Christopher Price is the Founding Editor of PhoneNews.com. Today, he leads the team building Console, Inc. - a new kind of Android™ device. He still likes to pontificate... a lot. You can visit his personal blog at ChristopherPrice.net.

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95 responses to “Sprint Locks Down the UI on Their Phones, a la Verizon”

  1. Mustang46L

    BTW guys.. Just found your off switch. ##DATA#, go to XUI, click edit, and you can change it to the manufacturers default.

    Enjoy!

  2. omega

    LOLOL

    Are you kidding me LOL

    If its true do you have any idea how many forums and people are saying sprint sucks because they don’t have a off switch LOL

    IF its true Chris should make a WRITTEN apology to Sprint and the readers

  3. Mustang46L

    Well I guess that is what us ‘fanboys’ are here for.. To answer everyone’s questions and solve their problems. … now if I only got paid for it.

  4. omega

    YES i agree

    Phone news cut this man a check

  5. omega

    It is funny that a person that ACTUALLY uses the phone, can figure out what an entire company can NOT…

  6. Mustang46L

    LOL, it isn’t the Sprint couldn’t figure it out.. I mean, they did the programming. It is that they don’t want you to do it. They want the UI else they wouldn’t have spent the money on it. They want a consistent user interface. Power users want a way to turn it off. Now everyone is happy.

  7. bottomline

    Well said mustang. I had a cust. service rep explain that to me earlier today. It’s unfortunate though, that some people would react with such negativity.

  8. Dan Mahati

    I switched to rant from rumor and found it pretty interesting. I can add personalized pictures to my homepage although i can see the carousel. I found things on the phone through carousel that i was totally unaware of before. Overall i am giving 4 and 1/2 out of 5 to this sprint UI.

  9. Brandon Smith

    I think the main reason that Sprint does not have an easy menu option to disable the UI is that it then forces people to try it. It is better in many ways than the stock UI in the background, and thus the stock UI did not need to be tested for glitches.

    Once people actually try the UI it should grow on them and people do seem to like it much better. Plus Chris, your comment about the eldery, is this on any non-EVDO phones? No, and last I checked there were no plans to do so. It is for feature phones only. It provides a faster way to the content that people use most by brining it to the main screen.

    Oh, and yes I get paid by Sprint, but not for my comments here.

  10. Mustang46L

    I understand what you are saying Chris. Sprint said one thing and did another. But it doesn’t mean it won’t happen later either in a software upgrade or on some newer phone models.

    Eh, regardless I still think it is better than when we had people flashing their Moto V3C so they could get rid of the Verizon UI.

  11. cj

    lol. nice back peddling mustang. in terms of financial success sprint is not in the same class as verizon as a company and never will be. unless we’re talking about customer churn rate in which sprint has the highest. no need to bring up hypothetical tmobile merger rumors that have been floating around on the internet for some time and have shown no signs of materializing. even if it did happen mergers between conflicting technologies have not worked well for sprint in the past so what makes you think the tmobile merger will work? even though verizon does it, it doesnt make it ok for sprint to do it as well so your point is null and void. i said in my first post that forcing a ui on customers isnt as big a deal as their other disgraceful and embarrassing failures so apparently you are not reading the posts. really this or omegas behavior doesn’t come as a surprise and hasn’t changed my feelings towards sprint at all. it is merely a minor negative on a laundry list of failures.

    are you denying that you are pro sprint!? the htc diamond thread says other wise.

  12. cj

    mergers have helped att & verizon while sprint’s merger with nextel almost brought the company down. seriously mustang, DON’T try to play this card.

    lol

  13. cj

    just a friendly reminder, locking down the ui has not helped sprint as their share prices dropped to a dismal $3.55

    😉

    hopefully omega continuing to attack christopher and mustang providing damage control will change that.

  14. omega

    Chris, Why not take responsibility for not doing the proper research before posting this “NEWS”….

    I would to know HOW “You” test the phones…

    Its not Sprints’s Fault i was say Phone NEWS as a company…

    CJ, what are you talking about, no one is attacking Chris for anything he has not done…
    He didnt do his research on the PHONE or software and he posted “news” with NOTHING..

    Thanks the entire point, Chris was wrong… He should admit to it and say sorry…

    All he tried to do is side step what he said, he had no prof and didnt test the phone, it was his ignorance that made this all such a HUGE deal when it was NOTHING..

    CJ, its clear you are pro Verizon and calling other people names is just childish.. NO reason for that ..

  15. Don Louie

    The ultimate antagonist returns, this new UI has been around for what, 2 days. Wait to see how it’s recieved, more articles about recent blunders like discontinuing pcs mail, no more pc backup for music purchases, the 5gb cap and no smaller/cheaper fam plan for the Instinct

  16. bottomline

    “In terms of financial success sprint is not in the same class as verizon”, I agree, for today. But, “never will be” ??? How do you know ? Do you own a crystal ball ? If sprint does merge with t-mobile(as unlikely as it may be), the combined company would leapfrog both verizon and at&t in number of subscribers and gross yearly revenue. Granted, it’s a longshot, but anything is possible.

  17. cj

    ok omega. i am not pro verizon. i am currently a sprint customer and a happy one at that with no desires to switch back to verizon. yes there are things i hate about sprint but the same can be said about any carrier or company in general. i unlike you, don louie, mustang and bottomline am not pro ____ and dont pollute threads with stupid comments such as go sprint! if you don’t like christopher or phonenews why visit the site? this site was the reason i was able to get sero and is a great source for information on firmware updates and prl updates.

    @ don louie. has there been positive news regarding sprint lately? everything about them is a joke starting with their $3.55 share price. remember one thing… 3rd out of 4 baby

    @bottomline. you seriously cant be in your 40’s… were you paying any attention at all? how did sprints last merger turn out for them? mergers have helped the other carriers but damn near destroyed sprint. looking to tmobile which is ONCE AGAIN a conflicting technology to save sprint is foolish and more desperate than you are. do you seriously want sprint to merge (bought out) with a foreign company as if that isnt happening enough already? a move like that could not help sprint but only create further confusion for a wireless provider who struggles with their identity and appeals to people who sell insurance for a living or work in a cubicle 8-10 hours a day. sprint needs to make a few changes and theyd be fine without tmobile or any other carrier. lets hope they come to their senses and turn things around.

  18. omega

    Cj,

    With the amount of bashing you do why is it wrong when people say GOOD things about sprint..
    Its funny cj when someone says something good about sprint you call them a fanboy lol
    cj, you just polut with points blahah blabhah blahah, and yes your PRO verizon read your posts..

    There is NO reason for people just to get on the sprint sucks bandwagon and go onlike you.. Most if not all your comments are negative..

    And about chris, it is ARE job to keep him and phone news correct..

    This post has still not been changed to reflect the facts, and chris still have not given us any of the facts..
    i.e Links to the facts…

    It is a fact that chris is a journalist and he should be treated as such, it is his job before he puts stuff like this up to KNOW what he is posting…

    When it takes a reader what a day to figure out what phone news can’t that is a problem with there rules on how they handle information…

    Its are JOB to KEEP them on there TOES

  19. Don Louie

    Where is the pro rated ETF article? I am pro Sprint and am not seeing them through rose colored glasses, my opinion is, my opinion leave it at that. Jumping in calling out people is stupid and immature, quoting stocks and rehashing old news isn’t proving anything about the subject matter. Chris and the team do a good job reporting

  20. bottomline

    I concur, there is absolutely no need to bad mouth or bash anyone. What is the point ? It’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that sprint is(& has been) struggling overall. What else is new ? Although, in the latest J.D.Power & Associates survey sprint customer service improved dramatically nationwide. Hopefully, they’ll be able to turn it around either independently or thru a merger(or buyout). It is also a well known fact that verizon and at&t are doing well, which is good. Moving on to something else, it appears sprint will be prorating ETF’s starting in december.

  21. bottomline

    There seems to be internal talks going on with Google possibly stepping up to purchase Sprint outright before Deutsche Telekom decides to make a bid. Apparently, Google has been wanting to get into the wireless arena for some time now. My source is someone who works at sprint corporate office. We’ll see what transpires.

  22. Brandon Smith

    Chris, AOL didn’t sell you that windows lap top, if they did then I would expect a registry hack would be required at a minimum to remove their software.

    Second, who cares about your blessings? I care about your opinion because I respect it, you’ve been around a long time and have a lot of really smart ideas, however I could care less whether you tell a multi-billion dollar company what they can and cannot do. Your opinions are valid, as opinions. The fact that Sprint made a business decision to remove or not add an easy off switch is their choice. If you really hate it, don’t buy their products. {and yes you have the right to say whatever you want about it on your site, but calling it news just degrades from the quality of the actual news on this site – this would have been better posted in the forums or on the blog side}

    I admire your opinion, but from what I know, if an off switch was given and users were not forced into using it, most store reps would turn it off like they did the old themes and the user wouldn’t be the wiser.

    Also, unlike Verizon, this UI is not locked. The main menu is still reachable by hitting the same middle button. If a user is not told about the tiles and bubbles they will never see them or use them if they are not interested and after that the phone behaves just like a standard Sprint phone with some added stuff at the bottom. It is allowing the user easier access to the content they want if they choose to use it there, everything is still available from the main menu in the same place as the older devices.

  23. Brandon Smith

    Bottomline – That rumor is years old. Google wanted into the wireless company and as such they bought part of Clearwire. They are not looking to buy Sprint at the current moment, however, once Clearwire is up and going I wouldn’t be surprised for either them or Comcast to go ahead and purchase Sprint and thus a large majority of Clearwire if not purchase all of Clearwire.

    But nothing is in the works right now. That is very old news. Even DT has backed off and is showing little to no interest in the company now that Clearwire merger was announced. Everyone is waiting to see how that pans out.

  24. bottomline

    I realize that it’s been a long while since we heard any interest from Google possibly purchasing Sprint. However, it’s my understanding that Google has very recently entered the fray with possibly putting in a new revized offer for Sprint. In regards to Deutsche Telekom, I think it would be much harder for them to consummate a merger considering the circumstances. Not only do they(t-mobile & sprint) have conflicting technologies(which would be extremely hard to overcome, just ask sprint), but by virtue of them merging, they would be the largest wireless company in the united states……..I dont think the justice department would allow a foreign company(DT) to try & monopolize the wireless industry here in America. Afterall, they did prevent the Worldcom/Sprint merger 8-9 years ago……….

  25. omega

    Why does chris keep deleting posts that disagree with him

    He continues to side step all of are questions…

    I ask you Chris WHO is keeping you honest??

    If YOU can just delete peoples posts??

  26. omega

    Please provide details on Your boss’s email

    or a HR dept for phonenews

    doesnt break YOUR rules

    And asking for you to valid information is productive sorry buddy

  27. Mustang46L

    omega, are you serious? Chris is his boss. He owns the site.

  28. Don Louie

    omega, let it go that argument has run it’s course

  29. Sprint Launching Sanyo Katana Eclipse X with OneClick | PhoneNews.com

    […] software as it will launch with the BREW UI-based OneClick user interface, which PhoneNews.com has covered in-depth and exposed its major flaw in the lack of an available user toggle for people that do not […]

  30. rlowell

    This doesn’t portend Sprint ending support for J2ME, does it?

  31. Alex

    I’m a T-mobile customer looking to switch back Sprint, I have a Nokia that I’m in love with, the 5600 music xpress. I can drag and drop any thing to my phone, themes, ringtones, wallpaper all for free. What I’m looking for a Sprint phone that will allow me to do the same.

  32. LiqMat

    Can someone help this n00b and explain ##DATA# on my new LG Lotus. The first thing I wanted to do was shut off the carousel. I do not know to access the debug menu. There is very little info on this that I can find. I had a Samsung M520 for two weeks and really disliked that phone and now have moved to the Lotus under the 30 day Sprint exchange plan. Thanks folks.

  33. LiqMat

    Nevermind. Got it! Thanks.

  34. KC

    Quick question I hope can be answered soon by actula users.
    Does the Rant heat up where it gets real hot to touch it while talking or charging?
    Currently I just bought 2 Samsung M300s and I changed mine back to my Treo but my daughter wanted to keep hers. I finally got sprint to take them both back and am looking at the Rant and Rumor. But I just seen the problems with the Rumor.
    I just dont want to buy 2 more phones to have them also get really hot to touch.

  35. Calvin Lewis Bowens

    There is an option to turn it off.

  36. Mack Simmons

    Nah, KC, the Rant doesn’t get very hot at all. It’s actually a phone that I’d recommend to anyone who needs a phone with e-mail and 3G capability, but don’t need every Blackberry bell-and-whistle.