Samsung Galaxy S20 Guides

Everything about Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra

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How to use a micro SD card on Galaxy S20?

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use a micro SD card on Galaxy S20Samsung always supports the micro SD card support on all Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phones except on Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5. Galaxy S20 can support a micro SD card up to 1TB.

But the support of the micro SD card on Galaxy S20 is different from that in stock Android.

This Galaxy S20 guide explains the supported micro SD card features on Galaxy S20, the requirements of using a micro SD card, how to add and manage the SD card, how to move apps to the micro SD card and how to mount and unmount the SD card on Galaxy S20, and how to choose an SD card for Galaxy S20.

In this guide, Galaxy S20 refers to Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Does Galaxy S20 support adoptable storage so that I can use the micro SD card as internal storage?

No, Galaxy S20 does not support the adoptable storage. But Galaxy S20 does support moving apps to the micro SD card.

Since Android Marshmallow (Android 6), Google introduced the adoptable storage to let you use the micro SD card as internal storage. It essentially increases the internal storage capacity at a far lower price.

Of course, due to performance limitations of the micro SD card, most flagship Android phones do not support the adoptable storage. Some, for example, Google Pixel phones, do not have a micro SD card slot at all. The adoptable storage support can be found in many middle-range and budget Android phones.

The other option is to use the micro SD card as portable storage, where you can save your own files, for example, your music or media collections. Apps can also request to access the portable storage to download and save large files.  The “flagship” (usually means expensive and overpriced) Android phones with a micro SD card support, often only support the portable storage.

Unlike other Android vendors, Samsung chose a proprietory way to support micro SD card. It is somewhere between adoptable storage and portable storage.

  • You cannot format the micro SD card as the internal storage on Galaxy S20.
  • But you can move most apps to the micro SD card if you want.

Actually, this is a better implementation than the adoptable or portable storage, because

  • The micro SD card is portable.  You can share the media files on the SD card on any
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How to customize notification icon style in Galaxy S20 status bar?

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How to customize notification icon style in Galaxy S20 status bar?Galaxy S20 allows you to customize notification icon style in the status bar to avoid overcrowded icons.

You can choose to show all notification icons, last 3 icons, or the total number of notification icons in Galaxy S20 status bar.

This Galaxy S20 guide explains the details of Galaxy S20 status bar, the icon arrangements, and how to customize notification icon style in Galaxy S20 status bar to hide notification icons, show 3 recent icons, show all notification icons, or only show the number of notifications in the status bar.

Please note, the status bar and notification icons work identically on Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, although there are significant differences among these 3 phones.

What is Galaxy S20 status bar?

Like all other Android phones (even iPhones), the top part of the Galaxy S20 screen is reserved for the system to show status icons and notification icons.

As shown in the screenshot below., a typical Galaxy S20 status bar has two parts separated by the punching hole of the front-facing camera:

  • Notification icons (and time, which cannot be disabled) aligned to the left edge on the left side of the front camera.
  • Status icons aligned to the right edge on the right side of the front camera.

Since Galaxy S8, Samsung allows you to limit the total number of notification icons on the status bar. Galaxy S20 allows more options to customize notification style on the status bar.

Actually, all Galaxy phones with the Android 10 update has a similar feature.

Galaxy S20 status bar

What is the dot in the Galaxy S20 status bar?

You may notice the dot icon, as shown in the screenshot above (marked in the green circle), on the rightmost of the status bar.

The dot icon in the Galaxy S20 status bar means “and more”. In other words, the dot icon tells you there are more than 3 notifications icons.

By default, Galaxy S20 status bar only displays up to 3 notification icons. If there are more than 3, the most recent 3 notification icons will be shown and the dot icon starts to appear.

Of course, you can change this default behaviour to customize notification icon style on Galaxy S20 status bar (read on).

Anyway, do not be panic when you see the dot icon on the status bar.

You may check this guide to understand the meaning of the status … Read the rest