What are /r/GalaxyS7's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Textra is really great, it has the full feature set you find in the stock Samsung app (including quick reply), but also features a pop-up notification for replying to a message in the context of the thread. The app is by far the fastest messaging client I've encountered, has extensive color/sound/appearance/notification customization, and the team is constantly rolling out new features. Highly recommend.

I feel you on this. I really don't know why it's so bad. some I've seen have luck with downloading their local area maps on gmaps to make it faster. and I've seen others say older versions of the app work for them. here's a trusted site to download older verisons in case you need it: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/maps/

You should really check out Relay for Reddit. All of the Reddit clients for Android have got issues, but Relay offers the best experience at the moment and the amount of development going into the beta version shows that it's about to get even better.

Samsung Music

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.music

simple but pretty interface, minimal but all the right features and best sound quality on S7. if you need a straight forward music player, look no further.

I use swipe for facebook which is a wrapper of the browser site. It feels like an official app if you are just into basic facebook stuff.

This is the issue for those who haven't seen it. (The dialog says "Screen overlay detected: To change this permission setting, you first have to turn off the screen overlay from Settings > Apps.")

Basically, it's a security feature. If you have an app currently using a screen overlay (i.e. using its "Draw over other apps" permission), like Twilight (a nighttime color-filtering app), you can't actually approve new permissions for other apps through the normal pop-up dialog. You either have to turn off the overlay and get the new app to re-request the permission, or manually set the permission.

I say this is a "security feature" because I believe the Android devs are concerned that a screen overlay app could obscure/overwrite the permissions dialog, and trick you into approving permissions. It would be nice to be able to say "I trust Twilight; don't let it stop these permission dialogs" but Android does not offer that level of granular control. So instead, I have the Twilight widget on my home screen, so I can quickly turn it off when I need to approve new permissions.

Get the free version of wake lock detector from the play store. Doesn't matter that it's the root version. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.uzumapps.wakelockdetector

Enable adb debugging on your phone. Install adb on your computer. Connect your phone to your computer. Issue the command "adb tcpip 5555" This allows wake lock detector to read the wake locks. go to the wake lock detector settings, and toggle advanced mode to show system process. See if there is one in particular, and whether you can attribute it to a known process or app.

Edit; your stats are indicating a very short timescale. Is this what is always like?

I'm partial to Android Messenger. It used to be called Google messenger or something like that, but it's clean and simple IMO.

• Nova Launcher
  
• Gboard keyboard
  
• an Icon pack of your choice
  
• go to the Theme Store and search for "material" or "flat" and get a theme of your choice
  
• use Samsung browser, it's awesome and get an Adblock for it
  
• look for Disconnect Pro app in the Galaxy App store and get it once it's free or on sale (system wide adblocker without any hassle)
  
• OGYouTube app for background YouTube playback (look for it on XDA or ApkMirror)
  
• Flyperlink
  
• disable Facebook and FB Messenger apps as they are failing pile of garbage and use alternatives like Friendly and FB Messenger Lite
  
• use Samsung Game Tuner if you're into gaming on your phone
  
• use Samsung SideSync to mirror your phone on PC
  
• use Samsunng Cloud for backup (through phone's settings)
  

Weather Timeline is your best bet.

Minimal w/ a material design and super customizable.

My current use of a the widgets

I find Google Keyboard (or Gboard as it's recently been renamed to) to be the easiest for both. First thing I installed when I got this phone and haven't switched from it since.

Get the "Gboard" update here if the Play Store listing is still called Google Keyboard for you.

Google Now on tap.

invoke Now on tap, select "touching finger" icon and copy the text: http://imgur.com/OTGNyiT

or:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camel.corp.universalcopy&hl=en

This should help =) no root needed

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phoenixstudios.aiogestures

Just download the app, go to the far left tab, enable the hard keys, a pop up will come up to enable it in the system settings so do that, go back and hit the + button, and add the volume up and down keys, then set them how you like =)

The Smart Switch app that comes preinstalled on the phone should do it just fine, but if not, the best app I've found is SMS Backup & Restore. I was able to copy my old texts over without a problem. My old phone had SD which was easier but seeing as the 6P doesn't, get this add-on which allows you to save the backups to the cloud (Google Drive or Dropbox), then install both on your S7 as well and restore them there.

I use the Rugged armor, good balance between protection and less bulk.

There's no official option as far as I know. I think Samsung did away with that after the S5. Instead I get by with Galaxy Button Lights 2. The app will keep the light off even through power cycles.

Got any astronomy apps you would recommend?

Well, because you don't have it! Some carriers removed it. Here is the alternative. Works as advertised. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.notquiteinsane.galaxybuttonlights2&hl=en

You can actually plug in almost everything to your S7 with that OTG adapter... You can even plug in a DVD drive, with this app, but I don't really know why someone would want to...

Edit: Wrong link

I have location services turned off all the time. After the April update, android OS was always second to screen on mine, but still high consumption (20+% of total battery usage throughout a day).

Mine is usually caused by a Bluetooth process keeping the phone awake even after toggling Bluetooth off (after listening to music via Bluetooth).

There are so many things going through android OS that regular battery stats aren't granular enough to find. I'd recommend people download the non-root version of wakelock detector (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.uzumapps.wakelockdetector.noroot) and after enabling usb debugging, connect your phone to your computer, then at a command prompt (assuming you have adb installed on your computer) type this:

Adb tcpip 5555

This gives the application access to read the wake lock status for processes and services. Note; if you restart your phone then you have to redo the above step for the app to have access to the info.

unfortunately i can't relate as i don't use the facebook app or an s7, but i recommend swipe for facebook as an alternative

Use AdGuard. Do not use the one in the playstore. Search on Google and you will find the apk. It can block in apps ads also but required premium version for that!

Link: https://adguard.com/en/welcome.html

This is the second time in recent days I've seen a reference to this "Samsung phone info" app, with no link. Searching for "Samsung phone info" in the Play Store yields no exact matches, no apps from Samsung, with the closest match being "Phone INFO *Samsung*" by vndnguyen. Is this what you're referring to?

Theme

Icon pack and background

Good Lock is a "hacked" backup

I refer the iOS emoji and loved that Samsung allowed me to install this font and my whole phone would show iOS emoji throughout. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.monotype.android.font.theme.emoji1

It sucks because the difference in emoji makes it confusing at times and depict different meanings/expressions.

Majority of my friends own iOS and it made it easier this way to be on the same page of knowing what they were expressing with emoji.

If you do not use emoji or can't sleep because you refuse to use emoji then you should ignore this post.

Yeah, you can use the fingerprint scanner as the home button. I'll find the app and post it. Only problem is a I couldn't figure out how to use Google Now on tap while it was enabled.

Edit: That was quicker than I thought.

Also, in case you guys are wondering, this is the apk I was downloading in the video: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/samsung-electronics-co-ltd/samsung-clockface/clockface-1-0-04-9-release/clockface-1-0-04-9-android-apk-download/

It adds extra clocks to the AOD and lockscreen, after you download and install it, go to clock style as you normally would and then swipe all the way to the left and you should see a new button after the "samsung themes" button.

Yes.

Not to sound condescending, but it's called Google. I think a lot of people forget that Google is a software company first, not hardware. You can backup/restore contacts to Google, use Google Calendar across devices, sync browser history/bookmarks with Google Chrome, use virtually any app with Google sign-on and have the data restore on any phone. Google is very robust and powerful in account (and life) management. It's actually kinda crazy when you start to consider all of Google (and don't forget the whole Alphabet!) has to offer!

As for texting and basic file transfer, you could use AirDroid or Pushbullet. I've used both and like Pushbullet a bit more because it works off of a Chrome extension, rather than having to download a Mac App or waste a browser tab. Both are good for sending files quickly between devices (even between Macs via Pushbullet). But I'm also a huge proponent of Google Drive. You get 15 GB (I think) free or you can pay 2 bucks a month for 100 GB. As a designer, I need a lot of storage and my Mac runs out quickly. So I use Drive for virtually everything and it's glorious!

Hope that info helps.

Side note: praying that Google Allo will pick up SMS and reply-from-computer support!

The first thing i did was install simple system monitor to check CPU usage by app but nothing out of the ordinary showed up there so the next thing I turned toward was Xposed.

The first thing I did there was disable Xposed and reboot and that allowed the BIG CPU cores to idle. From here on out, i re-enabled Xposed and I would enable modules one by one and test for a day to see if the problem would return or not.

This allowed me pinpoint that Instant Face Unlock Module was behind the problem.

So all in all, you have to use the process of elimination to pinpoint the culprit.

I hope this is useful.

Probably poor cell signal or interference. Your phone is beaming at max power trying to communicate with cell towers.

Run Gsam Battery Monitor which will show a graph of battery life with a phone signal graph with it. That will show you for sure.

You can try using Join, it works great for me and it seems like the developer is pretty active supporting it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joaomgcd.join&hl=en

I've been using it for about a year and a half.

Download this. I set ringer, notifications, system as synced. Media is not. I believe this works exactly the same as iPhone (if I remember correctly).

Alternatively, if you're familiar with Tasker, try this. You could set a double press or long press of either volume up or down to trigger a Tasker intent. I'm positive there's a way to bring up the volume sliders with Tasker. You'd have to look into that part yourself, or maybe someone who sees this and knows how can add to this.

Or, do both. There's no reason you can't.

Mezzo is incredible. It has a waveform seekbar, and it's worth getting for that alone. If you've ever used audio editing software such as Sound Forge you know how useful that is.

But additionally the navigation is much better thought out than in most music apps, so I'm able to do what I need with much less fuss.

By the way, I also bought Poweramp and had been using it for years but never really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend you give Mezzo a try.

EDIT: Multiple downvotes? Really? Do people not know how to Reddit, or are a couple of other commenters trying to get their comments to the top? If you don't like the app that's fine, but downvotes are for when a comment doesn't contribute to the conversation and this clearly does. Come on people, this has always been a friendly subreddit.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kustom.wallpaper&hl=en It allows you to make ultra customizable Live Wallpaper, if you want to load custom presets from the net you need the pro version

So I use this particular App Lock. There's two main features that I like about it 1) Fingerprint support obviously and 2) no accessibility access necessary, any app that ask for accessibility access is a deal breaker for me. It causes stuttering and lags like no other.

Hey just thought I'd let you know, AOD is fixed in nougat, and displays 3rd party notifications. once that final release is pushed you will get it!

I got irked with the lack of screen light up with lots of notifications too, so I've been using an app called Glimpse Notifications which fixes this issue perfectly!!

Welcome to the galaxy family, friend.

Also, nougat brings a LOT of improvements and new features which you will get in the next month or so (I'm on the beta) rejoice for incoming awesomeness!

My favorite reddit app is Sync for Reddit, which I find better in most, if not all, way compared to the official Reddit app.

Titanium Backup- backs up app data as well as apps (without SU control Android does not allow communication between apps/screening app data).

Titanium Backup also allows you to clear all bloatware (although Package Disablers can do most of this nowadays without root)

Custom Roms (if Samsung releases source code) > Touchwiz

Xposed- SO much you can do even without custom ROMs

Viper4Android- Controls music playback more than stock android could ever do

Increased Tasker Functionality (such as triggering Airplane Mode)

Overclocking device for more performance/underclocking device for more battery life

AdAway- systemwide ad blocker to get rid of apps (won't work without root due to host file blocking/scanning)

Creating custom boot animations :)

Editing the build prop- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.apps.build.prop.editor&hl=en Great possibilities but can be hard to perform.

LOTS of aesthetic changes you could never think of doing with stock android

Greenify- great root app, automatically hibernates programs in the background (doesn't work automatically without root)

At the end of the day- rooting is about having full control over the device you paid for. For those who aren't android enthusiasts it won't be appealing due to triggering SafetyNet/Knox, loss of warranty, etc. but there are many, many possibilities with root.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7

Head here for more root help with your S7. Remember that the Snapdragon 820 Version does not have an unlockable bootloader and all changes are made at your own risk. Rooting can have significant security implications (hence why Android Pay/Samsung Pay is disabled when you root).

TLDR; no

Anyone using the new touchwiz launcher, I'd recommend downloading the latest finder app, feels nice and smooth wen searching. https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/samsung-electronics-co-ltd/finder/finder-7-1-11-release/finder-7-1-11-android-apk-download/download/

It is first and foremost an adblocker. Read more about it here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/themes/adhell-2-rootless-ad-blocking-t3663559

I would either use v2 from the XDA forum or Blokada or Disconnect Pro: http://blokada.org

https://www.snapchat.com/beta/

Go register yourself for the Beta it runs way smoother. Their CEO recently hired more people for the Android team and he's stated it should be better in the coming months. Improvements are already posted in the beta but not the public release

Here are the S6 OEM earbuds; they work very well IME.

Another good option are the Amazon Premium Headphones.

I use both of these on a daily basis and they are very similar.

Personally I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.a0soft.gphone.app2sd All it does it takes you to the built in page in settings where you can move apps from internal storage to sd card, which does save alot of time, but I have yet to find an app that moves them automatically sadly. And for apps to move it will tell you in the app which apps it says not to move because it will cause app wigits to not work or other minor reasons that really shouldn't be a problem (so basicly unless you use that apps wigit or you need it to start up on boot its fine to move)

I use Blackplayer EX https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kodarkooperativet.blackplayerex

Has a very good looking black theme and animations and does a really neat job of being a good music player.

If you're rooted you can download the app from the playstore called "emoji Switcher" you can change it to any os emoji including ios 10 or 9. It works flawlessly for me.

edit: link for it : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stevenschoen.emojiswitcher&hl=en

You could give Galaxy Button Lights a try. I find the capacitive buttons incredibly distracting and use it to deactivate the lights. However, you might be able to do the opposite instead and reactivate them.

PS: Did you turn on power saving mode?

Install this, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vndnguyen.phoneinfo

It's a Samsung phone info application, press the hamburger menu and select "refurbishment check". It'll let you know if it's original device or if it had been repaired.

Rad Pack With Nova launcher. Cool 80s synth wave look.

Works with most launchers tho. Google Play

Yeah, Nova launcher is awesome. It's also in the summer sale at the moment, so if you want the extra prime features it's really cheap just now.

Free version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher

Prime version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher.prime

First of all, you have to have the beta edition of Nova Launcher.

Opt-in for the beta HERE

Than just follow THESE instructions.

I had an S7 (5.1 inch screen) for two years, and like you was concerned with being able to find a comfortably-sized replacement. I now have an S9, and despite the 5.8 inch screen, the phone is actually narrower than the S7 due to the 18.5:9 aspect ratio of the S9. I can't reach the top of the screen one-handed, but I couldn't really do that with the S7 either.

A few things make this more manageable:

• Many of Samsung's apps in Android Pie are designed for one-handed use (for the most part)

• One Hand Operation + (a Samsung app) allows you to (with a gesture) shift the screen down so you can reach what's on top

• Reachability Cursor (third party app) allows you to interact with top-of-screen UI elements while tapping lower on the screen

In short, it's not nearly the difficult transition I thought it would be.

Rootless Pixel Launcher is very close to the stock experience. It's free, and ready to go out of the box (as much as I love Nova, I usually need to do some tinkering to get it how I want it).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=amirz.rootless.nexuslauncher

I use Nova Launcher and set a gesture to double tap a blank space on the home screen to launch Screen Lock which locks the phone. Handy for when the phone is laying flat on my desk.

I faced the same issue recently (single presses on home button being interpreted as long presses). Turned out that a 3rd party app incorrectly "hooked" home button (DriveMode in my case. It had been not very easy to investigate however.

I said...

>or you can use one of a dozen high quality third party SMS apps that allow independent theming...

And you said...

>you're saying I need to install a second set of apps and skins which are universally cancer

Installing a single SMS app and changing the colors in its settings is not... whatever you are thinking.

They are apps:

GSam Battery Monitor on the Play Store

Wakelock Detector (Non-root version) on the Play Store

Do you mean BatOn? Stock Android doesn't have a function to show bluetooth battery life in the status bar. You'll have to resort to a third-party app for this function like BatOn which will display the battery life via notification.

It's just so... half assed. Some apps allow you to control it, some don't. It would be nice if settings for the LED were baked into the system settings where it could be customized on a per-app basis.

As of right now, I use an app called Light Manager to control it. Messaging apps are green. Calendar and reminders are red. Email is Blue. LED blinks at different intervals for different apps of the same color. All other apps are turned off. I just wish it wasn't a third party solution; it could be much better.

It does have some ability to change the color or blink pattern on a per-contact basis for some apps.

One thing I've found is that the S7 LED doesn't do colors other than red, blue, or green very well. Orange is okay.

Edit: I should mention that what I said about messaging apps being green, etc... are because I set them that way. The app allows for full customization on a per-app basis.

Nothing in the OS or developer options. But best part about Android is 3rd parry apps. I hope they include this Nugent update

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudie.autowifiswitcher

Try this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.easyhome

Mimics home button functionality like the HTC 10 or Nexus the fingerprint readers. Wakes the home screen but may be a bit of a battery drain.

Here's mine I just got my s7 regular on Friday. Samsung has finally made a bomb ass phone.

I definitely recommend

Action launcher 3

Nova is awesome but there are just things that action launcher does better. Its the first thing I put on any device.

And good look on the galaxy apps store. So close to a nexus look on a Samsung phone! Who would have thought that Samsung would be the one to bring it to us.

I'm using the Material Black Theme with Nova Launcher and Good Lock, along with the Glim Lite icon pack.

Download Light Manager.

There's an option in advanced settings for sleeping time. You can disable all notifications for a set period. There's also an option for exceptions.

I have this set up with Tasker and Secure Settings. This requires the pro version of Secure Settings ($1.50), but there's a free trial.

Open Tasker > New Profile > State > Power > Power > Source=Any (I couldn't get it to work with Source=Wireless) > Back > New Task > Add Action > Plugin > Secure Settings > Configuration > Actions > Device Setting > Setting Name=aod_mode > Setting Value=1 > Save > Back to Tasker Profiles > Add Exit Task > New Task > Add Action > Plugin > Secure Settings > Configuration > Actions > Device Setting > Setting Name=aod_mode > Setting Value=0

Now whenever your phone is charging the Always On Display will be enabled.

This app will let you swap the back and recent apps buttons- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phoenixstudios.aiogestures

This app will let you use the home button as a capacitive touch home button thanks to the finger print sensor being capacitive- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.easyhome&referrer=utm_source%3D42matters.com%26utm_medium%3DWidgetWeb

There is an always on display app from f-droid that works with "ok google". Just started using it today. Doesn't wake the screen from AOD, but it will take commands and respond. You can also double tap to wake screen. No clue how it affects battery yet though.

Edit: Always On AMOLED (Display some information at all times) - https://f-droid.org/app/com.tomer.alwayson

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/samsung-electronics-co-ltd/touchwiz-home/touchwiz-home-6-1-82-27-release/official-samsung-touchwiz-home-6-1-82-27-android-apk-download/

This is the version I downloaded. Works wonderfully. If you get package conflict lmk.

RealCalc is the only quality calculator anyway. Just my opinion.

RealCalc homepage

I have no relation with developer. Just a very satisfied user. Been searching for quality calculator apps for YEARS (even on iOS). When I ran across this one my search was finally over.

I'm the reverse: I want everything dark. I enabled global dark mode with this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=systems.maju.darkmode (it was mentioned before in the sub) and it works fine for me. There's an option to always have light mode, dark mode or automatic mode.

Thank you for your response. I think it's safe to assume everyone here either has or is looking to purchase an s7. I downloaded ThumbJam and SoundCamp but I'm using Betternet and really don't need a VPN.

I can't try out the apps right now but I will get to them later.

Download an app from the playstore called Phone Info Samsung.

It's this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vndnguyen.phoneinfo&hl=en_GB

The "personal" tab will read what your phone estimates it's battery health to be, given as a %.

The phone is now over 2.5 years old, and dropping down to around 65% of max capacity is not unheard of at this point. Anyway, I've seen people say they've been able to get their battery replaced for $25 so it's not the end of the world, you'll have still likely made some sort of saving.

It looks like it's a Dice apk. You have this app installed? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.kulikovman.dices&hl=en_US

anyways: to uninstall, follow this guide: https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/

Well i found this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudie.autowifiswitcher

Maybe itll work? Ill give it a shot when i get home - but one of the comment says it works with different SSIDs and you set thresholds or something

SMS Backup+ will save and restore messages. it just doesn't do MMS. Been using it for years. They might also be backed up by Samsung's app.

Edit: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync

Have you tried the Samsung Secure Folder, previously 'My Knox'? It allows you to install separate copies of apps, that can be password protected and use fingerprint access if you wish.

Edit to add link to app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.knox.securefolder

Make sure your phone and contacts are backed up to your google account. Use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos To backup your photos/videos. Then reset your phone and tell it to restore from the backup. Then download that app again. All your photos will be in the app and everything else should restore from the backup.

There an app for that, try to enable day dream in device settings > display. Install This app & enable it in day dream, hopefully you'll like it.

How about using Smart Lock to keep it unlocked when it's near you (if you have a smartwatch, or bluetooth headset connected)? I think it might also work for wifi networks too. I use the always-on-display power button enabled by this little app - I just double tap the display and I am right back on the last screen I used.

Some people have been able to get a general idea of their battery wear with AccuBattery. Try it and after a week or so you should have a pretty good idea of your battery's state.

As in just disable the app drawer? You can get a third party launcher like Nova and hide the button for the app drawer (though remember to enable adding icons to home screen on install) or if you want to go no app drawer at all, something like MIUI goes that route.

only certain region phones have the update majority of regions has no recieved the update

you can check all your phone stuff, the csc code using this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vndnguyen.phoneinfo&hl=en

Are you serious or just trolling?

SAPA is in no way a Galaxy Apps exclusive. Not even close.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ikmultimediaus.android.amplitubefullse

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.musicstudio

>tap into touchwiz hardware acceleration

Topkek

Also that enhanced game stuff just… no. At least provide links to sources if you're going to go make claims like that.

The S7 will sometimes feel a lot hotter than the S5 because its metal is far more heat-conductive than the S5's plastic. The interior temperature, however, is the same. You can download an app such as Battery HD which will tell you the interior battery temperature. Try to keep it below 45 Celsius.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.smalltech.battery.free

GBoard for Swiping

Fleksy for Typing, especially with two hands

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.everythingandroid.motionphoto

That lets you convert all your motion photos to gifs for universal compatibility.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tengu.sharetoclipboard

Get that too while you're at it. It should have been built in and makes everything easier.

I use <strong>Screen off via short timeout</strong> to turn off screen from the edge panel:

• Imgur (GIF animation)

Spares my power button + easier than to press the button when the phone is laying on my desk.

Try out Phonograph trully one of the best looking and functional music player I've used.

It also has Gapless playback and the smooth interface is a delight to use.

Edit - Set it to Amoled black with Orange accents and it looks amazing!

There are apps that try to do this but they work OK at best. Most good apps have options to set their own notification sound, which will work perfectly. For example I have a custom sound set in GMail and Outlook for my various email accounts and a custom SMS and Facebook sound set in Facebook Messenger. I've got notification sounds off in Pocket Weather but it supports custom sounds too. Not sure about WhatsApp as I uninstalled it years ago but I'd hope it would support it too.

Swiftly Switch Pro. I feel naked without it. It puts two bars on the sides of the screen where you can swipe to access various functions. Things like recent apps, back, home, recents, contacts, app drawer, and more. Another person mentioned All In One gestures which is similar but has less features so I prefer Swiftly. There's a free version too.

Cinema FV-5 gives you a lot of control.

But just to be clear: Samsung is doing their very best to give you a great image quality out of the box. None of these third party apps written by an external development studio are going to be a magic bullet.

If I were you, I would try again with the stock camera app while insuring these things:

• You are in Auto setting
• You have your front-facing camera video quality set to QHD
• You are recording to internal storage, not a microSD card
• You are zoomed out as much as the phone will let you (Important, as "digital zoom" is really just cropping the picture and enhancing grainness)
• this is perhaps the most important: lighting tips! Make sure you are somewhere brightly lit. So bright that you have to squint. Outdoor bright daylight is excellent for this! And for directions: point the light source at the subject, and then put the camera in between. You always want the camera between the light and the subject, and obviously you want the light and camera pointed at the subject.

Hope this helps!

Sounds like they rooted the device and unlocked it that way. A factory reset should get rid of that (and probably also your network unlock) and allow you to get OTA updates again though if they tripped KNOX you can't undo that so anything that relies on it. Samsung Pay for example won't ever work.

If you don't want to lose root & probably the network unlock, you'll need to flash software updates manually by downloading the correct update from somewhere like SamMobile and install them with something like FlashFire.

Alternatively, if people have variants that have this option removed, you can use the &quot;Better Open With&quot; app to bring this functionality back.

You need an app called Next Radio.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextradioapp.nextradio

Plug in some headphones/earbuds (the cord acts as an antenna/aerial) and you're good to go.

AppLock allows you to lock apps using a password, pin, pattern, or fingerprint. A custom launcher such as Nova launcher can hide apps.

Settings > Display > Screensaver > Clock

It's not exactly the same, but it's close.

On the top right of the Screensaver menu, there's a little menu. Expand it and click "When to use" and select "while charging".

Edit: you will need to install the Google Clock app to have this option available: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.deskclock

You can use daydream. Get something like this. The you can go to Settings>Display>Screensaver and choose the installed daydream. It's not AOD so it is highly customizable. Only problem I can see is no fast charging for you since the screen is not turning off.

There isn't a native feature for this. I have had to use Light Manager to wake the screen on notifications. The App is a little buggy however as I have setup a sleep mode to no alert or wake the screen but it still decides wake up. Annoying.

easyHome is great. Allows you to use the home button as a capacitive button. So simply touching the button softly performs the same actions as hard pressing the it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.easyhome

If you're a chrome user there's RS browser:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsbrowser.browser

It's open source chromium (with Google sync and password autofill) optimized/compiled for Snapdragon and has a built-in ad blocker.

There are a bunch of them.. I'm using the below one since it has pretty good reviews and also works great for me. Crystal is another one supposed to be good as well.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.adblockplus.adblockplussbrowser

Any OLED screen is going to burn in with persistent images (it's not even "burn in" it's just irregular pixel fade). I have a nice little circle burned into my screen from using Waze to and from work for about a year.

I found an app called Blackr, which keeps the phone running but makes the screen go to black (this is great for watching Youtube in the background if you don't have Premium as well). Sadly, it's been removed from the app store, though you can sideload it from APKmirror.

I wish Waze and Google Maps would recognize that more and more phones (iPhones included) have OLED and learn to make "screen savers" that shift the image around to prevent this.