No aosp roms on the s4.

[yfan]

1)Samsung is not going to stop using android especially when it is now becoming very influential on Google. Samsung consists of over 40% of android sales. this puts them in a position to force leverage on google and increase their revenue. Changing to tizen and letting that opportunity go would be like eating the Golden Goose, they will ride this wave until they either drain google or a better OS comes along.

2) There will be AOSP roms for GS4. A developer will come along and see the gap that Cyanogen mod has left and will fill it , if not for the fame then for the donations, either way a top tier device is not going to go without development. Its silly to think otherwise.

3)I don't understand why someone would want an AOSP rom on a Galaxy Note 2 or a GS4 device, totally criples the device. For all the Smack talked about touchwiz there are some features that i wouldnt want to do without. I had a Gnex and i wouldnt go back from my Note 2. And this is not my Fanboism talking since Gnex was a Samsung product.

1) Then why is Samsung one of the primary sponsors of Tizen? Samsung may today have 40% of Android sales, but the Android market (really, the non-iPhone market) is much more flexible and much less brand loyal. Samsung is going for a type of brand loyalty that Apple has mastered. It will never have that, and the farther it forces it, the more other makers will come in and fill the void of what people need and want, not what a manufacturer tells them they want.

2) Yes, there'll be AOSP ROMs for the GS4. But I doubt they'd be any good - or anywhere close to what other, better supported devices will get.

3) Valid point. If someone wants the GS4, it's reasonable that they want some of the bells and whistles. But it remains to be seen if the bells and whistles will eventually slow your device down, as Touchwiz's code is less optimized and the user starts filling up their phone with apps. Stock devices handle this much better than Sense, TouchWiz, etc.

 

[dave12285]

Buying a non-Nexus with the sole (or at least a high probability) purpose of putting an AOSP ROM on it is, to me, ludicrous. If you want stock Android that bad then a Nexus it shall be. The experience will be BETTER than any other phone with a (honestly) hacked AOSP-based ROM put on it.

Why people say "oh man I love the [insert name of phone here]" and then completely change the experience is beyond me. Either hardware matters enough to keep less than ideal software on it, or software matters enough to sacrifice on the hardware side. And really, the hardware of the N4 was top shelf when it was released, and has only been surpassed recently.

If you buy a phone with Sense/Touchwiz/Blur/etc on it, then strip all that away, you're losing many of the reasons that made you want the phone in the first place. Unless, like I said, you're willing to make some major sacrifices on the software side. I know from experience, for example, that the camera experience on the One X with an AOSP-based ROM isn't anywhere near as good as with a Sense ROM. I've heard the same about Touchwiz and the S3. Makes sense, since the proprietary licensed part of the processing algorithms can't be used.

I totally agree with this however I, like many others, are not willing to switch carriers or buy an "old" phone to run AOSP roms on. I don't plan on switching from Sprint anytime soon and they don't have the Nexus 4 available for purchase. So, we all just buy the latest and greatest new smartphones with hope that some AOSP roms will play nice with our fancy new device. Obviously that's not always the case. I don't find it to be "ludicrous" in the least bit. Although I love open source roms, i'm not willing to spend nearly double a month to enjoy them. There are tons of people in the same boat.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I have a Nexus 10 (and have owned other Nexus devices in the past) and love running pure Android, but count me in as someone who doesn't necessary mind OEM UI's if I buy a phone from Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc. I'm certainly not about to strip away features to run (what generally tends to be) a buggy AOSP ROM. As a Verizon customer, yes, I probably would go Nexus if I could, but I currently own a GS3 and love it. I'm still rooted, running a great TW-based ROM, and it's fast, slick and get's great battery life...plus everything on it works just as it is advertised to on the device.

People talk about how AOSP is faster, leaner, has no bloatware, etc., and that may be true to a point, even more so in past generations of phones, but honestly, today's high-end devices actually do have the processing power and RAM to handle what is thrown at them. I even run Nova launcher over top of Touchwiz on my GS3, and never notice any lag whatsoever. Why would I really want to move to AOSP when I have a device that performs so well and still has all of the added features of Galaxy line of phones? If it's strictly performance related, I just don't see the pros out-weighing the cons...

For me, the happy compromise is to keep my ROM stock and use Nova (or any custom launcher) to achieve the aesthetic look I desire. Of course I don't believe there's any right or wrong answer here -- what other folks want to do to their phones is none of my business anyway -- Just my 2?

 

[sooner7]

Even if there are no AOSP Roms, there WILL BE aosp themed TW roms with bloat removed. Best of both worlds.

 

[Podunks]

He said in his post that it is used in places with no reception.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

That does not mean that at the end of the day when he is on his way home, he wont want to make a phone call with one device, rather than keeping track of two different device...

 

[Jaimeg123prmt]

1)Samsung is not going to stop using android especially when it is now becoming very influential on Google. Samsung consists of over 40% of android sales. this puts them in a position to force leverage on google and increase their revenue. Changing to tizen and letting that opportunity go would be like eating the Golden Goose, they will ride this wave until they either drain google or a better OS comes along.

2) There will be AOSP roms for GS4. A developer will come along and see the gap that Cyanogen mod has left and will fill it , if not for the fame then for the donations, either way a top tier device is not going to go without development. Its silly to think otherwise.

3)I don't understand why someone would want an AOSP rom on a Galaxy Note 2 or a GS4 device, totally criples the device. For all the Smack talked about touchwiz there are some features that i wouldnt want to do without. I had a Gnex and i wouldnt go back from my Note 2. And this is not my Fanboism talking since Gnex was a Samsung product.

I totally agree with this.

 

[BK Phil1]

Just curious, if you use your phone exclusively in zero connectivity zones, that must mean that you don't have phone reception there either. Then why have a phone at all? Why not just get an mp3 player for a much cheaper price and just get a feature phone - it would certainly lower your bill.

Let me clarify. 22 hours a day I am in connected areas, and need a phone that show my calendar, do navigation, check email, tell me movie times, transportation schedules, etc. And possibly play some music. The other two hours I am underground, and spend 100% of my time listening to music and watching video. Neither of those scenarios are negotiable - whatever I carry has to do both to my satisfaction.

And as I'm sure you already suspected - I'm not really interested in carrying, charging, maintaining, etc two separate devices. That's the beauty of smartphones - they can do everything. Including have a card slot - in fact other markets get them. And the amazing thing is, they don't bite. Anyone who does not need one can ignore them. But strangely, people who don't need them seem militantly opposed to them.

Takes more space, costs more money, right? Negligible. I don't use NFC or bluetooth, but I'm not jumping down the throat of people who do, just because my precious device will be 1 micron thicker of .07 oz heavier or $2.43 more expensive. Our phones are packed to the gills with features, all of which have a cost, and we all use or ignore them depending on our requirements.

 

[Chawkins]

I always here people say that if you go to a AOSP rom, like a Google Play edition or a Custom Rom, your missing out on all the features. I'm not sure where they come up with that assumption. the features that Vanilla android don't have are the ones that don't work consistantly, they're buggy, and slow the overall performance of the phone down. When comparing the performance of the phone, touchwiz is no match. Google android is easier to navigate in, smoother, way more real customizations, not gimmickry functions. So I can't swipe to the right or left to text or call, google just made it easier, just push the damn button and you get the option to do the same thing, without all the bloat and taxing UI of Touchwiz! Been on Vanilla Android for 2 yrs now and would never be a slave to all the gimmicks of touchwix. if you choose to, then don't pis# and moan about the lag and locking up and all the other complaints you hear about.

 

[graysonk95]

That doesn't make any sense. Worth is a subjective term. Maybe you can start by telling us what makes phone worth buying for you.

Not the op, but personally, the only thing keeping me away from a Nexus phone is the hardware. Not the specs, but the microSD support and removable battery. More so the lack of removable storage.

If the Galaxy S4 ran stock android (and didn't cost $600 for the GPE) I'd pick it over the Touchwiz version in a heartbeat. There's no flagship phones out there (that I know of) that combine all of what I'm looking for into one phone.
I prefer unmolested vanilla Android, but I appreciate Samsung's attitude towards customizability of the hardware- IE: I can have an aftermarket 9200mAh battery and 128GB microSD card if I want to. No other flagship device offers that luxury, so I'll sacrifice putting up with the slow and buggy Touchwiz software for the sake of being able to fit my entire music and photo library on my phone. Besides, I can root and haxxor Touchwiz to the point where it runs better and looks exactly how I want.

Believe me, if any Nexus phone had a microSD slot and removable back cover, I'd pick it over the S4 in a heartbeat.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[alexcolka]

Agree with that. Anyway disabling the extras of TW may boost performance considerably. Besides for example in my country and I think a vast majority of countries you will find more support for this brand of phones (I could be mistaken) and a better resale. I also like a lot the possibility of changing my battery and having micro SD available. If someday Cyanogen finally release a stable and easy way of installing their rom for the 9500, I would install it at once.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk