11 May 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 tips and tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is destined to become one of the most popular phones of the year. It’s also one of the best.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks

Samsung has packed the phone so tight with features that it’s tricky to find them all. That’s why we’ve spent hours delving into its dark places to find the best bits.

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Interface


How to set a default home screen


The Samsung Galaxy S4 lets you have up to seven home screens, however there will always be just the one that is your “default” home screen. This is the screen your phone will head to when you awaken from sleep or skip from the apps menu to the home screen.

To pick your default home screen use this tricks - pinch inward with a two-finger gesture on a home screen to zoom out and see all your current home pages. On top of each one is a little house symbol. Tap the symbol on the screen you want to be your default to select it.


How to add and remove home screens


When in the zoomed-out home screen view, you can also add and delete home screens. Hold a finger down on one of the little thumbnails until you feel a little haptic blip and drag it to the “remove” dustbin up at the top of the screen.

If you have less than seven current home screens you will also see an empty home screen placeholder with a “plus” sign on it. Tap this to add a new blank home screen.

How to add widgets to a home screen


As with virtually any Android phone, to add widgets to a home screen you just need to hold a finger down on an empty bit of home screen until a menu pops-up. One of the options within the menu is “apps and widgets”. Tap on it and you’ll be taken to the apps/widgets menu.

Hold a finger down on a widget to add it to a home screen. Alternatively, from the apps menu you can head right into the widgets section using the tab up top.

Using and customising Air View


Air View is a very clever application of capacitive screen technology. It lets you interact with your Galaxy S4 without even touching it. For example, you can hover a finger over a web page to get a magnified view of what you’re pointing at.

There are four types of Air View functionality and you can switch them on and off in the Air View submenu that you’ll find in the My Device tab of Settings.

How to take a screenshot


Indispensable to some, useless to others, the Samsung Galaxy S4 offers a screenshot function. The trick is to press and hold the power and select buttons at the same time until the screen flashes, and an image of what’s on-screen will be saved to your phone’s gallery.

How to kill TouchWiz without a hack


If you root your phone, you can install a completely different version of Android on it. But it’s not something we recommend for beginners. If you don’t get on with the Samsung interface, there’s a much easier way to change things.

What you need is a Launcher app from Google Play. This slaps a new interface on the phone – and you can turn it back within the Settings menu. Top launcher apps to try include Smart Launcher, Next Launcher and Action Launcher.

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Connectivity


To 4G or not to 4G? 


The Samsung Galaxy S4 has 4G connectivity, but is it worth using? At present, the outlay is hard to justify. EE is the only network that offers 4G connectivity at the time of writing, and there are significant core issues with the plans it offers.

To get a plan that has enough of a mobile data allowance to make 4G worthwhile is extremely expensive. 8GB a month costs £56 p/m and 20GB is £76. In our opinion, 1GB data (£41/month) is just too little to justify 4G speed. Prices will come down once more carriers get involved later this year.

Using NFC – what is it good for?


The Galaxy S4 is one of a growing number of phones with NFC, near-field communication. It has a few key uses – the most exciting being mobile payments. However, this only works in a handful of high street shops (it’s used primarily for low-cost purchases too).

Realising this, Samsung has put NFC to its own uses. S Beam is Samsung’s own connection standard that melds NFC and Wi-Fi Direct to make transferring items between compatible phones devices easy and quick. You’ll find the NFC menu toward the bottom of the Connections tab in Settings.

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Using Wi-Fi Direct


Wi-Fi Direct is a kind of Wi-Fi connection that doesn’t require a connection to a router – letting you transfer files between Wi-Fi Direct devices without actually having any internet connectivity. Wi-Fi Direct has been embedded across the Touchwiz in the Samsung Galaxy S4. You’ll find it in the Share options of the photo gallery, for example. It looks just like a Wi-Fi symbol.

What is DLNA?


If you look through the Connections part of the Galaxy S4’s Settings menu you’ll find mention of “sharing over DLNA”, but little talk of what it actually is. DLNA is a communications standard that uses Wi-Fi to transfer media files between devices using Samsung’s AllShare media streaming tech. So if you want to send video, audio or photos to a TV wirelessly and you don’t have a Samsung TV, this is the option you want. Of course, your TV (or other media device) will need to be connected to Wi-Fi and support DLNA.

What is Kies? Do I need it?


Kies is Samsung’s desktop sync software, the equivalent of iTunes. The neat part is that you can use it to wirelessly sync files over your home network.

Should you use it? We don’t. The Samsung Galaxy S4’s internal storage shows up as a media disk drive when plugged into a computer, so it’s not necessary. And it’s not all that good either.

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Notifications


Get rid of the annoying Samsung “whistle”


One of the dead giveaways that you’re using a Samsung Galaxy phone is the irritating “whistle” notification tone that accompanies text message alerts by default. Why not be different, and less annoying, by changing to something less predictable?

You’ll find the options to alter this under “default notification sound” in the Sound submenu of Settings.

Customising your notifications panel shortcuts


The Samsung Galaxy S4 gives you masses of control over which quick power options are accessible from the standard pull-down Android notifications menu. You can have up to five toggles for phone features in the bar – for things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

To choose which ones you want to put in the limelight, tap the icon in the top-right of the notifications bar. This gives you the full power toggle selection. Then tap the pencil button up top to customise where these all sit. Drag up your favourites to the top to put them at your fingertips.

Set blocking mode for a good night’s sleep


There are few things that are as annoying as being awoken by a bleating phone just as you’re nodding off. Blocking mode is here to stop that from happening. It lets you stop your Galaxy S4 from alerting you with notifications, calls, alarms and the LED indicator during certain times (which you set).

However, you can also set certain “golden contacts” that can get through to you at all times. Trick - The locking mode has its own menu within the My Device tab of Settings.

Customising what the LED indicator does


There’s a multi-colour LED indicator hidden behind the white front fascia of the Galaxy S4, and you can choose what it lights-up for. It has its own sub menu within the My Device tab of Settings. In it you’ll find tick boxes to enable/disable indicators for charging, low battery, notifications and voice recording. The charging indicator is the one you’re most likely to want to turn off.

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Phone calls and Contacts


Auto rejection 


Have a bug-a-boo stalking you? The Samsung Galaxy S4 can be setup to automatically reject their calls. You can maintain a whole list of people to reject if you like.

To start up this list use our tip - go to the My Device tab of the Settings menu, tap Call, Call Rejection, then Auto Reject List. Here is where you pick your rejection numbers. You can also setup messages to send to “rejected” people who try to call you.

Personalised ringtones


Individual ringtones are setup not within the Call menu, but the contacts list. Tap on one of your contacts and in the menu you’ll find options to set specific message tones and ringtones. There’s a list of preset ones but you can also pick another sound from within your music apps (just tap “Add” at the bottom of the ringtone selection menu.)

Tackling robot auto dialler machines


The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a few tricks up its sleeve to help you tackle those super-annoying automated robot voice dialler setups – such as when you call the bank.

When tapping in a phone number, you can insert pauses to avoid having to wait for the system to witter on with the phone next to your ear. Press the menu button while dialling and you can add a 2-sec pause (they can be stacked). Of course, you need to know the system pretty well before this feature will be of much use.


How to get your contacts filled up


Using an Android phone, it’s easy to get your Android-stored contacts restored to a new phone. However, if that’s not enough you can also use social network apps to get your contacts book filled up with info.

The days of having to write numbers down in a notepad are long, long gone. Download the Facebook and Twitter apps (if you’re on those networks) and you’ll be prompted to add contacts info from them to your Galaxy S4’s contacts section.

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Browsing and data


Monitor data usage


One native Android 4.2 feature that has stuck in the Galaxy S4 is the data usage monitor. You’ll find it near the top of the Connections tab in Settings. It shows you the data you’ve used over the last month in a graph, and tells you what apps have used the most data.

You can set your own mobile data limit, and make the phone disconnect mobile data once it’s used up, in order to avoid any annoying extras charges on your mobile bill.

Request Desktop Mode is a must 


The Samsung web browser has a mode that forces the phone to view the desktop version of a website rather than the mobile one. In most cases, the desktop version will work better unless you have poor vision.

Five inches and 1080p resolution is more than enough for mobile websites. You’ll find the Desktop view tickbox in the Settings menu, which is accessed by pressing the menu soft key when in the browser.

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Best Apps and Games


Top show-off games


Want to show off the raw power of your Galaxy S4? The best way to do so is with a high-end game. Our top recommendations include Real Racing 3, Dead Trigger and Riptide GP. The first two are free – the latter costs £1.39.

Essential Apps


After Samsung packed the Galaxy S4 with so many inbuilt features, you may not need to head straight to the Google Play app store. However, apps we found we couldn’t do without include Spotify, Netflix, TuneInRadio, BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio. And of course, the Twitter/Facebook apps.

Fun Free Games


A forte of Android is free games. Some games you have to pay for on iOS are free on Android. Top picks include Angry Birds, Angry Birds Space and the rest – but you probably know those already. Others to check out include Hill Climb Racing, Candy Crush Saga, Real Racing 3, Whale Trail Frenzy and Temple Run 2.

How to delete apps


Most of you may know this already, but you can’t simply delete apps from your apps menu – holding a finger down on one just sends it to a home screen.

To get rid of an app, you need to do so from the Applications Manager of the Settings menu. It’s under the More tab. Tap on an app’s entry here and you’ll find an uninstall option, as long as it’s not a pre-installed app you can’t get rid of.

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Battery Life


Musing on Power Saving mode


Like most top-end phones, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a power saving mode that throttles certain phone features in order to make the battery last as long as possible. You’ll find the Power Saving Mode menu within the My Device tab of the Settings menu. In it are three tick boxes to set the CPU, screen and haptic feedback to low-power mode.

Hardcore battery-saving tactics 


If you find that power saving mode still doesn’t do enough for battery life, you can take things further. The top way to conserve battery is to turn off mobile data. You can do this from the notifications bar.

With this turned off, you won’t get any online updates unless you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Other tactics include switching off GPS, Bluetooth, vibration alerts, NFC and Wi-Fi. In theory they shouldn’t use much power when the phone is idle, but sneaky apps may try to use them when you’re not looking.

On Screen Brightness


The Samsung Galaxy S4’s screen is much brighter than the Galaxy S3’s. It will burn through the battery pretty quickly if maxed-out. Thankfully, the phone has a commendably flexible automatic brightness mode.

This uses an ambient light sensor on the phone’s front fascia to judge how bright the screen needs to be in each situation – more ambient light means higher intensity is required. You can manually set the brightness without auto turned on, and you can also set the level of brightness within auto mode.


How to turn off all the… nonsense


The Samsung Galaxy S4 is packed with “extra” features that some of you may consider utter nonsense. Thankfully, you can disable just about all of them. Most can be flicked off from the extended power toggles in the notifications bar (access using the top-right “squares” screen icon in the notifications pulldown).

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Multi-tasking


How to video multi-task


Like the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 lets you pop-out any playing video to watch while you’re doing other things. It stays on-screen as an overlay no matter what you’re doing, until you close it down.

To do this use this tricks - go to the Samsung video player app, load up a video and press the bottom-right icon in the transport bar. You can then resize the video “postage stamp” with a two-fingered pinch gesture.

How to use multi-screen


An arguably much more useful kind of multi-tasking is multi-screen. This lets you have two apps on-screen at once, using Samsung Multiview. This is one of the more substantial extras offered by Touchwiz.


To use it, make sure Multiview is enabled in the drop down notifications power menu. Turning it on will make a little pull tab appear at the left of the screen. Tap on it and the apps drawer will appear. You can then drag these apps onto the screen. With no apps running, the app will fill the screen. Use it while already in an app and they’ll share half a screen each. You can also alter how much screen real estate each gets by dragging the bar that separates them.

How to close running apps 


One of the most common reasons for battery life and performance problems in Android phones is apps running in the background. The Samsung Galaxy S4 lets you close these down manually by opening them up in the Application Manager, which you’ll find in the More tab of Settings.

To shut down an app, tap the Force Stop button within each app’s page. Alternatively, there are apps available from Google Play that will close down all running apps in one go -  just search for “task manager” in Google play and you’ll find a bunch.

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Screen and Video


Best video player


The integrated video player of the Galaxy S4 is pretty nifty, able to cope with more video types than most mobile phones. However, there are even more flexible players out there.

Perhaps the most popular is MX Player. Like VLC on PCs, it’s a media player that claims to be able to play everything. It’s likely that a version with Galaxy S4-optimised hardware acceleration will be released soon too.

How to offset AMOLED colours


The colours of the Galaxy S4 are a little hot as standard – a little oversaturated. One of our favourite software tweaks of the phone is that you can change this. There are colour temperature/intensity modes within Settings > My Device > Display > Screen Mode. For natural-looking colours, opt for “professional photo” or “movie”. They may look dull, but that’s because the other settings are oversaturated.


Screen mirroring


One of the phone’s neatest features is Screen Mirroring. You’ll find this mode in the Connections tab of the Settings menu. It pipes whatever’s on the phone’s screen to another display – which will generally be a TV. It’s compatible with Samsung devices equipped with AllShare and Wi-Fi Direct.

Audio and Music


Audio Adapt – check it out


The Samsung Galaxy S4 has excellent audio output – it’s loud and it’s clean. It also offers a truly intriguing feature called Adapt Sound. You’ll find this mode in the very bottom of the Sound menu (found under the My Device tab of Settings.)

Adapt Sound gives you a hearing test, by playing tones of differing pitches and volumes to each ear. What it does it to measure how good your hearing is, and which of your ears has to “work harder” when listening. It then changes the sound accordingly.

Format Support is excellent


Samsung tends to produce phones with better audio and video format support than the competition, and the Galaxy S4 is no different. It can handle OGG, FLAC and apt-X Bluetooth streaming as well as more common formats. There’s little chance you’ll need a third-party media player app with this phone.

Lock screen


How to customise lock screen animation 


The Samsung Galaxy S4 has one of the more OTT Android lock screens. Go near it with a finger and y default light “sparks” will fly out like some sort of kid’s toy. As well as this light effect, you can choose an animated ripple within Settings > My Device > Lock screen. Alternatively, you can grow up and turn off the animation altogether.

How to customise lock screen content


You can also choose what goes on your lock screen. A “personal message” (not our personal choice), a clock, your favourite apps, a camera shortcut – and the standard app shortcuts of the standard nav bar can all be turned on and off. You’ll one more find these options in Settings > My Device > Lock screen.

Keyboard


Enabling Swype-style continuous input


The fastest kind of mobile phone typing – for most people at least – is using a Swype-style keyboard. This lets you drag a path over the letters in a word rather than having to tap out each letter separately. The Samsung keyboard offers this style of typing, but you have to enable it manually. The tick box you need is called continuous input and you’ll find it at Settings > My Device > Language Input, after pressing the “cog” icon in the Samsung Keyboard menu item.

Enabling Handwriting recognition (and when to use it)


The Samsung Galaxy S4 keyboard has integrated character recognition, which can decipher letters from your scrawls. Make sure it’s turned on in the keyboard menu mentioned in the past tip, then – when using the virtual keyboard – hold a finger down on the button just to the right of the Sym key.

This brings up a menu that houses the handwriting mode, whose symbol looks like a “T” with a pen next to it. Using handwriting is only advised when you’re using a stylus, as handwriting with a finger feels… weird.

How to change the keyboard


If you don’t get on with the Samsung keyboard, you can install third-party ones downloaded from Google Play. The most popular of the lot is Swiftkey, which costs £2.99 – but there’s a free version you can try out too (however, it’s very similar to the Samsung one).

Others include Touchpal, the excellent Swype and Go Keyboard. Once downloaded, you can select different keyboards from within Settings > My Device > Language and Input. You’ll find keyboard selection under the “Default” menu item.

S Health 


What it can and can’t do


S Health is the Samsung Galaxy S4’s fitness tracker. However, it doesn’t work the way you may expect. Rather than using GPS to track the routes of runs or cycling, it’s a more simplistic tracker that measures your steps using the accelerometer within the phone.

The benefit of using the accelerometer rather than GPS is that it doesn’t completely kill the phone’s battery – so it can run in the background pretty happily. Drop the step tracker widget on the home screen and it’ll count your paces throughout the day pretty effectively.

Other S Health abilities include noting down exercise (through manual input), inputting your weight over the weeks and writing down what you’ve eaten. It’s a pretty manual affair, aside from the pace counter.

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If you’re a runner, using a GPS-enabled run tracker is a much better solution. These will show the exact route you ran on a map and tell you how far you ran. The most popular GPS running apps include RunKeeper and MayMyRun. You’ll also find GPS cycling apps on Google Play.

It’s the one use for the barometer


S Health is also the one part of the Galaxy S4 that currently uses the barometer and thermometer. Yep, the phone actually has those inside its plastic bod. Go to the Comfort Level part of the app and the phone will calculate the moisture level in the air and the temperature. Useful? Absolutely not, unless you have OCD.

Camera


Using digital zoom 


The Galaxy S4 has a 4x digital zoom function. It reduces the quality of the shots you’ll capture but may come in handy. There are two ways to zoom in and out. You can either use the two-finger pinch gesture on the touchscreen or the volume rocker – volume up zooms in, volume down zooms out. If using zoom, we recommend turning on Anti Shake.

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The key to producing well-composed photos is to understand the geometry of your scene. Wonky horizons are a dead giveaway of a newbie photographer. Photos don’t need to be straight all the time, but everything should be deliberate. To get horizons in order, turn on the grid overlay and use it to line-up your scene. Within the Settings menu of the camera app, click the cog tab and scroll down to Guidelines – then switch ‘em on.

Using Remote viewfinder


A neat application of the Galaxy S4’s Wi-Fi Direct functionality is Remote Viewfinder. This lets you use the phone to control a Samsung camera that also has Wi-Fi Direct. The most obvious current choice is the Samsung Galaxy Camera - pretty much the “smartest” camera on the market at present.

Removing stray objects 


One of the most interesting-sounding photo modes of the Galaxy S4 is Eraser. This is a multi-exposure mode that is used to rub out moving objects from scenes – the typical use scenario is that you’ll be taking a photo of some people, but don’t want passers-by in the shot. The mode detects the errant objects and merges the shots to get rid of them. It won’t work perfectly unless the phone is used with a tripod, but it’s a neat trick.

Useful photo modes vs rubbish modes


The best photo modes are those that aren’t based on gimmicks, but actual photographic principals. Here are the good and the bad

The good:
HDR – merges two exposures to increase detail
Panorama – takes a wide shot
Auto – automatically sets photo parameters
Best photo – a burst mode that takes multiple shots in one

The not so good:
Eraser – Takes multiple shots and lets you remove moving objects from the scene
Drama – Merges multiple exposures for funny effects
Sound & shot – Takes audio and video at the same time
Best face – lets you pick the “best face” out of multiple shots
Animated photo – creates an animated GIF where most of the image is static

These modes aren’t useless, they’re just gimmicky because they use ”advanced” editing techniques that will generally result in lower quality snaps – primarily down to wonky auto-compositing of images.

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Bonus tips


How get the WatchON controller on your notifications bar

The WatchON app of the Galaxy S4 is a nice idea – an app that lets you control your TV with your phone – but if it’s not within a finger’s reach it’s a bit useless.

You can place the virtual WatchON remote control in your drop-down notifications bar if you like, from within the WatchON app. To do this, open up the app and tap on the menu soft key (on the phone, not the app.) Then tap Advanced, and from within this sub-menu you’ll see a tick box that lets you place the remote in the notifications menu.

It takes up a whole lot of space, but it’s worth using if you want your Galaxy S4 to become your main TV remote.

Altering the tone of your call signal

Consistent with the Galaxy S4’s approach of letting you fiddly with just about every part of the phone, you can alter the tone of phone calls. Your options are – soft, clear and an adapted sound. This gives you a mini hearing test to ascertain what will sound best to your ears. It’s clever stuff.

To access these options, head to the Settings menu and tap the Call menu that sits under the My Device tab. Scroll down a bit and you’ll find the Personalise Call Sound sub-menu.

Turning noise reduction on and off

You can also choose whether or not to use noise reduction – which affects the sound quality at the other end of the line, not on your side.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has dual microphones, letting it just what sound on the line is ambient noise and what is your voice. There are few reasons to turn noise reduction off, but we have heard reports that bugs can cause it to ruin a phone call. If people are complaining about call quality, try turning it off.

To get to the NR switch, go to the Settings menu and head to the Call option under the My Device tab. Here you’ll see a ‘Noise Reduction’ tick box.

Save battery and mobile data with the Wi-Fi Timer

A very neat little efficiency-increasing feature is the Wi-Fi timer. This lets you switch Wi-Fi on and off at certain times of the day.

The most obvious use for this is to turn Wi-Fi on during the hours you’re at home. It’ll mean the Galaxy S4 will automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network during these hours, saving mobile data, but otherwise won’t.

Switching Wi-Fi off during the hours you have no plans to use a Wi-Fi network saves battery, as it stops the phone from scanning for available networks. And if you’re in a city, there’ll be a whole lot of them, more-or-less everywhere.

You'll find the Wi-Fi Timer by going to Settings, hitting the Wi-Fi menu option (not the on-off slider) under the Connections tab, pressing the Menu soft key on your Galaxy S4 and hitting Advanced. Yep, it's a pretty well-hidden feature. You then set the hours you want the Wi-Fi timer to switch on Wi-Fi.

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190 comments:

  1. Thankyou, for the tips :-)

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  2. How do you change the lock screen IMAGE?? I know how to change the TEXT but getting real tired of the balloon!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hold image - set as lock screen

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    2. lock screen then wallpaper

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    3. You can only use the shortcuts with the plain lock not with secured locks.

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    4. I played one song and now have the music player stuck on my lock screen. How can I remove the music player from my lock screen for good? Thanks for help

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    5. Can u please tell me how to download n save gifs to my phone and then upload them to another game social website such as ,mocospace please???

      Delete
  3. @matt hold down in the home screen then choose lockscreen wallpaper

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  4. Thanku for the tips:)
    Is there any way to change letter case once the word is already typed - other than deleting the letter and re-typing it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just bought my new phone so Am bit scared to do these things on my phone. Is anyone tried these tips.?

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  6. When I'm texting to someone continuously like waiting for a reply is there a way to stop text notification on the person Window I'm texting but get text notification if a different person text me. You know if I'm looking at the screen waiting for a reply I don't need notification going off, but if a different person text me I need the notification. My old I phone would not sound if my screen was open on a text going back and forth but if a different person text it would ding to let me know I had another text from a different person. It's really annoying to have an open text conversation and it dink every single time I had a new reply on my open conversation. Do you get what I'm saying?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. go to messages, choose left lower "options" button, choose settings, go down to "preview message" then you will get preview of every message {who its from and what they said} be careful you check to make sure you are responding to the correct person. that can be tricky.

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  7. Massive flaw in Galaxy series: You cannot make bluetooth calls if you lock your phone with a PIN. Confirmed with Verizon and other blogs. Returning my S4. What a joke.

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    Replies
    1. You can if you install Tasker and Secure Settings. See here;
      http://grokbase.com/t/gg/tasker/1313jk28hx/galaxy-s3-bluetooth-and-pin-lock
      Works with pin or password but not pattern.

      Delete
    2. I am able to make bluetooth calls with my s4 when my phone is locked. My company's exchange server policy stays we have to lock or phones with a PIN. When I am driving I use my car's bluetooth and it dials even when the phone is locked.

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    3. Hello dear,
      Please tall me details about bluetooth calls.

      Delete
  8. when i tap my phone three times it zoom in even if you are playing a game , i just wanna know how to turn it off i cant stand it anymore

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    Replies
    1. Go to settings and then the my device tab. If you scroll down there should be a accessibility sub menu. Click on this and scroll down a little. then click on magnification gestures and turn it off

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  9. My phone vibrates when i get an email while im on a call. I turned off call notifications but it still happens.
    Also, I turned off sound during typing but I still hear the keys during some typing. Anybody else???

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    Replies
    1. Hi there, I had the same problem with the sound during typing and it drove me crazy. FINALLY I got it to stop by 1) going to settings --> my device -> language and input -> samsng keyboard (gear)-> advanced -> uncheck key tap sound and key tap vibration. THEN (!) 2) go to back and do that for swype keyboard but this time hit preferences ->and uncheck the "sound on keypress" button. Doing BOTH of these was the only way I found to turn off the annoying click-click-click while typing.
      Hope that helps :-)

      Delete
  10. How do I get back my app widget on the side of the screen. My son got ahold of my phone and now my side widget thingy is gone! Please help!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you SO MUCH! That is exactly what I needed to do turn my multi window back on! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond and help.

      Delete
    2. Press and hold the back button and it should pop up for you.

      Delete
  11. How do you move the clock on the lock screen? I have a photo for my lock screen and the clock is right on the faces lol.

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  12. Ahmed,
    1.) Settings
    2.) Go to my device tab
    3.) Go mto accessibility
    4.) Scroll down to magnification gestures and turn it off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Under accessibility, there is no magnification gesture available in my S4.

      Delete
  13. Is there a task mgr that syncs with outlook? S3 had a widget and I can't find it on S4!

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  14. Ive heard about the latest firmware available for s4 that would enhance some performance including camera, screen resolution, storage capacity, as well as to be able to transfer apps to sd card.. And its finally released in Germany, i dnt know when it would be release here in Philippines.. Anyone knows when?

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  15. I had to get a new s4 because the screen went black. Now with this new one, my text are on top and the contacts reply on bottom. How do I change this? It wasn't like that on my previous phone.

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  16. my s4 looses sound when not used for a couple of hours haven't been able to correct it also overnight idling looses sound need to reboot it every morning to hear phone calls an textes

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  17. Sometimes samsung galaxy s4 lets me assign contact pics n sometimes not. Why?

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    Replies
    1. Check if the contact is saved to Phone instead of SIM. It seems you can assign photo only to contacts that are saved on Phone(Device)

      Delete
  18. How to set a wide picture as my wallpaper, in wallpaper setting menu it gives a rectangular window, the part of the picture that falls inside the window only appears in the wallpaper.
    I want to set the whole wide picture as my wallpaper

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  19. I've just bought a Galaxy S4 but I don't know how to tranfer my contacts from my old Galaxy S1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Copy all contacts on old phone to SIM first, then insert the SIM to new phone and move/copy the contacts to phone(Device)

      Delete
  20. How warm can I make the screen, this is *VERY* important because at night, the bright blue screen really bothers me, and looks completely out of place, If I can take it down a good bit, I'd buy the phone JUST to have this feature!

    ReplyDelete
  21. how to find out the model number and versions of the software of s4

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Settings->More->About My Device

      Delete
  22. If its even possible, how can I remove the little contact picture next to every incoming and outgoing text message?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd like to know this too. I don't have pictures for contact. All it does it clutter up space with default faces.

      Delete
    2. Me too... is this possible and if so, how?

      Delete
  23. I cant set any pictures for contacts anymore.. it keepa saying contacts crashed.. what can I do to fix this?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi All - 1st time GS4 user here. Is there a way to stop the notification sound for emails and FB updates, but keep the notification sound for text messages? It seems to be all or nothing as far as I can see

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd like to know this as well

      Delete
    2. You can edit your notification for Facebook and emails in in their own app. on Facebook go to to the setting screen located at at the top left. On emails it varies in location but always available.

      Delete
  25. It wont let me drag and drop my music from iTunes to the S4. I downloaded the drivers and nothing works. Help!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You won't be able to transfer music from iTunes to the S4 because it's downloaded on a different software. iOS and android is completely different. Sorry. The only way I would even attempt to do it, would be to send the files in an email that way you aren't going straight from iTunes, and then download them from the email to the android software you have for the s4.

      Delete
    2. Haven't tried them but I know there are apps for this. I believe a popular one is called Syncr

      Delete
    3. The best and more efficient way to do so, is to save the songs to your computer. Plug in your s4 using the usb (part of the charger) and you can transfer the songs this way, and put them in the folder you select. I have done this to few songs I really wanted and didn't have on prior device. I selected the media folder to put the music. I hope this helps. If not let me know and I will try to guide step by step for you

      Delete
    4. its simple just open windows media player on your computer and all of your itunes music should be in there...plug phone in and drag albums and songs to the column and sync

      Delete
  26. how do you send someone's else's phone number to a friend off the Samsung galaxy 4?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Open the Contact you want to send. Press Menu button. Select "Share namecard via". Choose between Bluetooth, email, Message etc. The select your friend's number and send.

      Delete
  27. how do I transfer my data from a Nokia E7 to a Samsung S4

    ReplyDelete
  28. how do I move music from the phone memory to the sd card

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi. I'm using my S4 for a week plus now, the phone was bought in SE Asia but I'm currently in the UK and facing network problems with the service provider LYCAAMOBILE. I've set the mobile data settings and its working perfectly but what I don't understand is that it goes off to network-less after an hour or so. The funny thing is that during this time, the mobile data is active and working fine but i cant make any calls out. Is it the phone or the mobile provider?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phones from different countries may have different radios configurations/software.

      You may flash an official firmware from UK on your SE Asia phone.

      Do this at your own risk. The probability of bricking the phone is low but might happen. The instructions bellow are resumed, if you need more info Google it.

      Download Samsung Odin aplication.
      Go to SamMobile website and search for the official Firmware of your country/service provider for your phone. Extract the file to your browser.
      Be sure to have at least 80% battery.
      Shut-down the phone.
      Press Volume down+Home button+Power button for some seconds until you see some warning letters and press Volume up to accept and go to Download mode.
      While on Download mode, connect the USB cable to computer.
      Open Odin application. If it doesn't connect to your phone you need to install Kies software for Samsung drivers.
      Do not mess with Odin options, only click PDA and select the firmware file that you downloaded from SamMobile website and extracted to desktop.
      Odin will probably stop responding for some minutes, don't be scared, it is checking the MD5 of the file before flashing.
      The flashing takes +- 10 minutes. After its done it will reboot the phone automatically.
      After lashing, it will hang on the SAMSUNG logo. Remove the battery and put it back. Press Volume up+Home button+Power button to go stock recovery.
      Do a Wipe/Data factory reset.
      After do a Wipe cache data. It will reboot automatically.
      All done.

      All the software and firmware are official and will not damage your phone.
      Just make sure to download the right firmware to the right model.

      Delete
  30. Problem with Gallery viewing of photos.
    in Gallery mode I can't single tap the image to remove the preview images at the bottom of the screen. This means I can't fly view an image and the heads of my photo victims ate cut off! Please help.

    ReplyDelete
  31. i bought S4 yesterday and i am used to with galaxy nexus phone menu interface. is there anybody knows how to change Phone menu interface like galaxy nexus. galaxy nexus's phone menu you can slide between tabs and it is easy with one hand operation and rather then taping individual tabs on top of screen. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is not a way to change to an older phones interface unless you root the phone and change it that way which will void your warranty and can potentially damage your phone beyond repair. Learn the new interface dude.

      Delete
  32. I tried the above steps to root my att S4 and the way it worked for me is running motochopper “As Admin”. Hope this helps people having issues. :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. How the hell do I make video calls on s4 ??????? Both phones connected to wifi but just says out of 3g coverage ??? WTF !!! please help

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi. How do i record videos in the dark using the flash?

    ReplyDelete
  35. How Can I let my fans listen song via call from my s4 device?

    ReplyDelete
  36. i am not able to start my samsung galaxy s4 bcos of virus prob!! i got the phone 15days back!! pls temme hw do i start my phone or how should i remove the virus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remove battery and put it back.

      Press (Volume up + Home button + Power button) until you see the Samsung (your model) screen with green recovery letters in top left corner.

      That will make you enter Recovery mode.

      Do a Wipe/Factory reset and after that a Wipe cache data.
      It will reboot automatically. It will take some time to boot since it is doing a factory reset and booting for the 1st time.

      WARNING: You will loose all your phone data with this operation.
      DON'T WORRY: microSD card won't be touched, so all data will be safe.

      Delete
  37. Why there are 'm' symbol on top left of my s4?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's normally where you will see your providers logo. If you are a t-mobile user, that's probably why.

      Delete
  38. when I listen to music on my galaxy s4 I will turn my phone on the screen to hear it better and the music shuts off. how do I turn this feature off?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go into settings>my device(top of screen, 2nd option)>motions and gestures>tap palm motion>mute/pause toggle off.

      Delete
  39. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hi can you send sound and shot photos to another s4 and they receive with sound with it ? I've tried sending one to my husband but he just get's it without the sound.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I have the galaxy s4 and in my texts next to one of my contacts is a small grey x. How do I remove it? I've deleted the text, I've tried everything and it still appears. I dont' know what it means.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if i understand correctly it means your message didn't send

      Delete
  42. Please Help! I deleted the alarm widget that was pre-installed because it wouldn't let me edit alarm time or days. The alarm still goes off every AM at 7:14 anyway and the little alarm icon is still in the top right hand corner even though the whole widget has been deleted. I really want to sleep in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tap on the clock option in your app menu. At the top, they have an alarm option.

      Delete
  43. The alarm still goes off every day at 7:14AM even after I completed deleted the widget. I didn't like the alarm app that was pre installed on s4 was nothing like galaxy tablet alarm app (which I like). The alarm icon is still up in the top right corner of home screen by the 4Glte and signal bars. I want this alarm gone I really want to sleep in. Please help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there.

      Go to your appdrawer and open the Clock app.
      The left tab is the alarms configurations, just delete them or disable them.

      Delete
    2. Hi, I have been using the S4 default Alarm Clock but never had such issues. First Open the Clock aap and you will see a list of Alarms under ALARM TAB. Just hold the Shown Alarm (Set) and u will see a option Delete >>> There you go! Cheers.

      Delete
    3. Hello Again! Why dont you go for BLOCKING MODE feature available in S4. Not just alarm, you can avoid unnecessary calls, notif etc. Read below:

      Set blocking mode for a good night’s sleep
      There are few things that are as annoying as being awoken by a bleating phone just as you’re nodding off. Blocking mode is here to stop that from happening. It lets you stop your Galaxy S4 from alerting you with notifications, calls, alarms and the LED indicator during certain times (which you set).

      However, you can also set certain “golden contacts” that can get through to you at all times. The locking mode has its own menu within the My Device tab of Settings.

      Delete
  44. does my data need to be on all the time in order to receive text messages?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No

      SMS (text messages) use the GSM connection. No internet needed.

      Delete
  45. All my text messages show up as emails and I'm going bananas!! How do I keep the text messages out of my email folder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is not possible. You might be confusing something.

      More details please.

      Delete
    2. Very easy! You are experience that bcoz you sync. ur Personal MSGs with ur Emails. Goto Email Settings -> select Account --> click More settings -> Uncheck the 'Sync SMS' and others if you want. Cheers :)

      Delete
    3. I can't seem to find the Email Settings...when I click on the settings when the Email folder is open there's no option to click account, more settings, or any Sync options. It sounds logical that that's the problem! I just can't figure out how to get to it...I feel like I've exhausted every obvious setting. Hopefully not!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous - I get my text messages as normal but I also receive them in my email folder as emails so at the end of the day with all my text messages and all my emails I'll have hundreds in my email inbox and that's why I'm going nutso :)

      Delete
    5. Dear! it seems like you went to S4 General Settings. I want you to just Open ur Emails and press the Left Key of your S4 to raise the list of Email options and click Settings...goes on! Let me know! Cheers.

      Delete
    6. I had the same problem and spent hours searching through menus before I finally figured it out! Select the email app, press the menu key,and select settings. Once there, select your email address from the list, choose more songs at the bottom of the list, and deselect"sync SMS"...Hopefully this helps!

      Delete
  46. How do I stop from sending blank text messages?

    ReplyDelete
  47. Thanks dear for your useful tips. I've been using S4 for over a month and a happy user :) Sometime I think, this phone is an amazing collection of new features...Daily I learn any new features which is pretty cool for someone like me. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  48. If I put my S4 on vibrate mode will my alarm still go off in the morning? I don't want to hear my notifications but still want to be woken up by my Alarm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it will. I do that with mine every night. I do pick a ringtone or song that is quite loud though because I'm a heavy sleeper.

      Delete
  49. I would like to know is there a simple way to change the phone from ringing to vibrate like on the iPhone?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Ofcourse! Please pull your S4 Top Menu(above ur battery/network header)and you will see Option SOUND --> Tab it and it will display MUTE/VIBRATE. Cheers :)

      Delete
    2. Press and hold the power button as if turning off. .. there is the option to mute and put it on vibrate there.

      Delete
  50. wow, my battery backup has been increased.. thnx brother..

    ReplyDelete
  51. This post is great. Thank you for this post. I like this kind of people who share their knowledge with others.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Hi , Can anyone please advise
    How to listen to youtube in the lock screen mode?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  53. Kevin,
    No physical button like iphone. Shortest way i know is Use the pull down menu. touch the sound icon to change between sound/vibrate/mute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can also hold the volume down key until it is in vibrate mode

      Delete
  54. Does anyone know if there is a way to separate your actual songs from downloaded ringtones? Both are downloaded from completely different 3rd party apps, but they are in the same area in my phone, so every time I go to listen to my music, I hear all my ring tones. I don't want to delete anything, just to have it in separate folders somehow. Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easy! Just create a playlist of ur fav. trax from tabbing option PLAYLIST and play from it. cheers :)

      Delete
  55. I just got my S4 a few days ago and downloaded a few apps and everything was great, but now the Google Play app is gone and I don't know how to get it back or download new apps! Any suggestions on what I can do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! May be you have removed your Google Play Store app from your home screen but not to worry you will find it in the menu. let me know what you see?

      Cheers!

      Delete
  56. Hi,
    I just got the S4 yesterday and I changed my text tone from the whistle tone to the "join hangout" tone and now both go off when I get a text message even though only one is clicked. It also vibrates twice. It's getting very annoying!

    ReplyDelete
  57. Thank you. Your blog was very helpful and efficient For Me,Thanks for Sharing the information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree!! Very helpful information found here! Thank you!!

      Delete
  58. my dumb ass phone decided not to work today !WHEN I MAKE OR RECEIVE A CALL NO ONE HEARS EACH OTHER ! why ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Is this issue occuring while doing Internet Call or for normal calls?

      Delete
    2. Perhaps you've hit the mute button? Easy to do.

      Delete
    3. Dear, If its Mute is being hit than you will hear front person but he can't :P

      Delete
  59. Can I use my Galaxy S4 as a Car remote?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Yes you can...Samsung GS4 got excellent 'S-Drive' feature. To use it just >>> Pull the dropdown menu >> select Driving Mode.

      FYI: Being in this mode, it will read out Incoming MSGS for you and other stuff controlled by voice. let me know if any queries.

      Cheers !!

      Delete
    2. Hi...Give it a try!

      Install this app from Playstore "How To Unlock a Car" - Roohware Tech

      Share your experience here. Cheers :)

      Delete
  60. Dear friends,
    Can anyone advice if there is an apps which can be used on Galaxy S4 as a car remote control!

    Please advise?

    ReplyDelete
  61. Do you know if there is a way to turn off sounds / sound notifications from S Health.

    I have been unable to figure out how to turn off the (quite high and annoying) sounds from that otherwise quite awesome app.

    Thanks for a great site blog :-)

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hi, I need help. Whenever I'm using this s4 a black screen will appear and I have shake the phone in order for me to continue with whatever I'm doing. It is very annoying because when in emergency the screen will go blank. I tried everything in setting. Please help..!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you have task killing apps? if yes, please try it and close all apps.

      Also, try disabling your 4G. Hope this helps?

      Delete
    2. I'm having this same problem.....can anyone help me please?

      Delete
    3. I'm having this same problem! Can anyone help

      Delete
  63. Hello. I have downloaded a song from Google play so that I can use it as my ringtone but I can't get it to add to my ringtone list. It is not in any files that I can find under "my files". The only place I can access the song from is the little headphone icon. I have tried adding it to my playlist but nothing shows up under the playlist folder. When I go into my ring tones and hit the add button it is never a choice for me to add. What am I doing wrong? Am I not able to add just any song as a ringtone? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Please try this...Goto Setting >> myDevice tab >> select Ringtone >> Choose ADD >> here it will ask COMPLETE ACTION USING >> select your lil headphone icon(u can click just once even) >> YOu will see your fav. track here, ready to be set as ur new ringtone. Let me know....Cheers :)

      Delete
  64. Hi. Anyone please help me to disabled the vibrate from txt messaging. Tnx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Simple! Please Goto Setting >> MyDevice >> Sound >> Select Vibration Intensity >> Reduce the Notification Intensity to 0. Cheers :)

      Delete
  65. For individual contacts I accidentally selected the always option and selected "on phone only" or some such thing. Now I cannot change the message notifications for individual contacts to anything but the phone default notifications. I can change all the notifications under settings, sound, notifications and all the sounds I have downloaded are there, but how do I re-enable being able to select these downloaded ones for individual contacts. (I know it gave me instructions when I accidentally set it to phone only but I accidentally clicked through it and dont know what it said.) Thanks for any help!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! That's simple...Please Goto Settings >> Select More Tab >> Select Application manager >> Select 'ALL' tab on very top(You'll see other option like SD CARD/RUNNING/DOWNLOADED)>> select your concerned app(whom you have made default selection) Once you tab, Look for option "Clear Defaults" >> Cheers :)

      Delete
  66. I just got the Galaxy s4 and LOVE it. however, i'm not sure about the battery. I have apps closed i think I have other items turned off such as GPS etc. But if its fully charged at 7:30am, should the battery be down to 60% by noon time? or is this normal? I'm a former iphone person whose battery life sucked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! The only worry with all Smartphones is their battery life. What exactly the cause is the background running apps which will eat the battery without our usage. I will suggest you to Install Advance Task killer and kill the unnecc. apps running in the background.

      Read this:
      Battery Life
      Musing on Power Saving mode
      Like most top-end phones, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a power saving mode that throttles certain phone features in order to make the battery last as long as possible. You’ll find the Power Saving Mode menu within the My Device tab of the Settings menu. In it are three tick boxes to set the CPU, screen and haptic feedback to low-power mode.

      Hardcore battery-saving tactics
      If you find that power saving mode still doesn’t do enough for battery life, you can take things further. The top way to conserve battery is to turn off mobile data. You can do this from the notifications bar.

      With this turned off, you won’t get any online updates unless you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Other tactics include switching off GPS, Bluetooth, vibration alerts, NFC and Wi-Fi. In theory they shouldn’t use much power when the phone is idle, but sneaky apps may try to use them when you’re not looking.

      Please share if you feel the differance. Cheers!

      Delete
  67. Hello, does anyone know if there is a feature to select/turn-on "do not allow all to reply" on outgoing/incoming group text messages?

    ReplyDelete
  68. Hi...why can't I copy paste files from my pc to 2 my S4 via usb when I can copy files from my S4 to pc? Does anyone know why? Thanku...

    ReplyDelete
  69. I can't get the speak destination to work on my Navigation. It stops the app and shuts it down!

    ReplyDelete
  70. I have my s4 set for a swipe unlock. However, new txt msgs are displayed on my lock screen when I wake it up. Is there a way to disable this feature so the body of the msg isnt displayed on my lock screen? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Open your S-Voice app. tap the menu key (left of home buton) select settings. scroll down till you see "Show body of message". deselct it!

      Delete
  71. When a person sends a group message how can I keep my phone from answering to all instead of to just the one? I want to permanently fix so I can never reply to all!

    ReplyDelete
  72. How do I keep voice control working when the screen goes to sleep? I often listen to music and would like to be able to use the voice control via the headphones w/ mic and it works fine when the screen is on but as soon as the screen blacks out I no longer have voice control. I don't want to keep the screen always on for obviously it would drain the battery quicker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, this is a good question. I am having the exact same problem. I thought it might have to do with the Lock Screen but even after turning it off once the screen goes to sleep voice control no longer works.
      Anyone with a fix or some ideas on how to keep it working please chime-in!

      Delete
  73. I got the galaxy s4 and was wondering how you make the lock icon appear at the bottom of the screen, to stay there as long as i want it. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Had my S4 For about a month and it gets a black screen so send it of to be repaired, 1 week latter BLACK SCREEN again, So I'm on a 24 month contract With a phone that will not work and the company I punched it off of will not take responsibility because I made the mistake of sending it of to the service provider to have it fixed and not them apparently that makes the warranty invalid, BEWARE THE SAMSUNG S4 BLACK SCREEN OF DOOM!!!! :(

    ReplyDelete
  75. I also got the galaxy s4 and was astounded how you make the lock icon appear at the bottomside of the screen, to stay there as long as i want it. Thank you.galaxys s 4

    ReplyDelete
  76. I like your post it is very interesting i would like to visit your website frequently.....!

    ReplyDelete
  77. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500) paying a whooping amount of INR 41,500/- on 08th July 2013. Within a week I suffered Mobile Network Signal Drop (NO SERVICE - ERROR SEARCHING NETWORKS) & Call Drops!!. I tried replacing my SIM card and trying other network provider's SIM too. But the problem persisted. I also researched the internet and came to know that many of the users have the same problem! It's definitely a handset fault. I contacted Samsung Customer Care on 16th July 2013 and they said that as a policy they could not replace my Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 as it has crossed 7 days period after purchase (NOT TO MENTION...RIDICULOUSLY SAMSUNG INCLUDES SUNDAYS TOO, EVEN WHEN THE CUSTOMER CARE CENTERS ARE CLOSED!!) Failing to solve the issue even after updating my software, now they have provided me with the option of replacing the motherboard of Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500). My charm of buying such an high-end phone has been completely lost and left me shattered fearing any more loss after motherboard replacement! I feel cheated buying a Toy of INR 41,500/-, when Samsung cannot even provide a stable BASIC necessity. It's even more sad for me since I have still not started paying my monthly installments! ( At great loss here buying this phone. I DO NOT recommend Samsung Galaxy S4 to anyone, unless you want to waste your hard earned money.

    Can anyone provide me with a solution to this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Sorry to know you suffering but let me get it correctly you are having issues with Mobile Network Signal Drop (NO SERVICE - ERROR SEARCHING NETWORKS) & Call Drops. I'm also a S4 user and still happy ^_^. Initially, I was facing the similar issues with phone is unable to detect SIM but I realised that S4 got a slot for Mini SIM card only and I was using the punched SIM card to fit it in my S4 and it goes undetected by phone. I now switched to Mini SIM and it works perfectly without any undetection issues.

      I hope the issue is same with your S4 and replace your punched SIM with genuine Mini SIM. Cheers :)

      Delete
  78. Nice tips! However, I am missing the MHL output tip. Or did I miss it?

    ReplyDelete
  79. Direct call function does not seem to operating. What am I doing wrong. Motion control is turned on,and direct call is also on??

    ReplyDelete
  80. I accidentally deleted the weather app installed on the home screen. How do I get it back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In apps/widgets, it will be in the widgets, just find it, hold it down and move it back where you want it.

      Delete
  81. I accidently activated a setting which reads out my alarms, phone calls and number I receive messages from. Any idea how I can deactivate this?

    ReplyDelete
  82. Hi there! I have searched and searched for an answer and I'm still coming up with nothing. I am trying to delete photos from my gallery. I know you long press on them to delete them, but they aren't permanently deleted. When you go to the all screen they show up at the bottom. Along with ALL of my facebook photos that shouldn't be synced to my phone as everything is marked unsync. Can anyone please tell me how to fix it so I can get it cleaned up.

    ReplyDelete
  83. How do I stop the galaxy s4 on att from waking up every time I get a text message. It is so annoying. I just want there to be an alert and an envelope in the corner. Seems so simple but I cant figure out how turn the pop up feature off on the lock screen. Please help

    ReplyDelete
  84. Hi why cant I open pdf files I have all the adobe apps but some open but the ones on my web site wont not happy even the shop people cant help me

    ReplyDelete
  85. Someone explain to me I just bought the S4 and am a bit scared as they that the data 250 mb data can be used by background installing and then you are unable to use the phone

    ReplyDelete
  86. I want to change the text message icon, it should not be an envelope, it should be a bubble with a smily face or something. The envelope icon looks like I have email.

    ReplyDelete
  87. I put my phone in vibrate/silent when I went to bed. NO ALARM WENT OFF. Can't find an option to make alarm go off in silent mode. Help. And btw, I tested it and the alarm went off in silence... hell of a lot of good that does. Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always have my phone on silent at night and set my alarm and it goes off every time fine (touch wood). I will double check my settings for you and let you know if there is any additional button to tick/check.

      Delete
  88. I took important pictures in "best photo" mode but didn't know I had to choose and save the photos first, and now could not locate those photos. Will I still be able to retrieve them?

    ReplyDelete
  89. my device have problem while playing music screen getting off that time sound cracked and slow the tempo.please fix this problem.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Hi
    does anyone know how to slide keyboard out of the way when reading sms after you have already typed in replies for the Galaxy S4

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Press the back arrow and it gets rid of the keyboard and then if you want to add anything else into it, touch the text box and it will bring the keyboard back.

      Delete
  91. Does any one know what happened to the eraser shot. It disappeared after the software update was complete. I really liked it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  92. Hi i have just got my samsung s4 and when the screen is locked my time stops. When it is unlocked the time continues from were it stops very confusing and is constently wrong help

    ReplyDelete
  93. hi my samsung s4 has a fault with the clock when its locked the clock stops and when i unlock it it will carry on. so if i lock it at 12.00 and unlock at 12.30 it will still say 12.00 and carry on ticking untill i lock it again. help?

    ReplyDelete
  94. Just got my Galaxy S4 and so far it seems okay. I had an iPhone for 3 years so there's a learning curve here. However, I see references to call blocking which I did on my iPhone from midnight to 6am, but apparently the Verizon version of the Galaxy doesn't have that? Has anyone found it "hidden" somewhere? I really like being able to shut it down during designated sleep time since I get a lot of international business emails at all hours.... Argh.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Hi all, is there a way to turn off the camera noise when taking pics as it is very loud, or even turn is down

    ReplyDelete
  96. Hi, is there a way of copying text from a webpage and pasting elsewhere? I could do this on the iphone just by holding the screen over the text i wanted to copy.

    ReplyDelete
  97. 1.) how can i download picture and video on facebook using Glaxy S4?...
    2.) How can i stop/block popping apps that appear on my screen while typing any message...it is so annoying while im doing something..

    ReplyDelete
  98. How do I share my apps, photoes and songs from my S4 to my galaxy Pad2

    ReplyDelete
  99. Hi just wondering if anyone can tell me how to get the clock on when its 'sleeping'(ie when its not in use)

    many thanks

    ReplyDelete
  100. feautiful tips you are showing us.

    ReplyDelete
  101. Hi wondering if the s4 has the "turn off all sounds" widget like the s3 did. cannot seem to find it..

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Press and hold the power key as we did on the S3 and choose silent mode

      Delete
  102. Plz help , when I plug my phone into laptop it doesn't recognise it the usb function to tick is greyed out n kies doesn't recognise it eithee. So I have no way to get my backed up stuff of conputer. Thanks in advance would appreciate any tips :)

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  103. How to set a default apps for word documents

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  104. Hi! My husband and I just got our new Galaxy s4 phones and we are having a problem with the text messaging. He gets my text messages and I get his (we get them on our own phones, as well).
    EX. my daughter will text me a message and it will show up on his phone and mine. But, it will only show up in his email messages folder, not in the actual messages folder. Neither one of us really want to get the other persons texts.. Please help!

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  105. Hi
    The question...I get a low battery warning at 15%. I remember that I changed this warning from 30% when the warning last came up. I also remember having a 5% option. All I want to do is change the warning to 5%. How?

    I have definately remember changing it to 15%, from 30%, but do you only get this option once when the first warning appears? Because I cant find it in any of the settings menus. And when the battery hit 15% this morning there was no option to change it. I have Googled and searched here and some people say its not even possible...but ive already changed it once.

    I dont want to do away with the warning...just change it to 5%.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated
    Mads

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  106. Looking for a way to have the recent calls tab come up when I press the phone. The dial pad comes up right now and I never use it.
    I know it is simple to just press the other tab, but it would be very convenient to just have my recent peeps there!!
    Thanks

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  107. Thanks for listing it all! You made it handy for us who considers buying S4.

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  108. u can even take snapshot just by sliding finger on lower side of screen...

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  109. Hey i got s4 whith a flip cover icant play games when it is whith flip cover it offently off and shows the time when i move the flip cover it on help PLESE

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  110. Hi s4 user here..it looks like my phone alarm only recognize the word stop, the snooze command is not effective..any help.?

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  111. hi..does.anyone know how to.get emoticons on S4...i have tried and installed so many different emoji apps and it doesnt seem to be helping It will keep coming up as lil plain squares/boxes. When i am on Fb or instagram i see other peoples emoticons with the lil android robot faces but i dont know how i can do that on my phone. I mean i know that there are the standard robot smileys on the default keypad when you go to 'insert.smiley' but all the ones that i see other pepople use are more detailed then the ones that are defaulted on the s4 Keyboard..hope this makes sense and hope someone can help coz this is driving me mad!!!

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  112. Hi everyone. I have a question about Air Gesture when it comes to changing tracks when you are listening to music. When I first got the phone I could change the track with using hand gesture over the phone when it was locked. Not on the lock screen but actually screen off. All of a sudden it will no longer work. It only works now if I first push the side button to open the lock screen. Anyone know what I did & how I can get it back to skipping tracks with the screen off? It was really nice to have when I was driving. Thanks.

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  113. I just got my Samsung Galaxy 4 and I tried downloading different SMS apps but they all send blank messages to what seems to be non-smart phones?! I can only use the stock app:( Can someone PLEASE help me????

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  114. When I receive a new text and touch the text app icon it opens to my last text rather than the new text I received. How can I change that?

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  115. Is there a way to use autocorrect without switching to a third party keyboard?

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  116. Really a good way to customize my display notifications.. Thanks brother..

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  117. Hii all Friends.
    I have some question. How to able choose just one or always if playing video or music on the Internet.

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  118. I love my new Phone and thanks for the great tips. One problem I have is when doing texting. If I type in a word or name into text it keeps renaming it to something completely different and I can't figure out how to either add the Name or edit it.

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  119. I would like 2 find a way 2 keep my led lite on all the time & have it change colors constantly. I no u used 2 b able 2 do it on the blackberrys b4 so there has 2 b a way 2 change this 1 2?? Yes no??

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  120. How can I copy images from facebook (not the app) onto my phone? I had a galaxy s2 and all I had to do was long hold and it would save my image onto my photo gallery.... I don't seem to be able to do that with my s4...am I doing something wrong or is it no longer an option?? Thank you xx

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