Like other Android phones, Galaxy S9 and S9+ use some Galaxy S9 home screen panels to host apps, app shortcuts, app folders and widgets. You can add, delete, move, and re-arrange Galaxy S9 home screen panels based on your needs. You can also assign one panel as the home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen. This Galaxy S9 guide shows you how to work with and manage Galaxy S9 home screen panels. What are the Galaxy S9 Home screen panels? Galaxy S9 Home screen, by default, has at least two pages with Bixby Home (you may hide it) on the leftmost and a "home" page, which you access by tap the Home button. These pages are usually referred to as Galaxy S9 Home screen panels. As you may know, you can use more Galaxy S9 Home screen panels to accommodate more app icons, app folders, widgets, app shortcuts and file shortcuts on Galaxy S9 Home screen. You can also show photos on Galaxy S9 home screen as explained in this guide. Besides, if you hide apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+, more panes will be added automatically so that all apps are added to the Home screen. How to assign a panel as the home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen? Among Galaxy S9 Home screen panels, one and only one panel is always the "home" panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen. When you tap the home button once or twice, you will be directed to this specific panel. For example, you open an app from one of the home screen panels.  If you tap the home button once, you will be brought back to the panel you started the app. If you tap the home button again, the system should bring you back to the home panel. By default, the panel next to Bixby Home is assigned as the home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen. Of course, you can change the home panel and assign any of the Galaxy S9 home screen panels as the home panel. To assign a new home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen, you may follow these steps. Step 1: Enter Edit mode of Galaxy S9 Home screen You can tap and hold (long tap) any blank area in Galaxy S9 Home screen to enter the edit mode for Galaxy S9 Home screen. Step 2:  Swipe to the desired panel In the edit mode, swipe right or left to the desired panel. Step 3: Assign it as the home panel Once in the desired panel, tap the Home panel icon on the top of the panel as shown below. This would assign this panel as the home panel for Galaxy S9 home screen. Once a panel is assigned as the home panel, you can find three unique signs for this panel in the edit mode: The home panel icon is not greyed out anymore. In the default Galaxy S9 theme, it would be white as shown above. There is a white box around it as shown above. The screen indicator will be a small home icon, not a dot. After you exit the edit mode (tap back or home button), if you tap the Home button once or twice, you should be in this home panel. How to add Galaxy S9 Home screen panels? You can add more Galaxy S9 home screen panels to accommodate more apps, widgets or app folders. If you add apps automatically to the Galaxy S9 Home screen after installing apps, the phone can add more home screen panels automatically. Also, if you hide Galaxy S9 Apps screen, more Galaxy S9 home screen panels will be added automatically. To manually add new Galaxy S9 home screen panels, you need to navigate to the rightmost panel, which is an empty panel with a big + icon as shown in the screenshot below. Tap the + icon to add a new panel to the Galaxy S9 home screen. The new home screen panel is always appended to the rightmost panel. Galaxy S9 and S9+ allow empty (blank) panels. You can use this new Galaxy S9 Home screen panel as other panels. How to delete Galaxy S9 Home screen panels? You can also delete any Galaxy S9 Home screen panels no matter whether they are empty or filled with apps, widgets or app folders. To delete a Galaxy S9 home screen panel, tap the delete icon on the top right of the corresponding panel as shown above. If the panel to be deleted is the home panel, the panel left to it will be assigned as the new home panel. But if the home panel is the leftmost one, then the new Home panel will be the one right to it. All apps, widgets, app shortcuts and app folders on the deleted panel will be removed from the Galaxy S9 Home screen. But they are NOT…

You can use quick-open notification panel to access Galaxy S9 notification panel by swiping downwards on the home screen. Quick-open notification panel adds an additional way to check notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+ quickly when you are on Galaxy S9 Home screen. This Galaxy S9 guide explains to you what quick-open notification panel is, how to enable or disable it and its limitations. Because quick-open notification panel is part of the Samsung Experience 9.0, it works identically on all Samsung Galaxy phones with Android Oreo update. Therefore this guide applies to not only Galaxy S9 and S9+, but also Galaxy S8, S8+, and Galaxy Note 8. What is quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+? As explained in this guide, you can access Galaxy S9 notification panel by swiping downwards from the status bar (or the top of the screen if status bar is hidden). This method works in all situations. You can use it when you are on Galaxy S9 home screen or when you are using any apps. Quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+, if enabled, allows you to access the same notification panel by swiping downwards on Galaxy S9 home screen. By default, swiping upwards and downwards on Galaxy S9 home screen was assigned to switching to Galaxy S9 apps screen (if you didn't hide Galaxy S9 apps screen). So, after you enable quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can only swipe upwards to switch to Galaxy S9 apps screen. Please note quick-open notification panel is included in the Samsung Experience 9.0. In addition to Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can use this feature on other Samsung Galaxy phones with Android Oreo update: Galaxy S8 and S8+, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. How to enable quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+? By default, the feature of quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+ is disabled. To enable quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+, you may follow these steps. Step 1: Enter edit mode for Galaxy S9 Home screen On Galaxy S9 Home screen, tap and hold (long tap) any blank area to enter the edit mode for Galaxy S9 home screen. Step 2: Access home screen settings In the edit mode, tap Home screen settings as shown below. The alternative way to access Galaxy S9 Home screen settings is through Settings -- Display --Home screen (without using the edit mode). The results are identical for these two approaches. Step 3: Enable quick-open notification panel In Galaxy S9 Home screen settings page, as shown in the screenshot above, tap Quick-open notification panel to enable (if currently disabled) or disable (if currently enabled) this feature. You can also use the switch on the right side to enable or disable quick-open notification panel. What are the limitations of quick-open notification panel? You may notice the following limitations of using quick-open notification panel: It works only on Galaxy S9 home screen.  When you are using any apps, you cannot use this feature to check the notification panel. In this case, you have to swipe down from the status bar or top of the screen to open the notification panel. It does not work on Galaxy S9 Apps screen. When you are in Galaxy S9 Apps screen, if you swipe down, it will divert you to Galaxy S9 home screen, instead of opening the notification panel. You cannot access Galaxy S9 Apps screen using the same gesture. You have to swipe upwards on the home screen to access Galaxy S9 Apps screen. It generally does not work with third-party launchers. Anyway, quick-open notification panel offers an additional approach to open access notification panel when you are on the home screen. Can you use quick-open notification panel to check notifications on Galaxy S9 and S9+ on Galaxy S9 and S9+ now? If you have any questions or encounter any problems on quick-open notification panel to check notifications on Galaxy S9 and S9+,  please let us know in the comment box below. The community will help you find the answer. For the user guide for new features of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+, please check Galaxy S9 new features guides page. For using Galaxy S9 and S9+, please check Galaxy S9 how-to guides page. For using Galaxy S9 camera, please check Galaxy S9 camera guides page. For accessories for Galaxy S9 and S9+, please check Galaxy S9 accessories guides page. For the official Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ user guides (in PDF format), please check Galaxy S9 user guides page. You may also contact us through our Facebook page.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ allow you to hide Galaxy S9 apps screen so that you can use all apps in the home screen if you do not want to use two screens: home screen and apps screen. If you use Galaxy S9 apps screen, you can hide the apps screen button (apps button) so that you can just swipe up on Galaxy S9 Home screen to access Apps screen. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide explains to you how to hide/unhide Galaxy S9 apps screen and how to hide/unhide Galaxy S9 apps screen button. How to hide Galaxy S9 apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+? If you want to use all apps in one central location, you may want to hide Galaxy S9 apps screen. After you hide Galaxy S9 apps screen, you can then access all apps in Galaxy S9 Home screen. It is not necessary to manually add apps to the home screen. To hide Galaxy S9 apps screen, you may follow these steps. Step 1: Enter Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode You can tap and hold (long tap) any blank area in Galaxy S9 Home screen to enter the edit mode for Galaxy S9 Home screen. You can also pinch on  Galaxy S9 Home screen to enter the edit mode. Step 2: Access Home screen settings In the edit mode, tap Home screen settings as shown below. The home screen settings page should be shown up. Alternatively, you can access the same home screen settings page through Galaxy S9 Settings: Settings -- Display --Home screen. Step 3: Choose to unhide or hide Galaxy S9 apps screen In Galaxy S9 Home screen settings page, as shown in the screenshot above, tap Home screen layout. In Home screen layout page, you can find two options: Home and Apps screen. Home screens only. Option 1 is the default. It means you have both Galaxy S9 Home screen and Apps screen. In other words, the apps screen is not hidden. Option 2 will let you hide Galaxy S9 apps screen. All apps will be added to the home screen automatically. So, you can use these two options to hide or unhide Galaxy S9 Apps screen. Step 4: Apply the settings After you change the settings (either hide the apps screen or unhide the apps screen), you need to tap Apply as shown above to apply the settings. Otherwise, the selection will be discarded. How to hide Galaxy S9 apps button (apps screen button) By default, when you are using apps screen, there is a Galaxy S9 apps screen button (aka apps button) in the favourite tray of Galaxy S9 Home screen. You can tap this button to access Galaxy S9 apps screen. In Galaxy S9 and S9+, the apps screen button is always in the rightmost spot of the favourite tray. As you may know, you can access Galaxy S9 apps screen in two ways on Galaxy S9 and S9+: Use the Galaxy S9 apps screen button. Use a touchscreen gesture. You swipe upwards on the home screen. You may also use swipe down gesture if you do not assign it to quick-open notification panel. So, for some owners, the apps button becomes redundant on Galaxy S9 and S9+, and they may want to hide Galaxy S9 app screen button to save one spot for a favourite app. To hide Galaxy S9 apps button (apps screen button),  as shown below, you can tap Apps button in Home screen settings page (which can be accessed through Galaxy S9 home screen edit mode, or Galaxy S9 Settings). As shown above, in the apps button page, you can choose to: Show Apps button (default). Hide Apps button. You can select accordingly to hide or unhide Galaxy S9 apps button. Remember to tap Apply on the top right if you want to apply the new setting. The following two screenshots show the difference when you hide Galaxy S9 apps button. What are the possible issues after you hide Galaxy S9 apps screen? The limitations you may encounter after you hide Galaxy S9 apps screen: You can only have one copy of apps on Galaxy S9 home screen. You cannot remove apps from the Home screen. The system will automatically hide Galaxy S9 apps screen button. If you try to access apps screen through touchscreen gesture, you will only see one-row of suggested apps. You can only delete empty (blank) home screen panels. If the page is not empty, you cannot delete it. Please note, if you enabled quick-open notification panel,  and when you swipe downwards on Galaxy S9 home screen, you will get notification panel, not apps screen. Can you hide Galaxy S9 apps screen and hide Galaxy Apps button on Galaxy S9 and S9+ now? Do you know how to unhide them? If you have…

You can customize the look and feel of Galaxy S9 Home screen after entering Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode. The default Galaxy S9 Home screen may be OK for most users. But if you want, you can customize almost everything of Galaxy S9 Home screen without leaving the home screen. You just need to switch to Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide explains to you the features in Galaxy S9 home screen edit mode and how to enter the edit mode from Galaxy S9 Home screen. What is Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode? By default, the Galaxy S9 Home screen is in the "presentation" mode.  What you see on the screen, and some behaviours, are the result of home screen settings. If you want to change anything on the home screen, then you need to leave the normal mode and enter the particular edit mode of Galaxy S9 Home screen. Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode allows you to customize the home screen of Galaxy S9 and S9+ without leaving the home screen. Some customization can be done through Galaxy S9 Settings.  But some customization can only be done through Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode. In short, Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode allows you: To change the wallpapers for Galaxy S9 home screen and Galaxy S9 lock screen. To add widgets to Galaxy S9 Home screen. For example, you can show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen as a full-screen widget. To use a new Galaxy S9 theme for Galaxy S9 or S9+. To align app icons in the home screen. To assign home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen. To add or delete a panel in Galaxy S9 home screen. To re-arrange panels in Galaxy S9 Home screen. To set grids for Galaxy S9 home screen and apps screen. To enable or disable number badge (app icon badges) on the home screen. To hide/unhide Bixby Home on Galaxy S9 Home screen. To customize other Galaxy S9 Home screen settings. You will need the edit mode of Galaxy S9 Home screen if you want to customize the home screen of Galaxy S9 or S9+ quickly. How to enter Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode? To enter Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode, you can simply tap and hold (aka long tap) any blank area on Galaxy S9 Home screen as shown below. So, the key points are: any blank area in the home screen long tap (tap and hold). The panel (page) of Galaxy S9 Home screen does not matter. You can access the edit mode from any panels (pages) of Galaxy S9 Home screen. Another method to enter Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode is using the pinch gesture on the home screen. You can pinch on any home screen panels to enter edit mode. How to use Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode to customize Galaxy S9 Home screen? As shown above, in the edit mode of Galaxy S9 Home screen, you can customise Galaxy S9 Home screen for Galaxy S9 and S9+. These customisations include (corresponding to the numbers in the screenshot above): Set current panel as the Home panel of Galaxy S9 Home screen. You can access this special panel by tapping Home button. Align app icons (starting from the top row). Align app icons (starting from the bottom row). Delete the current panel.  You cannot delete the home panel. If it is the home panel, you need to assign another panel as Home panel first. Set wallpapers for Galaxy Home screen, or Galaxy S9 lock screen, or both. Use Galaxy S9 themes. You can use any Galaxy S9 themes in the theme store to replace the current theme. Add widgets to Galaxy S9 Home screen. Widgets can NOT be found in Galaxy S9 apps screen. Access Galaxy S9 Home screen settings. The settings for Galaxy S9 Home screen can be accessed from Galaxy S9 settings either. Home screen settings (marked as 8) in the screenshot are actually a shortcut to the entry (Settings -- Display -- Home screen) in Galaxy S9 Settings. In Galaxy S9 Home screen settings, as shown below, you can further customize Galaxy S9 Home screen: Show or hide Galaxy S9 Apps screen. If Galaxy S9 Apps screen is hidden, all apps will be shown in Galaxy S9 Home screen. Set Home screen grid. Set Apps screen grid. Show or hide apps screen button in the favourite app tray. In Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can access apps screen in two ways: i). The apps screen button; and 2). Swipe upwards gesture. If the button is hidden, you have to use the gesture to access the Apps screen. Show or hide number badges/notification dots. Add newly installed apps to the Home screen automatically. Quick-open notification panel. If enabled, you can swipe…

There are at least 5 methods to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ without using any apps:  hardware buttons (power+volume down), palm swipe, the assistant menu, Bixby voice command and Google Assistant. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide explains to you how to use them and how to use scroll capture to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ Why do you need to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+? Sometimes, you may need to keep a record of a conversation, to share a webpage, to show some locations on Google maps to others, or to record some transactions when you are using the Galaxy S9 or S9+. A screenshot is the easiest and the most effective way to keep info and pieces of evidence. The image saved can be read on almost any devices. Although you can edit them after you take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+, most people give more trust in screenshots than the text you typed. Sometimes, if you want to report a problem of an app, or request technical services, you may be asked to take some screenshots so that the technical staffs can understand the problem quickly. How to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ without using any apps (and without using your PC)? There are at least 5 ways to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ without using any apps: Using hardware buttons (volume down + power button). Palm swipe. Using the Assistant menu. Using Bixby voice command. Using Google Assistant. This guide will show you the details of these 5 methods in the following sections individually. Method 1: use hardware buttons to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ You can take a screenshot on Galaxy S9 and S9+ by pressing the holding  Power button and Volume down button simultaneously, as illustrated below. You should hear a click /shutter sound once screenshot is taken. This method works on almost all Android phones. In old Samsung phones with a physical Home button, the physical home button was used with the power button to take screenshots. But this does NOT work on Galaxy S9 and S9+ because the Home button on S9 and S9+ is considered as a software-based button. The key point of using physical buttons to take screenshots is to press the two buttons simultaneously. As a human, we always press one button earlier than the other. It is normally OK to press the power button slightly earlier than pressing the volume down button. After pressing the two buttons, If you get the power button option, it means you press the power button too early. If you get volume settings, it means you press the volume button too early. If the screen is turned off, it means, you release the power button too early. If the phone reboots, it means you are holding the two buttons too long. Anyway, once you master the timing of pressing the two buttons, using physical buttons is the fastest way to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+. And, as mentioned earlier, it works on other Android phones as well. Method 2: use palm swipe to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ You can swipe your palm over the screen to take a screenshot for Galaxy S9 and S9+, as shown below. The palm swiping method is not enabled by default. You need to enable it in Settings —Advanced features— Palm swipe to capture. Many owners complained about the success rate of the palm swipe method for taken screenshots on Galaxy phones. When using this method to take a screenshot of Galaxy S9 and S9+, you palm needs to "slightly" touch the screen. This method requires a lot of practice. But it is fun. Method 3:  use the Assistant menu to take screenshots on Galaxy S9 and S9+ Some Android phone manufacturers like LG allows you to add the screenshot button in the navigation bar or in quick settings. But Samsung refused to add such a feature in all Galaxy phones. You may be not aware that there is a screenshot button in Galaxy S9 and S9+. But Samsung hides the screenshot button in the Assistant menu, an accessibility tool in Galaxy phones. You can enable Assistant menu in Settings -- Accessibility — Dexterity and interaction —Assistant menu. As shown below, when you try to enable the assistant menu, it will ask you to confirm the choice. Turn on Assistant menu? Turning on this accessibility feature may change some settings or affect the way you interact with your phone. Tap Turn on as shown below to enable the assistant menu. Before you leave the confirmation page, the button for the assistant menu will be shown on the screen. The screenshot above indicates the button, which also serves as a preview. You can change your mind by tapping Cancel. Once enabled, you can find the…

You can not bypass or hide Galaxy S9 Home screen on your Galaxy S9 or S9+. You have to use the home screen unless you power off the phone. Although it is not complicated, many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners are not fully aware of all functions and features of Galaxy S9 Home screen. This Galaxy S9 guide explains the meaning and usage of all components you may find in the Home screen of Galaxy S9 and S9+. The differences between apps screen and home screen were also detailed. What is Galaxy S9 Home screen? Like all other Android phones, Galaxy S9 home screen, by default, is the first screen after you unlock  Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+. You can start apps, access notifications, check the phone status, use widgets,  open edge screen in Galaxy S9 Home screen, which is the centre (home) of your Galaxy S9 and S9+. Generally speaking, in Galaxy S9 and S9+, you have 4 types of pages: Lock screen. You need to unlock the phone before you can use Galaxy S9 ort S9+. Always-on display screen usually is considered as a special lock screen overlayed over Galaxy S9 lock screen. Home screen. The centre or starting screen of Galaxy S9 and S9+. It is the home of select apps and widgets. Apps screen.  Galaxy S9 apps screen is a special home screen.  It is an app drawer for all apps on Galaxy S9 and S9+. Individual apps. Besides, edge screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+ is enabled by default. You may check this guide on how to use Galaxy S9 edge screen. You will have to use Galaxy S9 Home screen if you use Galaxy S9 or S9+. There are no alternatives. You cannot bypass it. How to access Galaxy S9 Home screen? Galaxy S9 and S9+ are protected by Galaxy S9 lock screen to prevent unauthorized access to your apps and data.  Galaxy S9 home screen is always "behind" the lock screen. In other words, you can access Galaxy S9 Home screen only after you unlock the phone. You can access Galaxy S9 Home screen in many ways: After unlocking Galaxy S9 or S9+, you should get Galaxy S9 home screen directly. When you are using any apps, tap the Home button in Galaxy S9 navigation bar to access the Home screen directly. When you are using any apps, tap the Back button in Galaxy S9 navigation bar to return to Galaxy S9 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 behaviour of the back button in an app depends on individual apps. When you are in the apps screen, you can swipe up or swipe down to return to Galaxy S9 Home screen. If you are using an app in the full-screen mode, you can swipe down from the top of the screen or swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen, to bring up the navigation bar and navigation buttons. Understand components of Galaxy S9 Home screen Normally, you can find about 9 types of components in the Galaxy S9 Home screen as shown below. 1. Status bar You can find many icons, status icons and notification icons, in the status bar. These icons tell you the status of the phone or unread notifications. You need to check this guide to understand the meaning of Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons. Galaxy S9 status bar is always on the top of the screen: If you hold the phone in portrait orientation, the status bar is fixed and opposite to the side with the USB port. If you hold the phone in landscape orientation, and you enable the landscape mode for Galaxy S9 Home screen, the status bar can be on either side depending on how you hold the phone. If you are using an app in the immersive full-screen mode, you need to swipe down from the top of the screen to activate the status bar briefly. 2. Edge screen handle You can access and use the edge screen feature in Galaxy S9 and S9+ through this edge screen handle. You may refer to this guide on how to use edge screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+. 3. Navigation bar and navigation buttons Galaxy S9 and S9+ allow you to hide the navigation bar and navigation buttons. But this does not work on Galaxy S9 Home screen. So, you can NOT hide navigation bar or navigation buttons in Galaxy S9 Home screen. It will be always there. After updating Galaxy S9 or S9+ to Android Pie, you can use the new Android Pie navigation gestures, instead of the navigation bar and buttons as explained in this guide. Also, in Android Pie update for…

The most efficient way to change settings of Galaxy S9 and S9+ is to use Galaxy S9 quick setting button. This Galaxy S9 guide explains everything you need to know about the quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+: what are Galaxy S9 quick setting buttons? How to access them, how to use them, and how to customize them. Update:  after you update Galaxy S9 or S9+ to Android Pie, you can use the night mode to set the background color of quick settings panel to dark. You can also use the quick setting button to switch between using the new Android Pie navigation gestures and using the traditional navigation bar/buttons. What are quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+? Like other Android phones, Galaxy S9 and S9+ have quick settings buttons on the top of notifications in Galaxy S9 notification panel. The quick setting buttons allow you to instantly turn on or turn off some features quickly without entering the complicated settings page. For example, you can turn on or turn off mobile data or Bluetooth using Galaxy S9 quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+. Since Android Nougat, stock Android also shows quick settings bar (the first a few quick setting buttons) in the notification panel, in addition to the full list of quick setting buttons. But Samsung added the quick settings bar in Galaxy phones a long time back. Anyway, quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+ were designed to help you use the phone easily and efficiently. The first 6 Galaxy S9 quick setting buttons (sometimes, it is referred to as quick settings bar) are shown above notifications in the notification panel as shown in this guide. You can expand the list to show all quick settings buttons in Galaxy S9 notification panel. How to access quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+? There are two methods to access all quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+. Method 1: Swipe down from Galaxy S9 notification panel (or swipe down twice from the status bar) In Galaxy S9 notification panel, you can swipe down, as shown below, to expand the quick setting buttons so that all buttons are shown. When you are not in the notification panel, you can swipe down from the status bar twice to access the same Galaxy S9 quick setting buttons page. Method 2:  Swipe down from the status bar with two fingers As shown above, you can swipe down from Galaxy S9 status bar with two fingers to access all quick setting buttons. These two methods are identical in Galaxy S9 and S9+. How to use quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+? Galaxy S9 quick settings buttons accept two touchscreen gestures: Tap. Long tap (tap and hold). For most buttons, if you tap them, you will turn on or turn off the corresponding features.  For example, if you tap the WiFi button, it will simply turn WiFI on (if it is currently off), or turn it off if it is currently on. When you tap some buttons, you may get a pop-up window for more options, or confirmation. If you tap and hold a button, you will be directed to the settings page of the feature. You can access the same page from Galaxy S9 settings. So, the long tap gesture is a shortcut to the settings page for the corresponding feature. Please note, Galaxy S9 and S9+ do not use the drop-down menu (as in stock Android) for the Galaxy S9 quick settings buttons. How to re-arrange buttons in Galaxy S9 quick settings buttons? The first six buttons will be shown on the top of the notification panel.  So, you can access them very quickly. If you use Galaxy S9 home screen in landscape mode, the first 10 quick settings buttons will be used instead. You may want to rearrange the buttons so that the most frequently used ones are placed in the first six (6) spots. Besides, by default, there are two pages (panels) of quick setting buttons on Galaxy S9 and S9+, you may want to move some to the first page if you use them often. In Galaxy S9 quick setting buttons page, as shown below, tap the menu key (3 vertical dots) on the top tight. In the quick settings menu, you can tap button order (marked as 1) to rearrange the buttons or add new buttons to the quick setting buttons page. After tapping the button order, you can tap and hold a button, then move it to a new location. For example, as shown below, you can tap and hold performance mode. Without releasing your finger from the screen, you can move performance mode to any spots as shown above. Once you find the ideal location, you can then release it. It will occupy…

Galaxy S9 notification panel allows you to check, snooze, dismiss and manage all notifications on Galaxy S9 and S9+. Without Android Oreo preloaded, Galaxy S9 and S9+ come with some new Android  Oreo notification features like notification channels and notification snooze. This Galaxy S9 guide explains to you what Galaxy S9 notification panel is, how to access it, the layout of the notification panel and how to use notification panel in Galaxy S9 and S9+. What is Galaxy S9 notification panel? Like other Android phones, Galaxy S9 notification panel is an integrated part of Galaxy S9 and S9+. There is no way to avoid it. You can access Galaxy S9 notification panel regardless what you are doing on the phone. Galaxy S9 notification panel is a centralized location for all app notifications in Galaxy S9 and S9+.  In other words, all apps  "post" or push their notifications to the notification panel. Apps can send or push notifications even when you do not use the app in the foreground. In short, Galaxy S9 notification panel is a special panel for you to check, dismiss, snooze and manage all notifications in Galaxy S9 and S9+. How to access Galaxy S9 notification panel? You can swipe down from the status bar to access Galaxy S9 notification panel, as illustrated below. If the status bar is hidden (e.g., when you are in full-screen mode), you can just swipe down from the top of the screen. You can access Galaxy S9 notification panel even when the screen is locked. Of course, in Galaxy S9 lock screen settings, you can choose how notifications are shown. In Galaxy S9 and S9+, there is another way to access Galaxy S9 notification panel quickly on Galaxy S9 Home screen.   The feature was named as quick-open notification panel. You can swipe down on Galaxy S9 Home screen to access Galaxy S9 notification panel. This method, however, is turned off by default. You need to enable it. In fact, by default, when you swipe up or swipe down in Galaxy S9 Home screen, you will access Galaxy S9 Apps screen. To use the swipe down gesture for Galaxy S9 notification panel, you need to enable it Galaxy S9 Settings. As shown below, in Galaxy S9 settings, tap Display. In the Display page, tap Home screen, as shown in the screenshot above. In Home screen page, as shown below, you can find the option of "Quick-open notification panel". It also offers a short description: Swipe down to open the notification panel on the Home screen. Tap Quick-open notification panel to enable it. Alternatively, you can just tap the switch to enable this feature. As shown above, once the switch for quick-open notification panel is on (on the right side), you are ready to use this gesture (swipe down) to access Galaxy S9 notification panel. Please note: Quick-open notification panel only works on Galaxy S9 Home screen. It will not work on Galaxy S9 Apps screen or any apps in your Galaxy S9 and S9+. Quick-open notification panel will disable this gesture for switching to Galaxy S9 Apps screen. You now have to swipe up to access Galaxy S9 Apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+. Understanding the layout of Galaxy S9 notification panel In addition to notifications, Galaxy S9 notification panel has multiple sections and buttons. As shown below, a typical Galaxy S9 notification panel has the following seven components. 1. Settings icon The Settings icon (gear icon) can bring you to Galaxy S9 Settings page. 2. Quick Setting buttons The first 6 quick setting buttons are always shown in Galaxy S9 notification panel. You can access more quick setting buttons by swiping down again. Of course, you can re-order, add and remove any quick setting buttons as well. Please refer to this guide on how to use and customize quick setting buttons. 3. Brightness control bar You can manually adjust the brightness of the screen. You can choose to show this Galaxy S9 brightness bar in the top of the notifications or hide it. Tap the down arrow to customize it. 4. Preferred  (default) SIM cards notification This section appears only when you are using two SIM cards on your dual-SIM version of Galaxy S9 or S9+. The default (preferred) SIM cards for calls, messages and mobile data are shown here. You can tap this section to access SIM card manager directly. 5.  Notifications All app notifications and system notifications will be shown in this section. For most notifications, there are corresponding notification icons in the status bar. Besides, if notification number badge (app icon badges) is not turned off, you will see the number badge (or dots) in corresponding app icons. You can check, dismiss, snooze and manage notifications here. You may check this guide on how to snooze notifications on Galaxy S9 and S9+. 6. Notification…

You can use two SIM cards on Galaxy S9, S9+, S10, S10+, S10e, S10 Lite, S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra,  if your phone is the dual-SIM version of Galaxy S9/S10/S20. However, the dual-SIM version of Galaxy S9 and S9+ is dual standby only, not dual active. Therefore, you may encounter some limitations when you use two SIM cards in the Galaxy S9 and S9+. This Galaxy S9 guide answers all questions you may have on using two SIM cards on Galaxy S9 and S9+. As the dual SIM features in Galaxy phones are similar, this guide applies to the dual SIM version of Galaxy S10 (all models) and the dual SIM version of Galaxy S20 (all models). Is your Galaxy S9/S9+ capable of using two SIM cards? Only the dual-SIM version Galaxy S9/S9+ can use two SIM cards. Don't waste time or money to use two SIM cards if you got a single SIM version of Galaxy S9 or S9+. If you bought your Galaxy S9 or S9+ in the US, very likely, it is a single SIM phone only. You cannot use two SIM cards on these phones sold in the US (through carriers and official distributors). In most international markets, your Galaxy S9 or S9+ is very likely a dual-SIM version. And therefore, you may use up to two SIM cards on the phone. You should always check with the seller on whether you can use two SIM cards on the phone you want to buy. You can also check the Galaxy S9 box to see whether the Galaxy S9 or S9+ is dual SIM or single SIM version. In most regions, the dual-SIM capability is usually marked as "duos" on the left side of the official Galaxy S9 box as shown below. What are the limitations of using two SIM cards on Galaxy S9 and S9+? The dual-SIM Galaxy S9  and S9+ are dual standby only, not dual active. This means both SIM cards are reachable when in the standby mode. When you are talking through one SIM card,  the other SIM card, by default, will be unreachable unless you enable dual SIM always on. For the explanation of the differences between dual standby and dual active dual SIM phones, you may check this guide. The limitations of using two SIM cards on Galaxy S9 and S9+ include: When you are talking on one SIM card (through any mobile networks, 2G, 3G or 4G LTE), the other SIM card will be unreachable unless you enable dual SIM always on. When you pick up a voice call, the mobile data connection will be paused automatically. When you are talking on one SIM cards, you cannot use mobile data on the other SIM card. Although both SIM card slots support 4G LTE network, only one SIM card will connect to 4G LTE network at any time. The other SIM card will only connect to 3G 0r 2G network. By default, the SIM card assigned for mobile data will connect to 4G LTE. You need to explicitly assign one and only one SIM card for mobile data connection. By default, SIM card in slot 1 will be used for data connection before you specify one. You cannot insert a micro SD card when you use two SIM cards in dual-SIM Galaxy S9 or S9+. The SIM card slot 2 in dual-SIM Galaxy S9 or S9+ can be used for a SIM card or a micro SD card, but not both at the same time as explained in this guide. Dual SIM always on, which requires call forwarding and call waiting (holding) may be not supported by a few carriers. Please note, when you are using 3G or LTE mobile data on one SIM card, both SIM cards are reachable. It is the voice call that causes the availability issues. How to insert two SIM cards on dual-SIM Galaxy S9 and S9+? As shown below, for the dual SIM Galaxy S9 and S9+, you have two options for using the SIM card slot. If you want to use two SIM cards on Galaxy S9 and S9+, you have to choose option 1. Of course, you can switch between two options at any time. The bottom line is that you cannot put a SIM card AND a micro SD card in slot 2. You have to choose one of them at any given time. Please refer to Galaxy S9 SIM card guide on how to insert SIM card into Galaxy S9 and S9+. For using SD card on Galaxy S9 or S9+ (moving apps to SD card, encrypt SD card, managing SD card, set storage location for camera app...), please check Galaxy S9 micro SD card guide page. How to assign and manage default SIM cards for calls, messages and mobile data? You can choose a…

If you upgraded your old Galaxy phone to Galaxy S9 or S9+, you might be frustrated with the new Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots, aka Galaxy S9 app icon badges). Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) simply does not work like the old number badge with which you are familiar. This Galaxy S9 guide explains the differences between Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) and the old number badge and shows you how to customize Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots). What is Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots)? When you get a notification in Galaxy S9 notification panel, by default, you will find a number badge on the top right corner of the corresponding app icon in Galaxy S9 Home screen and Apps screen. For example, as shown below, when you have 3 notifications for the Internet app (browser app), you will find the number (3) in the top right of the browser app icon. This number badge is usually referred to as Galaxy S9 notification number badge. In old Galaxy phones, there has been a number badge which looks similar to Galaxy S9 notification number badge. Because Galaxy S9 notification number badge corresponds to notification dots in stock Android, the notification number badge was sometimes referred as Galaxy S9 notification dots. If you think the new Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) is just a beautified version of the old number badge, you are then totally wrong. What are the differences between Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) and the old number badge? Although they look similar, Galaxy S9 notification number badge and the old number badge are two entirely different things. The major differences include: Galaxy S9 notification number badge is actually the notification dots introduced in Android Oreo. The old number badge in Samsung's phones is Samsung's proprietary implementation in TouchWiz (now Samsung Experience). Galaxy S9 notification number badge directly links to notifications in Galaxy S9 notification panel. The old number badge is not linked to the notification panel. Galaxy S9 notification number badge works for all apps. The old number badge only works with selected apps, usually Samsung apps and a few pre-installed apps. Galaxy S9 notification number badge only counts notifications, nothing else. The old number badge may count both notifications and unread messages depending on apps. For Galaxy S9 notification number badge, if you dismiss the notification, the number badge will be cleared. But for the old number badge, clearing notifications in the notification panel does not clear the number badge. You need to open the app to clear the number badge or manually clear it after Nougat update. For Galaxy S9 notification number badge, if you open the app without dismissing the notifications, the number badge will not normally be cleared. For the old number badge, normally the badge will be cleared after you open the app. You can customize or turn off Galaxy S9 notification number badge, even for individual apps. You cannot customize the old number badge. You can preview the notification with Galaxy S9 notification number badge. If you tap and hold the app icon with a Galaxy S9 notification number badge, the snippet of the notifications will be shown. You can then tap it to read the full notification in Galaxy S9 notification panel. The old number badge is just a badge. So, except the similar look, Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) is entirely different from the old number badge. In Samsung Experience 9, apparently, Samsung abandoned the old number badge and switched to the notification dots which are baked into stock Android. If you rely on the old number badge to keep track of unread messages or notifications, you have to find other solutions. For unread notifications, you can use notification snooze, instead of dismissing, to keep old notifications alive. For unread messages or emails, it will depend on the app you are using. You may need a third-party app. How to customize Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots)? Samsung allows you to: Turn on or turn off Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) on Galaxy S9 and S9+. The default is on. Choose to show number or dots in the badge. The default is showing the number in the badge. Turn on or turn off notification preview in Galaxy S9 home screen. The default is on. Turn on or turn off Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) for individual apps. The default is on for all apps unless the notification is turned off for the app. You can customize Galaxy S9 notification number badge (notification dots) in Galaxy S9 Settings. As shown below, in Galaxy S9 Settings page, tap Display (marked as 1) In the Display settings page, tap Home screen as shown above. In the Home screen settings page, you can then find the App icon badges. If you want to turn off Galaxy S9 notification number badges, you can tap the switch on the right side. You can tap App icon badges as shown below…