- Customizing the Home Screen
- Setting the Apps View
- Changing System Settings
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Changing System Settings
By changing preferences in Settings, you can make the phone look and work to match your needs. Although system and app settings are discussed throughout the book, this section points out some that aren’t mentioned elsewhere but are important in customizing your phone.
To access system settings, go to the Home screen and tap Apps, Settings. You can also tap a Home screen Settings shortcut (if you’ve created one), or you can open the Notification panel and tap the Settings icon at the top. (An advantage of the latter approach is that you can go to Settings no matter what you’re doing without first having to return to the Home screen.)
To access an app’s settings (for those that provide them), launch the app, tap the menu icon, and choose Settings.
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It’s Not All Good: Quick Setting Buttons Versus Quick Settings
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that—in addition to the Quick Settings in the Notification panel—the first section of Settings is labeled Quick Settings. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the icons in Settings weren’t the same as the ones in the Notification panel! Unfortunately, although the two sets of icons have essentially the same name, they’re different features. (Nice programming, guys.)
The icons in the Notification panel are properly called Quick Setting buttons; the icons in the first section of Settings are the Quick Settings. Customizing both sets are discussed in the following sections—separately, of course.
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Customize the Quick Setting Buttons
At the top of the Notification panel is a horizontally scrolling string of icons called Quick Setting buttons. By tapping these buttons, you can quickly enable or disable system features. If you press and hold most of these buttons, you go directly to that feature’s screen in Settings. You can customize the Quick Setting buttons by selecting different settings to display and changing the order in which they’re listed.
- Open the Notification panel by swiping the top of the screen downward.
Tap the Grid View icon to display the entire array of Quick Setting buttons.
Tap the Edit icon.
The Quick Setting buttons are divided into two sets: Active Buttons (those currently in use in the Notification panel) and Available Buttons (other buttons that can be moved into the Active Buttons set). You can edit the Quick Setting buttons in these ways:
- Swap any pair of buttons by long-pressing a button in one set and dragging it onto a button in the other set. (The final set of Active Buttons can contain either nine or ten buttons.)
- Change the order of the Active Buttons by long-pressing a button and dragging it to a new position. The two buttons swap places.
- Restore the original Quick Setting buttons and their order by tapping Reset.
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Customize the Quick Settings
Whenever you open Settings, the first section—regardless of the view you’ve set (Grid, List, or Tab)—is always Quick Settings. The purpose of the Quick Settings is to make a dozen of your most frequently used settings easily accessible without having to remember the Settings section in which each one can otherwise be found.
Open Settings by tapping Apps, Settings (or any other method previously discussed) and choose Edit Quick Settings from the menu.
- Quick Settings can contain only a dozen settings. To change the current settings, tap those you want to eliminate (removing their check marks) and then tap the settings icons that you want to use as replacements.
Tap Save when you’re done making changes.
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Motions and Gestures Settings
You can selectively enable Motions and Gestures settings to control phone features by making special movements with the phone or gestures that are sensed by it. Many of these settings are very helpful; others... well, you be the judge.
Open Settings, and tap the Motions and Gestures icon (in the Motion section).
Each of the Motions and Gestures settings operates as an on/off toggle. They work as follows:
- Air Browse. When enabled, you can wave your hand over the sensor at the top of the phone to instruct it to scroll in various apps, such as Gallery, Music, Email, and Internet.
- Direct Call. When viewing a person’s contact record, log entry, or message conversation, you can move the phone to your ear to automatically call the person.
- Smart Alert. When you pick up the phone, it vibrates to notify you of missed calls or messages.
- Mute/Pause. When enabled, you can specify methods that can be used to pause media playback and mute alarms or incoming calls. Unlike the two natural motions for silencing the phone, Smart Pause relies on the front camera to detect when you’re looking at the screen. If it senses you’ve looked away, video playback is automatically paused. It restarts again when it detects that you’re looking at the screen.
- Palm Swipe to Capture. When enabled, you can create screen captures by placing the edge of your hand on the screen and dragging across it. Captured screens are saved in the Screenshots folder. (You can also create screen captures by simultaneously pressing the Home key and Power button.)
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Air View
When enabled, Air View instructs certain apps to respond when they sense that your finger is hovering slightly above the screen. For example, Calendar can pop up an event’s details and Phone shows the person and number associated with a speed dial number. To enable or disable Air View, open Settings and tap the Air View icon (in the Motion section).
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One-Handed Operation
If you sometimes need to operate the phone entirely with one hand, you can enable One-Handed Operation. When enabled, the screen is reduced in size and shifted so it’s closest to the operating hand. To avoid the need to press the hardware buttons at the bottom of the phone and other essential controls, onscreen controls are added to the reduced display within reach of your thumb.
Open Settings and tap the One-Handed Operation icon (in the Sound and Display section).
- Enable One-Handed Operation mode by moving the slider to the On position.
Follow the onscreen directions by sliding your thumb from the outer edge to the center and then back. When successful, the screen will reduce in size.
To configure and use the reduced screen, you can do any of the following:
- Drag the upper-right corner to adjust the display size.
- Tap icons at the bottom of the screen rather than trying to press the keys they represent.
- Tap icons at the top of the screen to display your favorite contacts or favorite apps on the right edge of the window. With the contacts or apps icon selected (dark), you can tap the Edit icon to modify the listed contacts or apps. To hide the favorites, tap the same icon at the top of the screen again.
- When you’re done using One-Handed Operation, repeat Steps 1 and 2 to disable it.
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Ringtones
A ringtone is an audible event notification, such as a sound effect or snippet of music. You can specify default ringtones for incoming calls and text messages, as well as set person- or group-specific ringtones.
Set the Default Incoming Call Ringtone
Unless overridden by a personal or group ringtone, the default ringtone plays to notify you of an incoming call.
Open Settings and tap the Sound icon (in the Sound and Display section).
Tap Ringtones.
The Ringtones dialog box appears, showing a scrolling list of all built-in, created, and downloaded ringtones. Tap a ringtone to play it. When you’re satisfied with your choice, tap OK. (For an explanation of the Add button, see the note at the end of the “Assign a Ringtone to a Contact” task.)
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Set the Default Notification Ringtone
Unless overridden by a personal or group ringtone, the default notification ringtone plays to signify a new email, new text message, missed call, waiting voicemail, or upcoming Calendar event. Unlike call ringtones, notification ringtones are brief and less intrusive.
Open Settings and tap the Sound icon (in the Sound and Display section).
Tap Notifications.
The Notifications dialog box appears, showing a scrolling list containing all the notification ringtones. Tap an entry to play it. When you’re satisfied with your choice, tap OK.
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Assign a Ringtone to a Contact
To make it easy to quickly recognize an incoming call from a person, you can associate a distinctive ringtone with his or her record in Contacts.
Open Contacts by tapping its Home screen icon or by tapping Apps, Contacts.
With the Contacts tab selected, find the person’s record by scrolling or searching. Tap the record to open it.
Tap the Edit icon.
- Tap the Ringtone entry.
- Select the ringtone that you want to use and tap OK. Select Default Ringtone (at the top of the list) if you prefer to use the default ringtone for this contact.
Tap the Save button.
The selected ringtone is associated with and displayed on the person’s contact record.
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Using Sound Files and Songs as Ringtones
If the ringtone you want to use isn’t listed in the Ringtones dialog box, tap Add. If a Complete Action Using dialog box appears, select the app that you want to use to specify the ringtone (such as Sound Picker, for example) and tap Just Once. Navigate to the ringtone, sound, or music file; select it; and tap Done or OK.
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Assign a Ringtone to a Contact Group
You can also assign a distinctive ringtone to all members of a contact group. (To learn about groups, see “Working with Contact Groups” in Chapter 5, “Managing Contacts.”)
Open Contacts by tapping its Home screen icon or by tapping Apps, Contacts.
Select the Contacts tab, and then tap the Groups icon to display the list of defined groups.
Open a group by tapping its name.
Tap the menu icon and choose Edit Group.
Tap Group Ringtone and select a ringtone as described in Steps 5–7 of the previous task (“Assign a Ringtone to a Contact”).
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Assign a Message Notification Sound
In addition to selecting a sound to announce new text and multimedia messages from within the Messages app, you can set one in Sound settings. In this task, you learn to use this second approach. The technique can also be used to specify a sound or ringtone to announce incoming calls, new email, or calendar events.
Open Settings and tap the Sound icon (in the Sound and Display section).
Scroll to the Samsung Applications section of Sound Settings and tap Messages. (Note the entries for other apps and features.)
Ensure that Messages is On, and then tap Notification Sound.
Select a sound from the scrolling list and tap OK. (If you’d rather not have a messaging sound, select Silent.)
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Create Ringtones from Songs
Here’s another method for creating a ringtone from a song.
Launch Music, and select the song by pressing and holding its title.
Open the menu and choose Set As.
- Tap From the Beginning or Auto Recommendations to specify the part of the song to use as the ringtone.
- In the Set As section, tap Phone Ringtone to use the song as the default ringtone for incoming calls. Tap Caller Ringtone to play the song whenever you receive a call from a particular person. Tap Alarm Tone to use the song as the alarm tone for an alarm you’re about to create in the Clock app.
Tap Done.
If you selected Caller Ringtone or Alarm Tone in Step 4, select the person’s record in Contacts or create the alarm to which you want to link the song.
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Blocking Mode
If you enable Blocking mode, you can elect to receive only certain types of notifications while blocking others. Blocking can be set for a period of time (to silence notifications during an important meeting, for example) or permanently enabled for certain features.
Open Settings and tap the Blocking Mode icon (in the Personalization section).
- Enable Blocking mode by dragging its slider to the On position.
In the Features section, check each feature that you want to block.
In the Set Time section, do one of the following:
- Tap the Always check box to enable blocking of the selected features indefinitely—until it’s turned off.
- Tap the From and To time settings to set a specific period during which blocking will be active.
In the Allowed Contacts section, specify people you want to treat as exceptions; that is, those whose notifications will not be blocked. Tap Allowed Contacts and select an option: None (no exceptions), All Contacts (anyone with a Contacts record), Favorites (any person saved as a Contacts favorite), or Custom (create a custom list from selected Contacts records).
- Blocking will be in—or go into—effect for the designated period, covering the specified features, and with the selected exceptions. When you’re ready to turn blocking off, perform Steps 1–2 and disable Blocking mode.
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A Blocking Mode Shortcut
You can also disable Blocking mode by opening the Notification panel and then tapping its notification entry or its Quick Setting button. (If the button isn’t one of the primary buttons, tap the Grid View icon to access it.)
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Safety Assistance Settings
When enabled, Safety Assistance settings provide a way for you to secretly summon help in an emergency situation—other than or in addition to placing a 911 call. After specifying 1–4 primary contacts, you quickly press the Power button three times to send them a text message that requests help and includes a URL to Google maps that shows your location. Pictures from both cameras and a sound recording can also be transmitted. (Note that this feature is best for temporary, short-term use due to its high battery consumption.)
Open Settings and tap the Safety Assistance icon (in the System section).
If you haven’t designated at least one primary contact, tap Manage Primary Contacts; otherwise, go to Step 4.
Tap the plus (+) icon. Tap Create New Contact or Select from Contacts and then create or select an emergency contact. If desired, continue creating or specifying contacts up to the maximum of four. Press the Back key or tap the Back icon to return to the Safety Assistance screen.
- When you think you might be entering or are already in a dangerous situation, tap Send Help Messages. Drag the slider to the On position, set options, and then press the Back key or tap the Back icon.
Optional: Enable Emergency mode (a special power-conserving mode) by tapping its text and moving its slider to On.
- While Send Help Messages is On, you can request assistance and execute the options selected in Step 4 by quickly pressing the Power key three times in a row.
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