Touchwiz...

[ThrottleJohnny]

I always say this when I'm asked why everyone doesn't choose stock over skinned phones.

If everyone wanted the same exactly phone set ups, why does Android exist in the first place. How about everyone just buy iPhones and call it a day? How about we all drive Honda Civics and Sony TVs and all watch NCIS?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[the game 161]

End of the day people enjoy what they enjoy

We are all different afterall

 

[rong21]

I actually like TW now. Much better than in the past, especially with the theming options.

I find myself rotating it with Nova and Google Launchers. When I find a need for change I switch to another for awhile. When I really want a change I switch phones to my 6P and then back to the edge after a week or so. I also get my iOS fix using my iPad.

 

[sangs]

Question for everybody ? How come more people dont buy a nexus instead? The s7e interface is soo ugly. The look of everything, apps, icons, settings, stock android just looks so much nicer and cleaner.

Posted via the Android Central App

Because "vanilla" bores me and Touchwiz is perfectly fine?

 

[LeoRex]

Just because something is stock Android doesn't make it static Android. The most highly customized phones out there are either Nexus devices, or phones that have had their OEM versions replaced with AOSP or CM based ROMs. Nearly every OEM-specific feature has an available app or mod equivalent... sometimes it's just a matter how far one wants to go to incorporate it.

So it's a just matter of what you want and what you want to do to get there.

 

[t0ked]

I find stock Nexus phones and software lacking and boring. I've had one and I just ended up spending a lot of time looking for apps that replicated things TW or Sense already offered. It's like buying a car with no options. To me, that's not a flagship at all. And until the 6p, hardware and battery life was miserable on most Nexus models, granted the pricing was attractive.

TW in its current version, It's actually quite transparent. And with themes and the new lock screen, is quite nice. I've experienced zero lag. I did end up using Nova because that's just what I'm used to. There are so many features in the new TW that I use regularly now. It can be your opinion that TW is cartoony, and i would disagree. The fact that it can be themed and changed makes it a moot point either way. And whether you like it or not, Samsung had been pushing Android more than any other company. Google is now beginning to implement features TW has had for years into the Android system. This S7 is my first Samsung device I've owned personally, and i get why people don't like TW, i thought I'd hate it but it's turned out to be pretty really nice and convenient.

 

[Soundtallica]

I loved my Nexus 6P when I had it (only sold it because of its size), but stock Android has its flaws too. Sure, it's lean and fast and feels like eating Subway as opposed to the McDonald's that Touchwiz would be, but I found it lacking in functionality. I had to root mine to add basic functionality such as multi window and theming that Touchwiz and other skins already have. Of course, if you have no use for those extra features, stock is better.

I used to hate Touchwiz like you, but recently it's slimmed down significantly. Bloatware can be disabled/deleted. And the only part I hate about it (aesthetics) can be solved with a theme. Plus, the lack of updates doesn't matter as much because stock is still only adding features skinned Android has had for years and OEMs are being better about sending security patches. Both versions of Android have their strengths and weaknesses, and both are good.

 

[adelmundo]

I have had both Nexus devices and Samsung devices for the past several years (Nexus S 4G, Nexus 7 2013 and Nexus 5) (Epic 4G, Note 1, Note 2, Note 4, Note 5, S7 Edge) and I find that I tend to always go back to my Samsung devices because there is always something lacking in the Nexus devices that are on Samsung devices. With that said, that's the beauty of Android something for everyone. Remember the commercials, "Be Together not the Same?" Sure Samsung devices may not be as fluid as Nexus devices until recently (the Note 5 and S7 Edge are amazingly fluid compared to the older Samsung devices I have owned), but I enjoy them much more and with theming (Material Dark) + Launcher (Google) and Good Lock, some redundant app disabling, it looks almost like a Nexus with added features (kept a few of the better Samsung apps like Email, Internet Browser, Calendar and Samsung Keyboard for example).

 

[wlonsdale]

The stylus is overrated in my opinion. I had to find reasons to use it.

So what you're saying is you never owned a Nexus then.

 

[wlonsdale]

Question for you: How come you think your opinion (and that's all a discussion on appearance is) is more valid than anyone else's?

Question 2: How come you don't know that Touchwiz is themable, and can be made to largely look like stock Marshmallow?

Question 3: Why do you think appearance is more important than functionality? TW gives me many things that stock Android leaves out (but will get around to including in two or three more iterations).

Just curious, what does the S7 do, for the price that's astronomically better. Keeping in mind what most of us would use it for. Texting, email, web browsing and watching video. My 5x does everything most android phones do and it was 1.4 the price.

 

[Vivek31]

I've been a huge TouchWiz hater since the GS3-4 days, replaced it with stock immediately and switched to Nexus devices (5-6p) which I absolutely loved. I dropped my 6p and it shattered pretty badly so instead of getting a replacement I wanted to see what the hype was with the S7, so I got it, now nine days later I really like this device, TouchWiz issues are non existent, yeah I can't believe I'm saying that. It really is a great all around device. Icons are similar to stock Android, if not better (some)

 

[Aquila]

A few people didn't take the hint in the prior warnings, so since zero people asked what PUPPAH was prior to continuing to troll, here's what PUPPAH is:

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There are no more warnings for this thread - those who are staying on topic and being respectful to everyone involved will be totally fine and those who choose not to stay on topic or to be disrespectful to anyone involved will receive infractions.

 

[Aquila]

Just curious, what does the S7 do, for the price that's astronomically better. Keeping in mind what most of us would use it for. Texting, email, web browsing and watching video. My 5x does everything most android phones do and it was 1.4 the price.

TouchWiz has traditionally come with a load of features that make life easier or better for the customers that have those devices. And many of those features were unavailable without modifying your phone. For years what I was asking, "why can't OEM's deliver the features without mucking about in the UI?" And it seems like several of them had the same thought, because every year TouchWiz is getting lighter, HTC has a very clean interface, Moto went to almost-stock and added some great features... this situation is getting better, maybe not fast enough, but we're definitely not having the same TouchWiz conversation as 2014 or earlier.

 

[paging dr b]

I understand all of that, but side by side phones running Touchwiz feel slower and studders where there counterparts don't. I ended up selling my S6 edge because even though on paper it offered more than most phones, it felt slower in day to day use than my Nexus 6 and older M8. It got a little better over time after a few updates but I ended up getting tired of having to relaunch apps that I was just using. I'll come back to Samsung when they really focus on optimizing their software instead of just upping their hardware game. They make A+ hardware and B- software. Thankfully we have other choices available to us.

 

[paging dr b]

Touchwiz only looks like it's getting lighter, but if you look closely you'll see that it uses up more ram than Windows on a desktop PC, and that's really bad. If you take a look at PhoneBuffs latest comparison between the S7 and the 10, you'll see what I'm talking about. TW is as big and heavy as ever.

 

[Aquila]

Touchwiz only looks like it's getting lighter, but if you look closely you'll see that it uses up more ram than Windows on a desktop PC, and that's really bad. If you take a look at PhoneBuffs latest comparison between the S7 and the 10, you'll see what I'm talking about. TW is as big and heavy as ever.

Android is supposed to use more RAM; it is supposed to minimize unused RAM. Windows is supposed to use as little as possible. And Windows on my PC, with one game, 8 Chrome Tabs, Hangouts, Skype and Slack running is using 6.8 - 7.2 GB of RAM pretty steadily on my PC, which only has 16 GB RAM. I've never seen any Android Phone use more than 6 GB of RAM at one time. We could look at it as 42ish % of total available RAM and my Nexus P is averaging 67% on the one day metric in the Android N preview. That's well within "normal" range. On Android RAM usage is only out of control when you have users interfere with it (such as force closing apps, using a close all toggle, etc) and/or when it can't handle current processes and starts shutting down apps.

 

[Almeuit]

Touchwiz only looks like it's getting lighter, but if you look closely you'll see that it uses up more ram than Windows on a desktop PC, and that's really bad. If you take a look at PhoneBuffs latest comparison between the S7 and the 10, you'll see what I'm talking about. TW is as big and heavy as ever.

As Assassin Droid said above -- Android acts different in terms of RAM usage.

 

[CincyGuy]

I'm also probably going to move to the S8 Edge when it comes out, assuming they keep the incremental improvements going and the next Nexus (made by whomever) is still two steps behind. I moved from a Galaxy S3 to a Nexus 5 to now a Nexus 6P, and it seems like Samsung has really mostly addressed the lag that existed back with the S3 and S4 era phones. The 6p is too darned big, not really one-handable. I've now seen quite a few S7 edge phones in real life and they are quite sexy looking. Better camera, smaller footprint (plus having the one-hand mode invoked by double-press of the home key), Samsung Pay, etc. I also believe the S7 screen is more readable in direct sunlight. Early reviews indicated the 6p was much more readable in sunlight, and I have not found that to be the case.

I change phones about every 1.5 to 2 years, so I will make it through one major Android upgrade with a Samsung.

More accessories out there for Galaxy phones then there will ever be for a Nexus, including a wider variety of cases.

Wireless charging for Galaxy phones (still has it with the S7, correct?), not so for Nexus.

Waterproof.

Expandable memory.

And yeah, I never use stock Android launcher, I use Nova, so who cares about the look. Although I will be intrigued to try the Samsung theme store.

Yep, going to move to a Galaxy for the next phone.

 

[chanchan05]

Just curious, what does the S7 do, for the price that's astronomically better. Keeping in mind what most of us would use it for. Texting, email, web browsing and watching video. My 5x does everything most android phones do and it was 1.4 the price.

Let's start with the hardware
1. It's 'strengthened' glass on glass with aluminum. Say what you will about the glass being not strong enough still, it's still more expensive than aluminum.
2. AMOLEDs by Samsung are more expensive. They have this proprietary AMOLED tech that makes it more expensive. Similar to how SuperLCD tech by HTC makes it more expensive than normal LCD.
3. Waterproofing. It's added cost.
4. The camera. It may that be all that much better, but it's fairly newer tech and new tech is more expensive.
5. Wireless charging. You have to pay for that you know. It's still included in the manufacturing cost of the device.

Then we go software.
1. MultiWindow. This has been a Samsung staple fot several years. Hence they have development costs they pass onto us.
2. Smart screen features. Smart Stay, Smart Dial, etc are all included.
3. The software for sensors when you turn it over to mute and whatnot.
4. Does android really have dual sim support? Or is this Samsung only?
5. It does come with 100GB expansion for your OneDrive
6. Then there's the Edge software.
7. One of my favorite Samsung advantages over Nexus is SideSync. The thing is it doesn't need debugging on. Something which a lot of people neglect to do. Broke your screen and your phone is locked with debugging off? On a Nexus you're out of luck. Your data goes bye bye. On a Samsung? Push sidesync app to it. No need to setup. Install sidesync on a PC and plug the phone. Unlock it on your PC and control it from there, without needing usb debugging or whatever ADB stuff.
8. Then SmartSwitch. This plus Helium or Titanium makes for seamless phone switching.

There are several more I forgot/neglected to mention, but point is there are several things that make the S7 more expensive. Will the regular user notice it? Maybe. Maybe not. But will he care? They chose the phone for their reasons, and he had the money to burn. Same as for those choosing iPhones over Android. The main difference is that we're not sacrificing functionality from stock Android. If you find these not useful, then why did you buy the S7 in the first place? Then there are some people willing to pay the premium because the phone just looks good.

Touchwiz only looks like it's getting lighter, but if you look closely you'll see that it uses up more ram than Windows on a desktop PC, and that's really bad. If you take a look at PhoneBuffs latest comparison between the S7 and the 10, you'll see what I'm talking about. TW is as big and heavy as ever.

Because there's a lot more running. So Android is loading it up to RAM like it's supposed to. TouchWiz is lighter though in the aspect that it's now modular. Turning off features that TouchWiz adds leads to less RAM. Turning off things like MultiWindow, Smart Stay, that double home press fot camera, etc would all decrease RAM usage. But why would you turn all of those off just to get Nexus like RAM? Didn't you buy the phone for at least some of those features? That's simply the cost of them.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Just curious, what does the S7 do, for the price that's astronomically better. Keeping in mind what most of us would use it for. Texting, email, web browsing and watching video. My 5x does everything most android phones do and it was 1.4 the price.

Why do many people pay the extra freight for a Nexus 6P instead of a 5x? For that matter, why buy a 5x? A basic $200 Android phone does those things, too. Why spend any more than that? Heck, my wife's Galaxy S3 does all those things.

The S7 has an unarguably better camera and video than the 5x, better battery life, an SD card (to store all those pictures and video). It has Samsung Pay, which is far more useful than Android Pay right now. But it's not just about what it can do, it's also about how it does it. Samsung adds feature that, while not strictly necessary, add convenience. Things like Smart Stay to keep the screen on while you're looking at it, swipe to do a screen capture, and the Capture More feature so you can capture a long screen shot in one image, rather than multiple captures, launching the camera with a double press of the home button (maybe the 5X has something similar, I don't know), several gesture based features, and others.

Are any of these necessary? No, but really nothing fancier than an htc Evo is "necessary." Heck, my old Palm Treo did email and texts, web browsing, and video. Slowly, but that was because it only had a 1xRTT radio.

But all those features make the phone nicer to use for many of us.