Got S7 Edge & Changes I Hate

[AndroidHumanoid]

I am really happy with my new purchase even though i wish it had a 6 inch screen. I came from a Note 4 which i loved. Anyways, certain things i noticed really upset me.

First, it didn't come with a default music, video player, and voice recorder app. I was beyond LIVID. I never use the Samsung store and so glad i went in to browse because i was able to download Samsung's proprietary apps for my music, videos, and voice recording. People who aren't tech savvy won't do this and will assume Samsung tricked consumers and hate the device because they cannot locate the icons when browsing through their apps. Certain consumers will take it at face value that it is either there or it isn't.

Second, you cannot block people anymore. I have one contact who is evil as HELL and the "AUTO REJECT LIST" option is not available in the contacts app anymore. Yes, i know i can remove this person, but i get a certain pleasure knowing i can block instead.

Third, there is no option anymore to change the text message style bubbles. All previous versions had this and now it is not there anymore. One could previously change to different colors and bubble sizes. Very frustrating.

Forth, LIVE WALLPAPERS are gone. I like having different wallpaper options. Ughhh!!!

Fifth, the panels/home screens now have no transition options. There use to be an option where one can pick "3D ROTATION" or "CARD STACK". Also, the home panels now cannot keep going when you swipe to the left. If you have 5 home panels, you can only scroll 5 times and it stops. The same with the app panel page. If you have 3 panels full of apps, it'll only let you scroll 3 times. I like having the option that after scrolling to the end it goes to the 1st page. Instead i need to scroll all the way backwards in order to get to the beginning.

Sixth, flashlight widget is gone. Why? I have no idea.

Seven, the "HIDE APP" feature is gone. I came from a Note 4 and it offered "HIDE APP". That is such a great feature. Sometimes people have nosey friends who wanna browse and riffle through your gallery to see if you have naughty photos and HIDE APP was great to hide the gallery icon so nosey friends can't intrude and now its gone. Why? I have no idea.

I know my review sounds negative, but i do like my device. I just find it odd when they remove features that people love and are functional features. On the plus side, it does seem like it isn't cluttered with bloatware and the battery size has increased. I guess you win some and then lose some. One can never have it all.

 

[AZgl1500]

all of that can be taken care of off the Play store, and I have indeed changed every one of them and I am using the Note 4, and also have a S5 with the same exact settings as my Note 4.

I just use Nova Prime launcher, and most of your complaints are taken care of with that one app.

Textra SMS takes care of the bubbles shit.

 

[svim]

A big plus for the Android ecosystem is it's easy to alter your user interface and add/swap apps to your liking. From what you've described it sounds like you might have been happier with an iPhone, where Apple more or less establishes its appearance and functionality. There's a lot of people who aren't into tweaking their phones, they're perfectly happy using their phones as is.

 

[AndroidHumanoid]

@svim,

I am a Samsung Android fan and dislike Apple because nothing is customizable. That is why i refuse to get an Apple device.

I just don't understand why Android makes these ridiculous changes when it doesn't benefit anyone. I understand to stay relevant or appear like they are constantly innovating, a software update is made. But no point in doing ridiculous software or OS updates for the sake of just doing it to show consumers changes were made or that they have something new.

For instance, on the S7 Edge, the browser for opening multiple windows is now on the bottom, it was on the top prior to that, and on the bottom before that. What is the point of constantly moving it up and down? So with Android 6.0, it is down, 5.0 is up, and 4.0 is down. Is that logical? Like i said, it appears they make changes just to show consumers that changes were made.

When Android first game out on the HTC G1, there was a new OS update every year from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 and now they have stalled and there are no new OS's every year. Don't fix something that isn't broke.

 

[The_Chief]

I see Google releasing a new OS every year: it's the manufacturers and carriers that won't pass the new stuff on. Either because it's too expensive to tweak to their phones with no return on the investment, or they deliberately let older phones age so they can sell more new ones. Diabolical, huh? And, of course, the decreasingly legitimate reason that older hardware just can't run modern OSs.

 

[Hadron]

Also bear in mind that when you talk about "ridiculous changes" they are not necessarily Android UI changes, they may well be Samsung UI changes. Indeed since Samsung alter the Android UI more than any other mainstream manufacturer, and the default browser, phonebook, message app, calendar as well as desktop/app drawer are all Samsung apps rather than Google ones, it's really likely that any complaints you have are with Samsung rather than Android. Perhaps to you they are the same thing, but for most members of the forum there's an important distinction between manufacturer and platform.

In any case, as others have said, you don't have to use the apps that come with the phone, in which case you can choose and keep the UI you like to a very large extent.

And as @The_Chief says, Google are releasing major versions annually, which you recognise yourself by talking about 5.0 (2014) vs 6.0 (2015), and in case you've not noticed Android N (2016) developer previews are now in circulation. Now if your complaint is that Samsung (or your carrier) are slow with updates that's another matter. But I'm confused that in the same post you seem to be complaining that there are too many changes and also that they have stalled.