Please help. Need to remove updated samsung experience

[paperbeagle]

Please. Someone help me. I have physical disabilities and adhd so my phone setup is critical to my daily functioning. Im just starting a new little pet business to regain my independence... and last night I stupidly let samsung update itself on my sg5neo. It is a DISASTER!!! It has rearranged everything, disabled key features, decorated everything in magical fairy unicorn colours and installed apps i deliberately refuse to have.

Because of my limitations the look and functionality of my phone is essential. I am in tears. I can't find stuff... I cant access accessability features I need or install important things bc it has forced apps on me that I don't want or need. I can't just shoot a screenshot... it now requires several steps and it doesnt save them unless you then also click save.

Please help me.

I understand technical terms but please explain it to a beginner so I know what to do. I cannot have my phone become a brick. It almost is now... I need to save it and undo this nightmare. I am frightened... without fixing this I wont be able to move forward with my business.

Android 7.0
Samsung experience 8.1
Kernal 3.10.61-12067928

I will NEVER get another samsung phone. Ever. Worst POS. If anyone knows the best way to file some kind of complaint that will actually DO anything pls say so. I cannot fathom how any company could ever think that screwing their customers to this extent is a good move. I mean disabled users... why... why ruin my work life like this? For what? Everything is in pastels. All the icons are different. I cant find anything. NO I wont just adjust... i NEED the set up and look i had. I am so lost.. my phone us unusable.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Accessibility features should be in settings somewhere. I have a Note 5, and Accessibility is under Google.

As for the look, I am not sure how it can be restored from your old set up, however, you can install a different launcher, like Nova, and with that you can utilize icon packs from the Play store. Icon packs will change the look of most app icons, but the system Samsung ones will stay the same, for example, contacts, phone, etc.

Nova can also save your setup. You can then back the file up to your preferred cloud service or on a PC.

Going back to a previous version of Android may not be possible. Samsung often makes changes to critical parts of the system to prevent this.

 

[paperbeagle]

I have seen discussions of going backward in versions on other sites but I didn't understand the instructions. If i can't remove this "experience" thing Ill have to get rid of my phone!

If i take off all the files and images... will a factory reset return it to the way it was??

The accessibility "features" aren't what I need. They dont and cant accpunt for individual needs. I had this thing set up for me and my needs. Adding more stuff that is entirely new wont help me. I dont have room anymore for extra apps because it is forcing word and facebook on me... I can't delete them.

I need my setup back. Adding icons wont fix the fact that theyve changed everything about how apps worked. Everything. Nothing works right. The calendar is critical to me but it is utterly unusable now. All the careful colour tagging Id set up all gone! They seem to think having the name of the month in huge font is important but your items in the calendar are in a horrible thin font... all my set up destroyed.

Will a factory reset work??? If not I have to dig outmy old sg3 with the shattered screen and broken charger port... bc at least it makes sense

 

[chanchan05]

A factory reset will not work in removing an update as the files for the previous OS version have been deleted.

To go back to a previous OS version you need to download the firmware files and flash it to the phone using Odin on a PC.

Note that while for me, this seems straightforward, some people have managed to brick their devices doing this. I don't know how but it has happened.

 

[Golfdriver97]

A factory reset will not work in removing an update as the files for the previous OS version have been deleted.

To go back to a previous OS version you need to download the firmware files and flash it to the phone using Odin on a PC.

Note that while for me, this seems straightforward, some people have managed to brick their devices doing this. I don't know how but it has happened.

Bricking can happen in so many ways. Flashing a ROM for an unlocked on an TMobile version, flashing a completely different model, unplug the cable in mid flash.... possibilities are numerous.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I have seen discussions of going backward in versions on other sites but I didn't understand the instructions. If i can't remove this "experience" thing Ill have to get rid of my phone!

If i take off all the files and images... will a factory reset return it to the way it was??

The accessibility "features" aren't what I need. They dont and cant accpunt for individual needs. I had this thing set up for me and my needs. Adding more stuff that is entirely new wont help me. I dont have room anymore for extra apps because it is forcing word and facebook on me... I can't delete them.

I need my setup back. Adding icons wont fix the fact that theyve changed everything about how apps worked. Everything. Nothing works right. The calendar is critical to me but it is utterly unusable now. All the careful colour tagging Id set up all gone! They seem to think having the name of the month in huge font is important but your items in the calendar are in a horrible thin font... all my set up destroyed.

Will a factory reset work??? If not I have to dig outmy old sg3 with the shattered screen and broken charger port... bc at least it makes sense

You could try to flash a previous OS version. As I recall, nothing bad should happen. The phone would just reject it.

 

[paperbeagle]

I don't know what this means. Is there a guide somewhere? One meant for the clueless? Odin... does odin go on the phone or on the laptop? Thanks to samsung i have no space to download anything. Who ever uses Word on a phone?? People who want to go blind?

 

[belodion]

You can't uninstall pre-installed apps without first rooting the phone, but you can reduce the storage they occupy to a minimum. Go to Settings, Apps, All, and for each one that you don't want, tap Clear Cache, Clear Data, Force Stop, Disable.
If there are any apps that you've installed yourself but no longer want, do the same, but tap Uninstall instead of Disable.

It sounds to me from your description that you are in fact learning the new, and not always liked initially, ways of Nougat on your Samsung. I'm guessing that most users do, though I have neither Nougat nor a Samsung myself.

 

[Golfdriver97]

You can try using a PC program called Odin to install the prior version of Android. There is no guarantee this will work, as Samsung often places limitations to prevent an older OS to be installed on the phone.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/a...w-flash-stock-rom-via-odin-new-interface.html

As for the files you would need, you can try samsung updates or sammobile.