I Got the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and Need Some Advice

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Hi guys,

 

Long story short, I needed to get a new contract and it came with the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (thanks to a friend). First off, it's great to be back on Android! I can't really explain why it feels better, but that's beside the point. Since it has been a while since I had an Android as my main device, I have a couple of questions and I'm wondering if anyone can help me answer them:

 

1. I'm juggling with the idea of rooting the device. I've done it with previous devices so I'm not new to the idea of how to do it, but I do have to wonder about the benefits of doing so. For the moment I won't be going to install a custom ROM as the current OS is up to date, so the only other reason I can see for rooting it would be to give me the option to uninstall any provider software. But since there isn't much of that installed I'm not sure if there's a point. People will say that it also provides the ability to save apps on an SD Card, but given that the internal storage is over 4 times the size of my current SD Card I don't think that's an issue. Thoughts?
2. I used to use ES File Explorer as my...umm, file explorer. However, the latest version seems to throw up an advert on every single click (before there was maybe a static advert in a tile which was manageable). Does anyone have any recommendations for a replacement?
3. I used Tasker to automate various tasks - making sure to switch to the WiFi when I get home, putting a passcode on certain apps so that they cannot be accessed by someone else - but with the new OS it seems that the Tasker developers haven't got round to scaling the resolution for the larger screen. It's not a biggie, I'm just wondering if anyone here has already seen this and knows of something that can be done to resolve it? I know it's a shot in the dark, but who knows? While I'm at it, I created a thread years ago asking if anyone had any interesting automated tasks that they had set up. I guess my question still stands, so feel free to let me know if there is an automated task that you cannot live without.
4. I feel pretty stupid for asking this question, but under my app drawer there is no application for the camera. I know that I can access the camera by double-tapping the lock screen button, but I'm just wondering if there is another way to access it?

 

I think that covers everything that I've seen so far. I'll probably have some more questions the more that I use the device, but feel free to throw in any suggestions for apps or optimizations as well.

[Steven P. Administrators]

1. You might end up tripping KNOX if you root it, so do not do this if you need it for banking or Samsung Pay

 

4. You can remap the power button it seems https://9to5google.com/2020/03/06/samsung-galaxy-s20-disable-bixby/. I use Nova as my launcher on a Note9 so there is also remap and gesture functions there too. I do find it dumb that such an expensive device that touts the camera with every launch fails to implement a frigging dedicated button! Thankfully on the Note9 I can remap the Bixby button.

[Joe User]

I used to root every Android device I owned (I started with the Nexus One), I stopped with my unlocked S9+. Besides not wanting to trip KNOX, It was the first device that really didn't need it. I just installed Nova Launcher and called it a day. 

 

I did disable the Facebook app, because they suck. With 64GB of storage, I don't care that a couple of MB are missing.

 

 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

1. rooting isn't as needed as it used to be; the only real (legal) benefit would be a system wide adblocker if you don't want to pay for something like AdGuard. Plus as Steve said with Samsung you'd likely trip up the Knox token so you'd lose a few things such as Samsung Pay.
    
2. I just switched to iPhone a couple months back but before that I used ES File Explorer too and didn't notice anything like that; I doubt they changed that functionality so quickly since then so more likely a bug that may be patched but there are several good file explorer apps in the PlayStore; it's mostly a matter of preference so give a few a try to see which one you like best.
    
3. never used Tasker myself so can't answer that one, sorry.
    
4. Samsung groups some things in folders even in the app drawer (I personally hated this and was one of the reasons I used a different launcher) so you may find the camera in either the Google folder or Samsung folder

[Joe User]

Also, I know some people think Nova Launcher is over-hyped, but I find it to be one of the most full-featured launcher's for Android.

 

l've tried dozens, I always come back to Nova because it's just that customizable. It seems to work fantastically with the Samsung line.

 

 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

1 minute ago, Joe User said:

Also, I know some people think Nova Launcher is over-hyped, but I find it to be one of the most full-featured launcher's for Android.

 

l've tried dozens, I always come back to Nova because it's just that customizable. It seems to work fantastically with the Samsung line.

 

 

I personally used a launcher that was similar to W10M because I liked live tiles on my phone, but Nova is a great Vanilla+ launcher; that's very true.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Yup, Nova with the Google companion, also means you have the Google Now feed when swiping right https://help.teslacoilapps.com/nowcompanion

[Joe User]

2 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

I personally used a launcher that was similar to W10M because I liked live tiles on my phone, but Nova is a great Vanilla+ launcher; that's very true.

I tried most of them, I could never find one that really captured the feel for live tiles. Which one did you use?

 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

11 minutes ago, Joe User said:

I tried most of them, I could never find one that really captured the feel for live tiles. Which one did you use?

 

took me a minute to remember the name but Launcher10 was the one I used. The launcher is free but the developer charges a couple dollars for the live tile functionality with an in app purchase but it's worth it IMO

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nfwebdev.launcher10

 

this had the closest to the native feel that I ever found.

 

edit: just fyi, it says there are ads but that's just inside the launcher settings menu; they're non intrusive too so it was a non issue to me 🙂

[tsupersonic]

1. Don’t root. It’s pointless for average consumers and power users. 
 

2. Solid Explorer. Well worth the price. 
 

3. Use Samsung’s Good Lock and Routines. So much easier than Tasker. 

[techbeck]

Main reason I root these days is to backup all my saved app data to transfer to an new phone.  Also, the system wide adblocker I use requires root and a few other apps I use.  I have not applied a diff ROM in a long time nor kernal.