Google apparently feels strongly enough about Google Now being long-press Home that it's willing to mix that behavior up. It’s taking me a while to get used to that button change, so much so that right now every time I want to use the multitasking window I inadvertently launch Google Now. To get into the app switcher you have to quickly double tap the home button. Doing so on SGS4 GPe triggers Google Now. Long pressing on the button triggers the multitasking app switcher interface on the stock SGS4. I miss Samsung's camera application, but more on that later.Ī curious change between the SGS4 and SGS4 GPe is the behavior of the physical home button. That said the big improvement on the storage front is a lightweight preload compared to the bloated SGS4, with 12.65 GB of the 16 GB usable on SGS4 GPe. Basically if you want to use the SD card you’re left to third party applications and use as a dumb storage location for movies and other offline media. Likewise application location is how it was before the recent SGS4 update that enabled moving apps to SD cards – it’s not there. The stock camera app for example cannot choose the SD card as a storage target, which is my major use case for it beyond acting as a Spotify offline cache. No fancy display settings (Left), less of that 16 GB of storage consumed by features (Right)Īlthough the SGS4 GPe includes a functional microSDXC card slot, the balkanization of SD card support on Android leaves it only marginally useful here. The tradeoff is that I honestly kind of always loathed the mDNIe settings and auto screen tone slider and overaggressive brightness policing that Samsung included. ![]() Likewise the display mDNIe settings are absent on SGS4, there’s no adapt display screen mode settings or auto adjust screen tone settings, and no toggle for high touch sensitivity. ![]() None of that should be a surprise since it isn’t a part of AOSP and thus wasn’t ever going to get included. Likewise there’s no Smart Stay or Smart Scroll or Multi Window. Obviously all the Samsung-specific features which require Samsung apps like Air View, Air Gesture, and S Beam are gone. The features that are unique to the SGS4 that I haven’t mentioned aren’t there. I know this was something a few speculated would be gone, but there they are. Oh also the temperature, humidity, and barometer sensors are all still there. Samsung’s ServiceMode (*#0011#) Field Test application is still thankfully present, which exposes all of the network connectivity details I’m craving, like LTE channel bandwidth, band, RSRP, RSRQ, and a few others. ![]() Something that isn’t noted but shared between the two is a feature which I know will make a few people happy. SGS4 GPe's lock screen is a bit different (Left) but works with the View Flip cover (Right) I tested with my Flip Cover and everything worked like I remember it working on the normal SGS4. The tradeoff is the same behavior with the flip cover as the normal SGS4 which is perhaps one of the coolest new features of the device. I noticed this almost immediately since it isn’t styled at all like the stock lock screen with its heavier weight hour digits and centering. In addition to the black background with no gradient thing, it also supports the S-View Flip Covers, which necessitates a different lock screen. As mentioned before the SGS4 GPe includes a few subtle UI changes beyond completely stock.
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