4.2.2/Sense 5 Initial Reactions

[dachillefx]

I also noticed the stock keyboard has next word prediction. It didn't before. I think.

 

[MrDangerous]

I don't like the new app screen but I do like the new automatic Zoe gallery thing. I opened a video I made the other day of some annoying joggers who were going down the middle of the road preventing me from passing and I put it in Gotham mode and it looked like a scene from a horror movie. I was laughingmy ass off.

 

[hilmar2k]

I also noticed the stock keyboard has next word prediction. It didn't before. I think.

It still sucks, though.

 

[MikeC01]

This update really has made the phone like new. I'm thinking the upgrade in operating speed might be partly due to just having updated the phone. It seems whenever there is an update that happens. I'll be curious to see if there is a lasting effect in that department. Overall, I like the new appearance and many of the new features are great.

What I don't like is that the update erased all my shortcuts, widgets, and my home screen. So, I had to recreate everything as if I had just done a factory reset. I also don't like that the list of rings/tones is different. The new ones are horrible.

I am not seeing the battery drain issue, though I do think there is an issue with the icon in the notification area. Mine still shows the battery completely full, even though I'm down to 82%.

I'm seeing the same thing. My phone has been off the charger for about 2 hours and the battery icon shows full but it says 90% next to it. I might turn that back off if it's this inaccurate.

Missing the x I in the battery usage part where you can x out the used app therefore force closing it. Now you have to guess which apps need to be closed. I just really miss that x.

I used that "X" often and I miss it as well.

 

[Skipdawg]

Got the small update and thought oh shoot them there was the big one. So far so good no issues to report. Burning the battery checking things out. Noticed things are easier to read. Even with reading glasses off so cool there.

 

[MrDangerous]

I don't like how everything is bold in the text message app. I can't easily distinguish new messages. The new keyboard is a lot easier to type on but don't like the auto suggestions because they act differntly. For example I used to be able to type il and it changed to I'll. Now it changes to ok. Also it autosaves the suggestion and does not give you an option for one time.

 

[Hoosiermama]

I don't like how everything is bold in the text message app. I can't easily distinguish new messages.

Overall I'm really happy with the update. I do agree with the above, tho. It would be nice to be able to easily distinguish unread messages when I miss something.

 

[hilmar2k]

I don't like how everything is bold in the text message app. I can't easily distinguish new messages. The new keyboard is a lot easier to type on but don't like the auto suggestions because they act differntly. For example I used to be able to type il and it changed to I'll. Now it changes to ok. Also it autosaves the suggestion and does not give you an option for one time.

SwiftKey will solve the keyboard issues. Took me a bit to get used to it, but now you'd have to pry it from my...well, suffice it to say I much prefer it.

As for messaging, I actually use Hangouts for texting. I prefer it to the stock messaging app.

 

[MrDangerous]

SwiftKey will solve the keyboard issues. Took me a bit to get used to it, but now you'd have to pry it from my...well, suffice it to say I much prefer it.

As for messaging, I actually use Hangouts for texting. I prefer it to the stock messaging app.

I used to use the Google Swype style keyboard but since 4.2 I can't figure out how to change keyboards.

 

[hilmar2k]

I used to use the Google Swype style keyboard but since 4.2 I can't figure out how to change keyboards.

Settings -> Language & Keyboards -> HTC Sense Input Settings -> Trace keyboard

 

[mwl1119]

Settings -> Language & Keyboards -> HTC Sense Input Settings -> Trace keyboard

Or open the notification drawer while having a keyboard open.

 

[CrackedLCD]

I'm excited to finally be getting this update. It's downloading now. I forgot if Verizon charges for update data on 4G or not so I'm doing it over slow home internet instead.

So much for going to bed early tonight! I planned to retire before 1 am but the notification of an update hit at… 12:45 am!

I was so convinced that this would get pushed back even further that I went ahead and bought the Prime version of GO Launcher while it was on sale over Thanksgiving. I like it so much that I doubt I'll even give Sense 5 a whirl. Especially after hearing that the home screens don't cycle continuously. That's a peeve of mine.

One of the more cryptic "improvements" says improved wifi performance. I am hoping this will help the 5 GHz issues I have at home. I'm constantly getting disconnected from that network even when the signal strength is optimal. I could never figure out of it was the flaky Asus router or the phone.

Update: So far I'm liking the changes. Sense 5 appears to be about 85% of the way to a decent launcher now. BlinkFeed didn't have any obvious way to add Twitter or G+ to the social feeds so it's a non-starter for now. I added the Google Launcher apk and it works well, with "OK Google" working from any home screen. It also restores the app menu to a horizontal scroll.

Contrary to some of the others, I actually like most of the new sounds. Most of the older sounds stayed behind for me, probably because I had copied them manually along with my own custom tones from my old Gingerbread phone.

Biggest gripe so far is the new quick settings. I haven't found a way to customize it. I'm running a Cyanogen version of KitKat on my old Showcase and it allows the quick settings toggles to be moved around and changed up. These appear static. The KK version also has a feature that opens the quick settings by swiping down from the right side of the screen instead of this two fingers nonsense that doesn't wanna work most of the time.

Finally, is it me or has the camera improved in quality? Maybe it's just the luck of the draw but the sample photos I took just now in low light conditions looked really well balanced. I can't wait to get out in some sunshine and take some landscape shots.

 

[FullMetalMikey]

I installed the 4.2.2 update last night. Overall I like the design, and the phone seems to be a little more responsive. HOWEVER...

I went to my SMS messages, and the background had changed to a hideous pink background/white text scheme. Being a guy, I don't want pink anywhere on my phone, especially on something I use the most which is my text messaging app.

In the default messages app, I navigated to menu>settings>general. That's where the problem is. When I hit General, I get an error message that says "Unfortunately, the process com.android.mms has stopped." All I can do is hit ok, then it just goes back to the text messages. I've restarted the phone and also performed a factory cache wipe, but the problem still exists.

Anybody have any ideas? I don't really want to factory reset the phone but if that's what I have to do... Any help would be appreciated.

I'm unrooted, running the stock Verizon version of the phone.

 

[hilmar2k]

I installed the 4.2.2 update last night. Overall I like the design, and the phone seems to be a little more responsive. HOWEVER...

I went to my SMS messages, and the background had changed to a hideous pink background/white text scheme. Being a guy, I don't want pink anywhere on my phone, especially on something I use the most which is my text messaging app.

In the default messages app, I navigated to menu>settings>general. That's where the problem is. When I hit General, I get an error message that says "Unfortunately, the process com.android.mms has stopped." All I can do is hit ok, then it just goes back to the text messages. I've restarted the phone and also performed a factory cache wipe, but the problem still exists.

Anybody have any ideas? I don't really want to factory reset the phone but if that's what I have to do... Any help would be appreciated.

I'm unrooted, running the stock Verizon version of the phone.

Not that it actually addresses the root issue, but you could just use another messaging app. There are tons in the Play store, or even just use Hangouts. I use that and prefer it over the stock messaging app.

 

[CrackedLCD]

FullMetalMikey, see if you can access the settings after rebooting the phone. I couldn't until a restart. Then to change the colors, it's under Settings > General > Personalize in the messaging app. I just hit the restore defaults and it's back to standard colors. That pink was hideous.

 

[FullMetalMikey]

FullMetalMikey, see if you can access the settings after rebooting the phone. I couldn't until a restart. Then to change the colors, it's under Settings > General > Personalize in the messaging app. I just hit the restore defaults and it's back to standard colors. That pink was hideous.

Thanks CrackedLCD, but that's the whole problem. I can't get that far. When I hit the general tab in settings, I get the error and the application crashes. This is obviously a bug and I can't figure out how to fix it. So for the time being I'm going to switch to Textra or Handcent, just trying to decide between the two.

 

[mwl1119]

BlinkFeed didn't have any obvious way to add Twitter or G+ to the social feeds so it's a non-starter for now.

Twitter is there.

 

[FullMetalMikey]

Not that it actually addresses the root issue, but you could just use another messaging app. There are tons in the Play store, or even just use Hangouts. I use that and prefer it over the stock messaging app.

Thanks for the suggestion. I switched to Textra. It is blazing fast and works great! I dunno if it's a byproduct of the bug, but the stock messages app was slow and unresponsive after the update.

 

[MrDangerous]

Well I liked the dialer less on this phone than my spectrum but even less again now. I prefer the history on the dialer screen but now it just goes to the last caller and you have to tap history.

 

[2000SVT]

Anyone else brick?

 

[CrackedLCD]

So far the biggest gripe out of all the changes for me is that we can no longer toggle Beats enhancement from the notification bar.

Everything else I really like. Still not sure battery life is any better but it's not any worse as fast as I can tell.

 

[tonyhillock]

No more flash player... . I had to dl an older version of flash from adobes site and it was working fine before the update. Now i cant get any flash video to work, even after downloading flash again. Any work-around for this without getting a new browser?

 

[robdroid33]

My battery life is incredibly bad after the update. I have looked around for the culprit but with no luck My best guess is that it is continuously searching for Wifi but I have not nailed that down yet. GSam says that Android System is using around 80% of the battery each time it discharges(which is several times a day and I'm a medium-light user) but I cannot figure out what that means.

 

[hilmar2k]

My battery life is incredibly bad after the update. I have looked around for the culprit but with no luck My best guess is that it is continuously searching for Wifi but I have not nailed that down yet. GSam says that Android System is using around 80% of the battery each time it discharges(which is several times a day and I'm a medium-light user) but I cannot figure out what that means.

Restarting solves that issue when I run into it.

 

[MikeC01]

My battery life is incredibly bad after the update. I have looked around for the culprit but with no luck My best guess is that it is continuously searching for Wifi but I have not nailed that down yet. GSam says that Android System is using around 80% of the battery each time it discharges(which is several times a day and I'm a medium-light user) but I cannot figure out what that means.

My battery has been discharging about 2-3 times faster than before the update. I've restarted it a few times hoping that would fix it but so far no luck. I haven't really looked to see the culprit of the battery drain just yet though.