> I never understood why Samsung phones were constantly receiving praise by tech reviewers while LG got crapped on.
Samsung phones work well, they have one of the best cameras, the best screens, the best batteries, usually the most features. LG phones are famous for boot-looping.
> different (shitty) UI
It is a matter of opinion. I much prefer Samsung's UI over the garbage that is google's, and even slightly better than iphone.
> Samsung versions of all the core Google apps (but worse)
Every Samsung app that replaces a google app is 2x better. The browser is faster, better than chrome. The contacts app is so much better. The dialer is like 10 years ahead. Gallery is at least 10x faster and less buggier than google photos. I always try to delete as much google bloatware from my phone as possible, and use the samsung apps.
> the stupid bottom button placement
What button? There are no buttons on Samsung phones for the past 3-4 years. The navbar is fully customizable (unlike google), and hidable.
> non-remappable Bixby button
Similar to the non-remappable squeeze button on pixels and siri button on iphones?? And the bixby button is remappable with an app nowadays.
> aggressively killing apps for power management
Samsung is hardly the worst offender here. And I can't blame them for trying to fix the clusterfuck that google has created with android.
> Do people actually like all those Samsung annoyances?
I can't speak for others, but your "annoyances" are useful features for me. The alarm app turns on my bedroom lights in the morning automatically. Bixby routines automatically cranks the brightness and enables auto rotate when I play a video. Samsung health auto-tracks my sleeping schedule and tells me which apps are keeping me awake. Samsung browser blocks all ads and has an automatic dark mode for every website. Samsung pay lets me pay with my phone at any credit card terminal, not just the ones with NFC.
Also, it's a phone dialer - like the functionality of a phone dialer has been well defined since the early 2000's (also having used PalmOS, webOS, Windows Mobile 6 and 7, Early Android, and iOS from 2012 on I've never desired additional functionality here), so like what makes a phone dialer "like 10 years ahead"? - I'm not trying to snark, it's a genuine question.
For a long time stock android didn't have T9 contact searching from the dialer (and, astonishingly, iOS still doesn't), something present since the Galaxy S1.
This is the first time I've heard of T9 being used since we moved on from the old Nokia phones that pioneered T9! Bring back fond memories of my Nokia 3310 and 8210. But yeah it's odd to see T9 in the context of a touchscreen phone...
I think it's a pity it's gone. I've developed https://typenineapp.com for iPhone, since I couldn't get used to the small buttons on the qwerty keyboard. I would dare to say I type almost twice as fast as regular qwerty phone users, and even without the tactile feedback I can do so without looking.
I've had about 60.000 downloads, and I almost never see a bad review, so I'd say T9 on a touchscreen has a place.
Why would you need T9 on a touch screen? You can just display a full keyboard. That was the defining aspect of the keynote that launched the first iPhone, even.
Because the T9 keyboard is already displayed, and the full keyboard isn't. It is a very fast way to search through your contacts directly from the dialier when I want to call someone, which is the primary use case of the dialer (calling someone already in my contacts).
Sure it does. Right side button, hold it and it triggers siri. Single click locks unlocks the phone. This is identical to how the unlock/Bixby button works on Samsung.
That’s optional, and opt-in -- it asks you during phone setup whether to enable Siri.
It does try to nudge you into enabling it, but if someone kept pressing that button and invoking Siri accidentally, they could open Settings and search for “siri” to disable it, which I think is reasonably discoverable.
On my S10, there is a seperate Bixby button on the left side, so it's not shared with the unlock button. The best thing about the Bixby button is that I can freely remap it with third party applications, meaning I have a dedicated, customizable, physical button, something all phones should have.
You can enable it in Accessibility > Side Button > Press and Hold. It appears to be enabled by default for me — Siri shows up in less than one second of holding the power button.
I have the iPhone 11 Pro Max, since launch, with Siri enabled since launch. It's only ever worked with 'hey siri', and apparently my button is off. I didn't even know the button existed until the other reply to my comment!
Samsung users makes it sound like they are activating Bixby constantly, while Siri can’t be activate when not enabled. So is Samsung allowing users to disable Bixby? It sounds like they’re not.
Samsung lets you disable Bixby fully. Users complain more about Samsung because Android users are not used to being forced by the device they paid $1000 for, it's a new experience for them, unlike Apple users.
I have the s20+ and tried to disable bixby as much as possible, but it cant be uninstalled (short of adb hacks that can get lost with updates), and even after disabling everything i could it kept popping up asking to update, though that thankfully stopped after a month or so of regular annoying popups. Probably going stock android next time
Samsung does not have the same setup. They added a separate button mapped exclusively to this feature. The iphone has an alternate mapping most aren't even aware of for a multifunctional button
Samsung added a separate hardware button for Bixby, Apple did not. That is not identical. The only buttons on the iPhone are power, volume, and the silent switch. There is no separate Siri button. I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with here?
There is no separate Bixby button either on Samsung phones. It is a side button that locks unlocks the phone and activates Bixby when held. It is identical to how it works on iPhones.
> There is no separate Bixby button either on Samsung phones.
Huh. As a longtime Samsung owner, I’m surprised that the dedicated Bixby Button added alongside the existing power and volume buttons with the S8 generation is an illusion.
Samsung phones work well, they have one of the best cameras, the best screens, the best batteries, usually the most features. LG phones are famous for boot-looping.
> different (shitty) UI
It is a matter of opinion. I much prefer Samsung's UI over the garbage that is google's, and even slightly better than iphone.
> Samsung versions of all the core Google apps (but worse)
Every Samsung app that replaces a google app is 2x better. The browser is faster, better than chrome. The contacts app is so much better. The dialer is like 10 years ahead. Gallery is at least 10x faster and less buggier than google photos. I always try to delete as much google bloatware from my phone as possible, and use the samsung apps.
> the stupid bottom button placement
What button? There are no buttons on Samsung phones for the past 3-4 years. The navbar is fully customizable (unlike google), and hidable.
> non-remappable Bixby button
Similar to the non-remappable squeeze button on pixels and siri button on iphones?? And the bixby button is remappable with an app nowadays.
> aggressively killing apps for power management
Samsung is hardly the worst offender here. And I can't blame them for trying to fix the clusterfuck that google has created with android.
> Do people actually like all those Samsung annoyances?
I can't speak for others, but your "annoyances" are useful features for me. The alarm app turns on my bedroom lights in the morning automatically. Bixby routines automatically cranks the brightness and enables auto rotate when I play a video. Samsung health auto-tracks my sleeping schedule and tells me which apps are keeping me awake. Samsung browser blocks all ads and has an automatic dark mode for every website. Samsung pay lets me pay with my phone at any credit card terminal, not just the ones with NFC.