Hello there,
Like most people, the TouchWiz on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 is the most annoying and useless thing on the planet. Its slow, laggy, and intrusive, and you are wondering who you want to improve your device. Not only is TouchWiz annoying you but some other things within the Samsung/Android OS are annoying you, well here are some of the best solution and work arounds to all problems that you may encounter on the Galaxy S4.
LAUNCHER
TOUCHWIZ IS NO GOOD. If you are any type of developer or someone who generally likes to customize their device, you will not enjoy TouchWiz. The look and feel are terrible, its slow and laggy, and everything about it just seems childish. So here the solution to that. If you want to you can Unlock, Root, and Flash ROM's on to your device, IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCED. You can easily brick your device if you do not follow the directions correctly and will lead to a lot of hair tearing out. If you want to Root and Flash then check some other threads out, Here is a easy solution on the Play store.
Go and check out some of the Launchers in the Play store. There are so many to choose from. I personally used ADW on my Xoom, but now on my S4 I am using Nova Launcher Prime. This is a little pricey at $4.00 but is well worth it. You can do almost anything in the means of customizing the device. Grid size can be changes, animation, screen transition style. The long you play around with the Launcher more and more you find it can be customized easily. Plus the best part about Nova Prime is that you now have a "Stock" Android feel, plus is runs perfectly. If this Launcher isnt your first chose there is also Apex, Smart, Holo, Buzz, and Launcher 8. These launchers can be changed at any time and make your device completely your own.
APPS
Samsung put a lot of bloatware on this device. You will not use a lot of it. So how to you get rid of all of this software... Disable all apps that you are not going to use, NOT PROCESSES. Disabling these apps will ensure that they are not used and are not using up your battery. This ensures that what isnt important wont be used and use battery.
Stock apps that Samsung has are.......ok nothing to rave over. The Messaging app is a pain along with the Music Player. Ive replaced the Messaging app with GO SMS Pro, and then switched it to be default. Other Messaging apps include Messaging 7 and Sliding Messaging Pro, SMP is very laggy and is in Beta stages right now. For the Music Play I use NexMusic, which works perfectly. These apps ensure the best experience with the phone. I also replaced the Lockscreen with an app called Widgetlocker. I set the lockscreen in the settings to be NONE and then set up my Widgetlocker. This is a much better lockscreen than before.
Battery is always a major concern for all users, and BatteryGuru is awesome, its from Qualcomm and it helps with the processor usage. I will get into detail on how to conserve battery life in another section.
If you dont like a certain app that cannot be removed, and you want to find an alternate check YouTube and the Play store, or you can message me and I will help you with the problem app.
BATTERY
Improving battery life is such an important issue. Samsung has a lot of things that will kill your battery and give the phone a bad name in the battery division. Heres how to improve it. TURN OFF EVERYTHING. If you are not using GPS, Bluetooth, AirView and stuff like that, then turn it off. All it does is use battery... and a lot of it. I only have Sync, and or Wifi and Mobile Data depending on my location. Watch what settings and services you have running and you can save a lot of battery as long as you just turn off stuff that you are not using.
App management is huge. When you finish using apps make sure to delete it in the Multitasking tray, otherwise is will continue to run and use battery. Again, disable the unused app and manage usage on the others.
MOST IMPORTANT is the Screen, its a huge display. The higher the brightness, the less battery you are going to have. Also, with they type of screen this is, if you can use a black background you dont have to light up those pixels on the screen, which will save a ton of battery. Set the timeout to the lowest settings and make sure that you dont run a ton of graphic heavy apps or anything like that.
Overall manage you apps, screen, and services and you can get two days out of the phone. ALWAYS get a Full charge cycle. Run the battery dead and then fully recharge, but dont leave it on the charger. This will optimize the performance of the battery and phone.
QUESTIONS
If you have any question, send me a message and I can answer whatever question that you have. If I get enough request I can make a video to show these features. It will help, so let me know if any of you want a video.
Like most people, the TouchWiz on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 is the most annoying and useless thing on the planet. Its slow, laggy, and intrusive, and you are wondering who you want to improve your device. Not only is TouchWiz annoying you but some other things within the Samsung/Android OS are annoying you, well here are some of the best solution and work arounds to all problems that you may encounter on the Galaxy S4.
LAUNCHER
TOUCHWIZ IS NO GOOD. If you are any type of developer or someone who generally likes to customize their device, you will not enjoy TouchWiz. The look and feel are terrible, its slow and laggy, and everything about it just seems childish. So here the solution to that. If you want to you can Unlock, Root, and Flash ROM's on to your device, IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCED. You can easily brick your device if you do not follow the directions correctly and will lead to a lot of hair tearing out. If you want to Root and Flash then check some other threads out, Here is a easy solution on the Play store.
Go and check out some of the Launchers in the Play store. There are so many to choose from. I personally used ADW on my Xoom, but now on my S4 I am using Nova Launcher Prime. This is a little pricey at $4.00 but is well worth it. You can do almost anything in the means of customizing the device. Grid size can be changes, animation, screen transition style. The long you play around with the Launcher more and more you find it can be customized easily. Plus the best part about Nova Prime is that you now have a "Stock" Android feel, plus is runs perfectly. If this Launcher isnt your first chose there is also Apex, Smart, Holo, Buzz, and Launcher 8. These launchers can be changed at any time and make your device completely your own.
APPS
Samsung put a lot of bloatware on this device. You will not use a lot of it. So how to you get rid of all of this software... Disable all apps that you are not going to use, NOT PROCESSES. Disabling these apps will ensure that they are not used and are not using up your battery. This ensures that what isnt important wont be used and use battery.
Stock apps that Samsung has are.......ok nothing to rave over. The Messaging app is a pain along with the Music Player. Ive replaced the Messaging app with GO SMS Pro, and then switched it to be default. Other Messaging apps include Messaging 7 and Sliding Messaging Pro, SMP is very laggy and is in Beta stages right now. For the Music Play I use NexMusic, which works perfectly. These apps ensure the best experience with the phone. I also replaced the Lockscreen with an app called Widgetlocker. I set the lockscreen in the settings to be NONE and then set up my Widgetlocker. This is a much better lockscreen than before.
Battery is always a major concern for all users, and BatteryGuru is awesome, its from Qualcomm and it helps with the processor usage. I will get into detail on how to conserve battery life in another section.
If you dont like a certain app that cannot be removed, and you want to find an alternate check YouTube and the Play store, or you can message me and I will help you with the problem app.
BATTERY
Improving battery life is such an important issue. Samsung has a lot of things that will kill your battery and give the phone a bad name in the battery division. Heres how to improve it. TURN OFF EVERYTHING. If you are not using GPS, Bluetooth, AirView and stuff like that, then turn it off. All it does is use battery... and a lot of it. I only have Sync, and or Wifi and Mobile Data depending on my location. Watch what settings and services you have running and you can save a lot of battery as long as you just turn off stuff that you are not using.
App management is huge. When you finish using apps make sure to delete it in the Multitasking tray, otherwise is will continue to run and use battery. Again, disable the unused app and manage usage on the others.
MOST IMPORTANT is the Screen, its a huge display. The higher the brightness, the less battery you are going to have. Also, with they type of screen this is, if you can use a black background you dont have to light up those pixels on the screen, which will save a ton of battery. Set the timeout to the lowest settings and make sure that you dont run a ton of graphic heavy apps or anything like that.
Overall manage you apps, screen, and services and you can get two days out of the phone. ALWAYS get a Full charge cycle. Run the battery dead and then fully recharge, but dont leave it on the charger. This will optimize the performance of the battery and phone.
QUESTIONS
If you have any question, send me a message and I can answer whatever question that you have. If I get enough request I can make a video to show these features. It will help, so let me know if any of you want a video.
