Samsung Galaxy S3 General Information and Troubleshooting FAQ

[bananamilk]

Hi so I have an AT&T S3, and I've heard somewhere that you can change the "save as flipped" option for the front facing camera when you click the cog and select OFF. However this option is NOWHERE to be seen. I cannot find it anywhere. Anybody know why? Or is there some workaround that I can do to fix this? This is been really bugging me :/ I do not like my pictures being saved as flipped.

 

[Peter_UK]

Auto brightness was the first thing I turned off and set it to full.

Like I said I think I tried everything now lol think I will leave it till The weekend and go back to the o2 shop and tell him to sort it, thanks for all your help tho, will check back later in case you think of anything else.

In case you haven't solved this ... I had same problem a few months ago. Within Internet settings is a separate dimming option that operates regardless of phone setting.

 

[saman123]

Hello, I am not sure if a solution has been given here before, but I just got my S3 today and Whatsapp is failing to initialize. I have tried pretty much everything but nothing works! Any ideas?

 

[POnnie88]

For some reason a little blue battery icon with a number for the charge percent in the middle randomly popped up in the top left corner of my notification bar. Also toggles for wifi, bluetooth, gps, sync, and brightness appeared under "Ongoing". These to things happened at the same time and I don't know why and would like to get rid of them. If this is the right place to be asking can someone help me or direct me to the ride thread were I can ask? I have a screenshot but can't post because I'm a new member.

 

[mickmeck]

I'm not saying you should use Kies, I'm asking if you installed the drivers. You can have the proper drivers from Samsung without using Kies. The drivers will be in the link I provided. I can't see the standard Windows drivers being very efficient at large file transfers.

Am I the only one having maddening frustration trying to get Kies to work? It seems to pick and choose whether it will recoginse my S3 and usually tells me it is an "unsupported device". The one time I got it working i was editing my contacts and it crashed my laptop 3 times. The software has been reinstalled numerous times and says that its up to date. Jesus wept, and I am too. This software has to be the worst crap i have ever had the misfortune to try. How on earth can a company so big have such a woeful programming? its disgraceful. They should sort out this immediately, or i and probably tens of thousands more will never buy a samsung again. I have tried some of the "solutions" mentioned in this forum but to no avail.

 

[POnnie88]

Am I the only one having maddening frustration trying to get Kies to work? It seems to pick and choose whether it will recoginse my S3 and usually tells me it is an "unsupported device". The one time I got it working i was editing my contacts and it crashed my laptop 3 times. The software has been reinstalled numerous times and says that its up to date. Jesus wept, and I am too. This software has to be the worst crap i have ever had the misfortune to try. How on earth can a company so big have such a woeful programming? its disgraceful. They should sort out this immediately, or i and probably tens of thousands more will never buy a samsung again. I have tried some of the "solutions" mentioned in this forum but to no avail.

I agree Kies sucks, only works about half the time and there are so many free apps on the market that provided the same service that I say why bother.

 

[bobolinko]

Heya there.

I'm having a problem connecting to my PC, it says the ''MTP'' device software failed to download. I am not tech savy, so I have no idea what to do from here. I've googled it, and several other people seem to have a problem with it aswell. I upgraded from an S1 to an S3, upgraded Kies to go with it, and after that, my S1 dosn't seem to want to connect to my PC either.
Any suggestions?

Go Here, You cannot fail using this set of directions!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=32906335#post32906335

Good Luck!

 

[andros3]

Hi, is there any compatible flash player with galaxy s3?thx.

 

[Chache68]

S3 has alot of potential, but I'm starting to wonder about some of the simple things that I was used to with my HTC EVO that the S3 seems to be missing.

1. I cant find a setting to mute notifications for email without also muting text message notifications. I dont care about being notified by sound/vibration that I have an email. If it was important they would text or call me. My HTC separated the 2 notifications. The S3 seems to have 1 setting to control both.

2. When on facebook, I cannot hold my finger on a picture and then choose to save it to my phone. (unless I'm in facebooks 'desktop' mode) How do I fix that?

3. I cannot hold my finger on a text message and choose to call the person that sent me a text. Is there a way to fix that?

Thanks for any enlightenment you can share with me.

 

[Chache68]

I found an answer to #2...
You just click on the option underneath the picture on facebook that says "View full size image" and it downloads the picture.

 

[blackdog]

I found an answer to #2...
You just click on the option underneath the picture on facebook that says "View full size image" and it downloads the picture.

#3 To call the person who texted you just swipe to the right on the text. To text them you swipe to the left.

Sorry but I don't have a solution to #1. As far as I know you block all notifications, though you can set exceptions - "Allowed Contacts".

 

[Corki2]

S3 has alot of potential, but I'm starting to wonder about some of the simple things that I was used to with my HTC EVO that the S3 seems to be missing.

1. I cant find a setting to mute notifications for email without also muting text message notifications. I dont care about being notified by sound/vibration that I have an email. If it was important they would text or call me. My HTC separated the 2 notifications. The S3 seems to have 1 setting to control both.

2. When on facebook, I cannot hold my finger on a picture and then choose to save it to my phone. (unless I'm in facebooks 'desktop' mode) How do I fix that?

3. I cannot hold my finger on a text message and choose to call the person that sent me a text. Is there a way to fix that?

Thanks for any enlightenment you can share with me.

You can disable notifications for email in the email program settings or set the notification tone to silent and still get the taskbar notification.

 

[trunkmonkey]

Jelly Bean is way way better than ICS. The google now beats siri hands down. Check out the 21questions siri vs google now on youtube. And not to mention project butter smooth screen. Settings have been changed. You can actually download the official genuine version at sammobile.com if you like according to your exact handset configuration. But better wait. Hope they will rebuff Kies too to match the official version and mind you galaxy s3 is almost bricking proof so dont worry to go the extra mile. JB is worth it...

Did kies update itself recently on your pc? If so you should do a full uninstall of Kies AND drivers. Both are in regular control panel Programs and Features. Restart. Download new Kies from Samsung. Disable your network and install kies. Restart. Now run Kies and only then plug in your phone via usb. If nothing changes, download system cleaner from Iobit.com and run all the cleaning processes. Now restart and run Kies, plug in phone. This worked for me and returned all functionality to Kies. It could be your Os isn't matching your exact phone model and kies recognizes this, disabling firmware updates to not totally mess up your phone. Good luck. Kies is very fickle.

 

[Gmtaylor83]

Hey everyone, found this YouTube video outlining the cool features of the phone Samsung Galaxy S3 Top 9 Cool Features Review - YouTube
Home Page

 

[bobolinko]

Hello

I have an external battery that i have been using with my old phone for about a year now, and decided to get a galaxy S3. I understand that the galaxy charger ouputs at 1000 mA but the max current output of the battery is 700mA. I have already tried using it to charge the phone but it took about twice as long as it does from the charger. Will using this battery with the S3 damage the phone, its battery life or have any negative side effects?

Thanks

No it won't harm anything, Think of it as filling your bathtub (phone's battery) with the faucet only half open, It'll take longer! It won't harm your phone, or the external battery.

 

[SweetDream]

Hello. My Galaxy S3 suddenly shuts off and becomes dead. One way helps only is to pull out battery and put it in. And idea or advise?..
Help please? Many thanks!

 

[IchiBear]

How long have you had the phone? Is it locked to your network? Sounds like it could be faulty. You could try a factory reset (back up contacts to Google beforehand). Are you using a stock battery in the phone? I've had my S3 (unlocked) for a lil while now and have not had a problem with it so far (fingers crossed) even with the Jelly Bean update.

 

[doc1964]

I found my screen dimmed when i used the stock email app in my phone. turnedout the power saving setting was changing background colours to save power. Turned this feature off and no problems.

 

[J r]

Can you copy and paste ? On iphone it's easy hold your finger on what you want to copy but cant do on s3 !!

 

[DEWsBabygirl]

Hi all,

I just got the S3 today after having a Razr MAXX and I love it!! Only one thing I can't figure out...how do you actually get the swipe to take a screenshot to work? I have the box checked for it, but no matter what I do, I can't get a screenshot when I swipe.... up, down, left or right... anyone else have this problem? Or a solution?

Thanks!
Heather

 

[blackdog]

Cut and paste works in exactly the same way on the S3.

 

[blackdog]

Hi all,

I just got the S3 today after having a Razr MAXX and I love it!! Only one thing I can't figure out...how do you actually get the swipe to take a screenshot to work? I have the box checked for it, but no matter what I do, I can't get a screenshot when I swipe.... up, down, left or right... anyone else have this problem? Or a solution?

Thanks!
Heather

You place the edge of your hand on one edge of the screen and drag it across the screen. It took me a couple of attempts to get it right but once you get the feel of it, it's easy.

 

[balkhudairi]

My Galaxy SIII mutes itself from time to time, can you help?

 

[DEWsBabygirl]

You place the edge of your hand on one edge of the screen and drag it across the screen. It took me a couple of attempts to get it right but once you get the feel of it, it's easy.

I must be really doing something wrong, cuz everytime I try, I either switch home screens, or bring up my list of apps.... it really shouldn't be this hard, should it? Lol

I don't want to have to take the phone back to Verizon, and I can always use the power/home screen to take a screenshot, but then again, I want the phone to work as intended .. so frustrating!

 

[Corki2]

I must be really doing something wrong, cuz everytime I try, I either switch home screens, or bring up my list of apps.... it really shouldn't be this hard, should it? Lol

I don't want to have to take the phone back to Verizon, and I can always use the power/home screen to take a screenshot, but then again, I want the phone to work as intended .. so frustrating!

That's much easier IMO. I can do it by swiping, but it's hit and miss.