Related
After playing around with the 10.1v for a couple of days, here are the problems I've come across.
Android Ver. : 3.01
Kernel Ver. : 2.6.36.3-00558-g7c1c334
[email protected]#1
Build number: HRI83.BUKD9
Here goes:
Video playback is pretty choppy [alt. thread]
So far I haven't got any 1080p .mkv files to work. Heck most of my 720p .mkv stutters or doesn't play at all anyway. All are H.264/x264 .mkvs played using either MoboPlayer (with the ARMV7VFP codec update installed) or the default player. I know the literature mentioned that only H.264 Main profile is supported, but come on, my SGS plays those videos fine (except one which has an AC3 track - fair enough).
I'm guessing this is due to the lack of NEON hardware in Tegra 2. Nice job nvidia.
Update: After googling around it seems like there's no built in support for Tegra 2's h.264 decode hardware acceleration in the native Honeycomb libraries (--devs correct me if I'm wrong). There is however, this youtube video showing an unreleased Cyberlink media player doing hw acceleration. Although note that the device he's holding is a Galaxy Tab 7" (which of course, runs Hummingbird, and AFAIK there's no Tegra 2 version in the wild).
Apps have problems with plugged in headphones
This is really weird and annoying. If I plug my headphones to the jack in the middle of a video/audio playback (using both the default player and MoboPlayer), the sound would get routed to the headphones just fine. But when I, say, switch apps, or change media files using the gallery, sometimes the sound would get routed to the speakers even though my headphones are still plugged in. I can fix this by unplugging the headphone (which pauses the video/music) and plugging it back in - but it gets irritating after a while.
No proxy server settings
Important since I'm behind a server which I would really like to be removed but that's beyond my power. The XOOM guys have the problem as well. Just used Proxy Settings from the marketplace and most things would work.
App downloads fails sometimes
Sometimes if I put the marketplace into the background, downloads would continue to 100% but fail to install. Not sure if it's just me though. *Edited*
Browser ALWAYS fails to download stuff through the proxy
Weird really. Every time I clicked "save link as" or a site would try to download something it would fail - but only if I'm behind a server. I try to browse using WiFi as often as I can since I don't have that much quota with vodafone. Note that I am behind a Squid proxy with plaintext authentication (I just hate those stupid admins!) - without the username/password you'll just get HTTP error 407. I can browse using the exact same ports and protocol (HTTP) but can't download through the proxy. I still can't figure that out at all.
The only way I can get around this is by using Opera, and setting the proxy server in manually using opera:config.
No way to force the browser to use a desktop UAString
There's a solution to this apparently, and it works: link.
Contact imports sometimes gets stuck
Importing contacts from a .vcf file sometimes hangs (not force close) the contacts app. I exported my contact list from my SGS (had about ~112 contacts with disp. photos and multiple numbers in some of them) and put them in the Tab, and had to import 3 times. What's worse, I ended up with duplicate copies of the same contacts. So I figured out the easiest way of doing this is to delete the whole contact list and start again, but---
---There's no way to delete multiple contacts at once. I spent like 2 mins deleting contacts one by one.
Update: Solution: Sync contacts via your Google account. Thanks pegaxs for pointing this out.
Marketplace automatically switches screen to landscape mode
This annoys the hell out of me since I usually browse in potrait mode - the device feels a lot nicer that way. Whenever I launch the market, it rotates itself. Minor thing, but annoying. Okay, I'm nitpicking.
On top of those - only 1 usb cable (which wouldn't be a problem if it can be charged using USB ports in the computer), and a short cable at that. wtf.
Fyuh. Rant finished. For now.
Can someone confirm these on their tab as well? I can't seem to find any updates at all.
There's also no WhatsApp, Adobe Reader (the QuickOffice HD works, so not really a complaint), or a text messaging app (but curiously you can send an SMS to it and read it by sending it to your broadband number - it'll appear under Service Info. I haven't tried MMSing yet, but I tried calling to it. It just hangs up (with a busy tone).
Add to that list "backlight bleeding". Watched some videos last night for the first time (re-encoded some 720p mkv because they wont play) and noticed a lot of back light bleeding along the lower edge and along the right hand edge. Probably would not have been as bad or noticable if the video played at full screen. It only plays up to the limit of the buttons in moboplayer. The built in player plays full screen... BUT... wont play native divx/xvid.
And yes, have to agree... that USB cable could have been a little shorter... OMG! how bad is it. I know the size of the battery wont allow it to charge off the computer USB, but i have to put my tab on the floor to reach. Going out to buy a USB extension today...
The SMS thing seems to be a honeycomb issue, as all the Xoom guys are complaining as well... I cant find any settings for it anyway, as there is on say, the phone version of android. It is a bity sad that apps like "whatsapp" cant be used in it's place. I have seen a post somewhere saying "textfree" might work, but it is most likely restricted to US markets as it gives you a US phone number to SMS to.
As for importing contacts, i just sync them to the Google account and they come up on all my devices. No moving files around, or importing/exporting... just sync to gmail and on the next sync, any device you have linked to that account will be updated with the contacts list.
I hope a lot of the issues OS wise, like adobe acro reader and mkv/divx support will be updated in the next version of Honeycomb, like it has been developing on phone android. Maybe when twiz is released for the samsung tab, it might bring with it more of the same functionality as the Galaxy S phone does. The phone seems a better candidate as being a tab then the 10.1v does
interested to see where it goes from here... I can see it's not perfect, but i can see it isnt a bad start and it has so much more potential to improve
I feel like the volume up/down buttons are the wrong way around? i.e. the volume control button nearest the unlock/lock button is volume DOWN and i feel like it should increase volume?
Also when i press unlock the screen takes roughly 1 second to light up
(not huge issues, but little things that would seem easy to fix)
How bad is the backlight bleed? I haven't seen anybody else mention it on the Samsungs. I did just learn that Samsung doesn't always use their own panels in their products. They also seem to use different parts in the european products vs. the US counterparts.
Considering all the hoopla over the iPad 2 and the backlight bleed, I would think manufacturers might be a bit more cautious. Apparently that problem was due to LG, who Samsung sometimes uses.
I hope this doesn't turn into another iPad 2 and Asus Transformer problem where it takes fifteen tries to get a decent product.
bbeelzebub said:
How bad is the backlight bleed? I haven't seen anybody else mention it on the Samsungs. I did just learn that Samsung doesn't always use their own panels in their products. They also seem to use different parts in the european products vs. the US counterparts.
Considering all the hoopla over the iPad 2 and the backlight bleed, I would think manufacturers might be a bit more cautious. Apparently that problem was due to LG, who Samsung sometimes uses.
I hope this doesn't turn into another iPad 2 and Asus Transformer problem where it takes fifteen tries to get a decent product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't notice this on a European unit.
pegaxs said:
Add to that list "backlight bleeding". Watched some videos last night for the first time (re-encoded some 720p mkv because they wont play) and noticed a lot of back light bleeding along the lower edge and along the right hand edge. Probably would not have been as bad or noticable if the video played at full screen. It only plays up to the limit of the buttons in moboplayer. The built in player plays full screen... BUT... wont play native divx/xvid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really notice much of the backlight bleed, but then again I might be too tolerant on that. I've got the display set at like 30%-40% brightness most of the time anyway. I personally think that the bleed is about the same as the Galaxy Tab 7".
pegaxs said:
And yes, have to agree... that USB cable could have been a little shorter... OMG! how bad is it. I know the size of the battery wont allow it to charge off the computer USB, but i have to put my tab on the floor to reach. Going out to buy a USB extension today...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need to get an extra one, since I charge mine next to my bed and the computer is on the other side of the room. I don't want to keep switching cables. I'll give a visit to the vodafone store to see if i can get one. Or just grab one off ebay.
pegaxs said:
As for importing contacts, i just sync them to the Google account and they come up on all my devices. No moving files around, or importing/exporting... just sync to gmail and on the next sync, any device you have linked to that account will be updated with the contacts list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:facepalm: why didn't I think of that
I'm pretty sure the problem is mostly software (well, apart from the backlight bleed), so I'm hoping a future update would clean this up for us. So far I've got the I8000 (good for nothing except playing movies) and the SGS. I9000 and both are excellent PMP devices.
Oh for those curious, there's a way to force the native browser to use desktop UA strings to sites: link It's for the XOOM but I've tried it and it works.
market apps no link
after downloading certain apps when i went back to the market those apps are showing free or $ amount instead of installed is that happening with everyone or just me. dosent look like market is registering my installed apps.
I noticed the same within the market app.. thought it was a feature
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
When the screen is black and on full brightness it looks horrible about 10% off the screen is lightgrey at best.
When using the device you don't notice it. Unless the edges of the screen are (supposed to be) black, while the brightness is close to Max...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
gjroeleveld said:
I noticed the same within the market app.. thought it was a feature
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I think it is a "feature" of the Honeycomb Market. If you go to the "My Apps" section of the Market - everything you have downloaded or purchased will appear there, but they just show as "Free" or "$x.xx" when casually browsing for apps - which I find annoying.
My tab works great, the only issue is that I've got extreme backlight bleeding at the bottom and at the right side of the screen, the right side is not much of an issue but the bottom is extremely annoying due to the black. I'm about to return it.
Yes, the backlight bleeding is a serious issue.
I've seen 3 of these devices now and they all have the same extreme case of it.
I'm going to start to start a new thread soon when I have a chance to take some good photos, unless someone beats me to the punch
Heres mine, Vodafone got a new one ordered for me which can take up to two weeks for whatever reason. If it has the same issues I will claim my money back and wait for the thin version.
As to the OP for HD video playing, i was testing the HD capability and found that even with a Xoom its unable to play full 1080 and 720 without recoding them. Thankfully a xoom owner has already done his bit of testing and all you need to do is download HandBrake and import his settings Settings Link. Encoding takes a while but i have tested on 1080p and 720p and they play just fine. File size i took from 1080p was about 15gb and it was reduced to about 2GB or so. You'll still need to get rockplayer as it does HW decoding to make the video play smoothly. alternatively you can use moboplayer but i prefer rockplayer's quality decoding for some reason
I also have some backlight bleeding issue, but only when i turn my brightness all the way up, i generally leave it on auto now and there's no bleed what so ever. I believe someone on WP has already mention that he checked all the 10.1v available in the Vodafone store in his location and they all have backlight bleeding issue and i believe it to be a batch and QA issue.
Other than that its more towards apps not compatible with honeycomb and they tend to force close a fair bit. Even the app market and app list drawer tend to crash often and the uptake to produce 3.0 compatible apps have been very slow from what i see, but hopefully those 5000 people that receive the new 10.1 sexy tab will be motivated to make apps and widgets.
Source by Andrew Williams :-> HERE
50 Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Tips and TricksFor novice users
Hi everybody
So you decided to join the ranks of Android and the millions of happy Note2 owners. But It can be troublesome to setup your phone at the begining. So I decided to search for you some little tricks you can use to better know and use your phone. I found this excellent article by Andrew Williams. I modified some content to better fit XDA's forum format but the info are the same. I also add a touchwiz tweaks that was not in the aticle, Here are 50 useful tips and tricks for new(even less new) Note2 users to pull out the best of your phone. Enjoy!
TouchwizMake Touchwiz go faster.
To make Touchwiz look good, Samsung created some animations to transit between screens. These animations take some times and can make your phone seems slow. The solution is to go in your phone Settings-> Developer options and turn off -> "Windows animation scale", "Transition animation scale" and "Animator duration scale". Now check how much snappier your phone is.:good:
***You can also turn on "Force GPU rendering" but SOME applications don't like that, so you can try it, but if you find you start having problem with some of your aplications, turn it off.
Ringtones - Alarms - NotificationsPut your Sounds in the system.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 allows us to use mp3 as ringtones, alarms or notifications. But if like me you have over 16G of music on your phone it might be anoying to "Go To Files" and search for them. Another way to do it is by creating a folder where Android will automatically look in and put the files in the "Ringtones". To do this just create a folder called "Media" on your sd-card. Inside the Media folders create 3 more folders "Ringtones", "Alarms" and "Notifications". It should look like this.
Media..
--------Alarms
--------Notifications
--------Ringtones
Now move/copy your mp3 files in the according folders. Now if you go on your phone settings->sounds->device ringtones you should see your mp3 files in the list.(Phone restart might be needed)
Screen and video
Get AMOLED colours in check
OLED-based screens like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2's tend to bring oversaturated colours that make skin tones look unnatural. They pop, but they pop a little too much. There's a solution, though. In the settings menu is a Display Setting submenu that lets you choose how vivid the colours are. We recommend the "natural" or "movie" settings.
Fill video codec gaps with third-party players
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has an excellent inbuilt media player, but there are some files it can't handle. We found that high-quality 1080p MKVs were too much for it. Snag a third-party media player like MX Player from the Google Play app store, though, and you'll be flying. These can use software encoding to fill gaps in natuve video support.
Video multi-tasking is in
One of the neatest additional features of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 is that you can overlay a video playback screen on top of any part of the phone. Just press a button in the nav bar of the media player and a little window will pop-up on the homescreen, playing the vid. Watch an episode of Peep Show while browsing the web? Don't mind if I do.
Free games to show off the screen
One of the best ways to show off the Sasmung Galaxy Note 2's screen is with a fancy 3D game. Top free picks to try include Dead Trigger.
Not bright enough? Turn off auto
The standard setting of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 uses automatic brightness, which judges the intensity of screen brightness using an ambient light sensor on the front. If it's still not bright enough at the max slider point, switch off the auto mode for real searing intensity. But it will affect battery life.
The microUSB port can output video
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2's microUSB port is more special than you might guess. It has MHL capabilities when used with a special Samsung cable, letting it output HD video and surround audio. The Samsung adapter, which is essentially an MHL-to-HDMI converter costs around £25. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 does not come bundled with one, though.
Mini home cinema? Tick the surround box
If you want to output surround sound, make sure you tick the Surround box within the Settings menu. This isn't within the Audio bit, which you might expect, but is actually in the Accessory submenu.
Battery life
Keep battery life riding high with auto management
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a massive 3100mAh battery. Stamina is good at the worst of times, but there's also an auto power management mode to make the most of the phone's juice. It's called Power Saving and has its own section within the main Settings menu. It can throttle the CPU, change the background of the web browser to conserve power (it turns the white background blue), and turns off haptic feedback. These are compromises, but they do work.
Switch off features for extra battery life
The best way to conserve power in any phone is to switch off features - most importantly 3G mobile internet. You can do this manually in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, directly from the pull-down notifications menu, and apps such as MySettings let you do the same thing.
Reduce screen timeout time
Another dead simple trick is to reduce the screen timeout time. This is in the Display submenu within settings, and lets you choose between 15 sec and 10 minutes of time the screen stays lit after a screen press. It's hardly a secret, but it is something not enough people consider.
Grab a spare battery, live forever
In a time of non-removable batteries - the HTC One X and iPhone 5 to name but two - we love that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a removable battery. You can swap it out within about 15 seconds. Spare batteries are available from eBay for well under £10. We recommend shopping around for a reliable brand though as some third-party batteries are as dodgy as Del Boy's VCRs.
Turn off S Pen
The S Pen digitser sucks away at the Note 2's battery life a little, so it's a good idea to switch off the detection feature entirely if you're unlikely to use it for an extended period. You'll find it within the S Pen sub-menu in Settings.
S Pen
Quick commands let you launch… anything
An S Pen feature that's easy to miss is Quick Commands. This lets you launch any app on the phone with a quick flick of the S Pen. Just press the stylus button and swipe up the screen, and the Quick commands box will pop-up. Draw your pre-determined character or symbol and key-presto, the right app will launch.
OCR means you can forget the virtual keyboard
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 features excellent OCR, optical character recognition, and it's built into the Samsung keyboard. Whip out the S Pen and the keyboard area will turn into a little box for you to write in, whether you're writing an email, text or searching the web. It's remarkably clever at working out your scribbles too although we haven't tested it on a doctor yet.
S Pen keeper - it's a keeper
We love the S Pen, but the thing is terribly easy to lose. Samsung has devised a way to make sure you don't leave home without it. It's called S Pen keeper. Using the accelerometer and the digitiser sensor of the Note 2, the phone can tell when you're walking away without the stylus in its little hole in the bottom of the device. Walk far enough and it bleats out an alarm tone.
Keep the kids happy with S Note
The stylus of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 makes it an obvious choice for creative types, business types and a host of other busy folk. But it'll keep the kids entertained too. S Note has a feature called Idea Sketch, which lets you write the name of an object, only for it to appear in your sketch. It's a perfect educational tool, and a fun one too.
Air View - hover pen fun
Something that makes the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 S Pen so much more than a standard stylus is that it can be sensed without even touching the screen. Samsung makes great use of this with Air View. It's used throughout Samsung's apps, and makes info pop-up when the S Pen hovers over items. For example, you can read the first lines of emails, see previews of pictures and take a closer look at calendar events. It's fantastic.
You can scribble - on anything
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 S Pen also let you scribble notes on anything. Just hold the button on the stylus down, press the nib down on the screen and hold it there until you see a flash around the screen edges. This is the phone taking a screenshot of what's on-screen, which you can then write notes on. This is further integrated into apps like S Planner, which have dedicated handwriting modes.
Other apps use S Pen pressure sensitivity
Now that the Note series is fairly established, a bunch of excellent apps already make use of the pressure sensitive S Pen stylus. Top picks include Sketchbook Pro and Infinite Painter. It's not just S Note that shows the S Pen off these days.
The S Pen takes screengrabs
Here's a really neat S Pen tool to show off to your "non stylus" friends. Press down the button on the Galaxy Note 2 stylus, draw a shape on the screen and whatever's on-screen within the shape will be saved as a screengrab.
For full S Pen compatibility, check out Samsung Apps
Samsung says that if you want full S Pen certified apps, you'll need to go to the Samsung Apps store. This comes built into the Note 2, and there's even an S Pen apps section. At present, you're still best off using the Play Store as well, though, as the Samsung Apps store isn't exactly rammed full of Note 2 apps yet.
Left handers need a tweak
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes setup for right-handers as standard, but there's also a mode for lefties in the Settings menu. This offsets the digitiser sensor, to compensate for the way those strange left-handed types hold pens. A creepy bunch, aren't they?
Interface
One for your grandma? Easy home screen mode
Here's one feature we were a little surprised to see in a device that's such a geek's dreamphone. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a mode called Easy home screen, which simplifies the layout of the phone's home screens in a way that even your technophobe grandma might be able to get along with.
Full screenshots are easy
Like the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note II makes it pretty easy to take screenshots of whatever's on the phone's display. Just hold down the home button and the power button at the same time, wait or a white flash and a screenshot will be taken and whisked over to the Gallery app.
A cooler/easier way to take screenshot is to swipe the palm of your hand from right to left. For this to work you need to enable "Motion" in Settings and check "Palm swipe capture".
Use one-handed operation mode for on-the-go use
The big screen is one of the main selling points of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but it doesn't half make it hard to use one-handed. Knowing this, Samsung as included a one-handed mode, which organises things like the keypad, virtual keyboard and the unlock pattern screen so that you can operate them with one mitt. You'll find it in the Settings menu.
Don't forget side-loading of apps
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is an Android device, with all the benefits that brings. You don't have to rely on the official Google Play app store for one, with APK installation files available for all sorts of other apps online. Be careful, though, as Android viruses are a real issue.
Customise your phone with non-Samsung widgets
Samsung supplied a nice handful of widgets with which you can customise your home screens, but far too few people try a new look with third-party widgets from Google Play. And there are loads out them out there. Some of our old faves include those of the Beautiful Widgets package.
Gadgets and Gimmicks
Motion control
Here's one we're not big fans of, but some of you may like it. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 lets you control things like the photo gallery and the navigation of you home screens using the accelerometer - by tilting your phone, basically. You can turn it off, though, and it's set to "off" as standard. Phew.
Face unlock
A bit Minority Report, this one. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can scan your face to unlock your phone. It takes a picture of your mug, remembers the basic geometry of it and then scans your face whenever you try and unlock the phone. It works pretty well, but as a security measure is about as flimsy as the padlock on a filofax.
Smart Stay
The last user-facing camera gimmick is one that sounds kinda neat in principle. It scans for your eyes to check if you're reading, and if it spots them, Smart Stay stops the backlight from turning off. It's designed to make reading on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a good deal less frustrating. It's a feature you'll find in the Settings menu.
Jelly Bean easter egg
The Jelly Bean easter egg has made it in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Go to Settings menu > About device and tap on the Android version number entry. You'll be transported to a screen with a picture of a giant jelly bean on it. Hold your finger down on said jelly bean and the screen will fill up with dozens of the blighters, which you can flick around. Pure joy.
Arrange your music by moods
The music player of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 features a fun little extra called Music square. This scans through your music library, arranging the tracks by mood - passionate, calm, exciting, joyful or a little in-between. Tap a block in the 5x5 square grid and you'll be greeted with a tune to match your mood.
Storage
Expandable storage - where to get it cheap
If you're out to spend as little as possible (and the Note 2 doesn't come cheap as it is), your best bet is to buy the cheapest 16GB model, and supplement any other storage needs with a microSD card. Top retailers for bargain basement-price memory cards include 7DayShop and Ebuyer. A 32GB microSD card these days will set you back less than £15 if you shop hard enough.
Flush the cache for extra memory
If you find yourself running low on memory, you can easily delete the cache and temporary files of any apps you have installed. To do this, go to the Applications Manager section within settings and tap on an app to see how much memory it's leeching. There will be buttons to wipe the cache and data for the app here.
Comes with 50GB of dropbox storage
Cloud storage is the future - you may not like it, but you may as well embrace it. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 owners get to benefit from 50GB of free cloud storage from one of the best providers out there - Dropbox. There are Dropbox apps for mobiles, tablets and computers, and it honestly works like a dream. If this won't convert you, nothing will. You only normally get 2GB of free from Dropbox, making it a pretty sweet deal.
Don't sync, drag 'n' drop
If you chose to go Android rather than opting for an iPhone, there's a good chance that the open-ness of the platform had something to do with it. Samsung is keen on trying to make its users adopt the Kies desktop software, but it's actually completely unnecessary. Plug the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 into a computer with a microUSB cable and it'll show up as a media player drive, which you can drag and drop all kinds of files onto. Transfer speeds are impressively fast too.
Contacts
Nab contacts from Facebook and Twitter
When we first got our Samsung Galaxy Note 2 in, it didn't have any of the usual social apps installed. Even if you're not a massive mobile Facebook-er, it's worth giving the app a download because it lets you harvest contacts from the network, making populating your contacts book a good deal easier.
Blocking Mode
Do you have a bug-a-boo stalking you? Is there a creep who keeps calling? The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 lets you keep them away with the blocking mode. It restricts notifications and calls from all but your approved contacts - and that can be at all times, or just during the hours you choose.
Camera and Video
Use HDR mode in mixed lighting - or all the time
The 8-megapixel sensor of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is pretty good on its own, but the neat camera app ups its skills significantly. One of our favourite bonus bits is the HDR mode. This effectively combines multiple exposure in a single shot to bring out extra detail in shadows. Both the HDR and normal shots are saved, meaning there's very little downside - other than that taking shots is a little bit slower.
Check out slow and fast motion modes
Nestled within the menus of the video camera app are fast and slow motion modes, capturing either more or fewer frames per second than normal. It's not quite the 120fps mode you get in some dedicated cameras, but will come in handy if you're trying to video a sports event, for example.
Don't forget video effects
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 doesn't have the fun face-distorting video effects you get with a vanilla Jelly Bean phone, but it does have a range of funky filters. There are colour pop modes, extracting all but certain shades from your videos, and the cartoon filter is perfect for some arty rotoscope-style vids.
Give the exposure longer time than the sound effect suggests
Each time you take a photo, a shutter sound plays in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. However, we found that occasionally the phone needs a little bit longer to attain a solid focus. Hold still for an extra half-second for good measure.
Get vid previews with Air View
Using Air View, if you hold the pen over the transport bar of a movie clip in the media player, you'll be given a preview of what's going on in the film at that point. It makes finding the right part of a film or TV ep a doddle.
Connectivity
Don't go over you allowance, with Data Usage
A staple Android feature is the Data Usage counter. This can be found within the Settings menu, and it monitors your data usage, showing it as a colourful graph. You can use it to cut off your mobile data connection once you reach a certain limit, to ensure you won't get charged by your carrier.
Wi-Fi sync with Kies
We've already endorsed drag 'n' drop file transfers over Kies sync'ing, but if you're a Kies fan, don't forget that you can also sync wirelessly. To set this feature up, scroll to the bottom of the More Settings sub-menu, where you'll find the Kies via Wi-Fi option.
S Beam
A feature introduced with the Samsung Galaxy S3, S Beam uses a mixture of NFC and Wi-Fi Direct to let you transfer files between compatible Samsung phones. You just need to tap the phones together to get them playing. S Beam needs to be switched on, though, from within the Wireless and Networks menu.
NFC lets you buy coffee
The NFC connectivity of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 also let you buy small items such as cups of coffee, sandwiches and the like. Several big high street chains have taken the NFC plunge, including Starbucks and EAT, using apps to let you dump credit onto your phone.
Share screens with AllShare Cast
AllShare used to be just about sending a video file from, say, your phone to your Blu-ray player. But now it does a lot more. AllShare Cast lets you send your Galaxy Note 2's screen contents to another display, a bit like AirPlay Mirroring.
Forget Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct is better
Wi-Fi Direct is tied into the S Beam transfer feature, but you can also use it easily on its own. This is a version of Wi-Fi that doesn't need an internet connection, as it can hook-up directly with another compatible device. It some ways it's a successor to Bluetooth, letting you transfer files, and at a much greater speed than old Bluetooth could handle.
Watch your 4G
If you want to get a 4G-capable Note 2, be aware that the LTE edition is separate from the standard one. EE says it'll stock the LTE Galaxy Note 2 from October 15.
Enjoy!:good:
Frequently asked questions
What is Odex and Deodex -> [Complete Guide] What is Odex and Deodex ROM? From @R_a_z_v_a_n
What is Zipalign? -> [Guide] What is Zipalign and how to make Apps zipaligned From @R_a_z_v_a_n
How to Root Note2 & keep flash counter 0 -> [Root]How to Root Note2 [N7100] & keep flash counter 0 From @dr.ketan
More to come...
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Re: So you just bought a Note2 - 50 Galaxy Note 2 Tips and Tricks(Make phone faster)
It is a copy and paste from a website I know I don't remember the link guys.
..................
●•¤SENT FROM MY BEAST●•¤
★★GALAXY NOTE 2 GT N7100★★
USING ●XDA PREMIUM HD● APP
aviralsingh16 said:
It is a copy and paste from a website I know I don't remember the link guys.
..................
●•¤SENT FROM MY BEAST●•¤
★★GALAXY NOTE 2 GT N7100★★
USING ●XDA PREMIUM HD● APP
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Click to collapse
The source(link) and name of author are the first thing on the OP.
Thanks
Thanks for the great article! I agree, this SHOULD be a sticky!
Re: So you just bought a Note2 - 50 Galaxy Note 2 Tips and Tricks(Make phone faster)
Good work, to the original op, and the second one.
Best regards
Sifou
Using a Samsung N7100
Great article. Really helpful.
For this point, when I connect my Note 2 directly to my Mac, it does not show up.
Any ideas?
Don't sync, drag 'n' drop
If you chose to go Android rather than opting for an iPhone, there's a good chance that the open-ness of the platform had something to do with it. Samsung is keen on trying to make its users adopt the Kies desktop software, but it's actually completely unnecessary. Plug the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 into a computer with a microUSB cable and it'll show up as a media player drive, which you can drag and drop all kinds of files onto. Transfer speeds are impressively fast too.
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luckyconverter said:
Great article. Really helpful.
For this point, when I connect my Note 2 directly to my Mac, it does not show up.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own a Mac so I can't confirm 100% but it should be the same.
When you connect your USB you should see the USB symbol on the status bar (on the top left).
pull down your status bar and select USB options
it should bring you to Connection option, selct USB as Media device
Should also add the S-Voice Tip too
Re: [Novice Guide] So you just bought a Note2 - 50+ Tips and Tricks+Make phone faster
Gj. Was handy
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
McLaren__F1 said:
Should also add the S-Voice Tip too
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Note taken.
OP updated.
KurlyK said:
Thanks for the great article! I agree, this SHOULD be a sticky!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree
Bump
Bumpy
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
I installed Nova launcher. I lose the S Buddy Page helper (so when you plug in headphones or take the pen out a new home page appears), but it means I can put more icons on the home screens to make better use of the display, and Nova is pretty slick and quick.
speculatrix said:
I installed Nova launcher. I lose the S Buddy Page helper (so when you plug in headphones or take the pen out a new home page appears), but it means I can put more icons on the home screens to make better use of the display, and Nova is pretty slick and quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and you can easily make folders in the dock by sliding icons on top of each others so you can keep a clean screen. You can also "swipe up" on each icons in the dock to lauch a "hidden" apps. To do so just long press one icon in the dock and choose "edit", then chose the app you want to lauch with the icon swipe up.:good:
Thanks for posting this. Really useful for a new note 2 user shaking off the iphone withdrawl. Love this phone.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Smegwitch said:
Thanks for posting this. Really useful for a new note 2 user shaking off the iphone withdrawl. Love this phone.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
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It's the best.
Thanks for the tip!
bs_flatline said:
Thanks for the tip!
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Click to collapse
My pleasure
So I was trying Voodoo screen calibration for the Nexus 7 and after checking with my own 2.2 Gamma reference images and having awesome results, I decided that I could try with an app called Display Tester, that has many options and per-channel gamma references.
To my surprise when I opened the Gamma Test option of the app, my touchscreen started doing stuff by itself, so I enabled in the developer options the pointer location and touchscreen events.
I did some videos, here is the one with the screen doing stuff by itself without me touching the screen: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B97gYiQSeOynOWtFbVlfMlVWRVk/edit
Now this time it didn't do stuff by itself, but as soon as I touched the screen it went crazy mode:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B97gYiQSeOyncWNwS0FUdUlaVEU/edit
Now let me metion that I've been using this tablet for 3 to 4 hours daily, and I haven't got any touchscreen issues before, I could write all I want, play with google earth, even did the touchscreen tests some people did with the multi touch apps and nothing, 0, nada.
Logcat didn't output anything of use during this so, thoughts? Can an app produce this? Wombo combo of app + firmware + tablet? Ghosts? :fingers-crossed: Please be ghosts :fingers-crossed:
jak3z said:
So I was trying Voodoo screen calibration for the Nexus 7 and after checking with my own 2.2 Gamma reference images and having awesome results, I decided that I could try with an app called Display Tester, that has many options and per-channel gamma references.
To my surprise when I opened the Gamma Test option of the app, my touchscreen started doing stuff by itself, so I enabled in the developer options the pointer location and touchscreen events.
I did some videos, here is the one with the screen doing stuff by itself without me touching the screen: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B97gYiQSeOynOWtFbVlfMlVWRVk/edit
Now this time it didn't do stuff by itself, but as soon as I touched the screen it went crazy mode:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B97gYiQSeOyncWNwS0FUdUlaVEU/edit
Now let me metion that I've been using this tablet for 3 to 4 hours daily, and I haven't got any touchscreen issues before, I could write all I want, play with google earth, even did the touchscreen tests some people did with the multi touch apps and nothing, 0, nada.
Logcat didn't output anything of use during this so, thoughts? Can an app produce this? Wombo combo of app + firmware + tablet? Ghosts? :fingers-crossed: Please be ghosts :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N7 goes crazy and opens google now. While I am running the Voodoo app, I am pretty sure I had odd behavior on the previous firmware version when trying to open the gamma test-I can't remember if it was like this or I just got a force close message.
Probably something to do with the app.
Mine as well, using display tester. Burn in repair work fine tho
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
1) NEXT Launcher 3D
2) NEXT Launcher 3D
3) NEXT Launcher 3D's "Swing with Scroll" feature
Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome aboard! Here's the first thing you'll have to deal with: Size. The Note 3 (I have a Note 2) will seem huge and you may get buyer's remorse. Most of us do. It wears off in a couple of days, though and then you'll wonder how you dealt with such a small phone.
1. I use Apex launcher. Why do I use a launcher? Because I like to change the number of rows/columns from the standard setting. I also like to eliminate the Google search bar. And, I like using gestures to go to apps. I use swipe-up for Google Now and swipe-down for notification shade. Why do I use Apex instead of others? No particular reason but it seemed to have the most available features for a free version at the time. I have since paid for it.
2, There are a bazillion apps. But, coming from the iPhone I would first experiment with keyboard replacements. Why? Because you can and the iphone users can't. Try Swype or Swiftkey. Swiftkey is amazing at guessing what your next word will be. Most of all, get used to swiping instead of typing. Once you get good at it it's MUCH faster than typing. Then show that off to your iPhone buddies and say, "Take that!"
3. If you really want to dazzle people with your new phone find a high def YouTube video (the Vevo ones are good). Playing a beautiful video on a large screen has some really powerful WOW! factor.
4. Some apps I use a lot:
Color Note - A great note and checklist app that syncs via the cloud.
Chrome Beta
Flixter for getting movie times and watching trailers
Gas Buddy to find cheap gasoline
Amazon App store. A free app every day. You have to side load it, it's not in the Play Store.
Droid of the Day - A new app suggestion every day
Timely - One of the most beautiful alarm clock apps. It also syncs with all your devices
The usual apps: Netflix, Pandora, Watch ESPN, HBO Go, Dropbox, et al.
5. I turn off Auto display brightness. I leave my Note 2 at full brightness all the time. The battery can handle this just fine.
I leave GPS, Wifi, and NFC on all the time.
Make sure you setup Google+ to automatically upload your photos
6. Don't go too crazy downloading apps. You may find your battery suddenly draining too fast. If you don't like or use an app delete it immediately so it won't eat battery.
Good luck and have fun.
Impuls3101 said:
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova Prime because it is better than TW in every way.
Ok I will answer some of my own questions from using the device the last 10 or so hours I hope this helps someone else. Please add suggestions because I am still getting used to everything.
1. Nova launcher seems to be easier to use because it takes all ur tw settings and imports them. It makes it easy to switch between the two. I like the tw weather widget better though
2. -I still need to find a good email client that syncs the few accounts that I have together. I haven't looked into this yet.
-Equalizer is a really good app to put more bass or customize the sound of your music.
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
-The adapt sound settings helped make my headphones sound a little better. I use an aux in on my car so it kind of sucks that they don't have profiles for different sources.
3. -Next Launcher is really nice to show people but I don't know if I could use it everyday and its 3x the price of other launchers.
-Real Racing 3 is a nice demo game but good old angry birds star wars 2 probably looks the best and it has a note 3 achievement
-slow mo camera is really nice but anything less than 1/2 speed and the image starts to look very grainy .. 4k really has a wow factor even on the 1080p screen.
4. Sketchbook for Galaxy is a lot of fun to draw in with the s-pen.
5. -I followed this guide for disabling some of the bloatware: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2478448
-I also disabled most of the air hover features because they are nice for demoing the device to someone but I probably won't use them. Plus I wear glasses and it doesn't seem to detect my eyes very well.
-People are reporting poor wifi and one of the settings suggested is to turn off network auto connect.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2472779 .. I experienced the problem but reset my router and it seems fine now.. not sure if its a software glitch or what.
6. -Here is a useful guide on how to transfer your contacts : http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/transfer-iphone-contact-to-android/
-The only thing I am missing from iOS are the nice lock screen notifications. If anyone has a suggestion please let me know
Impuls3101 said:
Everyone should be getting their phone in the next few days. I am coming from iOS so I am not 100% sure about all of androids apps and features. I have spent a lot of time in the last month learning as much as I could about switching over but I would like to get some opinions from everyone. I hope this will also help any other novice users get the most out of the note 3.
1. Are you going to use a launcher .. if so which one? why?
2. What apps will make using the note more enjoyable/easier?
3. What apps can I wow people with a demo of?
4. Any other general app recommendations?
5. What general settings should I initially use? or disable?
6. Anything I missed for a first time android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I have been using Nova for a while on my Galaxy Nexus, and use it on my N3 now too. It's not too bloated, allows custom number of icons per row/column, gestures, and resize all widgets. I used to use Apex, and that was really good too, but I switched a while ago to Nova because there was some feature Apex didn't have, though honestly I don't remember what now, and they may very well have added it.
2. SketchBook Mobile by Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD and Inventor, among many other engineering-oriented programs) is kind of cool, it's a sketch program that you can do a lot with, and works well with the stylus. Not the most useful app, per se, but a fun "proof of concept" if you will, and it's free. I believe there's more options than the built in equivalent, though I haven't used either a ton yet.
3. Any high def media will look awesome. Show them Netflix streaming, or as someone else said, HD Youtube, or any other HD video. Even pictures taken with the camera look great, simply because of the huge high res screen. Pictures taken with the phone probably would look even better on the screen than ones taken with another phone with a better camera but worse screen, because it's still small enough to cover up minor imperfections, but big and crisp enough to really look amazing.
4. For a music player, I like PowerAmp. It's got a really good equalizer, and a ton of settings to play with. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the interface, but it's not awful. You can also customize the widget as much as you want, in terms of colors, fonts, transparency, buttons, size, what's displayed, etc.
I also use UberSync for Facebook, which lets you use sync HD pictures from facebook as contact photos. You can also import birthdays into your calendar, if you want, and some other info from people's profiles. You can choose what resolution to use, how often to sync, and only use wi-fi if you want.
5. I turned off all of the Smart features and that kind of thing. I don't want to control my phone with my eyes or hand gestures, I want to use it with my hands or S Pen. Of course that's fully a matter of preference. Also I noticed that the setting to alert you if you walk away without putting the S Pen back in is disabled by default, so I enabled that. I still worry I'm going to lose it sometime, but that's just because I'm forgetful.
Impuls3101 said:
-Adblock plus is really nice to have while browsing the internet .. I always hated that I couldn't use it on the iphone.
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How are you using Adblock without root??
jmorton10 said:
How are you using Adblock without root??
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I'm using Firefox with the adblock plugin and its working great. Firefox now flies on this phone.:good:
I have not seen real comparisons yet of battery at all 3 resolutions. Has anyone tested? I'm running at the lowest today just to see. Honestly screen is fine and can barely tell the difference at lowest res
curious for this as well. Got fairly good life out of it with factory settings at 1080. Switched to 1440 last night and cant really tell a difference in resolution but i think battery life is hurting.
EDIT: Tmo S8 with update, for reference.
Because I also couldn't tell a difference, I immediately switched to the lowest resolution. With the following settings, I had 92% battery left at the end of a work day where I would have had about 60% on the Nexus 6p:
- Brightness always at max and disable auto brightness. Bluetooth on, WiFi off.
- Disable pretty much every Samsung feature, gesture, and Samsung app. Made as Nexusy as possible (still using Samsung launcher, which is fine, and I uninstalled Google because I don't really use Google Now and suspect it's a battery hog. The only voice feature I was using was "ok Google navigate home", but now the maps app just let's you save directions as home screen shortcuts).
- Going through the permissions settings in the advanced app options menu in Samsung settings, I disabled all permissions for each app except the ones I know they need.
- Installed Package Disabler Pro and blocked a **** ton of stuff, including in the system packages. Anything with the word bixby in it, all of the T-Mobile apps except visual voicemail (anyone know if I can disable that and still get visual voicemail via the Samsung phone app??), and most of the Samsung apps except things with the word clock or calendar in them because I assumed the overall ROM relies on them but I could be wrong.
- Once done with everything, close all apps then go into settings > device maintenance > optimize now, then reboot the device.
- This CAN have VERY good (potential) battery life, better than the Nexus 6p when reviews were suggesting it was pretty bad.
.psd said:
EDIT: Tmo S8 with update, for reference.
Because I also couldn't tell a difference, I immediately switched to the lowest resolution. With the following settings, I had 92% battery left at the end of a work day where I would have had about 60% on the Nexus 6p:
- Brightness always at max and disable auto brightness. Bluetooth on, WiFi off (only whole at work).
- Disable pretty much every Samsung feature, gesture, and Samsung app. Made as Nexusy as possible (still using Samsung launcher, which is fine, and I uninstalled Google because I don't really use Google Now and suspect it's a battery hog. The only voice feature I was using was "ok Google navigate home", but now the maps app just let's you save directions as home screen shortcuts).
- Going through the permissions settings in the advanced app options menu in Samsung settings, I disabled all permissions for each app except the ones I know they need.
- Installed Package Disabler Pro and blocked a **** ton of stuff, including in the system packages. Anything with the word bixby in it, all of the T-Mobile apps except visual voicemail (anyone know if I can disable that and still get visual voicemail via the Samsung phone app??), and most of the Samsung apps except things with the word clock or calendar in them because I assumed the overall ROM relies on them but I could be wrong.
- Once done with everything, close all apps then go into settings > device maintenance > optimize now, then reboot the device.
- This CAN have VERY good (potential) battery life, better than the Nexus 6p when reviews were suggesting it was pretty bad.
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Did you actually know what you were disablinh in pdp
km8j said:
Did you actually know what you were disablinh in pdp
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Kind of, but not entirely.
It has a section for verified safe-to-disable apps. If that isn't enough, there's a section for "system" packages where I avoided disabling anything that I want pretty confident wouldn't affect the overall system (like I didn't disable anything that has to do with sound or audio for example, even though a few of them looked like bloat). I'm the system section however is where you can disable bixby and carrier related ****. There's a search section, which is very helpful (e.g. search "bixby' and disable everything).
I have the advantage of having messed with phones and done trial and error with a much less organized app that essentially does the same thing, which has always been very popular for topped devices, called Titanium Backup.
Finally, when you're done blocking everything you want to block, hot the menu button (top right) and clear the data of disabled packages! VERY good app overall in my opinion, beat $1.50 spent in a long time!