Verizon Galaxy S5 lollipop update is a joke

[Insomniator]

My battery drains constantly, phone warns of cooling down-- even with no apps open. Animations skipping/stuttering, button presses being ignored etc... This is AFTER we waited what, 6 months for this update?

How can Google allow this? The fragmentation is embarrassing... do providers load iPhones up with all of their own irremovable garbage too? or does Apple not allow that?

I will try a factory reset as I heard that fixes things, but that really shouldn't be necessary.

 

[postmortemIA]

apple updates iphones. Apple lets no 3rd party bloat ... but you get their own bloat that is not-removeable.

 

[mikegg]

apple updates iphones. Apple lets no 3rd party bloat ... but you get their own bloat that is not-removeable.

Not sure what bloat you're referring. Apple apps?

 

[tsupersonic]

Not sure what bloat you're referring. Apple apps?

That's probably what that person meant. Check out all the Apple apps you can't remove: Maps, Podcasts, Health, iTunes Store, Passbook, FaceTime, Newsstand, Game Center, etc. To be fair, some of those are core apps, just like you would have on any mobile OS.

Anyways, I haven't heard anything good about this update. Looks like Verizon and Samsung really dropped the ball on extensive testing, and just rushed to get it out the door. This very close to the news that HTC One wouldn't make the 90 day window on the Lollipop update that was promised.

 

[Insomniator]

That's probably what that person meant. Check out all the Apple apps you can't remove: Maps, Podcasts, Health, iTunes Store, Passbook, FaceTime, Newsstand, Game Center, etc. To be fair, some of those are core apps, just like you would have on any mobile OS.

Anyways, I haven't heard anything good about this update. Looks like Verizon and Samsung really dropped the ball on extensive testing, and just rushed to get it out the door. This very close to the news that HTC One wouldn't make the 90 day window on the Lollipop update that was promised.

It doesn't take extensive testing to see these problems, I noticed them the second the update finished. We aren't talking about some old obscure droid DNA that I rooted and screwed with for a year... the S5 is still the FLAGSHIP non phablet phone for android/samsung. This is what they want representing lollipop? Its embarrassing.

 

[tsupersonic]

It doesn't take extensive testing to see these problems, I noticed them the second the update finished. We aren't talking about some old obscure droid DNA that I rooted and screwed with for a year... the S5 is still the FLAGSHIP non phablet phone for android/samsung. This is what they want representing lollipop? Its embarrassing.

No, actually the Nexus 6 is representing Lollipop. To be fair, Apple didn't have the smoothest iOS 8 launch, not to mention they released an update that broke phone calls...

 

[lopri]

Streamlined update is one side of the coin where iOS devices have advantage. Lollipop release seems quite messy so far. I was surprised to hear that of all the carriers Verizon was the first.

 

[dawheat]

Unfortunately doing a factory reset seems all too necessary for big upgrades. Let us know how it goes afterwards.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That is not fragmentation. Lollipop is laggy as crap, even on AOSP stuff.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Depends on the device and build I guess? The Lollipop build I used on my GS4 is the smoothest Android version yet. I'm back on KitKat Touchwiz though for the camera =/

 

[cpacini]

As others have said a factory update is necessary, and seems to be the case regardless of what device it's going on, even nexus devices. When I installed the Ota update on my nexus 5 it was a buggy mess. To be fair though, as soon as I did a factory reset all the issues went away, and at this point I wouldn't want to go back to kit Kat

 

[Graze]

Depends on the device and build I guess? The Lollipop build I used on my GS4 is the smoothest Android version yet. I'm back on KitKat Touchwiz though for the camera =/

Yep I have had nothing but a great experience on Lollipop with my good ole Nexus 4!

 

[theeedude]

How can Google allow this?

Allow what? Android is open source. Samsung is free to take it and do with it what it wants. If you want Google to be signing off on the code going into your device, get a Nexus product.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Depends on the device and build I guess?

Very much so from what I have read.

 

[dawheat]

Depends on the device and build I guess? The Lollipop build I used on my GS4 is the smoothest Android version yet. I'm back on KitKat Touchwiz though for the camera =/

Could be the carrier too. The international Lollipop update for the S5 seems to be pretty well received. Wouldn't surprise me if Verizon made things worse.

 

[zerocool84]

That is not fragmentation. Lollipop is laggy as crap, even on AOSP stuff.

It's been super smooth on my N7 and N5.

 

[dguy6789]

That is not fragmentation. Lollipop is laggy as crap, even on AOSP stuff.

Lollipop is way smoother than Kitkat on my Nexus 4.

 

[Krazy4Real]

I haven't had any issues with my verizon s5 and lollipop. Maybe I'm lucky. I always uninstall apps I don't use anymore though.

 

[Commodus]

I hope that's not a consistent problem with Lollipop on the GS5, because that'd potentially damage Samsung's rep (as if it weren't bruised already), if not Android as a whole.

The Nexus 5, 6 and 9 may be the official faces of Lollipop, but the Galaxy S line is the effective face. It's the flagship device of the world's largest Android manufacturer. That's a lot of people potentially burned, and only some of them are going to go to another Android vendor if they're so angry that they swear off Samsung.

This isn't something Google can or even should control, but it is inherent to Google's hands-off approach to Android: if you give up a lot of control over your platform, you risk letting someone else torpedo your platform. Microsoft learned that the hard way when the race to the bottom in Windows PCs (both in price and quality) made it easier for smartphones, tablets and Macs to lure people away.

And to elaborate on an earlier response in the thread: Apple is one of the few smartphone makers that refuses to let carriers install bloatware. You get the same layout in every country. Frankly, I wish more Android OEMs would develop that kind of backbone. A lot of them are far too willing to submit to the networks' demands in hopes of getting marketing money that ultimately doesn't help them. You shouldn't have to buy a Nexus or pay for an unlocked model just to get the clean software you should have had all along.

 

[lxskllr]

Frankly, I wish more Android OEMs would develop that kind of backbone. A lot of them are far too willing to submit to the networks' demands in hopes of getting marketing money that ultimately doesn't help them. You shouldn't have to buy a Nexus or pay for an unlocked model just to get the clean software you should have had all along.

I'd rather see everything be removable, to the point of breaking the machine if you do it wrong. I want to swap software like I do on my Debian machine. If it's generally compatible, it should be installable/removable by the user.

 

[Commodus]

I'd rather see everything be removable, to the point of breaking the machine if you do it wrong. I want to swap software like I do on my Debian machine. If it's generally compatible, it should be installable/removable by the user.

Removable is nice too (Windows Phone does that), but to me it doesn't address the core problem: that carriers feel they have a "right" to install software you don't want and often hurts your experience. It's like saying that it's okay for kids to egg your house because you can just hose it down later.

 

[lxskllr]

but to me it doesn't address the core problem: that carriers feel they have a "right" to install software you don't want and often hurts your experience. It's like saying that it's okay for kids to egg your house because you can just hose it down later.

They have a right to sell anything, and it's up to the customer whether or not it's worth the asking price. What I find offensive is restricting root access. If you don't have root, you don't own the computer. With root, it doesn't matter what they install; it can be removed.

 

[dawheat]

And to elaborate on an earlier response in the thread: Apple is one of the few smartphone makers that refuses to let carriers install bloatware. You get the same layout in every country. Frankly, I wish more Android OEMs would develop that kind of backbone. A lot of them are far too willing to submit to the networks' demands in hopes of getting marketing money that ultimately doesn't help them. You shouldn't have to buy a Nexus or pay for an unlocked model just to get the clean software you should have had all along.

I've never used Verizon, but honestly I don't think carrier bloatware is that bad on Android. Pretty much any AT&T app can be fully disabled in app manager. Sure you don't get the disk space back, but it's not running in memory or slowing down the phone.

It's been more the multiple layers on top of each other. Heavy Touchwiz which then gets carrier stuff on top.

The S6 is rumored not only to have a much lighter Touchwiz, but to have Samsung apps not installed by default (though easily downloaded).

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/01/29...from-touchwiz-making-most-of-it-downloadable/

This + still being able to disable carrier apps (I can spare the minute) is good enough for me.

Honestly, I get more OCD over the pre-installed Apple apps I can't remove from the home screens, forcing me to create a dummy folder, put the 8-9 apps I never use in there, and then move it to the last home screen.

 

[wilds]

I've been playing around with the new update on my GS5 and I'm quite pleased with the new Samsung launcher; even though I prefer Google's own from the play store. I had 3.5gb free before update 1, and after update 2 to Lollipop, I had 3.51gb free. RAM usage seems a little higher but I'm not concerned with 2gb being an issue anytime soon.

Overall, I'm floored to see Verizon release a not-too-bloated release of Lollipop ahead of other carriers. Battery usage is a tough comparison because I have a 7500 mAh battery which lasts quite a long time...

My only complaint so far is the Auto brightness setting which seems to set it far too dim. On 4.4.4 it was nearly perfect.

 

[grkM3]

I have no issues with lollipop on my Verizon gs5.it's running perfect and my battery life is insanely better.this is the first time I broke 7 hours on screen time on a single charge.