stay on 4.4.4 or upgrade?

[jackroo]

Merry Christmas to you all. I have an s5 sm900a unlocked and I'm using Metro PCS. I'm on 4.4.4 and was wondering if you would suggest staying on kitkat or upgrading to 5.1.1 lollipop OR wait till I guess June 2016 and upgrade to marshmallow.

 

[AZgl1500]

IMO, I would keep it on 4.4.4 as KK is better than the later stuff.

I detest the menus and colors on 5.x

 

[jackroo]

Thanks for the input. Do you have a screen shot of the color setup?

 

[AZgl1500]

Thanks for the input. Do you have a screen shot of the color setup?

I don't recall having done that.
What I did do was to customize the screen colors on the phone for my eyes to give me the best contrast.
Part of that you can do in the Samsung menu ( I'm on Verizon )

The rest of it I did with Nova Launcher Prime by customizing the fonts, backgrounds, Folder names in ALL CAPS, things like that. Also, in Nova I increased the FONT SIZE several times until I could read them easily.

I always choose a solid Black homescreen, that makes the icons stand out much better. Using Folders to group similar apps makes life easy.

ie, INTERNET folder contains all apps that will access the internet.

TOOLS folder is a place holder for MacroDroid, ES File Manager, ASUS Filer Manager, Nova Settings, Reverse Number, OS Monitor, Superbackup, ..... etc


GPS folder similarly holds all of my GPS related apps. I just like to have things in a place that I can find them in a hurry when I want them.

If something does not get used very much, I don't bother with a folder for it, just open the Apps Drawer and search by name for it.

 

[jackroo]

I like nova launcher too and I might use it soon. So far I've left my phone pretty stock. Getting back to firmware, so far 4.4.4 has worked great for me so I don't see any point in updating. I'm still doing some reading up. Have you noticed any battery issues since you upgraded to Lollipop?

 

[AZgl1500]

no, I have not noticed that it is any worse or better....

pretty much the same for me..................... but, and isn't there always one????

I have a Qi wireless charger installed, and paying attention to the Manufacturers of these batteries, they say don't push it down lower than 40% to recharge it... going lower than that will decrease the life span of the battery.
pushing it to 5% or 0% will definitely harm the battery in short order... especially if you make a habit of it.

so, I have just made it a habit to lay the phone on the Qi charger pad anytime one is near me.
Easy to do, so why not?

I have never, since I have started using cellphones, ever ruined a battery....
I have always paid attention to what the manufacturer recommends....

anyone remember the Nicads? oh yeah, you wanted to drain those puppies nearly to death do us part....
if you recharged them at 60% every time, they developed a "memory" and pretty soon, that was all the battery you had....

Lithium-Ion batteries are very tough birds.... they will take a beating, and get up and keep on ticking...
but, if you punish them often enough, and hard enough, they will start to loose their capacity to go for extended times between charges...

if I am away from home, or the car, and my phone beeps at 40%, I just keep it in mind to find a charger if I can, asap.

last week, the wife was shopping, and me being the wheelchair pusher, I started browsing the internet, and my phone died.......... as in, no mo bat fo yo sonny boy.....

that time, I let it charge Fast Charge ( on OEM 2.1 Amp ) to about 25%, and I took it off charge until the battery cooled down.
Then I placed it on the Qi charger and let it charge to 100%

why? because the Qi charger is only about 750 mA and that is a Slow Charge for the S5
that kept the battery temps below the danger point.... and all was well. did not hurt the battery.
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Verizon: 2 ea. Galaxy S5, Note 4, HTC One M9, VZW MiFi $212/month