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nviz22

Cancelled
Original poster
Jun 24, 2013
5,277
3,071
Why do some Android phones require out of the box tweaking? Samsung is notorious for this because you need a package disabler every year to clear out a glut of useless bloat or to extend battery life. I am not sure about LG as much, but I do know there is a package disabler for their G6 as well. Feel free to chime in on other OEMs.

What phones work seamlessly out of the box? The Google Pixel or it requires tweaking as well? There are too many bad Android skins out there as well.
 

RandomKamikaze

macrumors 6502a
Jan 8, 2009
900
56
UK
I've got an S8+ and haven't turned off anything using a Package Disabler. Samsung actually got TouchWiz to a good state with this device.

The only thing which annoys me is I occasionally press the Bixby button by mistake.
 
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tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,467
5,097
You don’t need to tweak any of these phones out of the box. The overwelming majority of all mobile phone purchases, iOS or Android, involve turning it on, going through the initial setup and heading over to the App Store or Play Store to grap your favorite app. On iOS, you have the added luxury of having iCloud backups to restore your phone to precisely the same state your old models was—that’s about as complicated as it gets for most users. And they go about life without any concern for ‘bloatware’ or ‘lag.’

We’re a bunch of tech enthusiasts you usually love to micromanage every little aspect of our phones. And even then, I don’t think there are any phones that escape some degree of tweaking, including handsets using stock Android or iOS. Nobody here just turns on the phone and uses it. We may not have to circumvent some annoying OEM or carrier bloatware on Google produced devices but we still have to tweak it to get it to work the way we like it.
 
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Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,517
5,692
Nexus and Pixel phones require zero tweaks and still run butter smooth.

LG and HTC phones a few tweaks to run smoother.

Samsung, holy cow. They need rooting and custom recovery with custom ROM's to truly run as smooth as a Pixel. If you do nothing to a Samsung, it's a lag fest. Don't care what anyone says, I had the S8+ and it had hiccups and microstutters every now and again. Whereas a Pixel is smooth always 24/7. But a S8+ running a custom ROM is night and day smoother a massive difference to stock.
 

scott craft

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2011
697
143
Louisiana
I've had my S7 since November and the only thing I've done that might be considered tweaking is disabling some of the apps through the app manager. Maybe it needs some tweaking because I'm not too thrilled with how this phone runs.
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,422
Nexus and Pixel phones require zero tweaks and still run butter smooth.

LG and HTC phones a few tweaks to run smoother.

Samsung, holy cow. They need rooting and custom recovery with custom ROM's to truly run as smooth as a Pixel. If you do nothing to a Samsung, it's a lag fest. Don't care what anyone says, I had the S8+ and it had hiccups and microstutters every now and again. Whereas a Pixel is smooth always 24/7. But a S8+ running a custom ROM is night and day smoother a massive difference to stock.

This is my favorite type of response, the one that tells everyone else their experience is wrong.
 

LIVEFRMNYC

macrumors G3
Oct 27, 2009
8,877
10,987
I haven't used Package Disabler on my S8+ and it's doing just fine. The only thing I did was disable the Lookout app.





Screenshot_20170822-171318.png
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,422
I dunno man I'm on my kids old s6 edge and I was about to go without a phone until I flashed it I can't think of one positive thing to say about TouchWiz and Nougat on this phone.

I'm not arguing TW has always been great. I'm just arguing that saying the S8+ lags and that you "don't care what anyone says" is arrogant and dismissive.
 

lowendlinux

macrumors 603
Sep 24, 2014
5,460
6,788
Germany
I'm not arguing TW has always been great. I'm just arguing that saying the S8+ lags and that you "don't care what anyone says" is arrogant and dismissive.
That's why I limited it to this phone. I will say this, with this ROM and all the Samsung apps gone I'm not unhappy it's like owning a curved screen Nexus battery life and all.
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,422
That's why I limited it to this phone. I will say this, with this ROM and all the Samsung apps gone I'm not unhappy it's like owning a curved screen Nexus battery life and all.

And I'm glad you like it. I would never try to tell you how to enjoy your decide. I just get tired of the mantra that some people have when it comes to anything from Samsung.
 
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