[Q] to Note or Not ! - Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi All,
Having patiently waited for the Nexus 10 to be announced and now not being able to get 'hands on' time with one as yet in the UK, I'm seriously considering getting a Note 10.1.
Had a play with one in-store recently, I found it hard to put back down!, Love it!. I previously had the original Note put found I didn't use stylus that much because a thought the 5" screen was too small to anything useful, I now have a SGS3
I recently sold my nexus 7 only because I want a 10" daily driver mainly for reading my Magazines & Video on the commute to work, then productivity side is having the stylus for drawing house floor plans mainly and the odd sketches using adobe creative cloud, which I hope works on this device.
I know the Nexus 10 would be better for movies, but I would also like to read my magazines and tech documents without too much zooming / scrolling (as i had to on the nexus 7)
I'm edging towards the Note 10.1 and maybe even consider the 3G version (Or should I just tether to the SGS3?)
Which one shall I get?

its your preference bec if you buy a 3g you will need two 3g plans if you teeter you can do with one and save money I do not know the difference between the two over there but if it is much then no point

For me, the pen input forgives any shortcomings the Note has (build quality, screen res <= don't care too much anyways). So if you want the pen, you want the Note. Otherwise the Nexus 10.

skadebo said:
For me, the pen input forgives any shortcomings the Note has (build quality, screen res <= don't care too much anyways). So if you want the pen, you want the Note. Otherwise the Nexus 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ This. But also, if you want more than 32GB of storage, you want the Note (since the N10 lacks memory expansion).

Well the screen is not as bad as the specs show and on the other hand N10 screen is not as good as specs show.

deba said:
I'm edging towards the Note 10.1 and maybe even consider the 3G version (Or should I just tether to the SGS3?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Note is the most complete tablet on the market now and that includes W8 RT & Pro tablets. The latter beat it on productivity because of their MS Office access but lose big time on the consumption side. That is unless you think the kluged way you consume media on your current laptop/desktop is ideal.
When looking at other tablets ask yourself if these features mean anything to you:
- Multiview (enhanced in JB)
- Pop up play
- S-Pen/S-Note
- AllShare Play and Cast
- Enhanced camera features (smile/face/blink detection, buddy shot)
- Mini apps (enhanced in JB)
- Enhanced audio and video codec support
- IR port
- Browser h/w acceleration
- S-Voice (added in JB)
- Air View (added in JB)
- Group Cast (added in JB)
Video Air View – Preview videos without opening them. View future/past scenes in a playing video via the timeline without stopping it.
Photo Air View – Pictures contained in folders will display in thumbnails when you hover over the folder. They advance nine at a time.
E-Mail Air View – Hover the pen over a heading or contents of an e-mail summary (including via the widget) to see an exploded view of the contents without opening it.
S-Planner Air View – Hover the pen over an event or task to see an exploded view without opening it.
Pop Up Note – Tap the screen twice with the S-Pen button depressed and a pop up note will be displayed. Even on the lock screen when the device is locked. On the N8000, if you’re in a call and remove the S-Pen from its holder, a pop up note automatically opens.
Easy Clip – Capture anything on the display (lasso) anywhere and save it to the clipboard or send it an application (including S-Note).
Draw/Write on an e-mail – As it says.
Draw/Write in S-Planner – As it says (Month View only)
Color Picker – In S-Note, set the ink color to a color selected from a picture.
Pen Switch – Select multiple pen types (color, texture, weight) and toggle through them without opening the menu by pressing the button on the S-Pen once.
Sketch Affect – Change any picture to an outline, color sketch, pencil sketch and more from within S-Note.
Share S-Notes – Convert S-Notes to plain text, PDFs, or pictures and share them via Facebook etc. in one step.
Photo Note – Write personal notes on the back of photos
Gallery Organizer – Create folders and drag and drop pictures between them.
I've had the Note since it was launched and wouldn't be able to move to a tablet that didn't offer some of those features. Good or bad, Samsung's done so much to the Note s/w wise that it's more "Samsung" than "Android."​
As for the 3G, personally, I wouldn't have a tablet without it. Tethering is a pain in the ass. Pull out phone, turn on Wi-Fi sharing, connect tablet, disconnect tablet, turn off Wi-Fi sharing. Forget the last step and you're phone's battery is toast. It's toast anyway based on the additional power draw. And when a tablet's always connected you don't have to wait several minutes for it to sync to be usable as is the case for a Wi-Fi tablet reconnecting after being offline. The Note's also a full-fledged phone and with its mammoth battery its the device I use for long conference calls. All my accounts are replicated on my phone and tablet. If I have to respond to a long e-mail I'll pick-up the Note. Something short like MMS I'll use the phone. To me, it's really nice to have that option of picking the right tool so easily. I guess in the end it depends on your wallet and the cost of 3G access.
The only area where the Note gets dinged is the lack of a FHD display and I honestly wish it had one. But, as others have said too, the stuff listed above outweighs that.

Thanks guys, I just picked up the 10.1 wifi after work and playing with now!.
BarryH_GEG said:
The Note is the most complete tablet on the market now and that includes W8 RT & Pro tablets. The latter beat it on productivity because of their MS Office access but lose big time on the consumption side. That is unless you think the kluged way you consume media on your current laptop/desktop is ideal.
When looking at other tablets ask yourself if these features mean anything to you:
- Multiview (enhanced in JB)
- Pop up play
- S-Pen/S-Note
- AllShare Play and Cast
- Enhanced camera features (smile/face/blink detection, buddy shot)
- Mini apps (enhanced in JB)
- Enhanced audio and video codec support
- IR port
- Browser h/w acceleration
- S-Voice (added in JB)
- Air View (added in JB)
- Group Cast (added in JB)
Video Air View – Preview videos without opening them. View future/past scenes in a playing video via the timeline without stopping it.
Photo Air View – Pictures contained in folders will display in thumbnails when you hover over the folder. They advance nine at a time.
E-Mail Air View – Hover the pen over a heading or contents of an e-mail summary (including via the widget) to see an exploded view of the contents without opening it.
S-Planner Air View – Hover the pen over an event or task to see an exploded view without opening it.
Pop Up Note – Tap the screen twice with the S-Pen button depressed and a pop up note will be displayed. Even on the lock screen when the device is locked. On the N8000, if you’re in a call and remove the S-Pen from its holder, a pop up note automatically opens.
Easy Clip – Capture anything on the display (lasso) anywhere and save it to the clipboard or send it an application (including S-Note).
Draw/Write on an e-mail – As it says.
Draw/Write in S-Planner – As it says (Month View only)
Color Picker – In S-Note, set the ink color to a color selected from a picture.
Pen Switch – Select multiple pen types (color, texture, weight) and toggle through them without opening the menu by pressing the button on the S-Pen once.
Sketch Affect – Change any picture to an outline, color sketch, pencil sketch and more from within S-Note.
Share S-Notes – Convert S-Notes to plain text, PDFs, or pictures and share them via Facebook etc. in one step.
Photo Note – Write personal notes on the back of photos
Gallery Organizer – Create folders and drag and drop pictures between them.
I've had the Note since it was launched and wouldn't be able to move to a tablet that didn't offer some of those features. Good or bad, Samsung's done so much to the Note s/w wise that it's more "Samsung" than "Android."​
As for the 3G, personally, I wouldn't have a tablet without it. Tethering is a pain in the ass. Pull out phone, turn on Wi-Fi sharing, connect tablet, disconnect tablet, turn off Wi-Fi sharing. Forget the last step and you're phone's battery is toast. It's toast anyway based on the additional power draw. And when a tablet's always connected you don't have to wait several minutes for it to sync to be usable as is the case for a Wi-Fi tablet reconnecting after being offline. The Note's also a full-fledged phone and with its mammoth battery its the device I use for long conference calls. All my accounts are replicated on my phone and tablet. If I have to respond to a long e-mail I'll pick-up the Note. Something short like MMS I'll use the phone. To me, it's really nice to have that option of picking the right tool so easily. I guess in the end it depends on your wallet and the cost of 3G access.
The only area where the Note gets dinged is the lack of a FHD display and I honestly wish it had one. But, as others have said too, the stuff listed above outweighs that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

skadebo said:
For me, the pen input forgives any shortcomings the Note has (build quality, screen res <= don't care too much anyways). So if you want the pen, you want the Note. Otherwise the Nexus 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. The pen is great, I was on the fence about it also, to the point I cancelled my order, but it arrived anyway so I played with it and now there is no way I am sending it back. I use it mainly at work the large screen is not ideal for at home I still find the nexus 7 better for bed and toilet times so in that aspect the note 10.1 is the best solution for my needs, also the latest video from Samsung makes the next update even more to my liking.
Sent from my GT-I9300

BarryH_GEG said:
As for the 3G, personally, I wouldn't have a tablet without it. Tethering is a pain in the ass. Pull out phone, turn on Wi-Fi sharing, connect tablet, disconnect tablet, turn off Wi-Fi sharing. Forget the last step and you're phone's battery is toast. It's toast anyway based on the additional power draw. And when a tablet's always connected you don't have to wait several minutes for it to sync to be usable as is the case for a Wi-Fi tablet reconnecting after being offline. The Note's also a full-fledged phone and with its mammoth battery its the device I use for long conference calls. All my accounts are replicated on my phone and tablet. If I have to respond to a long e-mail I'll pick-up the Note. Something short like MMS I'll use the phone. To me, it's really nice to have that option of picking the right tool so easily. I guess in the end it depends on your wallet and the cost of 3G access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as tethering goes, use Bluetooth tethering, not WiFi hostspot. It's much more battery friendly, and has the benefit of being overridden by default if a known wifi network pops in range of the tablet. I never actually disable tethering on my phone.

Get the Note 10.1. The Nexus 10 OS, surprisingly, isn't as mature and stable nor as versatile. I'm leaning towards returning the Nexus 10 at this point mainly for laggy hdmi out, lockup just browsing with Chrome and on top of that lightbleed. I'm sure the Nexus 10 will mature with another update or two but by then there will probably be new products from Samsung, etc. and the Nexus 10 might drop in price and/or get upgraded. If it was my only tablet I might hang on to it and wait for it to mature but since it's not I'm not not beta testing.

I got mine Tuesday, still using just my fingers with it and still browsing using my phone.
Need to get the hang of the pen but I love using it with sketchbook.
Really alot to discover about the note, so much more than any reviewing sites say about it and don't think Samsung really promoted it very well as nobody really knows what it can do until you have a scout through youtube.
I bought mine cause all I basically knew about it that it has a great pen and the note is very responsive, there wasn't really any information about it and some of the reviews really were bad and can't believe they're talking about the same tablet.
No wonder people are weary about buying one.
Really don't blame them.
I for one love the note
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

mi7chy said:
I'm leaning towards returning the Nexus 10 at this point mainly for laggy hdmi out, lockup just browsing with Chrome and on top of that lightbleed. I'm sure the Nexus 10 will mature with another update or two but by then there will probably be new products from Samsung, etc. and the Nexus 10 might drop in price and/or get upgraded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we're witnessing a redefinition of the Nexus program and it doesn't appear XDA'rs are too fond of it. Rather than a development test bed for propeller heads, with the N4/7/10, Google's turning Nexus in to a full fledged "brand." And from the pricing it's aimed at value-oriented mainstream consumers and to create sales volume. There's a lot of "stuff" in their new devices and the specs look fantastic but if you read any of their forums there were compromises made. And at $299/$199/$399 each I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Looked at purely on "value" all three devices are pretty impressive. The N7 sort of stands alone because it competes with the KF and the like which is a relatively low bar. The N4 has some excellent high-end competition and has quite a few weaknesses compared to them. The N10 competes as much with the iPad as other Android tablets so all the h/w and s/w niggles along with some (shocking for Samsung) QC issues isn't a good start. If I didn't need/want the Note's features (and 3G) I'd still buy it over any other Android tablet though.

The main reason I would choose the Note 10.1 over the Nexus 10 is the ability to multi view apps, mostly in Jelly Bean. That does it for me!

For me it's the memory... I use the internal memory for apps, ebooks and music... I seem to be running out pretty quick, and I got the 32gb 3g note 10.1, the 64gb sd card is almost full so having no expansion is a serious deal killer for me... I want to see if the note 10.1 can handle a 128gb sd card but unfortunately we don't have 128gb in micro sd format, yet...

Related

GTA III works flaswlessy on Tablet

All you have to do is purchase on phone and sideload it, it will let you download data directly from tablet, at 1mb per second, it took about 7 mins for the whole process, 400mb download and data install. Go buy now, best 5 bucks ever spent.
Ps. I bought using my evo 3d, which also runs the game perfectly.
Edit: before you start asking, how to sideload it:
Dropbox, gmail, titanium backup, blue-tooth, etc. It also verifys market, so make sure you buy it.
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
chrisrotolo said:
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading with phone, then sideload it. It should work since it works for dell streak, even though it is android 2.3, it is a 7 inch tablet. It worked on my SGT7+ wifi, it should work on Tmobile. Just make sure you purchase it.
Downloaded but seeing quite a bit of lagg. Replacing user data files with GSII files now hoping that they will fix it
Which version do you have? Wifi or 3g? Also did you just sideload apk, and download data from tab, or copy both. Mine has no lag whatsoever with the data download directly to tab. I also have no lag with the data downloaded from my evo 3d. They both work perfectly. I also recommend using the analog steering and driving controls.
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
Cptnodegard said:
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come one bro, dont include those details, as it can get you booted.
Also what type of lag were you referring to?
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
Cptnodegard said:
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok, mine still seems very responsive, Ill try other data file from other phones i have. Ill post results later. Yup, thats the problem with android fragmentation, but either way any android phone beats an iphone.
No...it doesn't. Believing that is just pure bias as there is no, and probably never will be, an OS that beats the other on everything. That's why I have one of each.
Youre still very new to this community, give it some time, to the infite modifications and freedom android gives you.
Customizing something all the way to Mars is nice, but still doesn't make up for lack of apps. I've been using the iPad in ways that physically aren't possible on Android because of the lack of certain apps and types of apps
give me an example and Ill try to tell which apps are available. I have over 400 apps installed. I go thru the apple catalog and I only see nonsense apps, or social apps, how many of those do you need. But its true there are more apps, but almost all are already in android. Maybe not the market but getjar, amazon market, appbrain and more.
Ok, here's a challenge for you, and if you do manage to find an app, you will be my hero:
One of my most used apps on the iPad is a certain type of note taking app. I say a certain type rather than a specific app as there are quite literally dozens of these available on iOS now. This type of app will let me import documents - minimum requirement is PDF, but more types is better - and write on top of them. So far Android has alternative. Then you get to the most important feature, magnification mode. The way this works in all of said dozen apps is that you have a window at the bottom of the screen that shows a small portion of the screen magnified. This allows you to write big letters and have it be shrunk down. These boxes are resizable and can be set for various zoom levels. They also have auto-advance, meaning that when you get to the end of the box it automatically moves it so you just write from the beginning again. This way you can write sentence upon sentence just as you would on paper, and just as accurately, even with a normal capacitive stylus. Other features that are often in these apps include the ability to insert images, machine text, web clips, audio recordings etc. You will also need to have the ability to export PDF. There are apps on android that can annotate PDF, but not at that level. All semester I've been using the iPad and nothing but the iPad both in lectures and outside, scanning paper documents using Scanner Pro and an external camera, annotating them (this is why just text editing is useless - I need to be able to have 100% control over size, placement, angle etc of the text on a page, underline and make arrows and drawings all over the place, not just write some text down) and storing them for reading. Just had an exam with 900 pages worth of curriculum and notes, all read on the iPad, and created on the iPad to begin with in the case of notes.
That kind of app in particular is crucial, and it has to be able to do exactly what I mention here, no "almost" with missing the magnification mode etc. They even provided all the lecturers with iPads this fall, and they've been using the same types of apps connected to projectors via VGA (try finding a VGA adapter for the galaxy tab, btw ).
This is just the ultimate example though, as it's not only the type of app I've used the most, but it's an app that is 100% productivity. No widgets, games or anything like that - it's a productivity issue, and an issue for Android's usability in settings outside of people who like to watch videos and play with ADWlauncher (which also includes me in my spare time, hence why I have an Android tablet).
Other examples off the top of my head: Splashtop's secondary product, xDisplay. It doesnt exist on Android (yet), and it's an example of an app where I don't care if there are "similar products" - it's the system I'm invested in and missing apps from major services like that is an issue. I could also bring up apps that have some sort of equivalent, but far from anything that works as good. Goodreader on the iPad -> ezPDF on Android, much less powerful app. Scanner Pro -> CamScanner, same thing, and they even broke 7.0 plus compatibility in the last update. There's no direct access app for the educational system my school uses, Classfronter, which isn't really an issue due to browser access but still an issue as it's slower. No good alternative to Reeder either, not that I've found anyways.
Education in itself is an interesting field. There are so many apps that make the iPad a powerful tool for both teachers and students on iOS. How about the ability to annotate documents wirelessly using Syncpad, an app that streams the image on screen to any HTML5 browser that's connected to the internet (not just local wifi)? Used that one a lot. Replaynote, letting you do notes and commentary and have it automatically turned into a video that you can send off to help people. Dictionary apps; when you study ENglish like I do, "a dictionary" isn't enough. You need as many as possible. That's iOS, not android.
Enough productivity. Fun apps. BBE's app has brought a music enhancement technology, that so far has only been licensed to Cowon for portable use, to iOS. There's no comparison to EQs in apps like Poweramp. Flipboard, awesome RSS reader that I use instead of Reeder when I want to relax, not read feeds for work. Tried Pulse, not the same, or even close. Neither is Currents. Zinio is luckily on both OSes though there are several magazines that are only available through Newsstand. Connecting the iPad to a synthesizer via USB and playing around with it on an amateur level is always fun.
Enough examples.
I love my 7.0 Plus. I love how personal the homescreen is after tweaking it, Google Talk on it is awesome, it's the device I reach for to check email in the morning, I love using a Wiimote for games, i use it as a mouse and keyboard for my PC in bed, remote control utorrent, browse the web, as a flashlight at night (LOVE that), video support makes me weep tears of joy, read books that aren't scanned A4 documents (and hence possible to reformat for 7 inches) etc. It's a great device, which is why I have it. However it isn't perfect. There's plenty of room for both OSes in my life, for the exact reason that neither is perfect.
Repligo reader for first, lets you write on top of pdf files (shapes, text,highlight, selections,w/e), I use it in class alot, but also lean to quick office since I just use camera to copy what i dont feel like typing.
Currents instead of pulse, much better. Also with repligo everything should be capable to be done, what ios app are you refering to which can do all that.
splashtop is on android also.
I think I answered what you needed, to long to read over again, while trying to study for nueuro final.
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
*edit* Nevermind. I was able to get the apk using Root Explorer. Can't wait to fire it up!
theundeadelvis said:
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need root, and you can use root explorer to copy, to sd card. Make sure you click on r/w to be able to write and copy.

[Q] With a tablet like the TF300T and Dock, what software is missing...

I am a software developer, and have been creating Android apps for businesses since 2008. Up until recently all of the apps I have created have been for businesses to serve specific needs.
When I recently bought my TF300T I quickly wanted to start leaving the laptop home, but there are just a few things left I still cannot do on Android.
So my question to you is, what would you like to be able to do in Android that you cannot yet do?
I'd like to see a word processor that supports features such as: multiple columns, page numbering, a ruler, fonts, spacing, margins, multiple paper sizes, printing directly to a wireless or shared printer etc.
Some of these features are available for various Office suite word processors, but I have yet to find one that supports them all. It's getting better, but we're not there yet.
A robust office suite, really, is the only thing that's missing for me.
Google bought quickoffice, so I hope to see a Drive/office hybrid. MS is also working on office for android tablets afaik.
So office apps might not be the best choice as a software dev.
Has someone made a nice music player app that takes advantage of the tablet screen? Basically multiple frames so you can see what's playing (with basic controls) on one side of the screen, and be able scroll through your playlist or music directory on the other side of the screen.
Something like that with pop up windows (or frames) for additional features (like an Equalizer) would be pretty nice.
Actually not sure if the TF300 has a good music player, as I haven't received mine yet, but on my other tablet, everything I've found seems to be made for phones, and I hate having to cycle through different screens just to browse the playlist
I really want an app that synchronises handwritten note taking with audio, like the echo smartpen does. Then I could use it in meetings really effectively.
I think there is an ipad app that does this (grr...) but nothing for Android
mike-y said:
Has someone made a nice music player app that takes advantage of the tablet screen? Basically multiple frames so you can see what's playing (with basic controls) on one side of the screen, and be able scroll through your playlist or music directory on the other side of the screen.
Something like that with pop up windows (or frames) for additional features (like an Equalizer) would be pretty nice.
Actually not sure if the TF300 has a good music player, as I haven't received mine yet, but on my other tablet, everything I've found seems to be made for phones, and I hate having to cycle through different screens just to browse the playlist
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Play Music, which comes on the tablet, is tablet-optimized. The tablet also comes with MusicFX, which is an equalizer, and it integrates with Play Music.
EndlessDissent said:
Google Play Music, which comes on the tablet, is tablet-optimized. The tablet also comes with MusicFX, which is an equalizer, and it integrates with Play Music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd hardly call Google Music tablet optimized, it scales well but doesnt use space very efficiently.
This is the only one I know of, but its really ugly
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...jects.musicplayerforpad&feature=search_result
But yeah, I'd also like to see a better office editor. Quickoffice is a little too light on features to be taken seriously for more than minor edits.
The docks USB port does not recognize my camera and I do not like the way the tablet just puts your pictures in one big conglomeration. I would like a tablet that recognizes any digital camera and places your photos into files by date like a PC does. I use the tablet for work and I have to upload photos to my reports and then send the reports to my office. I have been able to type reports but it takes so many steps to get pictures from my camera into the tablet and then load them onto my reports that I am not able to do my reports quickly unless I am at home at my compute doing them.
I would love to get my hands on an Android clone of the airsketch app another teacher in my building has for his ipad.
Sent from my jitterbug using tapatalk.
I would like to have an app was functionally similar to Quicken. Personal financial tracking that was not web based. I have to carry a netbook to get that currently.
Mike
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using XDA
Biggest problem with Android apps right now is they aren't optimized for tablets. Most of the apps are designed for phones.
Yeah, but that should change as tablets get cheaper and more popular.
I would like at least a word processor (if not a whole office suite) That;
1: Had all but the most advanced of a PC's word processors features such as full formatting, the ability to add fonts, full text options; the whole nine yards.
2: It having a nice ICS tablet layout. Not a clunky phone UI that has the features but not the layout to be of any use.
3: Full usb (or our dock) and bluetooth keyboard support with hotkeys and shortcuts (ie: Ctrl+V for paste etc etc...)
4: A supportive dev who would listen to community input and have a way to contact them easily where the other members of the community could also see the discussion (ie: a forums).
If you actually intend to do this (I REALLLLLLLY hope you do, its sorely needed) then I myself will plan on donating to the projects development as it goes along.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T
SilentStormer said:
I would like at least a word processor (if not a whole office suite) That;
1: Had all but the most advanced of a PC's word processors features such as full formatting, the ability to add fonts, full text options; the whole nine yards.
2: It having a nice ICS tablet layout. Not a clunky phone UI that has the features but not the layout to be of any use.
3: Full usb (or our dock) and bluetooth keyboard support with hotkeys and shortcuts (ie: Ctrl+V for paste etc etc...)
4: A supportive dev who would listen to community input and have a way to contact them easily where the other members of the community could also see the discussion (ie: a forums).
If you actually intend to do this (I REALLLLLLLY hope you do, its sorely needed) then I myself will plan on donating to the projects development as it goes along.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I am putting the finishing touches on a project I hope to release this coming week sometime. It will be a tool specifically for Tablets and geared towards software developers mostly.
I am responding to you because the app I am about to release does support all of the typical hotkeys like Ctrl-V etc.
The biggest problem with creating an office suite for tablets is supporting all of the various file types that are out there (Office 2000/2003/2007 etc.) If it was just a matter of supporting one file type, and having the ability to import/convert from/to the other file types than it would be much easier. The problem is that would add an extra step for users to deal with.
I also think that Google will be releasing a very nice Office Suite for Android very soon. I think with the push for Chrome OS, and the already stated fact that Google plans to merge Chrome OS into Android points to that even more.
sgrant said:
Right now I am putting the finishing touches on a project I hope to release this coming week sometime. It will be a tool specifically for Tablets and geared towards software developers mostly.
I am responding to you because the app I am about to release does support all of the typical hotkeys like Ctrl-V etc.
The biggest problem with creating an office suite for tablets is supporting all of the various file types that are out there (Office 2000/2003/2007 etc.) If it was just a matter of supporting one file type, and having the ability to import/convert from/to the other file types than it would be much easier. The problem is that would add an extra step for users to deal with.
I also think that Google will be releasing a very nice Office Suite for Android very soon. I think with the push for Chrome OS, and the already stated fact that Google plans to merge Chrome OS into Android points to that even more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Im excited for whatever Google has up it's sleeve. (maybe a built-in office suite in jelly bean? )
sounds like an interesting app and Ill be sure and give it a try!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T
some apps require sd card to work (like this one or this one), because they put the data on sd card, so i want an app that have the abiltiy to use the internal memory as an "virtual sd card",
i know sd cards are not expensive, but i just feel like it's not necessary to use a sd card while there's still a lot of space on my device (like this one has 32 GB) and sometimes you forget your sd card or because of whatever reason you don't want to use your sd card.
so an app like that would be very useful (at least for me, i really need it )
i'd also like to see the list of apps you've created
I would like a virtual server running.
I have a particular need and idea to get some of my phone apps working on the tablet.
My idea is to create a virtual space something like Stick It! or Super Video, those app allow you to open a window and play your videos inside a hovering and movable window.
I took a measurement, and since owning an Asus TF300T with the keyboard dock, my tablet is mostly in landscape mode .
In landscape mode I can fit 3 windows of virtual space (or however you want to call it technically) of my phone in portrait mode.
So the apps on my phone where the developer is; for whatever reason, not interested in making those apps tablet ready, I can run those apps and see them the way they would look on the phone.
Because of the space that I measured, I can run 3 portrait phone apps at once. And just tap to switch between windows.
Does this sound like something that would benefit users?
Thanks
Rob
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
pepperonihead said:
The docks USB port does not recognize my camera and I do not like the way the tablet just puts your pictures in one big conglomeration. I would like a tablet that recognizes any digital camera and places your photos into files by date like a PC does. I use the tablet for work and I have to upload photos to my reports and then send the reports to my office. I have been able to type reports but it takes so many steps to get pictures from my camera into the tablet and then load them onto my reports that I am not able to do my reports quickly unless I am at home at my compute doing them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
There's a few apps I can think of off the top of my head. A gallery, a calculator & an app that brings all your social feeds together.
For the gallery, I'd like something similar to the stock gallery app except with the option to view it in list or folder view or something similar. Sorting options like sort by name, type etc and the ability to flick through them in that order would be good too.
For the calculator, heaps of buttons on the screen would be nice, and maybe they could be scrollable to reveal more buttons. Right now most calculators are just simple calculators with giant buttons lol. I'd really appreciate a scientific or graphic calculator on Android.
I'm also yet to find a decent tablet app that brings all your social feeds together. Something like the desktop Tweetdeck where you can have multiple panes would be great plus the ability to view profiles, messages, notifications etc.
I'd be willing to pay for any of these as long as their recently priced. (Not gonna pay $20 for a gallery lol)
If any of these are already on the market a reply or link would be appreciated lol, maybe I'm not digging hard enough.
---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:21 PM ----------
rlanza1054 said:
I would like a virtual server running.
I have a particular need and idea to get some of my phone apps working on the tablet.
My idea is to create a virtual space something like Stick It! or Super Video, those app allow you to open a window and play your videos inside a hovering and movable window.
I took a measurement, and since owning an Asus TF300T with the keyboard dock, my tablet is mostly in landscape mode .
In landscape mode I can fit 3 windows of virtual space (or however you want to call it technically) of my phone in portrait mode.
So the apps on my phone where the developer is; for whatever reason, not interested in making those apps tablet ready, I can run those apps and see them the way they would look on the phone.
Because of the space that I measured, I can run 3 portrait phone apps at once. And just tap to switch between windows.
Does this sound like something that would benefit users?
Thanks
Rob
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for double post but I'd love something like this. Like multitasking with 3 vertical apps running in phone mode would be beautiful. Maybe not a virtual server (do you mean online?), but just running an app in a phone version rather than tablet. That way we could have apps like Launcher 7 etc run on tabs. Or maybe have 2/3 of the screen having a browser and the other 1/3 of space occupying a phone app. Great idea man.
It would seem pretty hard to code or implement though.
+1

[Novice Guide] You Just Bought a Galaxy S4? - 50 Tips and Tricks

Original source by Andrew Williams :-> HERE
50 Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks​For novice users​
Hi everybody
So you decided to join the ranks of Android and the millions of happy Galaxy S4 owners. But It can be troublesome to setup your phone at the beginning. 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 article. Here are 50 useful tips and tricks for new (even less new) Galaxy S4 users to pull out the best of your phone. Enjoy!
This is a Tips and Tricks guide, to see all you can do with your new Galaxy S4 please read ->Galaxy S4 Bloatware explained
Touchwiz​Make 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:
If Developer Options is not enable go to SETTINGS->About Phone and tap BUILD NUMBER for 7 times.
***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 applications, turn it off.
Ringtones - Alarms - Notifications - Media Files​Put your Sounds in the system.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 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 annoying 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)
Remove unwanted media files
To remove unwanted media files (pictures, audio) that do not belong in the gallery or in your music player, just create an empty file and name it ".nomedia". Place a .nomedia file at the root of any folder you don't wan't to see appear in your Gallery or Music player. Android will skip scannnig those folder. You can always open those files later by using a file explorer.
Screen and video​
Get AMOLED colours in check
OLED-based screens like the Samsung Galaxy S4'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 S4 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 native video support.
Video multi-tasking is in
One of the neatest additional features of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4 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 S4'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 S4 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 S4'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 S4 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 S4 has a massive 2600mAh 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 S4, 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 and iPhone 5 to name but two - we love that the Samsung Galaxy S4 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.
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 S4 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 S4 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".
Don't forget side-loading of apps
The Samsung Galaxy S4 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 customize 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4. 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 S4 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 Galaxy S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 13-megapixel sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S4 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 S4 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 S4. 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 your finger 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 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 S4 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 Group Cast
Group Cast 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. Group Cast lets you send your Galaxy S4'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.
S-voice​The Galaxy S4 comes with voice controlled app. Only some Samsung apps can be controlled via S-voice but the most important are covered. Once you start S-voice and pass thru the initial setup just go on settings and enable “control apps”.
Camera
You can now take pictures of yourself without holding the phone. Just put the phone on an improvised stand pose and shout SHOOT!
Music Player
You can also control the music player via Bluetooth or directly. It answers to PLAY, PAUSE, NEXT, PREVIOUS, VOLUME UP, VOLUME DOWN and RESUME.
Phone
You can also respond to a phone call by just by saying ANSWER or REJECT, This will put the phone on speaker(if previously setup)
Alarm
You can stop or snooze alarms with the command STOP and SNOOZE(pretty straight forward)
EXTRA​Play Multiplayer games with Group Cast
Group Cast allows for multiplayer games to be played on several phones simultaneously. Of course, only supported games work
Samsung introduced its new Galaxy S4 game controller.
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"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
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"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
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NEW Hide Your Bloatware (from eyecon82)​
You can hide icons in the app drawer by pressing menu key and selecting which app icons you don't want showing. You can also arrange your icons alphabetically by going into app drawer, menu key, view type, alphabetical.
Enjoy!:good:
PS: Without comments this thread will fall in the abyss of the system(unless it becomes a sticky, which would be good). So please keep it alive with a little reply. thanks.
<-- Don't forget to hit THANKS if I helped
Great tips, thanks! Some things in here I wasn't fully familiar with, so it's great to have a refresher course. I'm still amazed just by every little function and feature that can be packed into such small devices now. There's multiple ways to perform almost any task or process on the phone, which adds so much flexibility.
According to Displaymate, Auto screen mode has a higher maximum peak brightness than manual. Also, having HDR camera mode always on is NOT recommended.
Great tips, thanks!
How do you get the 50gb free from drop box?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
tony1208 said:
How do you get the 50gb free from drop box?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just log in to dropbox with your Galaxy S4
Hmm I logged on via the app on my gs4 using me Dropbox account I been using and the 50gb isn't there. Do I need a new account?
Sent from my Galaxy S4
tony1208 said:
Hmm I logged on via the app on my gs4 using me Dropbox account I been using and the 50gb isn't there. Do I need a new account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have Dropbox on your computer? If not, you might need to install Dropbox on your computer and then Log from your computer. I don't know exactly how it works. All I know is when I logged to Dropbox I had 50g available.
I thought the s4 had a 13mp camera
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
jamal777 said:
I thought the s4 had a 13mp camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right. OP updated Thanks
Kremata said:
Do you have Dropbox on your computer? If not, you might need to install Dropbox on your computer and then Log from your computer. I don't know exactly how it works. All I know is when I logged to Dropbox I had 50g available.
Edit: Apparently you need to register to Dropbox from the initial setup from when your phone was new. So you might need to make a factory reset. It might also not work with custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to do it from the initial setup.
I tried logging in to my old Dropbox account but haven't used it for ages so had to change password. I skipped the login at the initial setup, changed password on the Dropbox website and then logged into the app with my existing account. I then got an email a couple of seconds later saying I now have 50GB.
mshaw03 said:
You don't need to do it from the initial setup.
I tried logging in to my old Dropbox account but haven't used it for ages so had to change password. I skipped the login at the initial setup, changed password on the Dropbox website and then logged into the app with my existing account. I then got an email a couple of seconds later saying I now have 50GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, I will remove my edit.
this is... amazing.
coming from a droid 3 this is really going to help me out. ive been trying out the display model of the s3 but without a little guidance its impossible to see all the things you can do with it
BoneXDA said:
According to Displaymate, Auto screen mode has a higher maximum peak brightness than manual. Also, having HDR camera mode always on is NOT recommended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't leave it on always. It turns back to normal when you turn off the camera.
Kremata said:
You can't leave it on always. It turns back to normal when you turn off the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't leave what on always?
BoneXDA said:
You can't leave what on always?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HDR mode
Perfect! As an ex apple user, i find posts like this really useful in making that transition a whole lot easier. Thanks OP :good:
Hello, I don't know if here is the right place to ask that, but I'm thinking about to get one S4, I have a S3 for now, and my question is, the S3 stock ROM has a contact lag, it takes about 1 or 2 sec to open the contacts, it's like it did not keep contacts on main memory, so every time you open it, it take that secs. It really bother me, but Jkay has fixed that on S3.
I'd like to know if S4 has that lag too? Runnig stock.
Thanks a lot.
can't seem to find "developer options"?
4.2.2 to enable developer options go to settings about phone. And tap android version 3 times
Sent from my XT912 using xda premium

[Novice Guide] You Just Bought a Galaxy S4? - 50 Tips and Tricks

Original source by Andrew Williams :-> HERE
50 Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks​For novice users​
Hi everybody
So you decided to join the ranks of Android and the millions of happy Galaxy S4 owners. But It can be troublesome to setup your phone at the beginning. 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 article. Here are 50 useful tips and tricks for new (even less new) Galaxy S4 users to pull out the best of your phone. Enjoy!
This is a Tips and Tricks guide, to see all you can do with your new Galaxy S4 please read ->Galaxy S4 Bloatware explained
Touchwiz​Make 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:
If Developer Options is not enable go to SETTINGS->About Phone and tap BUILD NUMBER for 7 times.
***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 applications, turn it off.
Ringtones - Alarms - Notifications​Put your Sounds in the system.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 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 annoying 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 S4'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 S4 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 native video support.
Video multi-tasking is in
One of the neatest additional features of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4 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 S4'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 S4 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 S4'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 S4 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 S4 has a massive 2600mAh 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 S4, 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 and iPhone 5 to name but two - we love that the Samsung Galaxy S4 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.
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 S4 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 S4 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".
Don't forget side-loading of apps
The Samsung Galaxy S4 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 customize 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 S4. 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 S4 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 Galaxy S4 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.
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 S4 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 S4 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 S4 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 13-megapixel sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S4 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 S4 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 S4. 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 your finger 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 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 S4 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 Group Cast
Group Cast 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. Group Cast lets you send your Galaxy S4'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.
S-voice​The Galaxy S4 comes with voice controlled app. Only some Samsung apps can be controlled via S-voice but the most important are covered. Once you start S-voice and pass thru the initial setup just go on settings and enable “control apps”.
Camera
You can now take pictures of yourself without holding the phone. Just put the phone on an improvised stand pose and shout SHOOT!
Music Player
You can also control the music player via Bluetooth or directly. It answers to PLAY, PAUSE, NEXT, PREVIOUS, VOLUME UP, VOLUME DOWN and RESUME.
Phone
You can also respond to a phone call by just by saying ANSWER or REJECT, This will put the phone on speaker(if previously setup)
Alarm
You can stop or snooze alarms with the command STOP and SNOOZE(pretty straight forward)
EXTRA​Play Multiplayer games with Group Cast
Group Cast allows for multiplayer games to be played on several phones simultaneously. Of course, only supported games work
Samsung introduced its new Galaxy S4 game controller.
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Enjoy!:good:
PS: Without comments this thread will fall in the abyss of the system(unless it becomes a sticky, which would be good). So please keep it alive with a little reply. thanks.
<-- Don't forget to hit THANKS if I helped
reply...
Why isn't there quick controls in the browser? My most used feature on S3.
This has been helpful - many of the tips I had already known or figured out but sometimes it's nice to be reminded of things that are not used frequenlty -- thanks
How do you make purchased using the NFC? at&t is not allowing this?
Thx for posting this. I'm a newbie to Android. Just decided to switch from Blackberry Dakota. Can't wait for the phone to arrive Sat next week. Seems like I have a lot to learn to speed up my learning curve with Android.
If Developer Options is not enable go to SETTINGS->About Phone and tap BUILD NUMBER for 7 times.
OP Updated
I know with the GS3 through ATT that they disallowed the 50 gb dropbox thing, are you sure it is with the s4? I don't see anything about how to get the 50 gb anywhere with the att version. If anyone knows anything, I would love to know what I am missing. Thanks
Thank you...
Awesome review of most of the features it has. I tried the cloud and its not up and running yet...
Would it save power if I turned all the air gesture off????
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
I didn't get the 50gb free dropbox space I have the ATT version...
Hi guys,
I just started to use my S4 on yesterday so i have few questions to ask.
1)do i have to charge the phone for 8 hour.?
2)what is the purpose of the animation?
3)my batterry seems drop very fast i just fbing, net and msg in the same time within 1 hour it drop from 90% to 63% is this normal?
Sorry for my bad english
Thanks
neincraft said:
I didn't get the 50gb free dropbox space I have the ATT version...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After logging to Dropbox from your S4 check your email, you might have to reply to the Dropbox email before the 50Gb is apply.
Honestly I don't know if the AT&T S4 will receive or not the 50Gb of Dropbox. This guide was intended for all S4 so it is possible that some carrier versions don't have this options. This said I don't see why AT&T would block you from getting it.
ryanhoe said:
1)do i have to charge the phone for 8 hour.?
2)what is the purpose of the animation?
3)my batterry seems drop very fast i just fbing, net and msg in the same time within 1 hour it drop from 90% to 63% is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- No, that is for old battery type, new Li-ion battery don't need this. Once your phone is charged it will automatically stop charging so it's useless to leave it on charge for more. BUT you might want to turn off your phone once it says 100% and let it charge again(while the phone is OFF) until the "Big Battery" is 100%. This will help re-calibrate the battery.(There is a lot of debate on this to say if it really help or not but one thing I know for sure is, it can't only help it cannot be a bad thing)
2- Animations are there only to make the phone look good.
3- I would need more details but dropping 27% n 1 hour doesn't seem normal. You might want to check those two excellent thread.
Read this ---> [GUIDE] Enlarge your battery life : an attempt to fix the battery drain
And this ---> [How to] Brilliant Battery Life 100% working!
Rankiz said:
Why isn't there quick controls in the browser? My most used feature on S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP Updated!
Kremata said:
OP Updated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No? Quick Controls isn't available under the browser's settings in S4. Running v4.2.2 in Europe.
I didn't get the 50GB either, even after linking my Dropbox account. I'm on AT&T
Rankiz said:
No? Quick Controls isn't available under the browser's settings in S4. Running v4.2.2 in Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Arhg! I thought you meant I forgot to add Quick Controls, I couldn't check coz my wife is using the S4 and I have Quick Controls on my Note II. Ok :silly:
soritong said:
I didn't get the 50GB either, even after linking my Dropbox account. I'm on AT&T
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Click to collapse
Did you check your email?
Kremata said:
Did you check your email?
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Click to collapse
Yup. I just got the generic "You've linked your account to dropbox. Congrats" email
soritong said:
Yup. I just got the generic "You've linked your account to dropbox. Congrats" email
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And? Did you get the 50Gb?

Is anyone making apps?

I have been trying to make a note taking app so when the keyboard app comes out I'll have a tool for class any suggestions for me on this?
I wish you luck in this endeavor. I would hope you are able to do text insertion via speech-to-text recognition because realistically, doing note entry via a phone is already painful with a keyboard (that's why I prefer a stylus like on my Galaxy Note) - doing it on an even smaller screen and cramped keyboard feels like it will be worse.
I don't see this as much more than a "last resort" in case I don't have my phone on me (and considering the Gear is designed to piggy back off of the phone I see that even less likely), but it would be a nice to have in that scenario. It can just upload when it connects back to the phone.
Even if you just made it an audio recording app that was able to exceed the included app's 5 minute recording duration limits that would be more useful as a note-taking assistant.
What is painfully missing is a way to display notes and lists TO the watch from the phone. This would be much more useful to more people - at least until Evernote gets their act together and releases the app they promised for the Gear. I miss having my shopping/to do list on my watch.

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