Leaving iPhone... moving to Galaxy S III

[Anibal P]

I don't get all the TW hate, it's nice, doesn't change the look of ICS, like the hideous Sense does, if anything it's an improvement to Vanilla and you can barely call it a skin, it's more of a series of enhancements to vanilla, other than so far two apps that are different from vanilla

[.Neo]

Eye candy? Flashy animations don't improve the usability of a phone in any way, they're completely unnecessary.

So is decorating your house with art, doing your hair, in fact many design aspects of most things we see around us. Doesn't mean it won't add to an overall nicer experience.

[Open Minded]

I don't get all the TW hate, it's nice, doesn't change the look of ICS, like the hideous Sense does, if anything it's an improvement to Vanilla and you can barely call it a skin, it's more of a series of enhancements to vanilla, other than so far two apps that are different from vanilla

Touchwiz has really changed from 2.1 to what it is today. I'm on 2.3.5 GB and I'll swap between TW, launcher pro, and Go LauncherEX.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

International S3 is absolutely amazing.

Quick tip straight away. Speed up your phone by changing the number of frames in animations:

Settings > developer options > window animation scale and transition animation scale > set both of those options to either off or 0.5x. I like the animations so I have mine set to 0.5x.

[giantsnyy]

International S3 is absolutely amazing.

Quick tip straight away. Speed up your phone by changing the number of frames in animations:

Settings > developer options > window animation scale and transition animation scale > set both of those options to either off or 0.5x. I like the animations so I have mine set to 0.5x.

Thanks!

I get my phone Wednesday. One of the first things I'll do.

[Noir Angel]

They do actually (if done properly). ;)

Name one thing you can do on a phone with animations that couldn't also be achieved on a phone without them.

So is decorating your house with art, doing your hair, in fact many design aspects of most things we see around us. Doesn't mean it won't add to an overall nicer experience.

Sure, if you prefer bling over functionality. I don't prefer bling over functionality, probably one of the reasons iWhatevers don't appeal to me.

[SkinAddict]

Just to chime in, I've been using the S3 on Sprint for about a week now. I have seen some issues with the connectivity in some places (specifically, I'm always roaming at home while I had 1 - 2 3G bars on my Epic) - BUT, I've actually seen a better signal at work, which boggles my mind. I'm wondering if it doesn't have something to do with their deployment of Network Vision.

As for speed, practicallity, ease of use, etc. I have zero complaints. It's hands down better than every HTC phone on the market (I tried them all extensively and they just aren't as fluid), and has some nice features added in by Samsung that the Nexus is missing. Samsung has really done a good job of going after the iPhone market with this one - from what I've seen, it should be an easy transition, especially compared to some of the other interfaces available.

One plus side to the Nexus would be getting Jelly Bean (4.1) sooner... like next week... which will bring the new Google Now, which looks AMAZING, so I'm actually debating on trading the S3 out for the Nexus or sticking it out til Q4 so I can keep the bigger screen and faster processor.

Would love to chat more if you have additional questions or find more info in your explorations.

[BajiRav]

Name one thing you can do on a phone with animations that couldn't also be achieved on a phone without them.

Couple of things come to mind (without putting too much thought)

- camera shutter or shooting a photo : how will the user know if a photo was taken if the app doesn't flash or show some kind animation (shutter, photo sliding out etc.)?

- Scrolling of any kind and anywhere

- Loading/refreshing indicators

Animations are required for feedback to user and discounting them as just eye candy is, for lack of a better word - stupid.

[.Neo]

Sure, if you prefer bling over functionality. I don't prefer bling over functionality, probably one of the reasons iWhatevers don't appeal to me.

Nonsense. Animations don't have to interfere with functionality at all. As stated above they give the end-user feedback which can in fact be very useful.

[Meraklis56]

Having bought Samsung Galaxy S3 1 month ago,replacing my old over-moddified X10 (to make it faster,more respondent), all i can say S3 is a complete superb smartphone.

Samsung has tried to make applications from playstore as needless as possible.I didnt have to download media player,video player,camera application.The default ones were pretty amazing.The sound quality is excellent.No need set equalizer to boost treble and bass!The interaction with the ui is smooth,not 100% smooth,but smooth enough.Another advantage is the usb-on-the-go.USB on the go allows the user to connect usb sticks,external hard-drives,mouse&keyboard even playstion 2,3 and XboX controllers.

One disadvantage i found is that if i compose a sms message with more than 480 characters,S3 converts it to MMS,which i dont want it.

Some applications to download are: Flipboard and adFree.

I have the internation version(quad core & 1 ram).If you have any specific question feel free to ask.

Also,keep in mind,xda are there for you and DONT download any task-managers.Over android 2.1 are useless and increase the battery consumption

[Noir Angel]

Nonsense. Animations don't have to interfere with functionality at all. As stated above they give the end-user feedback which can in fact be very useful.

Really? Amazingly enough, I get that feedback as well. I use this amazing thing called the human eye.

[giantsnyy]

Well... I got my S3 today. Fantastic phone. I don't think i'll be going back to iPhone any time soon.

[StandingInAlley]

I'm looking to switch from iPhone 4S to S3 too but I'm not very impressed with the camera especially in low light condition :/

iOS6 is disappointing especially for a person like me who lives in India and those maps might not be functional moreover they have not added English (India) to Siri so Siri doesn't work that well plus Google Now looks amazing.

[Buttus]

International S3 is absolutely amazing. Quick tip straight away. Speed up your phone by changing the number of frames in animations: Settings > developer options > window animation scale and transition animation scale > set both of those options to either off or 0.5x. I like the animations so I have mine set to 0.5x.

just set mine to .5x and didn't notice anything different? it was already fast and jitter free, so maybe i'm just not seeing a difference?

[Growled Member]

Sounds like an amazing phone. I want one.

[Scorbing]

Well... I got my S3 today. Fantastic phone. I don't think i'll be going back to iPhone any time soon.

You will...

[giantsnyy]

You will...

Highly doubtful. My biggest concern was slowness... I've always liked the Android OS, but the fact that it was so damned slow bothered me. 4.0.1 on the S3 is incredibly fast, hasn't really slowed down on me at all (my 4S is about comparable to the level of slowdown).

I think this phone is a keeper for me.

[Noir Angel]

I recently put some apps on my uncle's iPhone 4 for him and it was an awful experience. The phone was practically empty, maybe 30 phone numbers in the phone book, no apps installed and it's as slow as hell. Sometimes it was taking 5 seconds to return to the home screen after pressing the button and on other occasions I had to press the home button multiple times to get it to work. And the settings application kept freezing. The iPhone isn't the epitome of speed and perfection some iFans seem to claim it is.

[Scorbing]

I recently put some apps on my uncle's iPhone 4 for him and it was an awful experience. The phone was practically empty, maybe 30 phone numbers in the phone book, no apps installed and it's as slow as hell. Sometimes it was taking 5 seconds to return to the home screen after pressing the button and on other occasions I had to press the home button multiple times to get it to work. And the settings application kept freezing. The iPhone isn't the epitome of speed and perfection some iFans seem to claim it is.

You guys keep complaining about the iPhone being slow and that is not really true. See, the fact and the truth is Apple is obsessed with animations and they want shove them on everything they make. You want the iPhone or iPad UI to respond quicker and super fast, it's very easy: Jailbreak it and install springtomize theoffset rid of those annoying animations forever. Now you iPhone UI will be as fast as the Galaxy III. Simple and easy.

As for me not being a fan of Android anymore, my reason is simple. I had an iPhone before jumping to Android. I got an HTC Inspire. Yes, the phone was super fast and reliable when I got it, but then as I used it and installed a few apps - no more than 10 - it began to slow down and act funny. Some apps were crashing. The phone became a nightmare. My GF had an Android phone as well and after a while it was the same thing. Also, Android is a target for malware and viruses. I have never heard of an iPhone being infected with anything. The iPhone is reliable and it simply works like its designed to do. I have never had any app crash on me at all on the iPhone....never.

The Android app store is a complete disaster. The is hardly anything useful in there and the few apps that can be used for anything crashes or simply don't work right. They really suck.

So my friend, if you want to be with Android, all I can say is good luck, enjoy your new venture and I sincerely hope you don't have any issues with it like I did.

[Noir Angel]

Except the iPhone was slow, I tried it for myself. It was a hell of a lot slower than my Desire HD ever was despite having supposedly superior hardware. And I had something like 70 apps installed on my DHD, whereas this iPhone 4 started with nothing but the stock Apple applications. You cannot honestly sit there blathering on about how bad a tiny bit of UI stuttering is on Android and then act as if it doesn't matter that it takes the iPhone 4 up to 10 seconds to respond to the pressing of it's home button, that my friend is hypocrisy.

[Scorbing]

Except the iPhone was slow, I tried it for myself. It was a hell of a lot slower than my Desire HD ever was despite having supposedly superior hardware. And I had something like 70 apps installed on my DHD, whereas this iPhone 4 started with nothing but the stock Apple applications. You cannot honestly sit there blathering on about how bad a tiny bit of UI stuttering is on Android and then act as if it doesn't matter that it takes the iPhone 4 up to 10 seconds to respond to the pressing of it's home button, that my friend is hypocrisy.

You must have had a bad iPhone because my iPhone 4S doesn't take 10 seconds to respond. I click on that sucker and boom, it opens quick.

[Noir Angel]

It's an iPhone 4, not a 4S but it's still slow as hell.

[Orange Battery]

_{I made the switch a few years ago, I couldn't be happier and am now on my second android device - the HTC One X which is brilliant and a great successor to my HTC Desire. Great thing with Android is its now at the stage where its recommendable to to others and at the same time still allows me to dig into the settings and change it to my requirements. I would love an Apple device with Android but thats never going to happen - hopefully Nokia will open up to it in the end.}

[Scorbing]

It's an iPhone 4, not a 4S but it's still slow as hell.

Well the iPhone 4 was slow because it had only 1 core and I think the new iOS was just too much for the CPU. I think that's why Apple made the iPhone 4S with 2 cores. You know Apple, they won't admit their issues. They like to keep things quiet. But I can tell you that the 4S works great.

[Noir Angel]

I once owned a HTC Desire alongside an iPod touch. I got bored of the touch and sold it, I upgraded the Desire to a DHD. There are no killer things the iPhone had that I found Android to lack, and I found plenty of good apps on the market as well. Sure there are also some crap apps on Android, but that's the price of choosing for yourself rather than having a business tell you what you can and cannot do with your device.

Well the iPhone 4 was slow because it had only 1 core and I think the new iOS was just too much for the CPU. I think that's why Apple made the iPhone 4S with 2 cores. You know Apple, they won't admit their issues. They like to keep things quiet. But I can tell you that the 4S works great.

Except this iPhone 4 is running iOS 4.2, it hasn't been upgraded to iOS 5.x yet. And if you need a dual core device to make iOS 5.x run smoothly that makes a mockery of the people that keep complaining about Android, don't you think?