• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Why don't people like blur?!

qcom

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
101
5
I picked up my Atrix today.

I have owned the three iPhones before the iPhone 4, and have used the iPhone 4 as I know many people with it.

A little while back I tried out the Nexus One for fun but had problems as it appeared my device was defective.

I liked android a lot, but for some reason never picked up a new phone.

Well, now I'm going back to Android (yay!) and I have no regrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed the stock experience on the One when I had it before, but, I honestly almost enjoy blur at this point.

Mind you, I've only had the phone for a few hours. And it's been a while since I've used stock android, even though I've demoed the Nexus S in stores.

However, I understand the lust for a stock experience, and I think it's a shame that manufacturers force this kind of a choice on you, as it really impacts the overall experience greatly.

But, what are your guys' complaints about blur? I'd like to hear them just because I'm curious.

Also, maybe it's been the lag for some users with a blur phone in the past, but the dual-core and plenty of ram in the Atrix makes this quite a lag-free experience! :D
 
This is my also first experiance with the MotoBlur. I have to agree that it isn't so bad. I may try Launcher Pro if it can be installed just to compare it to MotoBlur.

LauncherPro can be installed, but you also need to install "Home Switcher" to be able to start up LauncherPro (Home Switcher also makes it easy to switch back to Blur if you want).
 
  • Like
Reactions: qcom
Upvote 0
When Moto Blur first came out it was HORRIBLE feature phone looking junk with required Blur log in to their servers. This gave it a very bad name. Motorola then toned it down a lot on the Droid X, Droid 2, and now the Atrix they tweaked it again. The new Blur is more stock then any of the others, HTC Sense has the best widgets, and Samsung TouchWiz is just fail.

Any stock device needs LauncherPro imo to make it more like vanilla with the best tweaks from all the custom GUI's added in.
 
Upvote 0
I just dont like skins like Sense, Touchwiz, Blur cause I feel they just in the way, I had an Evo and went to iPhone 4(because wife is in charge of the phones and we are no longer Advantage Club Members) but was thinking of Nexus S just because it pure Android BUT me and TMobile are not made for each other and I dont want to suffer with Edge on ATT if i popped this sim card into it. Thats my only complaint about android cause it lets the carriers do crazy stuff and add crapware. I love the ROMS that the devs make but if I do grab me an Atrix I definitely will Root and Flash an AOSP asap, just need time to go to ATT and play with it
 
Upvote 0
the ONLY thing i do not like about blur is the dock. I installed launcher pro, which changed the dock but left the motor blur essence intact.

Speaking from using a Droid X:

Same here. Thats what ppl complain about the most with lag and stutter when trying out current Motorola phones. I dont use the Blur widgets cuz they look plain and dull to me.

Aside from the launcher, widgets mostly everything else is stock Android. And Moto decided to mess with the lock screen. It was stock Android until they did some updates. Now its tweaked and it lags more than the stock Android lock screen.

If you change the launcher and lock screen, a current phone with Blur wont be so bad. One thing about Blur on Motorola phones from the Droid X and after, its the closest to stock Android you can get and still have a custom UI.

Maybe the extra Ram and dual core helps with Blur on the Atrix. Wish I could get one and find out...lol
 
Upvote 0
This is my also first experiance with the MotoBlur. I have to agree that it isn't so bad. I may try Launcher Pro if it can be installed just to compare it to MotoBlur.

I'm going to do a comparison as well, just to see which one operates smoother and is more practical with everyday use after I stop fondling it nonstop.. :p

the ONLY thing i do not like about blur is the dock. I installed launcher pro, which changed the dock but left the motor blur essence intact.

I agree. I also thought the idea of having the dock change to showing those page indicators once you're changing homescreens was kind of clever, but it is a little more of a hassle during everyday tasks.

Also, I don't understand the need for a contacts button, when the phone will take you there anyway. A big browser button would have been much more optimal.

LauncherPro can be installed, but you also need to install "Home Switcher" to be able to start up LauncherPro (Home Switcher also makes it easy to switch back to Blur if you want).

Is that what will prompt you for "Always use this for this kind of action" or whatever? Or is "Home Switcher" something else?


When Moto Blur first came out it was HORRIBLE feature phone looking junk with required Blur log in to their servers. This gave it a very bad name. Motorola then toned it down a lot on the Droid X, Droid 2, and now the Atrix they tweaked it again. The new Blur is more stock then any of the others, HTC Sense has the best widgets, and Samsung TouchWiz is just fail.

Any stock device needs LauncherPro imo to make it more like vanilla with the best tweaks from all the custom GUI's added in.

That sounds a lot worse than it is now, so I'm glad they (sort of) got their act together. Yeah, TouchJizz has that awkward iPhone-esque app panel too.

I really am excited about LauncherPro, I'm going to download right now. You can keep some of blur's cool stuff, then?

I just dont like skins like Sense, Touchwiz, Blur cause I feel they just in the way, I had an Evo and went to iPhone 4(because wife is in charge of the phones and we are no longer Advantage Club Members) but was thinking of Nexus S just because it pure Android BUT me and TMobile are not made for each other and I dont want to suffer with Edge on ATT if i popped this sim card into it. Thats my only complaint about android cause it lets the carriers do crazy stuff and add crapware. I love the ROMS that the devs make but if I do grab me an Atrix I definitely will Root and Flash an AOSP asap, just need time to go to ATT and play with it

I got you. What is an AOSP? I've heard that the bootloader needs to be unlocked in order to run ROMs of different kernels. Say, Gingerbread, for instance.

Speaking from using a Droid X:

Same here. Thats what ppl complain about the most with lag and stutter when trying out current Motorola phones. I dont use the Blur widgets cuz they look plain and dull to me.

Aside from the launcher, widgets mostly everything else is stock Android. And Moto decided to mess with the lock screen. It was stock Android until they did some updates. Now its tweaked and it lags more than the stock Android lock screen.

If you change the launcher and lock screen, a current phone with Blur wont be so bad. One thing about Blur on Motorola phones from the Droid X and after, its the closest to stock Android you can get and still have a custom UI.

Maybe the extra Ram and dual core helps with Blur on the Atrix. Wish I could get one and find out...lol

Actually, that's another major thing I don't like about blur. The lockscreen lags a decent percentage of the time, whilst the homescreens, for me at least, remain lag-free.
 
Upvote 0
Aosp is android open source project and when tour rooted you can flash Gingerbread ROMs and remove the crapware off you phone but sometimes it comes with a cost like when I had my Evo I used Cyanogen 6.1 and at that time 4G wasn't working with the ROM BUT it was as close to pure android I could get. And yes you have to be rooted to use them I was using Unrevoked but I am sure they have or are working on this root now
 
  • Like
Reactions: qcom
Upvote 0
Aosp is android open source project and when tour rooted you can flash Gingerbread ROMs and remove the crapware off you phone but sometimes it comes with a cost like when I had my Evo I used Cyanogen 6.1 and at that time 4G wasn't working with the ROM BUT it was as close to pure android I could get. And yes you have to be rooted to use them I was using Unrevoked but I am sure they have or are working on this root now

That sounds like a pretty good idea.

I need to give blur a little longer of actual use before I change it, but I like having my options open.
 
Upvote 0
I just dont like skins like Sense, Touchwiz, Blur cause I feel they just in the way, I had an Evo and went to iPhone 4(because wife is in charge of the phones and we are no longer Advantage Club Members) but was thinking of Nexus S just because it pure Android BUT me and TMobile are not made for each other and I dont want to suffer with Edge on ATT if i popped this sim card into it. Thats my only complaint about android cause it lets the carriers do crazy stuff and add crapware. I love the ROMS that the devs make but if I do grab me an Atrix I definitely will Root and Flash an AOSP asap, just need time to go to ATT and play with it

I believe the Nexus S for at&t just hit the FCC.
 
Upvote 0
I just dont like skins like Sense, Touchwiz, Blur cause I feel they just in the way, I had an Evo and went to iPhone 4(because wife is in charge of the phones and we are no longer Advantage Club Members) but was thinking of Nexus S just because it pure Android BUT me and TMobile are not made for each other and I dont want to suffer with Edge on ATT if i popped this sim card into it. Thats my only complaint about android cause it lets the carriers do crazy stuff and add crapware. I love the ROMS that the devs make but if I do grab me an Atrix I definitely will Root and Flash an AOSP asap, just need time to go to ATT and play with it

Sorry but there won't be any AOSPs until the bootloader gets cracked. All roms will have to be based off the Atrix kernel.

Now on the other hand Cyanogenmod 7 is already up & running on the Inspire 4G and it literally flies ... ;)
 
Upvote 0
I picked up my Atrix today.

I have owned the three iPhones before the iPhone 4, and have used the iPhone 4 as I know many people with it.

A little while back I tried out the Nexus One for fun but had problems as it appeared my device was defective.

I liked android a lot, but for some reason never picked up a new phone.

Well, now I'm going back to Android (yay!) and I have no regrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed the stock experience on the One when I had it before, but, I honestly almost enjoy blur at this point.

Mind you, I've only had the phone for a few hours. And it's been a while since I've used stock android, even though I've demoed the Nexus S in stores.

However, I understand the lust for a stock experience, and I think it's a shame that manufacturers force this kind of a choice on you, as it really impacts the overall experience greatly.

But, what are your guys' complaints about blur? I'd like to hear them just because I'm curious.

Also, maybe it's been the lag for some users with a blur phone in the past, but the dual-core and plenty of ram in the Atrix makes this quite a lag-free experience! :D

I'm glad you enjoy it :) Everyone has different preferences, and I think blur would be a fairly popular ROM if made by independent devs.

I guess the reason it bugs me is because I really like to have COMPLETE control over everything going on in my cell, and use whatever app or utility I want to handle different tasks. Motoblur is just a bit too intrusive for my tastes... it's like if blur could talk, it would be saying, "Don't worry about anything; you just give me your login name, password, etc, and I'll do all the work!" I'm sure that sounds great for many, but I would rather be doing that myself, or at least have the option to shut down certain functions of blur, especially considering that (compared to other skins, or "vanilla") blur is pretty system intensive.

But if YOU'RE digging blur, don't let haters tell you anything otherwise - it's all preference, so enjoy it! I'm glad that you also recognize that it's dumb for companies to force their skins upon the consumer instead of offering it as a choice - if blur was just an option, I would have no complaints :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jroc
Upvote 0
I switched out my MotoBlur mainly because with such a large screen 4x4 icons are a waste of usable space. I put ADW on first, went 5x5 rows and columns and made it much more usable. Then I switched ADW out for GoLauncher. It seams more fluid. Easier to customize and I like the themes better. Personally I think anyone of the top launchers (ADW, LauncherPro or GoLauncher) will serve you better then Motoblur. But this comes from a Android freak lol... I change my phone hourly!
 
Upvote 0
Coming from a droid X I can assure you most of the complaints about blur are just about the lagginess and plainess (lol) of it.

I see many recommending launcher pro, but I think you guys really need to try out Go launcher EX. It is IMO head and shoulder the best launcher. You can long press on icons for options, as well as change the actual icons in your dock very simply before you add them. Not to mention it has the scrollable dock like launcher pro.

Also you can use the same docks you have for launcher pro with go launcher ex.

Also for the lockscreen I would suggest widgetlocker. It has really made the lockscreen smooth as butter plus you can have the rotary lockscreen, android lockscreen, froyo, etc..

Plus being able to just wake the device and instantly get into my camera, pandora, or dialer without unlocking the phone is sweet.
 
Upvote 0
Did you have any issues with ADW EX so far? Haven't installed it yet but like it better than Launcher Pro. Any lag or FCs?

I haven't messed with LauncherPro much to compare the two, but I like ADW EX a lot and haven't had any problems or force closes at all. I just wish some of the themes out there looked less amateur-ish. I haven't been able to find a really good one that I like.
 
Upvote 0
After using other Android phones and then using motorola blur it just looks ugly. It isn't horribly laggy as some say, but it really IS just ugly as hell. People complained the same way about TouchWiz on the Captivate, but I didn't think TW was nearly as ugly and clunky looking as Blur. I use ADW EX (paid version) and love it on my Atrix.

I get what you mean, actually. I don't personally like ADW EX as much as LP, but either way, they offer extremely similar (and excellent) experiences.

Blur doesn't seem too bad for me.

I'm not a fan of the motorola messaging unified inbox or the social networking widgets that take up too much space, but it hasn't been too intrusive.

I have yet to try another launcher, but that's next on my list.

Yeah, I have just tried both Launcher Pro Plus and the paid version of ADW EX and I liked both, overall. I personally enjoy LP over ADW EX because of the intense customizability, and incredible lag-free performance.

That's what pissed me off about blur the most. Is that it was a little too laggy for me. Not that often, but I don't want that on a dual-core beast. Ever.

Also, the lack of customizing really made blur a bit of a nuisance. Especially with the un-customizable cartoonish phone and contacts buttons. The 4x4 grid (I think that was the size) also didn't cut it for me.

I'm glad you enjoy it :) Everyone has different preferences, and I think blur would be a fairly popular ROM if made by independent devs.

I guess the reason it bugs me is because I really like to have COMPLETE control over everything going on in my cell, and use whatever app or utility I want to handle different tasks. Motoblur is just a bit too intrusive for my tastes... it's like if blur could talk, it would be saying, "Don't worry about anything; you just give me your login name, password, etc, and I'll do all the work!" I'm sure that sounds great for many, but I would rather be doing that myself, or at least have the option to shut down certain functions of blur, especially considering that (compared to other skins, or "vanilla") blur is pretty system intensive.

But if YOU'RE digging blur, don't let haters tell you anything otherwise - it's all preference, so enjoy it! I'm glad that you also recognize that it's dumb for companies to force their skins upon the consumer instead of offering it as a choice - if blur was just an option, I would have no complaints :)

Good point!

I don't really love blur, but I was willing to except it.

Until I tried LP that is. I still don't mind blur too much, but I believe LP offers a much more usable, enjoyable and visually-attractive experience.

Explains why you like blur... ;)

What's wrong with the iPhone??

Please don't attack me! :p

Historically speaking and from being an old backflip owner, MotoBlur was crippling the phones due to resource hogging. I don't think this is the case with the Atrix ;-)

oh yeah and blur is more than just the skin. I use Launcher Pro. It has its own set of widgets etc...

LP is just..so pro..

I switched out my MotoBlur mainly because with such a large screen 4x4 icons are a waste of usable space. I put ADW on first, went 5x5 rows and columns and made it much more usable. Then I switched ADW out for GoLauncher. It seams more fluid. Easier to customize and I like the themes better. Personally I think anyone of the top launchers (ADW, LauncherPro or GoLauncher) will serve you better then Motoblur. But this comes from a Android freak lol... I change my phone hourly!

Now that I speak from some experience, I agree 100%.

Coming from a droid X I can assure you most of the complaints about blur are just about the lagginess and plainess (lol) of it.

I see many recommending launcher pro, but I think you guys really need to try out Go launcher EX. It is IMO head and shoulder the best launcher. You can long press on icons for options, as well as change the actual icons in your dock very simply before you add them. Not to mention it has the scrollable dock like launcher pro.

Also you can use the same docks you have for launcher pro with go launcher ex.

Also for the lockscreen I would suggest widgetlocker. It has really made the lockscreen smooth as butter plus you can have the rotary lockscreen, android lockscreen, froyo, etc..

Plus being able to just wake the device and instantly get into my camera, pandora, or dialer without unlocking the phone is sweet.

I should try Go Launcher EX, then.

Thanks for the widgetlocker recommendation!

That got rid of the only laggy portion of blur still left! xD
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones