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I used a Samsung phone for a few months, it gave me the strong impression that they really don't know how to develop software properly.

by 4pkjai 5y ago

scim-knox-twox 5y ago
I liked old Samsung phones, e.g., phones with bada OS.
Razengan 5y ago
Their entire value proposition (as marketed by themselves) is as an alternative to Apple. For some people that is enough.
- theWreckluse 5y ago
  True, Samsung makes a big deal of it. But they don’t actually deserve that title imo. They’re hardly a worthy contender. I am not an apple fan boy, but Samsung is just nowhere close to the apple experience.
  - chrisjc 5y ago
    > but Samsung is just nowhere close to the apple experience. True... they're only the next closest. After fleeing the Google ecosystem, my only seriously choices were Samsung or Apple. I do miss the Android OS, but not going back to the bloat and data-vacuums that are intertwined with it.
  - pmontra 5y ago
    Well, I own a few Samsung devices. There is no Samsung experience. I don't bother signing in into a Samsung account or using their store. What for? I already have to be signed in into Google's store to get updates for the apps I must use. Samsung's one is useless and it's not the reason I bought from them. I bought an A40 because it was the smallest Android phone on the market (and yet almost one inch too tall) and a tablet (S5e?) because it had Linux in DeX. By the way, I keep Google usage minimal. I don't need most of their services. Even YouTube works without an account and I'm using NewPipe most of the time. What I really need is Play, only to update maps, Maps mostly because of satellite images (I use OSMAnd) and Translate as a dictionary. Syncthing and KDE connect deal with backup and file transfer.
    - rjzzleep 5y ago
      Until recent Samsung smart devices, you HAD to use their store and the experience was horrendous. Full of nonworking paid apps, no working review system that I could see, it was an absolute nightmare to use. It's actually quite sad cause the hardware itself wasn't bad and the battery life of Tizen was fantastic.
    - asddubs 5y ago
      I really do hate how big phones have gotten now. If it wasn't for f-droid I would just get an iphone, at least they make phones in sane sizes
      - pmontra 5y ago
        The old SE was nice. The new SE is big. The 12 mini is a little smaller.
    - vladvasiliu 5y ago
      > and a tablet (S5e?) because it had Linux in DeX. Is that still a thing? A few years ago I was interested in that, as an alternative to a laptop, but I seem to remember that it was on the way out.
      - pmontra 5y ago
        They dropped support. The update to Android 10 removes it. Probably because 16.04 is EOL and they should have paid Canonical again to make X11 and possibly other systems work on Android. The number of users of that feature was probably low.
rapnie 5y ago
It gives me the impression that, even though I paid good money on it, Samsung doesn't see me as owner and will leech as much private data off me as they possibly can.
- account-5 5y ago
  This is my impression as an unhappy Samsung smart TV owner, despite being a happy owner of an older Samsung "dumb" TV; the reason I bought their crappy smart TV.
  - scim-knox-twox 5y ago
    LG does the same. I bought good OLED and still, I had to connect pihole to block ads... New LG's are even worse. I don't know what I do if my current TV will stop working. I want only display, I don't want any additional features (ads, personalization etc.).
    - hultner 5y ago
      I have two new LG TVs, never connected them to the internet. I do all my media consumption via a ATV and rpi
      - smnrchrds 5y ago
        My new Sony TV wouldn't allow me to do anything without connecting it to the internet during initial setup. I just wanted to use it as a dumb screen to show HDMI signal. But even that wouldn't work without initially connecting it to the internet. I haven't connected it to the internet since and so far it hasn't stopped working, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it does as some point and forces me to reconnect and update it.
        danuker 5y ago
        Did you return it? All manufacturers should be punished for requiring an internet connection for basic features.
peterangular 5y ago
Was in their ecosystem for about four years before going to Google Pixels - I find your experience to be very true. It was truly night and day.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  > before going to Google Pixels Which isn't any better IMO. Most recent Pixels have been a buggy mess from launch. Google doesn't see to give a damn about the quality of their devices which is especially bad considering they come at flagship prices. On the other side, my mom's cheap Samsung A52 has been great so far.
  - jchw 5y ago
    My experience is that Pixel devices are far and away more competent than Samsung in many regards, but with the caveat that Samsung devices ship in a finished, stable state, but Pixel devices ship as if they’re not quite finished. The software is usually OK, but the hardware tends to be lacking in many regards. This is terrible since hardware can’t really be fixed later down the road, at BEST software workarounds can be employed. The first Pixel was reasonably solid all around and mine lasted quite a while. The Pixel 2 XL’s terrible screen was my first hint that Google was not prepared to carry the torch of a true flagship phone. That said: I would still often prefer the accidentally broken Pixel phones over the intentionally gimped and bloated Samsung phones. I just can’t buy one at launch, because I have no idea how Google will have fucked it up this time.
    - rjzzleep 5y ago
      Pixel 1 and 2 were made by HTC. Pixel 2 XL however was manufactured by LG.
  - dbrgn 5y ago
    I have a Pixel 3a and it has been working flawlessly. Best phone I've owned so far. I've heard a lot of complains from Pixel 4a and 6 owners though, about bugs in the OS and drivers... Not sure if these issues are widespread or not.
silisili 5y ago
Using a Samsung phone now, and you're absolutely right. It's a shitshow. And let's not forget Tizen, who security researchers basically found to be a joke.
waste_monk 5y ago
I used to have Samsung devices, but the quality just got worse and worse... currently quite happy with my LG V20 but it's on its last legs, and when I replace it I want something with a replaceable battery which is quite a rarity on higher-end phones these days. Am aware of the Librem5, but I still want to be inside the Android and google play ecosystem.
ewoodrich 5y ago
On the other hand, I've owned most Nexus devices and loved stock Android at the time but probably won't be leaving the Samsung ecosystem anytime soon. Until the S6 or so I'd agree it was bloated and unreliable but since then it's been a consistent and reliable experience (with great hardware) and it would take a lot to move back to a Pixel.
rjzzleep 5y ago
I'd argue that most Asian companies don't. China has really stepped up their game there I would say. From what I heard a decade or so ago, they used to hire a lot of software people from the valley to get some of the culture established in their organizations for a short period of time. To some extent I'd say User Experience is directly correlated with how valuable software engineers are in that particular society.
mnd999 5y ago
Same with their smart TVs, decent hardware, awful software.
hughrr 5y ago
A friend of mine just bought a Samsung flagship after grumbling incoherently about how Apple was evil. Within three days she returned it and went and bought an iPhone 13. That’s a fairly good reference for the experience.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
noisy_boy 5y ago
I have been using Samsung phone/earbuds/watch for a while now and I think the software experience is quite good (coming from Oxygen OS on OnePlus 6 (great) and having used Apple devices (stifling) in the past ). Their heavy handed UI/UX are things of past - One UI 4 has plenty of customization/useful features while being reasonably light (e.g. it has a feature that lets you force dark mode on apps that don't support it which is surprisingly handy). In terms of integration (which Apple is famed for), everything works seamlessly: when I take out the earbuds, the audio automatically routes to them, the watch syncs automatically with the phone with pretty decent exercise/fitness tracking out of the box, the app selection for the watch has improved due to them using Wear OS etc. Sure, there are some Samsung apps I don't care to use but that is not getting in my way. Their privacy record is a weak point indeed and it is unfortunate that we don't have any competitor in Android space that has the same or better level of polish while keeping privacy a priority.
tragictrash 5y ago
Coming from apple, right?
aceazzameen 5y ago
I don't know. Their UX team is infinitely superior to Google's. Didn't always used to be the case.

I used a Samsung phone for a few months, it gave me the strong impression that they really don't know how to develop software properly.

by 4pkjai 5y ago

I used a Samsung phone for a few months, it gave me the strong impression that they really don't know how to develop software properly.

scim-knox-twox 5y ago

I liked old Samsung phones, e.g., phones with bada OS.

Razengan 5y ago

Their entire value proposition (as marketed by themselves) is as an alternative to Apple. For some people that is enough.

theWreckluse 5y ago
True, Samsung makes a big deal of it. But they don’t actually deserve that title imo. They’re hardly a worthy contender. I am not an apple fan boy, but Samsung is just nowhere close to the apple experience.
- chrisjc 5y ago
  > but Samsung is just nowhere close to the apple experience. True... they're only the next closest. After fleeing the Google ecosystem, my only seriously choices were Samsung or Apple. I do miss the Android OS, but not going back to the bloat and data-vacuums that are intertwined with it.
- pmontra 5y ago
  Well, I own a few Samsung devices. There is no Samsung experience. I don't bother signing in into a Samsung account or using their store. What for? I already have to be signed in into Google's store to get updates for the apps I must use. Samsung's one is useless and it's not the reason I bought from them. I bought an A40 because it was the smallest Android phone on the market (and yet almost one inch too tall) and a tablet (S5e?) because it had Linux in DeX. By the way, I keep Google usage minimal. I don't need most of their services. Even YouTube works without an account and I'm using NewPipe most of the time. What I really need is Play, only to update maps, Maps mostly because of satellite images (I use OSMAnd) and Translate as a dictionary. Syncthing and KDE connect deal with backup and file transfer.
  - rjzzleep 5y ago
    Until recent Samsung smart devices, you HAD to use their store and the experience was horrendous. Full of nonworking paid apps, no working review system that I could see, it was an absolute nightmare to use. It's actually quite sad cause the hardware itself wasn't bad and the battery life of Tizen was fantastic.
  - asddubs 5y ago
    I really do hate how big phones have gotten now. If it wasn't for f-droid I would just get an iphone, at least they make phones in sane sizes
    - pmontra 5y ago
      The old SE was nice. The new SE is big. The 12 mini is a little smaller.
  - vladvasiliu 5y ago
    > and a tablet (S5e?) because it had Linux in DeX. Is that still a thing? A few years ago I was interested in that, as an alternative to a laptop, but I seem to remember that it was on the way out.
    - pmontra 5y ago
      They dropped support. The update to Android 10 removes it. Probably because 16.04 is EOL and they should have paid Canonical again to make X11 and possibly other systems work on Android. The number of users of that feature was probably low.

rapnie 5y ago

It gives me the impression that, even though I paid good money on it, Samsung doesn't see me as owner and will leech as much private data off me as they possibly can.

account-5 5y ago
This is my impression as an unhappy Samsung smart TV owner, despite being a happy owner of an older Samsung "dumb" TV; the reason I bought their crappy smart TV.
- scim-knox-twox 5y ago
  LG does the same. I bought good OLED and still, I had to connect pihole to block ads... New LG's are even worse. I don't know what I do if my current TV will stop working. I want only display, I don't want any additional features (ads, personalization etc.).
  - hultner 5y ago
    I have two new LG TVs, never connected them to the internet. I do all my media consumption via a ATV and rpi
    - smnrchrds 5y ago
      My new Sony TV wouldn't allow me to do anything without connecting it to the internet during initial setup. I just wanted to use it as a dumb screen to show HDMI signal. But even that wouldn't work without initially connecting it to the internet. I haven't connected it to the internet since and so far it hasn't stopped working, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it does as some point and forces me to reconnect and update it.
      - danuker 5y ago
        Did you return it? All manufacturers should be punished for requiring an internet connection for basic features.

peterangular 5y ago

Was in their ecosystem for about four years before going to Google Pixels - I find your experience to be very true. It was truly night and day.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
> before going to Google Pixels Which isn't any better IMO. Most recent Pixels have been a buggy mess from launch. Google doesn't see to give a damn about the quality of their devices which is especially bad considering they come at flagship prices. On the other side, my mom's cheap Samsung A52 has been great so far.
- jchw 5y ago
  My experience is that Pixel devices are far and away more competent than Samsung in many regards, but with the caveat that Samsung devices ship in a finished, stable state, but Pixel devices ship as if they’re not quite finished. The software is usually OK, but the hardware tends to be lacking in many regards. This is terrible since hardware can’t really be fixed later down the road, at BEST software workarounds can be employed. The first Pixel was reasonably solid all around and mine lasted quite a while. The Pixel 2 XL’s terrible screen was my first hint that Google was not prepared to carry the torch of a true flagship phone. That said: I would still often prefer the accidentally broken Pixel phones over the intentionally gimped and bloated Samsung phones. I just can’t buy one at launch, because I have no idea how Google will have fucked it up this time.
  - rjzzleep 5y ago
    Pixel 1 and 2 were made by HTC. Pixel 2 XL however was manufactured by LG.
- dbrgn 5y ago
  I have a Pixel 3a and it has been working flawlessly. Best phone I've owned so far. I've heard a lot of complains from Pixel 4a and 6 owners though, about bugs in the OS and drivers... Not sure if these issues are widespread or not.

silisili 5y ago

Using a Samsung phone now, and you're absolutely right. It's a shitshow. And let's not forget Tizen, who security researchers basically found to be a joke.

waste_monk 5y ago

I used to have Samsung devices, but the quality just got worse and worse... currently quite happy with my LG V20 but it's on its last legs, and when I replace it I want something with a replaceable battery which is quite a rarity on higher-end phones these days. Am aware of the Librem5, but I still want to be inside the Android and google play ecosystem.

ewoodrich 5y ago

On the other hand, I've owned most Nexus devices and loved stock Android at the time but probably won't be leaving the Samsung ecosystem anytime soon. Until the S6 or so I'd agree it was bloated and unreliable but since then it's been a consistent and reliable experience (with great hardware) and it would take a lot to move back to a Pixel.

rjzzleep 5y ago

I'd argue that most Asian companies don't. China has really stepped up their game there I would say. From what I heard a decade or so ago, they used to hire a lot of software people from the valley to get some of the culture established in their organizations for a short period of time. To some extent I'd say User Experience is directly correlated with how valuable software engineers are in that particular society.

mnd999 5y ago

Same with their smart TVs, decent hardware, awful software.

hughrr 5y ago

A friend of mine just bought a Samsung flagship after grumbling incoherently about how Apple was evil. Within three days she returned it and went and bought an iPhone 13. That’s a fairly good reference for the experience.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

noisy_boy 5y ago

I have been using Samsung phone/earbuds/watch for a while now and I think the software experience is quite good (coming from Oxygen OS on OnePlus 6 (great) and having used Apple devices (stifling) in the past ). Their heavy handed UI/UX are things of past - One UI 4 has plenty of customization/useful features while being reasonably light (e.g. it has a feature that lets you force dark mode on apps that don't support it which is surprisingly handy). In terms of integration (which Apple is famed for), everything works seamlessly: when I take out the earbuds, the audio automatically routes to them, the watch syncs automatically with the phone with pretty decent exercise/fitness tracking out of the box, the app selection for the watch has improved due to them using Wear OS etc. Sure, there are some Samsung apps I don't care to use but that is not getting in my way. Their privacy record is a weak point indeed and it is unfortunate that we don't have any competitor in Android space that has the same or better level of polish while keeping privacy a priority.

tragictrash 5y ago

Coming from apple, right?

aceazzameen 5y ago

I don't know. Their UX team is infinitely superior to Google's. Didn't always used to be the case.