New to smartphones and samsung...

[rbico]

Hello everyone.
I am not phone person but I am getting my first smartphone ever, opting for the galaxy s4, and was hoping for a little help in setting it up.
Basically looking for some direction or links to articles on removing some of the samsung bloatware from the phone. Also, maybe some tips on making the phone more secure (turning off certain apps/services). I am a computer guy who builds my own and keeps thing running smopothly in that respect, but I really am lost in the smartphone world.

What I will be using it for:
#1 for a talking phone (not texting), #2 camera #3 to check traffic or some kind of GPS and #4 as a mobile wifi so my daughter can user her ipod to go online in the car.

I have zero interest in social media, so I don't have facebook, twitter, etc so I will not be using the phone to post pics there or any apps that link to those places. I would like some tips on a good photo storing solutions, like Instagram or whatever, but I do not want it to be open to the public.

I will not be reading books or browsing webpages for fun, only for necessity. so any apps I can dump there would be good.

I doubt I will be texting much. I have never texted before and I don't really like the idea much. My daughter does have imessage on her ipod and I would like to be able to text her, but that is it.

Any tips are REALLY appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[rbico]

ugh, I think I posted this to the wrong section. Mods, please feel free to move it to the proper area.

 

[Crashdamage]

For bloatware go into:
Settings > Apps > Scroll right to All > tap Disable (if present).

Many people will advise rooting the phone to remove bloatware. I say disable what you can and simply ignore what you can't. I don't recommend rooting for new users. I never root my daily driver phone I depend on. And if you're concerned about security, rooting the phone reduces security somewhat. Remember, Rule #1 of Linux security is never run as root for normal use, and Android is basically Linux.

DO NOT install any RAM/memory boosters/managers/optimizers, cache cleaners, task killers, battery savers/optimizers, antivirus, etc etc. None of these are needed. Most are counterproductive and actually waste CPU cycles and power. Some are just plain evil.

Android is very good at handling memory, processes and generally taking care of business without help from 3rd party apps or manual user input.

IOW, let Android do its job, relax and enjoy your phone.

For photo backup Dropbox is good, it's free for the 1st 5GB and will automatically upload photos immediately. I do the same thing to Google Drive using FolderSync (very handy). The Google Drive app supposedly will add a photo upload function like Dropbox has soon. Anyone with a Google account has 15GB free storage on Google Drive.

Apple refuses to allow an iMessage app for anything but Apple products. But you should be able to text her with Android text apps.

For using the S4 as a mobile WiFi hotspot see this:

http://www.samsung.com/au/support/skp/htg/16390

 

[rbico]

awesome info crashdamage! This sounds a lot like basic PC care, as far as RAM optimizers, security add-ons, etc. I already de-bloat my friends computers when they buy them, so I think I can handle it without rooting.

I have drop box already, so I will look into how to add the photo upload.

Looking forward to the phone, mostly because of the camera!

 

[Crashdamage]

For Dropbox, just install the app, go to: Settings > Turn on camera upload. Photos will be uploaded as you take them, in real time so you have immediate backups. And you can sync photos to your computers, access them from other mobile devices or share with others.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dropbox.android

 

[John Jury]

Hi. I've enabled camera upload but I'm not clear on its behaviour. What I'd like to do is manage the camera roll on my PC, i.e. in the Dropbox share. So, if I delete photos from there (or modify them), they will sync to my phone. Presumably, camera upload is only one way, camera roll --> share. Or, am I wrong about that?

Either way, is there a simple way to manage the camera roll from a shared workstation, as well as provide backup by this means?

Thanks!

 

[Crashdamage]

You could use FolderSync. It can sync your camera roll 1 or 2-way.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.full

 

[John Jury]

Sweet! I'll try that out right now.