Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips and Tricks

Android 4.2 (Jellybean)
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S4
Factory OS: Android 4.2 (Jellybean)

Have you updated your Operating System?
Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie) & Android 8 (Oreo)
Or view tips for all Android versions

To add an email or phone number to your contacts from a text message, you can long-press on the email / phone number. Then select Add to contacts

If you want to remove the Google Search bar, then go to Settings – Application manager – All – Google search – Disable.

If you want to setup new email accounts, like Yahoo or Hotmail, go to your Homescreen and press the Home key. This will take you to your list of Apps.

Form here, choose the Email icon. A setup wizard will then be launched.

Enter you email address and password into the fields. You can also change the settings after this step.

Once you’re happy with the settings, give your account a Name and you’re done.

To enable or disable the vibrate function when you receive text messages go to the standard Messaging App. Then go to Settings – Notification settings – Vibrate

You can speed up the page load speed on your browser by disabling JavaScript.

To do this, open your Browser, then Menu – Settings – Content Settings. Scroll down and untick Enable JavaScript

Please note that this may affect the functionality of some sites.

Normally you can simply insert a SIM card and you will be able to browse the internet using 3G. Sometimes, this must be setup manually however. Before you start, you will need to ask your carrier or Telco for your APN settings.

Once you have those, from your homescreen press Menu – Settings – More networks – Mobile networks – Access Point Names.

From here press the Menu key again (bottom left corner) and select New APN. Then fill in the details your carrier gave you. Then press the menu icon again and press Save.

If you want to move a widget from one homescreen to another, simply press and hold on the widget. Then drag it to the edge of the screen. The next homescreen will appear. Then, just drag the item to where you would like.

If you want to remove an entire text message thread, go into Messages and look for the thread. Then long press on it and select Delete thread

Android manages Apps very well and some Apps do not have the option to close them specifically. Normally the App will stay running in the background and only close when many other Apps have been opened.

If you do want to close or terminate an App, then press and hold the Home key on your phone. Then you can swipe the Apps off the screen to close them.

To change keyboards (if you have additional keyboards installed), you can switch between them by pressing the small keyboard symbol in the top left of your screen. You will need to be in keyboard input mode (i.e. typing something) for this to work.

Note: you need to have more than one keyboard installed for this to work.