Top 10 Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks You Should Know
Some people started receiving their Samsung Galaxy S4 as the South Korea-based company announced last week that it released the device in most parts of the world.
Samsung's flagship smartphone features a 1.9GHz quad-core processor rather than the eight-core Eynos 5 originally tipped. Supposedly, an Octa-core version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be released later this year, but will only be available on 3G networks rather than the superfast 4G LTE signal.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5-inch Super AMOLED screen offering Full 1,920 x 1,080p HD resolutions with a 441p image density. Retaining the same height as the Samsung Galaxy S3, the new model is actually thinner than its predecessor at just 7.9mm thick in comparison to the 8.3mm measurements of the Galaxy S3.
Running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel camera in the rear coupled with a 2-megapixel snapper in front. The flagship packs a whole host of new camera features like Dual Camera and features Samsung Galaxy Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, Air View and Air Gesture functionality.
With a 2,600mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has three internal storage size options, all bolstered by the addition of a microSD card slot supporting cards up to 32GB. The current quad-core version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 provides 4G LTE connectivity as well as IR LED, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Below are the top 10 tips and tricks you should know about your Samsung Galaxy S4.
Using and customising Air View - Air View is one of the great applications of capacitive screen technology. It lets you interact with your Galaxy S4 without even touching it. There are four types of Air View functionality and you can switch them on and off in the Air View submenu that you will find in the My Device tab of Settings.
How to take a screenshot - Just press and hold the power and select buttons at the same time until the screen flashes, and an image of your screen will be saved to your phone's gallery.
Removing Samsung "whistle" - A Samsung Galaxy phone comes with an irritating "whistle" notification tone that accompanies text message alerts by default. You will find the options to alter this under "default notification sound" in the Sound submenu of Settings.
Customising your notifications panel shortcuts - The Samsung Galaxy S4 gives you masses of control over which quick power options are accessible from the standard pull-down Android notifications menu. You can have up to five toggles for phone features in the bar - for things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. To choose which ones you want to put in the limelight, tap the icon in the top-right of the notifications bar. This gives you the full power toggle selection. Then tap the pencil button up top to customise where these all sit. Drag up your favourites to the top to put them at your fingertips.
Set blocking mode - Blocking mode allows you stop your Galaxy S4 from alerting you with notifications, calls, alarms and the LED indicator during certain times (which you set). However, you can also set certain "golden contacts" that can get through to you at all times. The locking mode has its own menu within the My Device tab of Settings.
Auto-reject a call - Go to the My Device tab of the Settings menu, tap Call, Call Rejection, then Auto Reject List. Here is where you pick your rejection numbers. You can also setup messages to send to "rejected" people who try to call you.
Monitor data usage - One native Android 4.2 feature that has stuck in the Galaxy S4 is the data usage monitor. You will find it near the top of the Connections tab in Settings. It shows you the data you've used over the last month in a graph, and tells you what apps have used the most data. You can set your own mobile data limit, and make the phone disconnect mobile data once it's used up, in order to avoid any annoying extras charges on your mobile bill.
Turning on Power Saving mode - Samsung Galaxy S4 has a power saving mode that throttles certain phone features in order to make the battery last as long as possible. You'll find the Power Saving Mode menu within the My Device tab of the Settings menu. In it are three tick boxes to set the CPU, screen and haptic feedback to low-power mode.
Battery-saving tips - The top way to conserve battery is to turn off mobile data. You can do this from the notifications bar. With this turned off, you will not get any online updates unless you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. Other tactics include switching off GPS, Bluetooth, vibration alerts, NFC and Wi-Fi.
How to use multi-screen function- This feature allows you have two apps on-screen at once, using Samsung Multiview. This is one of the more substantial extras offered by Touchwiz. To use it, make sure Multiview is enabled in the drop down notifications power menu. Turning it on will make a little pull tab appear at the left of the screen. Tap on it and the apps drawer will appear. You can then drag these apps onto the screen. With no apps running, the app will fill the screen. Use it while already in an app and they will share half a screen each. You can also alter how much screen real estate each gets by dragging the bar that separates them.