What's the obsession with stock Android?
- Thread starter jamsy
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Crash55118
Member
I mainly dislike Samsung because of the inherent problems with Touchwiz actually making the heap smaller for developers, thus causing all apps to run more slowly then identical hardware running another skin, or stock android.
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Google does have the first advantage, I agree, but a person can switch search providers to duckduckgo, use the Amazon App Store, etc. if they really wanted to. Some Xperia phones have AOSP ROMs provided by Sony right?
I've had a Galaxy Nexus since release, and I'm not sure why stock android is so amazing. My phone is slow and choppy, with bad battery life too. I'm running CM11 on android 4.4.2, which I understand KitKat isn't fully supported. When trying out a Note 2 or GS5, I don't see any slowdown, though that may be because I'm not using them for long enough.
As for updates, I'm not sure the benefit of getting them right away is better than getting them at all. My GN stopped being supported by Google with the launch of the Nexus 5 and 4.4, and recently I saw that the Galaxy S3 got an update for 4.4.4, and that phone is just a few months newer than mine.
As for updates, I'm not sure the benefit of getting them right away is better than getting them at all. My GN stopped being supported by Google with the launch of the Nexus 5 and 4.4, and recently I saw that the Galaxy S3 got an update for 4.4.4, and that phone is just a few months newer than mine.
This. But it is possible to get ROMs that strip out the bloatware while leaving the other manufacturer-specific stuff in place. My phone is still running HTC's Sense, but it has all the AT&T shit stripped out of it.
On the flip side, I had a friend who was completely die-hard when it came to ROMing his phone (ROM of the week, going to great lengths to squeeze out a little more from his phone), but when his phone died and he got a new one, I think it may have been a Note 2, he surprised himself by not ROMing it.. he said he hadn't yet found a reason to, that the stock version worked perfectly well. He had nothing he wanted to strip out, and nothing that he needed to add that couldn't be done with widgets and apps.
Kill Your Masters
Member
The only thing that's comical was the Gnex display, before you have to fix it with a custom kernel. But yeah, the newer ones got better for sure.
Battery life on a Z2 or similar phones, while running CM and similar enhanced stock experiences should not reach the same level as the original FW. Because 3rd party roms can't tap the hardware directly. It's also why you get a poor stock camera experience when you go that way. Correct me if I'm wrong though.
Because it's a clusterfuck? Samsung phones are the best selling Android phones. Nexus is a niche product.
Bloat is subjective. I don't use Google Play Movies and TV, Google Play Books, Google Play Newsstand, Google News and Weather. I have to disable it the same way I have to disable any Samsung crap I don't want.
Druz
Member
I have a G Nex too. Some things you should know... our phone has issues with memory. Seems to age and fuck up eventually causing slowness.
Aside from that, the main reason we do not see support anymore is because there is our chip in our phone by Texas Instruments -- who stopped working on it. So they don't update us.
whatsinaname
Member
There are some features of Touchwiz I do use a lot and I can handle the bad design as well. But the uninstallable apps and delayed Android releases have been a larger pain than I thought they would be. My next phone will be a Nexus device.
This is the proof.
SpookyFries
Member
Do you like buying a computer with a bunch of pointless and shitty applications built in that bog it down?
Jazzy Network
Member
Um people buy Windows PCs?
Other manufacturers often add great features above stock Android, and that's awesome. Stock Android is missing some great features that other manufacturers have added.
The problem is that, for some reason, they ALSO feel the need to put their own skin over top Android, and it NEVER is even close to as beautiful. It also adds more stutter and lag. Stock Android is beautiful and responsive.
Motorola made a version of Android for a phone awhile back, and it was basically stock Android but added some great features. I think most post are fine with that. Just don't mess around with the looks and responsiveness.
The problem is that, for some reason, they ALSO feel the need to put their own skin over top Android, and it NEVER is even close to as beautiful. It also adds more stutter and lag. Stock Android is beautiful and responsive.
Motorola made a version of Android for a phone awhile back, and it was basically stock Android but added some great features. I think most post are fine with that. Just don't mess around with the looks and responsiveness.
Unknown Soldier
Member
It's not even a bandwagon, it's just that the stock cultists are more vocal than the normal people. There's over 500 million devices alone sold by Samsung out in the wild with the Touchwiz skin, you don't see all 500 million of them on Internet forums whining about it the way the stock cultists whine about every little thing.
Right?
The first thing I did with my Xperia was get rid of it and then I installed Pie Control, if I knew how I'd probably get rid of my notification bar too.
I completely agree with you.
Good on those for who enjoy stock vanilla but I'd rather have more features over performance.
This is why people use custom roms + xposed framework.
Stock will never include all the things that Google has left out for no good reason, and manufacturer skins will have tons of features, but 3x more than you actually use.
Hell, even stock (with Gapps) comes with tons of useless junk. Nobody uses Play Movies...
Stock will never include all the things that Google has left out for no good reason, and manufacturer skins will have tons of features, but 3x more than you actually use.
Hell, even stock (with Gapps) comes with tons of useless junk. Nobody uses Play Movies...
family_guy
Member
I agree with OP. Now Touchwiz is a ram hog and Samsung definitely needs to fix that but the added functionality is appreciated. I love the native MKV support instead of having to install an app to play my movies. HTC's Sense is probably the best IMO. Stock Android has a terrible dialer/contacts app and bad camera software. Some of the features Google's put in stock Android to make it better were already implemented in Samsung and HTC's implementations.
ZackieChan
Member
I buy shows on Google Play...
Stock is great, but I am loving CM on my OnePlus One.
Every GalaxyS phone I've seen had some awful Comic Sans-looking font. Awful! This was a couple years ago, so maybe it's changed.
I rent from Google Play...nice streaming to Chromecast!
Pickles Spill
Member
This only happens when people buy prebuilt from Dell, HP, etc. This is pretty much the same as buying a phone with bloatware on it. Windows doesn't have bloatware preinstalled on it.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
As someone who dealt with bloat and junk from my S3, the Nexus 5 blows it out of the water with far less garbage. Forget performance. I'm talking about memory hogging apps and general sluggishness with what Samsung considers I should use.
There's not much that I miss going from aftermarket and bloated Android to stock.
I don't even want another phone without stock Android. I'm not even one of those super obsessed enthusiasts. Stock is just better much like a fresh Windows install.
There's not much that I miss going from aftermarket and bloated Android to stock.
I don't even want another phone without stock Android. I'm not even one of those super obsessed enthusiasts. Stock is just better much like a fresh Windows install.
Thursday War
Banned
There is a flashlight and you can close all your apps at once.
I'm running 4.4.4 custom ROM BTW but it should have all those features.
I'm running 4.4.4 custom ROM BTW but it should have all those features.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
That's another thing I've been impressed with the N5. The thing doesn't hitch at all. Sure the spec is nice but unlike a garbage filled OS, there is absolutely no lag on my phone. That's mainly due to me choosing what I want I stead of being force fed features and bloat I will never use.
Again, much like a PC manufacturer like Dell, who wants to put tons of crap I have to uninstall before I get what I want out of an efficient OS. That's one of the reasons I build my own PC's these days.
poopninjamvc3mk
I sucked six dicks to get this tag.
Honestly kinda like the HTC skin on my HTC one m8 now, it grew on me. Was gonna try to root and get stock at first but didn't feel like it. I definitely hate some of the sprint bloat and I have not a goddamn clue what HTC Zoe is for tho, so I'm gonna have to root and find out how to get that off eventually.
Jazzy Network
Member
Um they do. Bloatware is what you think is useless. There are some useless shit on stock Windows IMO.
regarding issue #2, in Android 4.4 you're not supposed to close apps due to it's application caching feature. Apps that aren't in use are automatically loaded out of memory, no need to close them. By closing unused apps, it then takes twice as long to open them because the OS has to load all data back into memory.
Marty Chinn
Member
Zoe is simply a form of burst shot where it captures a bunch of pics one second before you hit the button to two seconds afterward for a total of three seconds. You can then select the shot that turned out right and you'll also have a three second video clip as well. It's a neat feature.
Zoe was around like a year ago? And only now has google added the burst feature into lollipop.
Winterblink
Member
Yep, it's been recommended practice for a long time now to let Android deal with memory use itself.
And you can easily uninstall/disable it without voiding your warranty.
Jazzy Network
Member
Ooooookaaaayyyy....?
Your Entertainer
Member
Look at Lollipop. Beautiful. Hell, Sense and iOS too.
Now look at the latest Touchwiz. With its clashing design, noticeably slower performance and overall aesthetic heavily reminiscent of fucking Gingerbread. And this Touchwiz has been through many revisions and improvements - older versions were even worse. Not to mention a few useful additions hidden in a sea of garbage gimmicks. Why the fuck is the default still to make a water drop noise on tap? Seriously, fucking terrible.
Now look at the latest Touchwiz. With its clashing design, noticeably slower performance and overall aesthetic heavily reminiscent of fucking Gingerbread. And this Touchwiz has been through many revisions and improvements - older versions were even worse. Not to mention a few useful additions hidden in a sea of garbage gimmicks. Why the fuck is the default still to make a water drop noise on tap? Seriously, fucking terrible.
The Albatross
Member
With older phones, it was a real problem. I had the Samsung Droid Charge, it was the only decent Sammy phone available on Verizon a few years ago. It had a custom UI that wasn't horrible, but just ugly, and it also came PACKED with software both Verizon and Samsung that I didn't want. Worst of all was an audio app that you couldn't uninstall, that autoplayed every time it connected to a bluetooth connection. So, if I was near my computer, got into my car, or anywhere near bluetooth w/ audio, the app would open and start playing. Worst of all, it played ANY audio files on the phone, including voice mails ... so every time I got in my car, some old voicemail file from 2008 would start playing on my phone.
It was horrible.
You couldn't uninstall it, couldn't turn it off, couldn't do anything. Also certain apps would just kill battery. You'd reset the phone and they'd all auto-start and one or two were glitched and just destroyed the battery.
There were plenty of other things like this but that was the most memorable. On top of that, Samsung never updated the rom so I was stuck with Android 2.3.3 or something years after it had been released.
It was horrible.
You couldn't uninstall it, couldn't turn it off, couldn't do anything. Also certain apps would just kill battery. You'd reset the phone and they'd all auto-start and one or two were glitched and just destroyed the battery.
There were plenty of other things like this but that was the most memorable. On top of that, Samsung never updated the rom so I was stuck with Android 2.3.3 or something years after it had been released.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
The exception being rogue apps doing crazy shit they aren't supposed to.
Winterblink
Member
I'll uninstall (or never install) apps that are found to do crazy shit they aren't supposed to.
Exactly. Apps in the 'recents' are in a paused state more often than not. If they're doing stuff in the background it means they have a separate service running on its own doing it's thing. Whether or not the app is 'closed' by being removed from the recents list doesn't affect anything because that only closes the user facing activity rather than stop the service.
And that's where a program like greenify comes in.
I have a moto g 2014. So that's a stock android device. For me personally, I needed a fast phone for my budget. I really don't see any other budget phone at the moto g's level by other companies that are filled with bloatware that slows things to a crawl or gimped in the most horrible fashion. Stock Android makes the overall experience of low spec/budget phones enjoyable.
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