*** The Official Samsung Galaxy S4 Thread ***

Root :D

If not,


Install Nova launcher
Go to manage apps - disable/uninstall all apps you won't use
set font to tiny
turn of multi-window in display settings
install swype keyboard

just a few pointers.

is rooting same as S2? or is it done differently on the s4?

cheers for the pointers too looking forward to playing with it tomorrow :)
 
@stoosh

I personally agree, using sense V5 was just amazing imo, so much better than other skins, the unified feel, professional/minimal look, feature rich apps, no slowdowns etc. just win me over, not to mention the lack of bugs and being super stable, I hardly ever have to restart the one S, in fact the only reason I ever restart the one S is if I have done a mass uninstall sweep or when I have run out of battery etc. I have only ever encountered 2 system freezes/reboots and that was when the phone first came out and ever since the first update, it hasn't happened again since *touch wood*


Indeed! :D Especially if it is HTC news :p

However, giving the choice is always a good thing and Peter Chou did the right thing, he knows what needs to be done. There are die hard fans out there that won't touch anything but stock android/nexus devices, however, are fed up with the hardware never quite being up to scratch, now they have the choice of either the GS 4 or one (and they can't complain about the lack of storage on the one either since supposedly it will be 64GB! :p)


Yeah, if rooting etc. was important to me, I would only be looking at nexus and Samsung devices.


It is funny because it's true! :D Read earlier that the UI will be white and black, less glossy etc. meh, about two years too late :p


TBF to Sony, they did provide the ICS update to a lot of their xperia phones iirc?? And then they have an official AOSP stock android ROM and supposedly there phones are very easy to root and flash (not read the guides myself but according to Sarge and others that is) The XS only just got JB today......


Hopefully HTC will branch into a few other markets in the future so that they can put more money into those areas, saying that things are looking up for HTC recently i.e. HTC One: Lock and load, it's enterprise ready, they then have the mini one on the way (new desire range [not in the same league as the one]), all they need to do is bring something out to compete with the note III and a nice tablet (which supposedly they are going to be going back to but only windows based iirc, they need to get an android based tablet out too imo)



Yup, OLED is the future for displays and TBPH, I kind of prefer my one S screen to my calibrated dell U2331H :eek: Shame a 24" 1080/1200P monitor (when they come about) will cost an absolute fortune! :(


How have you got your GS 4 setup currently? Running 3rd party apps or just using touchwiz for the time being??
 
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Running an EE S4 with their latest ME2 rom. Anyone else notice that Google Music player keeps running by itself? or am I just doing it wrong and inadvertently selecting something when I unlock the device?

Yes mine does that to. Not even touched Google music either.
 
Really? They would do that? Mmmm I'll give it a go, if you don't ask you don't get!

Thanks Mate :)


If the difference is over £10-15 within 14 days I think. Deffo worth a try, and try and get a female rep on the line :D:D


is rooting same as S2? or is it done differently on the s4?

cheers for the pointers too looking forward to playing with it tomorrow :)

Still just flash a file via odin to root - but also have to do a bit more flashing to get the phone warranty safe (like reset the tamper/flash counter etc)
 
Yes mine does that to. Not even touched Google music either.

phew! - thought I was going nuts and it was just me :)
Not sure why it runs as I don't listen to music ever on my phone. It's wierd because it happens each time the screen turns off, switch it back on and its there in processes. :confused:

mine doesnt do that lol
Could be a ROM thing - which rom you using please dude? I'm on ME2 (EE)
 
@Nexus Yep Sense 5 is gorgeous to look at and it's extremely fluid. HTC hit it out of the park when refreshing their skin :cool:

You see that's where HTC are very good, as you haven't encountered any bugs and haven't had to restart your HOS because HTC have a very tight QC on their software, I wish the same could be said about the hardware side of things :o

Are there any bloatware software that HTC has on the HOS? HTC specific apps baked into the ROM or something specific like digital 7? If so have you removed them or frozen them?

Again I agree, do you remember the rumour that was floating about last year that there will be multiple "Nexus" style devices? Maybe this is it, the S4 and HO Google editions. 64Gb on the Google edition HO is a massive bonus, that will appease a few people who have been complaining about 32Gb not being enough.

If this is the case and the rumours are true then Peter Chou has done the right thing and it's the only way to keep his company afloat and has some kind of chance against Samsung. Very shrewd move on his behalf, at least he didn't score an own goal and release a HO+ in the coming months, that would've alienated a lot of consumers and make them extremely angry.

Apple make me laugh, maybe they'll patent the white and black UI design and sue everyone else who dares to use the same colour scheme. :o

It does make you wonder why Sony is part of the ASOP programme, because does that mean that the XZ will be next in line for the Google edition?

Still with Sony being so open with Devs and working really hard in this programme it still doesn't endear me to the brand.

But didn't Sony also say that ICS is where it ends with many of the Xperia line? It's like their phones are only good for one software cycle refresh, whereas HTC and Samsung continue to support their phones. Look at the S2 even that has got the JB update. Shame on Sony!

If I was an owner of the XS I would've keeled over and died of waiting for JB, I can't believe it's taken so long. Especially as Sony's skinning of Android is extremely light so why the delay? They really need to give their software dev team a hard kick on the backside and then some! :o

Great link there Nexus, it's good to see HTC branching out to other areas, they have a strong portfolio which isn't confusing like their past efforts. The mini one is extremely tempting and I'm keeping an eye on that one, I saw the new Desire range and it doesn't look that exciting although they have stereo front facing speakers which is the way forward and all phones should have it as standard.

HTC's last foray into the tablet market wasn't exactly a hit but maybe their R&D department will put things right?

The HOS screen is very good quality, I really was impressed by it and I don't know why some review sites were slating it.

Luckily for me and my bank account I don't have to worry about monitors as I don't have desktop ;) However if you're into having top notch displays then yes paying for quality often comes at a hefty price. :eek:

I've never got on with Touchwiz and every phone I get I install Nova Launcher out of habit, it's even on the N4.

All the extras are also switched off and I'm only using smart stay, air view and some of the air gestures, i've even deactivated S-Voice from the home button set up. I'm just waiting on a ROM so I can get rid of all the bloatware and a nice ASOP looking theme as I can't stand the garish colours that Touchwiz brings.

Other than that the phone's running really well and I'm enjoying using it, even more so than the HO I had for a little while. It feels the same as the S3 LTE and doesn't feel like a new experience but that's not a bad thing either.

You actually like the design of the S4? What makes it slightly more attractive to you this time around as opposed to the design of the S3?

If the difference is over £10-15 within 14 days I think. Deffo worth a try, and try and get a female rep on the line :D:D

That's handy to know, thanks Mate :)

Will research and contact Amazon. I'll try my best to get a female to assist I'll brush up on my charm skills just in case :p;)
 
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Stoosh, you had your s4 for less than 7 days right? If so, just say you want the price difference refunded else you'd just end up returning under DSR and purchasing at the new price; it's more hassle for them so they'd just refund the difference. I've had this happen on a few items purchased from Amazon.

Hope this helps
 
Stoosh, you had your s4 for less than 7 days right? If so, just say you want the price difference refunded else you'd just end up returning under DSR and purchasing at the new price; it's more hassle for them so they'd just refund the difference. I've had this happen on a few items purchased from Amazon.

Hope this helps

If all else fails with what Kona suggested with a refund of the price difference then I'll go your route. Mate you're a star! Why didnt I think of that? I've had the S4 for 5 working days coming up tomorrow.

Will give it a go. Both kona and you have been extremely helpful. Thanks goes out to both of you.
 
Yeah there are quite a few of their own stuff and other things i.e. stocks, maps, digital 7, tuneinradio amongst other things, I have disabled most of them though :p


True! It does make you wonder, what is the point of the nexus range now if this is going to be a common occurrence???


There is always a good chance that could happen ;) :p :o


Wouldn't be surprised if they did! :D


Doubt it as Sony have already released an official AOSP for the XZ months ago. But you never know, they could just release one so that there is no need to faff about with that stuff.

Not too sure, although I do recall of something like that!

Likewise, especially when you see them releasing a device every month!


The hardware specs aren't impressive but if they can price them appropriately and market etc. extremely well then they could do pretty good....


If they can release a bigger version of the one at £300-400 then it will be very nice :D


Likewise, as usual the majority of review sites seem to only care about a small number of things regarding the screen, they don't look at the bigger picture and other things, what the one S lacked in res./sharpness, it more than made up in all the other areas as proven by Brain's in depth look at it, it is a bit like the HTC one camera situation, they compare the bright landscape conditions and then zoom/crop in and automatically think the camera sucks which is far from the truth and what about the like 10 other things i.e. zoe/features, macro shots, shutter speed etc.


Yup, they have more or less improved the weak points of the GS 3 and just improved upon the already strong points even further, I think MKBHD summed it up pretty well, a smaller but better note II!


Surprisingly yes! The only thing I don't like about it is the plastic pattern finish A number of things, which all add up i.e.

- squarer/even corners (gs 3 were too rounded and weren't even i.e. the bottom were more rounded than the top)
- better home button (gs 3 hard home button just looked weird, the shape wasn't right and didn't fit the size of the bezel
- the lack of bezel, especially on the sides impressed me the most
- the plastic/metallic trim gives it a much better look and adds a perceived look to it
- slightly better camera lens, flash and speaker arrangement on the back
- colour! Couldn't stand the PB version, was just horrible imo

I prefer the looks of the front more to the one, the one is let down by the stupid logo/button arrangement and being too tall with too much bezel
 
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phew! - thought I was going nuts and it was just me :)
Not sure why it runs as I don't listen to music ever on my phone. It's wierd because it happens each time the screen turns off, switch it back on and its there in processes. :confused:

Could be a ROM thing - which rom you using please dude? I'm on ME2 (EE)

ME2 on tmobile. I use play music fairly regularly but i've not had it start playing on its own :)
 
If all else fails with what Kona suggested with a refund of the price difference then I'll go your route. Mate you're a star! Why didnt I think of that? I've had the S4 for 5 working days coming up tomorrow.

Will give it a go. Both kona and you have been extremely helpful. Thanks goes out to both of you.

No worries mate, let us know how you get on!
 
If all else fails with what Kona suggested with a refund of the price difference then I'll go your route. Mate you're a star! Why didnt I think of that? I've had the S4 for 5 working days coming up tomorrow.

Will give it a go. Both kona and you have been extremely helpful. Thanks goes out to both of you.

No worries mate, let us know how you get on!

+1. Anytime stoosh.
 
ME2 on tmobile. I use play music fairly regularly but i've not had it start playing on its own :)

I don't think anyone has said it starts playing music. It runs a process in the back ground, despite never being used. Hold down your home button, tap the bottom left icon (looks like a pie chart) and see if Google Music is listed there.
 
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