Can I change how Samsung's cut/copy/paste/select text works?

[jasonandc]

Is there a reliable software add-on that would let me change how Samsung's cut/copy/paste/select of text works?

I've never owned Android, but I'm going to buy either the HTC EVO 4G LTE or Galaxy S III (both Sprint).

I'm reading the reviews, playing with the phones, etc. The ease of editing/re-organizing text matters to me. I will have lengthy notes & lists that I'll want to be able to edit easily.

Cut/copy/paste/select on the Samsung seems bare bones, clumsy, and finicky. You can't even see what you're doing because your finger is covering some of the highlighting and user interface elements.

On the HTC (with HTC's Sense), it's better. There's a pop-up text magnifier.

This reason alone may make me decide on HTC. But if I know there's software that lets me change how the interface works, then I could consider a Samsung phone.

 

[sledge007]

Is there a reliable software add-on that would let me change how Samsung's cut/copy/paste/select of text works?

I've never owned Android, but I'm going to buy either the HTC EVO 4G LTE or Galaxy S III (both Sprint).

I'm reading the reviews, playing with the phones, etc. The ease of editing/re-organizing text matters to me. I will have lengthy notes & lists that I'll want to be able to edit easily.

Cut/copy/paste/select on the Samsung seems bare bones, clumsy, and finicky. You can't even see what you're doing because your finger is covering some of the highlighting and user interface elements.

On the HTC (with HTC's Sense), it's better. There's a pop-up text magnifier.

This reason alone may make me decide on HTC. But if I know there's software that lets me change how the interface works, then I could consider a Samsung phone.

Press and hold on one word, it gets highlighted and there are two blue tabs that pop up. You move the tabs around to what you want to copy, then press the "page on top of page" icon to copy or the "4 squares in a square" icon to copy all. It seems to work for me, and I can manage to see exactly what I'm selecting. Just try it out a few more times. I'll agree the icons aren't very clear as to what they do, it took me a little bit of reading around to get it figured out.

 

[jasonandc]

I did it several times at the phone store. But as you're dragging the blue tab around, your finger itself is on top of the line (or lines) you're dragging your finger over. So it's hard to see what you're doing, because you can't easily see where you are in the text. I guess this depends partly on the size of the text, the size of your finger, and whether you're doing multiple lines of text or not. It just seemed way clumsier than HTC's pop-up text magnifier. Which I gather is how the iPhone does it as well (with a magnifier). It seems Apple and HTC have found some elegance to their solution, while Samsung leaves us with a mostly default pure Android method.

 

[sledge007]

I've never felt the need to go looking for an alternative, but you made me look.....there are 2,005 apps out there for copy and paste.....Look for Magnify Keyboard Input...$0.99 seems to be what you're looking for.

 

[jasonandc]

Thanks for looking. I did a quick search, but didn't find that app.

I want to try to find someone who's actually used it. This has only 2 ratings, and it's not rated well. I want to know how well it works across the entire device/interface.

I have since found a number of threads of people looking for exactly what I'm looking for...a better way to edit text/position cursor (they're often looking for iPhone-like function). Though none of them seemed to find any solutions.

I want to be able to consider both phones on their merits. But I'm still leaning towards HTC. A built-in low-level interface improvement seems more likely to work better than an app add-on.

 

[sledge007]

You're probably right...find what works best for you, with the least amount of third party extensions/addons etc and go with that (good thing for lots of variety). If it weren't for all the publicity with the Apple/Samsung lawsuit, I might not have even gone with the SGS3, but it certainly sparked my interest....I read a few reviews on it, and when I found a deal where all I had to do was resign my contract, $0 down...I jumped in and haven't looked back.

 

[worwig]

I miss that feature on the HTC devices. It is a pain to select text on the SIII.
But for me, in the end, the battery life is so much better on the SIII and that wins.