TouchWiz has long been known as being far too full of bloat and unnecessary software, but the real problem with Samsung’s version of Android is that these added features come with a hard hit on performance. According to a report this morning from SamMobile, the Korean company might be going as far as to remove all features from the OS that can possibly be downloaded – and this just so happens to coincide with today’s market share numbers showing that Apple and Samsung were neck-and-neck in Q4.
Isn’t competition lovely?
I hope they at least keep some of it, specifically the USB OTG support, multi windows, and it’s got the best ‘do not disturb’ mode of any Android phone I’ve ever seen.
That being said, things like that hand waving to scroll crap can go bye-bye
Oh man, I agree…
I will miss multi window, the floating video, air control, palm motion, air command and the note 3 pen.
Sounds to me more like they’re trying to separate as much out of the os as they can, and make it downloadable rather than discontinuing it. Makes a lot of sense and would probably help Samsung’s os update situation as well. I doubt you’ll lose multi-window as that’s most likely something that can’t be easily split off into an app, but the do not disturb feature for example could easily be an app. Hell, they could even sell that app to other device owners if they want to and bring in a little extra cash.
I’m actually a little nervous about using a 3rd party DND app. The last thing I want is for that app to crash or be killed by the OS, and leave my phone on silent and/or selectively ignoring whitelist callers when I’m using it for work purposes. I REALLY want that functionality built into the OS.
Of course, lollipop has it, but it looked horribly gimped in the tech preview (just like the Moto X), and I’m not exactly sure how it functions in the final build.
“Quiet Hours” functionality has been part of Android ROMs for a few major releases now. As far as turning off notifications went, it worked wonderfully (no flashing LED notifications, no sonic notifications, no vibrations) and has been a godsend for over a year now. However, while it supported a “allow starred contacts to contact you” feature, it never worked for me. Even in Android 4.4.4.
Once “Quiet Hours” kicked in, my phone was completely silent and blank. Not even the wife could get through (which can be both a good thing and a horrible thing). 
“Priority Notifications” in Android 5.0, while a bit of a pain to configure the very first time you see it, works the same as “Quiet Hours” … but the starred contacts stuff actually works! When the shutoff time arrives, all LEDs and sounds stop … unless the wife sends me a text or calls me, or someone calls 3 times in a row within 3 minutes.
This is the first implementation of DnD that has actually worked as advertised for me (and that includes Sony’s implementation in the Xperia Pro, and LG’s implementation in the LG G2; have no experience with Samsung).
The do not disturb mode has only been in stock Android starting with lollipop, though it has been on custom roms like cyanogenmod for awhile now, as well as other, non-stock implementations, though it’s better on some phones than others.
The Samsung implementation lets you whitelist contacts other than starred ones, which I very much appreciate. Just because I have somebody as a favorite doesn’t mean I want them to be able to bypass DND mode. (You couldn’t do this with the preview build of lollipop, nor could you set separate hours on weekends. I’m not sure how the final build works.)
BTW: Did the whitelist feature not work for you on an LG phone? What you described happened on the LG G3, and is the ONLY reason I did not purchase that phone.
I’ve got an LG G2; previous to that was an LG Optimus G; previous to that was a Sony Xperia pro (roughly 2.5 years between first and last phones).
All of those phones had a DnD feature in the stock OEM ROM, but none of those phones had a working whitelist feature.
All of those phones had a DnD feature in custom ROMs (Android 4.0 through 4.4.4, depending on the phone), but none of those phones had a working whitelist feature.
The G2 was recently upgraded to Android 5.0.2 using custom ROMs (AICP originally, currently BlissPop) and now has a fully functional DnD setup, including working whitelist functionality. And the “call 3 times within 3 minutes” feature is handy, as well.
As I said, I don’t have any experience with Samsung’s or HTC’s implementations. But the feature built into Android 5.0 is first one that works completely (for me).
As if market share meant anything with the razor thin margins… Apple blew Samsung away on profits and that is the bottom line.
The Android echo system is too thin on profits. It’s unsustainable in the long run. No one is making enough money to keep up the product cycle that Apple is maintaining. With the low profit margins in the Android echo system, they need more then the one year device upgrade cycle to realize the profit they need per device to be sustainable… and by then Apple is far ahead.
With health kit and home kit coming out… it’s already over.
On the contrary, there’s no reason to pay hefty premium for a device that has many substitutes available. In addition, health kit and home kit are not something that mainstream users are going to use. Both of these kits will have very niche application.
Interesting… Tell that to the millions of Android switchers. Your statements are nonsence when you look at the current market.
And yes Apple will not hold this position forever.. They just have not slowed down yet. And none has shown an ability to keep up.
I disagree about HoK an HeK. They will make home automation and Health monitoring mainstream abilities. They may be the next “killer apps” that keep Apple in the lead for another decade.
Edited 2015-02-01 18:29 UTC
I think you’re looking at things from a short perspective. Apple is on top right now and your comments are based on that, but history is undeniable — no single corporation can maintain that status. Looking at Apple that’s an even more dramatic example with its very mercurial up and down history. Eventually rankings always change, it might be spread out over several years. Don’t forget it wasn’t that long ago when everyone in IT looked at IBM as dominating over everything.
They are not even neck and neck, Samsungs numbers are guess work since they don’t report them. Fact is Samsung is no better then any other Android vendors. Selling a few high end phones and a bunch of “Feature phones” (low end android phones)
Apple destroyed them. No, no ones stays on top forever but there is no one else even close. Even Google is on the way down, their growth stopped like 3 years ago and they have no other markets to expand to.
Apple destroyed them? You mean Google is doing great and Apple is doing even better right, because if Google is currently being destroyed I wouldn’t mind to have some of that destruction personally:
The company (Google) reported revenue of $18.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 15 percent increase from the same period last year.
Net income was $4.76 billion in the quarter, compared with $3.38 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Translation: 15 percent more revenue, 40% more profit compared to last year
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/technology/google-earnings-revenu…)
Apples to oranges (sorry!). Google is a much more diverse company then Apple. Just like Samsung (They also make super tankers). Google failed in making phones (Motorola).
In the Cell phone area Google is loosing Android to fragmentation. Look at the numbers of phones actually using the latest Android version they are miniscule.
Can’t you see that Apple is IBM right now?
Did Samsung hire an UX designer at last?