Tuesday 1 April 2014

Touchwiz vs Pure Android

Android is open-source and free for any manufacturer to build on, which is why we see Android skins such as Sense(HTC), Timescape UI(Sony), Motoblur(Motorola), ColorOS(Oppo), Touchwiz(Samsung) and many more. These manufacturers take pure Android, add their own touch, features, look and functionality and load them onto their smartphones.

Some of these skins have exceptionally great features while some have gimmicks disguised as features. For example, the LG G2 has some really cool multitasking features and so does Samsung. But some of these features are not as functional as they should be and some are even useless, which brings us to the topic of today: Touchwiz vs Pure Android.

Touchwiz is the Android skin used by samsung. This skin comes with MANY features such as Multiwindow, Smart Stay, Smart Scroll, Air View and a LOT more. Some of these features are extremely convenient and useful while others are not such as Multiwindow, which is extremely convenient whereas Smart Scroll works maybe 50% of the time depending on the lighting conditions. This is all well and fine but what this comparison will be focusing on is the performance and aesthetics between Touchwiz and Pure Android.

PERFORMANCE:
Firstly, just to give a rough idea, a Pure Android firmware is approximately 200MB-300MB whereas a Touchwiz firmware comes in at a whopping 1GB and over. The amount of features and special functionality packed into this firmware really increases the size and this impacts performance in a negative way. Now smartphones such as the Galaxy S3 and S4 perform well but the main downsides are the amount of time it takes to open system apps such as the dialer app (The main app on a mobile phone), messaging, contacts etc. Quad Core/Octa Core phones should not be straining to open these simple apps.
Pure Android on the other hand, blows through daily tasks with ease and dialer and messaging apps open almost instantaneously. Performance-wise, Pure Android will always beat the competition.

AESTHETICS:
When compared to Touchwiz, Pure Android seems a lot cleaner and simpler and less cartoon-ish as we will notice below. All Touchwiz images are on the left while Pure Android images are on the right.

Lockscreen

These two lockscreens does not differ much. In this case, the Touchwiz lockscreen is actually a bit more convenient because you are able to swipe anywhere on the screen to unlock the devices unlike having to slide a small ring out of a slighly larger circle like Pure Android. Aesthetics in this area will depend solely on personal preference.

Home Screen

These two homescreens are similar, and different in their own ways. The similarities includes a dock area with static icons, and between the status bar and the dock, you can add widgets and shortcuts. Where it differs, however, is the fluidity, animations and overall look. Pure Android's swipe transition is a simple left or right transition which is snappy and very fast, whereas the swipe animation for Touchwiz is a more aesthetically pleasing "Inside Cube" effect but this again, comes down to personal preference. The major advantage Pure Android has here, is with the 4.4(KitKat) update, you can now say "Ok Google" on the home screen no matter what page you are on, and it will launch the Google Now app.

Notification Bar

In the image above, we see that Pure Android has a very clean and simple look whereas Touchwiz is very colorful and a bit more functional. On Touchwiz we have the scrollable toggle bar, as well as a brightness bar right at your fingertips once the notification bar is pulled down. Pure Android though, just shows a blank pane when there is no notifications. I however, prefer the clean look of Pure Android.

Quick Settings Panel

Right off the bat here you notice that Touchwiz looks a lot more jumbled and colorful when compared to Pure Android's simple, minimalistic look. Pure Android is definitely the winner here (to me) because although there are less toggles, they are much larger and easier to touch accurately than the small ones included in Touchwiz.

And Lastly.....

Settings

I definitely prefer Pure Android's settings screen over Touchwiz. The settings screen on Touchwiz is categorized into sections and although this seems more functional, its inconvenient because these categories cannot be swiped through. They must be touched directly to go to them and with a 4.7" and over screen size, this is really tough and the icons are also very colorful and cartoonish. Pure Android on the other hand, provides a cleaner, more convenient settings menu providing everything on one screen. The icons are all one color so it gives a more uniform look and quality appearance.


CONCLUSION:

Touchwiz Advantages:

  • Smart Scroll, Smart Stay, MultiWindow, Air View, Air Gestures, and all the other smart features.
  • More functional notification panel with toggles and brightness bar.
  • More convenient lockscreen.

Touchwiz Disadvantages:

  • Performance.
  • Cartoon-ish look.
  • Cluttered Quicksettings panel.
  • The amount of time it takes to open system apps (Dialer, Contacts, Messaging etc.)
  • Updates take a long time.

Pure Android Advantages:
  • Cleaner, Elegant, Minimalistic look and feel.
  • Performance.
  • Well organised settings menu.
  • "Ok Google" command on the homescreen (applies to KitKat devices only).
  • Snappier animations and scrolling.
  • Updates arrive as soon as they are released.
Pure Android Disadvantages:

  • Less convenient lockscreen than Touchwiz.
  • Less functional notification panel.
  • No Smart Scroll, Smart Stay, MultiWindow etc.
  • Less attractive animations on homescreen.

Feel free to let me know if I left out something or just let me know what you think in the comments!

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