Can't create direct dial or direct message widgets

[minnesotasutherland]

Hello, all of a sudden I can't create a direct call, direct message or even a direct contact widget. I know the procedure. I've done it many times. I have a Galaxy S5, Marshmallow. I know the drill - pinch to get to widgets, open the contact widget, drag one of the three widgets, whichever I have chosen, to a blank place on the home screen - or even a blank screen. It automatically opens to contacts. Choose a contact and when you've chosen the contact it appears as a 1x1 icon on your screen. But it doesn't. It gets as far as choosing a contact. I choose a contact and it goes back to the screen and the new contact widget - whether it's contact, direct dial or direct message, is not on the screen.

My device is not rooted, I use the stock TouchWiz. This started a couple of weeks ago and the only app I've loaded in the last two weeks is Canon Print. Also rebooted to recovery screen and wiped cache partition.

Any ideas? Verizon has no clue - not even their "technical support" folks. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Does it work in Safe Mode? https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de...galaxy-s-5-g900t/safe-mode-samsung-galaxy-s-5

Also, it may be worth testing it on a 3rd party launcher like Nova, to see if the problem lies with the launcher or with the widget itself (or the Contacts app).

 

[minnesotasutherland]

Yes it does it in safe mode. Just tried it. I meant - no it still doesn't work.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok, then test a 3rd party launcher. I'm wondering if this is a symptom of some of your system APIs finally getting too outdated for certain things to function correctly.

 

[minnesotasutherland]

Well and another weird thing - I have a weather widget that's 4x2 that has always been at the top of my screen on the first page. Safe mode deleted it and I can't get it back at 4x2. The widget choices are 1x1 (that works) 2x1 (that works) 4x1 (that works) and 4x2 (only one that does not work. Could something be stopping these? What is the simplest 3rd party launcher I can try that is the most like Touchwiz?

 

[B. Diddy]

Which weather app/widget are you using? I recently noticed something like that with Transparent Clock & Weather, where a recent update reformatted some of the widgets in a way that's not as nice on the screen.

I'm not familiar with any 3rd party launchers that are similar to TouchWiz -- there are plenty out there, but I just don't know how good they are. I always recommend Nova Launcher, which is highly customizable, but it doesn't really look like TouchWiz.

 

[minnesotasutherland]

The weather app I use and have used for maybe 10 years - at least since KitKat - is no longer available. It's called Fancy Widgets and it's a great looking weather, clock, date 4x2 screen, which I've made almost transparent. I'll try Nova and see if I find it acceptable. Thanks. I'll let you know.

 

[minnesotasutherland]

I downloaded Nova Launcher and while my apps including the weather and direct message and direct contact do work I see I'm going to have to buy the pro version to get everything to look as I'd like. I guess there are two (probably 3) kinds of phone users - one like me who gets everything the way they want it then keeps it forever, one who wants to always try the newest thing and never stops fiddling and 3 the ones who don't care one way or another. When I updated from KitKat to Lollipop directly to Marshmallow I was dismayed at the shape of the icons. Of course now I can't see them any other way. Thank you for the suggestions - I guess Nova is the way I'll have to go to get everything back the way I wanted it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yeah sorry, it's pretty common for the UI to change over time, without any easy options to retain the old look. I think Nova Prime is definitely worth the small price, both for the added features to an already excellent app as well as to support the developer!

 

[mustang7757]

Also for the stock launcher , if you go to apps list look for touch wiz launcher tap and clear its data, force stop it and see if everything works again, it will reset your homepages .

 

[minnesotasutherland]

Tried that - didn't work. And there are several 3rd party sites that have the TouchWiz app, but none of them seem to be the version I have which i guess came with the phone with KitKat TouchWiz 1.5.8. I would reinstall that but I don't want to destroy what I have. It's just me, I just really like TouchWiz. I'm just not crazy about Nova. Trouble with these other launchers is they're too fancy. I want something basic like TouchWiz. And TouchWiz doesn't have ads or app purchases - I just can't seem to find it even on my phone. I find a TouchWiz folder but it's empty. So obviously it's part of a larger thing. And I don't want to have to do a total reset. I think I'm stumped. Thank you for the suggestions - if you think of anything else, please post.

 

[mustang7757]

Tried that - didn't work. And there are several 3rd party sites that have the TouchWiz app, but none of them seem to be the version I have which i guess came with the phone with KitKat TouchWiz 1.5.8. I would reinstall that but I don't want to destroy what I have. It's just me, I just really like TouchWiz. I'm just not crazy about Nova. Trouble with these other launchers is they're too fancy. I want something basic like TouchWiz. And TouchWiz doesn't have ads or app purchases - I just can't seem to find it even on my phone. I find a TouchWiz folder but it's empty. So obviously it's part of a larger thing. And I don't want to have to do a total reset. I think I'm stumped. Thank you for the suggestions - if you think of anything else, please post.

Take a look at this one , supposedly like the stock one, other then factory reset not sure what else to suggest. Just so your aware being on KitKat which 7 andriod version from current and that is long time in phone world , lot of things will not be compatible like apps, applications, security. Also the device age going have hardware issues and plenty other issues will arise longer you use it .

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galaxy.s.launcher

 

[minnesotasutherland]

No, that phone started out as KitKat - it's now at Marshmallow 6.01. The problem is phones are getting bigger and bigger and as it is this barely fits in a phone pocket. It's a woman thing. Thank you for the link. Actually, the phone is only 6 months old. My original S5 developed a problem with the charger port so I bought a brand new, never used S5 off ebay. I think the build it in was Lollipop so I updated to Marshmallow. So the hardware itself is very new. If it was easy to replace the charger port on my other S5 I'd do it in a flash but I know it isn't.

 

[mustang7757]

No, that phone started out as KitKat - it's now at Marshmallow 6.01. The problem is phones are getting bigger and bigger and as it is this barely fits in a phone pocket. It's a woman thing. Thank you for the link. Actually, the phone is only 6 months old. My original S5 developed a problem with the charger port so I bought a brand new, never used S5 off ebay. I think the build it in was Lollipop so I updated to Marshmallow. So the hardware itself is very new. If it was easy to replace the charger port on my other S5 I'd do it in a flash but I know it isn't.

Your welcome!

Look into pixel 4a5g or 5 , even s20 smaller version .

 

[minnesotasutherland]

Someone at Verizon also told me about a GalaxyE or Samsung E. If this phone goes, I'll get a new one. My husband's is still (knock on wood) going strong.

 

[mustang7757]

Gotcha , sounds good !