Sense vs. Vanilla

[GatorsUF]

Is the phone that much faster without Sense? Is it any better on the battery? I like the Sense apps but have thought of switching to vanilla if I can get better battery life and less occasional lag (like its really that bad ).

Just looking for Pros and Cons...Is ADW a good alternative? I tried Launcher Pro and it seemed run slow, maybe because sense was running behind it.

 

[SilentJoker]

with my experiences with both sense and non. Its just like using windows with no startbar. Doesnt helpspeed anything up nor improve anything. Been running non sense for a while now battery still same.

 

[metalmenance]

no differences in battery or speed to me
vanilla just seems like plain old droid i had before the Inc
Sense and Inc are way better in my opinion
Running new adrylene evo port rom and way better for everything

 

[adrynalyne]

If Sense was running on top of Android default OS, then I would say its causing issue. But its integrated into Android. Seamless, if you will.

 

[yojoe600]

didnt i see this posted over at XDA? hmm

Sense vs. Vanilla - xda-developers

 

[killadanny]

I prefer Sense, I think it cleans up Android a bit, More widgets Messages settings, Phone, Contact Lists, Facebook Sync, Scenes, Personalization, Accounts and Sync, Twitter, News, Weather, Time, Google, Stocks, and overall I just find it easier to use than Pure Vanilla.

 

[yojoe600]

ohh yea and sense is pretty.. thats why i like it plus i used it in my winmo days

 

[adrynalyne]

Yeah, Manila 2d was in huge demand on the Omnia

 

[Steven58]

I went from sense to faux motoblur on the X. I've purchased Beautful Widgets and have a special clock skin that makes it look very close to sense ui. I use launcher pro plus that has scrolling widgets, which blur doesn't have but sense does. I love sense. Take it from me, if you have a chance to get a phone with sense, jump on it. Sense if fantastic, imo.

 

[stkorn97]

I went from sense to faux motoblur on the X. I've purchased Beautful Widgets and have a special clock skin that makes it look very close to sense ui. I use launcher pro plus that has scrolling widgets, which blur doesn't have but sense does. I love sense. Take it from me, if you have a chance to get a phone with sense, jump on it. Sense if fantastic, imo.

couldnt agree more. i havent used much of the droid x so i really cant comment too much without more time spent, but i have used a droid 1 and vanilla just seems so bland to me after using it for awhile. sense is so much nicer to look at overall and feels more functional

 

[pucrepeap]

So how about Sense vs. Vanilla vs. Launcher Pro vs. ADW.

My Incredible is my first experience with Sense and it definitely was a good experience. Nice and smooth, and a lot of useful widgets.

Started using LaunchrePro after seeing some really nice layouts on a thread here on this site. Got my phone all tricked out and looking good, but did notice that it wasn't as smooth or quick. And I did miss some of those Sense widgets.

Was having a clean nice look to my phone worth the speed exchange? I don't know...

So right now I'm actually switching back and forth between the two. Don't know how long that'll last.

Not trying to get someone to make up my mind for me, but I'm rather curious to know how other people feel about it or have similar experiences like mine. Also wondering ho ADW fits in with the group.

Sense vs. Vanilla vs. Launch Pro vs. ADW

 

[Steven58]

I'd say that LPP > Sense because it is hiiiighly configurable. You can autosize widgets like motoblur on the DX (sweet). It has scrolling widgets, YOU CAN VIEW YOUR HOMESCREENS IN PORTRAIT MODE!.

You have a choice of how many homescreens you want and you can specify which one is the main screen. You have the options of placing a LOT of shortcuts or contacts that scroll along the bottom. I LOVE the 3d app drawer. I could go on.

I love sense, but I love LPP better!

 

[jtcarnes]

I've recently become an ADW fan. Granted, I tried it before Launcher Pro and loved it, so I might be a little un-objective. I found myself using Vanilla versions of a lot of stuff that came with Sense, so I decided to run with a Senseless 2.2. I'm currently using SkyRaider Vanilla, but it's got too much Sense stuff underneath so I think I'm going to try the Senseless Evo port and see how that goes.

Sense is nice and frilly and pretty but I just don't like how it's completely interwoven with Android with pretty much no way to get rid of it. The Inc was my first Android phone and I'm thankful that it had Sense because it made it easier to learn the OS... Now I kind of feel like it's time to get rid of the training wheels. I like Vanilla because it's SO configurable.

 

[GatorsUF]

didnt i see this posted over at XDA? hmm

Sense vs. Vanilla - xda-developers

you did, I actually intended on posting it here alone because this site seems more in tune with customizing. Whereas XDA is mostly a Dev site. Nevertheless I posted it there by accident but have received some good info.

 

[x0x]

Vanilla uses the stock Android Launcher (Home app) which is just another overlay/shell. It would be hard to gauge differences in speed between it and Sense (or LPP, etc). All are light weight. It's the widgets and any apps running in the background that sync or pull data at any regular interval that take resources and consume battery.

I used to be a big Sense fan (when I was new to Android), but now just find it boring and plain, especially after playing around with and using other home replacements.

On a related note...I think both Sense and Motoblur are a hinderance to the Android OS. What I mean by that is, they slow down the release times of updates and contribute to further fragmentation of the OS. IMHO, Sense should be offered as a Home Replacement (or maybe a pack available widgets), same with Motoblur.

 

[adrynalyne]

I disagree on the fragmentation issue.

Android is meant to be a modular platform. Its designed to be customized by the manufacturers. Vanilla android is a lackluster, unpolished project. This is slowly changing, but it hasn't yet. If it wasn't lackluster, then folks wouldn't be downloading home replacements and enhancements to make it viable for themselves. This too, was how Android was designed.

Fragmentation was caused more by Google releasing updates at a breakneck speed which just doesn't jive with a mobile handset market. It works just fine for the PC world, but thats it. Google has said they are slowing down releases. This is a good thing.

 

[Bug Splat]

I love Sense. Just makes things so much nicer. Tried LP and ADW and while they were nice and functioned great I really missed the options I had in Sense so I went back. A lot of default features in sense just make things easier. Sure I could find replacement widgets and features in the market but why when Sense had it already.

Last week I got to really play with a Droid running vanilla and it felt awful. It was so bland I was bored 2 minutes in not to mention it felt so laggy I wanted to scream. My Omnia was running just as fast if not faster. No way I could I leave it stock if it were mine. I'd jump to LPP in heart beat.

 

[x0x]

I disagree on the fragmentation issue.

Android is meant to be a modular platform. Its designed to be customized by the manufacturers. Vanilla android is a lackluster, unpolished project. This is slowly changing, but it hasn't yet. If it wasn't lackluster, then folks wouldn't be downloading home replacements and enhancements to make it viable for themselves. This too, was how Android was designed.

Fragmentation was caused more by Google releasing updates at a breakneck speed which just doesn't jive with a mobile handset market. It works just fine for the PC world, but thats it. Google has said they are slowing down releases. This is a good thing.

Right, so let the Home Replacements remain modular as well was what I was aiming at. Agreed on the 'original' meaning of 'fragmentation' (too many versions, new versions being released very frequently - on new hardware before existing versions are updated, etc.). With 2.2 I find Vanilla very usable, add the widgets you want/need and go from there.

 

[Frankeleyn]

I hate Sense - it just clutters up the interface. Leaving that aside, I occasionally have to do things with my wife's phone which has the dreaded sense interface.

Now the very first thing that annoys me is that with my vanilla Nexus, I turn the phone on and run my finger over the security pattern. With Sense I turn the phone on, pull the stupid useless bar down *before* I get to the security pattern. This extra action required just to use the phone annoys the hell out of me - can any sense enthusiast explain the purpose of this piece of clutter or better still tell me how to turn it off?

 

[CramRazz]

To those who think they are losing something with LauncherPro: try the pro version as it has almost every widget found in Sense and then some. I prefer vanilla Android because Sense is less configurable and because it's poorly tested. I originally rooted because my phone would reboot at random, soft keys would stop working, I'd get stuck in boot loops, my phone would run out of application space due to memory leaks, and I could not change anything to fit how I wanted. I rooted a while back and have had virtually no issues since. To me, Sense and other manufacturer modifications are a plague and should at least be optional.

 

[medwa]

I used sense on my incredible for over 6 months, then changed to LPP about 3 months ago, and I will honestly never go back.

I actually feel like LPP makes my incredible feel faster, smoother, and more enjoyable.

 

[WormDoes]

Now the very first thing that annoys me is that with my vanilla Nexus, I turn the phone on and run my finger over the security pattern. With Sense I turn the phone on, pull the stupid useless bar down *before* I get to the security pattern. This extra action required just to use the phone annoys the hell out of me - can any sense enthusiast explain the purpose of this piece of clutter or better still tell me how to turn it off?

+1 would love to know if this is possible. BTW, Sense UI FTW!

 

[Frankeleyn]

I know - it's baffling. The price of the T-Mobile version of the Hero being on a messed-around interface is that it is stuck on Android 1.5 when the rest of the world is on 2.2.

Even if you (for some utterly incomprehensible reason) enjoy the various bits of gimicky, juvenile clutter in Sense it surely can't possibly make up for the loss in functionality from being about 4 Android releases behind.

Is there a "Campaign for Real Android"? If so, I will donate!

 

[WBMc36]

i am running launcher pro plus as my main launcher right now, my phone has definitely slowed down a lot. Any way to speed this up and get sense off my phone, i assume rooting is the answer?

 

[Dannyseed]

I prefer vanilla. I've been running gingerbread for about a week now. Its so smooth I can't get my phone to lag at all. And battery life is awesooomeeee