Android and customisation

[SteveR]

I've had my Samsung galaxy S8 a good few months now. Whilst I admit I think I prefer the iPhone I won't be switching for the foreseeable.

The biggest thing that comes up in 'arguments' (y'know, those tedious iOS v android ones) is "well yeah, at least mine is fully customisable and I don't have to do what apple say" - what kind of stuff should I be looking to do? I've just played around with Nova Launcher and Evie Launcher. I've gone for Evie on the back of notification badges being available for free. Very annoying Nova didn't cover that.

So, chaps, any must have apps, must do tweaks? Best battery saving apps and anti virus? Currently on a trial with McAfee but not willing to pay for anything if I'm honest

[Alpha4]

I've had many kinds of Android phones over the last few years. I, too, have an S8 - great phone. I use Nova Prime (paid for version of Nova) as a custom launcher with it's companion app Teslaunread to show notification badges. My impression is that Nova and Teslaunread together are better than Evie (more customisable) - although I've not used Evie much.

I don't use an antivirus app and never have on recent Android phones. If you only download apps from the Google Play store the risk of getting a virus or malware is low. Although it depends on what websites you visit on the phones browser
Antivirus/Malware software will slow down the phone. If you want to use one, Malwarebytes is good but do a search for 'best Android antivirus/malware apps' and read reviews. Be careful though, because some of these types of apps get deep into the handset software and can be difficult to get rid of. I would NEVER put McAfee on my handset for this reason alone.

Most battery saving apps are not that good and tend to use battery power themselves. I use Greenify to hibernate apps that are persistent battery hogs. With Greenify I also use the 'Aggressive Doze' setting. My phone is not rooted, so setting up aggressive doze in Greenify requires some 'ADB' commands to be run from a PC with the phone connected. I suggest you search for Greenify ADB commands to see if this is for you.
Alternatives I have used are Naptime X, ForceDoze, Hibernate, and Doze - these are all apps from the Google Play App Store. Again some ADB commands may be needed to get the bets benefit from these apps. Mostly these apps force the handset to go to sleep (doze) as soon as the screen is off and can be used to supplement the inbuilt Android doze function.

I also use the 'Mid' Power Saving setting on the S8's own Device Maintenance/Battery settings (on at all times). I get about 2+ days battery time from my S8 - although I have changed some other settings on my phone to try to maximise battery life.

Any further questions let me know.

[Rod]

^^^ pretty much as I do on mine. Definitely no anti virus. I rate the paid Nova the best launcher.

[SteveR]

Thanks.

I installed greenify earlier yesterday so will look into using it properly. I'm liking evie, it's nice and clean. Refuse to pay for apps etc so won't be buying nova pro. It's Norton I've been using not mcafee sorry,just done malware bytes and it's come up clean.

What's the deal with widgets? They seem pretty boring to be honest, and a drain on battery I presume.

[Alpha4]

Thanks.

I installed greenify earlier yesterday so will look into using it properly. I'm liking evie, it's nice and clean. Refuse to pay for apps etc so won't be buying nova pro. It's Norton I've been using not mcafee sorry,just done malware bytes and it's come up clean.

What's the deal with widgets? They seem pretty boring to be honest, and a drain on battery I presume.

Well, if you refuse to pay for apps, you will often have to put up with in-app adverts or reduced app functionality/features. I do pay for apps that I see value in. This encourages the developers to update and constantly improve apps.

Here's a link that compares Nova Prime (ranked 1st) with Evie (ranked 9th): https://www.slant.co/versus/3784/203..._evie-launcher

I will test Evie more thoroughly to assess it properly myself. However, at first glance it appears that Evie is free because they offer enhanced search functions (inc. voice search, etc.). So I assume they are generating revenue as search engine affiliates. "If you can't work out what the product is, it's you". See here: https://www.evie.com . And here's their Privacy Policy where they talk about sharing your data with partners: https://evie.com/privacy.html

Yes, widgets use battery - some more than others. It often depends on how often they update. For instance, Weather widgets tend to update quite often (although this can be customised for some widgets). I keep widgets to a minimum - One weather widget and one agenda widget only.

[bubi]

For me customisation is just being able to have 3 slides with the buttons I use frequently, organised by subject, instead of having all apps in alphabetical order all over.
Plus a watch smack in the middle of the home.
And have a cheap phone because I just phone, email and browse.

Sent from my [device_name] using TZ-UK mobile app

[bubi]

Can you do this with iphone?


Sent from my [device_name] using TZ-UK mobile app

[prexelor]

I have recently moved to Android and started using Microsoft launcher - which has notification badges. Seems to work ok for me but I cannot offer any comparison to Nova etc as I was not aware of them until now.

[SteveR]

Any recommendations on a keyboard? It's definitely a struggle getting used to it even after so long using android. The iPhone keyboard just worked so much better for me

Trying this on SwiftKey but I'm not convinced

[number2]

Any recommendations on a keyboard? It's definitely a struggle getting used to it even after so long using android. The iPhone keyboard just worked so much better for me

Trying this on SwiftKey but I'm not convinced

Seriously?

[SteveR]

Seriously?

Yes.

[Alpha4]

Any recommendations on a keyboard? It's definitely a struggle getting used to it even after so long using android. The iPhone keyboard just worked so much better for me

Trying this on SwiftKey but I'm not convinced

I've used Swiftkey, Swype and several others. I keep coming back to GBoard (Google's own keyboard).

[SteveR]

I've used Swiftkey, Swype and several others. I keep coming back to GBoard (Google's own keyboard).

That's what I switched to after and it does feel better. The Samsung one isn't terrible but somehow the iOS made sense of some shocking words - it would turn hxhhd into hero etc. Like magic.

Must say I'm seeing a slight increase in battery life with greenify working

[SteveR]

I have recently moved to Android and started using Microsoft launcher - which has notification badges. Seems to work ok for me but I cannot offer any comparison to Nova etc as I was not aware of them until now.

Tried Microsoft launcher last night. Looks fantastic but I don't have a Microsoft account for it to tie into nicely. Switched back to Evie but MAY do the unthinkable and pay for the NOVA. Reading the reviews it is the standard everything is compared against

[ernestrome]

I pay for Nova too. Also find Google's keyboard very good.

I install custom ROMs on my phones which often give extra features and customisation options, or simply allow you to use a stock Google style OS if your phone shipped with a version of android modified by the manufacturer, or you can get get the latest android version if the manufacturer stopped putting it updates for the device (dependent on the strength of the Dev community). There's a large community of developers at XDA forums https://forum.xda-developers.com

[Rod]

I have recently moved to Android and started using Microsoft launcher - which has notification badges. Seems to work ok for me but I cannot offer any comparison to Nova etc as I was not aware of them until now.

I've used the Microsoft Launcher but have gone back to the paid version of Nova. Nova is very light on resources and extremely cusomisable (paid version). You can get notification badges for Nova by downloading Tesla.
I liked the Google Pixall launcher too but wont work on my Galaxy A5. Thumbs up too for Google keyboard!

[gmcg]

Tried Microsoft launcher last night. Looks fantastic but I don't have a Microsoft account for it to tie into nicely. Switched back to Evie but MAY do the unthinkable and pay for the NOVA. Reading the reviews it is the standard everything is compared against

Hi Steve. Have you heard about Googles Rewards app? It gives you very short surveys, usually based on shops you've visited. You get payed for each and can use the credit in the play store on apps, music etc etc. The surveys take a few seconds to complete and the credit is valid for 12 months.

Just checked and it's called Google Opinion Rewards in the play store.

Cheers,
George

[SteveR]

Hi Steve. Have you heard about Googles Rewards app? It gives you very short surveys, usually based on shops you've visited. You get payed for each and can use the credit in the play store on apps, music etc etc. The surveys take a few seconds to complete and the credit is valid for 12 months.

Just checked and it's called Google Opinion Rewards in the play store.

Cheers,
George

I downloaded this app following reading this post. Earned £2 and decided I'd make up the rest and pay for Nova. I am liking it, but feel like I'm not utilising it fully.

Going for a minimal type of look with no shortcuts on my home screen. Got tabs for my app drawer which I'd never even thought needed to be a thing but it's excellent