Hot Samsung How-Tos
How To: Install the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) Utility on a Windows PC
While still extremely awesome, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is limited as to what you can download on to it, especially apps. It also doesn't have its own internet access (only Bluetooth), so apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Vine have yet to make their way to the Gear Store.
How To: Remotely View & Send Text Messages from Your Android Phone Using Any Web Browser
A huge chunk of my life revolves around my computer, and whenever I'm on my laptop and get a text message notification on my phone, I find it extremely distracting to stop whatever I'm doing to hunt it down. That's why I'm a big fan of text messaging via my computer.
How To: Root ANY Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Variant in Just One Easy Click
AT&T and Verizon customers, it's finally happened. After many long months of waiting, and a fairly significant bounty up for grabs, your Galaxy Note 3s can finally be rooted! Best of all, it may be the simplest method for achieving root we've ever encountered.
How To: The Easiest "One-Click" Root Method for Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Rooting an Android device used to be a nightmarish labyrinth of .zip files and command prompts, confusing seasoned modding veterans and newbies alike. Thankfully, the process has gotten simpler over the years, with various "one-click" rooting tool kits surfacing and working for nearly every major Android flagship on the market.
How To: Secure Your Samsung Galaxy Device by Disabling the Clipboard History
Whether you use a third-party keyboard or the stock offering, your Samsung device keeps a history of the last 20 words you copied on its clipboard. Samsung added this feature to Android to help make multitasking a bit easier, but if you use a password manager like LastPass, this feature quickly becomes a gaping hole in security. While you're copying and pasting your various passwords, the last 20 of them become freely available to anyone that gets their hands on your device.
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: Secure Photos, Videos, & More on Your Galaxy S6 Using Private Mode
If you have a smartphone, chances are you have something on it you don't want others seeing. Whether it be photos, videos, or documents, some things are best left private. Not everyone is a saint, after all.
How To: Use the Earpiece & Speaker Together for Surround Sound on Your Galaxy Note 3
Located at the bottom of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 lies the speaker from which music, notifications, and most other audio comes from, which provides warm and clear sound when needed.
How To: Auto-Reply to Missed Calls & Texts on Android When You’re Busy
Whether you're in a movie theater, driving, or just want to temporarily unplug from the grid, you need to ignore or completely silence your phone. You'll still receive calls and texts during this time, but in a world where people expect instant gratification, you'll end up looking like a jerk who doesn't answer back.
How To: Make Secure Phone Calls Without Using Your Cellular Network for Enhanced Encryption
In the wake of the NSA controversy and its subsequent fallout, many dashed towards finding means of secure communication—using private internet browsing and encrypted text messaging applications—out of fear of being spied on.
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: 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: Disable & Hide Bloatware Apps on Your New Samsung Galaxy Device
Upon getting the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge here at the office, there are countless things we wanted to do before actually diving in and using the device. One of those things is removing all of the unnecessary pre-installed applications we never asked for.
How To: See What Your Android Emojis Look Like on iPhones Before Sending Them
When you send an emoji from your Android device to someone that uses an iPhone, they don't see the same smiley that you do. And while there is a cross-platform standard for emojis, these don't work the same way as unicode-based smilies or dongers, so not every operating system displays these little guys the same way.
How To: Use the Volume Keys for Page Scrolling on Android
Android's beauty is in its customization; you can have widgets for anything, launchers that look and feel completely different from one another, and fonts you can change at any time. And it doesn't stop at aesthetics—you can go much deeper than looks.
How To: Get the Android L Lock Screen on Your Galaxy S4 or Other Android Device
This year's Google I/O brought the announcement of Android L, as well as the Preview builds of L for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2013), installed using either ADB on Windows or fastboot on any computer. Unfortunately, those of us without a Nexus device are out of luck—but not entirely.
How To: Tell if Your Samsung Battery Is Bad in 2 Seconds Flat
When it comes to squeezing as much battery life as possible out of our smartphones, most people aim for software solutions, or ones that can otherwise be easily managed right from the touchscreen.
How To: Set Emergency Contacts to Bypass Silent & Vibrate Modes on Your Galaxy Note 2
Extremely important calls have a way of coming at the most inopportune moments: when you're in class during an important lecture, at a big business meeting for work, or even when you're just enjoying a day at the movies.
How To: Google Play Store Improvements Rolling Out on Android: Here's How to Get Them Right Now
If you have an Android device, you most definitely have the Google Play Store. It's the main hub for finding and downloading apps, games, music, movies, and more, as well as updating them. It's where all the magic happens, but you're not getting the full effect unless you're running the latest and greatest version of the Google Play Store app.
How To: Turn Your Samsung Galaxy S3 into a Powerful TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator
If I were a math major, I'd probably be rolling in dough somewhere in Silicon Valley right now, but since multiplying numbers and figuring out tangents gives me panic attacks, I went the English route... pays much better.
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.
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.
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: 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.
How To: Root Almost Any Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge Without Tripping KNOX
Both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have had root methods available to them before the phones were even released, but the problem with these existing root methods is that they would trip the KNOX counter on your device.
How To: Root the Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge
Thanks to leaks and hard working developers, rooting tools for brand new Android devices are usually available right around the time of the smartphone's release, if not earlier. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are no exception.
How To: Auto-Lower Music Volume Gradually on Android to Drift Off to Sleep More Peacefully
You don't need a study to tell you how beneficial music is to helping you fall asleep. Most of you probably have your soothing playlist and SleepPhones queued up and ready to go before you get into bed and count those Zs.
How To: Change the Boot Up Sound to Anything You Want on Your Galaxy Note 3
Every time my Galaxy Note 3 boots up, I'm greeted by the monotonous and slightly annoying AT&T sound. If you're as tired of the stock boot up sound as I am, then follow along with me below to see how to change it to whatever sound you want, no matter what carrier version you have.
How To: Enable LED Flash Alerts for Calls & Notifications on Galaxy Devices
I'm the type of person that rarely has an audible ringer enabled on my phone. Haptic feedback (vibration) is enough for me... most of the time. When my phone isn't in my pocket, I become the type of person who frequently misses calls and texts—and no one likes that person.
How To: The Definitive Guide to Ad Blocking on Android
The Play Store is loaded with just about any app you can imagine. While many are free or have a "lite" version of a paid app for download, often enough, these freebies have intrusive ads cluttering up your screen.
How To: Hide Your Call & Message History for Specific Phone Numbers Using Reflection for Android
Only scumbags hide their call and message history, right? Wrong. While it may seem like a tactic for the unfaithful, it's still a good thing to do for certain contacts on your phone that you don't want to block outright.
How To: Force an LTE-Only Connection on Your Samsung Galaxy S5
Even with the highest-tiered data plan available, there are times that your phone or your carrier might downgrade your connection to 3G or even lower. This usually occurs when you've made a phone call, or you've switched cell towers while traveling.
How To: Control Your Samsung Galaxy Device from a Mac or Windows Computer
With AirPlay for iOS, Chromecast Screen Mirroring, and even third-party PC-pairing apps to play around with, getting your devices to interconnect could not be any easier than it is today.
How To: Install Flash Player on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to Stream Amazon Instant Videos & More
While Google would like you to believe that Flash is incompatible on Android KitKat, there is a functional workaround that will get it up and running on your Samsung Galaxy Note 3's gorgeous screen in no time.
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.
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: Trick Apps That Won't Run if Your Phone Is Rooted into Thinking Its Not on the Galaxy Note 3
As a preventative measure against exploitation, certain Android applications won't work if your device is rooted. Opening one of these apps that detects root will typically end up with a warning and an inability to access its features, like in the picture below. AS IF!
How To: Add a Second Status Bar Clock on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for Different Time Zones
Whether it's because you travel quite often or have loved ones in another part of the country, Android makes it easy to place dual clocks on your home screen using a widget. While there are several other widgets you can use to tell the time, that's pretty much the only way you can get two different time zone clocks on your Android device. If you want an alternative option, I'm going to show you a mod that lets you get two different clocks in your Status bar on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or ot...
How To: Get Dual Clocks for Different Time Zones on Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Status Bar
Ever since the early days of their existence, cell phones have been reducing the common wristwatch to nothing more than a fashion accessory. I'm not exactly a watch aficionado, but I do own a few that I wear on a daily basis. Since I have family in different parts of the world, I love my watches that have a second time zone, allowing me to see what time it is where they are.
How To: Install Nova Launcher on Your Samsung Galaxy Gear for a More Standard Android Look
When it comes to the user interface, you're pretty much limited to the stock one that comes on your Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch—a carousel of large black and white icons representing the features and applications on the watch.