Google Now Launcher on Note 4 (Switching from Turbo to Note4)

[brybelle22]

I returned my Droid Turbo yesterday because I just wasn't in love with the phone. Considering getting the Note 4 because of processing power, camera and screen quality. Not in love with the rear facing speaker, but most of my audio needs are met with headphones so I'm willing to compromise there. I'm hesitant to return to touchwiz after running Moto X stock and the Turbo stock launchers. I really enjoyed the simplicity of near stock android. My experience with touchwiz was in my S3, Note 2 and S4 phones which I didn't hate, but I definitely prefer a more stock android experience. Is anyone running the Note 4 with Google Now launcher? How has your experience been? Is lag reduced? What Note specific features carry over to the Google Now launcher (ie. S-pen compatibility, floating windows, etc)? Did anyone else come over to the Note 4 from the Turbo (any commentary on the change)?

FYI, I've returned to my Galaxy S3 until I make a final decision and man is this old phone slow! So ready to change ASAP!

Look forward to hearing your insight!

 

[LegalAmerican]

I am using the Google Now Launcher on my Note 4.

You still maintain all of the S pen features including air command, floating windows, and all the multitasking. The ONLY thing i've been able to find that I lost with this launcher, is some of the widgets like the S Note widget (I don't mind cause you can use air commands, do a pop up note, and export it straight into an S Note anyway), the Samsung weather/clock widget, and probably a few others. When I put the Google Now Launcher on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 a few months back, I seriously almost shed a tear of joy. So when I got the Note 4 I immediately downloaded it and haven't regretted it since. I came from the Nexus 5 so I was accustomed to the launcher.

The lag is still there to a degree, but i've done a few things to minimize it. The launcher helped, as did adjusting animations in the dev options, disabling S Voice from the home button, and those changes helped tremendously.

 

[Liquidretro]

I am using it now, I will probably go to Nova this weekend. For me the icons are too large in the google launcher. I too adjusted animation speeds and that helped alot.

 

[varucell]

I am using it now, I will probably go to Nova this weekend. For me the icons are too large in the google launcher. I too adjusted animation speeds and that helped alot.

Anyone tried the lollipop Google now launcher on the note 4. Curious if the animations are there such as the app drawer opening animation

 

[boston_ant]

I got the Nexus 6 yesterday after going back and forth between it and the Note 4 for quite some time. I thought definitely that this was the phone for me, as I've always enjoyed the stock or near stock experience as I've had on previous phones. Now that I've had it for a day, I find myself missing the display models of the Note 4 that I played around with. The almost rubbery texture of the faux leather back, premium looking shiny metal band and s-pen have left me with some serious buyers remorse. I love the Nexus 6 and what Google is all about but I honestly think there is too much "bright white" in the material design and it's not very easy on my eyes. I've already purchased a keyboard and messaging app, (which is so unlike me) just so that I can adjust the colors. The solid white background of the app drawer is a pain to look at, (why not make is transparent?). I just feel like Lollipop should have been full of different colors, (like lollipops ), and the fact that you're stuck with plain white all over which you can not adjust in the settings is disappointing. I guess my point is, if I'm already tweaking Android 5.0, then I'm not really going along with the whole "Nexus" idea and I might be happier with the Note 4.

The OP pretty much asked every question I've been asking myself all night and morning. I was thinking about trying out the Note 4 and running the Google Now Launcher but didn't want to lose the S-Pen functionality, floating windows, and other features that make Samsung appealing. I just don't like the look of Touchwiz so that has been my main deterrent thus far. Hearing someone say that the majority of those features aren't lost with the Google Now Launcher installed is encouraging. Would anyone currently running GNL on the Note 4 want to post any screen shots on their set up so that we can see what it looks like? I'm seriously considering buying the Note 4 from another carrier this week so that I can compare the 2 hands on for 2 weeks and then return one. If I do, I'll post come comparisons.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[boston_ant]

...and I just bought the Note 4 outright from Best Buy so i xan compare both in the wild. Loving the Google Now launcher on the Note already. Im ready to answer any questions.

 

[jdfry15]

I just returned my turbo and got the note 4 on Verizon a few days ago. Had the g3 prior to both of those. I find find the screen amazingly better than the turbo. The turbo was never loud enough for me on calls and just in general. To me the note 4 is much louder. I do like the software better on the turbo, loved the active notifications. So far this is the first device that I've bought recently that I wasn't underwhelmed about and wondering if I should just keep what I had. As my wife says I have a phone problem and have had them all it seems.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[brybelle22]

I got the Nexus 6 yesterday after going back and forth between it and the Note 4 for quite some time. I thought definitely that this was the phone for me, as I've always enjoyed the stock or near stock experience as I've had on previous phones. Now that I've had it for a day, I find myself missing the display models of the Note 4 that I played around with. The almost rubbery texture of the faux leather back, premium looking shiny metal band and s-pen have left me with some serious buyers remorse. I love the Nexus 6 and what Google is all about but I honestly think there is too much "bright white" in the material design and it's not very easy on my eyes. I've already purchased a keyboard and messaging app, (which is so unlike me) just so that I can adjust the colors. The solid white background of the app drawer is a pain to look at, (why not make is transparent?). I just feel like Lollipop should have been full of different colors, (like lollipops ), and the fact that you're stuck with plain white all over which you can not adjust in the settings is disappointing. I guess my point is, if I'm already tweaking Android 5.0, then I'm not really going along with the whole "Nexus" idea and I might be happier with the Note 4.

The OP pretty much asked every question I've been asking myself all night and morning. I was thinking about trying out the Note 4 and running the Google Now Launcher but didn't want to lose the S-Pen functionality, floating windows, and other features that make Samsung appealing. I just don't like the look of Touchwiz so that has been my main deterrent thus far. Hearing someone say that the majority of those features aren't lost with the Google Now Launcher installed is encouraging. Would anyone currently running GNL on the Note 4 want to post any screen shots on their set up so that we can see what it looks like? I'm seriously considering buying the Note 4 from another carrier this week so that I can compare the 2 hands on for 2 weeks and then return one. If I do, I'll post come comparisons.

Posted via the Android Central App

I ended making the switch from my Turbo to the Note 4, and almost two weeks later, I'm happy about my choice. In the last couple of months I've been using the Moto X 2013, Moto 2014, Droid Turbo and Galaxy S3. The S3 was just a temporary phone between phones, but each of those other phones had me doubting my happiness with them as a whole.

I've considered trading the Note 4 for a Nexus 6 but other than Lollipop, the Nexus 6 still has similar issues that caused me to trade in my other phones. In other words, I'm completely happy with my Note 4...now that I've hidden Touchwiz as uch as I can.

First I loaded Google Now Launcher which put Google Now on my left most home screen which doesn't bother me but I wouldn't mind an option to remove this too. The app tray is now translucent with the bigger icons of stock android and the app tray shortcut is now centered (rather than in the lower right with Touchwiz)and minimalistic looking.



I like the minimalist look so I used circle launcher to create "folders" along the right side of my homescreen with only the folder title showing instead of an icon. All the circle launcher folders open as circles in the middle of my homescreen. I also only have one homescreen and the default Google Now screen to its left. I've removed all shortcuts along the bottom of my homescreen so that the only icon is the app tray button.



All of this was done to strip down the Touchwiz look. However, I'm still able to take advantage of all S-pen functions and multiwindow funtions if I want to.



The main Touchwiz look that I couldn't remove was anything having to do with the notifications window. I do like all of the toggle options, but the circle buttons aren't my favorite. Ultimately, these Touchwiz functions are practical and to me are worth it for the hardware accompanying this phone. And it's not like I have to use them if I don't want to.



The camera, the screen resolution (and brightness), expandable memory and accessory choices made this phone the one for me. I still do have lag issues; sometimes I have a silky smooth running phone and sometimes it lags for no apparent reason. As far as I can tell, there is no true escape from Touchwiz lag. In the end, this phone offered the most for me with the least amount of compromises. Hope this info helps in your decision!

 

[Philippe Croze]

Thanks so much for posting this (I made an account just so I could thank you).

I've been stuck between deciding on the Samsung galaxy note 4 and the Nexus
6 for months now and I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to decide. I've been a
bit of a Samsung fanboy for years but have always loved Google's work. When
Samsung released the note 4 I ended up watching the keynote speech along with
every review possible (not a fan of the edge variant). I thought that this was the
device I had to have. That was until Google released the Nexus 6. I loved
everything about it and would even ignore the non removable battery or non-
expandable storage just so I could have the stock android and everything
Google had to offer (I don't know if you can tell but Google is basically my life).

So, when my contract ran out and both these devices were on the top of my
wishlist I didn't know what to do. That was until a friend of mine showed me
the Google now launcher for his S5 and after doing a little research I came
across your images. I am so greatful I can have the stock android experience
on a device I love and without your pictures to preview what is possible I
would still be lost.

I just thought it was worth letting you know your post really helped me out
so thanks a lot!

Sincerely,
Some British (well half) nobody.