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Help Weird quirks/glitches on my Note 3? Looking For Help.

karl32

Newbie
Dec 7, 2013
19
0
I'm brand new to Android and my Note 3. Came over from an Iphone 4 so a huge learning curve ahead of me, but I'm having a couple of weird issues that I hope someone could help me out with.

I'm on Touchwiz using the normal Email app (Not the Gmail app). Sometimes I'm not getting the number badge on my email app icon telling me how many new emails I have. It's random if it works or not. There is no rhyme or reason when it shows the number of emails, and when it doesn't. Any ideas?

Also I want the screen to stay on longer when it's asleep and I get a text. It comes on for 3 seconds and goes dark again so at times I can't read the full text in my notification bar at the top. Is there a setting for this, I have looked through the phone but don't see it?

I tried an app called Lockscreen Notification to set the screen to stay on longer and just like my email number badge problem sometimes the screen stays on for the time I set, and sometimes it doesn't. Again no rhyme or reason to when it works or doesn't?

I want to back up the phone, and from reading around here it seems that the program Kies is the way to back my Note 3 up? Is that the best way, or is there something better?

Thanks in advance for all help.
 
Welcome to the forums and Android.


I don't have the Note 3 so I'm of little help in that regard but allow me to ask, did you try the gmail app just to rule out if the counter is software or phone issue?

Thank you. Good suggestion so I just tried it now and the Gmail app did notify me properly.

I don't want to use the gmail email app because I have a couple of other emails other than Gmail that I like notifications from. If I was strictly gmail I would just switch to the gmail app.

This is weird. :thinking:
 
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Also I want the screen to stay on longer when it's asleep and I get a text. It comes on for 3 seconds and goes dark again so at times I can't read the full text in my notification bar at the top. Is there a setting for this, I have looked through the phone but don't see it?

The amount of time that the screen stays on, when you get a text message, is all based on the timeframe you set for "Screen timeout". This is actually the reason I hated the fact that you couldn't turn that off, on Samsung phones (one of the extremely few pet peeves that I didn't like, when switching to Samsung).

Anyhow, if you want it to stay awake longer when receiving a text message, just switched the Screen Timeout time to however long you'd want the screen to stay on, when it wakes for a text message. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's a way to separate the two.

I personally use SMS Popup to block the screen from turning on, but it can definitely be used to control the popup screen on time. Not sure if it'll be the same situation as "Screen Timeout", but you might want to give that a try and see if it will work for your needs:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.everythingandroid.smspopup

I want to back up the phone, and from reading around here it seems that the program Kies is the way to back my Note 3 up? Is that the best way, or is there something better?

Thanks in advance for all help.

I personally never use Kies, ever. The only time I've ever used it was to back up my International Note 2 (prior to my selling it).

For non-rooted, I recommend My Backup Pro. For rooted, I recommend Titanium Backup.

That said, it also depends on exactly what you're trying to back up. I personally also like to save all the internal storage folders, as well as all the microSD folders manually. I just connect my phone to my computer as a media device and copy the folders over to a drive. The reason it's important for me to do that is, those folders contain the backup settings files for some apps that allow saving settings. That always makes for an easier transition, whenever I need to hard reset or I'm upgrading to a different phone. I just track down the exact folders for all the apps that have that backup setting and make sure that I have those particular folders connected to the app backup settings. Just backing up apps, does not also save settings.
 
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Hello, karl32! Welcome to AF and the Note 3 area. :)

There is s a setting you can turn on to keep the screen on for longer. It is in Settings/Controls/Smart screen It is called Smart stay. It keeps the screen on while you are looking at it. It puts a little eyeball with eyelash looking icon in the notification bar, so don't be surprised when you see it.

One option I avoid is called Smart pause. Drove me nuts before I figured it out. If you are watching a Youtube video or something, and it detects that you are not actually watching, it stops the video from playing ,then starts it back up again when it sees it has your attention. I thought I had a broken phone till I realized what was happening. :p
 
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The amount of time that the screen stays on, when you get a text message, is all based on the timeframe you set for "Screen timeout". This is actually the reason I hated the fact that you couldn't turn that off, on Samsung phones (one of the extremely few pet peeves that I didn't like, when switching to Samsung).

Anyhow, if you want it to stay awake longer when receiving a text message, just switched the Screen Timeout time to however long you'd want the screen to stay on, when it wakes for a text message. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's a way to separate the two.

I personally use SMS Popup to block the screen from turning on, but it can definitely be used to control the popup screen on time. Not sure if it'll be the same situation as "Screen Timeout", but you might want to give that a try and see if it will work for your needs:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.everythingandroid.smspopup



I personally never use Kies, ever. The only time I've ever used it was to back up my International Note 2 (prior to my selling it).

For non-rooted, I recommend My Backup Pro. For rooted, I recommend Titanium Backup.

That said, it also depends on exactly what you're trying to back up. I personally also like to save all the internal storage folders, as well as all the microSD folders manually. I just connect my phone to my computer as a media device and copy the folders over to a drive. The reason it's important for me to do that is, those folders contain the backup settings files for some apps that allow saving settings. That always makes for an easier transition, whenever I need to hard reset or I'm upgrading to a different phone. I just track down the exact folders for all the apps that have that backup setting and make sure that I have those particular folders connected to the app backup settings. Just backing up apps, does not also save settings.

I have "Screen Timeout" set to 2 mins, I just dropped it down to 30 seconds since that should be enough but the phone still goes dark after 3-4 seconds after a text even with my screen timeout setting. That was one of the first things I changed when I got the phone so since it didn't help I didn't think that applied to my problem. So something is clearly wrong then?

I will look into SMS Popup for sure but I wonder if I have a bigger issue since my screen time out isn't working correctly?

Backing up the folders manually makes sense. It's weird coming over from Apple not being able to access and back things up manually like that so I didn't even think of it. Thanks for all of the info on backing it up, I appreciate it.

So since it seems like my screen timeout isn't working and my email badge numbers aren't working properly either where do I go from here? I don't really want to start over if I don't have to.
 
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Hello, karl32! Welcome to AF and the Note 3 area. :)

There is s a setting you can turn on to keep the screen on for longer. It is in Settings/Controls/Smart screen It is called Smart stay. It keeps the screen on while you are looking at it. It puts a little eyeball with eyelash looking icon in the notification bar, so don't be surprised when you see it.

One option I avoid is called Smart pause. Drove me nuts before I figured it out. If you are watching a Youtube video or something, and it detects that you are not actually watching, it stops the video from playing ,then starts it back up again when it sees it has your attention. I thought I had a broken phone till I realized what was happening. :p

Thanks!

I turned Smart stay on originally when I first started. The problem with that is the majority of the time I get a text, my phone is to my side and a lot lower than my eyes so it can't tell I've turned to look at it. Smart stay works otherwise no problem, but as I mentioned above my screen timeout setting along with email badge numbers aren't working properly.

I agree with you on Smart pause, I turned that off right away. :D
 
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I have "Screen Timeout" set to 2 mins, I just dropped it down to 30 seconds since that should be enough but the phone still goes dark after 3-4 seconds after a text even with my screen timeout setting. That was one of the first things I changed when I got the phone so since it didn't help I didn't think that applied to my problem. So something is clearly wrong then?

I will look into SMS Popup for sure but I wonder if I have a bigger issue since my screen time out isn't working correctly?

Backing up the folders manually makes sense. It's weird coming over from Apple not being able to access and back things up manually like that so I didn't even think of it. Thanks for all of the info on backing it up, I appreciate it.

So since it seems like my screen timeout isn't working and my email badge numbers aren't working properly either where do I go from here? I don't really want to start over if I don't have to.

Interesting. Samsung might have changed the protocol from the Note 2. That info I gave you was based on my experience with the Note 2. The thing I hated about the phone turning on was that I'd always pull my phone out of my pocket and the phone would be on. A couple times, while it was moving around, it even managed to make some pocket dials. I get too many text messages to have the phone turning on for every single text message.

Regarding the amount of emails being incorrect, I've seen several people mention using a 3rd party email app, rather than the stock one and have had more success in accurate "new" email reporting. Unfortunately, I've never used one, so I can't tell you which is best.
 
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One option I avoid is called Smart pause. Drove me nuts before I figured it out. If you are watching a Youtube video or something, and it detects that you are not actually watching, it stops the video from playing ,then starts it back up again when it sees it has your attention. I thought I had a broken phone till I realized what was happening. :p

I agree with you on Smart pause, I turned that off right away. :D

Sorry I'm straying off topic a little, but had to chime in on this as well. I 100% agree with you both! Smart pause is the worst! I'd probably like it if it worked properly, but there have been a few times that I'll be watching a video, never taking my eyes off the screen, and the video will just pause! I still haven't turned it off, but plan on doing that now that I know it's not only me!...LOL. I think it could be such a great option, but the execution just seems to be so poor, as far as its sensing your eyes are concerned.
 
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So where do you experts suggest I go from here? Do I just start over with a fresh install and see if that fixes my problems, or a new phone? Do I have any other options besides starting over?

I just wonder if installing apps to fix things that should work properly in the first place is going to cause me problems in the future with problems I haven't discovered yet.
 
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If you are looking for an unread number on your email icon, you could try getting nova launcher with tesla unread which adds notification counts on certain icons.

Thanks, I understand I could try a different launcher, but my email counter works in Touchwiz originally and now it's just random so I would like it to work the way it's supposed to without changing things. I want to learn touchwiz first before I learn a new launcher since I'm a total Android newbie. :)
 
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So where do you experts suggest I go from here? Do I just start over with a fresh install and see if that fixes my problems, or a new phone? Do I have any other options besides starting over?

I just wonder if installing apps to fix things that should work properly in the first place is going to cause me problems in the future with problems I haven't discovered yet.

Well, for one, I'd suggest clearing your cache (can't remember the exact steps, but the procedure I'm referring to is one that's done on the back end). KOLIO has posted the info several times.

Getting a new phone, just to fix number of emails seems a bit overboard.

What email provider do you use?
 
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Well, for one, I'd suggest clearing your cache (can't remember the exact steps, but the procedure I'm referring to is one that's done on the back end). KOLIO has posted the info several times.

Getting a new phone, just to fix number of emails seems a bit overboard.

What email provider do you use?

I did a search for Kolio's post but didn't find it. I did however find this on the web and I assume this is what you meant by clearing the cache..

To wipe the cache partition, follow these steps:


  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time:
    • Volume Up key
    • Home key
    • Power key
  3. When 'GALAXY Note 3' appears on the screen, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight 'wipe cache partition.'
  6. Press the Power key to select and wipe the cache.
  7. With 'reboot system now' highlighted, press the Power key to restart the device.
So I tried that cache reset and it's still not working. The reason I mentioned a new phone is because it's not just the email badge, it's the screen timeout setting as well, so who knows what else might be wrong with it that I haven't discovered yet.

I have accounts for gmail, hotmail, and yahoo that I use.

I have backed up my contacts to the sd card and to my desktop by copying the .vcf file, so if I restore the phone and wipe it out I should have no problems using that .vcf file to load my contacts back, correct?

Also will I lose any of my provider info that I need for the phone to make calls etc, by wiping the phone out and starting fresh, or will it just work as if I left the store when I bought it?
 
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I did a search for Kolio's post but didn't find it. I did however find this on the web and I assume this is what you meant by clearing the cache..

So I tried that cache reset and it's still not working. The reason I mentioned a new phone is because it's not just the email badge, it's the screen timeout setting as well, so who knows what else might be wrong with it that I haven't discovered yet.

I have accounts for gmail, hotmail, and yahoo that I use.

I have backed up my contacts to the sd card and to my desktop by copying the .vcf file, so if I restore the phone and wipe it out I should have no problems using that .vcf file to load my contacts back, correct?

Also will I lose any of my provider info that I need for the phone to make calls etc, by wiping the phone out and starting fresh, or will it just work as if I left the store when I bought it?

Hard reset would be similar to when it left the store, but all the OTA OEM updates stay on the phone. I could be wrong on that, since I haven't needed to hard reset (knock on wood), but everything else...yes.
 
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Not sure what you mean by provider info. If you mean settings like APN, voice mail, etc. You will not lose them after a factory reset. You will however lose ALL data in your internal phone storage. Which is why it is IMPORTANT that you have made proper backups.

I also recommend doing a factory reset through the Android Recovery Console. This is much cleaner than using the one found within the settings.

A hard wipe back to factory defaults will restore the device back to its original state with the latest firmware intact (ie. It will not revert back to the previous firmware if it was successfully updated to the latest one).
 
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Just to update, I wiped my phone and started fresh. The email badge worked for a few hours and then stopped working, I didn't install anything just tested the email. Then it was just random whether it worked or not. I then restored to where I was before I wiped it and the badge worked for a while then stopped working, and now it's random whether it works or not. So it looks like I will just have to live with it unless I try a new launcher.

Thanks to everyone for their replies.
 
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I'm also new to Android, don't let that keep you from trying Nova..
Really easy to set up and never look back.. Also as said you can toggle back and forth between Touchwiz and Nova..
I used the Nova free version for about 30 minutes and upgraded to the Nova Prime and was very happy I did.. So many ways to customize all aspects of your Note 3..

As for your email I believe you can simply add your other email accounts all to Gmail..
Sonny
 
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