Played with a Captivate and a Vibrant today

[greenrolaids]

Just like Motorola did with the Droid X, samsung is doing the same thing.

F-ing up the phone with its half assed ui.

Moto and Samsung should buy an htc phone and try to make a ui that does not suck, like the sense UI.

Both had weird lag issues with the camera, and the web browser.

I loved the super bright super amoled and the nice large screen.

But no thank you, unless its a stock android phone or it has Htc's sense then, NOPE...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biTqvEm4B08

 

[ghdtpdna]

F-ing up the phone with its half assed ui.

Moto and Samsung should buy an htc phone and try to make a ui that does not suck, like the sense UI.

Or nobody forces custom UI on the users. Sense is better integrated than the other 2 but I don't think it's necessary anymore. I was useful when Android was a little baby boy but now with all the sophistication it's could to without.
I think only thing Sense doing is making people FEEL like they need it and can't live without it, kind of like those prescription medicine, Hydrocodone and the likes. Once again Sense is pretty good and pretty. The Phone companies should stick to making metal objects not writing codes.

 

[Bearly]

Sense has flaws, too. It's just a more "mature" UI in that HTC has put it on a lot of phones, had a chance to get a lot of feedback, hence more tweaking with their custom UI.

I hate TouchWiz but on the Vibrant I played with everything was fast. Faster than my Incredible for sure.

Plus, the Galaxy S phones have been rooted so I expect a custom ROM for the Vibrant/Fascinate/Captivate before the fall (for everyone's sake).

 

[greenrolaids]

im not trying to hate on the fascinate.. I just hope it gets a bit more ironed out by the time it gets to Verizon..

 

[shante1012]

im not trying to hate on the fascinate.. I just hope it gets a bit more ironed out by the time it gets to Verizon..

I agree with you on this but i still want this phone it's got my attention. This is funny i was for sure gonna get the droid x but i saw the fascinate and got fascinated

 

[lonzom10]

I agree with you on this but i still want this phone it's got my attention. This is funny i was for sure gonna get the droid x but i saw the fascinate and got fascinated

Same here... I was planning on the X until I ran across an article on the Fascinate 3 days before the X launch. I started googling and decided this was the phone for me... now if VZ will just release it to us!

 

[Trapuhhloic]

the vibrant is a good phone, very fast and up to date.. only downfall is the signal display is unaccurate and mostly displays no signal but calls,web and text still works fine

 

[shante1012]

the vibrant is a good phone, very fast and up to date.. only downfall is the signal display is unaccurate and mostly displays no signal but calls,web and text still works fine

i hope we get 2.2 on this phone since we have to wait

 

[suXor]

Why does anyone care about the manufacturer's UI? If you don't like it, install a different one. There are plenty out there. At least they are putting effort into improving the user experience. It's not like you are stuck with it.

Trust me, there are many that don't like Sense either. To each their own.

 

[suXor]

Oh, and the video that was posted is hating on Microsoft and Verizon's choice to include their wares on the Fascinate, not the device itself.

 

[ghdtpdna]

Why does anyone care about the manufacturer's UI? If you don't like it, install a different one. There are plenty out there. At least they are putting effort into improving the user experience. It's not like you are stuck with it.

Trust me, there are many that don't like Sense either. To each their own.

Are you serious?
Just the fact that you HAVE to root(sometimes requires a custom rom)to get the UI removed is just despicable.
Harware company thinking that they can write good software is also. Companies need to just Android be.

 

[Don S]

Are you serious?
Just the fact that you HAVE to root(sometimes requires a custom rom)to get the UI removed is just despicable.
Harware company thinking that they can write good software is also. Companies need to just Android be.

I don't think Android right now is about companies "letting it be". It is open source and made to customize.

All of this hyperbole about some of the custom UIs on these phones is really funny IMO. Most of the time (with a few exceptions), these ROMS are a bit worse or a bit better than the stock experience. All of these comments about how XYZ's implementation is "SOOOO much worse" or SOO much better" is just silly IMO.

In this instance for example, what exactly is the gigantic issue with TouchWiz 3.0? It has that cool notification power widget toggle which seems great to me. It has a pretty cool looking music player (better than the stock IMO). It has the standard gallery app. It has unique and functional home screen management (can delete or move home screens easily and at will). It has IMO some other cool tweaks too.

I don't love everything, but jeez you'd think you couldn't even access your apps or something to read some of these comments. What exactly is the big problem for those how hate it so much, the widgets? Those can be moved. The bottom buttons? Preference I guess, but it's still better than stock IMO..

 

[suXor]

Are you serious?
Just the fact that you HAVE to root(sometimes requires a custom rom)to get the UI removed is just despicable.
Harware company thinking that they can write good software is also. Companies need to just Android be.

You don't need root to install a different UI...

 

[ghdtpdna]

You don't need root to install a different UI...

ok launcher pro and stuff like that don't count as UI.
Get back to me when we can disable Touchwiz w/o root.

 

[ghdtpdna]

I don't think Android right now is about companies "letting it be". It is open source and made to customize.

All of this hyperbole about some of the custom UIs on these phones is really funny IMO. Most of the time (with a few exceptions), these ROMS are a bit worse or a bit better than the stock experience. All of these comments about how XYZ's implementation is "SOOOO much worse" or SOO much better" is just silly IMO.

In this instance for example, what exactly is the gigantic issue with TouchWiz 3.0? It has that cool notification power widget toggle which seems great to me. It has a pretty cool looking music player (better than the stock IMO). It has the standard gallery app. It has unique and functional home screen management (can delete or move home screens easily and at will). It has IMO some other cool tweaks too.

I don't love everything, but jeez you'd think you couldn't even access your apps or something to read some of these comments. What exactly is the big problem for those how hate it so much, the widgets? Those can be moved. The bottom buttons? Preference I guess, but it's still better than stock IMO..

Actually I AM trying to say vanilla android is the best, since 2.0/2.1
I will give you an example. I have played with Vibrant, Droid X, and Droid Incredible where Vibrant < Droid X << Incredible (cpu/gpu wise).
However,for general scrolling speed and lag, Incredible beats the other two hands down. Samsung writes terrible software. Motorola isn't much better. HTC has been writing codes for Sense for a long time and it is able to exist without causing much harm to the user experience.

 

[Regalicious]

What part of TouchWiz that is not replaceable by a custom launcher like LauncherPro or ADW do you dislike? I actually like TouchWiz (including the homescreen and app drawer, minus the jerkiness when you have widgets). The little touches like the connectivity controls in the notifications bar Don S mentioned are handy.

Companies make custom UIs to differentiate, because they realized that software is the only meaningful way to do so in a visible and impactful way to the UX. Differentiating and competing on hardware (other than the industrial design -- and most people won't buy a phone SOLELY because it "looks better" than the other) is really hard, and communicating differentiating factors in hardware to the average consumer and convincing them that it matters is even harder.

From the user perspective -- yeah, the UIs need to mature and be more polished, etc. But you won't find any OEM willing to not push their custom UI because it doesn't make sense to them from a business standpoint. The best we can do is give feedback and wait for the software to become more mature (or for Google to push Android in a direction that doesn't encourage custom UIs)

 

[suXor]

ok launcher pro and stuff like that don't count as UI.
Get back to me when we can disable Touchwiz w/o root.

Ok, so if you replace the idle screens and menu with a 3rd party launcher, how does that not cover you? Sounds like Windows Phone is for you, no OEM customization.

 

[ghdtpdna]

Ok, so if you replace the idle screens and menu with a 3rd party launcher, how does that not cover you? Sounds like Windows Phone is for you, no OEM customization.

You got me completely wrong.
I am not against customizing but for it.
What I am against is not allowing the users to choose. In this case, I am all for launcher pro, ADW and the likes but we should also be allow to disable/remove Touchwiz/Sense/Blur.
Also do some research to understand the difference between items like Launcher Pro, adw and Sense/Blur/touchwiz.

 

[ghdtpdna]

What part of TouchWiz that is not replaceable by a custom launcher like LauncherPro or ADW do you dislike? I actually like TouchWiz (including the homescreen and app drawer, minus the jerkiness when you have widgets). The little touches like the connectivity controls in the notifications bar Don S mentioned are handy.

Companies make custom UIs to differentiate, because they realized that software is the only meaningful way to do so in a visible and impactful way to the UX. Differentiating and competing on hardware (other than the industrial design -- and most people won't buy a phone SOLELY because it "looks better" than the other) is really hard, and communicating differentiating factors in hardware to the average consumer and convincing them that it matters is even harder.

From the user perspective -- yeah, the UIs need to mature and be more polished, etc. But you won't find any OEM willing to not push their custom UI because it doesn't make sense to them from a business standpoint. The best we can do is give feedback and wait for the software to become more mature (or for Google to push Android in a direction that doesn't encourage custom UIs)

I said nothing about replacing the look but about disabling the UI. I could care less about how pretty things look but smooth navigation is very important.
If you install LP on Galaxy phones, Touchwiz is still running underneath it hogging up resources.
BTW Google is already trying to discourage 3rd party UI customization with Gingerbread but it's their "style" to forbid 3rd parties.

 

[suXor]

I said nothing about replacing the look but about disabling the UI. I could care less about how pretty things look but smooth navigation is very important.
If you install LP on Galaxy phones, Touchwiz is still running underneath it hogging up resources.
BTW Google is already trying to discourage 3rd party UI customization with Gingerbread but it's their "style" to forbid 3rd parties.

TW is a multi-element UI from Samsung:

• Multi-page menu system with ability to edit and rearrange menu items in the order or pages you see fit
• Launcher bar providing 3 slots for applications you use most + menu launcher
• Multi-page, editable idle screens allowing for the addition or removal of pages (1-7) on the fly
• Addition of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Airplane mode on the notification bar
• Samsung specific widgets
• Samsung specific Living Wallpapers

Except for the notification bar, each and every one of the above items are not loaded to memory when LauncherPro is selected as your default launcher. The notification bar is not using any more resources than it would, un-customized. I have validated this the Dalvik debugger.

 

[Arehexes]

TW is a multi-element UI from Samsung:

• Multi-page menu system with ability to edit and rearrange menu items in the order or pages you see fit
• Launcher bar providing 3 slots for applications you use most + menu launcher
• Multi-page, editable idle screens allowing for the addition or removal of pages (1-7) on the fly
• Addition of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Airplane mode on the notification bar
• Samsung specific widgets
• Samsung specific Living Wallpapers

Except for the notification bar, each and every one of the above items are not loaded to memory when LauncherPro is selected as your default launcher. The notification bar is not using any more resources than it would, un-customized. I have validated this the Dalvik debugger.

awesome to know, and burn

 

[OfTheDamned]

I've played with the Vibrant (coworker has one) as well as the Captivate (both my parents have them). Coming from a phone with Sense UI, I figured I would hate something that didn't have it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I really liked the look, feel and function of these Galaxy phones. They both performed quite well and have functions built that I actually think HTC overlooked. Pretty nice overall and a great form factor. I'm not too crazy about losing some specific parts of Sense, but I may be considering this phone when it comes out.

 

[ghdtpdna]

TW is a multi-element UI from Samsung:

• Multi-page menu system with ability to edit and rearrange menu items in the order or pages you see fit
• Launcher bar providing 3 slots for applications you use most + menu launcher
• Multi-page, editable idle screens allowing for the addition or removal of pages (1-7) on the fly
• Addition of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Airplane mode on the notification bar
• Samsung specific widgets
• Samsung specific Living Wallpapers

Except for the notification bar, each and every one of the above items are not loaded to memory when LauncherPro is selected as your default launcher. The notification bar is not using any more resources than it would, un-customized. I have validated this the Dalvik debugger.

Hmm I was not aware of that. Thank you.
But when LP is not selected could you just use vanilla toolbar and disable everything Touchwiz?
My doubt comes from my use with Droid X where at first Motorola claimed it has Motoblur, later changed to saying that it is simply an overlay, and now no one knows for sure. Only thing I know for sure is that you cannot completely disable it without rooting the phone.

 

[suXor]

There is no vanilla default Eclair (2.1) Idle UI, Menu, Contacts, etc. All has been replaced with Samsung's TW UI. Removing it would not accomplish anything, because then you would not have default applications for those elements. By installing an alternative UI/Launcher/etc, and settingit as the default, the elements replaced are no longer running.

Now, there is a service called Social Hub in the Galaxy S devices that provides synchronization with Facebook, MySpace, etc. If you don't set it up, it doesn't get used.

 

[ghdtpdna]

There is no vanilla default Eclair (2.1) Idle UI, Menu, Contacts, etc. All has been replaced with Samsung's TW UI. Removing it would not accomplish anything, because then you would not have default applications for those elements. By installing an alternative UI/Launcher/etc, and settingit as the default, the elements replaced are no longer running.

Now, there is a service called Social Hub in the Galaxy S devices that provides synchronization with Facebook, MySpace, etc. If you don't set it up, it doesn't get used.

That's good to know.
I noticed in Droid X, even when no using a single Blur UI, it shows up in the task manager, although I am not 100% sure if it is running or sleeping.