why has touchwiz rom development grinded to such a slow pace? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note II

pardon me if this had been asked recently. while the roms out there are top notch, I feel like im getting bored. why is there never new roms or updates? is it because we still have 4.1.2?
I bought this phone because its the greatest phone for me. battery life. size. power. etc. thought it would be one of the better supported.
dont get me wrong. I love the rom im using. its flawless. so I shouldnt complain. but it also has a feature to use torch on lockscreen by pushing the home button. love it. but I cant find it as an add on. so im stuck on this rom.
and im nervous about aosp roms. I love them. I really do. but battery life decreased by about 50% during the week I had an aosp rom installed. so im partial to touchwiz.
I have a great set up now. its just discouraging to think people are giving up on the note 2. which imo is still the best phone you can buy. not over the top on specs but good enough. huge battery. screen res that is not beyond what my eyes can see. and a cpu that doesnt have to blsze at 50 million mhz to run the phone and every app I need. enough ram. etc

This is the same song-and-dance that Samsung has displayed since they started making flagship Androids. They promise timely updates, and not a single one of their phones has ever received an update that can even be conceived of as "timely."
The way Samsung treats their customer base is exactly why TW ROM development has grinded to a halt. People are sick of it. There is nothing new that can be done/added to 4.1.2, so TW devs are waiting for 4.3 to drop (if and when it ever does) to resume TW development.

s384 said:
pardon me if this had been asked recently. while the roms out there are top notch, I feel like im getting bored. why is there never new roms or updates? is it because we still have 4.1.2?
I bought this phone because its the greatest phone for me. battery life. size. power. etc. thought it would be one of the better supported.
dont get me wrong. I love the rom im using. its flawless. so I shouldnt complain. but it also has a feature to use torch on lockscreen by pushing the home button. love it. but I cant find it as an add on. so im stuck on this rom.
and im nervous about aosp roms. I love them. I really do. but battery life decreased by about 50% during the week I had an aosp rom installed. so im partial to touchwiz.
I have a great set up now. its just discouraging to think people are giving up on the note 2. which imo is still the best phone you can buy. not over the top on specs but good enough. huge battery. screen res that is not beyond what my eyes can see. and a cpu that doesnt have to blsze at 50 million mhz to run the phone and every app I need. enough ram. etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
s,
you're not seeing the writing on the wall, bro
it's been about a yr since this came out.
It's a dead device. Glamour is gone. ppl moved on
sale it on move on to a better device
i sold my dinosaur, moved on, and couldnt be happier

qkster said:
s,
you're not seeing the writing on the wall, bro
it's been about a yr since this came out.
It's a dead device. Glamour is gone. ppl moved on
sale it on move on to a better device
i sold my dinosaur, moved on, and couldnt be happier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or, the devs have done as much as possible with what's been released of TW thus far.
To the OP: The pinnacle has been achieved. Go forth and use your phone and not be bothered by the lack of dev lately: there's nothing left to do until more TW is released by Samsung
-----
Tips for a pleasant XDA:
Search before asking. Someone has likely already asked.
Spell your words completely, and use punctuation. It confuses people when you use "u" and "ur" and "dat", or when you wrongly use "there/their/they're/your/you're".
Be nice. Don't be rude, just move on to another post without leaving a comment. We are not 7 years old.
And PLEASE, do not ask for the "best" anything. We all have our preferences.

lukas_s said:
This is the same song-and-dance that Samsung has displayed since they started making flagship Androids. They promise timely updates, and not a single one of their phones has ever received an update that can even be conceived of as "timely."
The way Samsung treats their customer base is exactly why TW ROM development has grinded to a halt. People are sick of it. There is nothing new that can be done/added to 4.1.2, so TW devs are waiting for 4.3 to drop (if and when it ever does) to resume TW development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed my HTC one went from 4.1.2 to 4.2 to 4.3 already while my note 2 has yet to get an update.
That is sad lol

We should not complain. This is nothing compared to the wait i had to endure with my x10

Because AOKP rules and I get over 6 hours of screen on time with the stock battery/kernel

You said your nervous about AOSP roms because of the battery drain......I was always told the Rom needs to settle and drain all the way down and charge all the way up a couple of times before it settles and you will see the buttery smooth stuff....lol...(Great Battery Life)
Once a month, I let my battery completely die and charge it all the way up (while phone is off)....
I have great battery life on all the roms I try. I can make my phone last 4 days doing regular stuff most of the time before a charge...
I do always come back to Jedi X19....Its just more my type. Beanstock, PACMAN, and others are good too...I just have better experiences with multiple apps while working with TW roms. On the other hand, all the customization you can do with an AOSP rom is insane and I miss it......
To each is own......Battery life sucks on stock roms...Even with freezing apps, its nothing compared to a custom rooted rom.

Dperks88 said:
Because AOKP rules and I get over 6 hours of screen on time with the stock battery/kernel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed

qkster said:
s,
you're not seeing the writing on the wall, bro
it's been about a yr since this came out.
It's a dead device. Glamour is gone. ppl moved on
sale it on move on to a better device
i sold my dinosaur, moved on, and couldnt be happier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hilarious. Dead device lmfao.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

4.3 TW rom for the Note 2 should be out in a month or so. Development will increase again since they will actually have something new to work with. Unless you are looking for a TW rom that gets updated weekly and the only changes made is the style/size/color of the font.
AOSP development tends to slowdown (almost to a halt) everytime a new version release draws near, as developers don't want to spend countless hours making a new feature that might very well not work in the new version. Once the source code is out development will skyrocket for AOSP devices, while our forum may take a few additional weeks to actually start seeing any action.
Last, I don't consider this device to be stale and dead, I just think that it's in a limbo of some sort. Since I only run AOSP roms I'm not mad at Samsung support, but I am very intrigued of the way samsung has ingnored it's MOST EXPENSIVE phone. I really expected a lot more from them. But as I said I'm runnig 4.3 (AOKP) and I'm extremely happy with my Note 2. Don't see any other device out there that would make me ditch the Note 2. (well maybe I'm a little curious of the Oppo N1).

mindmajick said:
Hilarious. Dead device lmfao.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1:thumbup::thumbup:
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

mindmajick said:
Hilarious. Dead device lmfao.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at least someone appreciates my humor (and subtle trolling)
anyone complaining about lack of rom and and not wanting to flashing anything else...should move on, imho

s384 said:
so I shouldnt complain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This ^^^^^^^^^^^
But you can always pick-up Development yourself and provide to the Community. BTW Thread Closed.

Related

ICS + SGSIIET4G = WANTt!!

After watching the presentation on ICS, I want ICS on this phone, more so in hopes that it will fix the issues we are having with "Android OS" which are causing extremely high CPU usage stats. The problem is, there is going to be a layer of TouchWiz on top of ICS, so here is to hoping our awesome developers can give us an awesome ROM(s), and we can get CM soon!
Plus the new voice input seems really good (only reason it messed up in the presentation in the beginning was because he started talking too early).
Not really interested in the Nexus Prime (Galaxy Nexus), but looking forward to how well our cameras operate with that new interface. I believe once we get ICS on our phones, ours will be a much better phone than the Nexus (other the instant updates on Nexus, of course).
AOSP would be nice. I wonder if ICS has rotational transition animation. Even though it seems like a useless feature when it comes to functionality. I want it!
cdszoke said:
AOSP would be nice. I wonder if ICS has rotational transition animation. Even though it seems like a useless feature when it comes to functionality. I want it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I don't think that manufacturers need to put a GUI over it anymore. I hope it comes totally stock android. That would also speed up the time it takes them to update the phone.
speedy0339 said:
Yeah, I don't think that manufacturers need to put a GUI over it anymore. I hope it comes totally stock android. That would also speed up the time it takes them to update the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know we have many different hardware configurations out there in the Android world and some people argue that's this fragmentation is the main reason we wait so long for updates. I believe the major reason is the many different skins or gui these manufacturers either plague or bless us with is causing our update woes.
speedy0339 said:
Yeah, I don't think that manufacturers need to put a GUI over it anymore. I hope it comes totally stock android. That would also speed up the time it takes them to update the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or...give us the option of switching from TW to AOSP in the settings...would be nice...
If Google and Samsung announced all this at the original date iphone sales would have went down. ICS sure looks great.
One4mNoWhere said:
If Google and Samsung announced all this at the original date iphone sales would have went down. ICS sure looks great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And imagine if they had someone like Steve Jobs present for them. People might actually realize how good Android is. We get it but the average user doesn't and they need to be told this is the best thing around because we are telling you so.

[Q] T989 development vs Sensation?

Is the development up to par withh the hype that surrounded this phone. I look through the forum and I don't see any rom as of right now that makes me want to switch. The Roms are all basically the same and seems like they aren't really that much better than being stock and rooted. I know this phone blows the sensation away etc etc but development over there unquestionably was much better. Just dissapointed because I thought we would get more devs here
we have cm 7 and were getting Cm9, miui is being worked on and the phone is still new. Plus the Dev is still more then the amaze in my opinion. We are the red headed step child of the sgs2 family don't forget that. It will grow bigger
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
^^^+1.
Besides, the phone has only been out for like 6-7 weeks...and we already have cm7 working. Plus, i really think that DEVs are saving up all their devving work for ICS.
babymatteo said:
^^^+1.
Besides, the phone has only been out for like 6-7 weeks...and we already have cm7 working. Plus, i really think that DEVs are saving up all their devving work for ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that
and also they are waiting for the first stable RC1 of CM7, and CM9 before going wild
and as soon as the official ICS with TW gets released, you'll be sure to see Juggernaut upgraded as well
tigerz0202 said:
Is the development up to par withh the hype that surrounded this phone. I look through the forum and I don't see any rom as of right now that makes me want to switch. The Roms are all basically the same and seems like they aren't really that much better than being stock and rooted. I know this phone blows the sensation away etc etc but development over there unquestionably was much better. Just dissapointed because I thought we would get more devs here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you using on your Sensation?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
This phone just came out like 6 weeks ago lol
How many ROMs were out for the Sensation in the first 6 weeks?
Romanbb said:
What are you using on your Sensation?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was running Energy rom. I actually had 2 sensations mine and my wife's, I took hers to play with when I sold mine to get the GS2 ,she went with mt4g slide and I'm about to sell the other one to a friend of mine who needs a phone bad. So that will leave me with just this phone ....not that its a bad thing just thought we would have a little more variety. Sensation was locked and that set it back for a while but once it was cracked it seemed like devs flocked to it. Maybe that will change once ics is up and running. But the guys that are here are doing a great job as there is some good available Roms. Trust me I'm not complaining cause I wish I could do what y'all do and I plan to in the future once life allows me the time
tigerz0202 said:
I wish I could do what y'all do and I plan to in the future once life allows me the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL same here
i barely have time to flash a new ROM, life is just too busy
i've been setting up a Dev environment, but never had the time to actually build anything

[Q] Why A Nexus? Advantages of an OPEN DEVICE??

Hi guys, I have been on this forums for quite a while even though I don't own a Nexus myself. I have been browsing through the development section every day and looking at all the ROMs etc..
I know that everything is open on the Nexus, all the sources, drivers, etc. I know that the advantages of having a Nexus is stock experience, with faster updates directly from Google. But what is the advantage of having an open phone as a user? I don't find much difference between the ROMs for Galaxy S II and the ROMs for the Galaxy Nexus. In fact the Siyah kernel, i think, has many many more features than the most popular kernel on this forums, the Franco kernel.
I am not trying to spark up anything over here. I just want to know what is the benefit of having such an open phone?
Difference between being in a wheelchair in a jail cell, even a jail cell with a window and open field sunny day with your legs running however fast you can. Its like that.
let it be.
@rbiter said:
Difference between being in a wheelchair in a jail cell, even a jail cell with a window and open field sunny day with your legs running however fast you can. Its like that.
let it be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think that, but I can't see that translating to development. I mean, I must be blind to not be able to see the differences, but I really can't. I don't see any major improvements in the ROMs on the Galaxy Nexus
darkgoon3r96 said:
I know that the advantages of having a Nexus is stock experience, with faster updates directly from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You answered your own question.
I already had 2 not Nexus Samsung phones and I will never make this mistake again. The lack of updates, the crappy skin that tries to look as the iPhone, etc.
In my experience, the builds from Google are much more stable, fast and reliable. And nothing in TouchWiz add anything that matters to me. To me Android is Nexus, I dont think I will build anything that is not Nexus again (but I really hope that HTC build the next one, I love the build quality of their phones).
martonikaj said:
You answered your own question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, that wasn't my question. I am not asking why the Nexus is a better device. I am asking how does opening up the sources and drivers improve on the development...
darkgoon3r96 said:
I would think that, but I can't see that translating to development. I mean, I must be blind to not be able to see the differences, but I really can't. I don't see any major improvements in the ROMs on the Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry man, but in my opinion the stock ICS on the GNexus is miles ahead of any build from the SII.
martonikaj said:
You answered your own question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difference is some stuff on aosp
Roms still don't work on galaxy s2 but everything works on aosp roms on nexus because it's open and drivers and everything is available...
bottom line aokp cm9 etc will give u a better user experience on nexus fewer bugs
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
darkgoon3r96 said:
Haha, that wasn't my question. I am not asking why the Nexus is a better device. I am asking how does opening up the sources and drivers improve on the development...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because your Galaxy Nexus comes with stock ICS out of the box. Sorry, but a custom ROM will never be as smooth and nice as the native out of the box OS.
juliano_q said:
Sorry man, but in my opinion the stock ICS on the GNexus is miles ahead of any build from the SII.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still don't get why you guys think the Stock is so much better than AOKP? I mean, isn't that very similar to stock?
OK, let me see if I can answer it. I'm not a developer, so take it with a grain of salt.
The phone I had before this was the Samsung Captivate. I bought it August 2010. At the time, it was one of the more advanced phones on the market. However, within about an hour of using it, I realized that the AT&T bloatware was a problem. Though the device had a lot of memory available, the app drawer was harder to navigate because of 15 different AT&T apps on the phone, most of which charged a monthly fee to do what Google's equivalent apps did for free. So, I had to root it.
Things were fine for a couple weeks, but then I noticed that there were several apps that I couldn't download because everyone was on Froyo and I was stuck on Eclair. There was no word when either samsung or AT&T was going to provide me with an update, so I had to take matters into my own hands and get a ROM from someone else. I'm not saying the devs didn't do a good job, but they were hamstrung by both AT&T and Sammy who were not giving them the tools they needed to do the job right the first time.
I should also point out that a lot of these problems were caused by AT&T's insistence that they have their own version of the Galaxy S that was different from everyone else's. Thankfully, all the carriers learned from that mistake.
Over the course of a year and 8 months, I tried at least a dozen different ROMs on my phone to either try to keep up with the changes in the market, or just to keep it from freezing. Even stock Gingerbread had problems, likely because it was rushed out. I finally found a stable build in a ROM that used ICS (ironically, ported from the GNex). So that meant, if not for the great work of Team ICSSGS, my Captivate would NEVER have been a stable phone. All those commercials about being a smartphone beta tester seemed to be designed with the Captivate in mind.
The point of all this: When it came time for me to get a new phone, I was considering waiting for the GSIII, but then Google offered the GNex off contract for $400, a not unreasonable price for the hardware at all, but what I was really paying for was getting off the treadmill. Now granted, at this point I've only had the phone for about a week, but it performs every function I need it to, and AT&T has no say in it. Samsung only had a say in the hardware. And that's how it should be, and honestly why I think Apple had such a marketing edge for such a long time. Apple told AT&T exactly where they can shove their customizations, and now we have Google doing the same, but not publicizing it enough.
TL;DR: Google experience and faster updates. But those are more valuable than you think.
darkgoon3r96 said:
I still don't get why you guys think the Stock is so much better than AOKP? I mean, isn't that very similar to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just answered yourself... great roms/builds like aokp would not be possible without the Android Open Source Project. Even after saying that the quality on aosp devices running aokp like the gnex and ns are miles ahead of say the sensation or something along those lines due to the very face the the nexus phones have open source readily available.
Sent from my Maguro Yakju
The open let's you literally change ans re-code any part of the device you want. A touch wiz phone cannot do this cause the code is closed.
Custom roms on other devices are not the same though you may think they are. Most of the time something doesn't work cause it relies on a closed touch wiz framework function that has to be reverse engineered or hacked, or usually never works at all..
You need the kernel source code to really make any legit custom rom, and often have to wait months foe it to be released.
With an open device, you literally can implement anything your imagination can cone up with. No bugs or work a rounds.
In my opinion, there are two major differences:
1. On a Nexus device, you are guaranteed a large developer community. The SGSII may have a large developer community, but that's because it's pretty much of the most popular phones. If you buy something like the Samsung Galaxy Infuse (which several of my friends have) then you won't have nearly as big a developer community as the one for the Galaxy Nexus.
2. It's much much easier to root/customize/flash a Nexus device than any other device. All you need is "fastboot oem unlock" and the phone opens up for you. No need for bootloader downgrading/rooting exploits/HTCDev/manufacturer restrictions. This phone is designed to be a developer device. Also, when you screw up a Nexus, it is much easier to solve problems. Phone not booting? Use CWM. Recovery borked? Fastboot. Fastboot not working? ODIN flash. Lots of fail-safes.
Thanks a lot guys for taking the time just to help me out
I got my gnex last wednesday. No regrets at all, it's an amazing phone. My next phone will definitely be another nexus.
Advantage of having a Nexus?
It is like Burger King, you can have it your own way.

[Q] About to get an SIII! General questions..

Okay so I'm planning on finally upgrading from my Samsung Vibrant(S1) to an S3. I would go to an S4 but it's still a bit too pricey for me. Anyways, I just wanted to know some general tips and such. What is the latest official firmware, some pros and cons of keeping TW, which ROMs should I use, etc. Just any input would be nice! I think I've just about maxed out my Vibrant's potential with it running SlimBean 4.2.2 for the most part, and recently switching over to CyanAOSP. I think it's my phone, but things are still very laggy. So I can't wait for my S3 to come in.
Sorry if this is in the wrong section. First time posting.
You will find out quickly that almost everything here is great. Touchwiz isn't bad on this phone and cm 10.1 has almost all the bugs worked out. So all i can say is happy crack flashing.
Honestly, save a lil more and get the S4. Don't upgrade to last yrs model.
Don't get me wrong, the S3 is a major upgrade from the Vibrant, but I feel like if you have an opportunity to upgrade you should get the very best upgrade available.
Just my 2ยข.
Powered by the SGSIII
I would also recommend to save a bit more and get the s4. You have waited this long why not a bit more?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Thing is, I'm in desperate need for a phone currently. My Vibrant is becoming unusable and it'll take me a while to save more money. I'm only 16, and the only source of money for me is an annual thing, which is doing the traditional Lion Dance every Chinese New Years. So, by next year's event, I'm sure S5 will be coming about and my Vibrant will definitely be dead by then. So I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to an S3 now. I really need it to talk to my gf too, since we're a state away. Thanks for everyone's input about going to S4 though.
Btw, I'm guessing it's not possible, but a T-Mobile S3 can't flash ROMs from the i9300 can it? I wanted to try out the recently released GlamourS4 ROM, but I just realized it was in the i9300 section.. Unless the T-Mobile variant is the same model?
limen123 said:
Btw, I'm guessing it's not possible, but a T-Mobile S3 can't flash ROMs from the i9300 can it? I wanted to try out the recently released GlamourS4 ROM, but I just realized it was in the i9300 section.. Unless the T-Mobile variant is the same model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, do not flash ROMs or kernels from other s3's you will end up with a hard brick!! You can flash ROMs from at&t though.. Verizon and sprint I don't think will brick it, but better stay away..
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
If you're really that tight on money, then maybe you shouldn't root.
And as mentioned above, do not flash anything from the International S3 section.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
limen123 said:
Thing is, I'm in desperate need for a phone currently. My Vibrant is becoming unusable and it'll take me a while to save more money. I'm only 16, and the only source of money for me is an annual thing, which is doing the traditional Lion Dance every Chinese New Years. So, by next year's event, I'm sure S5 will be coming about and my Vibrant will definitely be dead by then. So I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to an S3 now. I really need it to talk to my gf too, since we're a state away. Thanks for everyone's input about going to S4 though.
Btw, I'm guessing it's not possible, but a T-Mobile S3 can't flash ROMs from the i9300 can it? I wanted to try out the recently released GlamourS4 ROM, but I just realized it was in the i9300 section.. Unless the T-Mobile variant is the same model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, back in my Vibrant days, I would of told you to Odin and flash Bionix by Team Whiskey.
Best Rom I ran back then, couldn't really top that.
But I see what you mean! well enjoy your new toy.
Powered by the SGSIII
Latest update is 4.1.2, which has multi window.
Touchwiz is ok, definitely recommend getting Nova launcher. Rooting is simple, plenty of instructions, follow them and you'll be good.
I definitely don't recommend flashing kernels or roms not meant for t mobile. You don't want to end up with a hard brick phone. Especially your case that you're tight on money. You don't want to pay extra for a repair.
From MY PERSONAL opinion. Wicked v10 and Stockorama are fantastic touchwiz based roms. Solid battery life and super smooth.
Always read the op and hit the search button.
I can't advise much about AOSP based roms since I just started using one two days ago. I'm on Liquidsmooth 2.5 and it's working great so far.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Ask your parents for the extra money you need.. I'm sure they will be willing to lend you some.
Always go for the best you know?
Please read forum rules before posting
Questions and help issues go in Q&A and help sections
Thread moved
Thank you for your cooperation
Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
707BeastMode707 said:
If you're really that tight on money, then maybe you shouldn't root.
And as mentioned above, do not flash anything from the International S3 section.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. Care to explain why?
IXChicharitoXI said:
Latest update is 4.1.2, which has multi window.
Touchwiz is ok, definitely recommend getting Nova launcher. Rooting is simple, plenty of instructions, follow them and you'll be good.
I definitely don't recommend flashing kernels or roms not meant for t mobile. You don't want to end up with a hard brick phone. Especially your case that you're tight on money. You don't want to pay extra for a repair.
From MY PERSONAL opinion. Wicked v10 and Stockorama are fantastic touchwiz based roms. Solid battery life and super smooth.
Always read the op and hit the search button.
I can't advise much about AOSP based roms since I just started using one two days ago. I'm on Liquidsmooth 2.5 and it's working great so far.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 are leaks right now? What would be advantages of staying on 4.1.2 until the official release?
Yeah, I've been using Nova on my Vibrant for who knows how long. I love it.
Thanks to everyone for the info about carrier-specific flashing. I wasn't intending on trying it until I got an answer anyways.
So what kind of advantages would I get from TW roms and AOSP roms? I know the Samsung specific things like multiwindow, but what else? Or is just a matter of preference?
wardoc22 said:
Ask your parents for the extra money you need.. I'm sure they will be willing to lend you some.
Always go for the best you know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, they won't. I've tried asking for a bit of money so I could get the S3 when it was first released. It'll be the same thing if I ask for a bit to get an S4.
limen123 said:
Hmm. Care to explain why?
So 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 are leaks right now? What would be advantages of staying on 4.1.2 until the official release?
Yeah, I've been using Nova on my Vibrant for who knows how long. I love it.
Thanks to everyone for the info about carrier-specific flashing. I wasn't intending on trying it until I got an answer anyways.
So what kind of advantages would I get from TW roms and AOSP roms? I know the Samsung specific things like multiwindow, but what else? Or is just a matter of preference?
Trust me, they won't. I've tried asking for a bit of money so I could get the S3 when it was first released. It'll be the same thing if I ask for a bit to get an S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not against rooting, but if you're tight on cash, then maybe you should think twice about it. Accidents can happen, you can accidentally flash the wrong kernel or rom and brick your device. It can be fixed, but it will cost you.
limen123 said:
So 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 are leaks right now? What would be advantages of staying on 4.1.2 until the official release?
Yeah, I've been using Nova on my Vibrant for who knows how long. I love it.
Thanks to everyone for the info about carrier-specific flashing. I wasn't intending on trying it until I got an answer anyways.
So what kind of advantages would I get from TW roms and AOSP roms? I know the Samsung specific things like multiwindow, but what else? Or is just a matter of preference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest official release was 4.1.2 which came out a few weeks ago. It's major improvement imo was multi window. I didn't care about the other features personally.
If I'm not mistaken all AOSP roms are 4.2.2 based.
Advantages for touchwiz roms is great stability. You shouldn't come across many, if any bugs at all. You will have all the gesture features on touchwiz roms. Palm to screenshot, tap to refresh, smart stay, etc. You will have more camera features. Everything should just work.
AOSP have more customization but you will give up Samsung features, downgraded camera imo, and you will likely come across minor issues. Random reboots, flickering issues, etc.
I'm not saying AOSP roms are bad. The community here is great and for the most part there's always a solution. I'm running an AOSP rom and I haven't had any issues so far.
One thing I'll recommend, don't switch between AOSP and touchwiz roms back and forth. You may experience some issues, best to Odin stock from an AOSP rom then flash a touchwiz rom afterwards. It's not difficult, just a bit time consuming.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Touchwiz isnt horrible, I just don't like it very much. Its stable, but to me its too laggy, that and I can only have 4 rows and columns on the launcher for icons. If you ask me, it wastes screen real estate, but there are alternatives to it.
Overall once you get 4.1.2 running on this phone it becomes very very stable.
If you want another launcher, Nova (Prime version is 4$, Go Launcher Ex, ADW are all fine choices. Just be warned that Touchwiz Widgets (Such as the Touchwiz Calendar, Accuweather) cannot be used with those Launchers. I use Nova Prime (With Teslaunread for unread email and MMS counts), and it is rock solid stable, and also has Project Butter enhancements which just make it so smooth its not even funny.
Granted, there are also replacements for those such as the Weather Channel, Weather Underground, Google Calendar (Which is what I use anyway), and tons more on Google Play
The S3 is a reasonably good phone, and the only phone I would actually ditch it for would be the Galaxy S4: Nexus Edition when it gets released, granted the GS4-N is not LTE compatible, and costs full price (650$ from what I hear), but it will be Pure AOSP.
I like my GS3.
Also dont use the stock music player, believe me, its not that good. Buy/download one of these
Poweramp (4$)
N7Player (also 4$),
Winamp (Free, but has a paid version that removes Ads and unlocks a couple features).
There are many other Music Players. As for Video Players, I use Moboplayer.
Also the i9003 is the international model. No rom for the SGH-T999 will work on the i9003, nor will any rom built for the i9003 work on the SGH-T999. In fact, flashing either of them to the opposite will brick your phone.
-----------------
I think Purple Ferret meant to say i9300, not i9003.
-----------------
Throwing in my experience with TouchWiz.
The SGS3 is a pretty solid phone, and some of the TouchWiz stuff can get you quite hooked (personally, I like how you're able to flip through the homescreen until you are back at the beginning, and some nice touches they recently included for their file manager like the helix and roll pin scrolling), but it's mostly a matter of preference.
On the other hand, I started having issues with the stock TouchWiz after almost a year of use. It would randomly restart itself from time to time, then all controls became unresponsive after start-up (volume buttons, home button, touchscreen and the soft buttons); only the power button was working. I only got it working again after I did a clean wipe and restored an older backup. Which then inevitably led me to check out custom ROMs.
I never had an Android phone before this one, but my brother had been tinkering with his Vibrant for years now. He was the one that helped me root my SGS3, and he stated that it's a lot easier to do things now than it was back when he first started since there's an app for just about everything needed. (Just to give you a perspective)
Besides, the instructions around here are pretty easy to follow.
And yeah, if you are going for a T-Mobile SGS3, only look for ROMs compatible with SGH-T999 (T999) for T-Mobile (d2tmo).
-----------------
I think Purple Ferret meant to say i9300, not i9003.
-----------------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes exactly, my bad.
Ask your mom or dad or even family members if you can borrow money to buy an S4. I was touching the S4 the other day at Tmobile and it's so fast and smooth makes me wanted it so bad. I think S4 is better than S3. Go for the S4 I would say.
TouchWiz feels too bloaty and laggy for my taste, so I recommend using CM10.1. The smoothness in scrolling and general navigation of the UI are definitely noticeable compared to even the most de-bloated TouchWiz ROM. Just my 2c.

While I was away...

Hi all.
I'd like to welcome myself back to the Android community after taking a 1.5yr hiatus. I switched to Blackberry for a couple of personal reasons, but I went into it knowing I would be back here eventually
So I picked up my Galaxy S6 from Sprint today, and the first thoughts that entered my mind after I turned my phone on were "Root, Roms, Kernels, Themes...I've missed all of it so much!"
I used to be a heavy flasher, and even dabbled in some modding back in my Android days. It's going to take me a short while to get back into the swing of it - but I am still plenty confident to start flashing away.
So I hopped on our XDA Sprint S6 forum here ready to be punched in the face with the overwhelming amount of content, and I was absolutely shocked to see how little development is happening with this device. Actually, shocked is an understatement. I remember XDA development forums always being absolutely littered with Roms and kernels (it was up to you to sift through the crap, of course) - there was never any shortage of flashing/modding material. So, especially with a flagship device like this, you could say that I am a tad bewildered.
Since I've been away from the community for a considerable amount of time, I wanted to ask if there's any particular reason for this? Is there something about the phone's hardware that is holding things back? Something to do with the Sprint variant? Have all the devs moved to a new forum? What gives?
Anyway, it's still nice to be back. Smell ya later, Blackberry :good:
The main issue is lack of dev support for the Exynos processor, which is basically only used by Samsung and isn't as well-documented as the Qualcomm processors most other Android phones have. We get the sh*t end of the stick even more with Sprint, both because it's a CDMA carrier while the majority are GSM so that's what most of the devs make kernels for, and the partition layout is different for Sprint devices, so it takes a bit of work to port stuff. That said, I'm not entirely sure why more of the ROMs/kernels for other S6 variants aren't available for the Sprint version, it doesn't seem to me like it would be too difficult to make it work for us. If anyone else has any insight on that I'd love to hear it.
Another thing killing development on Samsung devices is the 2 largest US carriers have locked down the bootloader making any non-stock ROM or kernel impossible to flash. So many developers gave up on Samsung. There will be less support for Sprint devices as it needs CDMA device support. T-Mobile will be able to use international ROMs, but not Sprint.
Saafir said:
I have read that Samsung won't be going back to Qualcomm processors. So with them pushing forward with their Exynos, it's just a matter of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They actually are for the S7 so whatever you read is wrong!
Saafir said:
Being that it is MONTH's away, we shall see. The only documentation I find saying that for S. Korean models anywho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/09/07/samsung-reportedly-the-first-oem-to-test-snapdragon-820/
Saafir said:
"rumored" doesn't mean they WILL use it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm willing to bet anything that they do use it. Especially if it's as good as they say.
I think this every time I click into this forum. Things aren't lively in the Samsung camp and I've belonged to this camp since the Epic. It's sad how dead it is.
At least for myself I can say, with the more freedom and performance these days, I don't have need to root.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
Saafir said:
Been with Sammy a long time myself. First device was the Galaxy Captivate. This has been by far the slimest range of development I've ever seen lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically my first Samsung was the Instinct, but we won't elaborate on that lol. Best times in the threads was the S1-S3. But I agree, hell the G3 had way more attention. I don't even have this phone anymore but I hang in here more cause the other subforum is useless.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
hayabusa1300cc said:
Technically my first Samsung was the Instinct, but we won't elaborate on that lol. Best times in the threads was the S1-S3. But I agree, hell the G3 had way more attention. I don't even have this phone anymore but I hang in here more cause the other subforum is useless.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had that phone too! For about 8 days. That thing froze up worse than Buffalo in a blizzard. They pushed that out way too fast.
Sent from my SM-G925P using XDA Free mobile app
My hayday of flashing was epic 4g touch (aka s2), I flashed something every day on that device, then a little bit less on s4, then even less on s5, and now I'm completely stock on s6. I really wish there would be a way to get stock on latest ota without tripping Knox
Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Categories

Resources