Samsung Galaxy S8 Tips and Tricks

The most recent version of Android now comes with a built in Flashlight / Torch App.

To find this, simply pull down to see your notifications. You may need to pull down twice to see the full list of shortcuts.

Then on the top bar (where you see your settings for WiFi, Bluetooth etc.), look for Torch option.

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.

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.

Instead of the simple swipe gesture to unlock your phone, you can set a custom one which can be extremely difficult for a thief to guess.

From your home screen, go to Settings – Lock screen and security – Screen lock type and choose Pattern.

It is also a good idea to untick Use visible pattern. Then if someone is watching over your shoulder while you entering your pattern, it will be harder for them to remember the pattern.

If you have forgotten your unlock pattern, then after 5 unsuccessful tries a button will appear saying ‘Forgot pattern’.

Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password. The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern.

If you don’t have a Gmail account, then you will have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.

Soft resetting is just the process of rebooting your phone. In contrast, a hard rest is when you remove everything from the phone to restore it to the factory state.

Normally you can simply restart the phone in the normal way via the power button, but if it has crashed, that may not be possible.

To soft reset your phone press and hold the Power/Lock button for around 8 to 10 seconds. The phone will restart automatically.

If that doesn’t work, then remove the battery (if it has one). Wait 30 seconds and put the battery back in. Then press the Power/Lock button to turn the phone on.

Follow this guide if you want to check the data and WiFi usage on your Samsung Galaxy S8.

In this day and age, staying connected is essential. However, whether we like it or not, most mobile data plans put a limit on our data usage each month.

Browsing through Social Media may be fine, but downloading and streaming content can easily eat up on your monthly data allocation.

Reaching your data cap means that you cannot stay online for the rest of the month. Worse, you may be allowed to go online but it also means a huge bill by month’s end.

1. Go to Settings → Connections → Data Usage
2. From there, you can set a limit or data cap for a certain time period or billing cycle (a week, month, etc).
3. You may also press the Menu option and tap “Restrict Background Data Usage.” This option will help you manage your data usage, especially for apps that run in the background (such as Instagram and Messenger). However, this also means that the apps may stop working properly.

To check WiFi usage on the Samsung Galaxy S8, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings → Connections → Data Usage
2. From there, tap on the Menu button (3 vertical dots on the upper-right corner of the screen).
3. Tap on “Show WiFi” then “Wi-Fi data usage.”

Alternatively, some Android handsets may need to follow these steps below:

1. Go to Settings → WiFi & Internet → Data Usage
2. Tap WiFi Data Usage to view WiFi stats.
3. From this menu, you can also view data/WiFi usage per app.

The methods above generally work for most Android phone devices. Some handsets may have slight variations, you should just look for something similar Connections, Networks, or Data Usage menus.

Huawei users however have to follow a different process. Below is a short guide to check data and WiFi usage for Huawei phone users:

1. Go to Optimizer → Data Usage
2. From there, you can view your data usage for the month.
3. You also have a Smart Data Saver feature. You may turn that on if you want to.
4. You can also tap on the apps which are shown to be big data consumers and adjust their usage/consumption accordingly.
5. You may also set a limit by tapping “More Data Settings” then “Monthly Data Limit.”

If you don’t want to hear the shutter sound when you take photos, then there are a few things you can try.

Firstly, some countries have laws to force the phone to play these sounds. Assuming you’re not in one of these countries, then the first thing you can try is to go to the Camera App – Settings – Shutter Sound – Off.

If that doesn’t work, then you can try turning the volume of the phone down or put it in silent mode when taking photos.

The last option is to Root your phone. If you don’t know what that means, then it’s best not to attempt it unless you have thoroughly read about the process. Once Rooted, go to this folder on your phone: /system/media/audio/ui and rename the camerashutter and/or cameraclick OGG files to something else.

Alternatively, on a rooted phone you can use a Root Browser, to edit /system/csc/feature.xml and set the option to TRUE. Then you should be able to go to Camera App – Settings – Shutter Sound – Off.

If you want to access your quick settings more quickly, then instead of swiping down with one finger, then use two.

This should take you straight to the quick settings, however it may not work on all phones and models.

When taking photos or videos, tap the screen where you want to focus on.

The phone will automatically adjust the settings to improve the image or video

If you would prefer not to be told every time an Application has been updated, open the Play Store and press the Hamburger / Menu icons in the top left.

Then select Settings and untick the App updates available option.