New to Android (Galaxy S4) came from Iphone 5...My 2 cents

[Aquila]

In regards to whom it is applicable, let's try to keep this calm and civil. An opinion is an opinion, we're each entitled to them. That's why this is a discussion board.

I consider your opinion about this matter to be invalid!!!!!!

 

[badbrad17]

i came from iphone 4 and really like my galaxy 3. but i am using my iphone to pick up spotify on wireless off my laptop to play on my surround sound. remember back when you had a recordplayer and lp records. Anyway i still receive sms on my simcardless iphone ( fron iphone users obviously ) but dont receive same on my galaxy. How do i overcome this. I have turned of icloud on the iphone. Thanks.
Paul

I believe that your issue is imessage. You get this over wifi not through your mobile network (hence the no sim still working). Go in and disable your imessage account and you should be good.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[badbrad17]

-In regards to Chrome, +1, agreed

-With this Google Voice does this tie straight into my phone service like the AT&T one?

One thing I just love about Chrome is how it remembers my preferences, bookmarks and search results from my Google account. Many times I've visited a website at the office and can only remember the first few letters. As soon as I start typing on my phone, tablet or home computer the site just pops up.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[badbrad17]

I had the same issues with the galaxy s4, I returned it for the htc one that is been eyeing before...it has been night and day difference, no lag, smooth and a better display. No regrets, came from an iPhone 5. Let's face it, iPhone users are a spoiled
Bunch when it comes to a perfect smartphone experience.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

A perfect device, yet here you are using Android? Careful how you explain things. It doesn't make sense. Apple is far from perfect.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[Parafly]

Alrighty, I'll look into that, sounds much more promising than the AT&T one I've got.

Google Voice is great plus you can check your voice mails from the desktop

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Love Divine]

3. None of the browser are even close to Safari, sorry but even chrome on the iPhone is better
4. Unusable pre-installed software, If i don't want it let me remove it...what happened to the "free to do anything"
5. Notifications - really just at the top bar? and why so many icons of the same kind. I really like the on the face here you go iPhone provides.

I could not disagree more on number 3 and 5. Notifications on Android are lightyears ahead of iOS, and the browsers are both more powerful and a much better selection exists. Which ones are you using?

The software CAN be removed (root for some of it). You can disable 99% of the ones you can't uninstall though.

 

[HNNNNNGHHH]

Samsung phones are "laggy" because of the bloated TouchWiz interface. Performance can be improved by using a custom ROM instead, as the latter doesn't have OEM or carrier provided bloatware.

 

[TeritorialDemon]

After reading through all the comments I must say.......you all really love your Samsungs. To put it simply........their is a reason why there are so many different phones and that reason is because everyone has different tastes. The phone that works for you will always be the best phone (for you, not in the world....no phone is best in the world). I don't live on my phone so therefore I don't need the so called "Top End" devices. I'm very happy with my outstanding LG Lucid. It lasts almost 2 days of moderate internet usage, calls, texts, and the occasional playing. I would say that I have the best phone................I do have the best phone, for me.

 

[kilofoxtrot]

one man's gimmick is another man's godsend

 

[garublador]

What is the difference exactly? Dropped frames = lag.
I am not complaining myself. I think the S4 is awesome. I am just saying I can see why iPhone users would turn their noses up at it.

My experience is that many smart phone users don't need valid reason to turn their nose up at phones they don't own.

I'm pretty sure we're in 100% agreement except for some minor semantics. Many people think lag is the same as slower performance. So if a "non laggy" action takes 1 second then a "laggy" action would take 1.5 seconds. The "choppyness" is just a drop in frame rate. So if the action takes 1 second and it's not "choppy" you'd get say 30 frames and a "choppy" action would only get 15. It still only takes 1 second to do the action, it just doesn't look as nice. It's just that these terms aren't used the same way by everyone. I'm not saying there isn't a problem, just that the actual problem isn't always being accurately reported or interpreted becasue of this semantic confusion.

That is to be expected since it's specs are better. The fact that the N4 beat it at all, in any area, is an example of just how big an anchor Touchwiz really is, and why it is a bad thing.

My experience with Android so far is that the camera is the area with the least consistent performance. It could take my camera 1 second or 30 seconds to come up at any time and neither would surprise me. If that performance difference in the video is repeatable then it's definitely an issue, but just one instance isn't enough to convince me. Fortunately I'll be able to check it out for myself tomorrow evening.

I cannot wait to see what the Google version of the S4 looks like when relieved of the Touchwiz pollution. I fully expect the Google S4 to trounce the N4 in all areas, including UI smoothness.

My guess is that the Google S4 will force Samsung to address any choppyness issues they have. This is just speculation, though. It's obviously possible to fix but whether or not they decide to do it is definitely up in the air. I don't have a good enough feel for Samsung to have any faith in my guess on what they will or won't do.

It is something they can probably fix. But who knows if they will. Samsung will fix the stuff people complain about the most first.

It's not a Samsung issue, it's a Google Maps issue. I don't even have my S4 yet but I've been rotating instead of zooming on my Motorola Droid X2 since the day Google introduced that rotate "feature."

 

[LegalAmerican]

You should have tried the HTC One...
Much less laggy! I own some iProducts and I would put its smoothness in the same ballpark...
No gimmicks ui. That was a big reason for me to choose the One over the GS4. I knew I wouldn't like the hover options so why get the phone given that's one of their big features. I had a Nexus device before this and I don't miss vanilla android at all! Sense 5 is beautifully simplistic!...
Build quality like an iProduct!

Posted via Android Central App

A lot of people say that fans of Samsung are like "iSheep" but every reason to pick the HTC One is along the exact same lines of why I hear Apple fans stick to iPhone. I'm not bashing anyone, or their device, but it's just funny how fingers get pointed at everyone else and it's so easy to ignore what you are doing/saying.

If I wanted a device that was identical to the iPhone in every single way, i'd just go with the iPhone. If you refuse to buy a phone because it has features you wont need or use, it sounds like Android isn't really your thing. Cause that's what the Google ecosystem is all about. Why do we hate options suddenly? We're offended that Samsung put features into their phone that we may or may not use? It appears the Android world is changing. People WANT iPhones, but our Android pride wont let us admit it so we just criticize manufacturers who make devices that aren't iPhones. We want the iPhone experience without having to tell people we own an iPhone. I had no idea Apple was winning. I honestly thought Android was changing the thought process but ever since the HTC One was announced, i've had my eyes opened.

I completely get not wanting the S4 for plastic feel, Amoled screen, shape, size, appearing like the S3......but complaining about options when that's what Android IS? Crazy.

 

[JeffDenver]

I'm pretty sure we're in 100% agreement except for some minor semantics. Many people think lag is the same as slower performance. So if a "non laggy" action takes 1 second then a "laggy" action would take 1.5 seconds. The "choppyness" is just a drop in frame rate. So if the action takes 1 second and it's not "choppy" you'd get say 30 frames and a "choppy" action would only get 15. It still only takes 1 second to do the action, it just doesn't look as nice.

To most people, that will = lag. When you say "lag" they will take that to mean less-than-smooth animation. Whether or not the actual time to transition is the same. Dropped frames are still lag.

My guess is that the Google S4 will force Samsung to address any choppyness issues they have.

It may not be something they can fix. It might be that Touchwiz simply takes up too many resources to retain that smooth animation.

It's not a Samsung issue, it's a Google Maps issue.

It most definitely is NOT a Maps issue. We know this because it is already smooth on the nexus phone. The video demonstrates that, and it has been my experience as well. This is a UI issue, not a maps issue. If it was Maps we would see it on all Android phones, and we don't.

 

[garublador]

To most people, that will = lag. When you say "lag" they will take that to mean less-than-smooth animation. Whether or not the actual time to transition is the same. Dropped frames are still lag.

Most gamers, maybe. But I don't think that "regular folk" who come here looking for advice will equate lag with frame rate. The proof is in pretty much every thread about the issue.

It most definitely is NOT a Maps issue. We know this because it is already smooth on the nexus phone. The video demonstrates that, and it has been my experience as well. This is a UI issue, not a maps issue. If it was Maps we would see it on all Android phones, and we don't.

You've lost sight of what we're talking about in this part of the conversation. I'm referring to Maps rotating rather than zooming if you don't pinch it just right. It happens on the Nexus in the video.

 

[LegalAmerican]

We always tend to blame something for not doing what we like on a different phone. If you hate TouchWiz, don't buy Samsung. If you expected Android to be the same experience as iOS, you've discovered it isn't and you prefer iOS. Why do we feel like everything has to be the same and then pretend like we want choices and selection? If you're 100% satisfied with what you have, why experiment and get something else? If you do want to experiment with something else, don't expect it to be identical to your previous model and experience and then complain when it's different.

 

[JeffDenver]

Most gamers, maybe. But I don't think that "regular folk" who come here looking for advice will equate lag with frame rate.

IMO they will consider it the same because they can't tell the differece. Choppy frame rate is the same thing as "slow" to them. As a tech nerd I understand what you mean. But I don't think they will.

 

[JeffDenver]

We always tend to blame something for not doing what we like on a different phone. If you hate TouchWiz, don't buy Samsung. If you expected Android to be the same experience as iOS, you've discovered it isn't and you prefer iOS. Why do we feel like everything has to be the same and then pretend like we want choices and selection? If you're 100% satisfied with what you have, why experiment and get something else?

Because maybe I did not know it could be better when I bought it? I thought the Droid 1 was awesome when it first came out. I thought it did everything I wanted. In 2013? Not so much.

IMO, that is the point of discussion forums like this. You get feedback and opinions that might affect what you think you will need in a device you will purchase or someone you know might purchase. Both fanboy and hater opinions do matter, and they have helped me personally in the past.

If you do want to experiment with something else, don't expect it to be identical to your previous model and experience and then complain when it's different.

It can be different and better instead of different and worse. Even Google agrees...that was the whole point of project butter. People complained about the frate rate in the UI and google is fixing it.

 

[LegalAmerican]

Because maybe I did not know it could be better when I bought it? I thought the Droid 1 was awesome when it first came out. I thought it did everything I wanted. In 2013? Not so much.

IMO, that is the point of discussion forums like this. You get feedback and opinions that might affect what you think you will need in a device you will purchase or someone you know might purchase. Both fanboy and hater opinions do matter, and they have helped me personally in the past.


It can be different and better instead of different and worse. Even Google agrees...that was the whole point of project butter. People complained about the frate rate in the UI and google is fixing it.

I agree that's what forums like these are for. And I wasn't speaking directly at you or anyone in particular with my post. My generic point, is that as humans we think the grass is always greener on the other side. But then we get there, and we can't stop looking back at what we had and thinking it was way better. If TouchWiz is as bad as everyone says, you'd realize that within your two week return period, return it, and everyone's happy. But I don't think it REALLY is that bad (my opinion). I think it's got it's pro's and con's like everything else. And the OG Droid WAS awesome when you bought it. Technology progresses quickly and that's how it should be. Clearly i'm not talking about that in the context you think I am. I am referring to someone going from one device they like to a comparable device that's different, and expecting it to be the same experience and being frustrated when it isn't.

I think it's pretty obvious that different and better would be preferrable over different and worse. And of course Google agrees, which is why they made Android in the first place. To be different and better than any alternatives.

 

[JeffDenver]

I agree that's what forums like these are for. And I wasn't speaking directly at you or anyone in particular with my post. My generic point, is that as humans we think the grass is always greener on the other side. But then we get there, and we can't stop looking back at what we had and thinking it was way better. If TouchWiz is as bad as everyone says, you'd realize that within your two week return period, return it, and everyone's happy. But I don't think it REALLY is that bad (my opinion).

I agree. It's really not. Even as Vendor skins go, Touchwiz is not the worst (that award goes to Sense).

What pisses people off about the skins is that we (the users) do not get the option to uninstall them. It is the lack of choice that is annoying.

 

[Aquila]

I agree. It's really not. Even as Vendor skins go, Touchwiz is not the worst (that award goes to Sense).

What pisses people off about the skins is that we (the users) do not get the option to uninstall them. It is the lack of choice that is annoying.

That's 100% the best benefit of the S4 Google Edition, in my opinion. If that were to sell well and Samsung were to realize there was a market for it, they would have incentive to develop some of their Samsung features as Apps that can work on stock OR TouchWiz and thus still provide those features as a selling point to Samsung customers. That would allow them to recreate TouchWiz as more of a launcher (logical next step if they want efficiency), which would allow them to once again create one device and provide the choice to the consumer as to how they interact with it.

 

[return_0]

I agree. It's really not. Even as Vendor skins go, Touchwiz is not the worst (that award goes to Sense).

Have you seen Sense 5?

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