Samsung How-Tos
How To: Unlock Your Fingerprint-Protected Galaxy S5 Using Only One Hand
The fingerprint sensor on the Samsung Galaxy S5 gets a little flack for its functionality, and that's mainly because the setup instructions ask you to swipe your index finger over the sensor to unlock your device or make mobile payments (and of course, because it was already hacked).
How To: Change Font Size & Text Colors in Snapchat on Your Galaxy Note 2
In an attempt to keep things simple, Snapchat has a limited amount of editing features, made up of "smart" photo filters, drawing pens, and special text captions. If you want more editing capabilities, you'll be pleased to know there's a way, no thanks to Snapchat, but you will need to be rooted.
How To: Assign Your Volume Buttons to Almost Any Task on Your Galaxy S4 Without Root
The new HTC One and Nexus series devices have already replaced their physical navigation keys with soft keys, and it's inevitable that we'll see more and more of this on future mobiles. Samsung continues to buck the trend entirely, but no manufacturer as gone as far as to remove the volume rockers.
How To: Add a Sleep Timer to Any Music Player on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Silence can therapeutic at times, but unsettling at others. When I'm in bed at night, I need some sort of background or white noise to help me fall asleep. Pure silence just does not do it for me. Whether it's a fan oscillating left to right, or the TV playing, I need background noise to soothe me to sleep.
How To: Turn Your Galaxy S4 into a TV-Pranking Machine with a Universal Power Button
April Fools may be over, but any day is a good day to prank someone, and the best time to do it is when everyone's eyes are glued to the television.
Stop Procrastinating: How to Lock Yourself Out of Addictive Apps on Your Galaxy S4
While it may be impolite to play around on a smartphone at dinner, having it consume my attention while I'm on a deadline or trying to study can prove disastrous. With Netflix and social media just a tap away, it's a dangerous game of wills, one that the phone usually wins.
How To: This Intelligent Personal Assistant for Your Galaxy S4 Is Way Better Than S Voice Could Ever Be
One feature of Samsung devices that's less useful than I had expected is S Voice, the voice assistant that ships with all new Galaxy devices. The voice is annoying, the features are lacking, and it's an all around subpar product. With Google Now, Siri, and now Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung needs to really step up their game—even on the new Galaxy S5.
How To: Run MIUI's Apps & Launcher on Your Galaxy Note 2 Without Rooting
While rooting your Galaxy Note 2 certainly has its advantages—everything from increasing security to relieving the Power button of its duties—it's definitely not for everyone.
How To: Put Your Galaxy S3's Screen to Sleep Just by Double-Tapping the Display
The "Knock Knock" features on LG's G2 phone have proven popular and useful enough to spawn various apps and mods cloning these abilities for other devices. Porting the "Knock On" feature to our Samsung Galaxy S3 isn't as easily doable, since developers would need to create a modded kernel, like they did for the HTC One. The "Knock Off" function, on the other hand, is a lot more manageable.
How To: Block Phone Calls More Efficiently & Conserve Battery on Your Galaxy Note 3
When it comes to blocking unwanted calls, your Android device comes stocked with a native blocking feature that allows you to reject certain phone numbers. That being said, the native blocking feature on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 isn't the prettiest or the smartest, with its non-obvious setup and lack of features.
How To: Get the S5's New Rounded Quick Settings Toggles on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Samsung's TouchWiz skin gets a lot of flak for its appearance, namely the garish colors on the quick settings toggles. The bright green on dark blue scheme is definitely an eyesore compared to the ones in stock Android, and even other manufacturer skins like HTC's Sense.
How To: Make Incompatible Apps Work in Multi-Window View on Your Galaxy Note 2
Multi Window, a feature that was greatly improved with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, is still quite limited on the older Note 2, allowing only the use of a few stock applications to multitask with.
How To: Create Stop-Motion & Time-Lapse Videos on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
If you've seen ParaNorman or Fantastic Mr. Fox, then you have some kind of idea of what stop-motion animation is. Basically, these artists make objects, or small figures, appear to be moving on their own by manipulating and repositioning them in the smallest increments, then capturing each frame after doing so. When all the frames are compiled together, the final product is something spectacular like The Nightmare Before Christmas, which took roughly 109,440 frames in all.
How To: Open Google Now Instead of S Voice with the "Hi, Galaxy" Command
Google released its long-awaited Google Now launcher a couple months ago, allowing users to access Google Now with the simple command of the voice. As great as the feature is, it requires that our screens be on, unlike the Moto X's "active listening" service that operates with Google Now, activating through a screen-off state.
How To: Measure Area & Distance Directly in Google Maps on Your Galaxy Note 3
Utility tool apps provide extremely powerful and useful lightweight replacements for your parents' heavy archaic tools—everything from flashlights to tracking systems and more.
How To: Keep Wandering Eyes & Smudged Fingers from Revealing Your Galaxy Note 2's Password
Figuring out someone's password, pattern, or PIN isn't very difficult—simply watching over their shoulder or following the oil marks left across their screen is enough to figure them out and bypass whatever lock screen security they have.
How To: Lock Individual Apps on Your Galaxy S3 Based on Location
If you lend someone your phone, even if it's just for a second, there's a chance they can enter an app and see something you'd rather they didn't. Whether it's a personal email or a private photo, there are plenty of reasons why you'd want to keep snoops out of certain apps.
How To: Mimic the S5’s Selective Focus Camera on Your Galaxy S4 for More Impressive Photos
The recently released HTC One M8 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 are both boasting selective focus features for their camera apps, but with a 13 megapixel camera, the GS4 can take some pretty stellar pictures, too.
How To: Get Facebook's Future Android Look on Your Galaxy Note 3 Right Now
Currently in its alpha stage, Facebook has pushed forward a redesigned mobile app for Android users that provides a flat user interface and rearranged navigation tools.
How To: Enable "Unknown Sources" in Order to Download Independent Apps on Your Galaxy Note 2 or 3
Installing applications that are not on Google Play requires you to enable a certain permission in the settings so that the whole process goes down smoothly. If you're downloading one of these third-party applications (in the form of an APK), you'll need to enable Unknown sources.
How To: Add Custom Words & Phrases to Your Status Bar on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3
I love my status bar. Not only does it tell what time it is and how much battery juice is left, but it gives me cellular connection info, text alerts, and app update notifications. However, one thing is does not give me is customization. Since you're looking at it all the damn time, why not personalize it?
How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in One Easy Click Using Windows
In order to unleash the full potential of your Samsung Galaxy Note 3, you've got to root it. These days, it's easier than ever, and can be done by just plugging your device into a Windows computer and pressing one button. It's so easy, your grandmother could do it, so what's stopping you?
How To: Bypass the SD Card Restrictions in Android 4.4 KitKat on Your Galaxy S4
One draw that Samsung's Galaxy S line has had over the Google Nexus 4 and 5 and the HTC One (though the M8 appears to be following suit) is expandable storage. Pop a microSD card into the slot and you have extra storage for music, photos, and even apps themselves in some cases.
How To: Install the Samsung Galaxy S5's New Ringtones on Your Galaxy S3 or Other Android Device
With the release of the Samsung Galaxy S5 right around the corner, the first full system dump has been released by Sammobile. As the inevitable ports of functioning apps slowly begin to leak, today we've got a non-app aspect of the system and the one that tends to leak first—ringtones.
How To: Bypass the Lock Screen for Instant Access to the Last Used App on Your Galaxy Note 3
Some of my favorites hacks are the ones that speed up the process of accessing my favorite and most-used apps. So, in this softModder guide, I'll be showing you a super fast way to open those apps straight from your Samsung Galaxy Note 3's lock screen.
How To: Enable the Front-Facing "Flash" on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for Better Selfies
The outstretched arm, the perfectly positioned angle, the shot and the subsequent array of tinkered saturation, contrast and shadows. In almost every car, changing room, or Starbucks, these string of events happen—you might know it as the selfie.
How To: Preview the New Galaxy S5 Features on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Starting today, you can experience all the unique feature of Samsung's next flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S5, right on your Galaxy S3 or other Android device.
How To: Control Apps & System Functions on Your Mac Using Your Samsung Galaxy S3
I still remember when I had to get up from my comfy spot on the couch to change the channel on my old television. So for me, the remote control may be one of the most underrated inventions of the last century. These days, remotes take on all sorts of shapes, not just the typical brick, but also in the form of watches and cell phones.
How To: Add Your iCloud Email Account to Your Galaxy Note 3 or Other Android Device
Whether you've been fully converted or just want a little Apple with your Android, adding your iCloud email to your Galaxy Note 3 is a fairly simple task. Usually, Apple and Android don't play nice, but your iCloud address can be added to your stock email app just like any other email account.
How To: Install a Custom Recovery & New ROM on Your Bootloader-Locked Samsung Galaxy S4
Third-party ROMs like CyanogenMod are the ultimate form of customization for softModders. Hard-working developers offer us alternate Android experiences to replace our often bloatware-riddled stock ROMs.
How To: Set Your Current Location & Weather Forecast as Your Galaxy Note 3's Wallpaper
Muzei Live Wallpaper is a popular Android app that refreshes your home screen background at set intervals, turning it into blurred pieces of artwork or photography while keeping your icons and widgets in the spotlight.
How To: Get Samsung's New WatchON App from the Galaxy S5 on Your Galaxy Note 3
It was only a matter of time before the apps from the new Samsung Galaxy S5 leaked for everyone to download and install, and today we've got one that takes advantage of the IR blaster on your Galaxy Note 3.
How To: Navigate Apps & Settings with Slides & Gestures on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Slide to left, slide to the right, one hop this time. Okay, so maybe those are some of the dance instructions for the "Cha Cha Slide", but sliding and swiping on your Samsung Galaxy S3 can become so much more than just a simple gesture.
How To: View Google Play Pages for Installed Apps Faster on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
On more than one occasion, I've wanted to check out the Google Play page for an app I was currently using, whether it was to get contact information or read recent reviews to see if others were experiencing issues that I was.
How To: Control Calls from Any App with Floating Dialer Buttons on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
I don't mean to offend anyone, but some phone calls are just plain boring, and being put on hold is shittier than eating three-day old sushi.
How To: Use Samsung's New Ad-Free "Milk Music" Streaming Service on Your Galaxy Note 2
In direct competition with Pandora, iTunes Radio, and Spotify, Samsung has just launched Milk Music—a strangely named, yet completely free music streaming service for Android.
How To: Mimic the Galaxy S5's New Speed Reader Technology on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
You can read at 500 words per minutes. Don't believe me? Here, see for yourself. This amazing technology comes from the startup Spritz, and they're ready to unleash it onto the smart device world, starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Gear line of smartwatches.
How To: Disable the Missed Event Widget & “Blocking Mode On” Notification for the Galaxy Note 3
Notifications, while certainly helpful, can at times be overbearing. There are banners plastered every which way on your smartphone for almost every application. While many of the notifications can simply be swept away or turned off, the same can't be said of persistent notifications.
How To: Single Out Data-Hungry Apps on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
If you have a limited or restricted data plan, monitoring your usage can be the difference between escaping the month without overage fees or emptying out your wallet.
How To: Install the Leaked KitKat Build on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (International Variant Only)
While the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S4 are enjoying their official KitKat updates, those of us with Note 2s are left to play the waiting game. While we know our devices will eventually see an update to Android 4.4.2 KitKat, it's unclear when an official update for our devices will come.