Samsung wants future phones to have no Settings menu at all

GreenEngineering3475@lemmy.world to Android@lemmy.world – 130 points – Samsung wants future phones to have no Settings menu at all
androidauthority.com

Samsung is working on a new AI experience for its devices that will help you use your phone without ever accessing the Settings menu.

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Samsung can go fuck themselves when i cant change what my phone does I'll just use my fucking steam deck as phone.

Yeah honestly i have previously considered just taping a raspberry pi to a portable touch screen and a powerbank and use that instead of a phone with how shitty phones are getting. Fairphone + Calyx is what stopped me from going down that route tho.

Tbh, im currently using a Pixel, they are... Actually quite good, even without another OS, wich you can install.

I even controlled what it uploads, it doesn't send data when i don't agree to it (living in EU) so im fine with it and a custom launcher (the normal one sucks).

Is Pixel, ironically, the only device with unlocked bootloader and seemingly with most control, i.e. ability to easily install another OS?

Yes, at least from what i know, maybe there is some DIY phones or maybe Nokia pulles some great phone out of their ass somehow, but currently i know only about the Pixels being actually good at what they do.

Correct. Look at CalyxOS and GrapheneOS and what they support.

Okay. Thanks, guys. 🍻

I'll think about it for my next phone when the time comes.

I can concur the Pixel 8 Pro has honestly been pretty good, for whatever it's worth. Granted I'm not in the EU, so I don't get the benefits of GDPR, but it's the best of a bad set of options.

According to ET News, the company plans to implement an AI feature on its devices “that can predict what consumers want in advance by improving the performance of ‘touch points’ such as keyboard and camera.”

Every one of the 'features' results in the exact opposite of what I want the thing to do. I have become a grumpy old man yelling "Stop fucking helping!" at hardware and software that tries to be 'intuitive'.

Samsung devices already let you change various settings without opening the Settings menu using Bixby. However, this implementation requires users to trigger Bixby and issue a voice command. In contrast, the AI-powered solution could automatically change settings based on usage patterns.

I want it to be consistent dammit!

I fully hear you and agree.

Every 5 days there's a software update, for something that just changes one or two things slightly - but rarely if ever is it an improvement.

Oh, you want to do this simple thing you were able to easily do 3 days ago?

Now you have to change 4 nondescript settings, use 3 separate hotkey commands, watch a YouTube video, and troubleshoot for hours to get a once basic function to preform correctly.

I'd bet that the AI system will be used exclusively to identify + paywall things you'll want/need to use your phone.

seems like you want volume control, based on your history you want 1% volume. Subscribe to" basic functions" package to unlock a volume option. Upgrade to "basic functions premium" for up to 5 volume adjustments a week!

Still not enough AI control? The "basic functions unlimited" fully unlocks both volume buttons and for a limited time unlocks the spacebar for 5 minutes an hour from midnight to 6am!

Most of the software updates you see are a result of CI/CD processes. The industry claims it makes good design patterns to get features our faster and more reliably. In reality it is just a rushed shitstorm that results in half-assed Friday releases that aren't fixed until the following week.

I've long turned off auto update of my apps. Too many times I'm on a trip or other scenario where my tool is meant to be a tool and not some tech bro's rented wet dream, and the tool is broken.

But here's the kicker. CI/CD exists for another reasons or so:

  • Frequent updates tend to reset review rankings in app stores. Not only does it offer plausible deniability to the app company, but it also screws with the review scores in their favor, as well as other rankings.
  • Great way to help nudge along planned obsolescence. All that pointless rewriting of flash storage on a daily basis.
  • Psychological manipulation, it gets notifications in your face to try and increase app engagement, which ensures it is fresh and running gathering user telemetry to sell as a side-hustle, as well as direct-interaction telemetry and getting more ads in your face.

It'd be better if we all just went back to landline phones some days. Modern tech is too noisy, abusive, and intrusive.

CI/CD processes.

What does this stand for, and what are these (in layman's terms anyway, not expecting a deep dive)?

Continous integration/ Continous delivery basically they keep pushing the latest developments as soon as it's avaliable and passes the tests.

You guys do tests (meme, I'm just too lazy to make)

My favorite podcast app, Overcast, recently had a huge overhaul and it went from working perfectly to being utter broken garbage for a couple months.

They definitely didn’t do tests. I think they just rushed it out to meet some deadline.

It’s usable now, but it was really gnar for a while.

I want it to be consistent dammit!

YES.

In tech terms, "intelligent" or "smart" usually means inconsistent and unpredictable. It means I need to do extra work to verify that the computer didn't "helpfully" do something I never told it to do.

I understand autocorrect on phones, because phone keyboards suck very hard. I am still shocked that both Apple and Microsoft have decided to enable it by default on desktops and laptops with full keyboards. No, Apple, believe it or not, the username field in web sites is not supposed to have a capitalized first letter. If I wanted that, I have three whole keys on my keyboard that I could have used to do that. STFU and let me do my own typing. (Why usernames are case-sensitive in certain places is a whole other matter, one that's far outside my control.)

It usually always means "stupid".

FTFY. AI has become such a buzzword that companies are desperate to throw as much money as they can at the concept, no matter how wildly misplaced their understandings or hopes are.

The absolute most infuriating one is dynamically placed menus, like how all the stupid video conferencing that move the menu bar to the top of bottom following seemingly arbitrary rules. Why does a nearly full screen window have the menu at the top and a full screen at the bottom? What does moving from top to bottom accomplish?

User, I noticed you weren't sharing telemetry data, location data,and all your photos with Samsung. I corrected that for you and locked the settings....you're welcome.

I totally agree with you.

However there is one smart feature Samsung has that I like. The screen brightness auto adjusts based on the ambient light, but if I change that automatic brightness (I prefer the screen darker) it will remember that and consistently adjust the brightness.

I'm not sure it's really an AI feature..

Take the ambient light level (lux).
Set brightness to 5.
Log that the user has made it 1 level or 10% darker.
Next time it senses the same lux level, set the brightness 1 level lower

That's just an Android feature. And not at all something that requires a neural network.

Well shucks, I guess Samsung lied to me! I see adaptive brightness was released as part of Android Pie in 2018.

Yeah, I was thinking it could be machine learning in that it takes the average of all your changes over time and the different ambient light levels.

But deffo no need for neural networks.

Nope, I'll bet it is like five IF statements and the best part is that it is consistent!

So I was trying to think how I'd implement it, and I agree if it's simple then it really only needs to set the brightness level once, then remember if the user adjusts it, and reuse that adjustment for every lux reading.

Hence the example I gave:

Take the ambient light level (lux).
Set brightness to 5.
Log that the user has made it 1 level or 10% darker.
Next time it senses the same lux level, set the brightness 1 level lower

If we're very generous with definitions it's like a threeish neuron neutral network. Camera outputs might level. It's very similar to an optic nerve. Idk. It makes sense in my head. But again, very generous with definitions.

That is just a simple algorithm that uses .000001% processing power. I'm sure they will turn it into an AL feature that takes 2% power and is always slightly off of what I want it to be.

I don't want Bixby on my phone. That's a start.

I have a button on my phone that has one and only function - to piss me off.

There are several apps for reprogramming that button to be useful, both on and off the play store

Can you not reprogram it to do something else? I could do it with my old S10e, Fold 3 and now Fold 6.

It appears I can. Honestly, I try to have as few apps as possible and I don't accidentally press it often enough to do anything about it.

Oh I just map it to the power button which feels more intuitive anyways since that's how most other phones have it set up.

Bixby still alive? I haven't heard about in this AI swarm and assumed Samsung killed it.

Fuck you, I'm not wading through your fuckass prompts when I could toggle one simple switch.

Imagine how easy it will be for them to hide default settings no one would even know existed.

But how would you know if you like the new image carousel if we don't force it up in your face?

Gross, awful, terrible. Buuuuuut....

Hard to swallow pill: This will probably get tweaked and eventually be very successful. Most people do not like or know how to mess with settings on their phones. You, on this website, are probably an exception but deep inside you know that. How many friends and family members have you had to explain how to change something on their phones? How many have you noticed that NEED to change something on their phones but didn't even know it, much less think to ask? Now think of all the people whose phones you've never even seen.

Of course I'd love to see it go the way of touchscreens in cars where consumers reject it, but I just don't see it. Assuming they can get it to where it does the 5 or 10 tasks the average user would want to do, this will probably be the new norm moving foward. Don't believe me? Look at modern macs or windows and how many settings they hide.

Did consumers actually reject touch screens in cars? Like android auto and Apple CarPlay are pretty popular in the US

Slowly but surely. https://slate.com/business/2023/04/cars-buttons-touch-screens-vw-porsche-nissan-hyundai.html

Also worth noting, US regulators knew it was a bad idea in 2013, but guidance has been completely ignored of course. Luckily tegulators in Europe are doing something with more teeth: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/driving-tech/is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-car-touchscreens/#:~:text=Euro%20NCAP%20%E2%80%93%20Europe's%20leading%20automotive,switches%20will%20be%20required%20instead.

So if it misconfigures shit which it will 100% do will Samsung be liable for legal claims?

This is going to be hell for those with disabilities.

Hell for all of us my friend, ai doesnt think ai ia just some overhyped bullshit

I've never EVER encountered a predictive system that is more of a help than a hindrance

You don't like having it duck you over when you're really trying to duck? 😜

clickbait article title alert.

They never state they are wanting to remove the settings window, just that they seem to be working on an AI that can suggest changes to the phone based off your usage. honestly if it worked it might help, it already does a pretty "ok" job at noticing what apps need to be deep seeped or removing perms from apps that I don't use and removing apps that I haven't used in ages.

I would be against removing the settings menu but, this AI might not be that bad if it's just being subsidized alongside it and not replacing it. As long as it offers and just doesn't automatically change it

I hate Samsung and ai in general but this is such a dishonest click bait title. From what I read, they are working on an ai feature which can change some settings dynamically based on usage. I don't see a need for it but as long is not forced on everyone, I don't mind it too much. I don't see any mention that this will completely replace settings menu either. Speculation is fine but mark it as such.

And that's how they get clicks. And now you're talking about it. And me. So it's working

"Oh cool what are they thinking of?"

Samsung is working on a new AI experience

Fuck...

I was thinking that every app would have deeper settings embedded (which seems worse) but I guess the idea here is to bake settings into the OS so only AI can access them. Would this allow for a lot more settings or a lot more nuanced settings?

Gut reaction to AI in 2024 is very bad but I guess a part of me is still curious what they are thinking of doing here.

This is also interesting because like it or not these companies already have a ton of knowledge about you and how you use your device and this may be a way for that data to be served to us in a useful way. I'd prefer they didn't have the data in the first place.

Frustratingly, every second they save us is counterbalanced by a 30 second ad or some other negative. I'm planning for a potential future where I might be using a dumb phone to avoid what they're putting together.

I too am curious, morbidly so.

and all of this of course will only work with a samsung account where you agree to share all your phone's data constantly; in addition a small monthly subscription fee, and then you can finally change your screen brightness of your phone again that you bought for a 1000 USD

I like the idea of AI. But I want it to be optional.

I'm going to be honest, I'm not a fan of talking to my phone. So I'd not want to use this so called feature. If they force this change this will be my last Samsung phone.

I just hope the other manufacturers don't follow suit.

What is the best Android phone manufacturer after we count out Samsung?

Google?

Yes, obviously, I could Google this, but I'm looking for real peoples' opinions. I've owned OnePlus and LG android phones previously to my current Samsung. I loved my OnePlus phones, but my current provider doesn't support them.

Edit: LOL. I just realized you were suggesting Google as an android phone manufacturer.

Edit: LOL. I just realized you were suggesting Google as an android phone manufacturer.

Indeed. Get a pixel. Load some other de-googled OS onto it like GrapheneOS.

Can confirm that Graphene is easy as hell to get up and running and is an excellent OS.

Unfortunately using a custom OS like GrapheneOS or LineageOS breaks Play Integrity API checks, and some important apps like banking apps use that.

Fuck Google for closing Android.

Every bank installed on my phone hasn't had a problem. Chase, Navy Fed, and USAA for those who would ask.

I guess to each their own.

Awful hardware and value proposition in my area. I still had to get one because no one else let you degoogle on day 1 and grapheneos is excellent. It's insane I had to buy a google phone to get away from google.

Motorola (technically owned by Lenovo now, but even some of the Lenovo phones are great).

The rest of us want future articles to have none of whatever wanker came up with that clickbait-ass headline.

So a .config file that you can transfer between phones then right? Right, Samsung...?

This is a non-article.

They're not just going to delete the settings menu.

They're trying to improve the UX the same way they've been doing since the first phone. Improve settings, make some predictive depending on your usage. Not a big deal.

I can see this being useful if executed well and if it just looks for specific settings. I often can't find certain settings and google what the name is (first Android phone). I think it has potential when used as a sort of smart fuzzy finder.

Gave up on Samsung after the S4, guess I will keep not buying their products

They problem is, one company leads and other's follow. It's hard to say for sure that this will remain a Samsung "feature".

They got rid of the headphones jack so I didn't buy one. Now this???? WTF! Why don't they just smear human poop on the phone before shipping? That would be way easier on the users. You just wash it for a few hours upon opening the baggie. Easy.

The last thing I expected from Samsung.

What? I'm surprised they didn't already do this. You will do what Samsung wants or get get lost, that's the samsung way.

I stopped buying their phones when they started locking the bootloaders for the Qualcomm ones in the US. My last one was a galaxy s5. Sadly now I go with the pixel line directly from google, because I know it'll be unlocked.

And I'm never switching back. Fuck you very much, Samsung.

what could go wrong with samsung changing your settings for you

Now you gotta know how to pronounce the thing just right and know what to ask for when you're opting out of consent for Samsung's rape fantasy.

Also, how the fuck does a whole fucking media giant gloss over how shit of an interface talking to a bot is. Have none of them ever once called their health insurance companies?

I can't wait for Bixby Settings to gaslight me about the option to pick another on-screen keyboard than the official Samsung one...

Their teevees and phones such solid hardware by such a bad software except it is good at tracking