You can use Galaxy S9 safe mode to identify possible causes of some problems or strange behaviours of Galaxy S9 and S9+. This safe mode is safe for your data, settings and apps. They will not be affected or altered when using the safe mode on Galaxy S9 and S9+. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide shows you when you may need Galaxy S9 safe mode, two ways to enter the safe mode for Galaxy S9 and S9+, and how to use and exit Galaxy S9 safe mode. What is Galaxy S9 safe mode? And when do you need Galaxy S9 safe mode? Like most other Android phones, Galaxy S9 and S9+ have a special Galaxy S9 safe mode letting you troubleshoot possible problems caused by third-party apps. In Galaxy S9 safe mode, all third-party apps installed by you were temporally disabled so that you can determine whether the problem is caused by such apps. Your data, settings, and app data are not affected when you reboot Galaxy S9 or S9+ into Galaxy S9 safe mode Galaxy S9 safe mode can only determine whether some strange behaviours or problems are caused by third-party apps.  It is not able to pinpoint the app. Unlike Galaxy S9 recovery mode which is not part of Android OS, Galaxy S9 safe mode is a special mode of Android OS. So, under the Galaxy S9 safe mode, you can still make and receive calls,  connect to the Internet, use pre-installed apps. The safe mode only prevents you from using apps installed by you. You need to try Galaxy S9 safe mode before you visit the service centre because technical support in most service centres does not solve issues due to third-party apps. They only diagnose problems in the firmware and pre-installed apps. Although Galaxy safe mode does not change your data and settings, you may lose some home screen customizations after you exit the safe mode. So, you may still consider to back up Galaxy S9 before rebooting into the safe mode. How to reboot into Galaxy S9 safe mode? There are two ways to reboot into Galaxy S9 safe mode: Use the power button options if Galaxy S9 or S9+ is currently powered on. Use buttons if the phone is powered off. Method 1: Use power button options to reboot into Galaxy S9 safe mode If the phone is powered on, you can long press (press and hold) the power button for about 2-5 seconds to get the power button option as shown below. In the power button options menu, long press the Power off button. The Power off buttons turns into Safe mode button as shown above. You should not release the finger from the screen until you see the safe mode button. Now, release your finger from the screen, then tap Safe mode as shown above. Then, Galaxy S9 or S9+ will reboot into safe node automatically. Update: in Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+, you may add the lockdown mode into the power button options to lock down the phone. Method 2: Use button combinations to boot into Galaxy S9 safe mode If the phone is currently powered off, you can directly boot Galaxy S9 or S9+ into Galaxy S9 safe mode. You may follow these steps to boot into Galaxy S9 safe mode. Step 1:  Hold the power button  You need to press and hold the power button (marked as 1 in the illustration below, you may refer to Galaxy S9 and S9+ layout page for the buttons/keys in Galaxy S9and S9+) for a few seconds to power up the phone. Galaxy S9 or S9 should start up. Step 2: Hold volume down button When you see the Samsung logo on the screen, you should release the power button. At the same time, you need to hold the volume down button (marked as 2 in the illustration below). The interval between releasing the power button and holding volume down button should be as short as possible. If it is longer than 1 second, very likely, the phone will reboot normally, instead of booting into the safe mode. Step 3: Hold the volume down button until you see the lock screen You need to continue to hold the volume down button until Galaxy S9 lock screen appears on the screen. Once you see the lock screen, you can release the volume down button and try Galaxy S9 safe mode. How to use Galaxy S9 safe mode? You can use most Galaxy S9 features and functions except apps installed by you in Galaxy S9 safe mode. When the phone is in safe mode, you can find the Safe mode icon in Galaxy S9 lock screen as shown below. You need to unlock the phone to use Galaxy S9 safe mode. In Galaxy S9 Home screen,…

You have to use some Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures if you want Galaxy S9 or S9+ to do anything for you. Although most Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures work on all other Android phones, you may not be aware of some gestures that help you use Galaxy S9 and S9+ effectively. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide illustrates the 7 Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures with animations, explains the features of these gestures and gives examples of using these gestures. What are Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures? As Galaxy S9 and S9+ do not have a physical keyboard or other input devices, you have to interact with the phone either through the touchscreen or voice (e.g., Bixby or Google Assistant). In addition to the on-screen keyboard or keypad, Galaxy S9 and S9+ also accept some touchscreen gestures. When your finger(s) or other capacitive pens (please note S Pen on Galaxy Note devices does NOT work with Galaxy S9 or S9+ screen) move on the screen, Galaxy S9 and S9 can recognize certain patterns and therefore responds accordingly. These moving patterns are usually referred to as Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures. So, understanding and correctly using Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures are essential if you want to use the phone efficiently. Similar to other Android phones, there is nothing special in Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures.  These gestures can be used in almost all other Android phones. Although most of Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures are used on the screen, some can also be used on the physical buttons. e.g., the power button accepts press, double press and long press gestures. List of  Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures in Galaxy S9 and S9+ You can use the following 7 Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures on Galaxy S9 and S9+ for various operations. 1. Tap gesture (press) Tap is one of the most used Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures. As shown in the animation below, you need to tap an icon or a specific area to activate something, for example, to start an app, or to open a menu item. The tap gesture actually mimics "click" of a mouse (e.g., when using Samsung DeX with Galaxy S9 or S9+). Of course, the action or response of the tap gesture depends on what was tapped, or where you tapped. Some example of using tap gesture includes: You can open an app by tapping an app icon in Galaxy S9 home screen or apps screen. You can tap Home button to return to Galaxy S9 home screen. You can tap Back button to return to the previous screen, or exit the current app. You can customize Galaxy S9 navigation bar (including the order of navigation buttons) as explained in this guide. You can tap the Recents button to check recently opened apps. You can also use Galaxy S9 multiwindow after tapping Recents button. You can tap a menu item or links in an app to navigate to other pages of the app. You can tap the quick setting buttons to toggle on/off some Galaxy S9 features. Some apps may have some particular use of a tap gesture. For example in Galaxy S9 camera app, you can tap anywhere on the screen to take a selfie when using the front camera. Of course, you can turn off this feature in Galaxy S9 camera settings. 2. Double tap gesture (and triple tap) Double tap gesture requires you to quickly tap the same location or button twice as shown in the animation below. This double tap gesture mimics the double-click of the mouse. But the functions are different. In PC, the double-click is to start an app, which is handled by tap gesture (not double tap gesture) in Android. Double tap is normally used for special features. So, it is one of the least used Galaxy S9 touchscreen gestures.   Here are some examples using the double tap gesture in Galaxy S9: You can double tap a photo in Gallery app to zoom in or zoom out. You can double tap the navigation dot to hide/show navigation bar as explained in this guide. You can double tap in a browser to zoom in/out. You can double tap the power button to quick launch Galaxy S9 camera. You can double tap icons on Galaxy S9 always-on display (AOD) screen to open the corresponding features. There is a variation of double tap: triple-tap. Triple-tap is a touchscreen gesture on all Android phones to magnify the screen. It is off by default. You can enable it in Settings -- Accessibility --Vision --Magnification--Trip tap screen to magnify. 3. Long tap gesture (tap and hold) Long tap gesture is often referred to as tap and hold. For this Galaxy S9 touchscreen gesture, you need to tap the screen, then hold it for more than 2 seconds, as shown in the animation below.  If you release your finger from the screen…

Galaxy S9 camera settings will help you get the desired photos and effectively use the camera in Galaxy S9 and S9+. This Galaxy S9 camera guide explains the meaning and usage of all entries in Galaxy S9 camera settings. Why do you need to understand Galaxy S9 camera settings? Many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners probably just start the camera app, shoot the photo, then share it. It works well in most situations owing to the decent Auto mode in Galaxy S9 and S9+ cameras. But sometimes, you may need to change some Galaxy S9 camera settings, e.g., using the timer, changing the video size to save storage, taking motion photos ...... Galaxy S9 camera settings allow you to customize the camera app so that you can take the desired photos and videos. In the new Galaxy S9 camera app, the simplified interface means more customizations in Galaxy S9 camera settings. How to access Galaxy S9 camera settings? You can start the camera app in Galaxy S9 in different ways as explained in this guide. Galaxy S9 camera quick launch. The camera app shortcut on Galaxy S9 lock screen. The camera app icon in Galaxy S9 home screen. The camera app icon in Galaxy S9 apps screen. Bixby voice command. Google Assistant. Once you are in Galaxy S9 camera app interface, you can tap the gear icon as shown below to open Galaxy S9 camera settings. How are Galaxy S9 camera settings organized? As shown in the following 3 screenshots, Galaxy S9 camera settings are organized into 3 sections/groups. Rear camera (#1-#6) This section includes settings related to the rear camera only. For Galaxy S9+, there are two rear cameras. But there are no separate settings for the individual rear camera. In fact, Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ have the identical camera settings. Front camera (#7-#13) This section covers the front camera specific settings. Some of the second level setting pages, e.g., timer and HDR settings,  are similar to those of the rear camera. The purpose of such settings is to keep separate settings for the front and rear cameras. Common (#14-#25) The settings in this section apply to both the front and rear cameras. Understand and use Galaxy S9 camera settings Corresponding to the numbers in the previous 3 screenshots, here are the explanations of Galaxy S9 camera settings. 1. Picture size for Galaxy S9/S9+ rear camera The picture size in Galaxy S9 camera has two aspects: the number of pixels (from 3.7MP to 12MP). the aspect ratio (4:3, 16:9, 18.5:9 and 1:1) . More pixels usually mean larger files, and therefore more storage space required. The default picture size for Galaxy S9 and S9+ is 12MP in 4:3 aspect ratio. For Galaxy S9 and S9+, normally you should not worry about the picture size because of the large 64GB or 256 GB storage. You can also save photos to micro SD card as explained in this guide. The aspect ratio determines the most suitable use of the photo: 4:3 (default) is good for printing. 16:9 is good for TV and smartphones. 1:1 is good for web designers, or some special usages. 18.5:9 is good for narrow phones with a screen of 18:9 or 18.5:9 aspect ratio. So, the intended usage determines the desired picture size. Typically, you should use as many pixels as possible. Picture quality will not degrade if you scale down (from more pixels to fewer pixels) the picture. But if you scale it up, the quality of the new photo will usually be terrible. If you are using the Pro camera mode, you can save the photos in RAW file format so that you can edit it later with some professional software. Please read this guide on how to use camera Pro mode on Galaxy S9 and S9+. 2. Video size for Galaxy S9/S9+ rear camera When you consider the video size for Galaxy S9/S9+ cameras, as shown above, you need to consider 3 aspects: Video size (resolution). You can record up to 4K UHD videos with Galaxy S9 or S9+ rear cameras. Aspect ratio. 3 aspect ratios, 16:9, 18.5:9 and 1:1, are supported. Frame rate. For normal videos, you can shoot them in 30fps (frames per second) or 60fps. For the slow-motion mode, you can record FHD 1080p at 240fps or HD 720p at 960fps in the super slow-motion mode. Although Galaxy S9 and S9+ support 4K HDR video playback, you cannot record HDR videos with Galaxy S9 or S9+ cameras. Please note videos usually take a lot of space. Galaxy S9 and S9+ may limit the length of the video in certain resolution/frame rates, for example, UHD at 60fps or 720p at 960fps. Such limitations are usually due to hardware restrictions. 3. Galaxy S9 camera timer settings Samsung removed the timer icon in the camera app since Android Nougat. In Galaxy S9 and S9+, you have to…

You can use Galaxy S9 recovery mode to flash new ROMs, clear Galaxy S9 cache partition, and to check recovery logs. Although Galaxy S9 recovery mode was designed for some advanced users, you may need some of the features, especially clearing the cache partition to fix some problems after a major update. This Galaxy S9 guide explains to you the functions of Galaxy S9 recovery mode, the way to reboot Galaxy S9 or S9+ into recovery mode, usage of the recovery mode, and methods of clearing Galaxy S9 cache partition. What is Galaxy S9 recovery mode? All Android phones have a special mode: recovery mode, which allows you to fix any Android problems and perform some actions (for example, patch the system) to the Android system without loading Android OS. In the phone storage layout, there is a special partition for recovery. This partition is protected from Android OS and other partitions. Galaxy S9  is not an exception. If you think you never used Galaxy S9 recovery mode, you are very likely wrong. When you install updates (including monthly security updates) for Galaxy S9 and S9+, you may notice the phone will reboot twice automatically. During this updating process, Galaxy S9 or S9+ would reboot into Galaxy S9 recovery mode first to apply the update, then reboot into Android OS so that you can use Galaxy S9 and S9+. Of course, Galaxy S9 recovery mode offers more functions including: To apply Android OS update To reset (factory data reset) Galaxy S9 or S9+. To wipe/clear Galaxy S9 cache partition. To boot into bootloader (download mode). To flash official or third-party ROMs for Galaxy S9 and S9+. To mount /system partition manually. To check recovery logs. To run a graphics test. Although Galaxy S9 recovery mode is seldom used for most Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners,  you may need to reboot into Galaxy S9 recovery mode to fix some problem with your S9 or S9+. In fact, most Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners reboot the phone into Galaxy S9 recovery mode to clear the cache partition to fix some issues after a major Android update. You should not confuse Galaxy S9 recovery mode with Galaxy S9 safe mode, which is a special mode of Android OS. How to reboot into Galaxy S9 recovery mode? The key combination to reboot into Galaxy S9 recovery mode is Bixby button+ Volume up + Power. Please refer to Galaxy S9 layout page for the location of these buttons. You may follow these steps to reboot Galaxy S9 or S9+ into Galaxy S9 recovery mode. Please note, it is also possible to reboot the phone into recovery mode with ADB commands. Step 1: Power off Galaxy S9 or S9+ You can press and hold the power button for more than 2 seconds to get the power button options as shown below. Tap Power off to power off Galaxy S9 or S9+. Step 2: Press and hold 3 buttons: Bixby button, volume up key and power button After Galaxy S9 or S9+ is powered off, you need to press and hold the following 3 buttons as shown below: Bixby button. Volume up button. Power button. You should hold the first two buttons first, then hold the power button. If you hold power button too early, Galaxy S9 or S9+ may reboot normally into Android OS. Step 3:  Wait for one or two minutes You need to press and hold the 3 buttons until you see the Galaxy S9 splash screen. You can release your fingers from the buttons after you get the splash screen. Then you have to wait one or two minutes until you get the recovery menu. You can (and have to) ignore the process of installing system update and the dead Android. But you cannot skip them. Step 4: Use Galaxy S9 recovery mode menu Without doing anything, you should get the Galaxy S9 recovery mode menu, as shown below, in about 1 to 3  minutes. How to use Galaxy S9 recovery mode? In Galaxy S9 recover mode, you can navigate the menu with volume up and down keys. If you need to make a selection, you need to use the power key. You cannot use touch gestures in Galaxy S9 recovery mode. How to clear cache partition on Galaxy S9 and S9+? If you find Galaxy S9 or S9+ behaves erratically, especially after an update, you may try to clear cache partition to solve many issues. Very often, clearing Galaxy S9 cache partition usually is the last resort before factory resetting the phone when you encounter some problems with Galaxy S9 or S9+. To clear Galaxy S9 cache partition, you just need to reboot the phone into Galaxy S9 recovery mode. As shown in the Galaxy S9 recovery mode menu, you can navigate to wipe cache partition with volume keys. Then…

Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover is one of the official accessories for Galaxy S9 and S9+. In addition to protecting your Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover offers a few unique features to make it fun and effective to use your Galaxy S9 and S9+. This Galaxy S9 accessories guide shows you everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover: unique features, how does the cover work, pros, and cons of the cover, how to customize and use the cover. Update: Added a new section of How to solve Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover problems after Android Pie update? If you get any issues with the LED cover after you update Galaxy S9 or S9+ to Android Pie, you may check this section. It solves two possible problems: The LED wallet cover is not recognized by the phone. Notifications are not shown on the LED cover. For other new features in Galaxy S9 Android Pie update, for example, new navigation gestures, lockdown mode, night mode, screen orientation lock (rotation toggle), new Recents screen, lock Galaxy S9 Home screen layout, floating keyboard, remap the Bixby butt, Bixby quick commands, updated camera app, lift to wake, tap to show (display mode) for Galaxy S9 always-on display (AOD) screen, are discussed here. What are the unique features of Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover? The official Galaxy S9 accessories were designed to enhance some features or improve the user experiences of Galaxy S9 and S9+. Unlike the Galaxy S9 clear view cover, Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover does not have a translucent front. It is opaque. So, Galaxy S9 LED cover uses LED dots on the cover to display icons for calls and notifications on the front cover. The unique features of Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover includes: LED icons for incoming calls, notifications, alarms, battery status, clock, and music controls. You can assign different LED icons for different contacts and different apps so that you can know who is calling or where is the notification from without opening the cover. LED with colors. You can assign border colors to the LED icons for Galaxy S9 LED cover. In previous generations of LED cover, there is no border color option. Powered by the phone battery through the NFC connection (induction). Respond to incoming calls directly on the cover (LED part) without opening it. Control the music playing on the cover directly. Respond to alarms on the cover directly. Of course, as a cover, Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover offers decent protection for the phone. How does the LED cover work? As you may know, you need the power to light up LED icons. But there is no built-in battery in Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover. So, how does the cover get the power? The answer is NFC. The LED wallet cover gets the power from the phone battery through NFC.  The cover is a passive NFC device and communicates with the phone using the NFC chip inside the cover. Like other passive NFC devices, the case can draw power from the phone through electromagnetic induction to power up itself to offer some features. As power consumption for LED icons is very low, you should not worry about the battery consumption of the cover. It is very marginal. You will not notice the difference in the battery life of the phone  with or without the LED cover. Pros and cons of Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover If you are considering whether Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover is a "right" cover for your Galaxy S9 or S9+, you may check the pros and cons of the cover. Please note, there are no perfect cases. It all depends on your requirements and budget. Based on our review, Samsung Galaxy S9 LED wallet cover has the following advantages: It is an official case.  The unique features of this LED cover will very likely work even after future software updates.  Galaxy S9 and S9+ will get Android Pie and Android 10 updates. Precise cutouts and perfect fit. Customizable LED icons for calls and notifications. Respond to calls and alarms without opening the case. A credit card holder inside the case. It is convenient for commuters to hold public transportation card. Decent and full protection for Galaxy S9 and S9+. It protects the camera lens, screen, back, and the rim. Top-notch build quality. Improved design with the top side fully covered. Improved texture of the surface material. Wake up and sleep the phone when the case opens/closes. Of course, there are some  disadvantages of the Galaxy S9 LED wallet case: It is not wallet-friendly.  The $64.99 list price is probably too high for many owners. There is no kickstand as in Galaxy S9 clear view cover. It is not light. The 50-60g weight may not be…

Some Galaxy S9 and S9 owners are not excited about Samsung Bixby and the dedicated button.  They may want to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+. You can easily disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+ if you frequently pressed the button inadvertently, or if you do not want to use Bixby. Update: After updating Galaxy S9 or S9+ to Android Pie, you cannot disable the Bixby button. Instead, you can remap the Bixby button to any third-party apps or any Bixby quick commands. This Galaxy S9 guide explains the functions of Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+, and shows you how to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+. What is Bixby button? Why may you want to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+? Since Galaxy S8 (and S8+), Samsung added a dedicated button for Bixby with the hope of boosting the usage of Samsung's AI assistant. As shown in Galaxy S9 and S9+ layout, Bixby button is located on the left side of the phone below the volume keys. By default, If you press the Bixby button on Galaxy S9 or S9+,  the phone will open Bixby Home. If you long press (press and hold) the Bixby button, the phone will open Bixby Voice. Samsung does not allow you to map the Bixby button on Galaxy S9 and S9+ to any other apps. It can only be used for Samsung Bixby unless you root the phone and mess up a few system settings. Although Samsung Bixby has been dramatically improved since the initial release with Galaxy S8, in many aspects, it is still not comparable to Google Assistant, which can be enabled in Galaxy S9 or S9 by long tapping  (tap and hold) the Home button. Some Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners may not want to use Samsung's Bixby at all. They are happy with Google Assistant. Some other owners may do not use either Google Assistant or Bixby. But they may press the Bixby button accidentally when they want to press the volume button or the power button. Even some Bixby users may not want to use the Bixby Home, which comes out when you press the Bixby button. You can use other Bixby features without the button. So, there are sizeable Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners who may want to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+. A few may even want to disable or uninstall Bixby from Galaxy S9 or S9+. As Bixby is deeply integrated into Galaxy S9 and S9+, it is hard to uninstall or disable Bixby entirely without breaking some core features and functions of the phone. But it is easy to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+. Please note, Samsung does not allow you to map the Bixby button in Galaxy S9 or S9+ to other apps or functions. Samsung simply blocked this feature. So, you have two options for the Galaxy S9 Bixby button: use it or disable it. How to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+? As mentioned earlier, there are two gestures for the Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+: press for Bixby Home and long press for Bixby Voice. You need to disable these two Bixby button gestures separately because they are independent of each other. Disable Bixby button press gesture for Bixby Home There are two methods to disable the press gesture for Bixby button. Method 1 Step 1: Access Bixby Home You can access Bixby Home by pressing the Bixby button. Alternatively,  you can access Bixby Home in the leftmost panel of the Galaxy S9 Home screen if you haven't disabled it as explained in this guide. Step 2: Tap the settings icon on Bixby Home page As shown in the screenshot below, tap the Settings icon (marked as 1). Tapping the setting icon would expand the top part of the Bixby Home page. Step 3: Switch off Bixby key As shown above, you can find the switch for Bixby key in the expanded top part of Bixby Home page. You can tap the switch to disable Bixby button for Bixby Home. For example, as shown below, after you disable Bixby key, Galaxy S9 or S9 will not do anything if you press the Bixby button. Please note, only the press gesture of the Bixby button was disabled. If you press and hold (long press) the button, you will get Bixby voice. This method is the fastest way to disable Bixby button for Bixby Home. Most Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners disable Bixby button for Bixby Home after removing the Bixby Home panel from Galaxy S9 Home screen. Method 2 On the Bixby Home page, tap the menu key (3 vertical dots) on the top right (marked as 2) to access the Bixby menu. As shown above, in…

Understanding the meaning of Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will help you to use the phone efficiently. You can get quick system info and new notifications by checking Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons in the status bar. This Galaxy S9 guide explains the differences between Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons, and the meaning of these icons in the status bar in Galaxy S9 and S9+. What is the difference between Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons? Android uses the top of the screen as the status bar, where Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons are shown.  It applies to Galaxy S9 Home screen, lock screen and all apps. The following screenshot is an example of the Galaxy S9 status bar with notification icons on the left and status icons on the right.  When you use Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode or any apps in landscape mode, the status bar is also in the top of the screen. Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons give you quick info about the system status (e.g., mobile network signal strength) and notifications from apps or the system. When an app is in the immersive full-screen mode, the status bar will be hidden temporally. In this case, you can swipe down from the top of the screen to bring up Galaxy S9 status bar (and Galaxy S9 navigation bar as well) The differences between Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons include: Galaxy S9 status icons are always related to the system; while Galaxy S9 notification icons are always linked to specific apps (including a few system apps and third-party apps). Galaxy S9 status icons are normally shown on the right side of the status bar; while Galaxy S9 notification icons always appear on the left side of the status bar. Galaxy S9 status icons are more or less universal in all regions; while Galaxy S9 notification icons depend on individual apps, whose developers can use whatever they want. Typically, when you see an icon on the left side of the status bar in Galaxy S9 or S9+, there are usually at least one or more corresponding notifications in Galaxy S9 notification panel. But if you see a Galaxy S9 status icon, there is seldom a corresponding notification. Meaning of Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ To use the phone effectively, you need to understand the meaning of Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons in Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons in this guide are organized in the following 7 groups: mobile network related, WiFi and Bluetooth related, battery/power related, phone call and sound related,  system related, USB related and messages related. 1. Meaning of mobile network related Galaxy S9 status icons and notification icons Mobile network signal strength icon This Galaxy S9 status icon indicates the strength of the mobile signal in your area. The strength is illustrated by the number of the bars. A strong signal usually corresponds to a better connection/reception. If you want to get the actual signal strength (in dBm), you can check Settings – About phone – Status – SIM card status as explained in Galaxy S9 SIM card guide. Mobile network in range icon This Galaxy S9 status icon indicates there is a mobile network in range. But Galaxy S9 or S9+ is not registered to it. You cannot use this mobile network unless your SIM card can be registered in it. You should check with your carrier whether your SIM is activated or not. Roaming icon The Galaxy S9 roaming icon indicates you are using Galaxy S9 or S9+ in a partner's network, not in your carrier's own network. The charges for voice and data are usually more expensive than using your carrier's own network. You will see this Galaxy S9 status icon when you visit other countries and roaming is enabled for your SIM card. By default, when you are roaming, mobile data are disabled automatically to help you avoid expensive mobile data charges in a guest network.  You can enable data roaming in Settings -- Connections -- Mobile networks -- Data roaming. Network not available icon This Galaxy S9 status icon means Galaxy S9 or S9+ failed to register with any mobile networks.   Therefore, you cannot use any mobile network features: you cannot make or receive calls; you cannot use mobile data. The problem may be caused by: There is no mobile network signal coverage of your carrier in the specific location at that time; or The SIM card has not been activated yet. You have to call your carrier to solve the issue. Aeroplane mode (flight mode) icon This Galaxy S9 status icon tells you Galaxy S9 or S9+ is in flight mode. When you enter Galaxy S9 flight mode, all connections including, WiFi,…

Galaxy S9 lock screen not only keeps your data safe but also offers some useful features and information to improve your productivity. This Galaxy S9 how-to guide shows you how to set up, use and customise the lock screen of Galaxy S9 and S9+. Please note although Galaxy S9 supports landscape mode in Galaxy S9 Home screen, Galaxy S9 lock screen is always in portrait mode. What is Galaxy S9 lock screen? Galaxy S9 lock screen likes a door to Galaxy S9 and S9+. You need this door to protect your data and info saved on the phone. But Galaxy S9 lock screen is also an information centre for you so that you can get some essential info without unlocking the phone or opening any apps. The information provided through Galaxy S9 lock screen varies depending on your customisation. By default, you can get at least the following info in Galaxy 9 lock screen: Time and date (clock). Carrier info. Media player controller. Your schedule. Notifications. Next alarm. In addition, Galaxy S9 lock screen allows you to: Change a few settings (not related to data or privacy) of Galaxy S9 and S9+ through quick setting buttons, for example, turn on/off the blue light filter. Add up to 2 app shortcuts to lock screen. Use Galaxy S9 camera without unlocking the phone. Make emergency calls. Of course, to protect your data in Galaxy S9 or S9+,  most of the settings can only be changed after you unlock the phone. How to set up Galaxy S9 lock screen security? By default, when you set up Galaxy S9 or S9+, it will ask you to set up the lock screen security. If you skip that step, the default lock screen security, swipe, will be used. Of course, you can change Galaxy S9 lock screen security at any time. And you should NOT set Galaxy S9 lock screen security to swipe or none. If you use either of the options, your data in Galaxy S9 or S9+ are at risk. Anyone, including thieves, can access your phone without restrictions. They can impersonate you. To change Galaxy S9 lock screen security, you may follow these steps. Step 1: Access Galaxy S9 Settings There are a couple of ways to access Galaxy S9 settings, for example Using the Settings app icon in Galaxy S9 Home screen. Using the Settings app icon in Galaxy S9 Apps screen. Using the Settings button (gear) in Galaxy S9 notification panel. Using the Settings button in Galaxy S9 quick settings panel. Using a Bixby voice command. Step 2: Go to lock screen and security settings In Galaxy S9 Settings page, as shown below, tap Lock screen and Security. Step 3: Change screen lock type In lock screen and security setting page, as shown in the screenshot above and continued below, you can find all settings related to Galaxy S9 lock screen for Galaxy S9 and S9+. Tap Screen lock type (marked as 1) as shown above to change Galaxy S9 lock screen security type. As shown above, you can find there are 5 types of Galaxy S9 lock screen security: Swipe (no security); Pattern (medium security); PIN (medium to high security); Password (high security); None. If you set Galaxy S9 lock screen security as "swipe", then you just need to swipe to unlock. If you set it to none, there will be no lock screen at all. To use fingerprint, iris scanner, or face recognition or intelligent scan, you must set lock screen security as PIN or password first. Some apps, like Samsung Pay or Google Pay, may also require you to set lock screen security as pattern, PIN or password. How to customize and change app shortcuts in Galaxy S9 lock screen? By default, there are two app shortcuts in the bottom of Galaxy S9 lock screen. The phone app is in the left side and the camera app in the right side. When the phone is locked, the phone app allows you to make emergency calls depending on local regulations. You can also use the camera app when Galaxy S9 is locked. In this case, as explained in this guide, you can check photos taken in this session only. You cannot access other photos or pictures saved on the phone before you unlock the phone. If you don't want to have apps on the lock screen, you can disable them. You can also assign any apps to the two spots. To change or customize the app shortcuts in Galaxy S9 lock screen,  you may tap App shortcuts (marked as 2 ) in the lock screen and security settings page shown earlier. In the app shortcuts page, as shown below, you can find a preview screen and two buttons for the left shortcut and the right shortcut. You can use the two buttons to disable apps in Galaxy…

In almost all regions, you still need a physic SIM card in Galaxy S9 0r S9+ to make calls or use mobile data connections. Galaxy S9 SIM card guide will help you understand everything about using a SIM card in Galaxy S9 and S9+ The guide will cover the correct size of Galaxy S9 SIM card, how to use the two slots in Galaxy SIM card tray, insert or change SIM card for Galaxy S9 and S9+, change mobile network settings in Galaxy S9 and S9+, and check mobile network connection and signal strength in Galaxy S9 and S9+. Some questions related to using Galaxy SIM card are also answered. What is the correct size of Galaxy S9 SIM card? Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 and S9+ use nano-SIM cards, which is the smallest SIM card you can get from your phone company. So, if you migrated to Galaxy S9 or S9+ from any of the following phones, you can use the existing SIM card for Galaxy S9 and S9+: Samsung Galaxy S6, S7 and S8 and all their variants (e.g., S8+, S7 edge, S6 edge and S6 edge+). Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Note 8. Any of Samsung Galaxy A series: Galaxy A3, A5, A7, A8 and A9. Galaxy J3 2017 and later, Galaxy J5 2017 and later, Galaxy J7 and later. iPhone 5, 6, 7, 8 and X (and all variants). Moto X (all generations). Pixel and Pixel XL (all generations). LG G5, G6 (all variants), V10, V20 and V30. many others phones released after 2016 If you are not sure whether your existing SIM card can be used in Galaxy S9 and S9+, please post your question in the comments box below. We will check it for you. You MUST use the correct size of Galaxy S9 SIM card because the slot in the Galaxy S9 SIM card tray can only hold nano-SIM cards. In theory, there are four possible sizes of SIM cards: Full-sizeSIM (1FF). Full-size SIM is  “giant” in size: 85.60 mm × 53.98 mm × 0.76 mm. No Android phones used it. Mini-SIM (2FF). Mini-SIM usually is now often referred as “big” or “normal”  or “standard” SIM card in some countries. Most carriers and phone manufacturers phased out mini-SIM a few years ago.  Very few Android phones in the market now use this big SIM card. Micro-SIM (3FF). Micro SIM is the most popular size of SIM card for middle-range and entry-level Android phones. In some regions, micro-SIM is referred as “small” SIM card. Nano-SIM (4FF). Nano-SIM is the smallest SIM card available for a smartphone today. Most flagship smartphones require nano-SIM. In most regions, most carriers offer 3-in-1 SIM cards. You can detach it as a mini-SIM card first. A micro-SIM card can be detached from this mini-SIM card. In a sequence, you can then get a nano-SIM card from the micro-SIM card. You can trim a mini-SIM to a micro-SIM card very easily because the metal part is not touched in this process. But you may damage the SIM card if you try to trim a micro-SIM card to a nano-SIM card. For an old micro-SIM card, the metal plated part may need to be trimmed when you try to convert it to a nano-SIM card. Therefore, it is not recommended to trim a nano-SIM card by yourself for Galaxy S9 and S9+. If you cannot use the existing SIM card in Galaxy S9 or S9+, you should try to get the nano-SIM card from your carrier. How to use the two slots in Galaxy S9 SIM card tray? In the USA and a few other regions,  Samsung only offers the single-SIM version Galaxy S9 and S9+. You are allowed to use only one SIM card in Galaxy S9 or S9+. In most of the international markets, you can get the dual-SIM version of Galaxy S9 and S9+. So, you can use up to two SIM cards in one Galaxy S9 or S9+. Although Galaxy S9 SIM card tray in the single-SIM and dual-SIM version looks similar, the slot 2 is slightly different and therefore the usage of the slot 2 of Galaxy S9 SIM card tray can be different. For the single-SIM version Galaxy S9 or S9+, the nano-SIM card must be placed in slot 1. The slot 2 can be either empty or occupied by a micro SD card as shown below. You cannot put a SIM card in slot 2. However, for dual-SIM Galaxy S9 and S9+, you have more options: A nano-SIM card in slot 1, another nano-SIM card in slot 2 (option 1 in the following illustration); A nano-SIM card in slot 1, a micro SD card in slot 2 (option 2 in the following illustration); A nano-SIM card in slot 1, empty slot 2; Empty slot 1, a nano-SIM card in slot 2. So, the difference is that the slot 2 in dual SIM version Galaxy S9/S9+…

Samsung added the Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode in Galaxy S9 and S9+. You can change Galaxy S9 home screen to landscape orientation when you hold Galaxy S9 and S9+ horizontally.  Of course, this also applies to Galaxy S9 apps screen (app drawer), which essentially is a special home screen. This Galaxy S9 guide explains what Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode is, how to enable and disable Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode, and how to use Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode. Update: in Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can use the rotation toggle button to quickly change and lock screen orientation, including the home screen.  You may check this guide on using the rotation toggle to change and lock the Galaxy S9 screen orientation. In addition, you can also lock the layout of Galaxy S9 home screen in Android Pie update as explained in this guide. What is Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode? By default, the home screen (and apps screen) was always in portrait mode on most Android phones even if you hold the phone horizontally, and if you turn on auto-rotate. So, it is hard to use the home screen in landscape mode, and you may have to hold the phone in portrait orientation to use the home screen and apps screen. Please do not confuse this limitation in home screen with the auto-rotate. Most apps including system apps like Settings support landscape mode for a long time. When you turn on auto-rotate, you can use most apps in the landscape orientation. In Android tablet, since Android Honeycomb 3.0, the home screen landscape mode has been supported. However, on the phone, the home screen landscape mode is still new. The larger screen aspect ratio beyond 16:9 in many recent flagship Android phones exacerbates the implementation of landscape mode for the home screen. The screen simply looks too narrow for the icons. Anyway, Samsung now offers the option to use Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode in Galaxy S9 and S9+. This means the Galaxy S9 home screen can automatically rotate to landscape mode when you hold the phone in landscape position. Undoubtedly, the app icons and widgets in Galaxy S9 home screen will be re-organised in landscape mode. Simple rotation is not enough due to insufficient height in the landscape mode. In a nutshell, Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode allows you to use Galaxy S9 home screen ( and apps screen) comfortably when you hold the phone horizontally. For example, when you put Galaxy S9 in the clear view cover in kickstand mode to watch movies, you can easily switch to other apps without picking up the phone. How to disable and enable Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode? In some regions, Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode is not enabled by default.  In other regions, it was enabled. You can enable or disable Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode by following these steps. For impatient readers, the path is Settings -- Display-- Home screen -- Portrait mode only. Step 1:  Start Galaxy S9 Settings You can access Galaxy S9 Settings from Galaxy S9 Home screen, or apps screen, or notification panel, or quick settings panel. Step 2: Tap Display In Galaxy S9 Settings page, tap Display as shown below. Step 3: Tap Home screen As shown above, tap Home screen to change Galaxy S9 home screen settings. Step 4: Turn on /off  Portrait mode only In the home screen settings page, scroll down to find Portrait mode only as shown below. You can tap the switch to turn Portrait mode only on or off. If you turn on Portrait mode only, you disable Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode. Subsequently, the home screen will always be in portrait mode regardless of the position (orientation) of the phone. On the contrary, if you turn off Portrait mode only, you enable Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode. You can then have a rotated Galaxy S9 home screen in landscape mode. Step 5: Turn on auto-rotate To avoid the phone being locked in portrait or landscape mode, you need to turn on auto-rotate in the quick settings panel as shown above. If you turn off auto-rotate when the Galaxy S9 home screen is in the landscape mode, then the phone is locked in landscape mode. All apps except for those that can only work in portrait mode (e.g., Phone app) will also be locked to landscape mode. So, it is better to turn on auto-rotate. How to use Galaxy S9 home screen landscape mode? There are some changes when Galaxy S9 home screen changes from portrait mode to landscape mode. For example, when in portrait mode, the Galaxy S9 home screen looks like below. But when in Galaxy S9 landscape mode, as shown below, the app description moves from below the icon to next to it. The size of…