Galaxy S8 Guides

How to use app shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Home screen in Android Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+?

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use app shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Home screen in Android Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+Galaxy S8 Android Oreo update allows you to add app shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Home screen.

App shortcuts let you access some features of supported apps very quickly from Galaxy S8 Home screen.

This Galaxy S8 Android Oreo update guide shows you how to add app shortcuts to Galaxy S8 Home screen (pinned app shortcuts) and how to use them.

What are app shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Home screen in Android Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+?

App shortcuts are actually not a new feature in Android Oreo. Google introduced app shortcuts in Android Nougat 7.1.

Because Samsung’s Android Nougat firmware was based on Android 7.0, app shortcuts were not implemented in all Samsung phones with Android Nougat. Instead, Samsung offered own context menu in Android Nougat. But it is different from app shortcuts as explained in this guide.

App shortcuts give you quick access to some features of the corresponding apps.

For example, you want to check missed calls in Galaxy S8 with Android Oreo update.

The traditional way to get the list of missed calls includes these 5 steps:

  1. Tap the Phone icon;
  2. Tap Recents tab in the Phone app;
  3. Tap the menu key;
  4. Tap calls to show;
  5. Tap missed calls.

You need 5 taps to get the list of missed calls.

But if you use app shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Home screen in Android Oreo update for Galaxy S8 and S8+, you can get it with just 2 taps:

  1. Tap and hold (long tap) the Phone app icon;
  2. Tap Missed calls (which is one of the available app shortcuts for the Phone app).

That’s it.

App shortcuts in Galaxy S8 Android Oreo update also work on Galaxy S8 apps screen identically

In Android Oreo, Google added the support … Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S8 screen zoom ?

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galaxy s8 screen zoomYou can use Galaxy S8 screen zoom to adjust the display of almost all pages (and all apps)  in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Galaxy S8 screen zoom is a customized Android Nougat feature of display size.  But they are different in adjusting the size of app icons in home screen and apps screen, and in controlling the size of the lock screen keypad.

This Galaxy S8 how-to guide explains you what Galaxy S8 screen zoom is, when you need it, and how to use this feature in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+.

What is Galaxy S8 screen zoom? Why you need it?

Prior to Android Nougat,  you can only adjust the font size for the system display (e.g., text size in Settings page).

And some system display settings are even hard-coded and you cannot change them at all. For example, the notification text does not change with font size in most Android phones.

So, in Android Nougat 7.0, Google added a feature named display size, with which you can adjust all display elements. And it works in all apps.

In Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung, as usual,  customized display size and rebrand it as Galaxy S8 screen zoom.

In addition to changing the name from display size to screen zoom, Samsung also changed a few features in display size. For example:

  • Screen zoom does NOT affect lock screen keypad size in Galaxy S8 and S8+. Samsung hard-coded the keypad in Galaxy S8 lock screen. In stock Android Nougat, you can adjust the keypad size with display size.
  • Screen zoom does NOT affect app icon size in Galaxy S8 Home screen and Apps screen. In Galaxy S8, you need to use screen grid to adjust the app icon size. In stock Android Nougat, app icon
… Read the rest

Two ways to block spammers and unwanted callers in Galaxy S8 and S8+ without using any apps

Use Samsung smart call and Android Nougat call blocking to block any unwanted calls and messages without using any apps.

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Galaxy S8 and S8+ offer two different ways to block spammers and unwanted callers without using any apps.

You can use Android Nougat native call blocking feature, and Samsung smart call to block unwanted calls and SMS.

This Galaxy S8 how-to guide shows you how to use these two methods to block spammers and unwanted callers in Galaxy S8 and S8+, and explains why you should enable both of them.

What are the two ways to block spammers and unwanted callers in Galaxy S8 and S8+?

In Galaxy S8 and S8+, there are two different ways to block spammers and unwanted callers.

  1. use Android Nougat native call blocking feature.
  2. use Samsung smart call

The first method requires you to build up your own block list.

The second method uses Samsung’s database (and some third-party databases in some regions) to identify possible spammers and fraud callers.

It is recommend to enable both methods to block spammers and unwanted callers in Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Both methods work on all SIM cards if you are using two SIM cards in Galaxy S8 and S8+. You cannot set such blocking for individual SIM card. In other words, this feature works at the phone level.

Use Android Nougat call blocking feature to block spammers and unwanted calls in Galaxy S8 and S8+

As explained in this page, Android Nougat introduced call blocking feature natively. You can use this feature to block calls and messages from spammers and unwanted contacts.

In the past, you have to rely on third-party apps or customization of Android manufacturers to block calls and text messages.

In Galaxy S8 and S8+, you can use this Android Nougat call blocking feature to block spammers and unwanted calls and messages.

To use Android Nougat call blocking feature, you may … Read the rest

Meaning of Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

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Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons in the status bar offer you a quick glimpse of system status and notifications.

This guide explains the meaning of Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+.

What are Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons?

As explained in Galaxy S8 Home screen, the top part of the phone screen is called status bar as shown below.

Of course, the status bar is in all screens (home screen, lock screen and apps screen) and in all apps. Even in full-screen mode, you can swipe down to bring back the status bar.

Anyway, Android does not allow you to disable status bar. You can only temporally hide it.

In the status bar,  in addition to the time in the rightmost, you can find icons grouped in the left and right side of the status bar.

Meaning of Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

Normally, icons on the right side are called status icon which indicating status of system related features, like battery and network.

Icons on the left side are usually named as notification icons, which are usually (not always) associated with a notification message.

Third-party app notification icons will always appear on the left side.

Meaning of Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

To use Galaxy S8 or S8+ effectively, you need to understand the meaning of Galaxy S8 status icons and notification icons, because they offer quick info on what’s going on in the hone.

In this guide, we group status icons and notification icons into 6 parts.

Part 1: Mobile network related status icons in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

You can use Galaxy S8 or S8+ without a SIM card. You can use most of the apps with WiFi connections. But this means … Read the rest



How to use context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screen?

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Although Galaxy S8 and S8+ came with Android Nougat 7.0 pre-installed, the context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screen looks similar to the app shortcuts, which is a new feature in Android Nougat 7.1.

This Galaxy S8 how-to guide will explain to you what is the context menu in Galaxy S8 home screen and the difference between this context menu and app shortcuts in Nougat 7.1.

We will also show you how to use the context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screen to manage apps and app folders in Galaxy S8 and S8+.

What’s context menu in Galaxy S8 home screen?

In Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung revamped their infamous TouchWiz launcher again.

One of the noteworthy new features in the launcher is the context menu in the home screen of Galaxy S8 and S8+.

As shown below, when you tap and hold (long tap) an app icon in Galaxy S8 Home screen, you will get the context menu somewhat related to that app.

If you tap and hold an app folder, you will get a different context menu as shown below.

Of course, you can ignore context menu, and drag the app icon or app folder to other locations or other home screen panels as you did in previous Galaxy phones.

use context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screenuse context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screen

What’s the difference between context menu on the home screen of Galaxy S8 and S8+ and App shortcuts in Android Nougat 7.1?

As mentioned, Android Nougat 7.1 introduced app shortcuts, which allows app developers to define shortcuts to specific actions for their apps in supported launchers.

App shortcuts in Android Nougat 7.1 make it possible for users to quickly start common or recommended tasks within the specific app.

For example, as shown below, in Android Nougat 7.1 device, if you tap and hold Google Keep … Read the rest

How to use and customize Galaxy S8 Home screen?

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You cannot skip Galaxy S8 Home screen if you want to use Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+.  Samsung introduced some new features to Home screen in Galaxy S8 and S8+.

This Galaxy S8 how-to  guide explains to you the new features of Galaxy S8 Home screen and the meaning of all items in Galaxy S8 Home screen.

What is Galaxy S8 Home screen?

All Android phones have a home screen, which is usually the default screen after the phone is unlocked.

In addition, all Android phones have a hardware or a software home button which will bring you to the “home” of the home screen if there are more than one home screen page.

Galaxy S8 or S8+ is not an exception.

But in Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung ditched the hardware Home button and used software based navigation buttons as explained in this guide.

Although you can customize the navigation buttons and navigation bar in Galaxy S8 or S8+,  the Home button (as shown in Galaxy S8 layout and S8+ layout) is always in the center (between Recents and Back buttons).

Another new feature in Galaxy S8 and S8+ is the quick switch between Galaxy S8 Home screen and Galaxy S8 Apps screen (aka app drawer).

As explained in this guide, you can quickly switch between Galaxy S8 Home screen and Apps screen by swiping upwards or downwards.

Although Galaxy S8 or S8 was shipped with Android Nougat 7.0, not Android 7.1, Samsung introduced the context menu in Galaxy S8 Home screen. The context menu is similar, and even more powerful than app shortcuts introduced in Android Nougat 7.1.

Components of Galaxy S8 Home screen

To use Galaxy S8 or S8+, you need to understand the meaning and usage of each … Read the rest

Migrate to Galaxy S8: how to transfer data from old device to Galaxy S8 and S8+?

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When you get your Galaxy S8 or S8+, you may want to transfer data from old device to S8 or S8+.

This guide explains to you what data can be transferred, what data cannot be transferred, and how to transfer  data from old device to Galaxy S8 and S8+ in different ways: with USB cable, through wireless connection (WiFi direct), through a PC, or through Samsung cloud.

What data can be transferred? What data cannot be transferred?

Before migrating to Galaxy S8 or S8+, it is important to know what can be transferred, and what cannot.

In this guide, we are going to use Samsung Smart Switch, which was pre-installed in Galaxy S8 and S8+, to migrate or transfer data from old device to Galaxy S8 or S8+.

Your old device was very likely pre-installed with Smart Switch if it is newer than Galaxy S6 (for example, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy 6 edge plus, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7,  Galaxy S7 edge, and many other Galaxy devices released in last 2 years).

If your device is older, or is other brands, you can install SmartSwitch app from Play store. The minimum requirement for Smart Switch app is Android 4.0, which is actually hard to find.

Basically, you can transfer almost everything from old device to Galaxy S8 and S8+.

The data can be transferred from old device to Galaxy S8 and S8+ include:

  • Contacts;
  • Messages;
  • Samsung Calendar (S Planner) events;
  • Memos;
  • Call logs;
  • Alarms and world clock settings (if you are using Samsung clock app);
  • Internet (browser) app settings (only for Samsung’s browser app);
  • Email account settings (only for Samsung Email app);
  • S Health (Samsung Health) settings;
  • Apps. Apps from all sources including Play store, Amazon appstore, Galaxy Apps,  can be transferred.
  • App data of most
… Read the rest

Top 8 missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+ that may annoy you

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Top 8 missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+ that may annoy youThere are some missing features of Galaxy S8 that may annoy you, although Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are surely one of the hottest flagship smartphones in 2017 based on specs and new features.

Actually, the sales number of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will surely beat all other Android phones. But this does not mean Galaxy S8 and S8+ are perfect  or the best.

You may notice that some important features are missing in Galaxy S8 and S8+.  These missing features of Galaxy S8 may be relevant to some users.

So, we hope this list of the top 8 missing features of Galaxy S8 and S8+ can help you make the decision before pre-ordering the phone.

#1 of top 8 missing features of Galaxy S8: smaller battery

As a reaction to the failure of Galaxy Note 7 battery, Samsung is extremely careful with Galaxy S8 and S8+ battery.

They apparently did not push the design and engineering limit for a bigger battery for S8 and S8+. And if Galaxy S8 battery fails again, Samsung will probably be in the death spiral in smartphone market.

The result is the smaller battery.

It is so small that you should concern about the battery life, although Samsung claimed similar battery life as Galaxy S7.

As a comparison, the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 has a 3000mAh battery, whose capacity is identical to that of the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7.

And the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ has a 3500mAh battery, which is even smaller than that (3600mAh) in the 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 edge.

The new 10nm processor may help save some battery. But the screen, which is bigger now, usually is the major battery drainer. There are no new technologies in the Super AMOLED screen for battery saving.

So, … Read the rest



Top 10 new features of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

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Top 10 new features of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+With the announcement of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ in March 29, 2017, we now have one more option in the top-tier of Android phones.

But is the 5.8″ Galaxy S8 or 6.2″ S8+ a right phone for you?

Here we summarized the top 10 new features of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ to help you make the decision before you can get one on April 21.

#1.  Galaxy S8 Infinity Display

One of the most important new features of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ is the infinity display.

The screen size of Galaxy S8 (5.8″) and S8+(6.2″) is bigger than last year’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

But the difference is not just the size. The most obvious change is the aspect ratio.

Both Galaxy S8 and S8+ have a unique aspect ratio of 18.5:9. FYI, all previous generations of Galaxy S phones had a screen ratio of 16:9 since Galaxy S3.

This aspect ratio is similar to that in LG G6 which has a similar aspect ratio of 18:9.

Compared to the 5.1″ Galaxy S7, Galaxy S8’s display is about 18 per cent larger (in the area).

Galaxy S8 infinity display is good for:

  • watching 21:9 movies. You will get less black bar area compared to the 16:9 screen.
  • browsing websites. You will scroll less due to larger area. But this is only good for mobile-responsive websites.
  • multi window in portrait orientation. But it is terrible in landscape mode when using split-screen view multi window mode. You may check this guide on how to use multiwindow on Galaxy S8 and S8+.
  • Edge screen. Please check this guide on using Galaxy S8 edge screen.

Of course, the aspect ratio of the Galaxy S8 infinity display could be a disaster for taking photos.… Read the rest

Samsung Galaxy S8 specs and Galaxy S8+ specs

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Samsung Galaxy S8 specs and Galaxy S8+ specsAs other flagship smartphones from Samsung, Galaxy S8 specs and Galaxy S8+ specs are impressive.

There are of course some exciting new features and annoying missing features in Galaxy S8 and S8+. This post is focusing on hardware specs of Galaxy S8 and S8+.

Specs of both Galaxy S8 and S8+ are almost identical except the size and battery capacity.

What is the difference between  Galaxy S8 specs and Galaxy S8+ specs?

There are only three differences between Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+:

  1. Screen size. Galaxy S8 has a 5.8″ screen and Galaxy S8+ 6.2″.
  2. Battery capacity. Galaxy S8 has a 3000mAh battery inside, and Galaxy S8+ 3500mAh.
  3. Dimensions and weight. Galaxy S8+ is larger and 18g heavier than Galaxy S8.

All other components used in Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are identical.

So is the software.

Galaxy S8 specs: design and dimensions

The design of Galaxy S8 and S8+ differs sharply from Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.

Both Galaxy S8 and S8+ use curved screens. But the curve is more sharp than Galaxy S7 edge.

So, the curved screen used in S8 and S8+ is very similar to that in Galaxy Note 7, not Galaxy S7 edge.

The bezels in Galaxy S8 and S8+ is also dramatically smaller than all previous Galaxy phones. The hardware capacitive buttons below the screen was also replaced with software buttons.

Home button is also embedded under the touch screen. The fingerprint scanner is relocated to the back of the phone next to the camera.

The metal-glass build is similar to Galaxy S7 and Note 7 with waterproof rated as IP68.

The dimensions of Galaxy S8 (148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm, 155 g)  and S8+ (159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173 g) are illustrated below.

Galaxy S8 specs: design and dimensions

Galaxy S8

… Read the rest