What's new in v4.3 Update

[nav2012]

I just updated yesterday, still exploring. I am with Telus in Canada.

Below is what the AT&T update includes.

I see most of them. Like that the Email app finally has a better background instead of the previous black.

What new features have you discovered besides whats described here ?

How do I update my Samsung Galaxy S

 

[Stuntman]

The one feature I really liked is S-Voice and Google Voice using the phone mic when my phone is connected to my car's BlueTooth audio. Before, my phone would try to use the car's BT mic. It doesn't work because the car does not auto pass through the voice to the phone. Now, I can use the phone's mic to speak my voice commands.

I'm not sure if it is an update with 4.3 or 4.1.2. I did not try it for a year until just this week.

 

[funkylogik]

Idk about touchwiz but just speaking for android, i didnt notice anything in 4.3 lol.
Kitkat is where things get tasty

 

[Rukbat]

Gee, that's one of the "features" I can't stand. If my phone is in my inside pocket and I'm wearing a heavy coat, and using a BT headset, I can't use S-Voice. It should be an option, not something forced on us.

I don't know about Canada, but in most of the US it's illegal to hold a phone to your ear while driving. (Don't get me started on the fact that you're on a phone CALL that's the dangerous thing, not that you're HOLDING a phone that is.) But many, many people here drive with BT headsets and now about all they're good for is answering incoming calls. Asking the phone to find a Walmart (well, you could just open your eyes - I think their spec is that no 10 foot stretch on the planet should be Walmart-free) means taking the phone out of your pocket, looking at the screen, SCREECH! BANG! Oh, THAT'S why they want you using hands-free when driving. (Where I live, driving safely seems to be against the law. Directionals? Oh, is THAT what that little stick on the left is called? What do you use it for?)

 

[struckn]

Gee, that's one of the "features" I can't stand. If my phone is in my inside pocket and I'm wearing a heavy coat, and using a BT headset, I can't use S-Voice. It should be an option, not something forced on us.

I don't know about Canada, but in most of the US it's illegal to hold a phone to your ear while driving. (Don't get me started on the fact that you're on a phone CALL that's the dangerous thing, not that you're HOLDING a phone that is.) But many, many people here drive with BT headsets and now about all they're good for is answering incoming calls. Asking the phone to find a Walmart (well, you could just open your eyes - I think their spec is that no 10 foot stretch on the planet should be Walmart-free) means taking the phone out of your pocket, looking at the screen, SCREECH! BANG! Oh, THAT'S why they want you using hands-free when driving. (Where I live, driving safely seems to be against the law. Directionals? Oh, is THAT what that little stick on the left is called? What do you use it for?)

One million thumbs up on all the driving issues, you and I are definitely on the same page brother!

 

[Rukbat]

One million thumbs up on all the driving issues, you and I are definitely on the same page brother!

Just don't read that page while you're driving. (Or, if you have to, let me know what city you're in so I can be somewhere else.)

If you really want to see anger, mention "texting while driving" to a cop. Or an ex-cop.

 

[funkylogik]

Lol its illegal in UK too but i see plenty people eating while driving and i dont think(?) Thats illegal.
Not to mention people arguing with their partner/kids while driving.
Outside of north america the law probably makes even more sense because we tend to drive manual (stick shift) cars so you see people steering with their knees (even chin) while changing gear with a phone held to their ear lol

 

[struckn]

Just don't read that page while you're driving. (Or, if you have to, let me know what city you're in so I can be somewhere else.)

If you really want to see anger, mention "texting while driving" to a cop. Or an ex-cop.

I'm a two hands on the wheel at all times kind of driver, always use my turn signal, etc., only exception is I like to have a cup of coffee handy at almost all times. I think I am part of a dying breed who understands that a text or a phone call can wait, the person on the other end doesn't disappear off the face of the earth if I don't acknowledge them immediately! And trust me, my middle finger gets a lot of exercise when I see someone driving like a complete idiot and then I draw even with them and see that their phone is obviously infinitely more important than their driving.

 

[Rukbat]

Outside of north america the law probably makes even more sense because we tend to drive manual (stick shift) cars so you see people steering with their knees (even chin) while changing gear with a phone held to their ear lol

Putting on makeup, shaving ...

The one that got me was the moron (and that's a compliment - homicidal maniac is closer to the truth) who was reading a full-size newspaper while driving down a 4 lane highway at 80mph (about 125kph), holding the paper in one hand while holding his cellphone to his ear with the other.

That was one corpse I didn't have the dubious pleasure of removing from the sculpture-that-used-to-be-a-car, but I removed one who drove right into the rear of a large truck that had a protruding (parallel to the rear of the vehicle) steel bar at the level of the victim's reproductive area. He was lucky. The firehouse on the other side of the street had an ambulance in it, and they had a supply of morphine.

 

[Rukbat]

I'm a two hands on the wheel at all times kind of driver, always use my turn signal, etc.

As you said, brother, one million thumbs up. And eyes on the road, not on what's walking alongside it.

I think I am part of a dying breed who understands that a text or a phone call can wait, the person on the other end doesn't disappear off the face of the earth if I don't acknowledge them immediately!

Having had to use a radio for work for many years, you learn something. There's nothing wrong with having a conversation with someone not in the vehicle - as long as 95% of your attention is on your driving, 4.999% of it is on the vehicles behind and to the side of you and a tiny fraction is on the conversation. If I drop the mic because I need both hands on the wheel, they have more mics in the warehouse. If I keep holding the mic ... the last time I looked, the warehouse was all out of arms, legs, etc. (And these days you can't even drop the mic - most LEOs use portables and the mics are clipped to their shirts.)

There's only one thing that matters when you're driving - and that's driving. (And assuming that every other driver on the road is 100% drunk, and has a contract on your life.) I got long past the point where seeing parts of people not connected bothered me, but when I saw a badly injured child in a car, in an accident caused by Mommy having to change the time of her hair appointment ...

There are lots of Mommies out there who are still breathing because someone grabbed me in time. Or because the training we got about keeping our fury in check was REALLY good. Having your hair done is more important than your 3 year old's spine? Please tell me that not blowing the mother's head into a million pieces with a rock wasn't a crime. It sure felt like my only reason for existence at that moment.

 

[funkylogik]

Ill admit i was a one hand at the top of the wheel and the other on the gear stick driver unless really flooring it.
Ill also admit i mounted the pavement (sidewalk) knocked down a lamp-post (streetlght?) And slammed into a tree side-on thankfully without hitting anyone while nearly twice the drink-drive limit.
Dont do it peeps its far from cool or fun crawling out the passanger window of a mangled car and just hoping in your guts that there isnt a kid under it :thumbdown::thumbdown:
Sorry, bit off topic but if it makes one person think twice :thumbup:

 

[Rukbat]

while nearly twice the drink-drive limit.

My drink-drive limit is different than yours. Mine is "24 hours since sobriety including at least 8 hours asleep."

Even if I can drive safely with more alcohol than blood in my veins, it's going to slow my reflexes. And I've seen too many people die or, worse, survive permanently disabled, due to a less than 1 second delay in avoiding the accident. (I'll never forget the look of a woman whose face was outside the windshield of a VW bug while the rest of her was inside it. Other than scars, no permanent injury, but it took 3 teams to pick the glass out of her face. They started getting too tired to work safely and had to call in replacement doctors and nurses. Don't tell me that windshield glass can't shatter under ANY circumstances.

I happen to be a beer drinker (not the fermented rice they sell in the US as "beer" but the real stuff - Fuller's ESB is a nice drink on a summer afternoon, Smithwick's couldn't have been designed by mere humans), but the limit, unless I'll be spending the night sleeping before driving, is an empty glass.

Too many years of responding to an accident so reeking of alcohol that I had to think twice bout driving away just from having been at the scene. Not even a contact drunk, more of an inhalation drunk. "But ossifer, I can handle my likker". Sure you can, but the 3 kids in the car you T-boned won't be handling anything any more. And guess who got to notify the parents in a lot of those cases. Not the drunk who survived the accident.

 

[struckn]

Our discussion today may have veered off-topic but I have really appreciated it and there is very valuable insight here. Realistically, discussion of this sort should be part of any phone forum to promote responsibility regarding phone use or alcohol use. Thank you very much to funkylogik and Rukbat!

 

[Rukbat]

And with that I think we should get back to our regularly-scheduled flaming. Backup space on a server running a forum might be large, but it's finite.

 

[Deleted User]

Lol its illegal in UK too but i see plenty people eating while driving and i dont think(?) Thats illegal.
Not to mention people arguing with their partner/kids while driving.
Outside of north america the law probably makes even more sense because we tend to drive manual (stick shift) cars so you see people steering with their knees (even chin) while changing gear with a phone held to their ear lol

In the UK and most of Europe to drive whilst using a phone (unless hands free) is illegal and can result in prison. Eating, drinking or even spending ages fiddling with your sound system you can be charged with driving without due care and attention.

 

[Stuntman]

Gee, that's one of the "features" I can't stand. If my phone is in my inside pocket and I'm wearing a heavy coat, and using a BT headset, I can't use S-Voice. It should be an option, not something forced on us.

I don't know about Canada, but in most of the US it's illegal to hold a phone to your ear while driving. (Don't get me started on the fact that you're on a phone CALL that's the dangerous thing, not that you're HOLDING a phone that is.) But many, many people here drive with BT headsets and now about all they're good for is answering incoming calls. Asking the phone to find a Walmart (well, you could just open your eyes - I think their spec is that no 10 foot stretch on the planet should be Walmart-free) means taking the phone out of your pocket, looking at the screen, SCREECH! BANG! Oh, THAT'S why they want you using hands-free when driving. (Where I live, driving safely seems to be against the law. Directionals? Oh, is THAT what that little stick on the left is called? What do you use it for?)

In Canada, laws vary from province to province. In British Columbia, you are allowed to use your phone hands free. You cannot hold the phone. The phone must be mounted on the car. You cannot even have the phone on your lap. You are allowed to push one button to answer a call.

I generally have my phone mounted on a vent mount. Whenever I drive, I use Waze (a mapping app) to find me the fastest route through traffic as well as provide traffic information on the roads ahead. I am allowed to use a GPS devices, but I am not allowed to manipulate it while driving. If I need to manipulate it, the car cannot be in gear. It must be in park. I generally, set my destination (if any) before pulling into traffic.

One thing that is nice is the ability to use S-Voice to make a call. If I'm using a BT headset, I can activate it with one touch and say, "call so and so." I cannot do that with my current car's BT audio system as it does not pass through the voice commands. I can activate S-Voice (or Google Voice) and speak the commands into the phone mic now.

I don't make calls while driving. If I have to, I find a place to stop and use the voice reco system on the phone. When it is mounted in the car, it is just more convenient to use voice reco instead of the dial pad.

 

[funkylogik]

I think its also important to remind people to not ring someone when you know theyre driving, dont even text them.
There was a very heavy UK public service tv ad about this. If i knew what to even search to find it on youtube i would.
Someone should create a thread about this on the Andioid Lounge forum. Imagine it saved just one life

 

[Stuntman]

I think its also important to remind people to not ring someone when you know theyre driving, dont even text them.
There was a very heavy UK public service tv ad about this. If i knew what to even search to find it on youtube i would.
Someone should create a thread about this on the Andioid Lounge forum. Imagine it saved just one life

I don't mind people calling me while I'm driving. I can answer with the hands free system in my car. If it's about when I'll arrive, I can answer and tell them how far away I am.

I actually hate it when they text me. I may see the text, but I have no way to actually answer.

I used to use VLingo and could use the voice reco to send a reply. I stopped using it as I find to too distracting to use voice reco to compose and send a text message. Too much concentration required to verify that the phone understood what I want to do and what message I composed. Speaking to the actual person is a lot easier.

 

[AndroidMax]

The topic is "what's new in 4.3". Can the mods either re-title this train wreck, or move it to the lounge?

I'd really like to hear what's new in 4.3
Thanks

 

[mak916]

I would like to know what others have found new in 4.3 also. One thing I really like is the App 2 SD Card feature. I really missed that. Glad to see it back!

 

[Stuntman]

After getting the update for a few weeks, here is what I noticed that is different than 4.1.2.

• Definitely smoother. Very noticeable when moving between home screens. I use Nova Prime and it was a bit copy before the update. Much smoother after the update.
• Voice actions seemed to have improved. I use my phone as my alarm clock. I use voice actions to stop the alarm. Before the update, I have to say, "stop" in a louder voice than after the update. I noticed when I was still groggy and said, "stop" in a softer than normal voice. I was surprised the alarm turned off as I was about to say it again.
• Volume Widget works better. When I change the sound profile with the widget, there is some text that appears on the home screen informing me that the profile changed. Before, the text was very small as if it was meant for a lower resolution screen. After the update, this text was displayed in a much larger font and I can very easily read it now.
• Settings screen has been reorganised. Normally, when stuff gets moved around I have a hard time finding things like the last few new versions of MS Office products. The reorganisation of the Settings screen actually made it easier to find things. I don't go into the settings often. It is nice to be able to navigate and find what you are looking for without having to spend too much time.
• Newer Text to Speech Engine. I use Talk-a-Droid to create notification sounds. I made new ones using the latest TTS engine. There was a slight improvement in the speech.
• S-Voice and Google Voice now uses the phone's mic when the phone is connected to my car's BlueTooth audio system. Before, when I activate S-Voice or Google Voice, the phone listens to the BT audio connection. My car's BT audio system does not have a feature that passes through my voice to the phone. When I use the car's BT audio, the car's voice reco system wants to listen and do the task. Of course, the car's BT audio system does not have the features of my phone. With 4.3, I can activate the voice apps and speak into the phone, bypassing the car's BT audio. It allows me to use voice reco instead of tapping/typing on the screen.

These are the things that I noticed and use.