What's the obsession with stock Android?
- Thread starter jamsy
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It only takes one action. Two finger swipe, as had been mentioned multiple times in this thread
Stock android is gimped. I've never ran a nexus on stock android and never will till google starts implementing some of the simple features that the Dev community has been using for years. But I'd take it over the OEM skins any day of the week.
But that's just the thing, why do you need a 2 finger swipe gesture to see your battery %? What if you're using the phone with one hand? It then becomes a 2 step process. In 2014 It's almost as comical as iOS not allowing you to have custom wallpapers.
Winterblink
Member
I prefer it because there's no preinstalled cruft that I know I won't use, and I'll get more timely updates to the OS when they're released. Pretty simple. If you like Touchwiz, or any non-stock OS then fine, enjoy it while not demonizing those of us who like stock.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
You press the button on top of notifications to switch the page. Are you guys sure you are using stock android? Because it's all there.
I'm guessing you guys probably didn't know you can long press on those toggles in the notification settings page to turn on and off those icons as well right?
And what does stock need to add that the dev community has that current kit Katy doesn't have and what isn't coming on Android L?
We are taking about a brightness slider here... but sure, install something to show you a number 100% of the time. I could ask the same question in reverse, why do you need to know the percentage of your battery all the time? It's as meaningless an argument as double tapping to get to a quick toggle with one finger
2 - wrong - Battery life is better on the same phone with and without stock
3 - this is just comical because stock was actually one of the few places to get proper color calibration and not shit glowing colors
PSYGN
Member
You have to understand that the obsessors of stock are typically the same people who likes to customize every single aspect of their phone and/or wants everything in it's purest form at the same time.
Stock is pretty barebones, but there is a whole lot of customization that opens up if you start from a stock base like themes that you can't do or do as smoothly with TouchWiz. And there isn't really any bloat besides Google's few extras which you may use.
As for me, I'm fine with Samsung Galaxy S4 w/TouchWiz... but the stock Android Lollipop looks really good and I'd be tempted to find a way to use it on my phone, but in my experience the custom roms today tend to be unstable and chew through the battery quicker than the factory rom. I used to be all about customizing like that, but I simply don't care these days. Just have it work stable and consistently and I'll adapt.
Stock is pretty barebones, but there is a whole lot of customization that opens up if you start from a stock base like themes that you can't do or do as smoothly with TouchWiz. And there isn't really any bloat besides Google's few extras which you may use.
As for me, I'm fine with Samsung Galaxy S4 w/TouchWiz... but the stock Android Lollipop looks really good and I'd be tempted to find a way to use it on my phone, but in my experience the custom roms today tend to be unstable and chew through the battery quicker than the factory rom. I used to be all about customizing like that, but I simply don't care these days. Just have it work stable and consistently and I'll adapt.
Turned all my animations off, my Note 3 interface is still slower than my Nexus 5's.
There's other things too like the occasional stutter. Just scrolling through the Note's menu system it will occasionally drop a frame or stop scrolling smoothly. Never seem to have this issue on the Nexus 5.
And it's two actions when using your phone one-handed as has been mentioned multiple times in this thread.
It may seem like a small thing, but I can tell you as someone who uses both stock and Touchwiz devices daily that it is a noticeable inconvenience to me.
Winterblink
Member
The two finger swipe is going away in L anyway.
No... It's not
It is? It's still there on the Android L preview.
Winterblink
Member
Really? I saw a video preview showing the two finger swipe no longer there. If I'm wrong then I'm wrong, thanks for correcting me.
I think you might be confused as Google Now is nothing like Nova launcher.
But if you're not, I don't understand why you'd uninstall Google Now. The deep integration is the best thing about Android.
Since when does iOS not allow custom wallpapers?
I prefer the look of stock android over OEM skins, and I appreciate the distinct lank of OEM jank (stuttering, laggy touch response) when using a stock or near-stock device.
highrider
Banned
Maybe, I don't know much about this stuff. But when I installed Google now it changed the home screen and everything else like Nova launcher.
BertramCooper
Banned
For every genuinely useful feature in TouchWiz, there are at least 2-3 that are nothing more than extraneous crap. It's an insanely bloated skin that really drags down the phone's performance.
Plus, it's fucking ugly. Not as ugly as it used to be, but not once has it ever been a cosmetic upgrade to stock Androideven back in the pre-ICS days when stock wasn't all that attractive. It always makes it look worse. Considerably worse. And it's going to be even more apparent once Samsung fucks up Lollipop, which is downright gorgeous.
Plus, it's fucking ugly. Not as ugly as it used to be, but not once has it ever been a cosmetic upgrade to stock Androideven back in the pre-ICS days when stock wasn't all that attractive. It always makes it look worse. Considerably worse. And it's going to be even more apparent once Samsung fucks up Lollipop, which is downright gorgeous.
lunchtoast
Member
By using stock people mean using a rom or xposed framework right?
I never knew this.. My world has changed for the better.. Thank you
PARTYNEXTDOOR
Banned
Lame.
Anyways TouchWiz just has a terrible UI and the font they use for it is disgusting. Not to mention all the shitty apps that come with it.
i have never noticed a problem with my one m8.
The internet blows up phone issues and tiny differences between phones drastically out of proportion. It's even worse than console warz.
"the font is making me go blind!!11 the spacing is .0001mm off center! there's a perceptible 2ms stutter when opening a program! Only 3 hours battery life with HD youtube videos running over wi-fi the whole time."
The internet blows up phone issues and tiny differences between phones drastically out of proportion. It's even worse than console warz.
"the font is making me go blind!!11 the spacing is .0001mm off center! there's a perceptible 2ms stutter when opening a program! Only 3 hours battery life with HD youtube videos running over wi-fi the whole time."
People are emitionally invested in their phones. These are intimately personal devices now, and we expect the best. Problems might be overstated but the tendency to exaggerate rises out of a typical two-year span of being tied to this thing as your primary method of distance communication.
MarkMclovin
Member
First world problems right here.
The battery icon in the top bar is more then enough to gauge how much you have left. Just like people don't need to know the dB of the phones signal too.
Jazzy Network
Member
The average person really doesn't give a shit though. If stock android is really that important to most people, they would get a Nexus or a Moto X. Devices like Samsung, LG, and HTC offer a good out-of-box experience and that's what alot of people like. How many devices have you seen out in the wild that when turned on, people haven't even touched it and everything uses the same wallpaper/layout as when it originally came with? People don't give a shit. They want to add their contacts and download their apps and use their phone.
Why does that matter? This thread is for people who do give a shit. Enthusiast coverage is for people interested in the ins and outs of whatever expensive handset they are planning to buy. The general phone-buying public is not relevant to the discussion.
There is a certain level of free time, interest, and technological literacy required to understand and be knowledgeable about phone operating systems. I thought that went without saying. Most people don't know about the alternatives or have a reason to know why alternatives exist in the first place (I'm talking here about difference between OEM skins and stock android, not the difference between iOS/Android which has generally seeped into public consciousness).
Jazzy Network
Member
True. I'm just trying to make a point to people in here that shove stock android down everyone's throat like it is somehow god's gift to humanity.
Consider the flip side, where those who want a certain phone without half-hearted OEM alterations and bloatware out of the box are out of luck.
Jazzy Network
Member
I don't believe this because Android has enough OEMs to make a phone for basically anybody. Plus if you are considering the demographic of this thread, then most of the people can root and stick roms essentially doing whatever the fuck they want with whatever hardware they buy.
jamesinclair
Banned
One hundred percent agree.
Stock is like three steps behind useful features. And it's fucking ugly.
I think it's some weird bandwagon effect
Stock is like three steps behind useful features. And it's fucking ugly.
I think it's some weird bandwagon effect
Rooting is an additional process. It is OEM skins that are "being forced down the throats" of consumers. Stock Android is the exception, not the rule.
Note I'm not saying you are wrong to prefer TouchWiz or whatever else to stock. But it is bizarre to complain that an enthusiast preference for stock is somehow preventing you from enjoying your skin of choice.
Nexus 5 is my first android phone so the only thing I can compare it too is iOS, but I've never found it bare bones. It has everything I think I'd need, I don't think any missing features mentioned in the OP is needed at all.
Hell back when I had an iPhone I never turned on battery percentage since its basically useless and I don't really ever need to know the exact percentage. It'll warn you pretty often when its getting low anyways.
Hell back when I had an iPhone I never turned on battery percentage since its basically useless and I don't really ever need to know the exact percentage. It'll warn you pretty often when its getting low anyways.
Come Android 5.0 skins are going to become less of an issue for Android. That said, for me the feature set of stock or even AOSP outweigh vendor specific features on phones. In a perfect world, vendors would make their apps open to all phones not just theirs using Androids APIs.
Jazzy Network
Member
No stock is not the exception. Read through the thread. No one here is shoving Touchwiz or Sense or any other OEM skin down anyone's throat or in any other Android thread for that matter. Most of them are just saying stock isn't what it's cracked up to be and don't mind using the OEM skin they are currently using because they do offer a more unique user experience. They're not going "touchwiz rulez".
It's not bizarre. The reasoning is subjective. Most stock fans shove the reason why stock is superior down people's throats when in the end, chances are they don't really give a shit. Android updates are not as important as they used to be. I could be using Android Jelly Bean right now and miss a few things, but overall I would be using a 100% fine phone. Would it be nice to have them? Of course. I mean I'd love to have Lollipop on my G3 day one, but if I was using a N5 or whatever, I'd be missing on some things I love on my G3.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
It was gone in the June preview, so you had to swipe down twice (or swipe once and then tap the top bar). Pretty annoying for those of us who are used to opening quick settings with a single 2-finger swipe. Thankfully, it's back in the new preview.
Maybe I've missed the brunt of the stock crowd proselytizing the benefits of unskinned Android, but I have never seen a situation where stock superiority has been rammed down anyone's throat. If that's happening I can understand your frustration. I have never seen it.
On the other hand, many OEMs do not offer a choice between stock and skinned Android, so even if you want stock you are forced to
A.) buy an OEM skinned phone including bloatware
B.) pay a premium for a developer phone
C.) stick only to the Nexus line
D.) settle for a skin close to the real thing
E.) void warranty by rooting your device
Zombie James
Banned
Screw hideous UIs and unnecessary bloat. Does TouchWiz still look like a 2.x skin?
Because Google services aren't poorly designed, useless, or in the way...
Can you not tell the ballpark % just by looking at the little battery symbol? I have an iPhone and don't have battery percentage because I can basically guess within 10% of what it is just by looking at the symbol. If you REALLY need to see the % on stock android, you just pull down the screen with 2 fingers.
It's all user preference, so obviously what I'm saying could not apply to you but phones look so much cleaner without the % displayed
I have a question about my S3...
Several weeks ago my phone updated and the Touchwiz UI seemed to be replaced with something else (among other changes, Google Now is fixed as the left-most home screen) . Overall I like it more, but what is it? Is Touchwiz gone? Is it closer to stock Android? Is it just a newer version of Touchwiz? I'm on Android 4.4.2 which I don't think has been updated in months.
Several weeks ago my phone updated and the Touchwiz UI seemed to be replaced with something else (among other changes, Google Now is fixed as the left-most home screen) . Overall I like it more, but what is it? Is Touchwiz gone? Is it closer to stock Android? Is it just a newer version of Touchwiz? I'm on Android 4.4.2 which I don't think has been updated in months.
I'm not a big android fan, but here's the deal:
TouchWiz: A few things you might needs paired with a whole ton of things you don't, bogging down the system.
Stock: Cleaner, may not have those things you need, but nothing's stopping you from adding them.
So I guess it depends on your comfort level with customization.
TouchWiz: A few things you might needs paired with a whole ton of things you don't, bogging down the system.
Stock: Cleaner, may not have those things you need, but nothing's stopping you from adding them.
So I guess it depends on your comfort level with customization.
You just had Google Now Launcher installed somehow. A launcher just handles your homescreens and app drawer and stuff. Many people prefer GNL over that crap default launcher on Samsungs...
WhiskerFrisker
Member
I used to think the older version of Android looked bland. Then I saw Android L. All who say that stock looks ugly or doesn't have features will see the light once Android Lollipop officially releases. Material Design looks sexy and way better than touch Wiz or any other skin.
It's stupid. The point of Android was to be open so that others could build off of it not unlike Linux. It's really upsetting to see Google's sleazy power grab over fragmentation. Yeah, Android's open source but Google felt the need to create bullshit like the Open Handset Alliance that makes manufacturers sign agreements to not manufacture "Google certified" phones. Also the heavy handedness with their new agreements, Google apps including the Play store are all or nothing, you agree to have all front and center on the homescreen, use Google as your search engine and integrate with Google Now or you get nothing. And because Google has so much power and influence over Android they have first release advantage making it much hardware to run compatible alternate app stores.
I'm really disappointed with how Google has handled this. Monopolizing an open-source project to get an advantage is really uncool. I'd love to see more alternatives that pull out the Google stuff. Sometimes I'm fine using their services, sometimes I'm not.
I'm really disappointed with how Google has handled this. Monopolizing an open-source project to get an advantage is really uncool. I'd love to see more alternatives that pull out the Google stuff. Sometimes I'm fine using their services, sometimes I'm not.
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