Things I hate about my Note 10.1 2014

[Skeeter686]

I have a love/hate relationship with my new Samsung Note. A lot of its features are utterly fantastic, and it has so much more functionality than my iPad, which is an attractive but pretty useless toy by comparison. After about 8 weeks ownership of the Note I'm still learning how to use it, but here in no particular order, are some of my pet annoyances that I've been unable to solve thus far. ...

Here are a couple I didn't see on your list, so please allow me to add them...

Bluetooth keyboard issues... Seems to be a recognized issue, but I still haven't been able to use mine reliably. And I'd use a USB keyboard, instead, except that the micro-USB port is also the charging port, so that's not a good solution for an extended period of usage.

Hardware buttons built into the bezel... Why would a tablet manufacturer think this is a good design??? Why not go with the Android standard of dynamically drawn "soft" buttons on the screen? Those actually reorient themselves when you switch to portrait.

Regarding your complaint about email, I haven't used the stock email app in years. Maybe it's improved in the past several years, but it was pretty lame when I tried it. I've been sufficiently satisfied with K-9 Mail that I haven't tried another email app since installing it. Go for a diffrent app... there are lots out there.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

 

[John Woo1]

I have a love/hate relationship with my new Samsung Note. A lot of its features are utterly fantastic, and it has so much more functionality than my iPad, which is an attractive but pretty useless toy by comparison. After about 8 weeks ownership of the Note I'm still learning how to use it, but here in no particular order, are some of my pet annoyances that I've been unable to solve thus far. ...

1. When I click on a .pdf download (and many other file types), I get a flash warning (believe these are called "toast"), saying "not a supported file type". Yet if I open up Polaris Office, hunt for the download then click on it, it opens just fine, so it IS a supported file type. This I think merely indicates the OS simply doesn't know Polaris or other apps capable of opening given file types, exist.... ie *in Windows speak, the file type associations aren't set.
There are others pdf reader, try and find that suits u best. ex adobe reader.

3. The keyboard size options are either too large or too small.
Try others keyboards
4. The keyboard has no left/right arrow cursor. (Few do, but would be a nice feature, and some of the wasted keyboard real estate could be better utilised I'm sure).
Same as 3, there are others keyboards that have arrows cursors

7. The keyboard letters change to lower case when lower case is selected. You might think this is to be expected,*but this behaviour makes key selection/recognition less easy as it is constantly changing.
Dont know what u really mean, but tried uncheck Auto capitalzation in keybaord settings?

8. When dictating text using the microphone, I can't use voice commands for punctuation and formatting. eg full stop, new line, exclamation mark, brackets etc. *Using Siri on iOs, and Dragon Naturally Speaking on Windows OS, you can!
You can: Punctuation Commands for Dictation in Voice to Text for Android | The Droid Lawyer™

9. Although there are a few text-to-speech options, there are none for speech-to-text.
Read 8

10. Using the S pen, highlighting text accurately for cut or copy, is just about impossible. In Polaris it's pretty appalling, but on Web pages or email, it is so bad, it's unusable. *This feature on my iPad, by comparison is a delight.
I dont know how u using to mark, but it does works flawlessly to mark any text on all for me and with accuracy. With finger its really annoying and with S-Pen it works flawless.

11. The cut/copy/paste/etc. toolbar often vanishes before I have completed the required selection, because I generally need several attempts at this... toast display time interval again I guess.
This is depends on apps and nothing to do about.

12. The S pen is way too skinny and the button is nearly invisible.
Search for Samsung HM5100 Bluetooth S Pen or S-Pen Holder Kit for full size S-Pen

18. Although I've stopped apps auto updating, they are continually checking for, and advising me of available updates. This is even true for apps I've uninstalled!
Go to Google Play market and settings. Uncheck right for u need and uninstalled apps wont updates. Mine guess is u just uninstall sytem apps new updates and not actually the whole app. System apps cant be uninstalled fully.

25.The User Manual is badly written, not detailed enough, and the search feature difficult to use.
Most OEMs companys goes greens these days and ditched manuals long time ago. If u want a detail manual and download it from Samsung website for Note 2014. Who read manuals these days anyway?

I see that this is yours first Android device or Samsung device? Most all of u issues can "resolves" by using others apps and not just using all that comes with TW. Ex. Polaris Office is free on Google Play and Samsung just integrated with theirs ROM. Same with most others apps and there are better on googe play.

 

[monsieurms]

Just unpacked mine yesterday! Yay.
I would say there are no things I hate about it, and its size and weight are simply amazing compared to what I had. Plus, it's lightning fast. If I had some quibbles they would be: (a) no power light to tell you when it's done charging, evidently; and (b) it would not read my 64gb SD card that worked perfectly in the ASUS or with my desktop card reader, so I had to reformat it in the tablet; and (c) the charger looks identical to my S4 charger and has the same 2 amp output. Of course, the tablet battery is 3x the size of the S4 battery. I guess that means a lot of longggg charges if worn down. I do tend to top frequently anyway. One redeeming virtue there, though, is that they have normal microUSB connectors, meaning one cable and one charger for both my S4 and tablet. I can yell "yay" to that.

 

[dzigner]

Hi
@Dianehelen
The edit function on the multiwindow panel didnt work. I tried it, and the apps came which could be added to the panel, and I could even move them to the panel, but they didnt stay. Also, no app could be moved/deleted from the panel.
Thanks

 

[Diego Antonini]

For problem 3 perfect keyboard can be customized to your liking. For problem 4 I use thumb keyboard and love it. It has a a bunch of functions and was truely made for an excellent tablet experience. Problem 5 can be solved by rooting the device.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

 

[dianehelen]

Hi
@Dianehelen
The edit function on the multiwindow panel didnt work. I tried it, and the apps came which could be added to the panel, and I could even move them to the panel, but they didnt stay. Also, no app could be moved/deleted from the panel.
Thanks

that's odd I can add then delete any compatible app to/from multiview

I just drag n drop

youtube in then out then back in


j

 

[dzigner]

Hello
I dont know what I was doing wrong previously, but just now I tried, I could move the apps in and out of the panel. Thanks Dianehelen.
thanks

 

[Dale_M]

"Hackers Keyboard" app (Google Play) has arrow keys and a few other keys Samsung seem to think you don't need... Not greatest app but its liveable.....

Though at one time I actually did find (Samsung) arrow keys while playing with keyboard options in Polaris office, but was never able to get back to them....

This the tablet would be so far ahead if Samsung did not restrict it so (root it)... Probable a issue of money Houghton to keep you locked into apps the developers are willing to pay Samsung to keep them on board...

Dale

 

[hokie_prof]

To each their own, I suppose... I adore my Note 10.1. It was a total splurge for me to get it. I prefer the Note version of Kingsoft Office to Polaris (I had to go to the Kingsoft website to get the correct version.) It also is available in multi-window. I prefer Lecture Notes for PDFs.

 

[MarrowK]

First I will address number one: this annoy me too, but i found out that using quickoffice (free on google play) solves this issue.

2. I personally hate those effin toast warnings, but since you are coming from ios this doesn't bother you (at least for now), give it some time and you will probably see what I mean.

3 - 4. Can be easily solved through a third party keyboard.

5. Don't know why you are having issues with the stock email app, i use it for all my 4 accounts: hotmail, outlook, gmail, and even the one from my university which is a mess to set properly. They all work flawlessly.

6. This is an annoyance too, but can be easily fixed if you are rooted.

18. That's very weird, if you set in google play auto update apps off this shouldn't be an issue, a quick tip: you can turn notifications off for every specific app, including google play, just go to settings, general, application manager and find the app you wish to turn off notifications, below the app name you will see a little check box.

23 - 24. There is only three things you need to know, there is screen mirroring: screen mirroring uses a technology called miracast to mirror your device screen and audio to the tv, some smart tvs have miracast integrated, but most don't, in that case you can buy a miracast hdmi dongle, but imo they are not cheap. Then there is Wi-fi direct, this is a technology thats implemented in the latest devices and versions of android, but is also on other devices like notebooks, cameras, tvs and so on, Wi-fi direct enables you to send files to another device without the need of being connected to a wireless network, its like sending files through bluetooth but way faster and obviously through wifi. And finally there is dlna, dlna is an standard to share files with devices connected to the same wireless network, this is used by all share, nearby devices and so on... The advantage of dlna is that most modern devices have it, for example my 2011 samsung "dumb" tv has dlna, so i can show my family pictures or video in the tv directly from the tablet, dlna only works for video, audio and pictures, it doesn't mirror the device like miracast, it just streaming. Finally, the other are mostly samsung "gimmicks" that use any of these three technologies to share content between enabled devices.

27. Also easily fixed via third party apps.

I am often annoyed by little things like that, but android has proven me that there is always a workaround for everything.

Sometimes I think that it is because android offers you so many possibilities that you become "obsessed" with every little thing working just the exact way you want it. But don't be discouraged to search, ask and try, that's also the fun part of it!

 

[geoffwhite18]

I've been switching back and forth from my old 10.1 to the new 2014 version. Two big fails on the new one are the smaller s pen, and the power and volume buttons are horrible. They are so easy to find on the old one, and the bigger s pen feels so much better.

On the up side, the screen on the 2014 is lightyears ahead of the old one.

 

[dzigner]

Hi
The only thing I find I miss in the Note 10.1 2014 is automatic date and time setting. I travel to Asia a lot, and that means, I have to manually set the time and clock at every Asian city I visit. And if that visit is short - a week - with 2 or 3 cities to visit, this is definitely a handicap - no automatic update of time and date. This also happens on my Nexus 7.
thanks

 

[dzigner]

I am often annoyed by little things like that, but android has proven me that there is always a workaround for everything.

Sometimes I think that it is because android offers you so many possibilities that you become "obsessed" with every little thing working just the exact way you want it. But don't be discouraged to search, ask and try, that's also the fun part of it!

So very very true. Since I have rooted my Note, I have to have everything working the way I want it, and that means sometimes being unsatisfied.
thanks

 

[Russell Estridge]

That's a big list for someone who clearly had no idea how to use a device other than Apple who doesn't give you any other way than their way.

Make sure to watch the sunset at least once a day B-)

 

[Dale_M]

Hi
The only thing I find I miss in the Note 10.1 2014 is automatic date and time setting. I travel to Asia a lot, and that means, I have to manually set the time and clock at every Asian city I visit. And if that visit is short - a week - with 2 or 3 cities to visit, this is definitely a handicap - no automatic update of time and date. This also happens on my Nexus 7.
thanks

Maybe something like this would solve your problem...

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.mobidala.worldclock&token=FZAUYuz3

Little broader choice....

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...q=world+time+zone+clock&c=apps&token=jqqC8uW8

I would think keeping internal clock at home base time would prevent confusion, but with good app you can just have by selecting a ciry/country you can have "a screen" give local time till you change it....

Some GPS applications will give you local mean time (at least on app screen) ...

Maybe some application(s) may even have a "time sync" feature if it can locate a "correct" local time source to sync to.... Maybe some will put a widget on login screen or basic menu screen for correct local time.... maybe write your own app (and market it) ....

Dale

 

[Syn Svart]

Got mine a few weeks ago. What I really hate are those random reboots. Another thing is that notification access is completely disabled. I know, it has no notification LED, but there are apps (like Dashclock Widget) that still need notification access to be granted or they simply don't work.

 

[Jude526]

Yes you can revert to stock. Never been an issue for me.

Posted from my awesome Note3

 

[raindroptree]

*Ahhh! I completely agree! !!! I have a love/hate relationship with the note 10.1 2014 as well!
My biggest annoyances about the tablet are 1. The keyboard 2. The browser. 3.the limits of the os.
The summary of all I am about to say is this: the tablet wants to act like a smartphone although it has the capabilities to be an extremely advanced laptop that has a ton of awesome features. Although it is perfectly capable of running powerful applications, it wants to be extremely picky in what applications it uses. Its like a powerful muscle builder/athlete/mathmetician that just wants to be like all of the popular but weak kids around him.

As far as the keyboard, it is horrible!!! I cannot find a good way to type on this thing which is unfortunate because typing is the main thing I do on the tablet. I do give a thumbs up to swipe, but it is nothing compared to typing on a physical keyboard. I have tried getting a physical keyboard, but it drained the battery life of my tablet to less than half. I was getting a decent 9 or 10 hours out of the battery and with the keyboard, it reduced that to 3.5 hours! It was sooooo horrible that I had to ditch the keyboard and only use it when i have my tablet plugged in. The onscreen keyboard is an extremely inefficient way to type, as my physical keyboard typing was extremely fast and accurate, the tablet keyboard is extremely slow and inaccurate. The on screen keyboard takes up so much room on my screen i can barely see what is going on when i type and it will often render the browsing buttons unusable. Also, the copy/paste and highlighting text options are horrible! I have to try multiple times to highlight text multiple times to paste the text (sometimes it will just not work and I am left frustrated).
2 and 3 are combined in many ways, as the os is the main thing restricting my browsing experience.
The browsers that come with the tablet do not run flash so I have to stick with 3rd party browsers which have problems of their own (crashing, lack of pen and multiwindow capabilities, etc.).
The browser or os is far behind where it should be, leaving me handicapped in doing tasks like web design and simple browsing. For ex.i am having a ton of problems just writing this comment. The page keeps going back up to the top and it is not an easy task to get back to where I was when I was typing.
The browsers or os do not support drag and drop functionality, which is possible on this tablet but only if every website individually adds a function to support it on tablets, which leaves me incapable of making simple selections.

These two problems are huge for me. Think about it, the most things and the most important things done with computers are through the Internet and from a good keyboard to do it with. Unfortunately, i thought this tablet would have a good enough os to do almost everything that i need to do online and with my small business, but i guess a was wrong. I will have to root this tablet after the warranty expires to get efficient use out of it. That or just buy a decent laptop in a year or so. Though i still LOVE THIS TABLET for so many other reasons. I am coping with the relationship.

This tablet has an awesome spen(though it doesn't do much in enhancing the experience if the os in general is poor). It is great for digital art.
the tablet itself is great for on the go business, but I am disappointed with its overall extremely finicky and uncooperative os.

 

[Andy Peters]

I got the G note 10.1 2014 for taking notes in class, and so I could just bring the tablet to class instead of notebooks and books and a laptop (although I still need computer for programming stuff). S note is pretty neat, but one teacher is not allowing digital devices on open note quizzes, so I will have to print. When I go to print from S note, whether I do it directly, or export, or change the background... it prints at a weird size that won't take up the whole page, and it prints an actual WHITE background on top of the WHITE paper... it just highlights how this device seems a little rough around the edges sometimes. Why the fu*# would anyone want to print a white on white page?! It shouldn't be that hard... I am a little disappointed that this thing wasn't created with users in mind it would seem. Also, while using S note I can't disable the dumb 'air command' and there's no option to! It's a little annoying. Hoping to find more usefulness in the future, but would need to keep the S pen functionality... I want this to be my digital notebook... it's SOOO close to be awesome, it's a real shame they don't give more control options... I guess I'll have to spend more time on this forum.

 

[Moshe Barash]

I got the G note 10.1 2014 for taking notes in class, and so I could just bring the tablet to class instead of notebooks and books and a laptop (although I still need computer for programming stuff). S note is pretty neat, but one teacher is not allowing digital devices on open note quizzes, so I will have to print. When I go to print from S note, whether I do it directly, or export, or change the background... it prints at a weird size that won't take up the whole page, and it prints an actual WHITE background on top of the WHITE paper... it just highlights how this device seems a little rough around the edges sometimes. Why the fu*# would anyone want to print a white on white page?! It shouldn't be that hard... I am a little disappointed that this thing wasn't created with users in mind it would seem. Also, while using S note I can't disable the dumb 'air command' and there's no option to! It's a little annoying. Hoping to find more usefulness in the future, but would need to keep the S pen functionality... I want this to be my digital notebook... it's SOOO close to be awesome, it's a real shame they don't give more control options... I guess I'll have to spend more time on this forum.

Try using the app papyrus instead. It has more options for note taking, better at printing. It can also make the note a PDF for even easier printing. This is what I use for school.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ovation.android.projectpapyrus&token=e3usSY5t