to their own.

mah123 said:
Yes for the messaging app, however I use a third party app for email, (nine), this does not seem to support this. Anyway my use case is that when my phone is lying on the desk and mails / sms etc come in , I would like it to wake up briefly and display a preview so that I can decide to ignore it or continue on with whatever it is that i was doing. NILs does this quite well, but seems like a bit of a hack.
This works fairly well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install Push Bullet and be amazed. It mirrors any notifications on your phone onto your PC via chrome. That way you don't been to look at the phone. I work at a desk all day and can leave the phone where ever and always know if I have an SMS, call, email or anything else. Don't forget Google now also works with Chrome.

thegrants82 said:
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree a bit with your response. And that's why I am also checking out the Xperia Z1 Compact. Once you go from the Galaxy S5 to the Z1C you will notice a huge difference in speed for opening and closing apps. I am even using Nova launcher, google calendar and avoiding any TouchWiz apps, but still the lag is disappointing.

mah123 said:
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For lags, you should try to put off the opening of S voice with the home button, because when you press it, it wait for second press for opening s voice app... or not. My S5 is really smooth now, hope this gonna help you.

HitMile said:
For lags, you should try to put off the opening of S voice with the home button, because when you press it, it wait for second press for opening s voice app... or not. My S5 is really smooth now, hope this gonna help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this , yes I did this , made a difference.

@mah123 First step, do whatever you can to separate yourself from Apple products, for good this time. Just messin, but I'll continue on:
I see that you have a lot of little details you don't like about the S5/Android. Luckily, you're on the Android platform, where you can tweak just about anything you want. For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store. It's $3.49 but if you don't want to pay that just download the apk from Google search. Just make sure to get it from XDA or one of the apk blogs. With Tasker you can fix your bluetooth issue by detecting when bluetooth is detected and then use command pause music. Tasker should help you fix all your other issues as well. For email the easiest fix is to use a special color on your notification LED or specific vibrate pattern to know when you have email. You can also show an overlay using a "scene" (Tasker's definition of a popup or app window) on top of the lockscreen. Handy :thumbup: But if you need help using Tasker you can do a lot of things: there are plenty of guides all over the Internet, you can google search your problem with the word "tasker" at the end, you can PM me (yes, I'm friendly), you can ask a question over at the Tasker Noob thread here on XDA (I also monitor this thread and I will answer your questions there). Welcome to Android and have fun!
--
Say thanks if I was of help!
Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

aarongillion63 said:
@mah123 First step, do whatever you can to separate yourself from Apple products, for good this time. Just messin, but I'll continue on:
I see that you have a lot of little details you don't like about the S5/Android. Luckily, you're on the Android platform, where you can tweak just about anything you want. For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
Fantastic thanks !

I own both phones. In the last few years I have owned the latest Samsung and Apple flagships (iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2, iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4, and iPhone 5S and Galaxy S5).
Both platforms are great and they have their cons and pros.
I am an iOS Developer. I have my name in both Cydia tweaks and App Store. To be honest I felt in love with iOS when I used it for the first time. I like Android, but not as much as iOS yet.
I find the quality of iOS blows Android out of the water. Third app quality is much better on iOS than on Android, based on what I have seen. In terms of software in general, I think iOS is much better. It may be restrictive, but nothing that can't be beaten with jailbreak. Android's big plus is freedom and yes, I like customizing my phone.
In terms of hardware Samsung blows Apple out of the water. I love the camera and that it is Water Resistant. Design wise the iPhone looks prettier, but personally I don't care about those aesthetics.
The one thing I absolutely hate about most Android phones are the hardware buttons. When I type in landscape I keep hitting the sensitive buttons accidentally, many times this result in losing a wall of text I just typed (my palm hits the back button accidentally all the time). I wish these could be disabled when typing or that they could be replaced with software buttons.
Sent from my SM-G900H using XDA Free mobile app

There are many things that iOS does 'better' than android, or at least, its a mix of what people of become accustomed too and some are just better. So, when people do make the switch to android, or indeed WP etc, it can be an uphill struggle as those things that are 'better' are maybe less intuitive over on the android side.
However, you have to look at the bigger picture. Android is far far more customisable, even as stock. With the addition of TouchWiz and Sense etc, they bring a lot of features that in themselves are 'better' than iOS.
There are many people that go the other way (Android to iOS) and struggle with some of its inability to control and customise.
What I'm saying is.... give it time, and do not judge android on its lacking in one or two areas, try and look at it from a bigger perspective.
**When I say 'better'... I mean its what each individual sees as better, I'm not saying that it is**

aarongillion63 said:
For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store. It's $3.49 but if you don't want to pay that just download the apk from Google search. [ / QUOTE ]
Tasker is an excellent program. It should be paid for and not stolen.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

This is a very good discussion. I find that generally programmers favor Android because of it's similar OS structure to a PC (I'm talking about the coding behind it all and C/Java), and common consumers and Apple computer owners favor iOS. This is a generalization and personal opinion. I know there is the outlier of Apple programmers, I've tried to get into it myself, but my problem I've ran into is that Objective C is overly complicated, just to accomplish simple things. Anyway, even if you don't develop apps, you may favor Android as a coder thanks to Tasker. I've found myself addicted to Tasker as far as tweaking/programming goes, without the need to use Android SDK. Then, you can still export Tasker projects to apks if you want. Tasker can make a good visual-sdk app creation tool.
iresq said:
Tasker is an excellent program. It should be paid for and not stolen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. :thumbup:
Sent from my HTCONE using XDA Free mobile app

Android 7 from Huawei is crap

I mean seriously... I installed the Google clock app and Google calendar because the Huawei apps fail at the basic controls and after Android 7 they force their crap controls on other apps? Honestly, I am super passed.

I wish they could keep the alarm clock from Android 6/EMUI 4. The alarm clock on 7 looks so crap and undone.

I'm going to give a slightly more in-depth review of the new Android release for our phones, and why you should _NOT_ install it. In fact, I think EMUI 4.X blows 5.X out of the water.
Breaking down my major gripes with the system:
Battery life is terrible. I am yet to pinpoint the source of the drain, and without rooting I don't really have the ability to do a whole lot about it. Exact same settings and usage that I had on EMUI 4.X and instead of being able to go two days without a charge, I'm having to charge it constantly. It appears to be a mixture of software and hardware, which in my opinion, means that Huawei put very little effort into optimizing this software for their hardware.
Notifications are trash. Seriously. They're ugly, and not nearly as functional as their prior iteration. Spotify for example had a decent lockscreen functionality in EMUI 4.X -- That's now gone, replaced with a banner style widget. The default Google banner-style widget. So... Huawei pretty much left everything stock. This has been slapped together hastily. My gripe in this particular situation? Googles default banner widget is so thin, you can barely use the seek/play/pause functionality without accidentally mashing something you're not meaning to. --- Beyond that, there are bugs with text notifications. Example: If you get a text while you have that persons text conversation open in the stock messaging app, and they send another text, even though you're looking right at it you get a banner. The banner stays until you tap it. ...Seriously Huawei?
Apps, UI, other issues. Messaging, again. They've added an emoji icon into the text input area. You can't get rid of it. It wasn't there before, but now it's a permanent fixture. How about two more emoji icons on your keyboard? Sound annoying? It is. The "obvious" solution is to install other software to appeal to my pedantic needs. Or Huawei can stop making superfluous changes to their software. Black background on notification drawer, white banners... very sexy. Can't move certain icons in the app drawer (IE: You can move "Mobile Data" toggle, but not "Settings").
I won't keep ranting on and on, but Huawei seriously, seriously dropped the ball on this one. It's almost embarrassing in fact. There's a reason this upgrade hasn't been released worldwide, and if Huawei can't iron out their problems, I would never recommend it to any user who enjoyed anything about EMUI.
Verdict, in my opinion: Stick with EMUI 4.X - Root it. Enjoy.

Jonestown said:
I'm going to give a slightly more in-depth review of the new Android release for our phones, and why you should _NOT_ install it. In fact, I think EMUI 4.X blows 5.X out of the water.
Breaking down my major gripes with the system:
Battery life is terrible. I am yet to pinpoint the source of the drain, and without rooting I don't really have the ability to do a whole lot about it. Exact same settings and usage that I had on EMUI 4.X and instead of being able to go two days without a charge, I'm having to charge it constantly. It appears to be a mixture of software and hardware, which in my opinion, means that Huawei put very little effort into optimizing this software for their hardware.
Notifications are trash. Seriously. They're ugly, and not nearly as functional as their prior iteration. Spotify for example had a decent lockscreen functionality in EMUI 4.X -- That's now gone, replaced with a banner style widget. The default Google banner-style widget. So... Huawei pretty much left everything stock. This has been slapped together hastily. My gripe in this particular situation? Googles default banner widget is so thin, you can barely use the seek/play/pause functionality without accidentally mashing something you're not meaning to. --- Beyond that, there are bugs with text notifications. Example: If you get a text while you have that persons text conversation open in the stock messaging app, and they send another text, even though you're looking right at it you get a banner. The banner stays until you tap it. ...Seriously Huawei?
Apps, UI, other issues. Messaging, again. They've added an emoji icon into the text input area. You can't get rid of it. It wasn't there before, but now it's a permanent fixture. How about two more emoji icons on your keyboard? Sound annoying? It is. The "obvious" solution is to install other software to appeal to my pedantic needs. Or Huawei can stop making superfluous changes to their software. Black background on notification drawer, white banners... very sexy. Can't move certain icons in the app drawer (IE: You can move "Mobile Data" toggle, but not "Settings").
I won't keep ranting on and on, but Huawei seriously, seriously dropped the ball on this one. It's almost embarrassing in fact. There's a reason this upgrade hasn't been released worldwide, and if Huawei can't iron out their problems, I would never recommend it to any user who enjoyed anything about EMUI.
Verdict, in my opinion: Stick with EMUI 4.X - Root it. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish you told me before I read your review..lol
I don't mind it so far, notifications are pretty crappy. Currently, I am using Google Keyboard a lot better than the built-in one.
My annoyance is that I use LastPass, Yaste and DoubleTwist apps, which should stay in the notification panel if I am using them even though the phone locks and it closes then on lock.
I have checked the power management and rebooted as well, but LastPass etc.. disappear from the nofication panel.

TG09 said:
Wish you told me before I read your review..lol
I don't mind it so far, notifications are pretty crappy. Currently, I am using Google Keyboard a lot better than the built-in one.
My annoyance is that I use LastPass, Yaste and DoubleTwist apps, which should stay in the notification panel if I am using them even though the phone locks and it closes then on lock.
I have checked the power management and rebooted as well, but LastPass etc.. disappear from the nofication panel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, well I had to try it for a couple of days at least to make sure I was justified in disliking it so much.
I'll be rolling back today though, if I run into any issues with this I'll be sure to post any potential work arounds.

Jonestown said:
Haha, well I had to try it for a couple of days at least to make sure I was justified in disliking it so much.
I'll be rolling back today though, if I run into any issues with this I'll be sure to post any potential work arounds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM me on how you roll back, I might do the same after you have.
Cheers fellow kiwi

Jonestown said:
I'm going to give a slightly more in-depth review of the new Android release for our phones, and why you should _NOT_ install it. In fact, I think EMUI 4.X blows 5.X out of the water.
Breaking down my major gripes with the system:
Battery life is terrible. I am yet to pinpoint the source of the drain, and without rooting I don't really have the ability to do a whole lot about it. Exact same settings and usage that I had on EMUI 4.X and instead of being able to go two days without a charge, I'm having to charge it constantly. It appears to be a mixture of software and hardware, which in my opinion, means that Huawei put very little effort into optimizing this software for their hardware.
Notifications are trash. Seriously. They're ugly, and not nearly as functional as their prior iteration. Spotify for example had a decent lockscreen functionality in EMUI 4.X -- That's now gone, replaced with a banner style widget. The default Google banner-style widget. So... Huawei pretty much left everything stock. This has been slapped together hastily. My gripe in this particular situation? Googles default banner widget is so thin, you can barely use the seek/play/pause functionality without accidentally mashing something you're not meaning to. --- Beyond that, there are bugs with text notifications. Example: If you get a text while you have that persons text conversation open in the stock messaging app, and they send another text, even though you're looking right at it you get a banner. The banner stays until you tap it. ...Seriously Huawei?
Apps, UI, other issues. Messaging, again. They've added an emoji icon into the text input area. You can't get rid of it. It wasn't there before, but now it's a permanent fixture. How about two more emoji icons on your keyboard? Sound annoying? It is. The "obvious" solution is to install other software to appeal to my pedantic needs. Or Huawei can stop making superfluous changes to their software. Black background on notification drawer, white banners... very sexy. Can't move certain icons in the app drawer (IE: You can move "Mobile Data" toggle, but not "Settings").
I won't keep ranting on and on, but Huawei seriously, seriously dropped the ball on this one. It's almost embarrassing in fact. There's a reason this upgrade hasn't been released worldwide, and if Huawei can't iron out their problems, I would never recommend it to any user who enjoyed anything about EMUI.
Verdict, in my opinion: Stick with EMUI 4.X - Root it. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess its all depends on how you use your phone and what apps you got. I have 0 issues with EMUI 5.0 and I actually recommend it over EMUI 4.x. Battery life for me is slightly better thanks to the improved Doze and Vulcan API. Performance has improved, especially in the touch responsiveness of the UI (again, thanks to native support to Vulcan). I have no issues with the notification since all of the apps I use is clearly visible and functions properly. In regards to Apps, UI and etc... Well, I am using Nova Launcher Prime and I have customized it to the way I like it and also using SwiftKey so I dont get any of the keyboard issues you are reporting and I use Textra for my messaging and works perfectly fine.
So I guess its all depends on what apps you have and how you like your interface set up.

TG09 said:
PM me on how you roll back, I might do the same after you have.
Cheers fellow kiwi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not gonna PM just yet. I've had a hell of a time thusfar, still trying to find a method to get back to absolute stock (which would require our stock oeminfo I think, which I don't have, honestly I'm not even 100% sure).
Right now it says I'm on software version C900B140 -- I don't know wtf this is lol -- I'll figure it out though, at least it's working after 3 hours of bootlooping.

Hi,
U can rollback with unbranding but, it's painfull I struggled with it most of the week end.
(will redo it cause i want a root most of my apps need it).
Cheers

Jonestown said:
Not gonna PM just yet. I've had a hell of a time thusfar, still trying to find a method to get back to absolute stock (which would require our stock oeminfo I think, which I don't have, honestly I'm not even 100% sure).
Right now it says I'm on software version C900B140 -- I don't know wtf this is lol -- I'll figure it out though, at least it's working after 3 hours of bootlooping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get one fella?

TG09 said:
How did you get one fella?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was ****, but I was able to rollback to a C432 build. You're stuck with this version now, but there's a rollback thread somewhere around here with the instructions that work. I can't find it off hand, but googling "P9 Rollback" or searching for it on here should help. You're basically following the rollback instructions and then following the debrand instructions up until the point where you're asked to use Huawei Updater 2.0.
I installed, got to 4.1.1 -- disabled updates. Plan on staying here for a while.

Jonestown said:
It was ****, but I was able to rollback to a C432 build. You're stuck with this version now, but there's a rollback thread somewhere around here with the instructions that work. I can't find it off hand, but googling "P9 Rollback" or searching for it on here should help. You're basically following the rollback instructions and then following the debrand instructions up until the point where you're asked to use Huawei Updater 2.0.
I installed, got to 4.1.1 -- disabled updates. Plan on staying here for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do i need to unlock bootloader to perform a rollback?

C900Bxx is a hybrid from flashing one firmware, say C432, over another, say C02. It won't receive any updates but can be 'rebranded' by flashing new oeminfo.img
Android 7 is way, way better than 6 - snappier, more responsive, better battery life, and as for Huawei apps overdrawing Google ones - like Calendar, Clock, etc - it doesn't happen with me, period.
Still, YMMV, and everyone's got their own tastes and opinions - including me lol.
Peace.

It doesn't happen for you? Okay, maybe I should do a factory reset.

Considering Note 8, Coming From Google Ecosystem, Have a Few Q's

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)

Pros and cons of 9.1

As the title suggested..
Pros:
Dolby now available on wireless connection (Bluetooth)
Very smooth
App responsiveness
Camera
Cons:
None ATM
Feel free to comment your findings as well

you mention a pros for the camera. what was specifically new or better in 9.1 over 9.0?

tweedie said:
you mention a pros for the camera. what was specifically new or better in 9.1 over 9.0?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera now has 30x zoom and moon mode..

pogi.paul0119 said:
Camera now has 30x zoom and moon mode..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plus easy way to turn on and off Master AI.

I was just going to say has it been updated with the P30 camera updates

Agreed !!
Pros:
Dolby now available on wireless connection (Bluetooth)
Very smooth
App responsiveness
Camera
+ (AI toggle for me, easy to access)
Cons:
None ATM
+ Cannot disable "App Suggestion" in drawer
.

What is ATM instead for?

q13017 said:
What is ATM instead for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment

How does it behave when rooted?
Possible to root when having unlocked bootloader?
Does the new filesystem mess thing up?
Does it work with a custom launcher? Can't live without nova prime.

Daniehabazin said:
How does it behave when rooted?
Possible to root when having unlocked bootloader?
Does the new filesystem mess thing up?
Does it work with a custom launcher? Can't live without nova prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79681506&postcount=9
not the same device but still.

jericho246 said:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79681506&postcount=9
not the same device but still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thank you, still haven't had anything pop up in hicare, could be that I've messed to much with my phone or maybe because it's not out for my phone yet, but I'm thinking of holding off. It's summer and maybe my phone needs a brake too
Skickat från min LYA-L29 via Tapatalk

so before to update i played a bit with the software i tried like 5 of them with both methods ,dload and hi suite , witch success but ,the best one for me it was the 263 witch is the loudest software for me
i tried a newer one 266 and 276 all works fine but i had to use an amplifier from google play store to add +5 on the slider to be loud and crisp the sound nice for youtube .
with 9.1 now i don't have any options . only the apk from google play store . maybe later on they will release a louder version so i can swap )
But beside this i love the 30x zoom option .is usable and good , and i think it will be better with a small portable tripod
i will attach some demo for this guys who expect or they think before to update ,

Guys, this 30x zoom is simply 10x zoom with cropped out the smaller region of the photo. You can take 10x zoom photo and crop it to get the same results
For me 9.1 is a step forward of course, but still, I miss Samsung TouchWiz/OneUI. Huawei's Android is so buggy... My every previous Android phone was Samsung Galaxy and when I switched to Huawei I feel like I got, like, 5 years back (in Android evolution).
As a programmer, I feel like Huawei presses their programmers to add as many features as other companies have in their devices, but they don't have the time/money to really polish these features, so they deploy it as it is, just so they can check them as "done".
Oh and I was hoping for new version of "Always on display" with support of third apps icons, but even in 9.1 this feature still sucks (for example, every notification icon disappear when the screen wakes up and goes black again) and lacks any kind of settings.
To sum up, 9.1 didn't change anything "big", and all the bugs I notice everyday - they are still here. And I miss Samsung

Con: Have to hold the power button way too long to get the shutdown menu to appear

Have you noticed that 9.1 is even much more aggressive when it comes to keeping apps in the background memory? Apps are being killed very quickly.

YES!!! Bluetooth Absolute Volume is at least an option now! It's hidden in Developer Settings, but it's there.... Now just to check if it works
Not sure on memory management yet

For me it feels a little bit smoother and that's all, pretty much the same emui for me. That ai button on the camera app is a great addition imo!

Absolute Volume does indeed work, but I'll definitely agree memory management is absolute GARBAGE with this new build. Seriously, Pixel phones don't kill tasks as quick!

Question questions about customization

I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your better get a Oneplus Phones for modding / rooting purpose.
For samsung phones, somebody have to find a solution for knox trip.

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
...
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as you already noticed the modding/rooting community for the S21 series is not that active (yet?), maybe indeed different to phones like the Oneplus 8 Pro etc...
But still there is a reliably working method for rooting the device, although depending from your location warranty may be void afterwards. And then there is Knox, so rooting will definitely disable some specific Samsung functions (Samsung pay & Safe Folder among them).
If you are interested, there are threads on rooting and TWRP - the forum is presently only one for all S21U topics so things move down the line pretty quickly :
I for myself as a long-time "rooter" decided to go with locked stock ROM and while missing some detailed tweakings things are running pretty nicely so far. One of the things I noticed is that 90% of the things you do with rooting are workarounds to cover the negative effects of rooting - like making Gpay work etc.

Yes, unless there's a solution for the Samsung Knox issues, rooting will void your warranty. FWIW, the stock software has so much customization options that even after 2 months of using it I still haven't got hold of all the customizations. Yes, you might do in OnePlus where the software is quite bland/ featureless but that's not the case with One UI

fairyshacker said:
Your better get a Oneplus Phones for modding / rooting purpose.
For samsung phones, somebody have to find a solution for knox trip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want anything from a Chinese company.
s3axel said:
Well, as you already noticed the modding/rooting community for the S21 series is not that active (yet?), maybe indeed different to phones like the Oneplus 8 Pro etc...
But still there is a reliably working method for rooting the device, although depending from your location warranty may be void afterwards. And then there is Knox, so rooting will definitely disable some specific Samsung functions (Samsung pay & Safe Folder among them).
If you are interested, there are threads on rooting and TWRP - the forum is presently only one for all S21U topics so things move down the line pretty quickly :
I for myself as a long-time "rooter" decided to go with locked stock ROM and while missing some detailed tweakings things are running pretty nicely so far. One of the things I noticed is that 90% of the things you do with rooting are workarounds to cover the negative effects of rooting - like making Gpay work etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not worried about warranties. I don't know if I'd ever need the samsung specific things like Samsung Pay. Not sure what Safe Folder is but I guess it's some kind of encryption based file storing? I generally don't use all these mainstream things people like.
I don't really spend time making Google Pay work because I have no use for it. I'll have an occasional issue with an app refusing to operate because of rooting and Magisk Hide doesn't work, but it isn't a big deal.
I like tweaking things like the battery logo (I like having a circle with percentage number inside and not having the extra/stock battery logo up there at the same time). I like to disable certain system icons from the top bar that aren't necessary to be there and just clog it up. I like adding the "clear all" type buttons in the running apps page. I like customizing the behavior of holding the power button so I can reboot, reboot to recovery, or shut the phone off easily.
For example, on my LG V30+ right now I am running the stock rom but rooted it and did things like I described above. Nothing major and don't need Google Pay. The LG app for air conditioners won't run because of my root. My bank app notifies me of root very occasionally but isn't a big deal. Yeah, I don't think my SafetyNet passes, but I don't care.
I am using Xposed, hostless AdAway, No Shutter Sound, Highway Radar and YouTube Vanced as well.
amirage said:
Yes, unless there's a solution for the Samsung Knox issues, rooting will void your warranty. FWIW, the stock software has so much customization options that even after 2 months of using it I still haven't got hold of all the customizations. Yes, you might do in OnePlus where the software is quite bland/ featureless but that's not the case with One UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to go through every single setting in a phone before I even start really dailying it . I don't mind it. I like customization. That's great to hear. I do like unrestricted or not very restricted phones as opposed to iPhone style lockdown stuff, though.
I used to consider the OnePlus phones but lately I have been more insistent on not buying things made in China or from Chinese companies as much as possible... for various reasons.
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So assuming I don't care about things like warranty and Samsung Pay.. what other drawbacks are there? What would stop me from going this route? I intend on picking it up from Google because they have really good deals and I can even make 0% interest payments. I just have to stick with Fi for 3 months, then I can go back to ATT.
Another concern I have is the size of the phone. It makes me lean towards the S21 5G. I just like the Ultra for the other enhancements.
Thanks to all of you as well for the replies.

I wouldn't get that phone if my intent was to root it. One of the more easily rootable Samsung models probably be a better choice*. If you want a blackhole gravity well to get frozen in time with while you're troubleshooting the root then this is a good choice.
That said stock Samsung's are the most customizable phones there are. Hundreds of free icon packs/themes, the Good Lock family of apps and more. The SSC codec for the Buds+ that seamlessly connect to this model with the propiatory Samsung new 360° audio support.
You can lock it down with PD MDM package disabler and Karma Firewall.
*Also no SD card slot so no dual drive ie data drive; you lose a valuble key feature.
Personally I loathe it's rounded corners/display and it's larger frame to display ratio. It's ugly compared to the Note 10+ or N 20 U; I take either of these over the 21 series any day.
Yeah, I really don't like the 21 series... even at half price I would spurn them.

I just read up on Samsung Pay and it's actually pretty interesting. I may actually try and use that. I would love to not have to pull out my wallet all the time and swipe/insert my bank card. That alone is very enticing.
I don't watch TV and haven't had TV service in ages, but I found out with this phone I'll have access to TV stations without a subscription or any kind of fee. That's pretty cool as an added bonus and I may find some shows I like.
blackhawk said:
I wouldn't get that phone if my intent was to root it. One of the more easily rootable Samsung models probably be a better choice*. If you want a blackhole gravity well to get frozen in time with while you're troubleshooting the root then this is a good choice.
That said stock Samsung's are the most customizable phones there are. Hundreds of free icon packs/themes, the Good Lock family of apps and more. The SSC codec for the Buds+ that seamlessly connect to this model with the propiatory Samsung new 360° audio support.
You can lock it down with PD MDM package disabler and Karma Firewall.
*Also no SD card slot so no dual drive ie data drive; you lose a valuble key feature.
Personally I loathe it's rounded corners/display and it's larger frame to display ratio. It's ugly compared to the Note 10+ or N 20 U; I take either of these over the 21 series any day.
Yeah, I really don't like the 21 series... even at half price I would spurn them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That package disabled is really nice to know about, thanks. That is also something I did on my current phone but I did it through ADB (well, I uninstalled things I didn't want and saved the APK of the app).
I'm pretty sure I can use AdAway and YouTube Vanced without root. I'm currently using an older version of Vanced because newer ones do not work. Mine is from Magisk. I figure it has to do with Vanced on this specific phone and I can probably use some other version on the S21/Ultra.
Not sure what you meant about gravity and about a "valuble key feature". I am aware it has no sd card support, but I've found that I have never had the need for this on my current phone which supports up to 2 TB sd cards.
There is one thing that I doubt I'll be able to do which I've done on my V30+... I have the stock phone app modified to have a built-in recording feature. One press and I record calls with no notification beeps or anything stupid like that. After the call ends it prompts me to listen now or later. It saves the recording automatically as a file, based on the settings I've already configured. I can turn this on and off whenever I want during the call and if I turn it on before the call is answered, the app automatically waits until the call is connected to enable call recording. It records both sides in clear quality whether or not it's using the speaker or regular mode.
Is there a shutter sound on the S21? If so, is there a way to disable it without root?

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just come over to the S21 Ultra from Xiaomi. I loved how you could theme the Xiaomi. I tried a few themes from the Samsung store but nothing would change all the icons. A real miss match and it looked terrible. Maybe I never searched hard enough well anyway I downloaded Good Lock and some modules from the Samsung store. It has some good customisations and it changes all icons to the same style and hides icons from status bar. Not sure if this is what your after but I knew when I got this phone there would not be much development on it at the start. Actually not to fussed about rooting at the moment. Also aodNotify as I missed the notification light. Moved away from Chinese phones myself. Here's a couple of pics if this is the sort of thing that your after.
Hope this helps

Clarkie_955i said:
I just come over to the S21 Ultra from Xiaomi. I loved how you could theme the Xiaomi. I tried a few themes from the Samsung store but nothing would change all the icons. A real miss match and it looked terrible. Maybe I never searched hard enough well anyway I downloaded Good Lock and some modules from the Samsung store. It has some good customisations and it changes all icons to the same style and hides icons from status bar. Not sure if this is what your after but I knew when I got this phone there would not be much development on it at the start. Actually not to fussed about rooting at the moment. Also aodNotify as I missed the notification light. Moved away from Chinese phones myself. Here's a couple of pics if this is the sort of thing that your after.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats on leaving Chinese brands. I'm also making effort to buy things not made in China as much as possible as well. So Taiwan, Japan, USA, etc...
I don't usually do the whole custom icon set thing on phones, but I am aware that's a big thing so I understand why that would be frustrating when you can't find one you like. The most theming I've done is choose one I like (color wise) from some LG app I had on the phone which worked well.
Other small changes may count as theme changes in some ways, but it wasn't the intention.. it was mostly for functionality.
Thanks for the info.
Also I have researched a few things...
1. AdAway. It can now be used without root, which I didn't know. It can be run on S21 variants. BUT, you have to run an AdAway VPN to do it.. so might as well find another method for ad blocking. My friend showed me a screen on the S20 where there is a "private DNS" option. I could block ads that way.
2. Vanced doesn't need root. It actually is arguably better without root because you only have to set the app to open YT links and it doesn't replace the YT app. Right now I can't use auto app updates because it won't let me pick and choose which to not auto-update and one of the ones I would need to stop from auto updating is the stock YT app.
3. From research online and after asking Google about the variant they sell, you can disable shutter sound in the settings (which is actually better than what the LG V30+ supports.. a huge surprise).
4. Don't think I can use Xposed. There MAY be some bootleg way with partial functionality or something but I don't know for sure.
Can I (without root) remove the stock battery icon and replace it with a circle and percentage? Like this:
I also want to enable the seconds counter and add the date.. I want to do all that stuff, if possible.. that I did there.. including hcanging the size of fonts and capitalization of fonts in the top middle area.
Main thing I want is the seconds counter.
A friend showed me this from his s20:
So that's cool that he can change the icons displayed. I used Gravity Box or Xposed.

Not so much I cant find what I like it's just they don't change system wide like Xiaomi did. So I end up having half custom and half stock and looks crap with all the different colors in the folders. At least Good Lock manages to change them system wide which I don't quite understand why Samsung theme store will change maybe fifty percent. Anyway got it to how I like it.
With Good Lock you can remove status bar icons but no customisation with battery indicators. That pic is a pic of Good Lock the one you posted. I went with the Hong Kong version with Snapdragon which you can unlock bootloader in development options. Don't think you can on US Snapdragon versions. Here in OZ we only had the Exynos. Got the 16/512 Snapdragon for $1550 AUD. Same phone with Exynos just over $2200 here.
AdAway have not really missed it. Had it on my previous phone and maybe I'm not taking any notice of adds and just enjoying the phone. Never use Vanced. Cant see any setting in camera to turn off shutter sound but you can silence it in volume controls. Haven't looked into Xposed yet.
Don't know what model your going to get but there is root and TWRP available for ultra models. But soon as you flash a boot image you will trip Knox and lose some features of Samsung apps. Mainly Samsung pay I believe and warranty if you buy local. Still sussing this out myself. Have a old Tab S that I rooted and my first Android was a Samsung Galaxy Gio (GT-S5660)
Overall extremely happy with this phone.
Hoe this helps Sneak

A stock Note 10+, heavily customized.
Running fast and stable on Pie/OneUI.

sneak said:
I don't want anything from a Chinese company.
I'm not worried about warranties. I don't know if I'd ever need the samsung specific things like Samsung Pay. Not sure what Safe Folder is but I guess it's some kind of encryption based file storing? I generally don't use all these mainstream things people like.
I don't really spend time making Google Pay work because I have no use for it. I'll have an occasional issue with an app refusing to operate because of rooting and Magisk Hide doesn't work, but it isn't a big deal.
I like tweaking things like the battery logo (I like having a circle with percentage number inside and not having the extra/stock battery logo up there at the same time). I like to disable certain system icons from the top bar that aren't necessary to be there and just clog it up. I like adding the "clear all" type buttons in the running apps page. I like customizing the behavior of holding the power button so I can reboot, reboot to recovery, or shut the phone off easily.
For example, on my LG V30+ right now I am running the stock rom but rooted it and did things like I described above. Nothing major and don't need Google Pay. The LG app for air conditioners won't run because of my root. My bank app notifies me of root very occasionally but isn't a big deal. Yeah, I don't think my SafetyNet passes, but I don't care.
I am using Xposed, hostless AdAway, No Shutter Sound, Highway Radar and YouTube Vanced as well.
I tend to go through every single setting in a phone before I even start really dailying it . I don't mind it. I like customization. That's great to hear. I do like unrestricted or not very restricted phones as opposed to iPhone style lockdown stuff, though.
I used to consider the OnePlus phones but lately I have been more insistent on not buying things made in China or from Chinese companies as much as possible... for various reasons.
---
So assuming I don't care about things like warranty and Samsung Pay.. what other drawbacks are there? What would stop me from going this route? I intend on picking it up from Google because they have really good deals and I can even make 0% interest payments. I just have to stick with Fi for 3 months, then I can go back to ATT.
Another concern I have is the size of the phone. It makes me lean towards the S21 5G. I just like the Ultra for the other enhancements.
Thanks to all of you as well for the replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In 100% me..
You just write that's way am here on xda,
Am a fan to customise my phone as I want,
And if I pay so much money we should have the right, and possibility to choice and use ..
Sorry for my English.

Well, I bought one from Google. If there are serious issues I don't want to put up with I will return it.
As long as I can disable the stock battery icon I would think I could get an app which has a custom battery icon.
I hope it's possible as well to do vertical listing of apps in app screen instead of having the left/right pages.

sneak said:
Well, I bought one from Google. If there are serious issues I don't want to put up with I will return it.
As long as I can disable the stock battery icon I would think I could get an app which has a custom battery icon.
I hope it's possible as well to do vertical listing of apps in app screen instead of having the left/right pages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats
The scrolling from the right was a pain at first. But all good now. Hopefully Good Lock will bring something out in the future and change it.

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea rooting is possible and safe if right software is used but might affect warranty i guess

If anyone remembers the whole Carrier IQ thing, do you know if there's something like this on the S21 Ultra?
System UI Tuner doesn't seem to work as far as showing seconds in the status bar clock.
I would love to be able to customize the recently used apps section in the apps drawer. Either remove it completely or set static apps or somehow customize a blacklist or whitelist or some other variables to determine what goes there.
When I use jetaudio+ it puts a notification with details in the menu from the top. I can't swipe it away and it stays there even after I close the app and remove it from app list. I found out I have to drag down on it to expand it to be slightly larger and then an "x" appears. These "x" buttons would appear by default on apps like this on my old phone and they were a little larger relative to the rest of the UI as well. Would love to be able to tweak this functionality.
I want a feature I had on my LG V30+ where based on my GPS location I can enable or disable WiFi. Meaning, the same as hitting the wifi icon in the quick toggles based on entering a certain location or leaving that location. That way when I get home my phone will automatically globally turn on wifi and when I leave it twill automatically turn it off so it isn't hunting for networks.
Another feature in the same section was something which allowed me to have the phone remain unlocked when paired with a specific device. I want the phone to stay unlocked when paired with my car instead of having to unlock it all the time with fingerprint.
I would like to be able to scroll the apps list vertically, like normal.. instead of this left and right pages stuff.
I want a battery indicator setup where there is a percentage inside of a circle and the circle is representative of the percentage. Not finding an app option that has what I want. Does anyone know of a way to do this or an app?
I also want to make pressing the home button in the bottom center of the screen do a full open of the bar from the top.
On my current phone I've also found some way to keep the alarm clock icon from Alarm Clock Xtreme without having a persistent notification of the next alarm. Not sure how on this.

MacroDroid!
the answer to toggles based on location. A lot of features there to look into. Very nice.

MacroDroid seems fine for the WiFi toggle but it doesn't keep the phone from locking. At first it was keeping the screen on but then it just did nothing. I want the screen to still shut off if necessary but not require thumbprint or code or anything to unlock, while paired with phone.

sneak said:
MacroDroid seems fine for the WiFi toggle but it doesn't keep the phone from locking. At first it was keeping the screen on but then it just did nothing. I want the screen to still shut off if necessary but not require thumbprint or code or anything to unlock, while paired with phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't advise using it but stupid Bixby probably can ie Bixby Routines.

blackhawk said:
I don't advise using it but stupid Bixby probably can ie Bixby Routines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the first thing I checked but I couldn't figure out how to do it. It's not very intuitive....