yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 General] qazibasit:
Re: Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4

I am a tw fan. Use custom only to see how it works. But i like having stock with stability and all in a one package. Because i use photo editor on my phone and a movie editor and samsung gives me all these features in their tw package rather than downloading 3rd party apps.

And mind you people get galaxy because of touchwiz not to customize their phones. The features of Tw that most people call bloatware will be the features of a new OS. So from now on i will term the vanilla android as , "naked android". With google also tryibg to jam pack it with google apps.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Kremata:
I agree, I hate Touchwiz. But it’s not a deal breaker for me. The way I see it, the phone is just a platform to put anything I want, customized the way I want. People on XDA should know better. There are tons of custom ROMs out there. AOSP/AOKP/MUI/Samsung based and even Ubuntu(soon to come). That’s the beauty of Android. I loved Samsung based ROM but with AOSP style. It depends how you use your phone. But why would someone buy a S3 or S4 and use their phone as a… Phone???? It can do so much more.

I love all the S-Voice features. The voice activated camera feature is awesome. No need to ask strangers to take pictures of you(if your alone) anymore. Just put the phone on improvised stand, pause and say “SHOOT”. And voila! A picture of yourself, taken alone. Also when you drive the S-Voice is really useful. You can control the phone totally by voice.

---------- Post added at 05:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:22 PM ----------

Repeating it won't make it true.

Touchwiz is just a launcher, a in-house launcher but still a launcher. Samsung attach some features to it because they can. Many samsung based Rom I had don't have Touchwiz. My launcher is always Nova.
[Galaxy S 4 General] zoot1:
You are mistaken my friend..TouchWiz is not the launcher only... it includes the entire phone experience (i.e. UI) The skin on top of Pure AOSP...it is visible everywhere you navigate..anything that does not resemble pure AOSP is Touchwiz(ized)..

Please stop confusing people..launcher is just a part of the TouchWiz UI..
[Galaxy S 4 General] browy:
Totally agreed.

I've noticed while the zip files of CM, AOSP, AOKP based ROMs are usually around 150 MB, the modified stock ROMs are 5 to 6 times larger. If Touchwiz is a launcher, it must be one hell of a launcher.
[Galaxy S 4 General] GonzoKSV:
Is the function of Touchwiz the same than Sense on htc?
[Galaxy S 4 General] Kremata:
I can admit when I'm wrong.

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TouchWiz

I was confused by the Launcher included in Touchwiz called "Touchwiz Launcher".
[Galaxy S 4 General] dligon:
I just dont under stand why b!tch and moan about touch whiz? If you dont like it buy a different phone with pure aosp like a nexus opps sorry it does not have all the 8 cores and other features that sammy puts on its phones that apparently milllions love and love to hate too. the nexus 5 is coming out so......
[Galaxy S 4 General] zoot1:
No..both the UIs are developed differently and are based on different outlooks (If I may say)..Sense is geared towards looks where TW is positioned for users who want more functionality..

Both have their advantages and Drawbacks...Sense was said to be a resource hog but I have not idea how Sense 5 will fare..from early reports though it looks good..

my only gripe is TW sometimes seem laggy and Samsung has no design aesthetics..
[Galaxy S 4 General] Livebyte:
We wouldn't ***** about it if it wasn't so cumbersome and ugly.
[Galaxy S 4 General] xPr0metheus:
I always loved Touchwiz, I like the Oldschool Design of it, espacially I love the Appdrawer. But then there was Android 4.2 with the new Notification Bar and Quicksettings. And that's the very only thing I HATE about Touchwiz. The Quicksettings are such a great Idea, and cyanogenmod showed how great they can be, but in tw, the look so aweful. besides, I always deemed the "Clear" button for to small, most of the time I accidentally push the line below (in this case avast), which is really annoying. so if touchwiz would take the original 4.2 notification bar and quicksettings, it would be very, very cool.

And, honestly, there are no folders animation as cool as in touchwiz :D or is this in vanilla android, too? not sure
[Galaxy S 4 General] barondebxl:
If those were your intentions than you should have made a poll or something, or put a title like " i think touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S IV" but you make it sound like its a fact when it isn't.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
Point taken.
[Galaxy S 4 General] tbong777:
Why would YOU ***** about it all all? Your signature is big , black and has the word ONE in it......Why are you here? You made your choice. you won't convince anyone here its is right for them. They can browse over to the HTC threads and read all about the One and there ore dozens of reviews out there on it.

Your huge signature flag waving won't change many if any minds here.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Kremata:
Still wondering what you're doing here.

Couldn't agree more.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Livebyte:
I'm here to express my views about TouchWiz.

What does this thread have to do with HTC One?

I will say it again.

TouchWiz is cumbersome and ugly. A disgrace to all UX Designers.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
Someone's signature does not mean they are biased or there opinion does not matter. I have ordered a HTC One based on my usage and even if I had a Galaxy S3 or an S4 (gave the S4 some serious consideration and was/is still torn on which one I truly want) my opinion would be exactly the same and that is Touchwiz is in dire need of an overhaul so why all the hate?

This is a good thread so far and unless it's off topic or flame bait then I really cannot see the problem with other people with different phones voicing their opinions?
[Galaxy S 4 General] dligon:
Its like buying a ferrari and saying oh I hate red sports cars and I don't like horse emblem.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
Nothing like it what so ever first because you can choose a ferrari in white or yellow etc and second of all they are beautiful looking cars, if a car was designed to look like touchwiz it would definitely not look like a ferrari!
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
Or...

Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4 for

me

I'm a productivity user and use a lot of TW features. Granted, TW isn't going to win any design contests but I wouldn't trade beauty for functionality. So I guess it comes down to how many of me there are out there and how many purists there are. Based on the slow sales (750K units in a year) of the Galaxy Nexus that was available via the carriers at the same subsidized prices as phones with overlays you'd have to assume the masses like overlays. And Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony, and Motorola design phones with the masses in mind. Now a conversation about Samsung updating the design, feel, and colors of TW to be more contemporary and better integrated is a totally different story.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
I looked to see if I could update the thread title but couldn't see a way to do it?
[Galaxy S 4 General] zoot1:
Re: Touchwiz ruins the Galaxy S4

Click on edit post in OP.. Click on Go Advanced and then edit the title..
[Galaxy S 4 General] dligon:
yes true you can get them in those colors but the main color associated with ferrari is red like with samsung phones is tw so either get enough money to buy samsung so you can become the ceo and then change tw into whatever you like.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
Couldn't see for looking I was at that page a moment ago.... cheers for that and thread title now changed.
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
If I had enough money to buy samsung then buying samsung would be the last thing on my mind.
[Galaxy S 4 General] barondebxl:
Cool, i respect that and your opinion. Now we can all have a friendly debate an be android brothers ;)
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
Totally agree and hey no matter which phone you choose Android is better than iOS by a mile ;) That's an entirely different subject though lol
[Galaxy S 4 General] barondebxl:
Yes it is. Back to the subject, i understand your opinion and many others that don't like touchwiz. It does look cartooney indeed, thats a fact. BUT, like Barry said and i have to agree with him once again, it comes down to functionality. It works GREAT, the features are really cool, there's little to no lag, It really is an experience on its own. Lets look at the Galaxy note 2 for example ( that runs touchwiz), it is one of the most popular and loved device of 2012, it hits pretty much all the major point ( battery life, performance, features...). If you remove touchwiz from the Note 2, in my opinion that success would be SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. It would just be a giant phone running stock android. Not that it would be a bad thing, but the fact that it runs touchwiz makes it the beast that it is now. Its because of things like the S pen, hovering over the screen, multi window, hand writing, the gallery etc. that it isso popular and people like it. All those things are part of touchwiz. I rest my case.
[Galaxy S 4 General] ninjafan:
touchwiz steered me away from phones like the S3 and note II, but that was before I put my big boy pants on and starting rooting my phones ;)
[Galaxy S 4 General] zoot1:
Nicely said.. I agree with you.. Just that if sammy could make that dialer and contacts app lag free.. It would be great.. Also the cartoonist colours, big text needs to be revamped.. Feature wise it is second to none.. Just needs some touches in the looks department.. Ahh Samsung!!
[Galaxy S 4 General] daleski75:
I do agree that touchwiz offers a lot of value add and nice features which you won't find elsewhere it's just a shame that it doesn't have that final bit of polish design wise.
[Galaxy S 4 General] barondebxl:
I totally agree with you, it does need some "polishing". When i had my S3 and note 2, first thing i was doing was changing the fonts and reducing the size from normal to small, change wall paper, maybe adjust the screen dynamic. Yes touchwiz isn't perfect i'll admit it as a touchwiz enthusiast, but it is so much fun to use in my opinion.

---------- Post added at 12:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 PM ----------

Yep i agree.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Bagbug:
I always installed custom ROMS on my phones/tablets until I got the SGS3.

Once all the bloatwares disabled, I found TW to be superior to any ROM I could find.

BTW, Im open to try new ROMs for those who have suggestions. In fact, I would love that.

BTW2, I also kept TW on my Galaxy Note 10.1
[Galaxy S 4 General] bucho2004:


Coming from a galaxy note 2 I can confirm its one of the most complete feature rich android os, me and alot of my friends and other android users do not have a problem with touchwiz in that respect. Its the look of touch wizz, paired with phone design and cheap feel is off putting to say the least.

samsung should have known that. While samsung s4 is a powerhouse no doubt, I could have forgiven the same design even though I was hoping for something more premium looking or at least different looking, like the mock up designs that were appearing early on, but having seen the samsung conference, seeing the same old menu same old dialer etc etc, that was frankly a dissapointment with the s3 nevermind s4 really put me off. This I believe will put alot of other people off samsung, similar how iphone users have leaned towards android or are leaning towards it more and more. And ios is not even ugly looking. Just Stale! Lol

Anyway samsung galaxy 4 is a great phone regardless. Just hope that with competition from xperia z and htc one. I hope they realise that Design is a very important part of a complete package phone too
[Galaxy S 4 General] sorg:
I've tried AOSP on my SGSII and found it very ugly.

I'm talking about settings apps, menus and theme overall. It's very ugly and looks like some newbe developer wrote it right after "hello world" app.

AOSP's outlook is ugly. TW's theme is more clean and clear.
[Galaxy S 4 General] barondebxl:
I see what you're saying. Basically keep all the great features but try to make touchwiz look more "professional" and less sesame street looking like lol.
[Galaxy S 4 General] xPr0metheus:
:D best^^
[Galaxy S 4 General] jerryhou85:
I had a S2, then I flashed CM9 on it. Under TouchWiz, you cannot even drag an app icon to another one to make it a folder on desktop screen. That feels really bad...
[Galaxy S 4 General] Arsaw:
Is not really hard to drag the icon to the top left of the screen to create folder. The screen is not 14". Just 4.99", easily reachable with one hand :)
[Galaxy S 4 General] Kremata:
I always choose ROMs that bypass TW. Now I'm on UltimaRom which is a nice hybrid of Samsung based but complete AOSP look. I find the TW interface to be so ugly with the big grey frame in the sms. But still not a deal breaker. I will always choose power and features over looks.
[Galaxy S 4 General] GGXtreme:
Option 1:

1. Turn off all TouchWiz features in the settings.

2. Install something like Nova Launcher.

3. Disable any bloat and apps you don't want to use (or just hide them in the app drawer).

4. Install stock Google apps and keyboard from the Play Store.

At this point the only differences you'd face (aside from aesthetics) are some stock apps, although I find it hard to dislike the TouchWiz camera app and features like the split view MMS app and swipe to call/text in Contacts.

Option 2:

1. Flash a custom TouchWiz ROM.

2. Install something like Nova Launcher.

This should take care of aesthetics, bloat and some stock apps, leaving only the unchangeable stock apps like Dialer and Camera (although they may be improved or themed differently).

Option 3:

1. Flash CM/AOSP/AOKP.

While this may take a while to get stable (as with most new devices), there will inevitably at least unofficial support or ports of these ROM's. If you still have issues (ie. with stability), you probably should have gotten a Nexus.

I'd argue that TouchWiz Nature UX isn't bad at all (aside from possibly aesthetics, although that is subjective), and aside from being well optimized, light and stable also gives you a closer-to-stock experience than other frameworks (ie. Sense) if you desire it, and still packs a ton of extra features (it's pretty hard to argue that multi-window and floating touch are gimmicks, even if you don't care for most of the other features). I find it to be a legitimate, feature-packed take on Android that doesn't harm the way it functions (while I feel Sense tries too hard to undermine stock Android's interface).
[Galaxy S 4 General] howtomen:
All of u look at jelly bean domination by vertumus... Makes touchwiz look soooo good without any loss of features

trolol and awayyy!! Expect typos this is my phone.
[Galaxy S 4 General] system.img:
IMO Touchwiz feels more unique and exciting to use compared to AOSP or Sense or whatever else. It doesn't look that good compared to other skins but it offers a lot of functionality and customisation.
[Galaxy S 4 General] pewpew345:
TouchWiz may suck like sh*t back in the days of pre-ICS but android optimization and raw processing power has come a really long way (well, 2 years is quite long compared to how advancement has been made). Nowadays, it might have some bloatware left that can be disabled once people fiddle with custom ROM and the performance is pretty much getting smoother by iterations. I felt this like the situation of Windows 8 all over again, people calling it crap just because of peer pressure or bandwagoning.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Swisser:
Yes... Yes you would....This is the interwebz. Flamers would flame in the garden of Eden.
[Galaxy S 4 General] xPr0metheus:
Damn I love some answers here :D
[Galaxy S 4 General] j510:
K either don't get it, use a launcher, or develop a rom to get rid of it. Not that complicated.

Personally touchwiz is my favorite ui. Stock is to boring for me and lacks tons of features.
[Galaxy S 4 General] jameski182:
Samsung Galaxy S4

I think Samsung Galaxy S4 as overall next level mobile technology is great
[Galaxy S 4 General] AccipioXXX:
TW is very good but the bad thing about TW is the design.

It wouldn't botter me if themes didn't need to be updated on every release (which are very regular) and like have seen with Domination theme, this is not that easy to get latest update themed especially if you use some nices mods or frameworks.

So my wish is to get TW from Samsung but with AOSP look.

No chances that will happend :).
[Galaxy S 4 General] LaweK:
cool :D
[Galaxy S 4 General] :
Same for me. The Galaxy S4 vould be a very interesting phone without TouchWiz.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Kremata:
The problem is, Samsung doesn't only want to separate themselves from Apple but also from the other Android phone makers. So the AOSP look is far from want Samsung wants.
[Galaxy S 4 General] AccipioXXX:
What about multi windows ? You don't like it ?
[Galaxy S 4 General] :
I like it. But I really don't like the settings, the status bar and the launcher. But yes, multi windows is a real good thing !

Kremata> Yes...
[Galaxy S 4 General] AccipioXXX:
So finaly you like touchwiz but as many people, you don't like the theme used by Samsung.

About the launcher, when i see the amount of downloaded Nova, Apex, Adw, Cameleo, Go and many other launchers, i'm wondering who still use defaut launchers on their smartphone :).

Best solution for us is to use Domination theme from Vertumus but unfornately, he is alone doing the job and the releases are not very fast so far.
[Galaxy S 4 General] persheshhater:
it is very difficult to find another launcher...
[Galaxy S 4 General] xPr0metheus:
That's an interesting point that most of the People here talk about tw but they mean mostly the launcher. But there are the toggles, the drawer, multi window, page buddy and so on. That's what is so cool about this ui.
[Galaxy S 4 General] sauron0101:
The problem is that it only changes the launcher and not the touchwiz software under the hood. For that the only cure is an Aosp based rom, which Samsung is unwilling to help the devs make.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Closed Source Project:
There are countless free launchers on the play store. Just start with nova. It's one of the best AOSP similar ones. Just install it like a regular app then done.
[Galaxy S 4 General] suXor:
If you visit thus forum, your are the 10-20% that think this. The rest of the consumers love it and/or don't care. Don't blame the manufacturer for appealing to the masses. Do you really think they do this without research and focus groups? I can tell you first hand, that we do.

Don't get me wrong, I am not the biggest fan of all of it, but the point is appealing to the masses which this forum is not.
[Galaxy S 4 General] squidder:
Is this a joke or can I not read?
[Galaxy S 4 General] climo:
I hope everyone understands if you remove the Touchwiz interface you loose all the new features (dual camera, drama shot, etc) exclusive to the S4. Like it or not these features are integrated into the Touchwiz framework and will not work if you install CM or other non Touchwiz rom. So if want the S4 in all its glory then you must accept the Touchwiz interface. Sure the icons and colors may not appeal to everyone but that's what launchers are for.
[Galaxy S 4 General] cybershawngates:
http://phandroid.com/2012/12/15/20-...-stock-android-experience-without-root-guide/

this is a great guide. I used holo launcher and omega status bar to make GB android look all the world like JB! (Epic 4g). I'll be hoping to do the same with holo launcher when I get my S4 tomorrow hopefully.
[Galaxy S 4 General] optimummind:
Yupz, I love my Holo Launcher~! I already have it installed but still using TW for a bit more.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Al Gore:
I'm kind of shocked that you can't even move the app drawer to the centre of the dock. This alone is enough reason for me to install a 3rd party launcher.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Terrorantula:
It makes the phone for me...
[Galaxy S 4 General] FCORivers:
Ive had a htc hd2 and lg optimus before my s2, obviously, and I love sense and tw. Each launcher has its pros and cons, I actually like tw over lg ui. Sense its so complete as a launcher/ui that I didnt need most apps I used to have. Tw is faster and lighter than sense, but, not as complete compared to sense. Whatever, have tried many different launchers before and none works half as good as stock on any device, always, they are meant for the phone it came in. The hell with this, I love the most wp8 ui because is instant fast and fluid, seamless, but without apps/dev support in terms of availability whats the use?

Anyway, I love tw on my s2 and sense on the hd2. Anything on my lg but lg ui, lol...
[Galaxy S 4 General] Denomenance:
Totally disagree, using Nova, I now only have the slightest whiff of Touchwiz
[Galaxy S 4 General] nookcoloruser:
You're in a fancy restaurant, with a very expensive menu on the table. However just outside the window of the restaurant there is an open sewer that is overflowing full of s**t.

Now just as your about to tuck into your fancy meal every now and then you keep getting the 'whiff' of the raw festering s**t outside.

Does it spoil your meal ?

..........

The only thing I'm dreading about my GS4 when it arrives is touchwiz and Samsung's over bloating. I will be installing a stock JB launcher, but I'm still hesitant that the other touchwiz parts will ruin the experience for me.
[Galaxy S 4 General] MaKTaiL:
Don't buy a Samsung device then. Most of the cool new things are what you call bloatware. If you don't like them, why buy it?
[Galaxy S 4 General] Highway 55:
Why on earth would you buy a Galaxy device if you prefer the look of AOSP? Why not just buy a Nexus 4 or wait for Nexus 5?

I actually am coming from a Nexus device because I am bored with AOSP at this point. The holo theme had been relatively unchanged since ICS came out almost 2 years ago. I hope the mix it up a bit for KLP...
[Galaxy S 4 General] nookcoloruser:
Because I just spent 3 weeks with an HTC One and I had to send it back because it's camera is faulty / defective on my handset.

That device is lovely, but overall the camera was particularly the weakest area for me, and it was beginning to grind. It just doesn't have enough pixels, and I have to wait up to 2 weeks to get a replacement.

In the meantime I'm using the carrier upgrade that I can avail of to get an S4, because despite touchwiz I actually like the hardware and the 13 mega pixel camera looks very good.

It's been a while since I had Touchwiz (SGS2) and hope that the couple of years has made it better. Though I remain skeptical.

So here is the tradeoff / deal I am currently deciding.

Do I put up with the HTC One and sense which I actually like, but deal with the poor camera.

Or do I put up with the SGS4 and have to use Nova (or make do with Touchwiz) but have the better camera hardware.

What I am going to do is give the SGS4 a couple of weeks use and if I just cant get used to it software wise, I'll sell it. If I can, I'll sell the replacement HTC One.

I thought the whole idea of android was choice, and yet as soon as anyone has any criticism about any aspect of any particular device - you get flamed from over sensitive users as if your own personal choice somehow affects them when it doesnt. My opinion is my own, my choices are my own, I respect other people who prefer A or B as I understand subjectivity...

Neither of you pay my bills - neither of you have ANY right to say what I do or do not buy. period.

I don't want to wait for the Nexus 5 in September, and there is no guarantee hardware wise it will be better than the SGS4 or HTC One.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Dannar:
And nobody did. You asked for their advice. Why get so offended?

Duely blundered from my thunderdolt.
[Galaxy S 4 General] JasonJoel:
No kidding. Why ask for opinions if your going to get ass hurt over the answers?

Don't like the launcher? Fine. Use a different one.

Don't want to use a different one? Fine. Live with the stock one or don't get the phone at all.

It is all quite simple.