Galaxy S6 Guide

How to assign and reset default application on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge?

Default app can save your time and improve your experience with Galaxy S6.

Update 1: After Android Marshmallow udpate, you may follow this guide to use default apps in Galaxy S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+. 

What’s default application on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge?

One of the notable advantages of Android is the endless options (Be together, not the same).  For one task, you can choose many different applications based on your preferences. Some apps in Galaxy S6 apps screen may perform same operation, e.g., both Internet and Chrome on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge can open website.

When more than one app on your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge can perform the same task, by default, you will be asked to choose one app to proceed.

If you want Galaxy S6 or S6 edge to remembers your choice, you can set one app as the default application for this task.  Next time, Galaxy S6 will use the default application to perform the task without asking you to select.

So, it is usually convenient (save your time) for you to assign default application on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge for certain tasks.

But sometimes, you may assigned the wrong app as default application, or you may find a better app for the task. In this case, you can reset default application on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.

If you want to know how to disable or uninstall apps on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, please check this guide.

How to assign default applications on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge?

In this guide, I will use ringtone setup as an example.  If you want to know more on how to customize Galaxy S6 ringtone, please read this page.

For other tasks, the procedure to assign default application or to reset default application is similar.

After installing ES File Explorer, when I customize Galaxy S6 ringtones, Galaxy S6 now asks me to choose use which app to proceed as shown below.

Because I used the default media storage last time, media storage is shaded as shown below.

assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_1_settings_ringtone assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_2_select_app

Now I want to use ES File Explorer as the default application for ringtones.

After tapping  ES File Explorer, I have two options as shown below:

  1. Just Once. This means ES File Explorer will be used only in this session. Next time, Galaxy S6 will ask me to select an app again. In other words, default application is NOT set.
  2. Always. This means I want to use ES File Explorer for such a task in the future without asking me to select apps. So, essentially, you assign the default app (as ES File Explorer) for such an operation.

Tap Always as shown below to proceed. Now ES File Explorer is assigned as default application on Galaxy S6 for such a task.

You can then navigate through Galaxy S6 storage and find a music file as the ringtone.

Actually, assigning ES File Explorer as default application for ringtone setup is NOT a good idea. Please read on.

assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_3_assign_default_app assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_4_default_app_in_action

How to reset default applications on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge?

After you assign the default application on Galaxy S6, you will not be asked to select apps when you want to change ringtone. ES File Explorer will be open automatically.

As explained in this guide, ES File Explorer cannot access the pre-installed ringtones.

This means you cannot use the pre-installed ringtones unless you reset default applications on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge. This is why I told you it is not a good idea to assign ES File Explorer as the default application for ringtone setup.

To reset default applications on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Access Settings

You can access Galaxy S6 Settings in one of two ways:

  1. from apps screen, tap Settings.
  2. from notification panel (swipe down from status bar or top of the screen with one finger), tap Settings (gear) icon.

Step 2: Access Applications

In Settings page, tap Applications as shown below.

Step 3: Access Default applications

In Applications page, tap Default applications as shown below.

assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_5_settings assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_6_settings_default_app

Step 4: Clear default applications

In the list of default applications  (under clear defaults) as shown below, you can find 3 default applications were assigned.

In this guide, we want to reset default application for ES File Explorer.

Tap Clear right to ES File Explorer as shown below. This will reset default application for ringtone setup.

Step 5: Reset default applications.

In the list, you can find ES File Explorer was removed. This means the default application for ringtone setup was reset.

If you try to setup ringtone now, it should not ask you to select an app again, just like what you get before assigning the default applications.

assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_7_clear_default_app assign_and_reset_default_application_on_galaxy_s6_s6_edge_8_default_app_reset

 

Can you assign and reset default application on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge now?

If you have any questions or get any problems to assign or reset default application on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, please let us know them in the comment box below.

The community will try to help you find a solution.

For other features of Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 online manual page.

For detailed guides on how to use Samsung Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 how-to guides page.

For detailed guides on how to use Galaxy S6 camera, please check Galaxy S6 camera guide page.



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Comments

  4. Hi. Is there a way to change the default dialer? I have downloaded voip Internet calling but when dialling out it doesn’t give me the option to complete action using. . Thanks

    Reply

  6. I would like to change my default gallery app for viewing and storing photos from the stock Samsung Gallery app (which I originally set as the default always) to Google’s Photos app. I cleared the Gallery app from my default apps but I accidentally synced my photos with the wrong google+ account because I throttle back and forth between 2 separate ones and the wrong one was automatically selected since I never signed out of it. So, now I am trying to somehow make it to where not only Photos is my default app but where the right google+ profile is selected. This is very confusing for me.

    Reply

  7. I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 and it has 64 gig’s. I want to increase my storage limit. On my Samsung S3 it is 16 gig and have no issues with Apps, Music, Pictures or Addresses. Who ever designed the phone this way is an idiot.

    Reply

  8. I have a Galaxy S6. In email, any time I click on a link that is composed of all numbers (i.e. a package tracking number) it automatically launches the phone app. Other links without numbers work. I’ve cleared the cache & checked the default launch settings for all of my apps but this hasn’t fixed the issue. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  9. After the marshmallow update, the first app you chose for an action will become permanent. The pop-up dialog with “Just once” or “Always” question is GONE. This is the worst thing can happen for an OS! I think there is a bug in the marshmallow OS, but there are rumors that say Samsung consider this thing an improvement. I am so mad, I think i’ll downgrade!

    Reply

  12. When I receive an email with an audio attachment that comes in as a .wav format, my Galaxy S6 email app tries to open with the default music player that comes with the phone, which doesn’t have the ability to open a .wav. I have the VLC app installed and set as the default media player, but the S6 email app wants to open it with the music player that can’t play it. I have to download the audio file onto my phone then it plays with VLC. Is there a way to have the email app default to VLC?

    Reply

  13. I’ve tried multiple times and it says my app has been removed as default but the other app still opensome it. Emails from TWC always open in the app now, not browser so it doesn’t work well. Help please? It’s an S6.

    Reply

  14. Our voicemail system sends copies of voicemails in .WAV files to our email system. I have a user that uses a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. When he first got the phone I downloaded VLC player for android which worked well for playing these files. As of a couple weeks ago, this stopped working and now when he taps the file it says something like “sorry, the player does not support this type of file”. The icon next to the file now looks like a musical note instead of the VLC construction cone icon. I go into the applications, default programs, and find an application that looks like the icon in email with the name – “Music”. In it, it says, “None set as default”. Yet when I click the file in email, it does not ask me which program to open the file with.

    How can I set my VLC player to the default if I can’t clear a default that I can’t find?

    Is there another way to figure out what the default is other than the icon sitting next to the file in email? Do I need to clear defaults for all programs on the phone until it finally asks?

    Reply

  17. I have an galaxy s6 and am trying to change default app to play whatsapp .opus files… but do not see any application settings at all….

    Reply

  18. My songs I purchase in Google Play stopped going to the Sound Picker app years ago and therefore I have no option to assign ring tones I purchase to use as ring tones. They’re just sitting in my Google play app with no way of being used as the ring tone they are. I cannot assign my apps as default either, I can only clear them as defaults. I have a galaxy s6 edge. Any help would be great. I had no problem with this when I first got my phone, but around a year and a half ago or so, this problem started.

    Reply

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