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Help Samsung galaxy note jelly bean official update

Typical, it's like waiting for a bus and 2 come along at once! Haven't had time to do anything about the Kies update yet and thought I'd have a check on Software update and the OTA update is also there. This is with O2 in the UK. So I now have a choice of OTA or Kies upgrade. Are there any advantages or disadvantages either way? I've a busy weekend coming up so probably won't get the chance until next week.

I will probably backup via Kies anyway and also will probably be cautious and take out the SIM and SD card first.
 
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Typical, it's like waiting for a bus and 2 come along at once! Haven't had time to do anything about the Kies update yet and thought I'd have a check on Software update and the OTA update is also there. This is with O2 in the UK. So I now have a choice of OTA or Kies upgrade. Are there any advantages or disadvantages either way? I've a busy weekend coming up so probably won't get the chance until next week.

I will probably backup via Kies anyway and also will probably be cautious and take out the SIM and SD card first.

updating via kies is apparently the safer option i've heard.
 
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Have now managed to upgrade to JB. All very easy. I did a fairly ruthless pruning of apps which I'd been meaning to do for some time. I took out the SIM card and the SD card as a precaution then did a backup via Kies. I ran the update and all ran smoothly. When I turned it back on all was pretty much as before so I didn't run a Kies restore. Is there any reason to do this? The only thing I have noticed is that all my S Memos have disappeared. I thought that they might show up in S Notes but they haven't. I'm not that worried as there weren't many and I wrote them all out manually before I updated.

As to my first impressions, I had a quick look at vanilla Touchwiz but I'd never previously used it so switched to my usual launcher, Apex. I'm a bit underwhelmed so far, I have to say. I had heard all about Project Butter and how it should make swiping between screens smoother etc but I haven't noticed any difference. The dual-tasking is a clever function which I can see me using occasionally. I am really hoping that it will make a difference to the battery life as it has improved since I bought the battery mentioned in another thread but could still do with lasting a little longer. Are there any other additions with JB I have missed?

I'm wondering whether a factory reset is worth it. It partly appeals to start again from scratch but it's a bit of a hassle and I'm not sure whether it would be worth the grief. Any thoughts anyone please?
 
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A lot of improvements have been made to Touchwiz but as you didn't use it before you won't necessarily value them. However, Touchwiz is now better than ever. You can add or swap apps on the base bar much more easily, widget management is much more slick (resizing compatible widgets). Moving from one home screen to the next is now in 3D.

The notification panel now contains even more information and there are more device function control buttons at the top, which now scrolls sideways. I now no longer need a widget for mobile data toggling, for example.

Bundled apps have been improved, like the mail client which has added functionality.

As for 'project butter' I think this has improved things but there are caveats. Scrolling can be a bit sticky when the device is very busy, especially immediately after re-booting. But once it has settled down scrolling is definitely more positive smoother and more damped.

I haven't yet noticed any improvement in battery life although there are now more easily accessible ways of suspending apps and other functions which I think could probably make a useful difference to battery life.
 
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Updated to JB, spent a week with it and decided to throw in the towel and get a Nokia!

Lots of seemingly great features, but so s--l--o--w.

The sloth I could just about have lived with, telling myself it's last gen handset running the latest(ish) software, but final straw was what got broke.

A number of apps I did have are now no longer available 'in my country'; with the Play store largely off limits, moving to another OS was an easier decision; both Apple's and MS's app stores either 'just work' or can easily be got working.

The Nokia is very slick too, not just compared to the Note, but even compared to the S4!! easily swapping between screens/apps quicker.

I know if I'd spent much longer with Google Now I'd be missing it, but no point sticking with an OS that's dropping support and features.
 
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Updated to JB, spent a week with it and decided to throw in the towel and get a Nokia!

Lots of seemingly great features, but so s--l--o--w.

The sloth I could just about have lived with, telling myself it's last gen handset running the latest(ish) software, but final straw was what got broke.

A number of apps I did have are now no longer available 'in my country'; with the Play store largely off limits, moving to another OS was an easier decision; both Apple's and MS's app stores either 'just work' or can easily be got working.

The Nokia is very slick too, not just compared to the Note, but even compared to the S4!! easily swapping between screens/apps quicker.

I know if I'd spent much longer with Google Now I'd be missing it, but no point sticking with an OS that's dropping support and features.

Well that's your opinion. It contradicts mine almost 100%. And one of my daughters has a Windows Phone 8 Nokia 820, so I am not talking blind on one side of this debate.
 
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Well that's your opinion. It contradicts mine almost 100%. And one of my daughters has a Windows Phone 8 Nokia 820, so I am not talking blind on one side of this debate.
Wasn't aware I'd contradicted you at all, rather the opposite would seem to be true!

And as the UK isn't a country, so far as I'm aware, that Google is no longer supporting with the Play store it's no surprise your experience differs anyway. This lack of support is not my opinion either, it's evident fact.

I am surprised that you don't find the Nokia 820 more responsive and quicker than the N7000 running JB, especially as you've previously mentioned some noticeable lag, but I'm happy you're happy with Android.
 
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Updated to JB, spent a week with it and decided to throw in the towel and get a Nokia!

Lots of seemingly great features, but so s--l--o--w.

The sloth I could just about have lived with, telling myself it's last gen handset running the latest(ish) software, but final straw was what got broke.

A number of apps I did have are now no longer available 'in my country'; with the Play store largely off limits, moving to another OS was an easier decision; both Apple's and MS's app stores either 'just work' or can easily be got working.

The Nokia is very slick too, not just compared to the Note, but even compared to the S4!! easily swapping between screens/apps quicker.

I know if I'd spent much longer with Google Now I'd be missing it, but no point sticking with an OS that's dropping support and features.

What country are you in?

Something's seriously wrong with your note, and isnt representable of the large majority of notes that updated to jb.

have you even attempted a factory reset?

yonks ago when i updated to gingerbread on my old htc magic, it was pretty much unusable. But a factory reset sorted it out fine.
 
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Wasn't aware I'd contradicted you at all, rather the opposite would seem to be true!

And as the UK isn't a country, so far as I'm aware, that Google is no longer supporting with the Play store it's no surprise your experience differs anyway. This lack of support is not my opinion either, it's evident fact.

I am surprised that you don't find the Nokia 820 more responsive and quicker than the N7000 running JB, especially as you've previously mentioned some noticeable lag, but I'm happy you're happy with Android.

The UK isn't a country? What does that mean?! Google is no longer supporting with the Play Stiore? What?!

The Nokia 820 is a completely different animal to a Galaxy Note. It's slick and pretty but far less flexible. Like the iPhone it's a completely controlled platform. That's fine for some users, but it's far less flexible and powerful than Android. I would recommend Windows Phone over an iPhone if you don't want Android, especially a Nokia Lumia because the hardware is very nice and you get great Nokia apps like maps and drive, etc. But you dissing the Note in preference to Windows Phone is nonsensical. Compare apples with apples (no iPhone joke intended!).

And the bottom line is that my Note is note is not slow since the JB update, even though I have over a hundred apps installed and have done no performance optimisations at all.
 
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What country are you in?...
Britain

...Something's seriously wrong with your note, and isnt representable of the large majority of notes that updated to jb...
Did a factory reset before upgrading to JB, then again after. Would a 3rd reset help? maybe, but I shouldn't have to reset over and over again.

Anything wrong with my Note has been caused by the upgrade of the OS, of course Samsung have been so long getting this upgrade out most people who bought early are out of warranty, so Samsung are 'off the hook'.
 
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Within Europe, including Britain, Great Britain, UK, England and so on you should have a two year warranty courtesy of European legislation. Indeed, the warranty card supplied with the Note should say that it has two years cover (24 months) within Europe.

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But that's by the by. I doubt the problem here is anything to do with a warranty related fault as it's unlikely that a hardware fault would result in a slow machine - either it will work or not. So the problem is most likely in the software configuration somewhere. I upgraded following a complete wipe of cache, data, Dalvik and there have been no problems with lag etc..
 
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...But that's by the by. I doubt the problem here is anything to do with a warranty related fault as it's unlikely that a hardware fault would result in a slow machine - either it will work or not. So the problem is most likely in the software configuration somewhere. I upgraded following a complete wipe of cache, data, Dalvik and there have been no problems with lag etc..
I'm inclined to agree, it'll be a software issue somewhere; but I would've hoped that the factory reset would've 'reset' it and cured any such user configuration issue that I'd caused.

I'm sure some people would like to make a 'project' of getting their handset running uber-quick by delving into the inner workings, but I just want to use the handset to do stuff, I don't want to have the handset itself as a hobby! (I have no idea what Dalvik is or where I'd find it to wipe it!! :) )

Good to know about the 24month warranty though, thanks.
 
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I'm not an Android developer or expert in any way, but I do know that the storage of the phone is divided up into several different areas/partitions. A Factory Reset will only clear some of those areas. The Dalvik Cache is one such area (I think), which is left untouched. Also, if you have the phone set up to automatically restore software and settings it may re-introduce an earlier problem even following a factory reset.

The best way to make sure you have a completely blank sheet to start from is to wipe some of those additional areas. Unfortunately such options are not made available with the stock ROM. For my Note I flashed "Philz kernel", which gave me those extra options. Then I used PC Odin to flash a clean stock ROM onto my clean Note.

Clearly that is more than the average phone user should be expected to do, but it does seem to be the recommended approach if you are running into problems, or to prevent them in the first place.

Philz kernel for the Note, with additional recovery features, can be found here....

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1901191

All mods at your own risk.
 
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And by the way, Nokia Lumias are not perfect either, my daughters's original Lumia 800 literally started to fall to bits - the flimsy flap for the USB port broke off after a few months, then the sim card holder started popping out without warning. It was replaced by a Lumia 900 but after just two weeks the touch screen started becoming erratic - a problem I later discovered is quite common with this model. Finally, she has the 820 and, so far that is working normally and she is pleased with it. I am currently testing a 920 as part of my work as a photography journalist because Nokia is marketing the 920 as a photographer's phone. It's just a shame the amazing camera in the Symbian-based Nokia 808 PureView has not been implemented in a Lumia phone.

I am happy that my daughter likes her 820, although she is frustrated by the lack of apps that are available on Android and iOS. This alone would be my reason for not owning a Windows phone, but also because the Swype keyboard is not available for it, there is no large screen Windows 'phablet' like the Note, and as I said before the restricted nature of the Windows phone platform is just not for me. There is nothing remotely like a Note in the Windows phone repertoire.
 
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So I finally got it and I have to say, I'm impressed :D

I run Go launcher over the top and can't be bothered to re learn my phone again and go without some features that Touchwiz just cannot emulate.

OK, so the speed thing. I think it does lag a bit more, but I'm pretty certain it is because of 7 million processes going on in the background.
I thought about killing some apps off but the truth of the matter is that I don't know enough about the sys processes to know what to disable and what to leave on and because there are loads of them, I'm not about to spend weeks turning each one off and then seeing if I've buggered up my phone.
I like the dual screen thing, it comes in handy whilst watching "How to" vids and taking notes at the same time and also texting at the same time as performing other tasks, such as surfing the web and wanting to share specific info. No need to keep flicking back and forth or writing it down first.
Love the notification bar and all it's novelties and the thing which I freaking love is Google now. I can't believe that everyone is going on about it being a battery drain and all that jazz.
All I can say is get amongst it. Learn the phrases that work in your room if it's too embarrassing. It quickly feels normal and even outdoors, friends are now used to me talking to my phone. Strangers not so much but that's natural I guess until everyone else starts using it :D
Latest Software running on the GT-N7000..... well played Jelly Bean people, a job well done.
I set up an S4 for a friend the other day...... I'd suggest you don't play with that...... it makes the Note look like it's struggling and will make you want one :D It's sooooo bloody fast and smooth. Of course it could just be because it is factory fresh or because it has a better processor, but somehow, I doubt it. I just think that things have moved on and the original note is starting to struggle a little.
Roll on the Note 3 :D
 
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I haven't used Go Launcher - what does it do better than Touch Wiz?

Hi,

Launchers are subjective, that is to say what one person likes another might hate, but for me I like the following functions on the Go launcher:

Swipe up to reveal/hide app dock at the bottom of the screen (Upto 18 apps)
Swipe down to hide/reveal notification bar at the top
Go calender widget
Go Email widget
Some of the Go themes
Some spectacular transitions

The downsides of Go are
The majority of the themes are a tad childish
The inane updates which are clearly sales attempts to buy more stuff

It's only a 15 MB programme but I think it's a contributor to the lagging I get from time to time
 
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Hi,

Launchers are subjective, that is to say what one person likes another might hate, but for me I like the following functions on the Go launcher:

Swipe up to reveal/hide app dock at the bottom of the screen (Upto 18 apps)
Swipe down to hide/reveal notification bar at the top
Go calender widget
Go Email widget
Some of the Go themes
Some spectacular transitions

The downsides of Go are
The majority of the themes are a tad childish
The inane updates which are clearly sales attempts to buy more stuff

It's only a 15 MB programme but I think it's a contributor to the lagging I get from time to time


Try nova launcher. I used to use go launcher, but found nova to be less drain on the battery and no lag while still having the features of go
 
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I use Nova too, mostly because I have reduced the LCD Density of my Note and TW doesn't make use of the extra real estate, squashing things up into just a small part of the screen. Nova also allows some extra shortcuts which TW does not appear to offer. Either one is fine for performance.

Nova :
2013-05-09%252012.44.57.png


TW :
2013-05-09%252012.45.37.png
 
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Are you pair still going.... Try a PM, it's quicker and private ;)

I tried Nova but didn't really get on with it... Maybe I'll try again, it's just such a ballache setting everything up again and then trying to remember where you put stuff if it's different to your last launcher.

I've tried SPB, Next, They are just WAY to complicated for their own good TSW, another one. I also tried a really light one but can't remember what it was called. Ariel maybe, Atom.... something like that.

They all offer something unique I guess but none of them was particularly quicker than the other. I think I have something running on my device which seems to slow it down alot.

When I look at various apps to ascertain the resource hogs, it's just things like Facebook, Chrome, Calender....just the standard stuff really. The only app I have that isn't standard really is Trustgo Security. I suppose that could be an issue.....
I don't have much on to be fair, The RAM gets caned for some reason, often running with only 10% free ROM has 0.93 out of 1.97 free and SD Card 6.95 free of 11.07 and just what the hell is Security Storage ;)
 
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When I moved to the Note from an HTC Desire, I was dreading Touch Wiz after all the comments about it. HTC Sense was very nice but Touch Wiz wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared and it has improved a lot in the last year with the ICS and then JB updates. Using vanilla ICS on a tablet I can see how Android experts might prefer the freedom of choosing their own launched but I think Touch Wiz does the biz for me.
 
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