[Guide] A simple list of easy Quality-of-Life changes for your XZ1C! - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact Guides, News, & Discussion

Hey everyone! I just got an XZ1C myself a few days ago, and I'd like to share a few of the little quality of life changes I personally use to make the everyday experience with this phone more to how I like it. I figured maybe everyone could contribute a few ideas here and there to help other users deal with things they might be frustrated with, but not know a solution for.
A couple of notes - I gave up the root life a while ago, so all of these solutions are non-root! Also, some of these apps are paid apps (though they might have lite or free versions). Sorry! But as a software developer myself, I have the obligation to pay it forward when I find a nice app.
So here goes!
Making the volume keys default to Media Volume:
Having owned a Samsung phone before, this is one of the things I miss most in almost any other Android phone. But, as they say, there's an app for that! There's a very simple app called Media Volume Only (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=catchpower.gogo.mediavolumeonly&hl=en), which binds your volume keys to Media by default. It asks for Call permissions to see if you're in a call, where it will then bind the volume keys to call volume. Otherwise, it will always be Media, which is great!
However, that means there isn't a super easy way to changing your ring volume, unless you first press the volume key to bring up the sliders and hitting the down arrow to show the rest of the sliders....which brought me to:
Re-adding the missing Ring/Vibrate Mode switch to quick switches:
I am using Central Europe .374 + US oem file to get Fingerprint+VoLTE on T-mobile; I'm not sure if it's because of the CE1 region or whatever else, but I couldn't find any button in the quick settings that would just toggle the phone to ring mode, vibrate mode or silent.
To remedy this, I use Shortcutter (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.leedroid.shortcutter&hl=en). This allows you to enable a ton of different switches in the quick settings dropdown, though some of them may not work properly without root and only with other phones. After installing Shortcutter, swipe over to the "Pull-Down" tab, then hit "System Setting Tiles". In this list, scroll down and you'll find "Ring Mode". Turning this switch on will put the Ring Mode icon into the box of icons you can edit your quick settings with. Finally, pull down your quick settings, click the pencil icon to modify the quick settings and scroll down to find Ring Mode.
This way, it's easy to switch the phone to silent before going into a movie, or a meeting at work.
Fixing the crazy stock backlight control:
The stock backlight is a little crazy right now. It jumps around when the room is dark and it does not transition smoothly. A great app for controlling backlight is Lux (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux&hl=en). It even allows you to keep different profiles and define exactly how bright you want the screen to be in any lighting situation, and it will keep a map of your selections for you! You can control all sorts of variables, like how quickly it will transition, if it should only transition given what % of lighting change, so on and so forth. It's really very powerful and useful. I haven't had any trouble with the XZ1C display since installing Lux, which I've used on previous phones as well. Highly recommend this one! There's a free version called Lux Lite (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitocassisi.luxlite&hl=en), but I've never tried it so YMMV.
Alternative for No Double Tap to Wake (or not having Ambient Display):
This is another one I have almost always used on phones that aren't Nexii/Pixel or Motorola. Gravity Screen (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexnor.gravityscreenofffree&hl=en) gives you a ton of different ways to automatically wake up the phone to the lockscreen. I find that using ONLY the Proximity Sensor setting to turn ON the screen (and turning everything else off) has negligible effect on the battery, and maintains extreme usefulness. With just that setting, when my phone is on the desk I can poke the phone where the proximity sensor is (as if I one-tap it) and it will wake up. If I take the phone out of my pocket, the phone turns on and is already waiting for me by the time I look at it. Super convenient!
UPDATE: Another user (quack3d) mentioned the app WaveUp(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jarsilio.android.waveup) which does exactly how I have Gravity Screen set up. If you want just that, this seems to be a great and simpler alternative! Thanks!
If you want more options, it has all sorts of other things like turn on by motion, etc. etc....I personally don't use those though, so I can't vouch for how well they work.
Double Tap to Sleep
I'm pretty sure you have to pay for this one, but Nova Launcher Prime (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher.prime&hl=en) is an incredible launcher, and it allows you to specify custom gestures on the desktop. The gestures can trigger all sorts of things, one of which is Screen Lock. If you select the Time-Out method of locking the screen, it will work with fingerprint unlocking.
Custom Auto-Rotation Switching:
Normally, I don't like auto-rotation. I use my phone a lot in bed (lying sideways), but I still want to use it in portrait. So, I prefer to have my phone default to NO auto-rotation. That being said, it's annoying when you pull up a funny gif or the photo album or youtube and you want to just flip your phone over to watch a video. Sure, you can drag down the quicksettings and flip that switch, but there's a better way! That's where Automate (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.llamalab.automate&hl=en) comes in! Automate allows you to program your phone to do just about anything (especially if you have root) based on custom triggers.
In Automate, if first select "More flows..." and search for a script called "Auto Enable Rotation" by the author Anthony Beaumont. Once you download this script and run it, it will present you with 2 options, either to "start" the script service, or to "modify" the list of apps. You'll want to "modify" the list of apps and start a new one. To this, you can add apps such as Album, Youtube, Twitch and whatever else you want to watch in landscape mode. Finally, once that's done, stop the script and start it again, but this time select "start". (You can also select in the 3 dot menu to have this script run at start-up. Highly recommended!) Now, when you open Album/Youtube/Twitch etc. the phone should automatically flip to auto-rotation.
Enter all your app and website passwords automatically with fingerprint:
For better or for worse, I keep all of my online passwords saved in Lastpass. It turns out that once you have an account and saved passwords, Lastpass has an incredible app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lastpass.lpandroid&hl=en) that can pop up over Chrome and just about any other app on your phone that can fill in the username/password fields for you using your fingerprint! It doesn't work for all the different browsers out there (I just use Chrome), and there may have been a pay wall for the in-app password filling, I forgot (sorry!). That said, it's super convenient to head to any site and just tap the fingerprint to log in.
Additionally, if you're a Lastpass user already, they also have a Lastpass Authenticator (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lastpass.authenticator&hl=en) that works in place of the Google Authenticator (you can add Google Authenticator 2factor sites to the LastPass one), which is IMHO superior because the keys are linked to your account rather than to the physical phone. Also, if you have LP Authenticator + the Chrome addon on your PC/Mac, on some sites you don't even have to enter the Authenticator number, you can just press "approve" on your phone to get into the website on your PC. Awesome!
Send links from your PC to phone or phone to PC
Ever read something on your PC and wish you could link it to your phone super quickly and not have to go through emailing it to yourself? I use Pushbullet (Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pushbullet.android&hl=en PC: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pushbullet/chlffgpmiacpedhhbkiomidkjlcfhogd?hl=en), which allows you to directly link webpages from PC to phone and vice versa. Additionally, if you give it the permissions, it can hook up your phone's notifications to your Windows notifications (not sure about mac), including allowing you to read and send SMS from your PC. I believe it also has file transfer capabilities, but I don't use it.
I think that's it for now...I'll add more when I think of them. These are just a few of the mods I run which makes using the phone more effortless and enjoyable; please, feel free to add more and I'll add them to the list if there's something you want to share! Hope this helps someone out there!:highfive:

maidguitar said:
Re-adding the missing Ring/Vibrate Mode switch to quick switches:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alternative implementation that I use: Add a toggle on the home screen to quickly switch between Ring/Vibrate/Silent modes
First install Media-Mute [free & ad-free]. What this app does is automatically mute the media volume whenever the ringer volume is also muted, which applies to both Vibrate mode and Silent mode.
For some reason, since Android 4.x Google has decided that Silent mode should only apply to the ringer, instead of silencing everything that can make sounds out of the speaker. Media-Mute fixes that.
Next, install Silent Mode Toggle [free & ad-free], then add the widget on the home screen. Switching modes is now super easy, just tap on the toggle.
What I really appreciate about this app is that it allows customization to the toggle order. For example, I never use the vibrate mode, so I can set it to toggle between Ringer > Silent only.
As a bonus, it also lets you use your own custom icons for the toggle, super cool and makes it possible to perfectly complement your home screen layout.
Hide the annoying "running in the background" notification that comes with Android 8.0
With Android 8.0 Oreo, Google thought it would be a great idea to permanently remind you of any background processing currently running in the form of an impossible to dismiss notification.
While the intention was well meaning, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
Thankfully, there's an app for that! Just install this cleverly named app Hide "running in the background" Notification [free & ad-free], problem solved!
Vibrate phone when call connects, ends
Yet another app to the rescue! VibCall [free & ad-free] brings this useful feature found on some OEM phones to any compatible Android device.
Basically, your phone will vibrate once to let you know that a call has connected, and twice when a call has ended. It's something that once you've used, you wonder why it's not baked into the Android system as a default option.
Add a fingerprint (Smart Lock) compatible screen lock toggle on the home screen
So Sony has unilaterally decided to remove double tap to sleep feature with no sign of bring it back. But I still want to turn off the screen and lock the device by tapping on the screen instead of waiting for the system to hibernate or hitting the power button.
The OP listed a paid solution which brings back double tap to sleep, but for those looking for a free alternative, this is the solution I'm currently using - Smart Screen Lock Pro [free & ad-free].
It's not a double tap anywhere convenience, but a toggle that is better than nothing, and most importantly it's compatible with fingerprint unlock. I've tried numerous screen off apps in the Play store, and this is the only one that I was satisfied with.
IMPORTANT: Take the time to carefully read and follow setup instructions, it's necessary for it to work properly due to OS restrictions. Once it's setup correctly, simply add a shortcut on the home screen and tap it to lock.
It's worth mentioning that it's not a true "instant" screen off and lock, but without root this is probably the best solution we'll get.
Non-root ad blocking
Ads are a necessary evil for the current economics of the Internet, but aside from the annoyance factor, they eat up precious mobile data, plus there's also very real security risks with ad networks, potentially hogging your phone's resources and draining the battery.
Whatever the argument, if you do decide to block ads, there are quite a lot of ad blockers to choose from.
Personally, I use dns66 [free & ad-free]. In my experience, it's very lightweight, and I haven't seen any ads in my browser or apps.
It does have its quirks though, sometimes downloads fail, such as OTA update or file in browser, for one reason or another (the author says it's a bug with the Android OS itself, see linked post).
But it's easy to workaround, just temporarily disable dns66 by tapping pause on the notification, and download again. After download has completed, tap the notification again to resume.
By the way, this is also the main reason I installed the hide background notification app.

Related

Mango wish list + is it too late?

I have two simple wishes from the Mango devolopers)
1- Double tab to lock screen wake ( like MeeGo OS , nokia)
2- Different colours for the answer / call - end button's background ( maybe red or orange for END)
I know it is too late but I think these two makes my Focus very happy maybe in later updates.
Sadly, mango won't be enough to make me keep my focus. Trading it in for an Atrix tomorrow. I just need a real file system, more dev support, custom kernels, WiFi tether, a real maps app, no zune, and customization.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I used to have all of them ; ios, android, symbian ; yes when you had them you got all flexibility but I like the Winmo 7's simple , elegant and conservative design . They can easly add these kind of minor changes to the new firmwares. I hope one of the Microsoft's windows mobile 7 devoloper reading this forum
It's too late for Mango since it's already RTM, but there will be updates in the future, we can hope some of MS's developers browse these forums.
I really wish they would allow us to pin settings (e.g. WiFi, etc) to the home screen.
wifi tether guys..
1. A timer, to allow the locksreen to require a password after a set amount of time.
2. A way to change the SMS notification so it doesn't just display on the screen (maybe when the device needs a password to enter). Or make it so you change stop when certain programs are running, Ex. Netflix
barrychon said:
1. A timer, to allow the locksreen to require a password after a set amount of time.
2. A way to change the SMS notification so it doesn't just display on the screen (maybe when the device needs a password to enter). Or make it so you change stop when certain programs are running, Ex. Netflix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first one is in Mango.
cj_133 said:
The first one is in Mango.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but isn't that the same option as before. That the Lockscreen comes on after a set amount of time? what I'm referring to, is for a timer to make needing a password activate.
EX. I lock my screen (turn the screen off) step away for like an hour, when I come back the password is required to acess the phone. So, basically a way to set the password for 60 minutes. *60 minutes is just an example*
****EDIT**** I see the option now after you enter a pw. Thanks for the help!!!
WiFi calling.
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
1. show two appointment in calendar tile.
2. create reccuring appoint on first tuesday of every month.
3. call duration in call list.
This whole Mango thing has turned out to be too little, too late, all features are just propaganda, first dont offer them and than add them as if you have improvised and added 500 features.
Battery Percentage on the title bar.
Disabling vibrator on Back, Home and Search buttons (Samsung Focus)
WiFi and 3G toggle, on the home screen perhaps ?
barrychon said:
1. A timer, to allow the locksreen to require a password after a set amount of time.
2. A way to change the SMS notification so it doesn't just display on the screen (maybe when the device needs a password to enter). Or make it so you change stop when certain programs are running, Ex. Netflix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. OH YES!
We need a notification centre, like swipe right from the homescreen to get it or something.
sk8erboystijn said:
wifi tether guys..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Yes please!!!
slum_dawg said:
Battery Percentage on the title bar.
Disabling vibrator on Back, Home and Search buttons (Samsung Focus)
WiFi and 3G toggle, on the home screen perhaps ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to Wifi and 3g toggle. It'd be cool to toggle it based on your location as well, such as turn off wifi and turn on 3g when I leave certain areas.
1. Have a "Send SMS" option when ignoring calls. The old "I am unable to answer your call but will return it as soon as possible" text option available on WM6 and Android.
2. Make Bluetooth sound routing configurable. For instance, I don't want my Alarms going through my Bluetooth headset. I use this phone as an alarm clock when I travel an if I happen to leave my Bluetooth headset on at night the "Alarm" rings through the Bluetooth headset only. I am not wearing it while sleeping so I don't hear it.
3. Add more space between talk/end key and move them down away from the mute key. Way too much empty space below talk/end and they are crammed right up the mute key's butt. I have hung up many a call just trying to mute it.
4. Colorize the phone keypad. It is just blank outline and looks terrible. Worse looking keypad on any phone I have ever seen.
5. Make the icons at the top bar interactive, so when I tap the battery icon, I can see the percentage of battery left, or tap the wifi icon I can see where I am connected, etc.
6. Make the square tiles resizable, especially if they are not live tiles. I don't need such a huge icon for IE, Marketplace, Zune. I could condense these into the same space as one tile currently.
7. Make the ability to add sub tiles to a single tile. For instance have a double wide tile, let me add in all the messaging tiles, so I can have Outlook, text, hotmail, gmail, etc. notifications all on one double wide tile rather than take 5 normal tiles and the space these require.
8. Make a "Favorite People" tile on the home screen so I can list out 5 or 6 people in a single double wide tile. People I call every day. Reduce the space it takes to have favorite people on the homepage.
9. Make the default tiles interesting. All of the default tiles are just plain white text. really MS couldn't have made a better looking messaging or IE tile? Just looks plain and boring, not what I want on my phone's homescreen.
10. A mute option for sound. It only goes to vibrate, sometime I just need to be sure my phone is not going to vibrate or ring or make any noise whatsoever, and I cannot be sure of this with these volume controls. Also separate the phone volume from the system sound volume. Never should these be integrated.
11. Add the ability to synchronize contact info across platforms. Today i can "link" them on the phone, but if the phone gets the picture for a contact from Linkedin or Facebook, it doesn't actually update the contact in Outlook. It just links them on the phone. I want this same info synchronized across outlook, google voice, hotmail, etc. not just linked on the phone. WM6 did this.
12. Ability to see what mode wifi is operating in, maybe some speed details. Such as b/g/n, 48mbps, 120mbs, etc.
13. Make Bluetooth work with my Motorola carkit.
14. The ability to backup SMS.
15. The ability to forward SMS. Many things I want to forward, but can't.
16. The ability to delete a single SMS without deleting the whole conversation. Someone sends an inappropriate picture or text I want to delete just that text or forward that text, not the whole 6 months worth of conversation strings.
17. Autodownload images in email. Don't make me tap "Download images" every single time.
Enough requests for today....
-Paul
Paul
8: Contact grouping is supported in mango, you can pin that group to your home screen. It is a single wide tile, though I don't think that makes much of a difference
15: I don't know that this is new in Mango, I thought we could do this along time ago?
16: This is in Mango
No. 16 is in Nodo too.. just tap and hold the single SMS in the whole convo which you want to delete and select delete from dropdown menu.. it will only delete that particular message and not the whole convo..
you are right, 15 and 16 are in Mango... scratch those.
As for 8, it places a single group box on the home screen, which then takes you to a sub group. I want the subgroup on the homescreen, just each item much smaller in a wide box. but the grouping is better than nothing for sure.
Additionally, I need to be able to get contacts from my Company Outlook Address Book. (GAL) I can only send email to individuals in my local Address book. I need to be able to pull up company contacts that are not in my address book also.
-Paul
Paul_Hammons said:
As for 8, it places a single group box on the home screen, which then takes you to a sub group. I want the subgroup on the homescreen, just each item much smaller in a wide box. but the grouping is better than nothing for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you want the ability to click on a portion of the tile and for it to access the specific contact that you clicked on?

[OFFICIAL] Tips & Tricks thread

This is for random tricks that aren't widely known.
I'll start off...
Missing that search button key on the bottom from the SGSII? Have no fear, just press and hold the menu key, which acts like the search key
Annoyed of the home button lag? turn off double tap to activate S voice within that program and your home key will be much more responsive
Can anyone think of anything else?
Edit: Ironlood has put together a list of tips and tricks. Thanks!
1.Hold menu button for search menu - eyecon82
2.To get rid of home button lag open up S-Voice and navigate to settings and untick the launch with double tap home button -eyecon82
3.Lock screen app settings are listed under security in settings - kegacide
4.you can swipe the screen with the side of your hand to take a screenshot, or hold home and power-kegacide
5.Hold down physical button and you can close all open apps and go to the task manager - hawkeye2188
6.Buttons on the bottom of the lock screen and can be swiped and open that application - hawkeye2188
7.You can also swipe away individual apps after holding down the home button - NA 521"
8.first go to settings>language and input and turn on voice cmd for apps. I had it on early today and said cheese and the camera snapped a photo...pretty cool -s3xda (on a side note it seems as though the variants have different voice cues try snap, cheese, shutter, and go)
9.In settings > sound > device vibration, you can select a different pattern of vibrate, or just make your own by touching create! - Zoidpilot
10.In app drawer > widgets, Sammy added a widget to use flash as a flashlight, and a widget to turn the entire phone into negative colors.-Zoidpilot
11.You can set the brightness in the majority of stock apps (i.e. the browser) to be app specific, instead of just setting a brightness for the entire system. For example: set the brightness to auto in the system settings, then open the stock browser > brightness and colors, and set it to high. Now the system will have auto brightness, but it will always go to high/bright when you are in the browser! -Zoidpilot
12.If you go to Phone > Logs > call logs, you can long-press a number (like that telemarketer you always reject) and select "add to reject list" to have the phone automatically reject the call every time. You can also unblock the number in case you change your mind.-Zoidpilot
13.In the stock messaging app, you can go to settings, and on the top you will find options to change the background and bubble style of the messages.-Zoidpilot
14.Samsung's S-Voice can do complex mathematical equations for you, then show them in different answers. For example, open S-Voice, and ask "how many inches are in a mile?". Or "what's the square root of 543,636?". -Zoidpilot
15.In settings > security > lock screen options > shortcuts, you can change what shortcuts appear on your lockscreen, or take them out altogether.-Zoidpilot
16.On the headphones that came with your device, you will see a single button and the volume controls. One press of the single button will pause the music, two presses in quick succession will skip to the next track. -Zoidpilot
17.In settings > wallpaper > home & lockscreen, if you select a live wallpaper, it will show as your lock screen as well. It will deactivate the ripple effect though if you have it active.-Zoidpilot
18.You can also use pop-up play on streaming online videos as long as they're not YouTube videos, and as long as you use the stock video player to stream them.-Zoidpilot
19.Pictures come out better with the camera if you hold the camera button and let it focus before the shot, rather than just pressing it after touching the focus box.-Zoidpilot
20.The stock browser has "incognito mode" just like Google Chrome! You can access it by opening the browser, the touching the top right corner to see open windows, then touching the incognito icon. While you're incognito, no history/cookies/or form data will be saved.-Zoidpilot
21.While you are on a call, on the screen where the contact picture is displayed, there is a speaker icon in a bubble. Touch it to increase the call volume past the maximum setting. It works on speaker or on headset setting.-Zoidpilot
22.If you're not rooted, but want to get rid of those pesky bloatware apps, go to settings > application manager > all, and select the app. Within those settings you can clear the information the app has, then disable the app with the top right button. You may need to uninstall updates before it says disable app though... you can also go to the app drawer, hit menu, then select "hide apps" to hide the bloatware icons you've disabled. -Zoidpilot
23.With voice cmd turned on, you can snooze your alarm by saying snooze. -s3xda
24.Cover the screen with the palm of your hand to pause media playback. -NA 521"
25.You can use S Voice like a translator,for example: What is the meaning of house in spanish?-TitaniumBarbell
26.I just found out the contents of the clipboard stay there even after a reboot.-kingwp
27.touch wiz scrolling wallpapers fix go Settings > Wallpaper > Home Screen... If you set them independantly you will be able to crop the wallpaper just like any other HC/ICS device-nonmindo
28.you can get your status bar in ANY full screen app, even full screen games. How? Start with your finger touching just outside of the top of the display and drag down, it will fade in and you can check your notifications, it works both in landscape and portrait mode-nonmindo
29.I noticed that any time you send an email in gmail with our new phones (t-mobile version at least), it puts a stupid T-mobile signature at the bottom of the email. I found that you can change it by going to gmail>menu>settings>[email protected]>signature and putting in whatever you want.-moonfire711
30.Also, go into your dialer>menu>settings for more in call goodies.-moonfire711
31.Many probably already know this, but I just found out that you can turn on the screen with the physical home button instead of the power button. Which is nice if it's laying down on a desk or something.-moonfire711
32.If you get tired of re-unlocking your screen when it turns off, you can set it to not lock for a set period of time after the screen turns off... Go to menu>settings>security>Lock automatically and change the timeout.-moonfire711
33.If you go into Settings > Sounds > Auto Haptic It will enable haptic feedback on your games/apps based on sound, pretty neat!! (note: doesnt work on all games/apps, but does on many)-nonmindo
34.In relation to the haptic feedback with sound... Tap on the left side of the toggle (where the text is), and it'll open up a menu to choose which ones to enable/disable. -pizz0wn3d
35.The wiimote controller successfully pairs and works with our SGS3s! -pizz0wn3d
36.For your contacts or logs, slide left to direct call and slide right to direct text.-jaytxvo
37.while in the stock video player press the picture in picture button to pop out the video -s3xda
38.Super video does pic-in-pic -20blks
39.***Sprint Specific*** In order to turn on and off LTE ... Settings >wireless settings>more settings >network mode>lte/cdma -iphony89
40.camera quick access... allows you to touch the lockscreen and rotate the screen to open the camera... Settings > security > lock screen options > camera quick access -Cappurnikus
41.pull down the notification touch the time and it will open the world clock (might be variant specific) -Deputy13
42.I have only tested this with Windows Media Player, but I assume any DLNA equipped TV/media device would work. This is great if you want to quickly show a slideshow of photos or play some media file on your tv/computer.1) Go Settings/More Settings/Nearby Devices 2) Turn on file sharing and change any options you'd like. Since I'm on my own my Wifi network, I just disabled access control, otherwise you have to approve every device.3) Start Windows Media Player. Make sure under Stream "Allow Remote Control" is checked. You should see your phone show up under "Other Libraries" in WMP. Mine shows up as [Mobile]SCH-135.4) Go into Gallery and select a picture. If connected properly, in the upper right hand corner there will be a new little icon with a monitor and some arrows. Touch this and it will allow you to select a playback device. 5) Now the picture should show up in a maximized screen in WMP. Sometimes it takes a good 10-20 seconds. Videos take much longer, but they work and what I got was the first frame, followed by a good 20 seconds of a "Processing" notification on the Galaxy S3. When I browsed from WMP to my phone videos, it buffered for a very long time, so this "processing" notification is the buffering taking place. I don't know why DLNA needs such a long time to buffer over a home Wifi network.6) Whenever you change folders you have to click the DLNA icon again and re-select your playback device. Not sure why this is, seems like a bug...Unfortunately I did a little research and there is no way to physically copy files to your computer through DLNA, you'll have to use other methods.Make sure you turn this stuff off when you connect to public Wifi .-sluzbenik
44.When viewing videos using the stock video player, you can lock the touchscreen by pressing the power button so that the video does not get interrupted by inadvertent touches. This is especially useful if you are using your phone to entertain your baby or toddler. Also works with mx player though haven't tried it with other players -limeaid
45.Do not know if it has been mentioned already, but you can also bring the phone up to your ear and it will call that contact.-ricky babalu
46. if you are in the apps drawer, and you pinch the screen, you will see all pages of your apps and can quickly choose the one you want.-moonfire711
47.Haven't noticed this being addressed but regarding S-Beam it appears that both phones are required to utilize the same app that is involved with the file being transferred. For example, I use "quickpic" as the default image viewer and when I used s-beam to test a pic transfer, the phones connected however my buddy's phone went to the play store and more specifically went to the "quickpic" downlad page. Obviously my buddy's phone required him to dl the app in order to finish the transfer. I then opened the same file via "gallery" and reinitiated the transfer. This time the phones connected and transferred the file without a hitch. -augustorm
48. lock screen shortcuts can be edited on the swipe lock screen go to settings/security/lock screen options/shortcuts click the word shortcuts and not the toggle it will bring up the 4 shortcuts and your allowed to change which app is accessed or what order there displayed in -ironlood
49. Just found a way to substantially increase smoothness. Under Developer Options--> Limit Background Processes. I set mine to 5 and notice a difference -eyecon82
50. Quick Controls in Internet Browser:
Tap the Menu button
Settings option
Click Labs and check the Quick Controls box. - iLLusive
51. Battery Percentage:
Go to Settings
Click Display and check the "Display battery percentage" box- iLLusive
51. Not for sprint. -- Color Saturation, Go to Settings -->Click Display -->Click Screen mode and choose between four options; Dynamic, Standard, Natural and Movie- iLLusive
52. Battery Percentage:
Go to Settings
Click Display and check the "Display battery percentage" box- iLLusive
53. Enable Smart Stay: (Screen stays on when eyes are looking at it)
Go to Settings
Click Display and check the "Smart stay" box- iLLusive
54. Alphabetical Sorting of the Apps Drawer:
Open the apps drawer
Press Menu
Select “View type”
Select “Alphabetical Grid”- iLLusive
55. Silence Camera Sound
-You have to bee rooted for this one to work but it will silence the camera shutter.
-Use an file exployer app,I use root exployer
-Using root exployer go to system>media>audio>UI
-Scroll till you see:
Shutter.ogg
Shutter_multiple.ogg
-Click in Root exployer on the the "mount R/W " to change to "mount R/O"
-then rename those files to :
Shutter.ogg.bak
Shutter_multiple.bak
and no more shutter sound when taking pictures ,to get sound back simply remove the .bak of the files you renamed and sound will be back - David NC
56. Accessing the Service menu
The Service menu is activated through a sort of code that you enter into the dial pad of the phone. To get started:
Start your Phone app
Get to the Keypad screen
Type in: *#0* #
You now should have in front of you a screen with a 5 X 3 grid of options.
http://www.androidcentral.com/how-un...menu-galaxy-s3 - jayhuffdaddy
Great. I did miss that key. Subscribed...
I heard that the GSII has a swipe status bar to turn up brightness? Does this follow over to the GSIII? Could anyone confirm or deny?
1SiK1500 said:
I heard that the GSII has a swipe status bar to turn up brightness? Does this follow over to the GSIII? Could anyone confirm or deny?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. It's not on the GSIII. This is something I miss from the GSII.
Lock screen app settings are listed under security in settings (took me a while to find this)
you can swipe the screen with the side of your hand to take a screenshot, or hold home and power
archtech3d said:
Nope. It's not on the GSIII. This is something I miss from the GSII.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even on the GS2, it was only present in GB
Once the ICS update rolled out, it was gone. It's not a GS2 vs GS3 issue. It's an ICS issue.
ingenious247 said:
Even on the GS2, it was only present in GB
Once the ICS update rolled out, it was gone. It's not a GS2 vs GS3 issue. It's an ICS issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sigh...how could anyone in their right mind think that feature should have disappeared? ...
ewingr said:
Sigh...how could anyone in their right mind think that feature should have disappeared? ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. This is the feature I miss most about my S2. You'd think they'd have SOMETHING with all the random gesture/bump/close on eye stick out tongue gesture combinations they have on this device to control the brightness.
Guys, let's please get back on topic. This isn't the annoyances thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1727052
Hold down physical button and you can close all open apps and go to the task manager.
Buttons on the bottom of the lock screen and can be swiped and open that application(I know obvious)
eyecon82 said:
Guys, let's please get back on topic. This isn't the annoyances thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1727052
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to submit suggestions to google, which we should all do to make a swipe brightness adjustory, go here
http://code.google.com/p/android/
hawkeye2188 said:
Hold down physical button and you can close all open apps and go to the task manager.
Buttons on the bottom of the lock screen and can be swiped and open that application(I know obvious)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks! even though its obvious to us, it may not be to someone else :laugh:
hawkeye2188 said:
Hold down physical button and you can close all open apps and go to the task manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also swipe away individual apps after holding down the home button. An HTC rep at an AT&T store told me that one today. She was trying to show off the One X. Everything that phone could do, my Galaxy could do. It was great. She even told me how the One X was made of polycarbonate and that the Galaxy was made of plastic. She learned a lot today...
first go to settings>language and input and turn on voice cmd for apps. I had it on early today and said cheese and the camera snapped a photo...pretty cool
Anyone having trouble doing the hand motion screenshot? I can't do it. gf walked in on me trying it and she gave me this look like....wtf? She shook her head and walked out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
defnow said:
Anyone having trouble doing the hand motion screenshot? I can't do it. gf walked in on me trying it and she gave me this look like....wtf? She shook her head and walked out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to have a good portion of the screen covered with your hand (instructions say use your palm) and just swipe it across in an even motion.
Also make sure the function is turned on in the motion settings!
Same thing here with the screenshot, I feel dumb as hell as I still can't get it to work.
Also , is anyone using the stock ICS keyboard? I hate the Samsung keyboard.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Hold ur hand out like your doing a karate chop and swipe across the screen from either direction, left or right. Its really simple
defnow said:
Anyone having trouble doing the hand motion screenshot? I can't do it. gf walked in on me trying it and she gave me this look like....wtf? She shook her head and walked out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problems here....
s3xda said:
Hold ur hand out like your doing a karate chop and swipe across the screen from either direction, left or right. Its really simple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the details. I was doing it flat palmed. Working now.
I couldn't get it either then I felt dumb when I realized you have to touch the screen.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

[OFFICIAL] Tips & Tricks thread

This is for random tricks that aren't widely known.
I'll start off...
Missing that search button key on the bottom from the SGSII? Have no fear, just press and hold the menu key, which acts like the search key
Annoyed of the home button lag? turn off double tap to activate S voice within that program and your home key will be much more responsive
Can anyone think of anything else?
Edit: Ironlood has put together a list of tips and tricks. Thanks!
1.Hold menu button for search menu - eyecon82
2.To get rid of home button lag open up S-Voice and navigate to settings and untick the launch with double tap home button -eyecon82
3.Lock screen app settings are listed under security in settings - kegacide
4.you can swipe the screen with the side of your hand to take a screenshot, or hold home and power-kegacide
5.Hold down physical button and you can close all open apps and go to the task manager - hawkeye2188
6.Buttons on the bottom of the lock screen and can be swiped and open that application - hawkeye2188
7.You can also swipe away individual apps after holding down the home button - NA 521"
8.first go to settings>language and input and turn on voice cmd for apps. I had it on early today and said cheese and the camera snapped a photo...pretty cool -s3xda (on a side note it seems as though the variants have different voice cues try snap, cheese, shutter, and go)
9.In settings > sound > device vibration, you can select a different pattern of vibrate, or just make your own by touching create! - Zoidpilot
10.In app drawer > widgets, Sammy added a widget to use flash as a flashlight, and a widget to turn the entire phone into negative colors.-Zoidpilot
11.You can set the brightness in the majority of stock apps (i.e. the browser) to be app specific, instead of just setting a brightness for the entire system. For example: set the brightness to auto in the system settings, then open the stock browser > brightness and colors, and set it to high. Now the system will have auto brightness, but it will always go to high/bright when you are in the browser! -Zoidpilot
12.If you go to Phone > Logs > call logs, you can long-press a number (like that telemarketer you always reject) and select "add to reject list" to have the phone automatically reject the call every time. You can also unblock the number in case you change your mind.-Zoidpilot
13.In the stock messaging app, you can go to settings, and on the top you will find options to change the background and bubble style of the messages.-Zoidpilot
14.Samsung's S-Voice can do complex mathematical equations for you, then show them in different answers. For example, open S-Voice, and ask "how many inches are in a mile?". Or "what's the square root of 543,636?". -Zoidpilot
15.In settings > security > lock screen options > shortcuts, you can change what shortcuts appear on your lockscreen, or take them out altogether.-Zoidpilot
16.On the headphones that came with your device, you will see a single button and the volume controls. One press of the single button will pause the music, two presses in quick succession will skip to the next track. -Zoidpilot
17.In settings > wallpaper > home & lockscreen, if you select a live wallpaper, it will show as your lock screen as well. It will deactivate the ripple effect though if you have it active.-Zoidpilot
18.You can also use pop-up play on streaming online videos as long as they're not YouTube videos, and as long as you use the stock video player to stream them.-Zoidpilot
19.Pictures come out better with the camera if you hold the camera button and let it focus before the shot, rather than just pressing it after touching the focus box.-Zoidpilot
20.The stock browser has "incognito mode" just like Google Chrome! You can access it by opening the browser, the touching the top right corner to see open windows, then touching the incognito icon. While you're incognito, no history/cookies/or form data will be saved.-Zoidpilot
21.While you are on a call, on the screen where the contact picture is displayed, there is a speaker icon in a bubble. Touch it to increase the call volume past the maximum setting. It works on speaker or on headset setting.-Zoidpilot
22.If you're not rooted, but want to get rid of those pesky bloatware apps, go to settings > application manager > all, and select the app. Within those settings you can clear the information the app has, then disable the app with the top right button. You may need to uninstall updates before it says disable app though... you can also go to the app drawer, hit menu, then select "hide apps" to hide the bloatware icons you've disabled. -Zoidpilot
23.With voice cmd turned on, you can snooze your alarm by saying snooze. -s3xda
24.Cover the screen with the palm of your hand to pause media playback. -NA 521"
25.You can use S Voice like a translator,for example: What is the meaning of house in spanish?-TitaniumBarbell
26.I just found out the contents of the clipboard stay there even after a reboot.-kingwp
27.touch wiz scrolling wallpapers fix go Settings > Wallpaper > Home Screen... If you set them independantly you will be able to crop the wallpaper just like any other HC/ICS device-nonmindo
28.you can get your status bar in ANY full screen app, even full screen games. How? Start with your finger touching just outside of the top of the display and drag down, it will fade in and you can check your notifications, it works both in landscape and portrait mode-nonmindo
29.I noticed that any time you send an email in gmail with our new phones (t-mobile version at least), it puts a stupid T-mobile signature at the bottom of the email. I found that you can change it by going to gmail>menu>settings>[email protected]>signature and putting in whatever you want.-moonfire711
30.Also, go into your dialer>menu>settings for more in call goodies.-moonfire711
31.Many probably already know this, but I just found out that you can turn on the screen with the physical home button instead of the power button. Which is nice if it's laying down on a desk or something.-moonfire711
32.If you get tired of re-unlocking your screen when it turns off, you can set it to not lock for a set period of time after the screen turns off... Go to menu>settings>security>Lock automatically and change the timeout.-moonfire711
33.If you go into Settings > Sounds > Auto Haptic It will enable haptic feedback on your games/apps based on sound, pretty neat!! (note: doesnt work on all games/apps, but does on many)-nonmindo
34.In relation to the haptic feedback with sound... Tap on the left side of the toggle (where the text is), and it'll open up a menu to choose which ones to enable/disable. -pizz0wn3d
35.The wiimote controller successfully pairs and works with our SGS3s! -pizz0wn3d
36.For your contacts or logs, slide left to direct call and slide right to direct text.-jaytxvo
37.while in the stock video player press the picture in picture button to pop out the video -s3xda
38.Super video does pic-in-pic -20blks
39.***Sprint Specific*** In order to turn on and off LTE ... Settings >wireless settings>more settings >network mode>lte/cdma -iphony89
40.camera quick access... allows you to touch the lockscreen and rotate the screen to open the camera... Settings > security > lock screen options > camera quick access -Cappurnikus
41.pull down the notification touch the time and it will open the world clock (might be variant specific) -Deputy13
42.I have only tested this with Windows Media Player, but I assume any DLNA equipped TV/media device would work. This is great if you want to quickly show a slideshow of photos or play some media file on your tv/computer.1) Go Settings/More Settings/Nearby Devices 2) Turn on file sharing and change any options you'd like. Since I'm on my own my Wifi network, I just disabled access control, otherwise you have to approve every device.3) Start Windows Media Player. Make sure under Stream "Allow Remote Control" is checked. You should see your phone show up under "Other Libraries" in WMP. Mine shows up as [Mobile]SCH-135.4) Go into Gallery and select a picture. If connected properly, in the upper right hand corner there will be a new little icon with a monitor and some arrows. Touch this and it will allow you to select a playback device. 5) Now the picture should show up in a maximized screen in WMP. Sometimes it takes a good 10-20 seconds. Videos take much longer, but they work and what I got was the first frame, followed by a good 20 seconds of a "Processing" notification on the Galaxy S3. When I browsed from WMP to my phone videos, it buffered for a very long time, so this "processing" notification is the buffering taking place. I don't know why DLNA needs such a long time to buffer over a home Wifi network.6) Whenever you change folders you have to click the DLNA icon again and re-select your playback device. Not sure why this is, seems like a bug...Unfortunately I did a little research and there is no way to physically copy files to your computer through DLNA, you'll have to use other methods.Make sure you turn this stuff off when you connect to public Wifi .-sluzbenik
44.When viewing videos using the stock video player, you can lock the touchscreen by pressing the power button so that the video does not get interrupted by inadvertent touches. This is especially useful if you are using your phone to entertain your baby or toddler. Also works with mx player though haven't tried it with other players -limeaid
45.Do not know if it has been mentioned already, but you can also bring the phone up to your ear and it will call that contact.-ricky babalu
46. if you are in the apps drawer, and you pinch the screen, you will see all pages of your apps and can quickly choose the one you want.-moonfire711
47.Haven't noticed this being addressed but regarding S-Beam it appears that both phones are required to utilize the same app that is involved with the file being transferred. For example, I use "quickpic" as the default image viewer and when I used s-beam to test a pic transfer, the phones connected however my buddy's phone went to the play store and more specifically went to the "quickpic" downlad page. Obviously my buddy's phone required him to dl the app in order to finish the transfer. I then opened the same file via "gallery" and reinitiated the transfer. This time the phones connected and transferred the file without a hitch. -augustorm
48. lock screen shortcuts can be edited on the swipe lock screen go to settings/security/lock screen options/shortcuts click the word shortcuts and not the toggle it will bring up the 4 shortcuts and your allowed to change which app is accessed or what order there displayed in -ironlood
49. Just found a way to substantially increase smoothness. Under Developer Options--> Limit Background Processes. I set mine to 5 and notice a difference -eyecon82
50. Quick Controls in Internet Browser:
Tap the Menu button
Settings option
Click Labs and check the Quick Controls box. - iLLusive
51. Not for sprint or Tmo. -- Color Saturation, Go to Settings -->Click Display -->Click Screen mode and choose between four options; Dynamic, Standard, Natural and Movie- iLLusive
52. Battery Percentage:
Go to Settings
Click Display and check the "Display battery percentage" box- iLLusive
53. Enable Smart Stay: (Screen stays on when eyes are looking at it)
Go to Settings
Click Display and check the "Smart stay" box- iLLusive
54. Alphabetical Sorting of the Apps Drawer:
Open the apps drawer
Press Menu
Select “View type”
Select “Alphabetical Grid”- iLLusive
Thanks. Couple things I didn't know about in that list.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Wow, most of thing is i didn't know!
Thanks
Thanks for the list. I went thru everything and a lot of the same thing gets repeated. Must edit. Good job nonetheless.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
elracing21 said:
Thanks for the list. I went thru everything and a lot of the same thing gets repeated. Must edit. Good job nonetheless.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea it keeps happening because people keep helping me add on to it, and i forget it was already listed....ill fix it soon
Good list of tips been using the S3 all this time and didn't even know most of them even existed :thumbup:
Sent from my Galaxy SIII using Tapatalk 2
This should b stickied
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Great tips just cant get the screen shot with physical buttons to work can anyone assist
Hold home and power.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Awesome got it thanks
SGIII
www.MobileRevolution48.com
Not bad, some on the list were very helpful. Thanks, and to think, I thought I knew it all. heheh
Thank you.
Omy was
Is there a shortcut to go to the top of the Page in browsers and lists other than emails? The double tap is inconvenient top.
Thanks for the list. A few that I didn't know about, and one specifically that I can't believe I missed. I was just lamenting the absence of a simple flashlight on the phone, and bam, the tip about the assistive light. Missed it completely. I argue that simply flashlight would have been a better choice for the name of the widget...lol
kmdub said:
Thanks for the list. A few that I didn't know about, and one specifically that I can't believe I missed. I was just lamenting the absence of a simple flashlight on the phone, and bam, the tip about the assistive light. Missed it completely. I argue that simply flashlight would have been a better choice for the name of the widget...lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...yeah, I think the lack of a consistent naming of basic applications (regardless of carrier...or build) should be improved.
is there a way to stream videos from my laptop on the s3? i enabled the media sharing on my network and it works on my samsung tv but not the phone. when i go in the video app it just says no videos found when i choose the laptop

Help me set up my S3 by finding similar jailbreaks I used to use please!

Hey everyone I’m switching from a jailbroken iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S3 AT&T. What similar apps and tweaks are available for the Galaxy S3 that I currently use on my iPhone? I also plan to root my S3 so any apps that are similar that require rooting are fine. Also any recommendations of cool tweaks, apps and ROMS are welcomed. I am new to this but I have read quite a bit. I like my phone looking totally different then everyone else’s. ☺
Any help is welcomed,
Thanks
Tweaks & apps I use on my iPhone:
Bite SMS – One can push the volume button and then tap the screen where it shows that volume being adjusted and quick composes a message. One may also quick reply without having to go into the native sms app, such as replying to a text message while in a game or in the music app.
- Features: “Quick Reply, Quick Compose, Passcode Lock, Delivery Reports”
Activator – One can set short cuts by customizing what a certain button or certain screen gestures such as pressing the home button three times and the camera flash turns into a flashlight. Another example is pressing the sleep button twice while listening to music and the phone will go to the next song in the playlist. Also one can set a gesture such as “pinching” an icon on the home screen and the email app will open in the compose new email window.
SBSettings - Simple shortcut utility allows you to access all of the system settings you toggle daily with a quick Activator action. For example, you could double tap your iPhone’s status bar to trigger a panel of settings, and adjust settings such as Bluetooth, wifi, 3G, brightness, kill background apps. Also have a toggle setting for the flash setting it as a flashlight on and off at an ease.
Tethering – Using the cellphones 3G or 4G to give out internet access by setting a wireless hotspot, Bluetooth or USB cable.
Folder Enhancer – unlimited amount of apps in any folder
Applocker – passcode apps and folders
Fake caller ID app
Lock screen quick features - camera app toggle and people you’d like to speed dial, flashlight
Remove running apps in the background with one touch
3G unrestrictor – run or download apps that are limited to only use while on wifi
Most of those things you can do without root.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
zak9494 said:
Hey everyone I’m switching from a jailbroken iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S3 AT&T. What similar apps and tweaks are available for the Galaxy S3 that I currently use on my iPhone? I also plan to root my S3 so any apps that are similar that require rooting are fine. Also any recommendations of cool tweaks, apps and ROMS are welcomed. I am new to this but I have read quite a bit. I like my phone looking totally different then everyone else’s. ☺
Any help is welcomed,
Thanks
Tweaks & apps I use on my iPhone:
Bite SMS – One can push the volume button and then tap the screen where it shows that volume being adjusted and quick composes a message. One may also quick reply without having to go into the native sms app, such as replying to a text message while in a game or in the music app.
-Features: “Quick Reply, Quick Compose, Passcode Lock, Delivery Reports”
Activator – One can set short cuts by customizing what a certain button or certain screen gestures such as pressing the home button three times and the camera flash turns into a flashlight. Another example is pressing the sleep button twice while listening to music and the phone will go to the next song in the playlist. Also one can set a gesture such as “pinching” an icon on the home screen and the email app will open in the compose new email window.
SBSettings - Simple shortcut utility allows you to access all of the system settings you toggle daily with a quick Activator action. For example, you could double tap your iPhone’s status bar to trigger a panel of settings, and adjust settings such as Bluetooth, wifi, 3G, brightness, kill background apps. Also have a toggle setting for the flash setting it as a flashlight on and off at an ease.
Tethering – Using the cellphones 3G or 4G to give out internet access by setting a wireless hotspot, Bluetooth or USB cable.
Folder Enhancer – unlimited amount of apps in any folder
Applocker – passcode apps and folders
Fake caller ID app
Lock screen quick features - camera app toggle and people you’d like to speed dial, flashlight
Remove running apps in the background with one touch
3G unrestrictor – run or download apps that are limited to only use while on wifi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyanogenMod 10.1 - All of these features are included plus a million more...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
zak9494 said:
Hey everyone I’m switching from a jailbroken iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S3 AT&T. What similar apps and tweaks are available for the Galaxy S3 that I currently use on my iPhone? I also plan to root my S3 so any apps that are similar that require rooting are fine. Also any recommendations of cool tweaks, apps and ROMS are welcomed. I am new to this but I have read quite a bit. I like my phone looking totally different then everyone else’s. ☺
Any help is welcomed,
Thanks
Tweaks & apps I use on my iPhone:
Bite SMS – One can push the volume button and then tap the screen where it shows that volume being adjusted and quick composes a message. One may also quick reply without having to go into the native sms app, such as replying to a text message while in a game or in the music app.
- Features: “Quick Reply, Quick Compose, Passcode Lock, Delivery Reports”
Activator – One can set short cuts by customizing what a certain button or certain screen gestures such as pressing the home button three times and the camera flash turns into a flashlight. Another example is pressing the sleep button twice while listening to music and the phone will go to the next song in the playlist. Also one can set a gesture such as “pinching” an icon on the home screen and the email app will open in the compose new email window.
SBSettings - Simple shortcut utility allows you to access all of the system settings you toggle daily with a quick Activator action. For example, you could double tap your iPhone’s status bar to trigger a panel of settings, and adjust settings such as Bluetooth, wifi, 3G, brightness, kill background apps. Also have a toggle setting for the flash setting it as a flashlight on and off at an ease.
Tethering – Using the cellphones 3G or 4G to give out internet access by setting a wireless hotspot, Bluetooth or USB cable.
Folder Enhancer – unlimited amount of apps in any folder
Applocker – passcode apps and folders
Fake caller ID app
Lock screen quick features - camera app toggle and people you’d like to speed dial, flashlight
Remove running apps in the background with one touch
3G unrestrictor – run or download apps that are limited to only use while on wifi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just go to play store and look mos of what you post is there w/o rooting. BTW.. welcome to S3 forum. I switch around year ago and i never look back...
I highly recommend reading as many guides as you can (twice) before you destroy your phone. There are a thousand ways you can end up with a 600 dollar paperweight.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

[GUIDE] Use NFC to unlock your phone, Galaxy S3 or other!

UPDATE!!! There's a new XPosed Framework module in town that makes this whole thread obsolete. Check out the new NFC Unlock module, forked from the NFC LockScreenOff Enabler module already used in this project. Way simpler, fewer moving parts to configure, and works well. Check it out. Otherwise, this has been a fun way to learn how to use Tasker! Thanks, all!
Original Post
This is a guide to show you how to set up your phone to be unlocked by an NFC tag. There are several other threads on the subject for various phones and carriers, but it took me several weeks worth of research and testing to come up with something that actually worked on my phone, and this tutorial is the culmination of that effort. In theory, it should work for a wide variety of ROMs (including Stock), phones and carriers, and even survive ROM updates (provided you maintain root), but I have only tested it on a Sprint Galaxy S3 (model d2spr) that is rooted and running CyanogenMod 10.1.
DISCLAIMER! I am NOT responsible for any damage to your phone, loss of data, use of your phone, or spontaneous sharknadoes that may occur if you try these steps! It worked for me, but I make no guarantees that it will work for you! Back up all your data and your ROM, and use this at your own risk!
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
An NFC capable phone, like your Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 with Root Access enabled
An NFC tag, such as Samsung TecTiles
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
XPosed Framework
ONE of these XPosed Framework plugins:
MoDaCo Toolkit Plugin for the XPosed Framework (NFC Always On or On When Unlocked)
NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk for the XPosed Framework (lets you choose between Always On, On When Unlocked OR On At Lockscreen for better battery life)
NFC Task Launcher from the Play Store
Tasker from the play store
Secure Settings Plugin for Tasker
STEP 1: Install the software!
Install all of the software listed above.
Open XPosed Framework and enable the MoDaCo Toolkit OR the NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk in the Modules tab
STEP 2: Turn on NFC scanning all the time
Normally, Android only scans for NFC tags when the phone is unlocked. We need to scan for NFC tags when the phone is locked, and in our case, when the screen is off. Open the MoDaCo Toolkit app and check the box to Enable NFC when screen is off under Settings -> Wireless
WARNING!!! Turning on NFC scanning when the screen is off may adversely affect your battery life!
STEP 2 ALTERNATIVE: Turn on NFC scanning at Lockscreen
Open the NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk app and select Enable NFC when phone is locked, but the screen is on. This option should be a little easier on your battery. (Thanks to @nacron for finding this!)
STEP 3: Make Secure Settings a Device Administrator
Open Secure Settings and go to the Configuration Menu by tapping the wrench icon in the upper-right hand corner. Once there, check the box next to Device Administrator and select "Activate" on the confirmation screen.
STEP 4: Teach Tasker how to Lock and Unlock your phone
We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way.
Easy Way - Import the Tasks
Download and unzip NFC-Unlock-Tasker-Tasks.zip and copy the enclosed XML files to your phone
Open Tasker and long-press the Tasks tab
Select Import and open the files that you just copied
There is no step 4.
Hard Way - Manually Enter the Tasks
If you don't trust the import function, or just want to learn more about creating tasks in Tasker, you can create the tasks manually.
Open Tasker and select the Tasks tab. Create a new Task by tapping the big "+" sign, name it "LOCK", and add the following actions:
Select Task -> If
Under Condition on the LEFT side of the condition, type TRUN (the variable for Tasks Running)
Tap the Condition Operator icon (the grey button in the middle) and select Doesn't Match, or !~
On the RIGHT side of the condition, type *Unlock*
Under the If statement, select Plugin -> Secure Settings then tap Edit.
Select Keyguard and set the following options:
Select radio button On
Select Plugin -> Secure Settings then tap Edit.
Select Lock Device and set the following options:
Box for Device Admin Enabled is checked
Select Task -> End If
Create a new Task named "Unlock", and add the following actions:
Select Task -> Stop And select the Lock Task that we created earlier.
Select Plugin -> Secure Settings then tap Edit.
Select Wake Device and set the following options:
Wake Type: Screen & Keyboard Lights On
Duration: 30 seconds
Select Task -> Wait and set duration to 100 MS
Select Plugin -> Secure Settings then tap Edit.
Select Keyguard and set the following options:
Select radio button On
Select Task -> Wait and set duration to 100 MS
Select Plugin -> Secure Settings then tap Edit.
Select Keyguard and set the following options:
Select radio button Off
Check box Run in background (No Notification)
If you run this Task now, you probably won't notice anything different right away. However, if you lock your phone and then unlock it, you'll notice that any security that you had set up is now bypassed. That's why we needed to teach Tasker how to lock your phone, as well.
STEP 5: Teach NFC Task Launcher to Unlock your phone
Open NFC Task Launcher and create a new task for NFC named "Unlock Phone".
Take your NFC tag and follow the instructions on the screen to write the tag for this task.
Add a new Task by tapping the big "+" icon in the upper right corner.
Select Category Tasker
Check "Tasker Task" and tap "Next"
Type "Unlock" in the field next to the magnifying glass icon under Tasker Task and tap "Add to Task"
Congratulations! You can now unlock your phone with your NFC tag! Of course, as we mentioned above, this leaves your phone without any passcode protection that you may have previously enable. Which leads us to our final step...
STEP 6: Teach Tasker to Lock your phone
Open Tasker and select the Profiles tab
Create a new Profile with the big "+" at the bottom of the screen and select Event
Select Display -> Display Off
Go back to the Profiles page by tapping the "< Event Edit" icon in the upper left corner.
Select the Lock Task that you made earlier
Now when the screen goes off, your phone is secure again.
That's it! My hope is that this tutorial is easy to follow so that anyone who wants to unlock their phone with an NFC tag can get it working. While there are a lot of steps, I tried to make them clear and specifically looked for a method that was flexible enough to allow me to update my phone or even use a different phone with this method, without having to track down a modified NFC.apk for my specific firmware every time I wanted to update.
In regards to how battery life is affected by having NFC turned on all the time, my personal experience shows no appreciable decrease in battery life. I went all day yesterday without charging (about 15 hours) with typical usage for me, which includes 2-3 hours of podcast playback over both wired and bluetooth headphones, occasional GMail and Facebook usage, Solitaire, and 45-60 minutes of phone calls, which is on par with what I was getting before the hack. As with all things, your mileage may vary. If battery life becomes an issue, try the new NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk plugin that @nacron found instead of the MoDaCo one which gives you the On At Lockscreen option in addition on Always On. It should save you a bit on battery life.
Many thanks to the authors of the software I used (XPosed Framework, MoDaCo Toolkit Plugin, NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk, NFC Task Launcher, Tasker, Secure Settings Plugin), as well as this thread and this web page for giving me the framework to construct this rather elaborate NFC hack.
I would love to hear from others if this works on other phones.
Changelog:
2013-09-05 - Add NFCLockscreenoffEnabler.apk option for NFC on at Lockscreen (thanks @nacron for this!)
2013-08-14 - Changes to the Tasker Tasks that make the lock and unlock functions run a bit more smoothly by avoiding collisions. (i.e., if you're unlocking the phone, it won't try to lock it until the unlock is done.) I've also added easy-to-import XML files for the Tasks, so you don't have to type them in manually anymore!
2013-08-09 - Initial release (can you "release" a process?)
Wow, thanks for the info.
New instructions and importable task files make getting this set up a whole lot easier! Updates in the OP!
I've attached a cheap NFC tag to my watch wristband, cleverly disguised by gold nail polish, and unlock by NFC is now my preferred unlock method.
I like this. Posting to keep track of it.
Well, as soon as root is found for the DROID MAXX, I will be using this.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Hello,
After trying this on a Samsung Galaxy S3 Stock 4.1.2 and Slim Bean (worked like a charm), I have found a glitch on the stock firmware. When making a call the screen would go off via the Proximity sensor so <b>Tasker</b> would lock the phone.
So I made a little addon to the following part and the problem stoped:
Original:
STEP 6: Teach Tasker to Lock your phone
Open Tasker and select the Profiles tab
Create a new Profile with the big "+" at the bottom of the screen and select Event
Select Display -> Display Off
Go back to the Profiles page by tapping the "< Event Edit" icon in the upper left corner.
Select the Lock Task that you made earlier
Modified:
STEP 6: Teach Tasker to Lock your phone
Open Tasker and select the Profiles tab
Create a new Profile with the big "+" at the bottom of the screen and select Event
Select Display -> Display Off
Go back to the Profiles page by tapping the "< Event Edit" icon in the upper left corner.
Select the Lock Task that you made earlier
[*] Select Display off (long-press) -> Add -> State -> Sensor -> Proximity sensor -> Check invert
That's it!
Now when you get a call and answer it Tasker will know that the proximity sensor is used and will not lock the phone
Hope it works for you too.
Thanks,
[/QUOTE]
stealthdave said:
New instructions and importable task files make getting this set up a whole lot easier! Updates in the OP!
I've attached a cheap NFC tag to my watch wristband, cleverly disguised by gold nail polish, and unlock by NFC is now my preferred unlock method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats slick man. I may have to use that for myself lol :good:
This is great, thanks man but one problem. When I use my tag to unlock the phone, use the phone then hit the android home button to return to my default screen, it locks the phone instead. If I unlock it normally (Entering PIN) it doesn't display this behavior. What am I doing wrong.
Deleted
LevanG said:
Hi, can I use this method to unlock my LG Lucid2?
I want to use it on GSM network...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong kind of "unlock", I'm afraid. This unlocks your screen so that you can bypass the lock screen; it doesn't do anything for carriers locking the phone to their network. Think of this as using an NFC tag as your password.
OK, sorry and thanks for your reply
lloydcabraham said:
This is great, thanks man but one problem. When I use my tag to unlock the phone, use the phone then hit the android home button to return to my default screen, it locks the phone instead. If I unlock it normally (Entering PIN) it doesn't display this behavior. What am I doing wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try adding a 200ms delay to the beginning of the LOCK Task. This seemed to make things a bit more predictable on my phone.
stealthdave said:
Try adding a 200ms delay to the beginning of the LOCK Task. This seemed to make things a bit more predictable on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, already have added a delay at the beginning to the Lock task but it didn't do anything to correct the behavior to the Home button. I should probably add that I'm using this with an HTC One that already has a funky Home / Menu button configuration. Home button works fine when I unlock normally but seems to get remapped to go back to the lock screen when I unlock it using NFC.
lloydcabraham said:
Actually, already have added a delay at the beginning to the Lock task but it didn't do anything to correct the behavior to the Home button. I should probably add that I'm using this with an HTC One that already has a funky Home / Menu button configuration. Home button works fine when I unlock normally but seems to get remapped to go back to the lock screen when I unlock it using NFC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likewise. I have the same problem as well. The physical Home button just takes me back to my pin lockscreen if I had unlocked via NFC. If I unlocked my phone manually by entering my pin then everything just works fine.
EDIT: Should also say that my phone is the S3.
@lloydcabraham and @bleAf! , what version(s) of Android are you running? I'm on 4.2.2 (CM 10.1.2), and my Home button is working as expected. I'm also using Nova Launcher as opposed to the stock Android launcher. Also, I presume that you haven't inadvertantly remapped the Home button, either by Tasker or some other setting or app? (Forgive me if some of this sounds like basic tech support stuff; just spitballing ideas since I can't reproduce.)
stealthdave said:
@lloydcabraham and @bleAf! , what version(s) of Android are you running? I'm on 4.2.2 (CM 10.1.2), and my Home button is working as expected. I'm also using Nova Launcher as opposed to the stock Android launcher. Also, I presume that you haven't inadvertantly remapped the Home button, either by Tasker or some other setting or app? (Forgive me if some of this sounds like basic tech support stuff; just spitballing ideas since I can't reproduce.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, I appreciate your help. I'm using ElementalX kernel that remaps the HTC logo as a menu button but leaves the back and home button alone. Maybe that's the issue? It's just funny that I only have the problem if I use my NFC to unlock the phone using the supplied scripts. Oh well, no biggie but if you can help me figure it out, it would be great. I can send you a cwm backup (wiped of course) if you'd like to try my setup?
lloydcabraham said:
Not at all, I appreciate your help. I'm using ElementalX kernel that remaps the HTC logo as a menu button but leaves the back and home button alone. Maybe that's the issue? It's just funny that I only have the problem if I use my NFC to unlock the phone using the supplied scripts. Oh well, no biggie but if you can help me figure it out, it would be great. I can send you a cwm backup (wiped of course) if you'd like to try my setup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it would probably be easier for you to just try a different kernel and see if it still works. Given the description of what it does, my guess is that might be the issue.
It also might be an issue with the XPosed Framework or MoDaCo plugin on the HTC One specifically. (It does have its own special installation procedure.)
- Dave
stealthdave said:
@lloydcabraham and @bleAf! , what version(s) of Android are you running? I'm on 4.2.2 (CM 10.1.2), and my Home button is working as expected. I'm also using Nova Launcher as opposed to the stock Android launcher. Also, I presume that you haven't inadvertantly remapped the Home button, either by Tasker or some other setting or app? (Forgive me if some of this sounds like basic tech support stuff; just spitballing ideas since I can't reproduce.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on 4.1.2 (Samsung based rom with stock kernel). I'm also using Nova launcher and I just tried stock Touchwiz launcher but same result.
I'm thinking it may be just something to do with Samsung Touchwiz or HTC Sense based rom (If lloydcabraham is also running HTC based rom or stock).
Thanks for your help stealthdave.
For some reason I can't get my phone to recognize the NFC tag when the screen is off or even in the lock screen. Only when I'm past the lock screen will the NFC tag recognize. The xposed framework was part of the ROM i'm using (M.O.A.R.) and I just installed the MoDaCo mod via the link. I checked off NFC on always and restarted several times but it still won't recognize when the screen is off.
[EDIT]
Got it to work using this xposed module instead of the MoDaCo one for always on NFC.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2122019
Also having issues of lock coming back on after doing any action post unlock via NFC. I think it's a hack Samsung put together for the latest firmware upgrade after the whole problem with the bypassing the lockscreen by going through the emergency screen. The op wouldn't have this issue as he's not using a TW rom. I wonder if there is a way to have it input the key instead of bypassing the key.
[EDIT 2]
Overcame this issue by using the secure settings to reset the pin to nothing when unlocking via NFC and enable the pin when the screen goes off. This method even prevents the phone from locking during a call. I have a new issue of the swipe screen coming back right after NFC unlock. I'll post my findings a little later. It's not the most elegant of fixes but it prevents the lock screen from coming up when pressing the home button. I also removed all the waits and made lights and keyboard on for 5 seconds, makes unlocking faster.
The action for password/pin reset in Secure Settings is in All Actions > Dev Admin Actions > Password/Pin. You just select disabled when unlocking and it removes your existing pin and when you select enabled for lock, it prompts you to enter your pin twice in the settings. Not sure how secure this is or where it stores your password/pin. The only problem with this method is that you'll have to change the password/pin in secure settings if you decide to change your password/pin in the android settings or you'll end up with 2 different passwords/pins
Not sure if this works if you have pattern unlock. Haven't had time to test that.
So this is how my unlock task looks like:
1. Stop task lock
2. Secure Settings > configuration > Screen and keyboard lights on for 5 seconds
3. Secure Settings > configuration > clear password
4. Secure Settings > configuration > Keyguard disabled
and my lock is simply
1. Secure Settings > sonfiguration > Set Pin
and my profile is
Display Off > Lock
[EDIT3]
Figured out why it was presenting the swipe lock screen when doing a quick NFC unlock removal . I'm using the hacked version of AnyTAG NFC Launcher, instead of the NFC Tag Task Launcher, that detects NFC Tag removal as well as placement. Thought this app would be more extensible in the future. The only problem with this is that it will keep insisting on launching on NFC Tag removal if you don't set something so I just set the task to do nothing and that was locking the swipe screen again. I just set it to the same task as unlock and it doesn't pull up the swipe screen anymore.
Also, the battery replacements from Sprint suck. It's a generic sprint branded battery that DOES NOT have an NFC antenna in it. Picked up the replacement along with tectiles yesterday and couldn't figure out for the longest time why this unlock thing wasn't working. Their battery part number is BSML71021L. Gotta call them up to see if they can give me back my old battery or give me a real samsung replacement.
[EDIT 4]
After trying to get this to work consistently, I've disabled it. I can get tasker to remove/reenable the pin consistently but only sometimes will it clear the lockscreen automatically.
nacron said:
For some reason I can't get my phone to recognize the NFC tag when the screen is off or even in the lock screen. Only when I'm past the lock screen will the NFC tag recognize. The xposed framework was part of the ROM i'm using (M.O.A.R.) and I just installed the MoDaCo mod via the link. I checked off NFC on always and restarted several times but it still won't recognize when the screen is off.
[EDIT]
Got it to work using this xposed module instead of the MoDaCo one for always on NFC.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2122019
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this find! I've added it to the OP for others. It's worked pretty consistently for me with this new module for the 30 minutes I've had it installed, and hopefully it will lead to better battery life. (Battery life wasn't too bad, but I was starting to notice a difference with NFC always on.)
nacron said:
[EDIT 4]
After trying to get this to work consistently, I've disabled it. I can get tasker to remove/reenable the pin consistently but only sometimes will it clear the lockscreen automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry to hear that it's not working for you. Hopefully Google will eventually enable this functionality in Android proper. The Moto X certainly shows that it's not only possible, but practical.
- Dave

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