Unlike every other smartphone manufacturer, Vivo too built its homegrown user interface overlay on Android which they call it as FunTouch OS. We have been reviewing the Vivo V5 which runs on FunTouch OS 2.6 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. We at InstallorNot, being peculiar about softwares tested this so called operating system. Vivo has done a good job picking nifty ultility features from everyone around and binding it in their operating system to allow their consumers to experience the latest. Read out our opinion and learn about some of those nifty features about FunTouch OS which have been explained below.
1. No App Launcher
One thing which is common with Chinese smartphone vendors is the launcher-less UI. Call it Xiaomi, Huawei, Gionee, Vivo, or Oppo all of them run their respective customized operating systems with a launcher-less UI. These ROMs don’t have an app launcher and place both widgets and app icons on the same section. This though gives a new experience to the users from the conventional app launcher grid but some of the oldschool Android users might miss a launcher.
2. Control Centre
This new thing which we have observed recently is an addition of control centre along with notification panel like what we have on iOS since iOS 7 I guess. A swipe up from the bottom pulls out control centre which houses all shortcuts which can also be customized depending on one’s need. This control center also houses the recent apps space which can be confused as favourite app shortcuts. To be honest this was quite confusing to figure out if FunTouch OS actually has a recent apps screen or not. I guess the recent apps screen could have been better.
3. Battery Friendly OS
Even though with 3000mAh battery, Vivo V5 could last for a pretty good time during the day. FunTouch OS has a major role in this. With aggressive RAM utilization the OS is able to lower the power consumption. No app is left out using resources in the background after a while and we can choose which apps we would actually like to kill. Power manager is the only way we could manage that and unfortunately, we couldn’t find the power consumption graph throught the operating system which left us confused and disappointed with this decision.
4. Bundled Apps
FunTouch OS comes bundled with TouchPal keyboard which was a wise decision on their end to partner with a developed keyboard app rather than building up their own. On the other hand, Vivo V5 also comes with vivo Cloud – Vivo’s cloud storage which they are offering to their customers for free and vivo Easy Share which is a ShareIT clone. Vivo also developed thier own browser to counter attach with UC or something, but we were majority of the time using chrome which also bundled with other Google Apps package. FunTouch OS also supports themes up to a level which we have already witnessed in Xioami’s MIUI. We can customize everything, but all we need to do is find a good package.
5. Nifty Add-ons
As mentioned earlier, FunTouch OS comes with a quite a few nifty add-ons inspired from competition outside. It supports OTG though there is a switch to enable it as it is not active by default. Same applies for DLNA. Swipe left to message/call or delete is also present in messages and call logs application. There is an in-OS manual, warranty card and after sales service contact information so that this information is never lost. Features like Multi Screen, One-handed mode, Smart motion which includes smart wake, air operation and smart call are also given as an option for users to enable.
Taking a screenshot on FunTouch OS has been made very unique. There is a shortcut in the control centre which when enabled allows to take a screenshot of different areas on demand even can take a screenshot for the complete flow. This can also been customized to save as videos with voice. Smart Click which is another optional feature available to the users which allows to bind an operation on volume down click.
These small things may take time getting used to it but can be useful if you spend a lot of your time on a smartphone.
Based on Android 6.0 Marshamallow, FunTouch OS 2.6 comes with permission manager built-in. Overall, FunTouch OS is not lacking behind and comes with great additions. We personally don’t prefer theme but icon packs might have some improvements in the future.
