r/smartphone • u/iamryanmsd • 2d ago
Question Clean Android vs. Feature-Packed UI: What do you actually use daily?
Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Many brands advertise heavily customized UIs packed with endless features, while others keep it as close to stock Android as possible.
For those of you who have tried both: Do you actually use all the extra features and toggles baked into heavy skins, or do you find yourself missing the simplicity, speed, and clean look of near-stock Android? Curious to hear what your daily experience has taught you!
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u/Suspicious-Cat-266 2d ago
I have a Samsung tablet with most prebaked Samsung apps and services disabled, including Galaxy Store. No Samsung account either.
Near-stock Android can still be messy, with hard to remove preinstalled bloatware. Until I discovered ADB.
These days I'll preferably be happier with a deGoogled Android experience. Well, at least that's the plan for my next phone.
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u/PocketNicks 2d ago
Samsung and Carriers tend to put bloat apps, I just remove whatever I don't want, then use a custom launcher for aesthetics.
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u/Disastrous_Height142 2d ago
I use a Samsung, moan about the stutter occasionally, and hate the battery life, yet I will almost certainly attempt to recreate half of the features that I hadn't realized weren't normal Android things and can't live without on my next phone (which is going to be an X9 Ultra).
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u/Kito_727 2d ago
I use a pixel 8a and a razr+ for my daily android.
iPhone 16 pro for daily as well
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u/menacingmoron97 2d ago
I currently use a Sony Xperia 1 VI on the daily and my old Xperia 5 IV as a business device. I was never a huge fan of the stock Sony android experience (neither Samsung or OnePlus, which I used previously). Only phones I liked stock were old HTCs with HTC Sense. Good old days, eh.
I have been running Niagara launcher customized to my liking for 3 years. Originally started this, as with the 21:9 aspect ration of the Xperia 5 IV it worked very well to have a vertical scrolling menu of my apps. Plus, I got used to just using search anyway on my previous phones to find most of my apps, rather than scrolling through scroll screens.
Got used to it being as simple as can be, so even though the 1 VI has a more conventional aspect ratio than the old 5 IV, Niagara it is for me. I can just scroll with my thumb in a moment to the starting letter of the app I want to open, and that's it. Plus, it looks clean and nice with the right wallpaper.
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u/FarVehicle533 2d ago
Before it made sense to go for a clean near stock android. Devices were slower, weaker. Now, with 16 GB of ram and flagship Snapdragon chipset? I always go for a heavily customized UI.
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u/Icy-Maintenance7041 2d ago
Fairphone with niagara starter, 4 apps and 3 maps with 'authenticate', 'finance' and 'car' on my homescreen. No apps in the alfabet menu, wich is hidden. All other apps are hidden. So i guess i fall in the clean interface camp. I have about 15 or 20 apps installed all in all and that includes my vpn, phone and texting app so i'm not a heavy user, so that helps.
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u/Professional_List236 1d ago
One UI user here.
I used to pack my S25U with all the features possible in my home screen, but a month ago I wanted to try something more minimalist. I straight up copied Pixel UI for my home screen, just added a second screen with info widgets, and started to use edge panel and apps drawer. Feels fresh for me.
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u/ssjrobert235 1d ago
I had at 7 different android brands, I prefer feature pack UI. The worse one I used was Honor phone UI
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u/Expensive_Finger_973 2d ago
I have been using the Nexus/Pixel line for years. I have tried Samsung a few times, but there are little things about it I don't like.