With Nexus devices already enjoying Android 5.0 Lollipop, most other manufacturers are scrambling to get their flagships updated to Google's latest operating system. While HTC has promised Lollipop by the end of 2015, OEMs such as Motorola and Sony have already issued updates to their latest models. Then there's Samsung.
Before your carrier got its grubby little hands on your Galaxy S5, there was less bloatware installed and more functionality offered by the Samsung flagship device. Case in point: the GS5 that Samsung designed was capable of recording phone calls, yet the one that you own probably isn't.
Samsung's TouchWiz skin gets a lot of flak for its appearance, namely the garish colors on the quick settings toggles. The bright green on dark blue scheme is definitely an eyesore compared to the ones in stock Android, and even other manufacturer skins like HTC's Sense.
Unlocking your Samsung Galaxy S4 so you can use a different SIM card isn't the easiest thing in the world. In the states, unlocking cell phones was actually illegal, despite the White House's disapproval, though, a recent bill has making its way to the House floor and has made it legal again.
One of the main reasons why the Samsung Galaxy S III has dethroned Apple's iPhone 4S as the best-selling smartphone in the world is due to Android's open-source operating system. The vast spectrum of customization that comes with Android has become one of its focal points, allowing n00bs and programmers alike to build and destroy. The open-source OS has allowed rooting and modified ROMs to flourish within Android community. The only problem with this is that rooting and installing your own RO...
If you're like me, getting as much sleep as possible is priority number one. With more and more time spent on or around our cell phones, it's becoming harder and harder to block out all the noise.
Samsung simplified the interface in its Camera app for the Galaxy S20. It's easier to use for the most part, but now you have to go digging to access certain camera modes. To make up for this, One UI now lets you rearrange the tabs in the Camera app.
You can't call yourself an Android pro without knowing about Recovery or Download Mode. These menus are critical to do more advanced tasks on your phone, include sideloading software updates and un-bricking a device. But this year, Samsung changed the button combinations that will get you there.
The Galaxy Note 10 is a radical departure from what Samsung has traditionally done with past releases. The most noticeable change is the fact that there are four distinct variants. But Samsung also turned the power button on the Note 10 into a Bixby key, which means powering the phone off or rebooting it is a bit different.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have terrific cameras that are packed with awesome features. But if you've grown tired of taking and viewing photos on only a part of your screen, Samsung has built in settings to let you take full advantage of their flagships' Infinity Display.
One of Android 8.0's best features is also one of its most subtle — customizable lock screen shortcuts give you more control over the two functions you care about most. Your Galaxy S9 has the Phone and Camera apps in those spots by default, but you can quickly and easily change them if you have other ideas in mind.
Over the past week, we've had a number of important launches take place in the Android community. Samsung is in the middle of their rollout of the Galaxy S9, with preorders in the US shipping this week. Google also rolled out the first Android P developer preview last week. While these may seem unrelated, there are actually a number of Android P features inspired by Samsung software.
You don't need to have a fully modded and rooted Galaxy S9 to appreciate what developer options brings to the table. Besides the obvious USB debugging, which lets you use ADB, this hidden menu lets you tweak your phone's animations or change its DPI to better suit your needs — and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Multitasking on a smartphone has never been better, but it still has some ways to go to compete with a desktop experience. Samsung hopes to change that with a new multitasking view on the Galaxy S9, which allows the user to open notifications in a new, smaller window on top of the app they are currently using.
The S9 and S9+ are both fantastic phones. However, there's no getting around the fact that the S9+ has its advantages. In fact, it's an objectively better smartphone than its smaller counterpart — Samsung has given the S9+ features not found in the S9, meaning you'll be missing out if you choose the 5.8" Galaxy over the 6.2".
|UPDATE: The event is now over and we've learned all there is to know about the new Galaxy S9 and S9+. But if you're still interested in watching Samsung's presentation, we've left the replay video embedded below.
Samsung hopes to make a splash with the new Galaxy Note 9 to make up for the underwhelming sales of its signature Galaxy S9 series. This flagship is a radical departure from its predecessors — it's now optimized for gaming and paired with the most advanced S Pen stylus to date. Here's everything you need to know.
Samsung's 2016 line of smartphones has a new update, at least for the devices on AT&T. The update brings the Galaxy S7 to version G930AUCS4BQL1 and the Galaxy S7 Edge to version G935AUCS4BQL1. Here's what's on the table.
Now that we've had significant time with Samsung's Oreo Beta for the Galaxy S8, many interesting features have come to light. As we continue using the new software, we have uncovered more subtle changes. The home screen already received a few new customization features, it's only fitting that the edge screen get some love, too.
The OnePlus 5 may have received a lot of flak for its design mirroring the iPhone 7 Plus' very closely, but that doesn't change the fact that dual cameras have become increasingly more common over the last couple years. Samsung's next smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8, is rumored to be the next major smartphone to sport the technology. Now, Samsung may have confirmed those rumors as truth.
The Galaxy S8's Always On Display is a fantastic feature that gives you a brief overview without having to wake up your phone. But AOD now has a virtual home button, which kinda ruins the sleek look and can even cause screen burn-in.
We just keep discovering hidden features and settings scattered throughout the Galaxy S8's system like little digital Easter eggs that were largely left unadvertised. One such setting is an option that lets you change the placement of your S8's display brightness slider.
If you shatter your new Samsung Galaxy S8 display, then be prepared to pay a hefty repair fee for that bezel-less baby.
Like Russian Matryoshka dolls, the features on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ often have hidden components within them that add to their functionality. The phone's flashlight is a great example of this since there's a hidden shortcut within the "Flashlight" Quick Settings tile that lets you adjust its brightness level.
It was nice while it lasted. Samsung users who managed to get their hands on the Galaxy S8 or S8+ early enjoyed the ability to launch any app through the dedicated Bixby button. Unfortunately, Samsung wasn't all that down with us using the Bixby button for purposes other than its intended use — to provide quick access to Samsung's new virtual assistant.
Headphone drama has been all the rage in the past year, with Apple killing off the headphone jack and trying to force AirPods upon its users (Apple, stop trying to make tiny, expensive, easy-to-lose earbuds happen. It's not going to work).
Samsung's next Galaxy Note smartphone is expected to contain some nifty new additions that the company hopes will give it the long desired edge it has been seeking over Apple. One of those features that might make the difference? An iris scanner, which could make it the first major smartphone on the market to have that technology included.
Samsung has been on a tear with its flagship devices since the release of the Galaxy S6; The S6 edge, the Note 5, and this year's Galaxy S7 models have all been met with universal acclaim, and even the staunchest of critics have almost nothing negative to say. Almost.
In the realm of Android mods, none is more powerful than a custom recovery. This is installed in place of the stock offering, and it lets you back up your entire system, flash mods, and install custom ROMs.
Some variants of the Galaxy S6 will allow you to silence the camera shutter sound with an option in the app's settings menu. But this is not true of all models, plus there's an additional annoyance—when you're filming video and you get a notification, you'll actually hear this tone on the final recording.
Before you purchased your smartphone or tablet, the device had already embarked on quite a long journey. From product development to manufacturing, your Samsung Galaxy device had already developed a rich history prior to your ownership.
S Health is one of the biggest selling points for newer Samsung Galaxy devices. It offers a centralized place to view and manage data collected by all of the various sensors like the heart rate monitor.
Android has plenty of features that provide multitasking support, which are especially useful on smartphones with larger screens. One such feature that I loved on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 was the popup browser, which brought up a floating window whenever I opened a link inside of third-party apps like Facebook and Twitter.
I'm the type of person that rarely has an audible ringer enabled on my phone. Haptic feedback (vibration) is enough for me... most of the time. When my phone isn't in my pocket, I become the type of person who frequently misses calls and texts—and no one likes that person.
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is sure to get an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, there's no official confirmation on when exactly that will happen (rumors state January). In the meantime, there are a number of ways to get some of Lollipop's features on your KitKat device right now, but today I'll be focusing on the looks with a Lollipop-themed launcher.
With the gargantuan size of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, it's no surprise that some of you might have trouble taking advantage of all the features using only one hand. One such feature is the newly-added fingerprint scanner, which allows you to swipe your finger on the Home button to unlock the device, among other things.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 is a beautiful device worthy of all the critical acclaim it has received thus far. But aside from the S Pen features, most of the Note's user interface has a great deal of overlap with the Galaxy S5 that we all know and love.
Most Android devices allow you to simply replace a ZIP file in your /system/media folder if you want to change your boot animation. Unfortunately, though, this isn't the case for the Galaxy S5, as it's been buried deep in Samsung's TouchWiz skin.
The Galaxy S5 is definitely not lacking when it comes to computing power. With a Snapdragon 801 processor, an Adreno 330 GPU, and 2 gigabytes of RAM, it can take almost anything you throw at it.
Geohot's Towelroot exploit made rooting the Galaxy S5 so easy that it was almost unreasonable not to try it out—even for the first-timers out there. This, of course, meant that folks who didn't truly need root for their usage went ahead and got Superuser privileges anyway.
