Why doesn't Samsung update the Touchwiz UI for older devices getting 4.4.2 KitKat?

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deepen915

Senior Member
May 8, 2013
173
55
This is just a thought I had. I currently have the S5 with the new Touchwiz UI. I was just wondering. Samsung has released KitKat on older devices like the S4, Note 2 and Note 3. Why do they keep the older UI on those devices? I feel like the S5 UI, as far as notification toggles, settings menu and textures, should be available to users of the older devices. One thing I have to give Apple credit for is that when a new OS, like iOS7 releases, they update the UI on all devices even 3 year old ones like the iPhone 4.

I know this is not a big deal, as our Galaxy devices do a lot more even with an older UI, I just feel like it would unify the Galaxy ecosystem more. Anyone using a phone that is less than a year old but with the latest software update should enjoy the same new UI as newer devices. I also look at HTC as an example. They are updating the One and older HTC devices from 2013 to the Sense 6 UI. Samsung really should start doing this.

Thoughts or further discussion would be great.
 

es0tericcha0s

Senior Member
May 6, 2010
4,417
878
mobilemojo5280.com
This is just a thought I had. I currently have the S5 with the new Touchwiz UI. I was just wondering. Samsung has released KitKat on older devices like the S4, Note 2 and Note 3. Why do they keep the older UI on those devices? I feel like the S5 UI, as far as notification toggles, settings menu and textures, should be available to users of the older devices. One thing I have to give Apple credit for is that when a new OS, like iOS7 releases, they update the UI on all devices even 3 year old ones like the iPhone 4.

I know this is not a big deal, as our Galaxy devices do a lot more even with an older UI, I just feel like it would unify the Galaxy ecosystem more. Anyone using a phone that is less than a year old but with the latest software update should enjoy the same new UI as newer devices. I also look at HTC as an example. They are updating the One and older HTC devices from 2013 to the Sense 6 UI. Samsung really should start doing this.

Thoughts or further discussion would be great.

Pssh. The TouchWiz user interface is laggy enough. Trying to use the one on the S5 on one of the older devices would probably make it even worse. Plus it's just another marketing ploy to try and get you to buy the newer ones. I can't stand the TW UI either way, new or old. I think it's bloated and hideous. I buy their phones for the hardware, not the software, but I'm pretty sure I'm done with them with all the recent security crap they keep throwing on there. Not allowing you to downgrade officially, Knox, locked bootloaders, etc. They still make great phones, just not for what I need.
 

Cbass15

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2012
1,950
992
Franklin, OH
There is ways to mod it on the older devices. I current use a note 3 with S5 UI on it. I like the new look.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 

deepen915

Senior Member
May 8, 2013
173
55
Pssh. The TouchWiz user interface is laggy enough. Trying to use the one on the S5 on one of the older devices would probably make it even worse. Plus it's just another marketing ploy to try and get you to buy the newer ones. I can't stand the TW UI either way, new or old. I think it's bloated and hideous. I buy their phones for the hardware, not the software, but I'm pretty sure I'm done with them with all the recent security crap they keep throwing on there. Not allowing you to downgrade officially, Knox, locked bootloaders, etc. They still make great phones, just not for what I need.

IDK about that. and also older phones like the S4 and Note 3 can handle the S5 UI, the hardware would support it. I actually find the S5 UI to lag a lot less than the S4, as they have cut out a lot of the crap.