10 Ways To Remove Samsung Bloatware From Your Galaxy S5

There are so many great things about the Samsung Galaxy S5. Monitors and cameras come to mind. But the problem with the device is that it works on its own. The S5 is the best example of how Samsung is still Samsung and believe me, that’s not a good thing. Samsung is good at hardware but when it comes to their software, it is one of the worst in the industry.

Thanks to the fast processor and GPU in this version of the Galaxy S series, there’s not much lag to speak of (aside from opening the Gallery app). But that won’t last. And some things about TouchWiz are so frustrating that you just can’t get on with it.

Follow our guide to de-Samsung your Galaxy S5 as much as you can without actually rooting and installing a custom ROM like CM 11.

1. Replace TouchWiz Launcher

Samsung is TouchWiz and TouchWiz is Samsung. Nowhere does this haunt you more than the home screen. The launcher has characteristic bright wallpapers and square icons with searchable folders on the desktop.

Launcher is your gateway to Android. Switch to something like Nova Launcher or KK Launcher (a KitKat-style launcher) for an experience closer to stock Android.

Check out Themer to apply beautiful themes with just one tap.

Change the wallpaper to something minimal using one of these apps, or use Muzei to automatically cycle between awesome wallpapers from different sources.

2. Change lock screen

Samsung’s TouchWiz lock screen is really messy. Plus, it plays an annoying “natural” sound effect when you unlock your phone.

You can turn it off from Lock screen settings but then you get a simple unlock circle. If you don’t use the fingerprint scanner (it doesn’t work very well most of the time), try changing the lock screen to something better.

You can check out my favorite GoLocker or SlideLock (pictured above). SlideLock is a minimalist iOS 7 style lock screen app and looks good when paired with the right wallpaper. It will also show notifications on the lock screen just like iOS 7 and I find it really helpful.

The app gives you a lot of customization options to ensure that only the things you care about show up on the lock screen.

3. Turn off Animations

TouchWiz, like iOS 7, has added unnecessary animations to add it. It has no effect at all and really degrades performance, because you have to sit there waiting for an extra fraction of a second. It may look good but that’s not the point.

Go About the device IN Setting and click Build number 7 times. This will unlock Developer Options IN Setting. Go in there and press Transition animation scale and turn it off.

4. Disable S Voice from Home button

The next station when getting off the Samsung train is S Voice. S Voice is the voice assistant you never asked for, now it’s time to get rid of it.

S Voice is invoked with a double press of the home key, and Google Now requires a single press. Launch the S Voice app. You’ll have to enable it to disable the home button gesture – funny, I know.

Once you’re in, tap the three-dot menu button at the top and enter Setting. Now uncheck the option “Open via home key”. If needed, you can access S voice from the app drawer, but I pray to the Old Gods and the New God that such a situation will never arise.

Now that we’ve said goodbye to S Voice, use Google Now by pressing and holding the home button.

5. Customize Toggles

You’ll find a selection of on/off buttons at the top of the notification drawer. You can scroll right to see more. The default toggles include things like power saving mode, multi-window support, and Toolbox. You may not want them all the time.

Swipe down with two fingers on the status bar, then tap the pen button at the top right. Here, drag the unused switches from the active section to the available section. And pull up the buttons you really want to use.

6. Organize the messy settings menu

When Samsung released artwork and previews for the S5 launch event, it featured a minimalist design and flat icons. Some take it as a sign that TouchWiz will get minimal treatment like Android did with KitKat.

Of course, as it turns out, Samsung is still Samsung. Those flat icons only show up in the redesigned Settings app. To add to the wound, they are only there for the sake of being there. They don’t add anything as functionality, actually they make things a lot worse. There’s no other way to put it – it’s a mess.

So go to Setting app and from the three-dot menu switch to List view.

Phew, much better!

7. Turn off my journal

My magazine is just Flipboard wrapped in Samsung clothing. I have a habit of swiping through home screens. But now the leftmost screen is taken by My Magazine, so I can’t go from the first to the last by swiping left.

If you want to turn off My Magazine from the home screen, long press anywhere on the screen and from the options below, tap Home screen settings and from there uncheck my magazine.

8. Don’t Touch Samsung Apps

Like I said, Samsung comes with an alternative to every Google app. Samsung has its own app store called Samsung Apps and is only useful if you have a Gear 2 or Gear Fit because management apps are not available on the Play Store.

While you’re at it, don’t sign up for a Samsung account. You can use the S Health app without a Samsung account, just skip the process. Of course, your stats and calories won’t be backed up to the cloud but at least your consciousness will be clear.

9. SwiftKey Keyboard

No line overlay, ugly Samsung keyboard. It has the best spacing of any keyboard I’ve ever used and it helps me type faster but the predictor isn’t that good and the gesture-based input doesn’t work very well.

Above – Samsung Keyboard on the left, SwiftKey on the right.

SwiftKey isn’t the prettiest thing out there, but it looks a lot better than a Samsung keyboard, and it has the best feature set of any keyboard out there.

10. Disable Samsung Apps You Can

The final step to say no to Samsung is to disable the Samsung apps you can. You can’t disable system-level apps like Email, Samsung Apps, and Calendar, but you’d be surprised how many pre-installed Samsung apps you can actually disable.

This list includes Memo, ChatOn, Smart Remote, S Voice and even S Health. Go to the app drawer and long press any of the apps above. You should now see a toolbar appear at the top of the screen. Drag your app to the reading icon Disable. You will get a warning message telling you how to restore the app. Just click OK.

Turning off these apps means they won’t run in the background all the time without your permission. It also means they won’t eat up unnecessary RAM and battery.

How are you living with your S5?

What changes have you made to your S5, if any? Let us know what your S5 looks like in the comments section below. Welcome screenshot.

Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/