Related
April 7
Here's another new version.
Turned on hardware acceleration.
Fixed some of the initial setup issues.
Fixed issue when using a Wifi XOOM with the web service.
Fixed some misc infrequent crashes
Removed some unecessary debug code
Known issues
Colors still don't work
If you choose a google account, and have never provided permission before, a loading dialog will not show up. This has been a ***** to fix because the emulator is dog slow and I have to wipe everytime I try to test.
---------------------------
As promised here's a new release. quickjotter-android2.apk is the new one. I left the old one on there in case you don't like the permissions for the new one.
It has a few performance improvements. There is now an editor in the main view, so you can still use the syncing without having the always visible sticky. I've also added a syncing component, just choose a google account when the app first runs to use that account.
http://quickjotter.appspot.com for the web interface. Log in with whatever account you choose when you first run the app. Syncing to your XOOM is done via C2DM, so it does not poll and should impact battery life minimally.
Please uninstall the old version before installing this one.
Some notes...
I've had some testing troubles since I can't figure out how to wipe out the permissions to access a Google Account without removing it, which is a total pain in the ass. So it's quite possible this version will crash right off the bat. I apologize if it does. Hopefully I'll be able to test a first use aspect more this week before it goes public. Please let me know any oddities related to account permissions.
The colors don't work yet.
The account selection is very rough, press it once and wait a few seconds it should go away. If you hit the back button it will likely screw up. This is my priority to fix this coming week.
---------------
Hi guys,
I started working on a proof of concept for a sticky note app for the XOOM.
Right now there's one note, it's the only note. Swipe inward over the bar to bring up the note. You can't move the note.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please don't distribute it.
-mike dg
This looks neat. I'll give it a try.
For what its worth, my home screen began to run really rough after installing this and having the service run in the background. But its a very handy app. Looking forward to further developements.
Hmmm. Perhaps it's due to the transparency. I'll look into it.
Hopefully this weekend I'll have a new version up.
Some editing and UI improvements. Some performance improvements as well, since I remove some bad debug cod. Also push synching between your device and the web. So you can get stuff off of or put it onto your XOOM.
Awesome idea, I have to agree there is some pretty heavy slow down post installation.
Going to remove the semi transparentness of the bar. Any objections or suggestions? The sticky note will remain semi transparent.
Yay for new version.
Couldn't open the apk..
Just me? Hmm.
this is great! Thank you Thank you Thank you
Hi guys,
I should have a new release in the next few days. Mainly bug fixes. I'll possibly work on getting colors working or at least removing that toolbar if they don't work.
Any thoughts on the current version. Stability issues? Has anyone used the website?
-Mike
Mike
The app is great! The only thing I suggest is nothing that will make the app more functional, but rather aesthetically pleasing IMO. Can you capitalize the "new" and "hide" buttons?
also possibly making the hidden bar a bit skinnier?
Thanks for the suggestions. I have no sense of style, so most of my apps are ugly as hell, but I hope they are usable.
kaze00 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I have no sense of style, so most of my apps are ugly as hell, but I hope they are usable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha, you are too humble..just keep making updates! =)
so any updates on this? Another suggestion is the ability to access the settings menu from the note. Like have a new, hide and settings button
Going to be a delay of a few days until the next version. Just swapped my XOOM for a wifi one, and that caused a handful of issues.
Also noticed some peculiarities with the website data. Anyone out there want to tell me if the web syncing has been working?
Any updates?
Just because you asked I'll put the current Work in Progress later today. It's pretty stable except for a wonky initial sign in if you pick a Google Account, you will see no loading screen for a few seconds.
Ok latest version updated. Next on the agenda is adding the location setting to the note and making the "bar" much more eye pleasing and less intrusive.
Hey guys! I’m doing a personal review of Ubuntu Touch on the Nexus4 device, and I thought I could share it with you.
It’s kind of a “Pros and cons” thing, but since I tend to get off-topic easily and babble a lot I’ve divided things in sections,
so you don’t have to read everything should you not want to.
Here it goes - Ubuntu Touch on the Google Nexus 4 (mako).
Installing Ubuntu has always been a pleasant experience for me. It feels open. Feels different. Feels fresh. Feels UBUNTU.
Installing any linux distribution on any PC makes mu blood run like crazy and Ubuntu Touch makes no difference.
It’s exciting to see something new and beautiful done for phones. And it’s even more exciting when you see it’s done with taste.
Now just to be clear – when it comes to Pros and Cons I guess the “Cons” section would be obviously much larger,
but hey: it’s a developers preview of what we should be expecting so I’m willing to suck some things up.
Pros:
1. Design.
Ubuntu Touch feels like Ubuntu in your hand. I just have to say this. I’m not sure if it’s the fonts or the wallpapers or the
transitions or the launch pad on the left or something else that I couldn’t quite grasp and understand,
but the fact is UT feels right. Feels Ubuntu.
2. Screen usage
Almost every other mobile OS has some buttons be it hardware or software (eg. Android’s software buttons on the screen + the 3-dot thingy).
Ubuntu gives you the whole screen to have for yourself and your app. It’s amazing how even the “Contacts” app feels bigger and more open.
3. Docking
I haven’t had the chance to go through the UT docking experience yet. I don’t even know if it’s quite baked yet, but what
I’ve seen on videos and ads is pretty awesome. The very idea of it makes it way cool. Chuck Norris cool.
The vision that one can have his PC in his pocket at all times is nothing but genius.
4. Compatibility
Ubuntu aims to be compatible with lots of devices. Which is good, I guess. I just hope compatibility doesn’t come
at the expense of stability or power management or something else that might come along and present itself as an issue.
5. Stability
I am yet to witness an app to crash or force-close or just close or anything like that.
I do get some strange freezes for a few seconds every now and then though.
Cons:
1. Installation
Installation can present itself to be harsh on someone who know nothing about using the terminal. There was a small step
missing in the installation tutorial which can cause some people to get confused. Mainly people with no
prior unlocking/rooting/flashing ROMs experience.
2. Boot
No boot animation. First time the phone booted it needed quite some time and there wasn’t even a splash screen indicating
something was working. The screen had the backlight on and that was it. No shutdown animation as well. And while we’re
still on the subject: there is no shutdown menu, which was kind of strange – I mean when you hold the power button the
phone just shuts down – no questions asked. I guess that might be good in some situations, but I’d rather have the shutdown menu.
3. Overall performance
Overall performance is laggy. The “use-of-edge” design is pretty neatly thought of, but in real life it need polishing. A LOT of polishing.
Swipes act strange, I move from app to app by accident.. My personal guess is that one can get used to it in a couple days
but the swipes should take a step towards being more intuitive as well.
I didn’t like the fact that the music page doesn’t stream anything, but takes you to the browser and when you hit play on some
hit you’re supposed to hear you get a message that flash is not supported or crashed or something like that. It’s kind of frustrating.
I think a native app should be replacing that page on the home screen real soon.
4. Social media
Neither Facebook nor Twitter have native apps. All you get is a mobile version in the browser. I don’t think it needs further explanation.
I hope both Facebook and Twitter do something about this. I don’t think it’s up to Canonical to make apps for those… or up to the
community for that matter. Anyway. I didn’t see a LinkedIn, Pinterest or any other social platform on the suggested apps, so
I guess I’ll just stop here.
5. Graphical glitches
Sometimes things will shift aside or up and down and text would overlap. It’s not something you can’t live with – a simple swipe one
way or another – fixes it, but I think all would agree it’s not an eye-candy feature. There are a few of these throughout the system.
It’s nothing serious in my opinion, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the “Pros” section.
The clock disappeared form everywhere except the clock app. I mean it – everywhere. It’s not on the homescreen,
it’s not in the “notification bar”, it’s nowhere. It happened after I rebooted the device for the first time. Also alarms don’t
seem to be working at all.
//* after a second reboot clock reappeared. Alarms still don’t work though.
Another thing is after picking up a call and finishing it – when you put the phone away from your ear the screen won’t turn on by itself.
That’s kind of odd if you ask me. It’s like it knows I’m saying “goodbye” and saves my battery or something. It’s a minor setback,
but still. I noticed that during the dialing process screen lights up if you take the phone away from your ear. I haven’t read a lot of
UT documentation, so it might be on purpose – I’m just stating what I’ve experienced.
6. Navitagion
Navigation is bad right now, I think. It looks like the OS isn’t sure how to respond to your swipe. Transitions are slow in my opinion.
They should be a tad faster. A major setback is the back button. I mean seriously – how many times do you misclick on something
and want to go right back. Think about it. It’s at least a few times a day. I think the back button should be visible the first few seconds
along with the rest of the app menu – should there be one. Or maybe just put it in the top left corner next to the search. If you think there
is no space – the search can always morph into “just a button” ... Other than that I can’t complain about navigation – it’s pretty neat,
actually. Menus are simple and understandable.
7. Hardware glitches
Everytime I wake my device up my Bluetooth is ON and I need to turn it off manually.
I can’t say I like that at all but considering that is all I have to say about hardware glitches I think it's not that bad.
8. 3G
3G is really important. AND it works! There’s just now way to shut it off.
I mean sure – you can turn off the mobile data, but when it comes to choosing whether to use 3G or 2G Networks Only – you don’t really have a choice.
You’re stuck with 3G and all the disadvantages that come with it as well as the advantages.
//* We all know what happens to your battery when using 3G and I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t like to turn his mobile data ON and OFF all the time – it just stays enabled all the time and saves me whole lotta thinking. Not having the choice of switching back to “2G networks only” sends you straight in hell in terms of battery life.
9. Syncing
Since I’m obviously new to Ubuntu Touch I just recently started using Ubuntu One, but my gosh! Syncing contacts with Google is a
real pain in the ass. Since the Gmail app is not a native app, but a HTML5 client instead, syncing appears to be impossible at this point.
Users are forced to hook their devices up to a PC running Ubuntu and write a bunch of commands in the terminal over and over again,
since syncing only works for no more than 50 contacts at a time. That being said I have over 600 so I had to run the damn thing 12 times
in a row. Aside from that should you choose to add a new contact it won’t sync with Google automatically and upload your new contact
into the cloud where you can have access to it at anytime.
//*Note: AFAIK: iOS, WM and Android have pretty easy ways to sync contacts with Google. I think this is one of the things the guys at Canonical should focus on. Slick mail application and neat contacts syncing is vital to a lot of people and is a major reason why they never switch phones.
Final thoughts:
Ubuntu Touch aims to deliver something different and really special to consumers: a PC inside a phone. I think what they are truly
missing here is an app store of some kind. The OS suggests apps but I couldn't see an app for that and I'm guessing that is somewhat of a
setback as well. They’ve been doing really well and while for now the “Cons” section is significantly larger than the “Pros”
I have hope and faith that Canonical will pull this off eventually.
Aside from the hard installation and the lack of an eye-candy boot animation… and maybe some other minor tickles - the OS looks
and feels nice and really pretty in the palm of one’s hand. They still have a lot of work to do if they ever want to catch up with Android or iOS
in terms of usability, syncing, MTP and other stuff that average consumers don’t know and don’t need to worry about but would miss a lot.
If you don’t don't mind the fact it’s a developers preview and the camera doesn’t always start off properly and you have to shut it down and run it again it’s pretty impressive!
Conclusion:
There are a lot of words one can use to describe Ubuntu Touch, but in my opinion the high order bid is “Inspiring”.
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
littlegreen said:
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
[/I]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
reqmon said:
Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well since I only have a few hours of experiencing the OS I don't think generalising is an option per say.
Besides - I am an optimist. I try to see the good in everything and that is why I have the "Pros" list. Thanks for the advice though.
well i find your review interesting to learn about the basics of ubuntu
Can you report about the battery performance?
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
What are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away? (different keyboards, apps, etc)
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Hey I would use smart switch to get your things from iPhone to your new phone but that is after you have it activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app
XiphoneUzer said:
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
My N3 arrived Wednesday evening, and it's STILL not activated, (and its killing me).
The reason being, I wanna know if there is anything I should do BEFORE I call ATT and activate it.
(I do NOT want to close any windows, so is there is anything you folks recommend I do before I activate it)?
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by call ATT and activate it? All you have to do is put your SIM card in and it is ready to go with a few account setups. After that it is up to you except for rooting and modding. Cant be done right now without voiding your warranty.
First thing you do is scratch off the att emblem since they locked the bootloader
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
XiphoneUzer said:
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the keyboard, i prefer the google keyboard over the samsung one. It provides functionality similar to the iphone and is easy to switch between the iphone and android if you use them both in daily life.
As for apps, here is a small list of apps i like to have on all of my devices.
GOOGLE CHROME. Its much better than the built in browser and is able to synchronize with my desktop browsers favorites, etc.
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Facebook & Twitter: If you need an explanation, you shouldn't be useing these apps.
Battery Doctor by KS Mobile: Simple app, but is helpful to save battery life and know exactly how much you have left.
Google Music: I have most of my library stored on google so it makes my life easy to have this.
Google Books: The book equivalent of my music library. Syncronizes what i have read across devices and browsers.
Kindle for Android: For the ebooks you buy on amazon.
Google Keep: Great for taking quick notes and having them on all your devices.
Dropbox: Great cloud file storage. Comes with free storage and you can pay to get more.
Google Drive: Google version of dropbox.
MX Player: This video player will play any video format you throw at it.
Google Maps: A must have for all smartphone users.
Zedge: While its quality has gone down a fair bit from what it once was, its still a great place to find ringtones and notification sounds for your android device.
GPS Status: Great for calibrating your devices sensors and ensuring that it works properly.
Now for the ROOT ONLY apps.
Titanium backup
SuperSU
Triangle Away
Hopefully this is a useful list to get you started. I have all these plus many more installed on my devices, and I find I use them all fairly regularly.
djdelusional said:
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer Hangouts to Skype because Hangouts features free video multi-chat.
But I use Google Voice for SMS because it provides free unlimited texting. Hangouts insists on using the phone's native number rather than your Google Voice number, so you have to pay extra for a text plan or for individual messages.
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
XiphoneUzer said:
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your new to android I'd stay away from root for a while.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 4
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like for every-day typical phone use cases, there aren't that many gaps that stand out as needing to be filled by a third party app. You'll probably need a new music player, the defaults are crapola - but I can't be much help here; I keep my music as folders full of MP3 files (like God intended!) and play with Music Folder Player, and shun the dirty S&M ("sync and manage") apps.
There's a big list of stuff that I did when I first got the phone to get it to where I'm happy with it, but all of this was root required stuff. There are apps that come pre-loaded on android devices and can't be removed or disabled without root. Also, customizing stuff that can't be customized without root. I couldn't abide by some of the not-changable-without-root defaults. Getting rid of the "screen turns on so you can unlock it when you hit the home key" behavior is probably the most glaring example for me; my ass* was unlocking it constantly - but coming from iPhone, you probably view that as the Right Thing for home button to do.
I think most people use a custom keyboard. Swiftkey and Swype are the most popular. The phone comes with Swype, but it's an ancient version with limited support for changing the dictionary, you want the newest one.
I use Hangouts for gchat, but not for SMS. I actually prefer default app for SMS..
Settings:
Pull down status bar, long press on wifi, WiFi -> menu -> advanced settings, uncheck auto connect to AT&T hotspots (unless they don't suck where you are. Around here, they often don't have internet behind them, and just break your connectivity for the 30 seconds or so it takes for the phone to connect to them, determine that the wifi is no good, and fall back to 4G. At least this phone does that; Original note would just sit there like a fool trying to use non-functional wifi... I've also yet to find a hotspot that performs better than the 4G does. But I live in a city, so the situation may be different elsewhere).
Pull down status bar, long press on GPS. Uncheck "Use wireless networks" - on newer versions of android, this drains battery while idle; the damned thing wakes the phone periodically to check the networks around it - if the phone is nearly idle, this can halve battery life (!!!)
Pull down status bar, swipe to the left along the options at the top (woah, did you know you could do that?), tap multiwindow to enable multiwindow (this was a headline feature for the note 3, but comes disabled by default). If I long-press back button, that makes the multiwindow tab hide or unhide (once it's enabled), but I don't remember if I had to do something to get this behavior.
General must-have things:
AppOps Starter (to kill permissions from apps that request permissions you don't want to give them)
Battery Monitor Widget (gives you a realtime readout of battery usage)
ES File Explorer
If you want to pretty-ize clock + weather widgets:
DigiClock
Eye in Sky
If you work in IT or have need of these (if you aren't sure what these mean, you don't need them ):
ConnectBot (telnet/ssh client)
AndFTP (ftp/sftp client, supports scp if you pay)
RDP Client (remote desktop and VNC client)
FEAT VPN (OpenVPN client)
Hacker's Keyboard (you'll tear your hair out trying to use swype/swiftkey for terminal sessions or RDP)
If you want to root the phone:
Root it, then immediately install titanium backup and "freeze" AT&T software update, so it won't update your phone (breaking root) while you're not looking
Titanium Backup - freeze all the useless bloatware that AT&T and Samsung included (there's a list of what apps you can freeze here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzC8GFarItSdGpOZzBfWlR4MC03aDMyZ1BDUFNqU0E - not my work)
Root Explorer
Pen Window Manager for adding apps to the pen window feature
Xposed Framework
Wanam - general huge amount of customization, including selecting apps for multiwindow.
Keyboard Manager (almost a necessity if you use ConnectBot/RDP frequently - keyboards designed for messaging and such are garbage for doing administration of non-phone systems, while hacker's keyboard is garbage for messaging and everyday phone stuff)
Terminal Emulator (gives you a command prompt on phone. Doesn't require root, but there are very few use cases for terminal on android that don't also need root)
*Well, I keep it in my front pocket, so technically it wasn't my /ass/ unlocking the phone....
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.
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)