Galaxy S4

[0dev]

So here's a right bitch of a problem.

I have a completely unrooted, unROM'd, perfectly stock Galaxy S4... which tells me the device has been modified every time I try to check for updates.

Seriously the **** is up with this?

 

[MRU]

So here's a right bitch of a problem.

I have a completely unrooted, unROM'd, perfectly stock Galaxy S4... which tells me the device has been modified every time I try to check for updates.

Seriously the **** is up with this?

View attachment 440083

Was it previously running a rom or rooted ?

If so, it may be a case that the dreaded KNOX binary counter has been triggered if your running a new software version, or if it hasn't maybe you should do a restore in Kies (failing that download the very latest fimrware from sammobile which will have knox and flash via Odin).

Yeah I ran into problems last time I went from GE rom back to stock - all manner of problems including broken wifi - or no sound when a rom did flash, and often failures in Odin to flash at all. I had to download the very latest rom and thankfully that worked and software update worked on mine after as I checked before I sold my phone there on Tuesday just gone.


Actually possible solution is to boot into recovery and wipe the 'cache partition' and then reboot and see if it works ...

Recovery by pressing power and volume up until the little blue writing appears in the boot screen top left, and then when you see the error with the android, press volume up again and you will see the recovery options.

 

[IFRIT]

I Can't tell you why that happened if the phone has always been stock but you can force kies to flash the latest ROM, it's called "emergency restore" or something similar it might wipe the phone though.

 

[0dev]

The phone has always been stock, I have never rooted or flashed a ROM at all. I'll mess around with Kies later. Thinking I'll just jump to CyanogenMod though TBH.

 

[MRU]

The phone has always been stock, I have never rooted or flashed a ROM at all. I'll mess around with Kies later. Thinking I'll just jump to CyanogenMod though TBH.

Yeah very strange so. A simple factory restore might solve it - or check for latest update in Kies - that may fix it without need to do anything else.

 

[0dev]

Yeah very strange so. A simple factory restore might solve it - or check for latest update in Kies - that may fix it without need to do anything else.

If I have to set up everything all over again I might as well flash CM. I've been wanting to ROM it for a while, I've just never been bothered to sit down and do it.

Flashing CM shouldn't cause problems with the WiFi or anything should it? I've read of ROMs breaking stuff on the S4 as you mentioned in your earlier post. Having to dick about with different baseband firmwares to fix stuff like that would be a massive pain in the balls, especially since I need my phone to work as a WiFi hotspot.

 

[Sensamic]

This happens with the S3 too. Nothing new. It's not like with the Nexus that you can go back to stock completely.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Galaxy S5 rumors begin: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s5-release-date-specs-282126/

64 bit, fingerprint scanner, 16 MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization. Possibly water and dust proof, too.

 

[MRU]

Galaxy S5 rumors begin: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s5-release-date-specs-282126/

64 bit, fingerprint scanner, 16 MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization. Possibly water and dust proof, too.

Oh god too soon, too soon

 

[0dev]

Galaxy S5 rumors begin: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s5-release-date-specs-282126/

64 bit, fingerprint scanner, 16 MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization. Possibly water and dust proof, too.

Wouldn't be surprised. They need to one up Apple and the water and dust proofing is a given with the whole Active line already out.

 

[Fanaticalism]

Galaxy S5 rumors begin: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s5-release-date-specs-282126/

64 bit, fingerprint scanner, 16 MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization. Possibly water and dust proof, too.

Ugh! I don't want a stupid fingerprint scanner! Don't care for waterproofing or any other proofing for that matter. All I want is:

A cleaned up GUI
Performance based skin.
Edge to Edge screen (like the G2).
Brightness of the N3
Bigger battery (but not bigger phone)

I'll take any improved aesthetics... personally like the faux leather on the black N3.

 

[MRU]

Ugh! I don't want a stupid fingerprint scanner! Don't care for waterproofing or any other proofing for that matter. All I want is:

A cleaned up GUI
Performance based skin.


Edge to Edge screen (like the G2).
Brightness of the N3
Bigger battery (but not bigger phone)

I'll take any improved aesthetics... personally like the faux leather on the black N3.

+1 million

Samsung don't need more features or things that can be seen as gimmicks to improve its OS, it needs to do serious house work and clean Touchwiz out completely.

It needs to redesign and engineer it, make it Less resource hungry, have a GUI that has consistent look and feel throughout all its applications rather than everything looking like it was designed by different teams with no thought of the whole. It needs to drop superfluous and long winded animations, drop the screen space wasting screen indicator above the dock, allow users to move the application button too. There is a vastness to improve all of which would serve far better user experience than adding a fingerprint scanner...

 

[rick snagwell]

hey guys, i have had iphone since it came out, and really don't like my 5S. the keyboard is way too little, and i have problems texting with my big fingers. would also like a bigger screen, and be able to customize my phone.

now, having my iphone really does make some things easier...

itunes, listening to music.
remote, apple tv

just the accessability with other apple products around me and my house.

is the transition easy? and is there apps that can mimic apple apps?

would like to return my iphone 5S for the SG4


thanks for any input

 

[rockitdog]

Samsung needs to slow down and stop trying to copy Apple and stop trying to one-up Apple which is obviously what they are trying to do. The GS4 already kills the iPhones in terms of specs and customization. I wish they would focus on improving the actual user experince instead of trying to cram more technology in their phones just to have it in their phones.

Apple may be behind in what the are putting in their devices but at least they are changing things with the user experince in mind. Apple could easily throw a ton of specs at you but at the end of the day, they want a fluid experience for their customers. Samsung could learn a thing or two from Apple in this respect.

 

[jamezr]

Samsung needs to slow down and stop trying to copy Apple and stop trying to one-up Apple which is obviously what they are trying to do. The GS4 already kills the iPhones in terms of specs and customization. I wish they would focus on improving the actual user experince instead of trying to cram more technology in their phones just to have it in their phones.

Apple may be behind in what the are putting in their devices but at least they are changing things with the user experince in mind. Apple could easily throw a ton of specs at you but at the end of the day, they want a fluid experience for their customers. Samsung could learn a thing or two from Apple in this respect.

I agree with you on most of what you are saying.......have to disagree with Apple having the user experience in mind for all changes... I actually feel Android has a better user experience and Apple is trying to catch up.....

 

[rockitdog]

I agree with you on most of what you are saying.......have to disagree with Apple having the user experience in mind for all changes... I actually feel Android has a better user experience and Apple is trying to catch up.....

I think if Apple was trying to catch up they'd be playing the spec game, but their specs are below average on paper compared to what the top Androids are coming eqipped with, heck Apple's specs are even falling well below mid-range Androids too.

Apple wants to make sure that their OS runs smoothly and works together with their hardware and that the apps they allow in their store work are optimized to work with the OS & hardware. I don't think Android has done a good job of this yet, it's getting better but still has a way to go, IMO.

 

[jamezr]

I think if Apple was trying to catch up they'd be playing the spec game, but their specs are below average on paper compared to what the top Androids are coming eqipped with, heck Apple's specs are even falling well below mid-range Androids too.

Apple wants to make sure that their OS runs smoothly and works together with their hardware and that the apps they allow in their store work are optimized to work with the OS & hardware. I don't think Android has done a good job of this yet, it's getting better but still has a way to go, IMO.

I didn't say anything about specs........IOS is very polished. It is an awesome mobile OS. But its plays catch up with Android as far as feature set goes.

 

[rockitdog]

I didn't say anything about specs........IOS is very polished. It is an awesome mobile OS. But its plays catch up with Android as far as feature set goes.

I completely agree w/you that Apple is playing catch up. I just don't think Apple cares what the competition is doing at this point so while they are catching up to the Samsungs and LGs of the world I don't think that is a focus of theirs, that's all I'm trying to say.

 

[jamezr]

I completely agree w/you that Apple is playing catch up. I just don't think Apple cares what the competition is doing at this point so while they are catching up to the Samsungs and LGs of the world I don't think that is a focus of theirs, that's all I'm trying to say.

^^^^^^ great point!

 

[kasakka]

Samsung needs to slow down and stop trying to copy Apple and stop trying to one-up Apple which is obviously what they are trying to do. The GS4 already kills the iPhones in terms of specs and customization. I wish they would focus on improving the actual user experince instead of trying to cram more technology in their phones just to have it in their phones.

Apple may be behind in what the are putting in their devices but at least they are changing things with the user experince in mind. Apple could easily throw a ton of specs at you but at the end of the day, they want a fluid experience for their customers. Samsung could learn a thing or two from Apple in this respect.

I agree. That said, Apple really botched the iOS 7 release. They just did it way too quickly, resulting in an OS that has poor performance (especially on older devices) and lots of small errors everywhere (things like inconsistent margins and paddings or larger than expected text flowing out of boxes).

I think Samsung did rather well with the Galaxy S4. It's got barely any bezel, has a fairly good camera, decent battery life (once you turn off all their S-whatever features) and honestly I can't find any real performance difference between say CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3) and the latest TouchWiz.

That said, there is room for improvement.

• Those capacitive buttons + physical home button just need to go. They could be replaced by gestures as they are a bit annoying to reach one handed and easily triggered accidentally by palm.
• The speaker should be relocated to the front or bottom of the device so it isn't muffled by the surface it rests on.
• The back could use a more grippy material. I've replaced my back cover with a fake leather type one that is nicer to hold.

Where Samsung could really differentiate themselves is by making Android easier to use. The whole widget+apps home screens and app drawer thing is not particularly elegant - there's no search, uninstalling and arranging apps isn't that intuitive. Being able to control notification LED colors per app without unreliable 3rd party apps would be nice. Settings could be organized a lot better. The list is pretty much endless. If Samsung wants to become Apple, they need to make Android work intuitively rather than something that engineers and tech-minded folk are able to learn.

Of course, these are not things that are as easy to sell as "look how you can wave your hand and do this mostly useless thing".

 

[Vegastouch]

I agree. That said, Apple really botched the iOS 7 release. They just did it way too quickly, resulting in an OS that has poor performance (especially on older devices) and lots of small errors everywhere (things like inconsistent margins and paddings or larger than expected text flowing out of boxes).

I think Samsung did rather well with the Galaxy S4. It's got barely any bezel, has a fairly good camera, decent battery life (once you turn off all their S-whatever features) and honestly I can't find any real performance difference between say CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3) and the latest TouchWiz.

That said, there is room for improvement.

• Those capacitive buttons + physical home button just need to go. They could be replaced by gestures as they are a bit annoying to reach one handed and easily triggered accidentally by palm.
• The speaker should be relocated to the front or bottom of the device so it isn't muffled by the surface it rests on.
• The back could use a more grippy material. I've replaced my back cover with a fake leather type one that is nicer to hold.

Where Samsung could really differentiate themselves is by making Android easier to use. The whole widget+apps home screens and app drawer thing is not particularly elegant - there's no search, uninstalling and arranging apps isn't that intuitive. Being able to control notification LED colors per app without unreliable 3rd party apps would be nice. Settings could be organized a lot better. The list is pretty much endless. If Samsung wants to become Apple, they need to make Android work intuitively rather than something that engineers and tech-minded folk are able to learn.

Of course, these are not things that are as easy to sell as "look how you can wave your hand and do this mostly useless thing".

Um, you mean GOOGLE don't you? Samsung has little to do with how Android works to those capacities. Just the ad ons from Touch wiz.

 

[jrswizzle]

I didn't say anything about specs........IOS is very polished. It is an awesome mobile OS. But its plays catch up with Android as far as feature set goes.

End feature and implementation of that feature are completely different. If we went down a "spec sheet" list of features, perhaps one could say Apple is playing catch-up....

But when SOME (not all) of those features are implemented better (more efficiently, cleaner) is it really playing catch-up?

What about the features Google released in Android this year that were "playing catch-up" to Apple? Game Center, Voice Reminders and other features in Google Now, Developer Tools, better backup/syncing?

Works both ways. Both OSes ebb and flow and get better - and of course are on different update schedules. So while both may be working on something at the same time, the schedules would see one release a feature before the other.

Both are great, mature mobile OSes and both have improvements to make. I think 2013 was a good year for each and 2014 will be even better (larger iPhone, iWatch, iOS 8, Android 5.0, more Google Editions, etc.....)

 

[kasakka]

Um, you mean GOOGLE don't you? Samsung has little to do with how Android works the those capacities. Just the ad ons from Touch wiz.

Unfortunately Google doesn't seem too keen to overhaul Android and so far it has been left to 3rd party developers to build better features. In fact it seems more likely that Google aims to turn Android into a very simple OS that just allows lots and lots of stuff to be bolted on top. This is why I think Samsung could use its resources to come up with better ways to use it.

 

[jamezr]

End feature and implementation of that feature are completely different. If we went down a "spec sheet" list of features, perhaps one could say Apple is playing catch-up....

But when SOME (not all) of those features are implemented better (more efficiently, cleaner) is it really playing catch-up?

What about the features Google released in Android this year that were "playing catch-up" to Apple? Game Center, Voice Reminders and other features in Google Now, Developer Tools, better backup/syncing?

Works both ways. Both OSes ebb and flow and get better - and of course are on different update schedules. So while both may be working on something at the same time, the schedules would see one release a feature before the other.

Both are great, mature mobile OSes and both have improvements to make. I think 2013 was a good year for each and 2014 will be even better (larger iPhone, iWatch, iOS 8, Android 5.0, more Google Editions, etc.....)

But that is a matter of personal preference and or opinion.......what some might say was a better implementation of a feature on one mobile OS....others might not agree with that position. Some might say the option of vendors to offer features not found in Android in its pure form would be features not found on IOS. Saying it only works right if Apple does its...........just feeds the perceived arrogance.
I do agree that this year was a great year to be a mobile device consumer.....2014 seems to be on track to be even better! ( larger iPhone... iWatch (do we know for sure?) IOS 8 ( next year?) Android 5? GPE phones from more vendors. Flexible bendable foldable screen phones from Samsung and LG?

 

[Vegastouch]

Unfortunately Google doesn't seem too keen to overhaul Android and so far it has been left to 3rd party developers to build better features. In fact it seems more likely that Google aims to turn Android into a very simple OS that just allows lots and lots of stuff to be bolted on top. This is why I think Samsung could use its resources to come up with better ways to use it.

Maybe its just too hard for you because I don't agree with your assessment.
As far as leaving it up to 3rd party developers to build better features....wth are you talking about? That's Apple who leaves better features up to developers. Hec they didn't even give you copy and paste or MMS til two years later.

Yep, they care about the use experience alright. And if they didn't care about what others are doin g they wouldn't have made the screen bigger with rumors of even a bigger screen or give you better notifications though it still isn't that great compared to Android.