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Help Help!! How do i get rid of these wierd non-android icons that came pre loaded on my s4? :(

Rhino_Spec

Lurker
Oct 26, 2013
3
0
So my S4 that I bought a week ago (parallel imported) has these wierd, ugly non standard icons (e.g. the messaging icon, camera icon, contacts, phone, video, music and downloads icons etc all look different to how theyr supposed to). I cant figure out why although I suspect it might be due to the bloatware that the phone came with. I have deleted alot of the bloatware already though - it had all these stupid games etc and I have a feeling the phone is from a carrier in argentina.

Has anyone come across this before that might know how to change them back to the regular android ones? The regular android theme icons look muck nicer IMO. I'll try attatch a screenshot also.

Heres my phone...
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D1731076_168_627621932

Compared to my boyfriends phone...
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D1731076_168_627762418


Thanks
 
So my S4 that I bought a week ago (parallel imported) has these wierd, ugly non standard icons (e.g. the messaging icon, camera icon, contacts, phone, video, music and downloads icons etc all look different to how theyr supposed to). I cant figure out why although I suspect it might be due to the bloatware that the phone came with. I have deleted alot of the bloatware already though - it had all these stupid games etc and I have a feeling the phone is from a carrier in argentina.

Has anyone come across this before that might know how to change them back to the regular android ones? The regular android theme icons look muck nicer IMO. I'll try attatch a screenshot also.

Heres my phone...
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D1731076_168_627621932

Compared to my boyfriends phone...
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D1731076_168_627762418


Thanks

Hello and welcome to Android Forums Rhino_Spec! :)

You do indeed appear to be running 2 different firmwares on your S4's. To check this out, see #1.3 of the 18 Galaxy S4 models - know yours?

You can either...

1. Flash a stock, unbranded, Samsung firmware via Odin, which will void your warranty

2. Install a custom launcher such as APEX or Nova from the Play Store and install a stock-like theme and icons for it, as mentioned above.
 
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Thabk you! If I load up a samsung only firmware on the phone is it possible to still do a factory reset if the phone is faulty? I.e. is there any way that that the seller or samsung could actually tell Ive done it if I factory reset? Also are there any dangers other than the fact it voids the warranty?

I've heard of people doing this but never done it myself so don't want to mess it up.
 
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Thabk you! If I load up a samsung only firmware on the phone is it possible to still do a factory reset if the phone is faulty? I.e. is there any way that that the seller or samsung could actually tell Ive done it if I factory reset? Also are there any dangers other than the fact it voids the warranty?

I've heard of people doing this but never done it myself so don't want to mess it up.

You can indeed flash a stock, unbranded, Samsung firmware to your phone however, doing so will cause a mismatch from your phone's original CSC code, see my previous post, and you will not receive future firmware updates via Kies or OTA. Also, if for any reason, your phone needs to go in for repair and you are unable to re-flash your original firmware because of, say, a firmware or hardware problem, your warranty is technically void as the engineers will see a mismatch between your internal CSC code and the firmware. A Factory Rest only takes the phone back to the firmware, minus user data, that is currently on it. It does not restore a previous or original firmware.
 
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