Database Users

[REF] Stock Firmware - Features Hints and Tips

Below you will find a list of tips for the Galaxy S III - Stock Firmware. I will try to keep this list updated with more tips as they come in.
Alphabetical Sorting of the Apps Drawer
1) Open the apps drawer
2) Press Menu
3) Select “view type”
4) Select “Alphabetical Grid”
Turning on Swype Keyboard
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Select Language and Input
4) Press the settings icon (the cog) next to “Samsung Keyboard”
5) Tick “Continuous Input”
Please note: this appears to only let you Swype in certain applications and text boxes
Adjusting the Lock Screen Settings - including shortcut icons
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Press Security
4) Press Lock Screen Options
To Change shortcuts:
Press Shortcuts
To Use s-voice to unlock phone:
Tick “Wake up in Samsung Unlock”
To create your own vibrate pattern
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Press Sound
4) Press “Device Vibration”
5) Press “Create”
6) Tap the screen to the pattern you wish to vibrate
7) Press Save
To turn on Battery Percentage Indicator
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Press Display
4) Tick “Display battery percentage”
To enable Smart Stay - Screen stays on while you look at it
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Press Display
4) Tick “smart stay”
Please note: An indicator of an eyeball will flash on the notifications bar when it is activating, it does not stay on forever, it only flashes on when its letting you know smartstay is keeping your screen on for an additional however many seconds.
How to activate some motion features e.g. direct call and smart alert
1) Press Menu
2) Press Settings
3) Press Motion
4) Press the toggle on the features you wish to use

--Reserved--

Swype
Is Swype available on stock fw, if yes how could it be activated?

It's all in the first post! It's kind of like a cut down version, it's a mash up of the samsung keyboard and swype.
I have installed the swype beta, and while on the s3 the swype keyboard height is about a third shorter than other keyboards I still prefer it over the stock.

If you want a real swype experience then your better off applying for the beta, the version in the s3 is very limited.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Lennyuk said:
If you want a real swype experience then your better off applying for the beta, the version in the s3 is very limited.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason the Swype installer doesn't work on mine. When I run it, I get a parsing error.

I'm quite liking the built in Samsung 'swype' feature. But then i'm new to this kind of input, but it's def quicker and more accurate for me than using the standard way. My girlfriend loves Swiftkey on her GSII though and i may try that at some point.
In regards to tips, when in the contact list, you can swipe along the right hand side and flick through the alphabet quicker, as usual, but if you push your finger further left while doing this it will then narrow the search even more.
Hope that makes sense!

stripealipe said:
I'm quite liking the built in Samsung 'swype' feature. But then i'm new to this kind of input, but it's def quicker and more accurate for me than using the standard way. My girlfriend loves Swiftkey on her GSII though and i may try that at some point.
In regards to tips, when in the contact list, you can swipe along the right hand side and flick through the alphabet quicker, as usual, but if you push your finger further left while doing this it will then narrow the search even more.
Hope that makes sense!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I won't include that in the first post as it is not s3 specific. But thanks anyway
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

@LennyUK How about including how to activate Direct Call & Smart Alert as it's deactivated by default.
Go to Settings -> Motion -> Direct Call / Smart Alert
Does anyone know how and where Tap to Top works?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

musafir84 said:
@LennyUK How about including how to activate Direct Call & Smart Alert as it's deactivated by default.
Go to Settings -> Motion -> Direct Call / Smart Alert
Does anyone know how and where Tap to Top works?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After activating it from motion settings, gently double tap on the top of the phone to go to the top of a list, unfortunately it only works in contacts and email. Another thing is that it sometimes needs more than one trial to work!

sevoflurane said:
After activating it from motion settings, gently double tap on the top of the phone to go to the top of a list, unfortunately it only works in contacts and email. Another thing is that it sometimes needs more than one trial to work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! And you are right... It does indeed take more than once to work...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Install call vibrate from market to allow vibration when call is activated or deactivated
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Must install Light flow from market as well. It uses the LED function of SIII to max. You can customize 8~9 colors for various alerts. e.g i use orange for low battery, red for missed calls, green for missed sms, white for charging, green for full charge, blue for no signal etc.
Although sometimes the charging light doesn't come on when playing around with phone and switching it to sleep mode but hopefully fix will fix this issue.
Must have app though

Enable Palm swipe to capture from Settings -> Motion and show it off to iPhone users...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Swype
Plexicle said:
For some reason the Swype installer doesn't work on mine. When I run it, I get a parsing error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to get Swype installed on my stock Pebble Blue.
Got Swype Installer & attempted for about 10 times over Wifi before it finally started downloading.
Before that, I kept getting the "Parsing.." error.
There was nothing new / different in my attempts - just had to keep hammering at it to download.

Just found these neat tricks on http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii-review-757p3.php
"There's one more trick - you wake the phone (tap the power button or the home key), then press and hold the screen and rotate the phone horizontally. It will unlock and start the camera as soon as it's in the right orientation to snap a photo"
"Shaking the device lets you detect nearby Bluetooth devices, as well as update your email, news or weather apps."

sak500 said:
Must install Light flow from market as well. It uses the LED function of SIII to max. You can customize 8~9 colors for various alerts. e.g i use orange for low battery, red for missed calls, green for missed sms, white for charging, green for full charge, blue for no signal etc.
Although sometimes the charging light doesn't come on when playing around with phone and switching it to sleep mode but hopefully fix will fix this issue.
Must have app though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Light flow is really nice but it didn't work as i wanted it to...
after install and reboot of the phone all suddenly it started to speak if i opened a folder or closed one so i had to remove it for a while lets hope the developer will fix that bug lol

A great alternative!!
Touchpal keyboard is an awesome alternative for swype.
Download it from playstore.

If anyone's phone feels a little sluggish (I know mine doesn't) you could try enabling 2D hardware acceleration to make it a bit more snappy
(settings->developer options->force gpu rendering)
please note this may drain your battery more than usual

Freakadroidz said:
I managed to get Swype installed on my stock Pebble Blue.
Got Swype Installer & attempted for about 10 times over Wifi before it finally started downloading.
Before that, I kept getting the "Parsing.." error.
There was nothing new / different in my attempts - just had to keep hammering at it to download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does it look on your phone? Is it a shorter keyboard as I've reported in the q and a forum? (as in it's height is about a third shorter than other keyboards).

Screen & Button Brightness

I've seen people on here talking about the minimum screen brightness being too high.
I've used this app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mlhg.screenfilter&hl=en) in the past and it works.
The main reason I use it now is because it has an option to "Dim capacitive button lights" which turns them completely off. I personally love the look without the button lights.
It does have a ongoing notification to get into the settings but the icon can be hidden or once you have it all setup, you can disable notifications for the app in Android's settings.
Something cool I thought some of you might find useful

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.poveu.pixelbatterysaver

Adjust Rotation Sensitivity Using Tasker

I've seen a few posts about over-sensitive auto rotate and experienced the same myself. After a bit of digging I found this post on reddit. It's seems a bit out of date for the current version of Tasker but you should make it past the differences just fine. This method was not created by me and I take no credit or responsibility:
Originally posted by kindall on Reddit:
Requires:
Tasker (of course)
A ROM that lets you choose what orientations your phone's display can auto-rotate into. I use Carbon, where this is under Settings > Display > Rotation. In other ROMs it may be in a different place. If you have a stock ROM you may or may not have such a feature at all.
Steps:
1) Go into your phone's orientation settings and TURN OFF everything but 90 degrees. Don't worry, the phone will still display in portrait mode; you just have to turn automatic rotation off! In fact, that's how this trick works: we'll use Tasker to turn auto-rotate on and off as a way to force the phone to be in either portrait or landscape.
2) At the bottom of Tasker > Preferences > Monitor, make sure Orientation State Accuracy is set to High. BTW, if you don't see these settings, make sure Beginner Mode (in the UI tab of the Tasker prefs) is not set.
3) Now create a profile: Name: Landscape; Contexts: [State: Display On; State: Orientation Left Side]. Create a new Enter task containing one action: Display Rotation On.
4) Create a second profile: Name: Portrait; Contexts: [State: Display On; State: Orientation Standing Up]. Create a new Enter task containing one action: Display Rotation Off.
5) Set the Restore Settings checkbox in both of these profiles to Off. (Long-press the profile name, then click the settings icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen.) Otherwise Tasker will switch the setting back as soon as the phone is no longer in the exact position needed to activate the profile, which will defeat the purpose.
Optionally:
6) add a profile that turns Display Rotation Off at startup, and perhaps another one that turns Display Rotation Off when the display is turned off, if you want to force portrait mode at either of these occasions.
Now your phone won't auto-rotate into landscape until you hold it pretty much exactly in landscape orientation, and won't rotate back until you hold it pretty much exactly in portrait orientation. You can control the required accuracy using the Orientation State Accuracy setting in Tasker, mentioned in step 2.
If you want to, you can add a third profile for rotating to the other landscape mode, and activate 270 degrees in your ROM's display rotation preferences. While the phone will freely rotate the display between these orientations when auto-rotation is on, it should be difficult to switch accidentally since they are physically so far apart.

Low Vision: Toggle "Magnification Gestures" With Widget

Hi I just got a Nexus 6p and its been great but I have low vision and if I keep the option turned on the phone, it becomes very laggy so I would like to only use it when I need to.
Help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you .

This isn't exactly what you wanted, but it's kind of close...
I use ADW as my launcher, which allows me to set custom shortcuts on my home screen. Other launchers might offer the same functionality.
I long pressed on my home screen and selected the Add tab on the popup. I then tapped Custom Shortcut, and tapped "Pick your activity." Next, I tapped Activities, scrolled down to Settings and expanded the list. It's rather long, but in that list there is one called "Accessibility(.Settings$AccessibilitySettingsActivity)". I selected that one, gave it a name (what it displays under the icon), and pressed OK. This created a settings gear icon on my home screen that when tapped goes straight to the accessibility options in the settings menu, and then you can tap the toggle for Magnification.
Alternatively, you should be able to do the same thing with Tasker if you have it installed and it's a bit easier. Make a new Task, give it a title (anything) and press the plus to add a step. Select Settings, then Accessibility settings (first option). There is some "if" options, but you can just tap your back button to go back to the step list. Create a widget for Tasker (1x1 task) and select the name of the task you just created. You then need to select an icon for the "widget" by tapping the icon in the lower right that looks like 9 squares in a grid. There are a bunch of built in icons you can choose from, or use your own. The result will be an icon on your desktop that goes to the accessibility options screen, allowing you to quickly toggle the magnification gesture.
Again, sorry this isn't exactly what you asked for, but it would save some taps. Luckily the mag gesture toggle is high enough in the list of options that it should always be on the screen when you open the accessibility settings, so you won't need to scroll.
Lastly, if you are rooted, you could use Tasker to also hit the toggle for you. If you want instructions for that, please do let me know and I'd be happy to share how to do that. It would allow you to tap the "widget" and it would then launch the accessibility settings, wait a second and then tap the toggle, and go back to the home screen. That way you wouldn't need to toggle it yourself.

fury683 said:
This isn't exactly what you wanted, but it's kind of close...
I use ADW as my launcher, which allows me to set custom shortcuts on my home screen. Other launchers might offer the same functionality.
I long pressed on my home screen and selected the Add tab on the popup. I then tapped Custom Shortcut, and tapped "Pick your activity." Next, I tapped Activities, scrolled down to Settings and expanded the list. It's rather long, but in that list there is one called "Accessibility(.Settings$AccessibilitySettingsActivity)". I selected that one, gave it a name (what it displays under the icon), and pressed OK. This created a settings gear icon on my home screen that when tapped goes straight to the accessibility options in the settings menu, and then you can tap the toggle for Magnification.
Alternatively, you should be able to do the same thing with Tasker if you have it installed and it's a bit easier. Make a new Task, give it a title (anything) and press the plus to add a step. Select Settings, then Accessibility settings (first option). There is some "if" options, but you can just tap your back button to go back to the step list. Create a widget for Tasker (1x1 task) and select the name of the task you just created. You then need to select an icon for the "widget" by tapping the icon in the lower right that looks like 9 squares in a grid. There are a bunch of built in icons you can choose from, or use your own. The result will be an icon on your desktop that goes to the accessibility options screen, allowing you to quickly toggle the magnification gesture.
Again, sorry this isn't exactly what you asked for, but it would save some taps. Luckily the mag gesture toggle is high enough in the list of options that it should always be on the screen when you open the accessibility settings, so you won't need to scroll.
Lastly, if you are rooted, you could use Tasker to also hit the toggle for you. If you want instructions for that, please do let me know and I'd be happy to share how to do that. It would allow you to tap the "widget" and it would then launch the accessibility settings, wait a second and then tap the toggle, and go back to the home screen. That way you wouldn't need to toggle it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot!
So it sounds like theres no way to make a widget the will toggle it specifically, without rooting my device.
And if I do root it and use Tasker it will take almost the same time as if I didn't.
If thats no other way then I guess I should root it even though Id prefer not too.
Unless theres another way, Instructions would be great! Thanks again!

Are you familiar with Tasker? It's a paid app, but it's absolutely worth it and you'll find lots of uses for it. I use it to auto reply to text messages while I'm driving, mute my phone when I'm at work (calendar based) turn on wifi when I'm at home (location based), etc.
First thing you need to do is find the location of the toggle on the screen. Go to Developer Settings and turn on "Show Pointer Location". This will make a gray bar at the top of your screen that lists your X and Y coordinates at the top when you are touching the screen. Go to the accessibility settings and touch the toggle, taking note of what the X and Y coordinates are for that touch input.
To simulate touch input, can make a task that opens the accessibility settings as I described above, then add a "wait" command (Task > Wait), enter a value of 1 second. Next enter a command for Code and select Run Shell. Under the command, type "input tap x y" where x and y are the x and y coordinates that you found for the toggle. Make sure the "use root" box is checked. Lastly, add a Tasker command to go to the home screen (back to where you started with the "widget").
Back all the way out of Tasker to save that task, then go back in and press the play button at the bottom left side to test your setup. You should see it launch the accessibility settings, wait a second, toggle, and go home. The first time you run it you will need to grant Tasker root permissions, so be ready for that. If you're not quick to approve it, the task may proceed and go to your home screen before you press approve, so you might need to run it again a second time after you approve it.
If you need more help with, or have any questions, please do let me know. Happy to help.

fury683 said:
Are you familiar with Tasker? It's a paid app, but it's absolutely worth it and you'll find lots of uses for it. I use it to auto reply to text messages while I'm driving, mute my phone when I'm at work (calendar based) turn on wifi when I'm at home (location based), etc.
First thing you need to do is find the location of the toggle on the screen. Go to Developer Settings and turn on "Show Pointer Location". This will make a gray bar at the top of your screen that lists your X and Y coordinates at the top when you are touching the screen. Go to the accessibility settings and touch the toggle, taking note of what the X and Y coordinates are for that touch input.
To simulate touch input, can make a task that opens the accessibility settings as I described above, then add a "wait" command (Task > Wait), enter a value of 1 second. Next enter a command for Code and select Run Shell. Under the command, type "input tap x y" where x and y are the x and y coordinates that you found for the toggle. Make sure the "use root" box is checked. Lastly, add a Tasker command to go to the home screen (back to where you started with the "widget").
Back all the way out of Tasker to save that task, then go back in and press the play button at the bottom left side to test your setup. You should see it launch the accessibility settings, wait a second, toggle, and go home. The first time you run it you will need to grant Tasker root permissions, so be ready for that. If you're not quick to approve it, the task may proceed and go to your home screen before you press approve, so you might need to run it again a second time after you approve it.
If you need more help with, or have any questions, please do let me know. Happy to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just realized I need to buy an adapter for that USB C lol.
Before I go ahead with all of this work, your completely sure there is no other way to toggle magnification without rooting?
Thanks!

drewtass said:
I just realized I need to buy an adapter for that USB C lol.
Before I go ahead with all of this work, your completely sure there is no other way to toggle magnification without rooting?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay. I am not aware of any widgets. I couldn't find a widget on the Play Store or light Google searching.
Regarding the adapter, the 6p should have come with a short USB A to USB C cable specifically for connecting to a PC.

drewtass said:
Hi I just got a Nexus 6p and its been great but I have low vision and if I keep the option turned on the phone, it becomes very laggy so I would like to only use it when I need to.
Help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you used the built in magnification gesture? You turn it on in accessibility settings, then when you need something to be bigger, just tap the screen 3 times rapidly. You can use pinch to zoom to adjust the text size. When you're finished with it, tap the screen 3 times again. I use it when an app's text is just too small.

EMcTx said:
Have you used the built in magnification gesture? You turn it on in accessibility settings, then when you need something to be bigger, just tap the screen 3 times rapidly. You can use pinch to zoom to adjust the text size. When you're finished with it, tap the screen 3 times again. I use it when an app's text is just too small.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha Yes I have tried it you have to tap your finger 3 times to magnify which means every time you tap something once it waits to see if you will tap more times and cause slight lag.

Niceeee idea bro, i will try it

moqueet said:
Niceeee idea bro, i will try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying you will try to make a widget like this?

fury683 said:
Sorry for the delay. I am not aware of any widgets. I couldn't find a widget on the Play Store or light Google searching.
Regarding the adapter, the 6p should have come with a short USB A to USB C cable specifically for connecting to a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem!
Lol I was so excited for my new phone I never checked but I found it !
Thanks I will root it when I get the chance.

i have the same exact problem,i absolutely love the feature as i wouldn't be able to use any phone with out it but it also gets frustrating sometimes (the touch delay) for example in the dialer app or Instagram.
a toggle in the notification panel would be great or an app through which you specifically enable/disable the gestures for each individual app.
any other alternative would be appreciated, somebody posted the same issue here with a possible fix (which i am not exactly sure how to implement) https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39685

hassanabid94 said:
i have the same exact problem,i absolutely love the feature as i wouldn't be able to use any phone with out it but it also gets frustrating sometimes (the touch delay) for example in the dialer app or Instagram.
a toggle in the notification panel would be great or an app through which you specifically enable/disable the gestures for each individual app.
any other alternative would be appreciated, somebody posted the same issue here with a possible fix (which i am not exactly sure how to implement) https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39685
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice to know I'm not the only one.
Sorry for the late reply been busy with school. It would be nice to have this option maybe like a button shortcut .

Hey guys so that way of using tasker is very slow and not feasible.
Is there any other way of making a quick toggle magnification gestures. It would be nice if I could hold the menu button to enable it. (IPhone tripple tap home button to toggle)
Thanks again.

I have low vision as well and have also found that leaving the magnification gesture turned on causes the phone to be laggy even when I don't actually have the magnification turned on. Instead of using that, I rooted my phone, changed the global DPI and I use App Settings (an Xposed module) to increase the font size in some apps or force the standard DPI in apps that have issues with the custom one.

There's a gestural workaround I've employed: if instead of just putting down my finger I drag my finger slightly (in any direction) then the lag almost disappears. Doing this helps a lot but obviously its a bit of an awkward gesture.

Al--g said:
There's a gestural workaround I've employed: if instead of just putting down my finger I drag my finger slightly (in any direction) then the lag almost disappears. Doing this helps a lot but obviously its a bit of an awkward gesture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you set it up?

There's no set up. I just do that gesture to get the scrolling to stop when I have magnification enabled.
GuinnessX said:
How did you set it up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Mod for Always ON Display to Double tap to Unlock possible?? (Nougat)

Hi friends, as nougat rollsout double tap notification to open respective applications in new Always ON Display.. is it possible to create application/mod/tasked profiles to put permanent notification in the status bar/AOD screen so that double tap the notification will wakeup lockscreen/fingerprint screen and then redirect to homescreen.
Please provide below your method of unlocking without pressing physical home button.
Also, is it possible to adjust Always ON Display screen brightness as it is too bright/dim in some lighting conditions.
THANKS Regards
Shameem

Share
Share you an app as your idea

shameemindia said:
is it possible to create application/mod/tasked profiles to put permanent notification in the status bar/AOD screen so that double tap the notification will wakeup lockscreen/fingerprint screen and then redirect to homescreen.
Please provide below your method of unlocking without pressing physical home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Within Tasker You may use "autonotification" for that, I've posted an example here:
"Unlock from AOD without pressing power"
**EDIT**
autonotification not required anymore, plain vanilla Tasker is sufficient (link target updated)

Jut found another way to turning screen on without even touching the device (you still need to put your finger on the detector to unlock after that).
It's in accessibility settings -> "Dexterity and interaction" -> "Easy screen turn on"
Excerpt from official user guide:
Easy screen turn on
Turn on the screen by moving your hand above the sensor at the top of the device. You can
turn on the screen without pressing a key. When you use this feature, place the device on
a flat surface with the screen facing upwards or hold the device securely to prevent it from
moving.
On the Apps screen, tap Settings → Accessibility → Dexterity and interaction, and then tap
the Easy screen turn on switch to activate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This allows a nearly "Motorola type" experience (without the same level of sensitivity due to the lack of IR detectors though). Simply have to wave your hand over the screen.

CoolRaoul said:
Jut found another way to turning screen on without even touching the device (you still need to put your finger on the detector to unlock after that).
It's in accessibility settings -> "Dexterity and interaction" -> "Easy screen turn on"
Excerpt from official user guide:
This allows a nearly "Motorola type" experience (without the same level of sensitivity due to the lack of IR detectors though). Simply have to wave your hand over the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do it? I'm not able to make it turn on with my hand.
Enviado desde mi SM-G935F mediante Tapatalk

XxReApErxX said:
How do you do it? I'm not able to make it turn on with my hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works flawlessly for me, I don't really see how to explain better: just need to approach my hand near the top of the screen (where the presence detector is located). No really need to wave, just sufficiently close and the locks screen show up instead of AOD.

tap2wake (AOD)
shameemindia said:
Hi friends, as nougat rollsout double tap notification to open respective applications in new Always ON Display.. is it possible to create application/mod/tasked profiles to put permanent notification in the status bar/AOD screen so that double tap the notification will wakeup lockscreen/fingerprint screen and then redirect to homescreen.
Please provide below your method of unlocking without pressing physical home button.
Also, is it possible to adjust Always ON Display screen brightness as it is too bright/dim in some lighting conditions.
THANKS Regards
Shameem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install tap2wake (AOD) from play store to enable this feature.

shameemindia said:
Hi friends, as nougat rollsout double tap notification to open respective applications in new Always ON Display.. is it possible to create application/mod/tasked profiles to put permanent notification in the status bar/AOD screen so that double tap the notification will wakeup lockscreen/fingerprint screen and then redirect to homescreen.
Please provide below your method of unlocking without pressing physical home button.
Also, is it possible to adjust Always ON Display screen brightness as it is too bright/dim in some lighting conditions.
THANKS Regards
Shameem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check out Tap2wake (AOD) app on play store https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/themes/tap2wake-aod-double-tap-to-wake-galaxy-t3577166
xda thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/themes/tap2wake-aod-double-tap-to-wake-galaxy-t3577166