Database Users

Some basic noobie Galaxy S questions

First up, hello to everyone.
I'm a new convert to Android having picked up a Galaxy S a couple of weeks ago, and I've got a couple of (what I'm sure are) basic questions about how best to work it:
First up, how do I go about creating folders on my SD Card. I'm assuming that's the best way to organise things like icons, themes, wallpapers etc.
Is it possible to edit the icons on the dock at the bottom of the screen? Can I put different Apps down there? Can I change the icons that those apps use?
I'm having issues with Widgets - do I need to restart the phone each time I install an app with a widget? There are some apps which allow me to use a widget straight away, but then there are some (like the BBC news feed) which just doesn't show up in my widget list
Can anyone reccomend a good link or article on how to root the Galaxy S? I'd like to it be as simplified as possible please.
Thanks loads in advance for both your help and your time.
Cheers

1)while browsing your sd card, press menu button and it will you the option to create a folder
2)click on applications button while on home screen to change to applications view, then click menu (left button) and edit, then you can just drag the icons in and out of the dock
3)not sure, widgets that i tried all ran after installing them without rebooting the phone
4)I suggest you check out the Galaxy S I9000 Android Development subforum right here on xda, there are some great guides there.

1) I just do it when plugged into my PC via USB in Mass Storage mode. =)
2) As random.si said.
3) I've never needed to restart the phone for widget...are you sure those apps actually have widgets?...Any widgets from the Market or installed apps should always be under 'Android Widgets' as soon as the app is installed, otherwise try using the app first as it may have a config or something.
4) There's a stickied guide in the Android Development subforum here! It's dead easy, so no worries there. Just follow the instructions to the letter, but that's not hard for rooting the Galaxy S.

Hi there. Could you just tell me how to close running application? There is 6 application when i open my task manager (middle button for 3 sec) and i cant do anything with them. Is there any button to close application, not minimalize?
Like now i'm installing facebook and setting up my account. Phone seems to hanging. I dont know how to close it?

mika34 said:
Hi there. Could you just tell me how to close running application? There is 6 application when i open my task manager (middle button for 3 sec) and i cant do anything with them. Is there any button to close application, not minimalize?
Like now i'm installing facebook and setting up my account. Phone seems to hanging. I dont know how to close it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Applications open in the background don't use any CPU time and if the RAM they use is needed Android closes them by itself.
Android isn't designed to let the user close applications. If you really have to close them for some specific reason you can use a task killer from the market.

mika34 said:
Hi there. Could you just tell me how to close running application? There is 6 application when i open my task manager (middle button for 3 sec) and i cant do anything with them. Is there any button to close application, not minimalize?
Like now i'm installing facebook and setting up my account. Phone seems to hanging. I dont know how to close it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually those 6 applications are NOT actually running(necessarily).They are just the last 6 applications you have used.

saldawop said:
Actually those 6 applications are NOT actually running(necessarily).They are just the last 6 applications you have used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Thanks very much guys for your help.
One more question.
How to enable vibration to incoming text message? Can`t see any option for that.

You should try out prehome. When you press home key, it will show the active task, and you can switch or kill task there. Press home key the second time will bring you to home. I love it.

Does anybody knows how to set vibration on incoming messages? Can`t find it. strange

mika34 said:
Does anybody knows how to set vibration on incoming messages? Can`t find it. strange
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Messages > Menu button > settings. It's at the bottom : D

Rawat said:
Messages > Menu button > settings. It's at the bottom : D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big thx for that.

mika34 said:
Big thx for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If ever in doubt, always try the menu buttons.
Pretty much every app hides its settings and many controls under the menu buttons to stop the screen being cluttered up with buttons.
The menu button is also context-sensitive to whatever you're doing at the time, so you just need to get used to remembering it's there.
As the previous guys said, Android is designed to not have specific 'closing' or exiting of apps. Rather, they'll hide themselves in the background and once the system needs to free up some ram it'll close once you haven't used for a while automatically in preference of those using the most RAM. It will also usually save the state of that app, so if you go to use it again and Android has already closed it, it will still appear where you left off but just take a bit longer to start since it was cleared from the background.
Most apps will fully close however if you exit by using the back button (bottom-right touch button on the phone), basically reversing your way out of the app until you hit the home screens.
Holding the Home button shows the last 6 apps you had open, whether they're still running in the background or not. It's just a quick way to jump between stuff rather than an actual task manager.
In the JM2 firmware Samsung have added a great widget and task manager app. The widget shows the number of apps still running in the background, as well as a colour for if they're draining battery or performance (ie: processing lots in the background). All you need to do is touch the widget and it'll take you straight to a list where you can close any. Very handy!
While it's easy to get obsessed with using one of the task killer apps on the market all the time, I eventually found with my old Hero that it performed just as well if you ignore what it's doing with RAM or apps since it's intelligent enough to prioritise and close appropriate background stuff without your intervention.
The only reason people were recommending task killers for the Galaxy S was because of the random lags / stalls caused by bugs in the firmware, some of which were caused by it not closing stuff or managing itself properly in the background.
My advice: JM2 firmware and just use the Samsung task manager widget as a guide to if for some reason something high-powered like a game was left open and Android didn't clean it up yet.

Phone number format
How can I change the format of the phone number which is displayed when I have an incoming call ? Thanks ?

While writing SMS, contacts displayed twice
Hi to all,
When I write an SMS and want to choose a contact, they all appear twice, even tough in the phonebook they only appear once because I ticked the option of displaying only contacts from the phone and not from the sim card.
Is there a similar option in SMS that I'm missing here?
Thanks in advance,
Itay

Glad to see this thread has taken off a bit.
One more question from me:
random.si said:
1)while browsing your sd card, press menu button and it will you the option to create a folder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming I need some sort of File Explorer app to be able to do this - can anyone recommend one?
Cheers

Astro file explorer

is there any way to stop sms being converted to multimedia message? if i write a text message consisting of more than 3 messages (i believe 180 characters) it converts it to multimedia, which costs me!!!

[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).

[Q] Removing Google Now from the home button

I don't have any use for Google Now nor do I use the built-in Google search function and I'm trying to find a way to remove the shortcut thing that pops up when I long-press the home button on the navigation bar. It's actually infuriating the amount of times I pull it up by mistake.
I am running Paranoid Android 2.5 ROM and the navigation bar options specifically states that the home button shortcut can not be changed in those options like the back/recent/menu buttons can.
I have deleted the googlequicksearchbar.apk from the system apps folder and that at least causes it to just bork up and stops it trying to load everything up when I end up selecting Google Now by mistake but it's still a pain in the ass to have that shortcut there.
I've searched around and the only things I found covering this were disabling it on the lockscreen which is different from what I am trying to achieve.
Has anyone had any success on the PA ROM in regards to removing the Google Now shortcut from the Home button?

Uninstall the google app.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

leelaa said:
Uninstall the google app.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which google app is that? There is no Velvet.apk to be found and there's nothing in Titanium Backup's list that I can see that looks like it would be that either. I see google voice search and google search. The latter which is no longer present as I deleted the searchbox apk already.

bump

Juan_Largearm said:
bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol the Google search app. But I guess u don't wanna do that. Other than that u got no option. Except maybe get an older Google search apk n install,u know from stock ICS gapps? Then u would have Google search n no popup.
THIS. IS. NEXUS.

Have you tried to disable Google Search app in Settings->Apps?
Worked on my Galaxy Nexus with stock rom.
You'll probably have to kill and restart Launcher process to get rid of the grey bar at the top of the screen.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Juan_Largearm said:
I don't have any use for Google Now nor do I use the built-in Google search function and I'm trying to find a way to remove the shortcut thing that pops up when I long-press the home button on the navigation bar. It's actually infuriating the amount of times I pull it up by mistake.
I am running Paranoid Android 2.5 ROM and the navigation bar options specifically states that the home button shortcut can not be changed in those options like the back/recent/menu buttons can.
I have deleted the googlequicksearchbar.apk from the system apps folder and that at least causes it to just bork up and stops it trying to load everything up when I end up selecting Google Now by mistake but it's still a pain in the ass to have that shortcut there.
I've searched around and the only things I found covering this were disabling it on the lockscreen which is different from what I am trying to achieve.
Has anyone had any success on the PA ROM in regards to removing the Google Now shortcut from the Home button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you have to do any of that. Go to settings and go to system settings, hardware keys, or navigation. Go to the home button and change it to none.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

I just froze Google search in romtoolbox pro.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I've manged to get Google now off the Nexus 7
After hours fiddling I found the answerr
You go into settings, click on app, and then scroll to the reach 'all'
You will see Google Search open it and hit all buttons which cut the cache and another 2 buttons which I d'ont remeber. Anyway click all the buttons there.
Then you will find that where the google search box was there is now a grey block in its place.
Close down the phone, and when you turn it on again the grey box is gone your sexy home page is back!
I really don't undertand the minds of Google Now. The annoying pop notes never told me nothing I needed to know. Google should at least give an easy option to turn the thing off. I fed with things being installed in phones which you can't deleat.

To those wanting to disable search, that's ok, it is your tablet and you can do with it as you like. But, is it really so hard to not hold down the home button? I use search every day multiple times and find it extremely useful. You can turn off any or all cards and even turn off Now and you get the search screen without any cards. If you gave it a fair try you might fine it useful. Others have posted how to disable it, so the OP has his question answered, but I encourage people to learn and use search.

I disable it because I use my nexus for gaming. So I like it keep my background processes to a minimum. I can only assume others do it for much the same reason. If you don't use it why have it running?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

luminoth said:
I disable it because I use my nexus for gaming. So I like it keep my background processes to a minimum. I can only assume others do it for much the same reason. If you don't use it why have it running?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can kinds of disable it using SwipeLaunch Disabler.
https:/play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hk.sld.SwipeLaunchDisabler

Go to settings,apps, all, scroll down to Google+ and disable it.
That will just show the "old google search" when you use the home button.
If you want it back go to playstore search Google+ and enable it.

My question is, is there a way to add shortcuts to that menu?

Maybe replace it with this: Home Button Launcher
You can add shortcuts and it's Open Source.

Juan_Largearm said:
I don't have any use for Google Now nor do I use the built-in Google search function and I'm trying to find a way to remove the shortcut thing that pops up when I long-press the home button on the navigation bar. It's actually infuriating the amount of times I pull it up by mistake.
I am running Paranoid Android 2.5 ROM and the navigation bar options specifically states that the home button shortcut can not be changed in those options like the back/recent/menu buttons can.
I have deleted the googlequicksearchbar.apk from the system apps folder and that at least causes it to just bork up and stops it trying to load everything up when I end up selecting Google Now by mistake but it's still a pain in the ass to have that shortcut there.
I've searched around and the only things I found covering this were disabling it on the lockscreen which is different from what I am trying to achieve.
Has anyone had any success on the PA ROM in regards to removing the Google Now shortcut from the Home button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Paranoid Android v2.50 on my Samsung GS3... I found it irritating that sometimes I would hit the "menu" button too long on my phone by accident (normally when it was in landscape view) and that would bring up the Google Search page every time... here is what to do:
1) Head to "Settings" > "Interface" > "System" > "Hardware keys"
2) Tick "Enable custom actions", the options below will light up for you to edit.
3a) In my case, I had to edit "Menu key (long press)" and set it to "No action"
3b) In your case it would be "Home key (long press)" and then set that to "No action".
That will stop the Google Search feature popping up when you accidentally hold the button down too long

Groid said:
To those wanting to disable search, that's ok, it is your tablet and you can do with it as you like. But, is it really so hard to not hold down the home button? I use search every day multiple times and find it extremely useful. You can turn off any or all cards and even turn off Now and you get the search screen without any cards. If you gave it a fair try you might fine it useful. Others have posted how to disable it, so the OP has his question answered, but I encourage people to learn and use search.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that is okay to learn how to use it, but for me it is a bit annoying everytime I play MinecraftPE. The proximity of down button and home button is so close that I always end up presing home button then search pops out. I am on stock rom 4.1.1 device with soft keys and notification all bundled up.

Share A Really Good Tip with Note 3 Users

Hi guys,
Now that you've spent some time with your Note 3, how about sharing your top recommended tip with the community.
This tip should be more like your personal experience with the device. I'll go first...
Switching to Nova Launcher Prime with system animations set to fast took my user experience to an all new level...be sure to use "zoom fade" effect on nova settings...

Great thread, I used to use card stack, but changed to zoom fade, thanks for the tip, the tip I would share would be invisible lock screen widget, place it on your home screen, and turn your phone on stand by without any icons showing.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Will try this out soon thanks!
Here's another tip: After trying a lot of hd wallpaper apps, I found "ZEDGE" to be the best in terms of wallpaper clarity and variety. I now use this app and filter out newest wallpapers with stunning picture quality.

Quick Torch access
There is a setting to allow the flash to be used a s a torch quickly while the screen is off. You long-press the Volume-Up key to start it, and press the Volume-Down key to stop it. It also has an optional timeout setting.
To get this setting, called 'Torch Light' I use the 'Activity' shortcut in SSLaucher, as it is not in the normal settings. You can also use the 'Activity Launcher' app. Once set, you do not have to set anything again.

Here's a good one....want Developer options? This is bizarre, but go to 'About device' in settings, then to your build number which appears greyed out. Click it about three, four times, it'll say 'you're almost a developer' and then bam it'll say you are, go back to settings and wala, you'll see a new 'Developer Options' tab! Kinda strange way to get it to show, but it works.

Sporttster said:
Here's a good one....want Developer options? This is bizarre, but go to 'About device' in settings, then to your build number which appears greyed out. Click it about three, four times, it'll say 'you're almost a developer' and then bam it'll say you are, go back to settings and wala, you'll see a new 'Developer Options' tab! Kinda strange way to get it to show, but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man this has to be the best tip that I've seen so far hands down...I literally installed spare parts plus to get the dev options and make animations faster!
Off to unistall spare parts and see the shiny developer options in settings! Thanks a ton mate!

TIP to Reduce Number of Button Press on Note 3:
So this is a tip to substantially reduce the number of times one has to press the power on and home button.
Install "lock screen widget" from the play store (free) and place on ure home screen...it automatically switches off screen on touch...
For those of you who long press the home button to get the multi tasker up...configure the swipe up action in your non touchwiz launcher to open the "recent apps" list...

*Bump*

- Under Settings--> controls --> SPen you can set S pen Keeper, to alert you if you ever walk away without attaching the Spen. In case you forget it. Which has happened to me twice so far. :silly:

In settings/device/accessibility and under the section of mobility you can select the assistant menu and a little pop-up menu will give you some nifty shortcuts if you are using the s pen and don't want to press the home button of s shame with the pen hahaha it's just terrible to do it.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the s pen tips guys...though I've really not come around to using it often on a daily basis.

[Q] menu button and nearby devices

hi there,
1. i notice that since my S5 which had LP installed, on S7e i cant use the menu button for menu actions cause it is always forces the recent app screen, when i use xda app on my S7e i cant seem to reply or add a new message because isted of showing me the menu of the thread if i press menu button it goes to recent or if i try to press a little longer it give me a notice that xda app does not support multy window.
no matter what i try i cant seem to use the button as menu. and i cant seem to find in settings how to turn it off or at least turn of multy window which will probably will help to use menu button as menu.
/ found a solution for that problem....its called multy window toggle for samsung from play store. stops the annoying multy window.
for the google now that keeps popping on home button just need to uninstall google app and force it to factory app and it wont pop by pressing home button.
2. also on my older S5 with LP i had the option to share media with my ADB streamer via nearby devices in the settings menu. once i open the nearby devices i had few option on which file to share and to which device. but now in the S7e i have the nearby devices but i cant seem to share media with my streamer no more, plus i dont see any option to share media except the on off button and small explanation text about the nearby thing.
for this issue i still didnt find any solution.
both S5 and S7e are stock, my S5 is rooted tho.
can anyone enlighten me about this. maybe i just missed something about both issues ?
thanks for helpers

Have you tried to long press the back key?
This action usually recall the app menu...

themissionimpossible said:
Have you tried to long press the back key?
This action usually recall the app menu...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im so stupid i didnt notice that option. Works like a charm...on xda app. Thanks. Saved my day with this
Now just to find whats wrong with that issue sharing media to my streamer....
Sent from my SM-G935F