My first two weeks

[vaterp]

Hi all,

I thought i'd share my observations of 2 weeks with the phone: If anyone knows any tips to help with the problems - that'd be great... otherwise, i dunno, i hope someone from ATT/SAMSUNG reads this and cares

For reference, right before this phone i had an LG optimus G Pro. So of my expectations (UI) might be based on that.

UI Annoyances:
* When the screen is unlocked (or wasn't locked to begin with) i hate that it requires an extra swipe to get to home-screen. Why oh why, cant they just go straight to home-screen after unlock? I find this really annoying.
** I've figured out i can pin an app so like in my car, i can pin a music player for quick screen on, adjust, screen off access but then i have no other functions in the car. Basically im suggesting if unlocked, powering on, goes straight to last screen/app without needing to pin it.
* Similar on lock screen, why can't i swipe a notification to go straight to that app?? What a waste to have that information there and no quick way to jump to it
* I dislike/hate the waste of space that the wifi connected message takes up, especially since in small light blue, it tells you what your connected too in the quick toggles. I mean that information isn't that useful, but show it twice and waste all that space is just bad UI design.
* Maybe I've just missed this one, but does the clock have an early dismiss feature before an alarm goes off? If not ill have to install a new clock app.
* I cant figure out how to configure notification light colors for say GMAIL vs. MESSAGES. It seems like all notifications are blue, except charging/charged...
* Similarly how can i set a different color for notification from specific people? And on the topic of specific people, i have figured out how to make certain apps priority, but i cant find how to make people? IE: I might want a phone call from a certain person ring during DND timeframe, but not all calls...

SW/HW Problems:
* It seems like with smart lock on for GPS, sometimes i wake up in the morning and i still have to put in my pin, that's quite annoying.
* I get daily app crashes, usually for stuff i don't even use or care about, but its there. Like the preloaded amazon app crashes all the time -- i never use it (I've since disabled it) but really, preloaded apps shouldn't be crashing. BTW, whats a good list of all the preloaded SPAM that's safe to disable?
* I cant get any 3rd party apps to utilize the notification light. I have a chess program i like, but i never realize its my turn to move (if i miss the sound) because the light never does anything to alert me.
* I notice often, when i would subjectively not be using it that much, that when its in my pocket the screen feels very warm to hot.
* Now the worst problem I've noticed though is fairly frequent stutters and slowdowns. Sometimes it takes a few seconds just to show me the home-screen or switch apps.... I haven't figured out what triggers these "pauses" it happens a few times a day, but not all the time... i don't know if its the launcher (TW) or the HW or android... but i find it very annoying that such pauses happen on such a modern/new flagship.


Now in all fairness, the PROS:
* The screen is amazing (you all know that). (I actually wish it could get dimmer late at night on auto, but ive learned to turn auto off and it gets dim enough for me at night).
* The battery is FANTASTIC. Now ive turned off all the smart gestures but man am i impressed!!
* When not stuttering/pausing, its very fluid. (This makes me think its SW stumbles, not HW stumbles causing the issue above).
* I overall enjoy the experience and would recommend this phone to anyone on ATT, most of my gripes are just UI annoyances, if those were fixed (or options offered) it would be damn close to perfect.


NOTE: I haven't actually put it under water even though i was at beach for first week of ownership - to many problems reported with USB port - i like the protection it says it offers, but im too nervous to actually purposefully try it.

Thanks all!

 

[Golfdriver97]

install a new clock app

Google has one that you can dismiss from the notification shade.

I might want a phone call from a certain person ring during DND timeframe

Been a while since I used Samsung, but on Vanilla and the G4 if you mark the star at the top of the contact in the contacts app, that will allow them to override the DND settings.

still have to put in my pin, that's quite annoying

Tasker should have a way around that. You can set Tasker up so that when you are connected to your home wifi, your PIN is disabled. You will need a second app called Secure Settings.

 

[vaterp]

Tasker should have a way around that. You can set Tasker up so that when you are connected to your home wifi, your PIN is disabled. You will need a second app called Secure Settings.

Actually i dont think that works in Lollipop at all. I used to have an app that did for me on my G pro. Lollipop seems to have removed that API and i can use smart lock so it doesnt lock at home, but sometimes it still pops up... just doesnt seem 100% mature.

 

[gizak]

I agree with a lot of your points, especially the slowdowns... pretty unacceptable for the power this phone is capable of. Here's my take on a few of your points:

Lockscreen -
This is annoying, but I do appreciate the extra swipe, but only if my phone turns on in my pocket accidently... now i'm not pocket dialing or dragging/opening icons all over the place. As for the notifications, you can click on one to highlight, then swipe the blank area and it will jump to that app... ALTHOUGH I get major lag using this method. This is a major gripe for me as it tends to be slower then just swiping to unlock, pulling down notification drawer, and then tapping the notifcation.

Notification LED -
It's been a while since I used it, but you can check out Lightflow for custom/advanced LED control. Test the free version first though - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlite&hl=en

Clock/Alarm -
Skip the stock clock app and go with Timely from Google. It's free, has a wonderful UI, and works very well. It also features a sync ability so you can have multiple android devices go off (say if your phone dies/freezes, your tablet can still wake you up). And if you hit snooze/stop on one, it will do it on all devices.

Smartlock -
I believe the auto-locking is an android thing... I use Smartlock with my Pebble smartwatch acting as a secure bluetooth device. I recall that if you don't touch your phone for a few hours (4?) it will automatically re-lock your phone for security purposes. Unlock it once in the morning, and it goes back to being lock free...just still have to swipe past lockscreen.


I really hope they push a solid 5.1.1+ update that clears up the lag. I find myself hitting the mutli-task button and then the "Close All' button more times then I'd like to.

 

[vaterp]

Lockscreen -
This is annoying, but I do appreciate the extra swipe, but only if my phone turns on in my pocket accidently... now i'm not pocket dialing or dragging/opening icons all over the place. As for the notifications, you can click on one to highlight, then swipe the blank area and it will jump to that app... ALTHOUGH I get major lag using this method. This is a major gripe for me as it tends to be slower then just swiping to unlock, pulling down notification drawer, and then tapping the notifcation.

I can see how that might help with pocket dialing... thats a valid and good counterpoint. Still wish i had the option to avoid that extra swiping, the 1000 times a day i open this, really adds up in time wasting. I'd rather set activity to not while locked, then do the extra swipe all the time... but that is a valid point.

I didnt realize you can select it, and then swipe,,, thanks for the TIP!! Still find that a needlessly poor UI, should just be able to swipe it one direction to open immediatly/directly.... select, move, swipe, wait is a bad process for such a common action.

Notification LED -
It's been a while since I used it, but you can check out Lightflow for custom/advanced LED control. Test the free version first though - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlite&hl=en

I tried a few of these apps and never got a single one to do anything. I cant remember which ones i tried specifically, but after 3 of them, i just assumed something about S6 doesnt allow these to work... ill give this one a shot and see what happens... im not holding my breath though .

Clock/Alarm -
Skip the stock clock app and go with Timely from Google. It's free, has a wonderful UI, and works very well. It also features a sync ability so you can have multiple android devices go off (say if your phone dies/freezes, your tablet can still wake you up). And if you hit snooze/stop on one, it will do it on all devices.

Ill check it out, i thougth stock clock had this feature... what a waste of energy and effort for a company to change something and make it worse then what everyone could have had by default (samsung is by no means the only culprit of this). That feature is just so useful now... ive used timely before and will again.... the minimilist in me, wanted to not need another app though, ah welz....

Smartlock -
I believe the auto-locking is an android thing... I use Smartlock with my Pebble smartwatch acting as a secure bluetooth device. I recall that if you don't touch your phone for a few hours (4?) it will automatically re-lock your phone for security purposes. Unlock it once in the morning, and it goes back to being lock free...just still have to swipe past lockscreen.

Fair enough, at least that explains it. Be nice to be able to configure the 'timeout' but at least that makes sense.

I really hope they push a solid 5.1.1+ update that clears up the lag. I find myself hitting the mutli-task button and then the "Close All' button more times then I'd like to.

AMEN. Everything but the lag can be chalked up to preferences and opinions, and while i wish there were more config options around those issues - its just the lag/pausing issue that really hurts my enjoyment of the device.

Cheers - and thanks for the reply!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Actually i dont think that works in Lollipop at all. I used to have an app that did for me on my G pro. Lollipop seems to have removed that API and i can use smart lock so it doesnt lock at home, but sometimes it still pops up... just doesnt seem 100% mature.

It does. I have it running on my G4, my Zenfone 2, and I can test to see if it still will work on the 2nd M preview on my Nexus 5.
The G4 setup has a couple quirks, but not really a big deal. Smart lock seemed to not work more often on the Nex5.

From my G4
Android Central Ambassador Team Leader

 

[MDMcAtee]

I'm on AT&T as well and I am puzzled by some of your issues.

I can have 20 or more things open and have no lag on mine,none.

Mine doesn't have the various colors for the led notifications on stock , so if you are wanting this there download led color tester and light manager from the play store one to test your led and the other to control them for your various apps.

I don't use stock launchers, not on any phone I have, I use Nova Prime. I can set up my screens how I want them,control the dock/docks, transition effects, and damn near everything on the phone,including being able to assign my activity button to bypass the lock screen and open the home screen.

You also will want Tesla unread to go along with this for all your notifications.

The rest of your irks can be eliminated with some tweaking or even a factory reset if really needed for any of this lag your upset abou,however what it won't do is change your preferences for the various ui's available on different phones. You can get close though.

Personally out of all of the different Samsung phones I have owned and all of the rest including those that I have had rooted and ran custom roms on this phone is the best device to date for being lag free and fluid. It's worth taking the time to be in control of, instead of relying on a stock launcher that doesn't work like you want it to. Until we have full root and custom roms for it that has the look you want with the features you prefer Nova is your best alternative.

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

 

[gizak]

I too use Nova Prime, but unfortunately that did not clear up the lag. I also turned off most bonus touchwiz features, as well as disabled any bloatware I don't use. Still have lag maybe 15% of the time. I'm a power user though, and have lots of apps, including home automation apps, tasker automation, and many accounts that sync (5 separate email accounts, 6 different chat clients, and all that social media mumbo jumbo). Despite this, I would expect the specs of the S6 hardware to power through it. I have a G3 as well, and while a side by side test shows the S6 Active launching and loading things slightly faster, the G3 continues to move along smoothly without as much stuttering. Both are setup very similarly - Nova Launcher Prime, stock rom, non-rooted.

There is definitely some sort of memory issue lingering on the GS6 varients and this video proves how the GS6 is handling it with aggressive memory management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5mRrAkCiV8

Despite that, I'm still holding out for a software fix, as the beautiful screen, awesome camera, long battery life, waterproofness, and wireless charging keep me holding onto this phone in the meantime....

 

[MDMcAtee]

Personally I wouldn't ask a smartphone to do what a great tablet or notebook could do if you are wanting that much stuff running all the time. While your expectations are greater than mine of course as well as your needs, I feel that you are expecting more than the limitations of the phone can provide even with software updates. With the memory leaks Android always have had ,I don't see this changing anytime soon, and by then the s8 Active will probably be out.

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

 

[gizak]

Personally I wouldn't ask a smartphone to do what a great tablet or notebook could do if you are wanting that much stuff running all the time. While your expectations are greater than mine of course as well as your needs, I feel that you are expecting more than the limitations of the phone can provide even with software updates. With the memory leaks Android always have had ,I don't see this changing anytime soon, and by then the s8 Active will probably be out.

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

I only expect it because other phones seem to handle my multi-sync, multi-tasking needs fine. I still like the phone, it just needs software fixes to be considered the most powerful phone on the 'current' market.

 

[MDMcAtee]

I only expect it because other phones seem to handle my multi-sync, multi-tasking needs fine. I still like the phone, it just needs software fixes to be considered the most powerful phone on the 'current' market.

Well good luck waiting on Samsung to really do anything for it,and for AT&T to release it. That's always been the issue with most non Nexus devices for the power users like yourself.....

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

 

[vaterp]

I just downloaded the LED tester app, and found out it has full color range (at least 16 or so distinct colors) That's good news!


Does it seem odd to anyone else that these phones have all those options but you need a 3rd party app to actually use any of it?

Like why wouldn't one be able to set a LED color for a message from a particular person or app by default? Seems like the kinda thing samsung should be offering by default.... but i guess its just me.

 

[MDMcAtee]

I just downloaded the LED tester app, and found out it has full color range (at least 16 or so distinct colors) That's good news!


Does it seem odd to anyone else that these phones have all those options but you need a 3rd party app to actually use any of it?

Like why wouldn't one be able to set a LED color for a message from a particular person or app by default? Seems like the kinda thing samsung should be offering by default.... but i guess its just me.

It could be a AT&T requirement, since they are the ones who get to say what is on the phone from Samsung.

It's a pain, but they have a lot pull, just like not having the extra internal memory available.

Posted from my Samsung S6 Active

 

[vaterp]

Just noticed another sw quirk,maybe someone knows how to fix....

I can't seem to edit calendar events synchd via exchange. I can view it, share it, and delete it,but it won't let me edit it .

Anyone dealt with this before?

Thx