Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Tips and Tricks
Factory OS: Android 7 (Nougat)
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
If you want to install Apps outside of the Play Store (called sideloading), then go to Settings – Lock screen and security and select Unknown sources.
This setting will allow you to download Apps onto your device that would normally be blocked in the Play store.
Note: use at your own risk.
When using your Calendar App, you will normally be in Month view. To quickly switch to Year view, you can pinch the screen to zoom out.
This is useful if you want to quickly jump backwards or forwards through a few months at a time.
To go from Year to Month, you can do a reverse pinch.
Normally you can simply insert a SIM card and you will be able to browse the internet using 3G or 4G. 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, go to Settings – Connections – Mobile networks – Access Point Names.
From here press Add or the Plus sign at the top right and select New APN.
Then fill in the details your carrier gave you. Then press the menu button and press Save.
If you see the following errors:
Resting robot
Exclamation point (for rooted phones)
No command
This indicates that your phone is in Android Recovery mode and often appear when you try to recover or reboot.
To fix this, follow these steps:
1. Once any of the three appears, press and hold your phone’s volume up button for 10-15 seconds.
2. Next, without letting go of the volume up button, press and release the power button once. It will display a menu.
3. Navigate around the menu using the volume button.
4. Select Reboot System Now and your phone should be rebooting
Alternatively, you can do the following:
1. When any of the three appears, press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds.
2. Then, without letting go of the power button, press and release the volume up button, once. It will display the same menu.
3. Select Reboot System Now and your phone should reboot.
If Reboot System Now doesn’t work try updating first.
While in the Camera App, there are two ways to zoom in or out.
First, you can use Volume Up and Down keys.
Secondly, you can pinch your fingers on the screen to zoom in and out.
If you want to go to settings, then you can go to your list of Apps and open the Settings App.
There is however a quicker way. Simply position your finger right at the top of the screen and drag it down. You may need to do this twice on some phones.
Your notification bar will appear and you can then press the small Gear icon at the top of the screen to go to the Settings.
To use your phone as a WiFi hotspot, tether it via USB or via Bluetooth, then go to Settings – Connections – Mobile hotspot and tethering.
You can then choose from three options:
1) USB – connect your phone via a USB cable. The phone should automatically configure the correct settings.
2) Mobile/WiFi Hotspot – To turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot, press Configure WiFi hotspot. You will then be asked to enter a Network SSID (this is your own name for the WiFi hotspot). Then choose Security and lastly, choose a password (this is password for your WiFi hotspot which you will enter on your computer).
3) Bluetooth – With this option, you will need to pair a Bluetooth device with your phone. On the other device, ensure you search for Bluetooth devices and your phone should show up.
Most Android devices come with an alternative way of entering text called Swype. Many prefer this method and believe it is quicker.
When any text entry box appears, press and hold the box. Then select Input method: SWYPE. Once enabled, you simply drag your finger around the keyboard moving over the letters in the correct order to spell a word.
There are a couple of ways to bring up one of your contacts.
First, while in your Contacts App, simply start typing in the search bar at the top of the screen.
Or else a quicker method is to use the Google Search widget (installed by long pressing on a vacant part of your home screen and installing the widget) and start typing the name of the contact you want to dial. This will quickly filter the correct contact.
If you want to find your phone’s WiFi MAC address (for improved WiFi security), then go to Settings – About device or About phone – Status.
Then scroll down until you see WiFi MAC Address. The address should be a series of Hex numbers and letters.


