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Currently Using Fresh(awesome rom), IYO what's the best stock Android to try?

Currently Using Fresh(awesome rom), IYO what's the best stock Android to try?
I, as a Sprint Tech, am a picky picky SOB when it comes to customizing my phones. I have tried a ton of different ROMS on my Hero since employees cannot upgrade to EVO's, so I've flung myself deep into playing with the cool stuff you guys have here.
Love stock Android, EVEN Love Stock Sense UI. So naturally I have Fresh.
Not really into overclocking, and JIT is a no no as it breaks the Doggcatcher Podcast App. But I do underclock so that my battery last the typical 45-50 hours I currently get out of it using the overclock widget.
Sprint VVM is a must(which I have the apk for just in case, as is the stock HTC weather/clock app. Definately use google's nav/maps app and Places, but the rest of googles built in apps are crap (goggles/gtalk/etc).
I don't theme but I have a stock plain black wallpaper (pitch black no designs or anything) and I do like the HTC sense black taskbar with normal white font and I always patch in that cool HTC Desire battery indicator with the color changing circle and percentage inside...I know...I'm picky, LOL. I'd probably have to find a modded black taskbar to get rid of the ugly gray one that comes with stock Vanilla Android, but what can I say, I like simply black and black themes usually add to much extra stuff I can do without.
So...any suggestions??
Yes, I'm hard to put up with as far as this stuff goes, but I know what I want, and being that I'm one step away from creating my own darn ROM at this point because as great as the work is done by you guys already, I find it hard to grab one or two of everyone's stuff and not end up messing up something else...
LOL hey, it's hard being a tech for 16 years in this business and not want complete control over things, haha, plus, I don't mind the challenge, it's what I live for.
Thanks in advance and hey, if my lofty goals are too high, be blunt, be honest, tell me to make my own ROM, whatever, I'm all ears.
Thanks again.

Well im not sure if this is a stock rom..i think it is tho.
But im using FRESH TOAST 2.1 with Darchshizz #4 kernel.
Works great..and i have had no problems what so ever so far. althought FRESH 2.3.3 is an amazing ROM also.

Try Nfinite's stock deodexed rom, it is literally stock but deodexed so you can do whatever you like to it. He also provides zips to 2 circular battery icons in the Zenherofx thread which I love. BTW, fresh toast is an overclock dev rom that isn't nearly as stable as any of these.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

oops should have clarified, wanting stock vanilla android (like Nexus One or as close to) for Hero, I have stock Sense UI with the latest Fresh, isn't Nfinite's also sense UI or are the screenshots I'm seeing incorrect? Looks Like sense but I may be viewing the wrong ones.
Thanks for the input.

Lol I though you meant you did want Sense (stock), in that case, you should try out Darchdroid or sCrOm, Darch is super fast and stable and sCrOm is also aosp but has several built-in theme choices. Check these out in the Android Development section.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

TheNexxuvas said:
Currently Using Fresh(awesome rom), IYO what's the best stock Android to try?
I, as a Sprint Tech, am a picky picky SOB when it comes to customizing my phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how ironic!

I know right, meh, I likes what I likes. I do a lot of ROM hopping, so think the best of both worlds at a pretty much even ground 0 with not much flair is kinda cool.
Oh cool note, I took apart an Epic 4G 2 months ago, that screen is Sharp as a tack. Wish I could port that bad boy into an EVO, not that the EVO screen is bad either but if the connections from Samsung on both screens were the same (Where HTC was getting their screens from until they had to switch over to Sony to keep up with the demand) and the size was 4.3 (think Samsung EPIC's at 4 straight) it would be a cool Mod to do. Then again, not sure if the board has the right drivers from the hummingbird chip versus the Qualcomm Snapdragon to properly run it but that'd be a fun DIY'er if the sizes were matched.

sense 4.0

does anyone know or has anyone heard if the vivid will even get the new sense 4.0 i know the new one X has it but the vivid has no love yet.. thanks

ps3kev said:
does anyone know or has anyone heard if the vivid will even get the new sense 4.0 i know the new one X has it but the vivid has no love yet.. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Officially (as in from HTC), probably never.
Unofficially, probably after S-Off is released and CM9 is out.

thanks, do u know if there will be an official update to android 4.0.4 or 4.0.5 heard it is fixing alot of issues

ps3kev said:
thanks, do u know if there will be an official update to android 4.0.4 or 4.0.5 heard it is fixing alot of issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Define issues, and honestly, since a global rollout has yet to occur, I doubt that upgrades >4.0.3 are going to occur. Maybe the regions that have yet to get ICS may get 4.0.4 or later, if those regions ever release an update.
Honestly, you're probably going to have to wait for CM to give you that.

question????
@ Aus_AZN
Why do you think or what have you heard that indicates no Sense 4 for Vivid?
I'm new to the HTC line and reacquainting myself with Android phones. I had a Moto Droid X a few years ago until it was stolen. I was loving it compared to my old VeriZon semi-smart phone. But then it was liberated.
I also lost everything after the loss of a family member. So I really haven't had a quality phone for the last 2 years until I upgraded to the Vivid. I didn't do much research, I just knew it would be upgradeable to ICS. I only upgraded to it because I was able to get it for $49.99 as an upgrade from a Fry's electronics near me. So far it ROCKS!!!!
Also where is a good or great source to learn more about Sense and what it adds to the phone? I have seen very little here or on the HTC site or AT&T either.

daspazz said:
@ Aus_AZN
Why do you think or what have you heard that indicates no Sense 4 for Vivid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC has said Sense 3.6 for the Vivid line. 4.0 for the One series and newer.

daspazz said:
@ Aus_AZN
Why do you think or what have you heard that indicates no Sense 4 for Vivid?
I'm new to the HTC line and reacquainting myself with Android phones. I had a Moto Droid X a few years ago until it was stolen. I was loving it compared to my old VeriZon semi-smart phone. But then it was liberated.
I also lost everything after the loss of a family member. So I really haven't had a quality phone for the last 2 years until I upgraded to the Vivid. I didn't do much research, I just knew it would be upgradeable to ICS. I only upgraded to it because I was able to get it for $49.99 as an upgrade from a Fry's electronics near me. So far it ROCKS!!!!
Also where is a good or great source to learn more about Sense and what it adds to the phone? I have seen very little here or on the HTC site or AT&T either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the Vivid is definitely upgradeable to ICS, just not Sense 4 ICS. The way Sense 3.6 looks is very similar to the way it looks on GB; you just get the ICS bonuses when you update it.

I for one hope we see sense 4.0 at some point. It's not out of the question. Hopefully after the one line gains some steam they'll update it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA

Many bugs on this update like losing reception when entering a train station then having to manually turn it back on when back outside or rebooting. Lost of audio on games which needs a reboot and the constant upgrading android on reboots. I believe we will get an upgrade to work out the kinks. But doubt a sense update but who knows we got beats audio and sense 3.6. HTC is cool like that
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Cor-master said:
I for one hope we see sense 4.0 at some point. It's not out of the question. Hopefully after the one line gains some steam they'll update it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think they'll update it; I think the user community will pull through. There is some efforts being made right now, but a lot of it is blocked courtesy of RIL issues.

dfella30 said:
But doubt a sense update but who knows we got beats audio and sense 3.6. HTC is cool like that
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, but ATT isn't..

homeslice976 said:
Yea, but ATT isn't..
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Click to collapse
I've had sprint and t-mobile att is by far better in pricing. They even waved my activation fees and sold me a top of the line phone for 1 cent. While sprint and t-mobile man enough said. Never had verizon but after walking in and looking at the prices I walked out and never went back that was 5 years ago. What its been 5-6 months, fastest update to the latest and greatest ever not to mention we were the first to receive ICS if I'm correct. I think people are upset about the whole no unlimited data thing. But for what I use my phone for its ok haven't even hit a gig yet. Also lowest cancel fee as well. Haven't really needed support yet so don't know about that but S&T forget it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

All I meant by that is that ATT has been notorious for only providing 1 major update per device (minor security/software patches aside). We got ICS and Sense 3.6 as the update, I don't see, from history, ATT giving us another big update like Sense 4.0

What pisses me off about all the cell phone companies is that they waste technology with greed. This phone among others have 2 CPUs and a monster gpu yet the current software does not utilize it very well at all. Now quads its truly a waste of hardware. When phones like the Samsung epic still does very well. ICS uses more resources and the following android update will use even more, making capable phones unable to be upgraded do to lack of resources. Now as far as sense 4 goes our phones have enough resource to handle the upgrade to not give it is a waste and a greed move. Also I hate reading a phone has 1gb ram but 300 available, its starting to be a joke. Laptops another mobile device that can receive the latest and greatest as long as the hardware is supported, they should just offer upgrades for a price which would guarantee upgrades as long as the hardware meets the requirements and offer them from the play store. And fixes should stay free.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Really overall the update has been pretty good to me. Some minor quirks here and there but everything works and it seems stable. Sense 3.6 works well just the look of it all gets to me. Coming from a Samsung, touchwiz definitley adds its own look but keeps enough elements that you still know what version of android your running. The way it sounds is htc rebuilt sense from the ground up to look good on the one series but just did some minor tweaking on the updated phones. I still question the call imo. And I don't get why htc feel the need to remove overscroll glow and Crt animations on their roms, very cool effects that SHOULD be enabled! And why is the app drawer so.... Gingerbread looking? And where are the widget previews and why aren't they located in the apartment drawer?
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/02/01/editorial-sense-4-on-ics-one-step-forward-two-steps-back-for-android/ from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
From this article it sounds like 4.0 is more of the same anyway but it's spot on about what bugs me about sense ics

Thanks for the link Cor-Master!!
I may want to back off of Sense and see what ICS really looks like. Who knew HTC was bastardizing ICS so much. Im new to the Vivid so I had no idea what Sense really was. Now I know more and knowing is half the battle!

Yeah and like the author I'm not against custom UIs. In away its what android was all about and it allows manufacturers some freedom in putting their own stamp on Android. But in the case of sense its just too much. A good example is my captivate and it's official gingerbread update. Samsung put their own stamp on I with touchwiz but it still looked and felt like gingerbread. All and all I'd say touchwiz was 80% android. And the launcher wasn't as heavily weaven into the ui as sense so as for me I spent a majority of my time with it on adw ex. But sense is probably 30% stock Android if that. They really went out of there way to make sure android didn't look or feel like android anymore.
I like sense for the most part and the issue is fixable if htc just does a few minor things: #1 kill all the textured menus and use the stock holo theme for everything. #2. Enable all ics animations #3. Keep the notification bar stock. And last but not least #4. Use the stock app drawer. They could keep everything else the same and sense overall would world's better!
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA

I like Sense. 3.6 is a huge step closer to an AOSP feel than 3.0 or 3.5 was. 4.0 looks even closer. Any way I look at it though, I like what HTC did with Sense. I think it enhances the look of the OS, without compromising resources too badly. It's definitely my favorite Android overlay (over touchwiz, motoblur, etc)...and it's one of the many reasons I bought the Vivid, because I like Sense. If I didn't like Sense, I probably wouldn't have bought HTC. Especially one who's development is a little slower than others.

i guess we just have to wait and see what happens maybe att will release an update for it i dont know

Aus_Azn said:
Officially (as in from HTC), probably never.
Unofficially, probably after S-Off is released and CM9 is out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM Roms are AOSP based and will not contain Sense. CM always use AOSP

No need for 4.2

Kind of funny but I've been thinking about this. 4.2 is almost an update designed to make bare bones aosp android better, and does almost nothing for a phone with a manufacturer skin. 4.1 would be great on this phone with project butter, better notifications, and Google now, but here's the rundown on 4.2 features:
Better camera app: sense 3.6 already has a nicer one than aosp. No photosphere but its kinda of a gimmick "look what my phone can do" feature anyway. The stock camera app has always sucked until 4.2 and the update finally brings it up to par with custom ui's, but does nothing for us.
Improved lockscreen with widget support : sense pretty much has the best lockscreen with shortcut support and notification widgets that appear through sense apps. Custom widget support would be nice but aosp still doesn't have shortcut support.
Gesture typing: yep, we got it on the stock "touch input" keyboard. next
Quick settings : yep sense has that too
Tv out support : while we don't have miracast support, about every htc device post evo 4G has either an hdmi port or mhl support. I'm sure the vivid is no different, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Better alarm clock app : the aosp alarm clock app has always been an after thought until 4.2,however ui's like sense and touchwiz have always had really nice alarm clock apps and the 4.2 app really just brings stock aosp up to par with the ui's
User profiles: this feature is tablet only and disabled on the phones so the vivid wouldn't get it anyway.
I think that's about it. So there you have it! I really kind of believe 4.2 is catered to nexus devices, and I honestly could see a lot of manufacturers passing on this as if they do update, then it'll be little more than a version number change. If you're in the market for a non nexus phone and it has 4.1, then your already up to date.
Just something I thought about. Thoughts?
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

And before anyone calls me out, I got a nexus 7, so I use 4.2 on a daily basis, so I'm not just posting on stuff I've read lol.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

I have a nexus 7 also and personally I'd like to see 4.2 on the vivid because I HATE sense.... Didn't realize how much I didn't like it until I played with pure android. But I'm guessing that if we can't get CM10 to work on this phone, there'd be no reason to worry about 4.2 or not!
Sent from my De-Sensed HTC Vivid using xda premium

Yeah I'm not to keen on sense either, thought it was awesome until I got a phone with it and had to use it every day. If by some Longshot we get jellybean, I hope it comes with Sense 4+ and not the underwhelming sense 3.6 that's on this phone now. From what I've seen sense 4 is world's ahead of what we have.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Once cm10 is completed bring 4.2 will be easy as there isn't much difference between 4.1.2 and 4.3 when it comes to making things work
Anyways I love the 4.2 camera...and I think I read others here on the vivid are able to use it on ICS....
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

Well I was nearly speaking from the perspective of stock, of course I'd want it for cm, but cm doesn't quite have 4.2 ready yet anyway. I hope you can pull it off, I might keep this thing if I can actually get away from using sense or "desensitized" roms.
Problem is with the development we've had, nothing really seems done. I'm sure there is some way to crack the ril issues, so kudos for not giving up. I know I've complained alot but really the phone is no different on stock than any other phone, it's just development hasn't been so great as the best developers keep giving up on the phone in favor of a galaxy s3 or something else.
From a stock standpoint this is better than my captivate I had before, but I would of hated the captivate if I had to be at the mercy of at&t and Samsung for updates which is where we're at with this phone currently. So best of luck to ya hope you can finally solve the dreaded ril issue!
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Cor-master said:
Well I was nearly speaking from the perspective of stock, of course I'd want it for cm, but cm doesn't quite have 4.2 ready yet anyway. I hope you can pull it off, I might keep this thing if I can actually get away from using sense or "desensitized" roms.
Problem is with the development we've had, nothing really seems done. I'm sure there is some way to crack the ril issues, so kudos for not giving up. I know I've complained alot but really the phone is no different on stock than any other phone, it's just development hasn't been so great as the best developers keep giving up on the phone in favor of a galaxy s3 or something else.
From a stock standpoint this is better than my captivate I had before, but I would of hated the captivate if I had to be at the mercy of at&t and Samsung for updates which is where we're at with this phone currently. So best of luck to ya hope you can finally solve the dreaded ril issue!
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I feel the same...but since I have the phone and at least somewhat knowledge on this stuff I figured I might as well try my best...that being said I hate HTC and will never get another one...this vivid ruined it for me. Like you say, stock wise this phone is great...but that's it. Once you go into the world of custom ROMs this phone takes a major dive to nowhere :/
And honestly...ialthough I will keep trying I don't think I'll personally ever figure out the ril/mic issue...but since we got h8rift now I think we may stand a fighting chance...he is a real dev, I'm just a contributor...hence our titles
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah they can make some beautiful looking phones with excellent build quality but sense hasn't aged well and every post sensation device has been a lot less developer friendly. I almost think they feel insulted that anyone wouldn't want to use sense and feel like their phones are perfect already.
But the one x, one x+, and DROID DNA are all gorgeous looking. Hell really so is our phone. Make no mistake their phones are awesome its just the software that blows.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

As a rom addict, would you advise me to keep my One?

I have both the S4 and the One in front of me and one of them is going back by tonight. Still torn between the two, whatever, but there is one factor that can make my decision a lot easier. I never keep a stock rom on any phone; I prefer a stock Android experience with some of the extras included in ROMs such as PA and AOKP. From what I am hearing now, flashing non-Sense ROMs on the One takes away almost all of the bells and whistles of owning the device, like BoomSound (average audio quality) and camera quality (at least we have 13 megapixels to compensate in the S4).
For those of you who have flashed some of these early builds, how is it working for you? Do you find using the phone to not be as enjoyable as it was stock?

ovoxo. said:
I have both the S4 and the One in front of me and one of them is going back by tonight. Still torn between the two, whatever, but there is one factor that can make my decision a lot easier. I never keep a stock rom on any phone; I prefer a stock Android experience with some of the extras included in ROMs such as PA and AOKP. From what I am hearing now, flashing non-Sense ROMs on the One takes away almost all of the bells and whistles of owning the device, like BoomSound (average audio quality) and camera quality (at least we have 13 megapixels to compensate in the S4).
For those of you who have flashed some of these early builds, how is it working for you? Do you find using the phone to not be as enjoyable as it was stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed PA and CM and 30 minutes later i went back to stock. Battery life on any aosp based rom for me has been terrible and all the features of the stock ROM are awesome. sound quality also deteriorated and got reduced volume on the aosp roms. Also gaming. NOTHING lags on stock rom but on PA and CM games lag like crazy. graphics benchmarks get reduced to like Adreno 225 level... And then since they are still alphas there are a lot of bugs and they aren't really stable. I would go with the HTC One instead of the SGS4 because of how sexy the damn thing is. also how sense is much more tuned and less cluttered up like touchwiz is.

crzykiller said:
I flashed PA and CM and 30 minutes later i went back to stock. Battery life on any aosp based rom for me has been terrible and all the features of the stock ROM are awesome. sound quality also deteriorated and got reduced volume on the aosp roms. Also gaming. NOTHING lags on stock rom but on PA and CM games lag like crazy. graphics benchmarks get reduced to like Adreno 225 level... And then since they are still alphas there are a lot of bugs and they aren't really stable. I would go with the HTC One instead of the SGS4 because of how sexy the damn thing is. also how sense is much more tuned and less cluttered up like touchwiz is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. I know, the One is just too sexy, but I gotta actually enjoy using it. If the functionality is practically the same as the S4 after flashing a stock rom, I might as well keep the S4. As far as the TouchWiz vs. Sense argument goes, it is irrelevant to me since I would not be keeping either one as soon as there are some stable stock builds available.

Yeah, in your case just keep the S4.

Flash Trickdroid ROM, it's a custom ROM which is also sense based and has good if not better battery life than stock ROM and certainly better than AOSP.
I'm a fan of AOSP ROM's but for the most part the battery life isn't good so I'll stick with Trickdroid
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Why do people rely on strangers to tell them what they like? I got both of them, played with them, and ended up selling the s4. Reminded me too much of the s3.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

deviusdragger said:
Why do people rely on strangers to tell them what they like? I got both of them, played with them, and ended up selling the s4. Reminded me too much of the s3.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't about people telling me what they like really. I'm simply asking about their experiences thus far with their phone and flashing roms. Where else would I turn for advice? Also, if you read the OP I wasn't asking which device you liked more and which one you returned.

jonny68 said:
Flash Trickdroid ROM, it's a custom ROM which is also sense based and has good if not better battery life than stock ROM and certainly better than AOSP.
I'm a fan of AOSP ROM's but for the most part the battery life isn't good so I'll stick with Trickdroid
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard great thing about Trickdroid, but there is no way I wanna miss out on things like PA's Halo feature..

ovoxo. said:
I have both the S4 and the One in front of me and one of them is going back by tonight. Still torn between the two, whatever, but there is one factor that can make my decision a lot easier. I never keep a stock rom on any phone; I prefer a stock Android experience with some of the extras included in ROMs such as PA and AOKP. From what I am hearing now, flashing non-Sense ROMs on the One takes away almost all of the bells and whistles of owning the device, like BoomSound (average audio quality) and camera quality (at least we have 13 megapixels to compensate in the S4).
For those of you who have flashed some of these early builds, how is it working for you? Do you find using the phone to not be as enjoyable as it was stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same boat but stuck with the HTC One. I like it's feel in my hand a lot more which is a big thing for me, comfort>sexy, but both?! Also a lot of devs seem to be including sense in their roms letting us get Zoe+addons from aftermarket roms which keeps the camera viable. I think we'll see more interesting development on the One than on the S4 simply because devs will want to port/improve those features into their roms.

ovoxo. said:
I have both the S4 and the One in front of me and one of them is going back by tonight. Still torn between the two, whatever, but there is one factor that can make my decision a lot easier. I never keep a stock rom on any phone; I prefer a stock Android experience with some of the extras included in ROMs such as PA and AOKP. From what I am hearing now, flashing non-Sense ROMs on the One takes away almost all of the bells and whistles of owning the device, like BoomSound (average audio quality) and camera quality (at least we have 13 megapixels to compensate in the S4).
For those of you who have flashed some of these early builds, how is it working for you? Do you find using the phone to not be as enjoyable as it was stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran the stock rom for 2 weeks before flashing a custom ROM. I didn't have any sluggish performance with stock, but I do like the custom rom better. I removed all the t-mobile junk. So if anything I got a performance increase.
I wouldn't return this phone, I love it.
Try the Maximus7 6.0 rom.
I came from a TF300 that was fing slow and constant force closes because of the slow IO in it. But it was a stock experience.
I thought I would hate this 'sense'. I like it. I do use a Nova Launcher and I removed the cruft.

ovoxo. said:
This isn't about people telling me what they like really. I'm simply asking about their experiences thus far with their phone and flashing roms. Where else would I turn for advice? Also, if you read the OP I wasn't asking which device you liked more and which one you returned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it's me getting older and needing a phone for business and not a toy to tinker with. The one gave me more features and the feel of it in my hand was better. Why not go with something with better features and reliability than with something that has more roms to flash? That's my question to op. Hopefully you can get both with whatever you decide to go with.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

ovoxo. said:
I've heard great thing about Trickdroid, but there is no way I wanna miss out on things like PA's Halo feature..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah id say Trickdroid is probably the best ROM overall right now for this one, but the choice is yours, if your prepared to sacrifice some battery life for extra features then no problems.
I'm running AOSP on my Nexus 7 and have been for months now but I'm quite content with Trickdroid on my One.

As a ROM addict, both of these phones will easily keep you happy.
However, asking in this forum will yield bias responses. Just like if you were to ask this in the S4 forum, you'll get the majority of answers saying to stick with the S4.

deviusdragger said:
Maybe it's me getting older and needing a phone for business and not a toy to tinker with. The one gave me more features and the feel of it in my hand was better. Why not go with something with better features and reliability than with something that has more roms to flash? That's my question to op. Hopefully you can get both with whatever you decide to go with.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think I'm having such a hard time? :laugh: Too bad I can't afford to keep both.

KidCarter93 said:
As a ROM addict, both of these phones will easily keep you happy.
However, asking in this forum will yield bias responses. Just like if you were to ask this in the S4 forum, you'll get the majority of answers saying to stick with the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, of course. Just thought it would be better to get insight from those who have actually had experience with these ROMs. Both communities do seem like they are going to have a load of new things to flash and play with within the next few months.

Sense has gotten to the point (for me), that its features far outweigh anything aosp or aokp offer. Aosp advantage used to be that it was quicker and smoother with more customizations...not the case at all now. I would go as far to say that you actually lose more useful features than you gain by going pure android. I do understand the addiction though...I've had it for years...haha
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Discussion. Are pure Google devices worth it?

Let's hear it.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

I have a nexus 7 and stock Android bores me. I actually like Touchwiz and the "vomit inducing colors", that some people complain so much about.
I have no need to rom my S4.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

Mship said:
I have a nexus 7 and stock Android bores me. I actually like Touchwiz and the "vomit inducing colors", that some people complain so much about.
I have no need to rom my S4.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to agree mostly because I enjoy having the option. TW has really stepped it up since the Gingerbread version that came stock on the S2. I tend to go back and forth between TW and AOSP. A great option.
The Nexus 7 is a great device. I run JellyBeer because I like tabletui on my tablet. I tend to do less modding now on that device because I play a ton of games on it. I'd rather it just be stable.

I will say this I brought a TW device because I like TW. People buy a TW device and complain about TW I'm like why not just buy a pure Google device instead of flashing a rom to get that pure Google experience.
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It's great we have options. I say whatever floats your boat. But like E, I bought a TW device because I wanted one. My wife had an S3 and I had HTC's. I did all the techie stuff on her phone and grew to like the interface. It's a refreshing change for me being a long time Sense user. And I've been very pleased with it so far. But it's nice to know I can always switch if I get bored with TW.

The device itself, no. There will be near-perfect ports for the TW devices already out there. But if I had the choice of buying either of them at the same price, I'd go with the GPe. I don't use most of Samsung's pre-loaded features.
Sent from my Galaxy S4

I've enjoyed the TW experience and why give up features for the pure android experience?

I came from HTC Sense and pure Android with all the roms I found for my Evo3d, so TW is new to me. I love TW! To me they all do the same crap. I do love all the settings, options and gadgets from TW so I prefer it for now. The only reason I tried non sense roms was for Jellybean and increase speed. With my S4 I don't need any more speed plus I love the funs stuff that came with the phone so I don't see myself installing a different rom unless its the next Android version. Whats the next Android version to come out? Apple Pie or something like that?

The only time I used an aosp rom for a long period was on my hero. I actually preferred sense over aosp and now I am really enjoying tw. I must admit I do notice some lag at times, but no more than any other phone I've had. Also, this is the longest I've ever gone without rooting a phone. I'm considering rooting now just to get rid of some of the bloat I never use.
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I've always liked the dark aosp roms and paranoid android but this is the first touch wiz phone I've like the tw on because of the extra features.
---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 PM ----------
If someone can get the tw camera ported, that would be sick.

Finally I find people that like touch wiz. As a fellow liker of tw it was sad being in a minority of one

Vanilla may be nice in some aspects, but it gets boring quick. I don't know what specifically, but there were things I couldn't do on vanilla that I could do on touchwiz. I don't know of any, off hand, that I couldn't do in tw but could in vanilla. I don't know if it is an issue now but it used to be that a Bluetooth program, or the emulator program, wouldn't work with a Nintendo controller if it had touchwiz. Haven't used it lately so I don't know if they fixed that. The Dev said that touchwiz wasn't compatible at the time. This was the time of the nexus s 4g.

E The Magnificent said:
I will say this I brought a TW device because I like TW. People buy a TW device and complain about TW I'm like why not just buy a pure Google device instead of flashing a rom to get that pure Google experience.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint doesn't have any pure Google devices.

I'm not a fan of the vomit inducing colors on asop. The lack of ability to customize the phone the way you want without having to resort to play store apps or asop roms is annoying. The horrible camera and phone app reminds me of pre froyo. Settings menu lacks the options to customize and requires too many "clicks" deep into menus to get what you want.
WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS/brightness all require
Sent from my SGS4. Go Blue!! Buck the Fuc keyes!!

Yes because they will give us power users and devs more options and it will boost aosp development for regular stock subsidized phones.
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I regularly switch between TW & AOSP. I like them both for different reasons and I change as the mood suits me. I'll say this though - I waited longer to flash an AOSP rom on this phone than I have on any other phone in something like 2-3 years. And that covers a whole lot of phones. Samsung has done great things with TW and I'm legitimately baffled by all the hatred it gets.
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PwnCloud said:
Sprint doesn't have any pure Google devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy Nexus
Nexus S 4G

I bought this phone for the hardware, and SUPER AMOLED, 5 inch screen. The extras mean nothing to me. I like the snappiness of AOSP/GE. Once you flash CM10.1, you cant' go back to TouchWiz. It just doesn't look right.

Until stock android gets better features, no. Google needs to come up with some cool features like LGs quick memo, floating apps, or video overlay, or Samsung's dual window mode, and pop out video. It's features like that, that actually enhance the android experience. App switching ≠ multitasking anymore. What's the point of all these quad core phones if we don't get use out of them?
Another main thing is google needs to stop giving CDMA users the cold shoulder. Even if Pure devices were worth it, they wouldn't be worth switching companies for.

tikay00 said:
I bought this phone for the hardware, and SUPER AMOLED, 5 inch screen. The extras mean nothing to me. I like the snappiness of AOSP/GE. Once you flash CM10.1, you cant' go back to TouchWiz. It just doesn't look right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe YOU can't, but I do all the time. I don't really notice any difference in speed between the two, and my 3g data on CM is just awful.
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