Brand new to smart phones-HELP!!

[SkyeHigh]

I got my very first smart phone yesterday (GS3) and something has been bothering me. I have an H+ on top of my notifications bar which I know is the network but I have the up and down time arrows which keep flashing even though I'm positive that I'm not using the company's internet. I might be mistaken and perhaps I'm not using their internet at all but maybe it's just their signal strength? If that's not the case and I actually am using their internet, I'm positive I'm not using any apps at the time to use internet; I'd be very appreciative whom ever answers this question and it might be a very simple answer but just remember this is my first smart phone!

 

[Hadron]

Hi SkyeHigh, and welcome to AF

The H+ symbol just indicates the type of data connection (in this case the fastest 3G version). The arrows do indeed indicate data transfers. Most likely some app is performing operations in the background, such as syncing a calendar, or polling for email, FB/twitter updates, updating weather information, etc. If you turn off background data in the system settings then this will stop, but you will also lose some functionality.

There are apps, such as 3G Watchdog, which can monitor your data usage and tell you which apps are using it. If there are apps that might use data to update their info (some examples given above) you should look at the settings for each app to make sure it is doing what you want, for example adjusting update intervals to suit your needs (or setting for manual update if you don't need them updating themselves in the background).

Good luck!

 

[Rush]

Hi SkyeHigh.. welcome aboard.

You're in good hands here on the forums - thanks for joining the community.

 

[!on]

Press & hold in any empty screen space & you'll get asked to add something. In widgets there is a power notification widget (or similar) that let's you toggle things like wifi, bluetooth, gps etc... when you select wifi, it normally switches from 3g to that.

You'll need to go in settings > wireless & networks (or similar), find the wifi settings & connect, maybe you'll need to enter the password if required. After that it will be remembered so all you have to do is use the widget to toggle wifi on/off.