Galaxy S9 Tips


How To: Improve Bluetooth Audio on Your Galaxy S9 with Custom Codecs
Many Samsung fans were excited when the Galaxy S9 kept the 3.5 mm headphone jack. While this is a rare delight in 2018, you also have the option for high quality audio playback over Bluetooth. When used with compatible headphones, the S9's new Bluetooth audio codecs can greatly improve audio quality.

How To: Uninstall Bloatware Without Root or a PC Using Android's New 'Wireless Debugging' Feature
Bloatware is a problem on Android, and it's not just a Samsung thing. Removing apps that have the Uninstall or Disable button grayed out in Settings has always involved sending ADB commands to your phone from a computer, which itself was always such a pain to set up. Thankfully, that has finally changed.

How To: Manually Switch to a Different LTE Band on Any Samsung Galaxy Phone
Your Galaxy uses information from your SIM card to communicate with nearby towers and facilitate a connection. Which LTE bands you are assigned depends on a number of factors, including available bandwidth and your device's supported signals. But if speeds aren't great on your auto-selected tower, you can improve things by manually choosing a band.

How To: Back Up & Restore Your Home Screen Layout & Icons on Any Samsung Galaxy
In the past, if you upgraded to a new Galaxy or if you had to factory reset your existing one to fix an issue, you had to restore your home screen layout manually. Your wallpaper, widgets, icon placement, and launcher settings were all dependent on you to be put back in their place. Thankfully, this isn't an issue anymore.

How To: Find What's Eating Up Your RAM on Android
Not every app is designed well. With nearly 3 million apps on the Play Store and countless more that you can sideload from other sources, there are bound to be a few stinkers. And many of them do a terrible job using RAM.

How To: Want a New Look? Add Custom Fonts to Any Samsung Galaxy — No Root Needed
Samsung uses their own SamsungOne font for their Galaxy lineup. But if you're coming from an iPhone or another Android device, you might not love it. With the help of this mod, however, you're sure to find a font that's right for you.

How To: The Best Camera Settings to Use on Your Galaxy S9
One of the biggest improvements with the Galaxy S9 and S9+ is the redesigned camera, with the latter scoring an impressive 99 overall on DxOMark. But with an abundance of features and enhancements, tweaking the camera's settings for optimal performance can be a little confusing.

How To: Disable App Icon Badges and Unread Notification Counts on Your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone
If you scan the notification panel on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone daily, all those red circles with numbers that litter the apps on your home screen and app drawer can feel like persistent nagging and unnecessary clutter rather than friendly reminders to check your app alerts — but you can do something about it.

How To: Clone Any Android App on Your Samsung Galaxy Phone Without Using Any Third-Party Tools
Samsung has a cool security feature built into One UI that has an interesting side effect, one that lets you have two separate copies of any Android app on your Galaxy phone. And that's not the only integrated Samsung tool for cloning apps.

How To: Remove the 'Connected to VPN' Notification on Your Samsung Galaxy Device
If you're using a VPN app to block ads or secure your Galaxy's internet connection, Samsung has decided you need yet another non-dismissible notification from One UI to tell you about it. Not just a status bar indicator like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but a full-size alert that can't be dismissed. The entire time your always-on VPN is running.

How To: Boot Your Galaxy S9 or S9+ into Recovery Mode or Download Mode
From veteran modders to casual tinkerers, booting into either recovery mode or download mode is something every Galaxy S9 owner should know about. These two pre-boot menus serve a very important purpose — recovery mode is the go-to solution for soft bricks, while download mode allows you to flash firmware files using utilities like Odin and Smart Switch, which can truly be a lifesaver.

How To: 13 Tips for Recording Better Videos on Your Galaxy
Smartphones have put an end to camcorders. If you want to capture memorable moments in high quality, look no further than that technological marvel in your pocket. Recent Galaxy phones are shining examples of how far we've come — but the more capable a camera gets, the more complicated things can be.

How To: Activate Developer Options on Your Galaxy S9
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.

How To: Remove the 'Media' & 'Devices' Buttons from the Notification Shade on Your Galaxy
While One UI 2 comes with a slew of improvements like native screen recording and more intuitive gestures, it also includes some redundant features such as button shortcuts for "Media" and "Devices" that many of us can do without.

How To: Get Completely Custom Themes for Any Samsung Galaxy Using Hex Installer
Samsung's stock Galaxy Themes system leaves much to be desired with its restrictive and expensive theme packs. Back in the day, the gold standard for Android theming was CyanogenMod Theme Engine. And while it no longer exists, a successor has emerged to fill the void.

News: There's a Handy Shortcut for Typing Fractions on Android
If you're using Samsung's default keyboard on a Galaxy or Gboard on any Android phone, here's a cool trick you should know about.

How To: Make Samsung's App Drawer Loop Back Around Endlessly
By default, the One UI launcher on Galaxy phones makes you scroll all the way back to the left when you hit the end of your app list. Luckily, Samsung has its own solution to help fix this problem if it annoys you. Save yourself a bunch of extra swipes and read on to learn more.

How To: The Easiest Way to Make the Bixby Button Open Google Assistant on Your Galaxy
After years of user complaints, Samsung is finally letting us remap the Bixby button without the need of a third-party app. The new feature requires One UI a simple app update to Bixby, but there's one major downside: Samsung won't let you remap the button to open other digital assistants like Amazon Echo, Microsoft Cortana, and Google Assistant. Luckily, there's an easy workaround.

How To: Bring Back the Vertical Recent Apps Menu on Your Galaxy in Android Pie
The Android 9 Pie update brought a lot of visual changes, some of which are a little too reminiscent of iOS. There's the new gesture controls, which are okay, but then there are things like a left-justified clock and the fact that the recent apps menu now scrolls horizontally instead of vertically. Luckily, Samsung has given us a way to bring back the classic Android style.

How To: Samsung's New Lock Screen Shortcut Makes Your Galaxy's Flashlight Ridiculously Fast
Your Galaxy's built-in flashlight is handy, but if it takes you more than a split second to turn it on, it's not as useful as it could be. Thanks to One UI 2, you're now just a swipe away from instantly lighting up the room.