Software, UI, Apps and Browser

Software and User Interface

Though the Milky way S iv aesthetically looks simply similar every other Samsung smartphone released in the past 12 months, that familiar face masks that at that place's a seriously upgraded brain beneath it. Take the notification panel that previous versions of Touchwiz have used to provide shortcuts to mutual features. Those shortcuts can now be rearranged based on the importance and frequency that they are accessed.

Multi-window was introduced as a way to run ii apps on a split screen of Milky way tablets, but the feature is more mature and still useful on the 5-inch screen of the Galaxy Due south 4. The number of apps, including those developed by 3rd parties, able to run in Multi-window has grown significantly, so users can check YouTube and Twitter simultaneously just every bit hands as they were previously able to utilise Gmail and the browser.

The Android 4.two-powered Galaxy S four has more features than users volition always care to learn or use. The sensor-based software seems counterintuitive at first, but parts of it actually terminate up having practical value. Air Gesture is a way to navigate past non actually touching the screen; swipe in a higher place a sensor and the phone will know to go to the next image in the Gallery. It'southward much easier and faster to swipe by touching the screen, so nothing'south really gained in that instance. That doesn't mean Air Gesture is useless; it's actually quite useful when swiping over an incoming telephone call notification and automatically going into Speaker mode. Air View also has its limited practicality, just it comes in handy when previewing emails or navigating in media apps.

The Galaxy S iv is total of such unnecessary but maybe enhancing features. Group Play creates a shared network betwixt devices in order to play the same song or even act equally a makeshift Surroundings Audio system, which sounds especially pointless when one considers that it currently works but with other Samsung Milky way Southward four devices. Smart rotation measures the angle of a user'southward sightline to know whether to show portrait or landscape, and Smart suspension will know to suspension video when someone turns away from the screen.

The problem with the Smart features is that they are hitting or miss. Some do not work when at that place's calorie-free backside the field of study or in a night surface area, and others don't piece of work when Multi window is active. The fascination and cool gene of these apps are diminished past their unreliability.

Apps

Samsung poured resource into improving its congenital-in apps with modest refinements that brand a noticeable difference. The biggest impact is seen in the Email app, just small UI or feature changes meliorate Agenda and S Memo. The Contacts app hasn't been treated to a visual upgrade, simply it does take new Speed Dial options.

The virtually interesting enhanced app isn't fifty-fifty adult by Samsung. Reading app Flipboard created a version of the app congenital specifically for Samsung products that supports Air View, so hovering over a section reveals a preview of the articles featured in that section. Samsung worked with Flipboard to enable the feature, so that naturally leads to wondering about what other apps might someday be able to back up Air View - I'm looking at you, YouTube and every other media player or gallery app - if Samsung releases an SDK (Samsung informed the states that it plans to work with more developers to implement Air View just declined to say if it volition launch an SDK).

Samsung has included several new apps to accompany the Galaxy S iv. Media gets a big boost with Watch On, a TV-guide-similar app that makes evidence discovery and tracking easier with data from Pare and an IR component that tin can control a television. Anyone with a Samsung Smart Tv set 2013 model gets the added bonus of being able to stream their television receiver directly to their smartphone over Wi-Fi.

WatchOn is hands one of the Milky way Due south iv's best features, but its limitation to sure TVs will likely exclude most users from ever putting the streaming function into practice. Other preloaded apps include Dropbox, Lookout Security, Polaris Office 5, Scout (Telenav), Trip Advisor, and four Sprint apps. The roster of bloatware volition vary depending on carrier. There'south also a Samsung keyboard with SwiftKey integration, but information technology's non very adept, so spend the money and buy the actual SwiftKey app instead. Swype is included as a secondary input selection.

Browser

Chrome be damned, Samsung is sticking to its own implementation of the Internet app. The strategy is actually favorable considering Internet has baked in support for Adobe Flash, something Chrome cannot do on Android Jelly Bean. Yes, much of the web is moving to HTML5, simply the transition isn't happening almost fast enough to pretend like having the option to view Flash content isn't something to exist praised.

The browser app besides lets users set custom effulgence levels, switch between Desktop and Mobile views, scan in private mode, and switch between tabs. The combination of software enhancements and a quad-core processor lead to some impressive benchmark scores that show Internet is as responsive as it is feature-rich. The merely negative things I can say are that it could utilize a Full-screen option and the Lumen toolbar at the bottom of the screen is incredibly annoying. Thankfully, the latter tin exist removed from the Lumen settings menu.