Galaxy S9 Guides

a community for owners of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

galaxy S9 home screen edit mode

How to lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout on Galaxy S9 and S9+ with Android Pie update?

· 1 Comment

lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+ allows you to lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout so that you will not lose you customization due to accidental touches.

Although it sounds trivial and can be found in some other Android phones, many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners will find this is one of the very useful features of Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+.

This Galaxy S9 Android Pie update guide shows you how to lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout on Galaxy S9 and S9+ with Android Pie update, and what the caveats are if you lock the home screen layout.

Why you may need to lock the home screen layout?

You can customize the Galaxy S9 home screen in many ways. You can use third-party themes, remove Bixby Home from the home screen, change wallpapers, adjust the grid layout, add app folders, pin individual files to the home screen, show photos on Galaxy S9 home screen (using widgets), and manage home screen panels.

Besides, Galaxy S9 and S9+ also support landscape mode of the Galaxy S9 home screen.

But very easily, the customization can be instantly wiped by accidental taps.  For example, your kids may delete the widgets from the screen if they get their hands on the screen.

Many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners want to lock the customization after the initial setup because most owners seldom change the home screen after one or two months.

Now, in the Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+, you can lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout so that you will not lose your customization so easily.

Of course, it only locks the layout. You cannot add or delete app icons or widgets once you lock Galaxy S9 home screen layout. But you can still use Galaxy S9 home screen edit mode to customize the home screen.

How to lock the Galaxy S9 home screen layout?

As other new features of Android Pie update for Galaxy S9 and S9+, the lock home screen layout feature is not enabled by default.

You need to enable this feature to lock the home screen layout.

In Galaxy s9 Settings, tap Display as shown below.

Settings Home screen settings

In the display settings page, as shown in the screenshot above, tap Home screen.

In the home screen settings page, you can then find … Read the rest

How to show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen?

You can use the picture frame widget to show photos on Galaxy S9and S9+ home screens.

· Leave a Comment

How to show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen?Many Galaxy S9 or S9+ owners want to show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen so that they can easily see the slideshow of their loved photos without opening the Gallery or other photo apps.

Samsung made it easy to pin photos to the always-on display as explained in this guide. But showing photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen does not work out of the box.

Although there are many solutions for you to show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen, using Samsung’s picture frame widget probably is the easiest way to show photos on Galaxy S9 and S9+ home screen.

This Galaxy S9 guide shows you how to show photos on Galaxy S9 home screen using the picture frame widget provided by Samsung.  You can also tweak the slideshow by including or excluding photos, adjusting slideshow timing, the layout of photos, and how the photos fill the spots.

The picture frame widget was available in Galaxy phones with Android Marshmallow 6.0 or earlier. Samsung removed it in Android Nougat firmware and offered it as an optional feature in Galaxy Apps.

So, this guide applies to most Samsung Galaxy phones. For Galaxy S9 and S9+, you need to install the widget from Galaxy Apps.

You may follow the steps to install the widget and show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen. Ths steps als0 are applicable for Galaxy S8, S8+, S7, S7 Edge, Note 9,  Note 8 and Note 5. If you have an older Samsung phone, very likely, you can skip step 1 (as the widget was part of the old Gallery app).

Step 1: Install Picture Frame from Samsung Galaxy Apps

Galaxy Apps is preinstalled in Galaxy S9 and S9+. You cannot remove it.

Samsung now puts many optional features on Galaxy Apps.

In Galaxy  S9 or S9+,  tap Galaxy Apps icon in the home screen or apps screen.

In Galaxy Apps, switch to Exclusives tap as shown below.

show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen Step 1: Install Picture Frame from Samsung Galaxy Apps show photos on Galaxy S9 Home screen Step 1: Install Picture Frame from Samsung Galaxy Apps

In the Exclusives tab, you can scroll down to find the Galaxy Essentials category.

Tap view all as shown above.

Now, you can find apps included in Galaxy Essentials as shown below.

In some regions, by default,  there is a Galaxy Essentials widget on Galaxy S9 Home screen. You can tap it to arrive on the same page.

Among the apps, you can find the Picture frame as shown below. It used … Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S9 themes to customize the look and feel of Galaxy S9 and S9+?

Everything you need to know about Galaxy S9 themes

· Leave a Comment

Everything you need to know about Galaxy S9 themesGalaxy S9 themes allow you to customise many aspects of the UI in Galaxy S9 and S9+.  It is no longer necessary to customise the colour scheme, wallpaper, icons or always-on display (AOD) screen individually.

You can find many excellent free Galaxy S9 themes in Samsung themes to meet your needs.

This Galaxy S9 guide explains everything you need to know about Galaxy S9 themes: What are they? How to get them? How to access them in Samsung themes? How to install and use them? How to manage or delete Galaxy S9 themes.

What are Galaxy S9 themes?

Galaxy S9 themes are “skins” for your Galaxy S9 and S9+.

You can use Galaxy S9 themes to customise the user interface of Galaxy S9 or S9+. The customisation usually includes:

Please note, Galaxy S9 themes work with the default launcher. If you are using a third-party launcher, Galaxy S9 themes unlikely will work as expected.

Besides, themes for other Galaxy phones (e.g., Galaxy S8/S8+) will NOT work on Galaxy S9/S9+.

Where to get Galaxy S9 themes?

As a security measure, you should get new themes for Galaxy S9 and S9+ ONLY from Samsung’s Theme store, which is embedded in Galaxy Apps.

You probably should never get any themes from other sources.

How to access Galaxy S9 themes?

You can access Galaxy S9 themes from Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode.

In Galaxy S9 home screen, you can enter the edit mode by:

Once in the edit mode of the Galaxy S9 Home screen, as shown below,  tap Themes to access Galaxy S9 themes.

access Galaxy S9 themes access Galaxy S9 themes

In Galaxy S9 themes page, as shown in the screenshot above, tap Themes to enter themes tab.

Besides, you will get the notification about Galaxy S9 themes in the notification panel when … Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S9 Apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+?

Everything you need to know about Galaxy S9 Apps screen

· Leave a Comment

use Galaxy S9 Apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+Galaxy S9 Apps screen is an integral part of Galaxy S9 and S9+. Unless you hide the apps screen, you have to work with it.

Although Galaxy S9 apps screen is just a special version home screen, there are some major differences between Galaxy S9 Home screen and Apps screen.

This Galaxy S9 guide explains what Galaxy S9 apps screen is, how to access it, how to use it and how to manage apps and app folders on it.

What is Galaxy S9 Apps screen?

Galaxy S9 Apps screen is the placeholder for all apps installed on your phone. All other Android phones also have a similar apps screen.

Sometimes, apps screen is referred to as the app drawer. In the old versions of Android, widgets were normally hosted in the apps screen as well.

Galaxy S9 Apps screen actually is a special version of Galaxy S9 Home screen.

You can find apps, hide apps, sort apps, manage apps in Galaxy S9 apps screen.

By default, all apps will be listed in the apps screen unless you hide them.

How to access Galaxy S9 Apps screen?

By default, there are a couple of different ways to access Galaxy S9 Apps screen.  These include:

Of course, if you hide the Galaxy S9 Apps screen, then you are working with Galaxy S9 Home screen only, and the apps screen will not be explicitly available.

How to use  Galaxy S9 Apps screen interface?

On Galaxy S9 apps screen, if you tap on any app icons, the app will start. This is similar to that on the home screen.

If you tap and hold (long tap) an app icon without moving your fingers, you will get the context menu as shown in the following two screenshots.

For all apps, there are at least 3 options in the context menu:

  • Select items. You can then continue to select more app icons in the selection mode. You can use the selected apps to create an app folder. Or you can uninstall them in batch.
  • Add to home
… Read the rest

How to manage Galaxy S9 Home screen panels on Galaxy S9 and S9+?

Add, delete, re-arrange Galaxy S9 home screen panels and assign a new home panel for Galaxy S9 Home screen

· Leave a Comment

manage Galaxy S9 Home screen panels on Galaxy S9 and S9+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… Read the rest

How to use quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+ to check notifications?

Quick-open notification panel allows you to open Galaxy S9 notification panel quickly on the home screen.

· 2 Comments

use quick-open notification panel on Galaxy S9 and S9+ to check notificationsYou 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 … Read the rest

How to hide Galaxy S9 apps screen and how to hide Galaxy Apps button?

You will learn to hide apps screen and hide/show apps screen button on Galaxy S9 and S9+.

· 2 Comments

How to hide Galaxy S9 apps screen and how to hide Galaxy Apps button?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.

hide galaxy S9 apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+ hide galaxy S9 apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+

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:

  1. Home and Apps screen.
  2. 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.

hide galaxy S9 apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+ hide galaxy S9 apps screen on Galaxy S9 and S9+

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 … Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode to customize Galaxy S9 Home screen?

· Leave a Comment

How to use Galaxy S9 Home screen edit mode to customize Galaxy S9 Home screenYou 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:

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 … Read the rest

Understand and Use Galaxy S9 Home screen

· Leave a Comment

What is Galaxy S9 Home screenYou 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
… Read the rest

How to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+?

You can disable both the press and long press gesture of Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+ to disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+.

· 19 Comments

disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+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 … Read the rest

How to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen?

You can hide the annoying Bixby Home panel in Galaxy S9 Home screen.

· 9 Comments

In the leftmost of Galaxy S9 Home screen, Samsung reserved it for the Bixby Home. But  Many Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners are not impressed with Bixby. They want to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen.

By removing Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen, you would at least get a cleaner Galaxy S9 Home screen.

This Galaxy S9 guide explains how to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen, and how to access Bixby Home when it is removed.

Why may you want to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen?

Bixby Home is supposed to show you the most relevant info for you when you open it.  The info is pulled from both your data (e.g., calendar) and news feed based (e.g., Linkedin).

Such an informational page can be very useful when you are busy. You can just glimpse the Bixby Home to get informed quickly.

By default, there are at least two quick ways to access Bixby Home:

  1. Navigating to the leftmost panel of Galaxy S9 home screen.
  2. Pressing Bixby button once.

It is obvious that method 2 is faster and more intuitive to access Bixby Home, and therefore method 1 is redundant.  You may want to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen to clean up Galaxy S9 home screen.

In addition,  some Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners are not fans of Samsung’s Bixby. Google Assistant, which is available on almost all Android phones now, in most cases can be a better job.

They may feel it is annoyed when they accidentally access the Bixby Home when they want to access the home panel of Galaxy S9 home screen.

Although it is almost impossible to disable Bixby in Galaxy S9 and S9+, it is easy to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen.

You can also easily disable Bixby button in Galaxy S9 and S9+.

How to remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen?

As shown below, in Galaxy S9 and S9+, the leftmost panel in Galaxy S9 Home screen is reserved for Bixby Home.

The double-line icon (marked in the red rectangle) in the panel indicator (indicating panel you are in currently) suggests Bixby Home is active.

remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen

To remove Bixby Home from Galaxy S9 Home screen, you may follow these steps.

Step 1: Tap and hold (long tap) any empty space in Galaxy S9 Home

… Read the rest