Samsung Galaxy S4 thread - See Mod Warning in Post #1

themacdaddy

Well All,

I successfully rooted my phone.

Now what the hell do I do next?

What apps, roms etc should I go for? I know CyanodenMod seems to be everyones favourite?
I am trying to find info on Roms, Kernels (whatever they are).

I am searching for info on all this online, and I either cannot find it or the language is too complicated for a novice like me.

Apologies as I am sure this has been asked to death.

Chet T16

themacdaddy wrote: »

Well All,

I successfully rooted my phone.

Now what the hell do I do next?

What apps, roms etc should I go for? I know CyanodenMod seems to be everyones favourite?
I am trying to find info on Roms, Kernels (whatever they are).

I am searching for info on all this online, and I either cannot find it or the language is too complicated for a novice like me.

Apologies as I am sure this has been asked to death.

I would be of the opinion that it's too early to be flashing to full custom roms. Go with the latest stock samsung and remove the stuff you don't want. There should be some nice stable roms in a few months

themacdaddy

themacdaddy wrote: »

Well All,

I successfully rooted my phone.

Now what the hell do I do next?

What apps, roms etc should I go for? I know CyanodenMod seems to be everyones favourite?
I am trying to find info on Roms, Kernels (whatever they are).

I am searching for info on all this online, and I either cannot find it or the language is too complicated for a novice like me.

Apologies as I am sure this has been asked to death.

I would have researched all of this and then decided what I was rooting for and whether I needed it before I actually went for it....

Cyanogen is only good if you don't want any S-features, otherwise something like Omega is the way to go (I assume they have something on the S4)

themacdaddy

Basil3 wrote: »

I would have researched all of this and then decided what I was rooting for and whether I needed it before I actually went for it....

Fair point, I used to jailbreak and mod my old iphone and wanted to do the same with the S4

waynegalway

themacdaddy wrote: »

Well All,

I successfully rooted my phone.

Now what the hell do I do next?

What apps, roms etc should I go for? I know CyanodenMod seems to be everyones favourite?
I am trying to find info on Roms, Kernels (whatever they are).

I am searching for info on all this online, and I either cannot find it or the language is too complicated for a novice like me.

Apologies as I am sure this has been asked to death.

They've all got their pros and cons. I'm speaking from experience on S3, so the availability/compatibility with S4 might not be there yet.

I found that CyanogenMod and Slimbean were my two favourite ones. They're both lightweight ROMs, with plenty of features. Neither can run the "S" apps, though, so if you're a fan of S Planner, S Voice, etc, steer clear, as mentioned above.

I found that Omega was fairly clunky on my S3, so if you want a Samsung-based ROM, try Hyperdrive. I haven't tried it myself, but it's supposed to be decent enough.

Currently I'm using the phone with stock samsung firmware (leaked version of 4.2.2) while rooted. I find that it's working really well and the battery life is better than with any of the custom ROMs that I tried (I know there will be some who will say that custom ROMS give better battery, but not in my experience).

Main reason I went back to stock was because Juice Defender started to act up on the custom ROMs, and I was depending on it for battery saving. Since going back to stock rooted, I use AutomateIt instead and it controls all the stuff that JD did, and more. Battery is going better than ever.

My advice: just try out a few of the ROMs that are stated to be compatible with the S4. You'll only know for yourself by trial and error which one you like. Don't count out the idea of running a rooted stock ROM with a different launcher, though....it might actually do exactly what you're after and be more stable.

Fiddlex

Just noticed on my s4 my home screen doesn't rotate into landscape mode. I have auto rotate on and it works fine in every app but not on the home screen. Is this an issue ?

Kenno90

Quazzie wrote: »

Post

I've barely used my phone today (busy day in work)

Its at 79% after 9 hours, that Google services is p1ssing me off though, how can that use more power than the f-ing screen

evolutionqy7

Kenno90 wrote: »

I've barely used my phone today (busy day in work)

Its at 79% after 9 hours, that Google services is p1ssing me off though, how can that use more power than the f-ing screen

Can you try clearing app settings?

Fiddlex wrote: »

Just noticed on my s4 my home screen doesn't rotate into landscape mode. I have auto rotate on and it works fine in every app but not on the home screen. Is this an issue ?

It's set to be that way.

CreepingDeath

Kenno90 wrote: »

I've barely used my phone today (busy day in work)

Its at 79% after 9 hours, that Google services is p1ssing me off though, how can that use more power than the f-ing screen

I imagine if you have mobile data/wifi on, and Google apps are syncing/getting data in the background.

Maybe try "Juice Defender" ?

Turtwig

My Google services uses practically nothing.

Fiddlex

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

It's set to be that way.

OK thanks for the reply. Don't use it anyways just noticed that it didn't do it and was wondering.

Sephiroth_dude

markc91 wrote: »

Im joining on the 11th :P

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

i am joining the galaxy s 4 owners club on june 17th

Welcome to the family *high fives*

Kenno90

Jernal wrote: »

My Google services uses practically nothing.

I've seen other S4 like that, some its so small it is not even on the stats, i need to figure out whats causing it.

PrzemoF

themacdaddy wrote: »

Well All,

I successfully rooted my phone.

Now what the hell do I do next?

What apps, roms etc should I go for? I know CyanodenMod seems to be everyones favourite?
I am trying to find info on Roms, Kernels (whatever they are).

I am searching for info on all this online, and I either cannot find it or the language is too complicated for a novice like me.

Apologies as I am sure this has been asked to death.

FasterGPS and AdAway are my favourite for a rooted phone. I guess you have some su installed already?.

themacdaddy

PrzemoF wrote: »

I guess you have some su installed already?.

SuperSU is what I have, that what your asking? (I am an android noob)

PrzemoF

themacdaddy wrote: »

SuperSU is what I have, that what your asking? (I am an android noob)

Yes

Kenno90

Kenno90 wrote: »

I've barely used my phone today (busy day in work)

Its at 79% after 9 hours, that Google services is p1ssing me off though, how can that use more power than the f-ing screen

Jernal wrote: »

My Google services uses practically nothing.

It's all relative. If you hardly touch your phone, then of course the screen isn't going to be at the top of the list. Likewise, in Jernal's screenshot, he had been using his phone, so the screen is the biggest battery consumer.

At the end of the day, you're only dropping about 2% battery per hour (including some time spent actually using the phone, I'd imagine), it's not a huge drain.

Cossax

Kenno90 wrote: »

I've barely used my phone today (busy day in work)

Its at 79% after 9 hours, that Google services is p1ssing me off though, how can that use more power than the f-ing screen

I wonder do you have Google Now activated or perhaps you're signed into Latitude/Location Reporting turned on? Might be them checking your GPS/location constantly.

Cossax

On the custom rom question - like has been said, leave it a while. The phone is barely out a month so dev support is growing.
Between the I9505 having a well supported processor and the Google Edition S4 coming out, we should have some pretty slick AOSP roms coming in the next month or two.

I had used Litening as well as some AOKP and AOSP roms on my S2 and I tended to stick with Cyanogenmod - decent support base and it'd get you to the latest flavour of Android.
If you do end up going down this route, you'll lose the S-apps, as someone has said.
As per this thread on XDA, the following work/don't work for the S4.

What's working:

Audio
GPS
NFC
Compass
Proximity Sensor
Wifi
USB mass storage
HW accelerated gui
HW accelerated video
Camera
USB/Wifi tethering
Bluetooth

Not working:

Bluetooth Calls using BT headset (A2DP works fine)

My battery life is pretty damn good so far and I've frozen plenty of bloatware so I'm tempted to stay on the default Samsung rom for the moment (I got a sim-free phone so no additional carrier bloat).

madmoe

Cossax wrote: »

On the custom rom question - like has been said, leave it a while. The phone is barely out a month so dev support is growing.
Between the I9505 having a well supported processor and the Google Edition S4 coming out, we should have some pretty slick AOSP roms coming in the next month or two.

I had used Litening as well as some AOKP and AOSP roms on my S2 and I tended to stick with Cyanogenmod - decent support base and it'd get you to the latest flavour of Android.
If you do end up going down this route, you'll lose the S-apps, as someone has said.
As per this thread on XDA, the following work/don't work for the S4.



My battery life is pretty damn good so far and I've frozen plenty of bloatware so I'm tempted to stay on the default Samsung rom for the moment (I got a sim-free phone so no additional carrier bloat).

You seem like a man who may know but when the Google edition does come out can those of us with the regular S4 flash a stock Android ROM and then get all the updates directly from Google?? Maybe I'm asking for too much ;-)

Cheers,
M

Mc Love

1day 38mins so far on mine and still at 56%

evolutionqy7

Jeez guys ye must (pick one or two):

1. Not use the phone at all
2. Not use it as a smartphone
3. Keep turning off all the powers all the time
4. Have brightness set to lowest
5. Have a different phone
6. I dont know?

Those guys with the long battery life's. Go into screen under battery information and write down the screen on time. Cant be more than an 1-2 hours

My daily run:
Spotify for 1-2 hours, streaming and offline cached
Screen 75%
Data, GPS and Sync Always on.
S Health On
Google Now & Latitude off (caused big battery drain, regardless of the phone)
Check Facebook, Twitter and Boards every 30 mins or so
Play the odd game the odd time for a couple of mins
Email coming in every hour (Outlook and Gmail)
Viber, Voxer running in the back.

Generally no or little calls but lots of messaging. With the stock battery id be happy at 8-9 hours battery life with barely reaching 4 hours screen on time.

Cossax

madmoe wrote: »

You seem like a man who may know but when the Google edition does come out can those of us with the regular S4 flash a stock Android ROM and then get all the updates directly from Google?? Maybe I'm asking for too much ;-)

Cheers,
M

I can't give you a definite answer but I do think you'd have to wait for some changes to be made to the Google Edition S4 rom before you could update - you probably have the I9505 and I'd presume the US will be a different variant.

Someone who followed the GE launch might know more and could correct me if I'm wrong.

Cróga

So just got the phone and trying to put in my pin code but if I don't touch the screen for a few seconds it turns itself off even though I have the charger connected. Is this meant to happen?

evolutionqy7

Cróga wrote: »

So just got the phone and trying to put in my pin code but if I don't touch the screen for a few seconds it turns itself off even though I have the charger connected. Is this meant to happen?

Yes. Why don't you just put it in? :-)

Banjo String

After lots of messing around from network providers, I'm due an upgrade right now.



Just wondering, anything to rival this out in the near future?

Considering the note 2 at this stage also.

Kintarō Hattori

Got an S4 from work on Friday and I have to admit I'm really enjoying it. I thought my HTC One V was a nice size but now it just seems small!

The speed of the S4 is really superb, loading up apps, websites etc happen in no time at all.

I'll read back over the thread but anything I should download to really help me get the best from the phone?

nolo_

anybody know what the story is with the O2 website saying that the galaxy S4 is €619 but then when you click into it the pre-pay price changes to €639? any body had any experience with this?
Thanks

markc91

I had been planning to upgrade my bill pay contract to get this in two weeks with meteor and pay €99 for the phone and €49 a month but if i buy it outright payg is there any decent deals i.e would it cost less in the long run?

j walsh

I love mine but is anyone finding a problem recording videos and then playing them? they seem to just stop playing for me.