Why do Androids' interfaces differ so much?

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I keep trying to see how to do this and that but people publishing guidelines online all have different menus and buttons! Like, I've been trying to switch off 3G on my Galaxy Mini and people keep saying there's a 'Use packet data' option in the 'Mobile network settings' menu, and I saw a screenshot in which there was... but there just isn't in mine. I remember being able to easily switch mobile data off in Galaxy Fit but Mini seems to be missing a lot and, consequently, doesn't even have an option to update the OS...

Here we go...

Anyways, as an Android developer, I should start here by informing you that manufacturers, like Samsung, are free, by Google's own admission, to alter any visual aspects of the standard software they see fit, as long as they retain interoperability with the Google services. Otherwise, they're forced to rebuild Android from the ground up and load the Google apps later. Developers have also taken this entire process into their own hands. The Galaxy Mini, as far as I'm aware, isn't a device that's in Samsung's interests to keep up-to-date, and if you bought yours through a wireless carrier, the chances of an over-the-air update are even lower. On my SIII, I use CyanogenMod, a full redux of Android as Google intended it (like you'd see on a Google Nexus device) with some afterthoughts thrown into the standard features making things easier for both development and everyday use. There are tons of options where Samsung phones are concerned, so be sure to do some background research of your own if you're comfortable voiding warranties.

CyanogenMod

If it's just cellular data you want to toggle off, you can most readily do so by installing a widget for this purpose and adding it to your launcher. That said, for basically any mass-market Android phone, there are tons of YouTube tutorials for simple questions like this, all the way up to any hack you could possibly imagine. "Bricking" your device is a worry, but Samsung stuff is among the best supported gear out there in terms of these risks, and the benefits are quite plentiful.

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"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos