Galaxy S10 notification icons

How to Use Galaxy S10 Always On Display (AOD)?

You can use Galaxy S10 always-on display (AOD) to check notifications, the time, next alarm, today’s schedule, and the weather, and to control music play without waking up the phone.

On Galaxy S10, Samsung added a few new features for the always-on display and the default behavior. So, do NOT assume the AOD on Galaxy S10 is identical to that on older phones like S9.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide explains the new features of the Galaxy S10 always-on display (AOD), the difference between Galaxy S10 lock screen and AOD screen, how to enable and customize the always-on display screen on Galaxy S10.

Please note, the always-on display is identical among all Galaxy S10 phones. In this guide, Galaxy S10 refers to Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+, and S10 5G,

What is new in Galaxy S10 Always On Display (AOD)?

In all previous Galaxy phones, the always-on display screen will not be turned off automatically unless it is turned on by the scheduler.

So, once you turn on the always-on display on these devices, you have to choose to show the AOD screen all the time when the phone is locked or to show the AOD screen based on your designated period.

On Galaxy S10, Samsung added the show mode for the always-on display screen: tap to show. And this is the default option.

So, after enabling Galaxy S10 always-on display, by default, the AOD screen will NOT show up after you lock the phone unless you tap the screen (once).

The AOD screen will display only about 10 seconds, and then the screen is off.

If you need to show Galaxy S10 AOD screen all the time, you need to change the show mode.

This new show mode is also available on Android Pie update for Galaxy S9, S8, Note 9 and Note 8.

Please note, if you tap Galaxy S10 screen twice when the screen is off, you will wake the screen and get the Galaxy S10 lock screen, instead of the always-on display screen.

Of course, you can disable this feature in Settings —Advanced features —Motions and gestures — Double tap to wake.

Other new features of Galaxy S10 Always on Display include:

Landscape mode for Galaxy S10 AOD screen.
Brightness adjustment for the AOD screen.
Quick settings for AOD.

AOD Quick settings can also be found on Galaxy S9, S8, Note 8 and Note 9 if you updated these phones to Android Pie.

What is the difference between the lock screen and the always-on display screen?

Although Galaxy S10 always-on display screen is part of the Galaxy S10 lock screen and shares the identical FaceWidgets, they serve different purposes.

The major differences between the AOD screen and lock screen include:

Galaxy S10 lock screen shows up when the phone wakes up and is in the locked state. While Galaxy S10 AOD screen shows up only when the phone is NOT waking up.
You can use app shortcuts in

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How to use Galaxy S10 virtual bezel to hide the front camera cutout without using any apps?

simon · 2 Comments

You can hide the front camera cutout on Galaxy S10, S10+, S105G, and S10e with the Galaxy S10 virtual bezel without using any third-party apps.

Samsung pinched an elongated hole for the front cameras to avoid a notch on the screen. And they proudly announced this trick as infinity “O” display. But some owners do not like this design.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide explains how to use Galaxy S10 virtual bezel to hide the front camera cutout on Galaxy S10, S10+, S105G, and S10e, and the implications of using Galaxy S10 virtual bezel.

Why some owners do not like the front camera cutout?

Nowadays, all smartphone manufacturers try hard to increase screen size without increasing the overall size of the phone.

So, the size of the bezels decreases over the years. Samsung virtually eliminated the bezels on the sides with curved display since Galaxy S6.

On the bottom, Samsung removed the physical buttons and reduced the size of the bezel to the limit already.

So, on Galaxy S10, they tried to reduce the size of the bezel on the top further.

But there is a hard limit on the top: the front camera, notification LED, iris scanner, proximity, and light sensors all need spaces and cannot be hidden.

And Samsung made 2 stupid mistakes in reducing the size of the top bezel on Galaxy S10 (S10, S10+, S10 5G, and S10e):

The iris scanner was removed.
The notification LED was removed.

The hole punch for the front camera actually is not a bad idea, although some owners may prefer the notch design as in other Android phones or iPhones.

But what makes it wrong (or less ideal) is the location of the hole. On all Galaxy S10 phones, the hole is punched on the right side.

First, the hole destroys the symmetry of the front side. The ugly asymmetric look will be magnified when you use an app with a white background.

Second, the curved screen is used on Galaxy S10, S10+, and S10 5G. The hole must keep a certain distance from the curved part. This results in a significantly-reduced area for the status bar. So, Galaxy S10 has to offer the option for you to reduce the number of notification icons on the status bar or even hide/disable the notification icons on the status bar entirely.

Of course, some Galaxy S10 owners like the design.

Anyway, for those owners who cannot live with the look of the front camera cutout, it is easy to hide the front camera cutout without using any apps.

The truth is that Samsung already knew some owners would dislike the hole and therefore offered the Galaxy S10 virtual bezel to hide the front camera cutout.

The price you have to pay to hide the Galaxy S10 front camera cutout is slightly reduced screen size.

How to use Galaxy S10 virtual bezel to hide the front camera cutout?

If you want to hide the front cutout on Galaxy S10, you can … Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S10 screen zoom?

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Galaxy S10 screen zoom allows you to scale the text and icons globally including the fixed-size text (e.g., notification text) that is not affected by font size settings.

Although Galaxy S10 screen zoom corresponds to display size in the stock Android, Samsung customized this feature a lot and they work quite differently.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide explains when you need to adjust the Galaxy S10 screen zoom, and how to adjust it on Galaxy S10, S10e, S10+, and S10 5G.

What is Galaxy S10 screen zoom?

Google introduced the display size in Android Nougat (Android 7) for users to scale all display elements on the phone.

If you are using Windows PC, the display size in Android is similar to the scale (under display settings) on Windows.

Galaxy S10 screen zoom is based on display size in Android. But Samsung made significant customizations.

Compared to the display size in the stock Android, Galaxy S10 screen zoom works differently in the following aspects:

Galaxy S10 screen zoom does NOT scale the app icons on Galaxy S10 Home screen and Apps screen.
Galaxy S10 screen zoom has 3 levels. While the display size in Pixel phones has 5 levels.
The zoom levels in Galaxy S10 screen zoom is quite moderate.

For the text and icons, Galaxy S10 screen zoom works on all pages and apps, just like the display size in the stock Android.

Normally, Galaxy S10 screen zoom is used together with the font size and style settings to get the desired look on Galaxy S10.

When do you need to change Galaxy S10 screen zoom? Why font size setting is not sufficient?

On Android, the size of some texts and display elements is hard-coded or fixed (based on DPI of the display).

For example, many Galaxy S10 owners complained about the small text size of the notifications. They tried to increase the font size. But the text size in the notification panel is not affected by font settings because it is fixed.

So, for such text (and icons), you will need to use the screen zoom to change the size.

In short, for most parts of Galaxy S10, the font settings are respected. But for the fixed-size text and icons, you have to use the screen zoom to adjust the display size.

How to adjust Galaxy S10 screen zoom?

You can change the screen zoom levels on Galaxy S10 settings.

As shown in the screenshot below, on Galaxy S10 settings, tap Display to change the display settings for Galaxy S10.

In the Display settings page, as shown above, tap screen zoom.

Now in the screen zoom settings page, as shown below, you can find the 3-level slider.

You can drag it left or right to adjust the screen zoom level to small, medium, or large.

On the top part of the page, you can immediately preview the result of the setting. On Galaxy S10, Samsung only lets you preview the result in the Messages app.

As … Read the rest

Understand Contents of Galaxy S10 Home Screen

Get to know the different items on Galaxy S10 Home screen

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You need to understand the contents of Galaxy S10 home screen to use the phone effectively.

There are usually up to 11 types of items on Galax S10 Home screen. And they are usually designed and arranged for different functions and purposes.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide explains what Galaxy S10 Home screen is, the contents of Galaxy S10 home screen, and how to use the 11 types of items on the home screen.

What is Galaxy S10 Home screen?

In Galaxy S10 (S10, S10+, S10e, or S1o 5G), you will deal with 8 types of screens:

Lock screen. The lock screen is the first screen you will encounter after starting or wake up the phone. You need to unlock to access private data and apps.
Home screen. By default, after you unlock Galaxy S10, you will be directed to Galaxy S10 Home screen.
Apps screen. Traditionally, in Android phones, the apps screen is called app drawer, where you list all installed apps. Typically, only part of the installed apps is added to the home screen.
Edge screen (for S10, S10+, and S10 5G only). As explained in Galaxy S10 layout, edge screen actually is a software feature, rather than a dedicated screen. The edge screen requires a curved edge of the display. Therefore, it is not available in Galaxy S10e due to its flat screen.
Recents (Overview) screen. You can find the list of recently used apps in the Recents screen. You can launch these apps in the split-screen view or pop-up view (multiwindow mode) as explained in this guide.
Notification panel. You can swipe down from the Galaxy S10 status bar to access the notification panel.
Quick settings panel. You can use the quick setting buttons to turn on or off some features on Galaxy S10 without opening Galaxy S10 Settings.
Individual app screen.

Galaxy S10 Home screen is the center of the phone. There is no way to bypass the home screen.

Galaxy S10 is protected by Galaxy S10 lock screen to prevent unauthorized access to your apps and data. Therefore, the Galaxy S10 home screen is always behind the lock screen.

You can access the Galaxy S10 Home screen in different ways:

After unlocking Galaxy S10, you should get the Galaxy S10 home screen directly.
When you are using any apps, you can tap the Home button (or swipe up from the center line if you are using Galaxy S10 navigation gestures) in Galaxy S10 navigation bar to access the Home screen directly.
When you are using any apps, you can keep tapping the Back button in Galaxy S10 navigation bar to return to the Home screen eventually. Some apps may require you to tap the back button several times before you get the Home screen. A few apps may ask you to confirm to exit the app. Anyway, the behavior of the back button in an app depends on individual

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How to use Galaxy S10 Settings?

Galaxy S10 Settings explained

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You need to use Galaxy S10 Settings to customize Galaxy S10, S10e, S10+, or S10 5G so that the phone works in the way you want.

Like other Android phones, Galaxy S10 offers plenty of options for you to customize and tweak the phone to meet the needs and preferences of different owners.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide shows you how to access and use the Galaxy S10 Settings. It also explains the main entries of the Galaxy S10 settings.

Why do you need to understand and use Galaxy S10 Settings?

When you get Galaxy S10 (S10, S10e, S1o+, or S10 5G), the phone should work immediately after you set up the phone, or migrate to Galaxy S10.

But you may want to change something. For example, you may want to change or customize the Galaxy S10 lock screen. Or you may want to try the new fingerprint scanner.

All these customizations for the phone can be accessed from Galaxy S10 Settings.

However, the options in Galaxy S10 settings are overwhelming. Samsung had to place them into different categories on several levels. The organization for the settings and options changes in each Android version.

So, some seasoned Galaxy phone users may also have problems to find the entry easily.

How to access Galaxy S10 Settings?

Galaxy S10 Settings are packed in the Settings app in Galaxy S10 phones.

You can access Galaxy S10 Settings in at least 5 different ways including:

Tap the Settings app icon on the Home screen as shown below. If you cannot find the Settings app on Galaxy S10 Home screen, you can add it to the home screen from the Apps screen (app drawer).

Tap Settings app icon on the Apps screen. You can always find the Settings app in Galaxy S10 Apps screen (app drawer). You cannot hide it.
Tap Settings icon in Galaxy S10 notification panel or quick settings panel, as shown below.

Use Google Assistant voice command. You can use voice command “OK Google, open Settings app” if you turned on Google Assistant voice commands.
Use Bixby Voice command. You can also use Bixby voice command (if enabled) “Hi Bixby, open Settings app.”

All the 5 ways to start Galaxy S10 Settings will give you the identical result: being you to the settings page (read on ).

Galaxy S10 Settings explained

As shown in the screenshot below, Galaxy S10 settings are divided into 19 (3-21) different main functional groups.

Inside each group, there may be some sub-groups at several levels. So, it is hard to explain all entries of the settings.

Corresponding to the numbers in the screenshot above, let’s navigate through the first level functional group.

1. Search button for Galaxy S10 Settings

When you are not sure about where to find the settings, you can type a keyword to search the Galaxy S10 settings. All entries at different levels will be included in the search result.

If one or more entries found, you … Read the rest

Meaning of Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons

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You need to understand the meaning of the Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons to get some quick information on the system status and health.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide explains the differences between Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons, how to customize the notifications in the status bar, and the meaning of Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons in Galaxy S10, S10+, and S10e.

Please note, in some regions or carriers, the status icon on Galaxy S10 may be slightly different.

If you want to customize or disable notification icons in Galaxy S10 status bar, you may check this guide.

What is the difference between Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons?

Like other Android phones, Galaxy S10 uses the top part of the screen as a status bar to display status icons and notification icons. These icons tell you something about the system or inform you about unread or on-going notifications.

The status bar appears on all screens in Galaxy S10, including Galaxy S10 Home screen, apps screes, lock screen, and all apps.

The icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar are usually classified as notification icons and status icons.

As shown in the screenshot below, the Galaxy S10 notification icons are in the left side of the status bar. The Galaxy S10 status icons are on the right side of the status bar.

Please note, due to camera cutout on Galaxy S10, the status icon are aligned to the left side of the cutout, not to the right edge of the screen. If you use Galaxy S10 virtual bezel to hide the front camera cutout, the status icons will be aligned to the right side.

The differences between Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons are

Galaxy S10 status icons are always related to the system; while Galaxy S10 notification icons are usually linked to specific apps (including a few system apps and third-party apps).
Galaxy S10 status icons are normally shown on the right side of the status bar; while Galaxy S10 notification icons always appear on the left side of the status bar.
Galaxy S10 status icons are more or less universal in all regions; while Galaxy S10 notification icons depend on individual apps, whose developers can use whatever they want.
Galaxy S10 status icons normally do not have any corresponding notifications in the notification panel; while Galaxy S10 notification icons usually have one or more corresponding notifications in the notification panel.
You can customize the number of Galaxy S10 notification icons shown on the Galaxy S10 status bar. But you cannot customize the number of status icons.

Please note, when an app is in the immersive full-screen mode, the status bar will be hidden temporally. You can swipe down from the top of the screen to bring up the Galaxy S10 status bar (and Galaxy S10 navigation bar if you are using Galaxy S10 navigation buttons).

Also, when you are in the … Read the rest

How to disable or customize the notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar?

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You can customize or even disable notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar to save space for the status icons.

This Galaxy S10 how-to guide shows you how to limit the number of notifications icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar to 3, or to disable notification icons in the status bar.

This guide applies to all Galaxy S10 models: Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e, and S10 5G.

Why you may consider to customize or disable notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar?

Due to the cutout of front cameras in the screen (see Galaxy S10 layout), the icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar are not aligned to the right edge of the screen. Instead, the status icons are aligned to the left side of the camera cutout (the left side of the O of the infinity O display).

Besides, since Android Pie update for Galaxy S9, Samsung displays the current time on the left side of the status bar like other Android phones.

Therefore, the usable space for the notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar is significantly reduced.

For example, as shown below, the default status bar can be very crowded if you show many notification icons. The meaning of the Galaxy S10 status icons and notification icons are compiled in this page.

Therefore, Samsung allows you to customize the number of notification icons shown on the status bar.

You can even disable notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar.

How to disable or customize the notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar?

If you want to customize the number of Galaxy S10 notification icons in the status bar or to disable notification icons in Galaxy S10 status bar, you can do so in Galaxy S10 Settings.

In the Settings page, tap Notifications, as shown below, to manage Galaxy S10 notifications.

In the notification settings page, as shown in the screenshot above, tap Status bar.

Now, in the status bar, you can see all options for customizing notifications icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar.

As shown below, you can choose to show:

3 recent notifications. If you have notifications from more than 3 apps, only the notifications icons from the last 3 apps will be shown.
All notifications.

The option of Shown battery percentage actually let you decide to show or hide the battery level on the right side of the status bar (among status icons, not notification icons).

As shown in the screenshot below, there is one notification icon. If you tap the switch for “Show notification icons” to turn it off it will hide the notification icon from the status bar.

As shown in the screenshot above, you can find the notification icon disappears after you disable notification icons in the Galaxy S10 status bar.

Please note, disabling notification icons in the status bar does not affect the notification itself. The corresponding notifications are still in the notification panel. … Read the rest