Samsung Galaxy Note 3 tips and tricks

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is one of the most feature-rich phones ever made. It does more than just about any of its rivals. However, there’s so much to discover that you can spend a month with the phone and not know all of its best bits.

We’ve dug deep into the phone to bring you all of its best bits. Here are our favourite Galaxy Note 3 tips, tricks and secrets.

Camera

66. The best modes to use

There are loads of camera modes in the Note 3 – too many really. The roster of modes pops-up when you tap the ‘mode’ button near the on-screen camera shutter. Some of them are gimmicks – the equivalent of the ice cream maker you’ll never use more than once.  More useful modes we highly recommend checking out include HDR and Panorama.

HDR merges multiple exposures to produce more detail in very dark and very bright parts of a scene. Samsung’s HDR mode particularly effective – check out our Note 3 camera review. Panorama takes a wide-angle view of your surroundings – almost 360 degrees. It’s perfect for those dramatic view shots on holiday.

65. Photography tips

The basic tips for taking good photos don’t really change whether you’re using a ‘proper’ camera or a phone. Top tips include using the horizon to aid your composition – making sure elements aren’t wonky – and keeping your hands still, particularly when shooting in less-than-perfect lighting. As none of Samsung’s most popular Galaxy phones have optical image stabilisation, a steady hand is needed. To aid composition, turn on guidelines within the camera app’s Settings.

64. Getting the best low-light performance

Sticking to Auto mode won’t get you the best low-light performance. However, unlike the Galaxy S4, the Note 3 doesn’t have a dedicated Night mode. Instead, it has a half-hidden feature called Smart Stabilisation. It appears to use slightly longer exposure times for better low-light photo quality without resorting to using the flash – you do need to keep your hands extra-still, though. You’ll find the feature in the top level of the Settings menu of the camera app.

63. Shooting slow motion and fast motion video

Other half-hidden features that are easy to miss, but well worth exploring, are slow-motion and fast motion video. Both are masses of fun. Slow-motion video is captured at 720p and fast motion is captured at 1080p. Slow motion is a little lower-quality because it makes the Note 3 capture more images per second.

62. Shout to control the camera

Stepping into gimmicky territory a little, the Note 3 camera can be operated by talking. Say ‘capture’, ‘shoot’, ‘smile’ or ‘cheese’ and the camera will take a shot. To switch this on, go to Settings>Controls>Voice Control and tick the ‘camera’ check box. It will actually come in handy, too, if you want to take photos remotely while the Note 3 is resting on a rock or… whatever. (not to tourists: do not do this in central London)

61. Changing photo resolution

We recommend shooting photos at full resolution all the time, but if you’re low on memory you can also cut down the megapixel count of your snaps. To do this, hit the menu soft key when in the camera app and select Settings in the pop-up menu. Right at the top you’ll see a ‘Photo size’ option, which does all the way down to 2.4-megapixel widescreen shots. It’s worth noting too that if you’re shooting widescreen pics, you’re not using the full camera resolution. The Note 3 has a 4:3 sensor, so you need to shoot 4:3 pics to get the full 13-megapixel snaps.

60. Use tap-to-shoot for the fastest pics

By default, the Galaxy Note 3 focuses upon tapping the screen and takes a photo when you press the software shutter button. However, there’s an even quicker way to take snaps. You can make the Note 3 focus and take a shot with a single touchscreen press (other phones do this, such as Windows Phone devices). It’s called ‘Tap to take pics’, and is found in the Settings menu of the camera app.

59. Volume rocker controls digital zoom…

In some phones, the volume rocker is used as a physical volume rocker. However, in the Note 3 it is used to control the digital zoom. As you’d probably guess, volume up zooms in and volume down zooms out. The Note 3 zooms in up to x4.

58. But try to avoid using it

We don’t recommend using the digital zoom unless it’s really necessary – it’s much better to get closer to your subject if at all possible. Unlike some other cameras such as the Nokia Lumia 1020, there are no ‘lossless zoom’ claims here. Zooming-in makes images blurrier.

57. Turning the volume control into a shutter button

If you (sensibly) decide to do away with digital zoom, you can turn the volume rocker into a shutter control instead. To do this, go to the camera app Settings menu (menu soft key>Settings) and press the third ‘Settings’ tab. Press the volume key option and you can choose between zoom, camera shutter or video record control.

56. Use Remote viewfinder to let you take pics using another device

Using NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, other compatible devices (other high(ish) end Galaxy phones) can be used as viewfinders for the Note 3. What’s ‘seen’ by the Note 3 camera is piped over to the other device’s screen, and you can also use the second phone to control the Note’s shutter. It’s great if you want to setup the Note 3 in a particular remote position while shooting snaps from elsewhere.

Usability

55. Making thing easier to use one-handed

The Note 3 offers a variety of ways to make its large screen easier to operate. We find the phone easiest to use with two hands, but if you don’t have both mitts free, Samsung offers a bunch of pads and keyboard optimised for one-handed use. There’s a dedicated ‘one-handed operation’ menu that you’ll find in the Controls tab of the Settings menu.

The pads for the keyboard, calculator, and calling number pad are all shrunk down a bit and moved to one side of the screen for easier one-handed use. Each has its own tick box within the Settings>Controls tab>One-handed operation menu.

54. Enabling the ‘phone within a phone’ mode

Another, slightly odd way to make the Note 3 easier to use one-handed is with the ‘small screen’ mode. This created a cut-size simulacra of the phone’s display that can be moved about the screen and resized. You’ll find this option under the ‘use for all screens’ tick-box within the One-handed Operation menu.

To shrink the Note 3’s screen, just quickly swipe onto and off either the left or right edge of the phone’s screen.

53. Zoom in and out of the screen

If that’s still not enough, you can also zoom into and out of the screen – which is very handy if you have poor eyesight. The Magnificiation Gestures option lets you zoom into the screen using a pinch movement after triple-tapping on the screen (to make sure you don’t do it accidentally). You’ll find the magnification gestures option in Settings>Device tab>Accessibility. 

Interface

52. You can change fonts and font sizes

If you find the menu text in your Note 3 a bit too small, you can change it. The phone lets you pick both a font size and a font style. The Font option sits in the Device tab of the main Settings menu. However, it only affects the lettering in the menu, not the home screens.

51. Accessing universal search S-Finder

The quickest way to find something on your phone is with the universal search function S Finder. You can search the web, on the phone, and even through your handwritten notes. To get to this search quickly, just hold down on the Menu soft key (the left one).

50. Using the IR transmitter to control your TV

One of the best little-discussed features of the Note 3 is its IR transmitter. This is the same sort of transmitter used in traditional TV remote controls, and the Note 3 can replace the lot. You do so with the WatchON app, which acts as both a TV schedule and a universal remote control. Setting the thing up does take a while  (you have to test each function of each device you want to control) but it is a very handy way to de-clutter your lounge or to annoy people at the pub.

Motion Control

49. Using motion control, and what you can do

The Galaxy Note 3 is packed with sensors – including an accelerometer and gyroscope. These let the phone know when it is being moved, and how. Things you can do with them include making the Note 3 answer calls when you pick up the phone, zoom in and out of photos when you tilt the handset and mute the phone when it’s turned over.

You can turn each of these on and off within the Motions menu under the Controls tab within Settings. We recommend… turning most of them off, although the flip-to-mute function is handy.

Gestures 

48. Air Gestures – how to use, ones to avoid

HTC One Max 5Much more problematic than motion sensors are air gestures. These react to a finger being placed just above the screen. You don’t even need to touch the phone. And they can cause all sorts of problems when they’re accidentally triggered.

There are two types – Air gestures and Air View gestures. Air View gestures show you information about things when your finger is hovering above them – for example it will zoom into folders of photos. Air Gestures let you flick between things – web pages, music tracks, photos – by waving your hand over a sensor up above the screen.

We find that both types are fairly problematic when used with a finger. Our top tip is to enable Air View features when used with a stylus, and turn off Air Gestures. You’ll find the Air View and Air Gestures menus under the Controls tab of Settings.

47. Using eye detection tech – dos and don’ts

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 uses its front camera in a bunch of odd ways. One of them is quite useful. Smart Stay keeps the backlight on when the front camera senses your eyes in front of the phone. The rest of the eye-sensing features should be promptly switched off if you ask us. They can pause video when you look away from the screen, or let you scroll through articles by tilting your head up and down. You’ll find these switches in Settings> Control tab> Smart Screen.

46. Enabling ‘with gloves’ operation

Normal capacitive touchscreens don’t fare too well with gloves, however they can be ‘overdriven’ – made especially sensitive so that they can sense your fingers through glove material. This sensitivity check box is found in the Controls tab of the Settings menu, right down the bottom. The downside of using this is that it’s far more likely to be accidentally operated in your pocket.

Phone calls and Messaging 

45. Use the super pocket ring if you miss phone calls

If you find that you tend to miss phone calls that go off in your pocket because the ring simply isn’t loud enough, you can turn on a ‘super ring’ mode that ups the volume when the phone senses it’s in your pocket. This option doesn’t live in the Sound section of Settings, but the Call Settings sub menu. It’s in Settings> Device tab> Call. It’s called ‘increase volume in pocket’.

44. Saving money using internet calls

Although this isn’t a feature the Note 3 advertises too readily, you can choose to use internet calling within the dialler rather than ‘standard’ phone calls. The problem is you’ll need to manually input your SIP account details (you can find these in Skype settings), rather than being able to do something as simple as log into Skype. There are ways to find out these details, though. You input these details in Settings >Device tab> Call. The Accounts option is right down the bottom.

43. How to reject certain numbers automatically

The Note 3’s call rejection mode lets you maintain a list of people who can’t get through to you – your enemies, or those best friends you simply can’t be bothered to talk to. The list can be up to 100 people long. Or alternatively you can choose to reject all calls. To add to your auto-reject list, go to Settings > Device tab> Call> Call rejection. Within this menu you’ll find a manage list option with access to your Contacts book.

42. How to customise ringtones

A feature most of us have forgotten about, but used to love, is the ability to assign different ringtones to different people. The Note 3 lets you assign not just ringtones either – you can use music tracks if you like. It’s dead simple to do. Head to the Contacts book, pick your contact, tap it and scroll down its listing a bit. There’s a ringtone sub-head. This brings up the standard list of ringtones, but there’s also an ‘Add’ button down the bottom that lets you pick tracks from your music library.

41. How to ‘auto-fill’ your address book

Once you’ve fired up your Note 3, one of the best ways to fill your address book is to sign into social networks Facebook and Twitter (assuming you have accounts with these services). The info stored in your account can be used to find new contacts, or to add more information to existing ones – it’s especially useful for adding pictures to your contact entries. You’ll be prompted as to whether to do this when you first fire-up the networks’ respective apps.

40. Create custom vibrate patterns for your friends

Is a custom ringtone not enough?  You can also compose your own vibrate patterns for different people’s calls. You’ll find this option just below the ringtone option – that’s right down at the bottom of the entry for one of your contacts. Tapping the Vibration Pattern entry will bring up the preset vibration patterns, or there’s a ‘create’ button that lets you tap out your own.

Notifications panel

 

39. Use the power toggles for better battery life

Getting better battery life isn’t magic. The most effective way to do it is to turn off features you’re not using, and the TouchWiz UI gives you plenty of chances to do this. In the pull-down notifications menu, you’ll notice five different toggles for key features. Tapping them turns them on and off.

38. Customise the power toggles to make notifications better

The Note 3’s selection of Nofication bar power toggles is pretty sensible, but you can also choose exactly what goes into this bar too. Right up at the top-right of the screen when the notification bar is pulled down is a button that lets you select exactly what gets in. For the best battery life, we recommend keeping Wi-Fi, mobile data, Flight mode and Bluetooth in there.

Screen 

37. Taking a screenshot

There are two ways to take a pure screenshot on the Note 3. You can press the power and select buttons simultaneously, or use a gesture built into the phone – swipe the side of your palm across the screen to capture what’s on screen. This feature needs to be enabled for this to work, though. You’ll find it in Settings> Controls tab> Palm motion. It’s called Capture Screen.

36. Improve image quality with Display Settings

After people complained that Samsung’s Super AMOLED phones looked a bit oversaturated, the company started to introduce manual image quality tweaking in its phones. You can choose how vivid you want the Note 3’s colours to be, and we recommend going for one of the two less saturated settings if you want more faithful image quality. You’ll find the list of modes in Settings >Device tab> Display> Screen mode. Our favourites are ‘Professional Photo’ and ‘Movie’.

35. Easy mode

If you’re giving your Note 3 to someone who’s a bit of a technophobe, you might want to suggest them starting off with Easy Mode. It’s a super-simple mode that fits fewer items on-screen and tries to make everything as clear as possible. If someone was to make a super-giant Android phone for your gran, it might look like this.

34. Colour blindness screen optimisation

If you’re colour blind, the Galaxy Note 3 has a special mode to make using the phone a whole lot easier. You simply arrange an array of colours by their tonal similarity and the phone judges the shades you have trouble seeing. The Note 3 then adjusts the display so that you can still see what’s going on clearly. We have at times criticised Samsung for packing-in unnecessary features, but this one is pretty cool.

Connectivity 

33. Sharing your mobile internet connection

With a Galaxy Note 3 you can turn your phone into a little Wi-Fi hotspot. This is a pretty common feature in phones these days, and it’s built into Android itself. However, the Note 3 offers three different ways to connect with other devices. There’s USB tethering, where the connection is shared over a cable, Bluetooth tethering and ‘standard’ Wi-Fi tethering. You’ll find these in Settings>Connections tab>Tethering and portable hotspot.

32. Monitoring your mobile data use

Both Android and the TouchWiz interface offer their own data monitoring utilities. It shows you how much data you’ve used over the past month (or a custom period), and which parts of the phone – which apps – have used all the data. The Data Usage monitor is found in Settings> Connections tab>Data Usage.

31. How to get 4G

All the Note 3s sold in the UK are 4G-ready. However, you’ll only be able to use the phone’s 4G connection if you sign up to a 4G contract. EE was the first network to launch 4G in the UK, and it claims to cover more than 60 per cent of the population (if not 60 per cent of the area of the UK). Vodafone offers 4G in London, Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Sheffield and Nottingham – will more cities planned.

30. What is NFC and how do I use it?

The Galaxy Note 3, like most Samsung phone phones these days, has NFC. This stands for Near-Field Communication, and is something you can switch on and off within the Connections tab of Settings, or from within the drop-down notifications menu’s power toggle bar. But what is NFC good for?

Although you can use it to make purchases on the high street from a small number of shops, it’s really more useful to connect to audio gadgets. Headphones and speaker docks are starting to use it as part of the sync process, and most Wi-Fi Direct transfer methods, including S Beam, use it to help transfer files.

29. Using S Beam

S Beam is a Samsung-made bit of software that lets you transfer files between Samsung phones using Wi-Fi (to make the transfer) and NFC (to make the connection). To use S Beam, you first need to make sure both NFC and S Beam are turned on. They have separate flick switches in the Connections tab of the Settings menu. To transfer files, you just need to hold the two phones/devices together than tap the item you want to transfer (with Gallery, for example).

Lock screen

28. How to customise the lock screen

Tired of how your lock screen looks? There are a number of alterations you can make. The most obvious is altering the screen’s wallpaper. To alter the image used, navigate to it in the gallery, press the Menu soft key and then scroll down to ‘Set as’. Here you’ll see a Lock Screen option.

Other customisation options are found within Settings>Device tab>Lock Screen. From here you can choose the items on the lock screen’s shortcut dock, alter the text (if any) shown at the top of the screen and the visual effect swiping across the screen leaves.

Multi-tasking 

27. Using Multi View

Multi View is one of Samsung’s Galaxy-series staple features. It lets you run two apps on-screen at the same time. It’s the multi-tasking we said we always wanted – and some people say it is overkill. To use it, first make sure that the Multi View slider is engaged in the Device tab of Settings.

Next, see if the Multi View tab is visible. This is a little arrow at the left side of the screen. If it’s not there, hold down on the back soft key to make it appear. Tap on the arrow to bring up the Multi View toolbar. This holds all the apps you can use within Multi View. Just tap one to open it, then tap and drag another to open it on the other side of the screen. You can drag a sliding separator that sits between the two to control how much screen space each gets.

26. Accessing recently-used apps

A more commonplace use of multi-tasking than Multi View is the simple display of recently-used apps. To open-up this list, just hold down on the central select button. You can also remove apps from the list (shutting them down) by swiping them to the right of the screen. Also worth a mention, the right ‘X’ button towards the bottom of the screen closes them all down. This is worth a press if you’re having performance issues.

S Pen

25. Don’t lose your S Pen with S Pen Keeper

The biggest usability issue we’ve had with Note phones is that a stylus is terribly easy to lose. However, the Galaxy Note 3 does at least have a go at keeping you attached to your stylus. S Pen Keeper is a clever little function that makes the phone bleat and vibrate if you walk away without the stylus.

It’s not magic – the phone knows whether the stylus is in its cubby hole or not, and the accelerometer of the Note 3 knows when you’re walking. It’s dead handy, though.

24. You can use the S Pen with the soft keys

A great little update Samsung made with the third-generation Note phone is that you can now operate the phone’s touch-sensitive home buttons with the S Pen stylus. This is because the digitiser layer now extends down below the screen. It’s not a secret feature, but Samsung hasn’t shouted too much about it.

23. Customise how the S Pen reacts for even more stylus speed

As the Galaxy Note 3 knows when the S Pen is taken out of its little sheath, it can be made to load apps as soon as the stylus is taken out. You can’t launch absolutely anything (a shame if you ask us given how many other features the phone has), but you can pick between Air Command – the stylus menu overlay – and Action Memo. The latter is a virtual post-it that lets you perform actions too. You’ll find these options under the ‘Pen detachment options’ menu within Settings> Controls>S Pen.

However, we found that we liked the S Pen most when it didn’t launch anything when taken out.

Keyboard

22. Gesture keyboard gives you faster typing

The Note 3’s big screen is great for two-handed typing and the stylus is a neat handwriting tool. However, we find that the fastest Note 3 typing comes from using the gesture keyboard. Some people also know this as the Swype keyboard, although Galaxy phones use their own kind of gesture keyboard these days.

Using it, you draw a line over the letters in a word rather than tapping away at virtual keys. The menu option for it is buried fairly deep in the Settings menu, though. Go to Settings, then tap  the Controls menu. Tap Language and Input, then tap the cog icon next to the Samsung Keyboard entry. Under the Keyboard Swipe heading, turn on ‘continuous input’. If the option is greyed-out, make sure predictive text is turned on.

21. Turn off auto pen input if you don’t like handwriting much

One of the few bugs we’ve encountered while using the Galaxy Note 3 is that the handwriting recognition keyboard tends to stick around when you actually want to use the standard Qwerty keyboard. It’s annoying.

If you find yourself in this situation, or just don’t like using the stylus to write messages or emails, go to the Samsung Keyboard menu mentioned in the previous tip and deselect Pen Detection.

20. Downloading custom keyboards

Thanks to the wonderful way Android works, you’re not limited to Samsung or Google keyboard with the Galaxy Note 3. You can use all manner of third-party keyboards. There are loads of them available from the Google Play app store. One of our personal favourites is Swiftkey. Once you’ve found a keyboard you like the look of, install it and then go Settings> Controls tab> Language and Input then hit the Default option. You should see a radio button for the keyboard your just installed.

Battery Life

19. Use Flight Mode in dire straits

The quickest way to minimise battery use in your Note 3 is to turn it onto Airplane mode. This turns off all the phone’s wireless functions (Bluetooth, mobile network, Wi-Fi ) and so on. You may be shocked at how long the phone will last in this mode.

18. Turn off Haptic Feedback

Vibrate mode is a surprisingly potent battery drainer in phones. The most notable of the lot is the Haptic feedback, which produces a little rumble too accompany screen taps. It feels food on the fingers, but is no good for battery stamina. Turn it off in the Settings>Sound>Haptic feedback menu.

Wallpaper

17. How to create your own wallpaper

Making your own wallpaper is the easiest way to give your phone its own personality. And if you want to make the perfect wallpaper, it needs to be matched to the Note 3’s screen. That means it should be 1,920 pixels high and 1,080 pixels wide. Alternatively, you can crop and edit your own photos in the Gallery by pressing the ‘pencil’ icon at the top of the screen when viewing a picture.

16. Transferring and setting wallpapers

Already made a piccy on your computer? The easiest way to transfer it is to plug the Note 3 into your computer using the supplied USB 3.0 cable and drag it over into the phone’s file system.

Alternatively, email it to your Gmail address, find the email within the Gmail app, open the attachment then press the ‘menu’ soft key. There’s be a ‘save’ option that’ll save it to the phone’s gallery.

Audio and Video 

15. Get an MHL adapter to turn your Note into a home cinema handset

An MHL adapter is an essential accessory for those who want to turn a Note 3 into a media jukebox. It’s a little cable that jams into the microUSB port on the phone, ending in an HDMI socket that can be jammed into your telly.

14. How to output surround sound over HDMI

There are some extra settings that need to be switched to get the most out of an MHL adapter – namely that you have to manually opt to output Surround audio. As standard the Note 3 is set to output stereo surround over HDMI. You’ll find this settings in Settings> Device tab> Sound> Audio Output.

13. Perfect sound quality for your ears with Adapt Sound

One of the coolest audio features of the Galaxy Note 3 (and other top-end Galaxy phones in fact) is Adapt Audio. What this does is to give you a miniature hearing test, in order to optimise the phone’s sound output to make it suit your ears better. It’s great, even if it does make you worry about your level of hearing. Check it out for yourself at Settings>Device tab>Sound>Adapt sound. It’s right down the bottom of the menu.

12. Using Screen mirroring, what is it?

Screen Mirroring is a very clever feature that lets you send what’s on your Note 3’s screen to another device wirelessly (using Wi-Fi Direct technology). It’ll work very well with up-to-date Samsung TVs. You’ll find it right down at the bottom of the Connections tab within Settings. 

11. Control music playback with your voice

One feature we imagine few people know about is that you can control music playback of the Note 3 using your voice. Simply say ‘play’, ‘pause’ ‘next’ and ‘previous to do so.

You’ll need to make sure the feature is turned on in the Note 3 first, though. To do so, go to the Voice control menu found in the Controls tab of Settings. There is a separate check box for music control. However, you will have to use the inbuilt player for this to work.

10. Transferring files more quickly – how to use USB 3.0

The Note 3 is the first USB 3.0 phone we’ve used. It’s why the socket on the bottom is so weird-looking. USB transfers files faster and will charge the phone over USB faster too. However, in order to get the benefits of USB, you’ll have to use the oversized bundled cable rather than a standard microUSB one, and you’ll have to be plugged into a USB 3.0 port too.

9. Palm Mute

Using one of the Motion Control features of the Note 3 you can mute anything playing on the Note 3 simply placing your palm over the phone’s sensors. However, the screen needs to be on for this to work. You’ll find this option in the Palm Motion menu in the Controls tab of Settings.

Apps

8. Essential S Pen apps

The most interesting Note 3 apps are those that make use of the S Pen stylus – and its pressure sensitivity. One of the best, SketchBook, comes pre-installed, but other must-try apps include Papyrus and Infinite Painter. Drawing/virtual painting is one of the best uses for the Note 3’s stylus.

7. Essential Games

Aside from a few quirky games made for the S Pen stylus, the best Note 3 games remains those we’d recommend for any Android phone. For action, try out Dead Trigger or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. For driving, take a look at Real Racing 3 or one of Gameloft’s Asphalt series games. For something a little more casual, give Angry Birds a go (duh), Candy Crush Saga or World of Goo.

6. Essential general apps

The Note 3 comes with most of the apps you need to get going with an Android phone. It’s seriously feature-packed. However, there are a few gems we recommend checking out too. Whatsapp is great for chatting to, and sharing pics with, friends (if you haven’t tried it, where have you been?), iPlayer is a must, Endomondo is great for fitness freaks, Strava is perfect for cyclists and the eBay app is a lot better than using the website if you’re a virtual action fan.

5. Look out for indie bundle deals online for great deals

You probably won’t know about this unless you’re a bit of a gaming geek, but the indie gaming scene has started selling ‘humble bundles’ of games made by independent games studios in order to raise money for charity. They now regularly offer bundles for Android devices too. Check out the Humble Bundle website for more.

Troubleshooting 

4. How to fix glitchy performance

The relative freedom Android gives apps means your system can often get bogged down, causing glitch performance despite the Note 3’s great specs. One obvious way to solve these it to properly power off the phone by holding down the power button until the power off pop-up comes up – then either turn off or restart the phone.

If this doesn’t help, try closing down all recent apps by holding the central select button to bring up the multi-tasking menu, then tap the ‘cross’ icon in the bottom-right of the screen.

3. How to close down apps fully

If this still doesn’t solve your issue and your problems relate to a specific app, you can delve deeper. Go to Settings>General tab>Application Manager. Then flick right-to-left on-screen to the list of the apps currently running, or all apps. Find the pesky app’s entry and tap it. You’ll see options to ‘force stop’, ‘clear data’ and ‘clear cache’. Pressing all of these will fully  reset the app, and should solve most app-related problems.

2. How to perform a factory reset

If none of the above measures have exorcised the gremlins from your phone, you should probably try a full data reset. This wipes everything of yours off the phone, making it just like it was fresh out of the box – so make sure you save any photos before doing this. To perform a reset, go to Settings>General tab>Backup and Reset, and select Factory Data Reset.

1. How to update software

The Galaxy Note 3 will get fairly regular software updates. The phone should give you a nudge when a new update is available, but you can manually check for an update too. To do this, go to Settings>General tab>About Device (it’s right down the bottom). At the top of this sub-menu is a ‘software update’ option. Within it is a check box to make the phone automatically check for updates, along with the manual check button.