Samsung :: Gadget Hacks » the phone that won't fit in your pocket, but definitely fits

How To: Activate Your Samsung Galaxy's Vault to Keep Your Apps, Files, and History Safe from Prying Eyes and Hackers

One UI has an exciting privacy feature that lets you lock apps, photos, videos, and files on your Galaxy device behind Samsung's defense-grade Knox security platform. Only you can unlock it using a pattern, PIN, or passcode, or with biometrics like fingerprint and iris locks. It's like having a safe built right into your smartphone, and it couldn't be easier to set up.

How To: Remove the Black Bar Under Your Galaxy's Keyboard

Back when Android used navigation buttons, there was a large black bar at the bottom of every screen to house the back, home, and recent apps buttons. But after switching to full-screen navigation gestures in 2019, there was no longer a need for it — however, a vestigial black bar still shows up when you're using your keyboard.

How To: Automatically Silence Your Phone When You're Wearing Your Galaxy Watch

Smartwatches are great for notifications. No need to dig your phone out of your pocket or purse when someone texts you — just glance at your wrist! It's great for driving, walking, and any other activities where you need to stay connected to your surroundings. Except it can still be a little distracting, depending on your settings.

News: Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge Receive December Security Patch & Update on AT&T

Samsung's 2016 line of smartphones has a new update, at least for the devices on AT&T. The update brings the Galaxy S7 to version G930AUCS4BQL1 and the Galaxy S7 Edge to version G935AUCS4BQL1. Here's what's on the table.

News: Samsung Galaxy S7s Overheating Because of Oculus App Update—Here's What to Do

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S7 and use the Samsung Gear VR, you may have woken up yesterday to an unpleasantly hot surprise. But don't worry—your phone isn't going to explode (probably). The problem is with a stubborn update to the Oculus apps.

How To: 7 Must-Know Tricks to Master Your Samsung Galaxy S7

When the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge came to market in 2016, they were universally praised as being the pinnacle of Android smartphone design, even topping Consumer Reports' smartphone ratings.

How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge (US Models)

The international, Exynos-powered Galaxy S7 and S7 edge have had a working root method ever since a few days after release. But the North American variants—those using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor—have locked bootloaders, and have proven to be almost unrootable up until now.

How To: Use Samsung's Hidden Hearing Test to Get Drastically Better Sound Quality from Your Galaxy

A lot of folks complain about the extra features Samsung adds to Android, but while there are some benefits to the slimmer stock Android, the TouchWiz firmware on Galaxy devices definitely has its own advantages.

How To: Disable App Icon Badges and Unread Notification Counts on Your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone

If you scan the notification panel on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone daily, all those red circles with numbers that litter the apps on your home screen and app drawer can feel like persistent nagging and unnecessary clutter rather than friendly reminders to check your app alerts — but you can do something about it.

How To: Clone Any Android App on Your Samsung Galaxy Phone Without Using Any Third-Party Tools

Samsung has a cool security feature built into One UI that has an interesting side effect, one that lets you have two separate copies of any Android app on your Galaxy phone. And that's not the only integrated Samsung tool for cloning apps.

How To: Hide Apps on Your Samsung Galaxy's Home Screen, App Tray, and Search

You don't have to see every app installed on your phone if you don't want to. Samsung One UI makes it easy to hide apps from your Samsung Galaxy's home screen, app tray, and search tool, whether you want to declutter, simplify things, or keep other people from seeing some of the apps you use.

How To: Fix Skype Freezing Problems on Your Samsung Galaxy S7

Samsung's Galaxy S7 is an incredible piece of technology, but the Skype app that's preinstalled on some models may have some nasty issues, such as video and audio that freezes. Luckily, the fix for these problems is a simple one, although somewhat buried in the phone's Settings app.

How To: Root the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge

Samsung's 2016 flagship devices are some of the most beautiful, powerful smartphones ever made. And amazingly enough, thanks to legendary root developer Chainfire, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge are about to get even more powerful.

News: Everything You Need to Know About the Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge

After months of speculation and sifting through rumors, Samsung finally unveiled its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge flagships, and they're pretty much what we had been anticipating. But just because there weren't any major surprises doesn't mean that it's not still exciting. Let's have a look.

News: Here's All the New Edge Features Samsung Is Bringing with Marshmallow

Samsung is rolling out the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Galaxy S6 and S6 edge today, February 15th, and with it come some good improvements to how S6 edge users can utilize the handset's curved screen.

News: Galaxy S7 Preorders Open February 21st, Include Free Gear VR

Samsung will begin preorders for the upcoming Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on February 21st, the same day the company plans to unveil its handsets ahead of the Mobile World Congress, according to Dutch site Android World (via Droid Life). Customers who preorder a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge will also receive a free Gear VR.

News: Filing Indicates a HUGE Battery on the New Samsung Galaxy S7

New filings with the FCC released on Monday show that Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy S7 Edge will feature a 3,600 mAh battery. While this news might not satisfy everyone who is unhappy that Samsung did away with removable batteries, this should mean that the S7 Edge will be able to last longer between charge-ups.

News: Download All the New Samsung Galaxy S7 Wallpapers Right Now

The leaks keep trickling out for Samsung's new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge handsets. Hot on the heels of the first images of the S7 Edge, 13 of the wallpapers for the new flagships have surfaced online (courtesy of J.K. Shine from the SamMobile forum), and are here for you to download if you'd like to get a head start on the action. If you like any of these wallpapers, just long-press on the image and hit "Save," and you'll be able to set it as your home screen background (on your computer, click o...

News: Leaked Pics Just Revealed the Samsung Galaxy S7

There have been plenty of rumors and lots of speculation about the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, and now we're finally getting our first look at Samsung's newest flagships—in the form of two images.

News: Gear 360 VR Camera Set to Accompany Galaxy S7; Announcement Date Set

Samsung trademarked the name Gear 360 a few weeks ago, and today it has been confirmed that the Gear 360 is a spherical virtual reality camera that will accompany the much-anticipated Galaxy S7.

How To: Galaxy S5 Battery Dies Too Fast? Here's Why & How to Fix It

Samsung makes some wonderful phones, but one thing I've noticed is that battery life can start to degrade over time, causing the phone to die a lot faster than it used to. If you've been experiencing this issue, and have asked yourself, "Why does my Galaxy S5 die so fast?" there are a few likely causes—and we've got you covered with troubleshooting tips and simple fixes below.

News: Samsung to Debut Galaxy S7 & Others in March 2016

A slide shown during a China Mobile conference indicates that Samsung's Galaxy S7 handsets should be hitting the market next March. If this chart is to be believed, it strongly suggests that Samsung will unveil its flagships at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Feb. 22-25, 2016). For reference, the public got its first look at the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge on March 1st at last year's MWC; the handsets were released a little over a month later on April 10th.

How To: Set Rotating Lock Screen Wallpapers on Samsung Galaxy Devices

Say what you want about Samsung's TouchWiz UI being cluttered or overbearing, but one thing you can never complain about is a lack of features. In fact, it's been almost 8 months since I first took my Galaxy S6 Edge out of its box, but I'm still discovering features to this day.

News: 20 Official Samsung Galaxy Themes That Don't Totally Suck

Taste is certainly relative. When you look at Central American architecture and notice all of the bright pastel colors, then move just a thousand or so miles to the north and see that buildings in the United States are mostly painted in earth tones, this becomes abundantly clear. Imagine if you were to switch hemispheres altogether—what would you see in East Asia?

How To: Make the Fingerprint Scanner Work Faster on Your Galaxy Device

In general, the fingerprint scanner in Samsung's 2015 flagship phones is quick and accurate, but when you get that "No Match" message while trying to unlock your phone, it can be incredibly annoying. To help curb these issues, I'll go over three tips for speeding up the unlocking process that should work wonders on your Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note 5.

How To: Get the Samsung Galaxy Note 5's 'Screen Off Memo' Feature on Older Note Devices

Ideas can be a fleeting thought, just like a shooting star that appears and disappears within a brief moment. So when you're inspired and have an awesome idea, it's important to jot it down as soon as possible, otherwise it may vanish from your memory for good.

News: Here's Everything You Should Know About Samsung Pay

Mobile payment systems have been around for almost 5 years now, starting with Google Wallet. But when Apple got into the game last year with their new Apple Pay service, things really started to take off. Around this time, Samsung responded by acquiring an up-and-coming mobile payments company that owned the rights to an incredibly innovative technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST).

How To: Install the Xposed Framework on Your Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge

Everyone's favorite Android modding tool is finally available for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Thanks to some hard work by Wanam and a few other developers, we can now install the Xposed Framework on Samsung's latest mid-sized flagship phones.

How To: Remove TouchWiz on Your Galaxy S6 for a Clean, Stock Android Look

When the Galaxy S6 hype-train was building momentum ahead of the phone's release, many reports had Samsung cutting back on its much-maligned TouchWiz skin. In the end, these reports were either highly exaggerated or entirely fabricated, because while not as egregious as previous devices, Samsung's signature bloated UI and duplicate apps are definitely present on the Galaxy S6.

How To: Use Smart Switch to Update Your Galaxy S6—Even It's Rooted

In the past, updating a rooted Samsung Galaxy device has always involved the complicated process of downloading the proper firmware for your variant, installing device drivers, then sideloading the update with Odin.

How To: Update Makes It Easy to Remove S Finder & Quick Connect from Your Galaxy S6's Notification Tray

Sure Samsung toned down TouchWiz on their latest flagship devices, but there was one issue (albeit minor and mostly cosmetic) that really irked me: those damn "S Finder" and "Quick connect" buttons in the notification tray. Only the T-Mobile S6 variants shipped with an option to remove these two buttons, so AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and other non-T-Mobile users were stuck with them taking up space in the notification panel. If you didn't mind rooting your device, there was a way to remove them b...

How To: Get Back Missing Toggles in Your Galaxy S6's Quick Settings

If you've recently noticed that you're missing Quick Settings toggles on on your Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge—specifically ones for Mobile data, Private mode, and Mobile hotspot—you aren't alone.

How To: Test Your Samsung Phone by Using Secret Code #0#

Besides obvious features like a touchscreen and biometric sensors, the modern smartphone comes with an array of state-of-the-art hardware in the form of various sensors that help your device sense the environment around it. And if you have a Samsung handset, chances are, you have a handy feature built in that enables you to check if these sensors are functioning 100 percent.

How To: Prevent Bricks by Backing Up the EFS Partition on Your Samsung Galaxy S6

The EFS partition on modern Android phones houses the unique IMEI for your device, which is essentially an identification number that lets you connect to mobile networks. But sometimes, when you're flashing ROMs or restoring backups in custom recovery, the EFS partition can become corrupted, which will prevent your phone from connecting to any type of mobile network.

How To: Remove Camera Restrictions on Your Galaxy S6 for Higher Quality Photos

The Galaxy S6 already has one of the best cameras on the market, but a few minor annoyances still linger. Full-sized photos are stored with heavy compression that can cause artifacting, burst mode shots aren't taken at 100% quality, and the camera flash cannot be used when your battery is below a certain threshold.

How To: Unroot & Restore a Samsung Galaxy S6 Back to Stock

There are several reasons that you might want to restore the factory firmware on your device—maybe you need to send your phone back for warranty purposes, or perhaps you're getting ready to accept an over-the-air update and need to unroot first. In some cases, reverting to the stock firmware can even resurrect a soft-bricked phone.

How To: Create & Restore Backups, Flash ZIPs, & More Without Tripping KNOX on Your Galaxy S6

KNOX is a major pain for Samsung owners who like to modify their devices. Its combination of hardware and software security measures make things rather difficult when you're trying to modify system-level files and functions without voiding your warranty.