Samsung Galaxy S5 and TouchWiz are no different. Although, if I’m being honest, the S5 tips the scale a bit more when compared to other blunders. TouchWiz 5 is the biggest, most feature rich version of TouchWiz. That means there’s also a lot stuff like bloatware, unnecessary features and redesigns no one really asked for. Some of these problems we can actually solve in a couple of minutes. Here’s a list of all the things you can do to make your S5 experience a whole lot better.
Turn Off Gestures
With the S4, Samsung released a lot of motion and air gestures and most of them were pointless. Samsung has trimmed down the number of gestures in S5 but most of them are still there. And they are just as annoying and not really useful. Go to Settings -> Motion and gestures and turn off anything you don’t need. One neat gesture though is taking a screenshot by swiping your palm on the screen. But turning off these gestures can help improve battery life too.
Take Care Of The Lag
Galaxy S5 comes equipped with Snapdragon 801 processor and 2 GB RAM. That should translate to amazing performance but thanks to TouchWiz, that’s not always the case. TouchWiz in S5 is the fastest I’ve ever seen it but still it is not as fast as vanilla Android on Nexus 5 or even Sense on HTC One M8. The thing is, S5 is fast but the software and some unnecessary features are limiting its potential. If you want to bring out the beast, take some of the steps listed below.
Turn Off Transitions
Just like iOS 7, TouchWiz 5 added some swooshing transitions. They look good but it means extra delay to get where you need to go. Go to About Device in Settings and tap the Build Number for 7 times. This will unlock Developer Options. Go in there and tap Transition Animation Scale and turn it off. If turning off the transitions entirely is too jarring for you, try toning it down.
Fix The Home Button Delay
Not only is S Voice kinda unnecessary, it also makes going to the homescreen slower. S Voice is launched by double tapping the home key. So every time you press the home key, TouchWiz is listening and waiting to check if there is a second tap coming. It takes you to the homescreen only after a delay. Launch S Voice, tap the three dotted menu button at the top and go into Settings. Now uncheck the option Open via the home key. Now, tapping the home button will take you to the homescreen instantly.
Replace The Launcher With Something Better
Nowhere is the bloated nature of TouchWiz more prominent than the launcher. You have unnecessary widgets, square icons and not to mention, “My Magazine” on the far left end. I didn’t feel like it but a lot of users are reporting that the launcher gets slow with time. If that’s the case for you then just replace the launcher with something better. For the ultimate performance, go for Nova Launcher. It brings you amazing speed and performance. Replacing TouchWiz launcher will also help you launch apps faster, and to customize your homescreen experience. Nova allows you to add different icon packs to make your homescreen better and it even has gesture support to make you more productive. If you like the look of Google Now Launcher in Nexus 5 with the big icons and the thin fonts, try KK Launcher which replicates the experience.
Camera Lag
Galaxy S5 has one of the best cameras in the smartphone market today, hands down. But Samsung, being Samsung has added a mode that’s on by default which makes the camera really slow. S5 Camera app has picture stabilization mode on by default. The feature is useful if you are using it while moving about or on a bumpy road but isn’t necessary for everyday use. Also, when using the mode, you need to keep hold the camera still for a couple of seconds after pressing the shutter icon. This takes the snappiness out of the camera. Open the app, tap the gear icon to go into settings and make sure the Picture Stabilization mode is turned off. So, are you a Galaxy S5 user? How has been your experience so far? The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
