Coolest feature you've found?

[Power2g]

This didn't work for me, I'm on Verizon.. Sounds like a great feature. Are there any other settings to enable?

Saw this one in another thread:

Another tips is sending your location via sms. When sms is open--> press menu and select add text. another menu appears with different options--> select location--> google maps appears where you can select your location and send via sms​

From member Dhurfan.

 

[rabiddawgs]

did not see it posted and not sure if its an ics thing but i have heard people complain about having too many screens to scroll through. well you can delete the ones you dont want.
pinch zoom home screen to pull up all your screen.. then jusy press/hold the screen you dont want and drag to the trash can

 

[miyooper]

Wow having the video screen pop out and stay on top while you do other things is pretty interesting. And I love being able to shake on the lock screen and have Tiny Flashlight app turn on the flash...easy thing to show off. I'm always amazed how often I use my phone as a flashlight.

Haven't been able to get the palm swipe for screen capture thing to work yet tho...

Oh Side of the hand and not flat...I'm dumb

 

[scooter1942]

I hate that "feature". That to me makes the entire lockscreen pointless. Great, I can turn off WiFi or Mobile data in my pocket without knowing. I actually accidentally put it into airplane mode in my pocket too. Had to start to use Pattern unlock.

really? you must have some damn conductive pockets to do that...

did not see it posted and not sure if its an ics thing but i have heard people complain about having too many screens to scroll through. well you can delete the ones you dont want.
pinch zoom home screen to pull up all your screen.. then jusy press/hold the screen you dont want and drag to the trash can

various launchers have had this feature for years now

 

[MentatYP]

pretty sure i didnt see this reading through the thread, but im not sure how everyone missed it... unless its not an exclusive feature? i can drag the notification shade down while in the lock screen, pretty cool

Love this too. You could always install something like Widget Locker to enable this feature, but it's nice that it's built into the ROM now. I still sometimes find myself unlocking the phone just to check my notifications, so I'm not quite used to it yet

 

[SUroot]

really? you must have some damn conductive pockets to do that...

Ha. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were calling me a liar.

As you know, the pockets do not need to conduct. They simply need to have holes in them, which they have - given that Jean pockets and work trouser pockets are woven cotton.

In fact, you can test this with any fabric. Some will be too thick, others - not so much. Here's a test for you. Take the T-shirt you're wearing and make the fabric double layered. Not see how you can still control the screen (all be it inaccurately) through the T-shirt?!

 

[bennybbc]

Ha. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were calling me a liar.

As you know, the pockets do not need to conduct. They simply need to have holes in them, which they have - given that Jean pockets and work trouser pockets are woven cotton.

In fact, you can test this with any fabric. Some will be too thick, others - not so much. Here's a test for you. Take the T-shirt you're wearing and make the fabric double layered. Not see how you can still control the screen (all be it inaccurately) through the T-shirt?!

I can't control the screen on mine through the fabric at all. Not sure what doubling it up is supposed to do but I tried that too and it still didn't work. I nearly always have my phone in my shirt pocket with the screen against my skin. I did the same with my Droid X too. It almost never will activate it except when my shirt is a little moist from sweat, which isn't too often. Not soaking wet, just slightly moist. Are you sure you didn't pee your pants?

Benny

 

[SUroot]

Doubling it up makes it twice as hard to control, yet it still does that

 

[bennybbc]

Doubling it up makes it twice as hard to control, yet it still does that

Sorry but I still don't know what you mean. But that's ok.

 

[djedgarftw]

I hadn't remembered till I saw and used it today but the pip is nice

 

[thedude417]

Another cool thing: creating custom vibration patterns for each contact. The interface for doing this is just perfect!

Also, taking a picture by voice is really handy, since you can steady the camera with both hands and tell the camera when to shoot.

This does work quite well. I don't see myself using it in a public setting though. I just came from IPhone and I was able to simply push the volume up button to capture a pic. That to me would be more useful on this phone (or am I missing something?) because it is impossible to take a steady photo by touching the screen.

Very impressed with the camera and video though. Taking pics while taking video is also very cool and useful.

I totally agree that there are to many negative threads. As I said I just came from IPhone which I REALLY loved and this phone has not disappointed me like I thought it may. Reading all these threads started to make me feel bad about my choice until I pick the phone up and use it, then all the negative feelings go away lol

Does anyone know if the cam/recorder has IS (image stabilization)?

 

[thedude417]

Option "With Swipe Lock" should be checked in order for the Lock Screen Options to appear.

Now I got this annoying message "Swipe away from a shortcut to open an app". How do I get rid of it?
Oh and I do have the shortcut to the camera now at the bottom of the screen, but I still need to put my secure swipe pattern before camera will open. So not sure if I win anything by having camera shortcut at the lock screen. I was under impression that I can put the finger on the lock screen and by turning phone into landscape the camera app will open without any farther inputs, it seems not to be possible though. By the way the place a finger and turn phone into landscape still does not work for me.

Both work great for me. I can access my camera two ways from my lock screen

 

[ylexot]

This does work quite well. I don't see myself using it in a public setting though. I just came from IPhone and I was able to simply push the volume up button to capture a pic. That to me would be more useful on this phone (or am I missing something?) because it is impossible to take a steady photo by touching the screen.

I actually find it easier to take a steady photo using the screen than using a physical button. You don't have to apply any pressure to the screen, but pushing a button requires some force which can move the phone.

 

[ren857]

Does anyone know if the cam/recorder has IS (image stabilization)?

Yes, it does. It's called Anti-shake. Look in the video camera settings. It's off by default. But remember that you can't take pics while recording video if Anti-shake is on.

 

[thedude417]

Alarm Clock: When you use "briefing" in the alarm type and with smart alarm turned on - a stock song precedes the spoken "wake up". If you are still in a dream state sleep, hearing the song is such a sweet experience.

Agreed! I think the smart alarm is my favorite feature. I can't tell you how many times my IPhone almost got thrown across the room in annoyance and fright lol. I used to snooze a couple of times but not now. Waking up slowly to a nice peaceful sound starts my day off much better than the very obnoxious alarms that were on my IPhone.

 

[thedude417]

Yes, it does. It's called Anti-shake. Look in the video camera settings. It's off by default. But remember that you can't take pics while recording video if Anti-shake is on.

That is disappointing to hear, I wonder why that is... I really would like the best of both worlds. I was excited about the pic during vid feature but it looks like I will not get use out of it.

 

[thedude417]

That is disappointing to hear, I wonder why that is... I really would like the best of both worlds. I was excited about the pic during vid feature but it looks like I will not get use out of it.

I can't find this setting... It not in the settings within the cam app.

Like other users I find the phone settings poorly organized and hard to remember where things are.

 

[phillyphill39]

I can't find this setting... It not in the settings within the cam app.

Like other users I find the phone settings poorly organized and hard to remember where things are.

What setting anti shake is in the settings of the camera app. Go into the camera click the gear and scroll to the bottom. The pic during video feature you just start recording and tap the screen to take a picture.

 

[thedude417]

The google voice will not work with the voice app recognition built into the phone for some reason - you have to change it to Samsung Vlingo for those voice commands to work -

I thought there was something wrong with my brand new phone as i was screaming at it to take my picture and nothing was happening until i changed it (both by enabling voice apps and changing google voice to samsung vlingo) - than say cheese and wah-lah!

Also i will say it again i charged my phone last night for a good portion of the night and took it off this morning (this after letting it drain out from the store) and its at 50% from a 630am off charger and i have been using it non stop for music, calls, emails, txts, some flipboard and some web usage - alot better than my Evo!

The extra photo editor is a very nice addition too as well as the recommended Office Suite 2 version which is also free!

Is the issue with the voice activated shutter specifically for the word "Cheese?" I am on Google recognition and it works when I say capture.

 

[thedude417]

Text messages too. I thought there was an option for the voice to read the message to you, but I cant figure that out yet.

Yes I am very confused by this as well. Sometimes it reads out the messages and sometimes not with no change to settings.

Am I the only one that finds S Voice totally frustrating and useless (with the exception of voice to text working moderately well.) I have also had an issue with S Voice activating itself. I turned of the double tap to activate thinking that perhaps against all odds the button was being double tapped in my pocket. I still had the issue. I then turned off the voice activation and it hasn

 

[exwifeusesiphone]

I don't remember reading this anywhere...I just tried it last night. S3 can play lossless FLAC files back perfectly fine.

I think I need a 128 gig SDcard now lol...

Oh, and don't hate the S-voice. It's quicker to use this for setting reminders, appointments and so on. They really clearly put some time into making that almost fullproof. Other than that, forget it.

What I'm maddest about though is that it's useless in the car because you still have to press a button to get it to work unless you leave the lockscreen on (when you probably want to use a car dock program which will keep the screen on), and because of the aux cable being incompatible with Bluetooth, it might not hear you anyway.

 

[mted558]

Hey bud I just found this.







I think I have done everything I need to do:



1) Settings -> Language and Input -> Text-to-speech output -> Driving mode -> slide to on -> check all 7 items (including "Message Read out senders' information when new messages arrive").

2) Select S Voice -> Settings -> Message check "Show body of message".

Once I have done the above, I select "Diving mode" on from icon at the top of the pull down menu from the home screen (it goes green from grey/blue).

Lock the phone. If I then unlock, it reads out the time, missed message etc. Then I get someone to send me a text - doesn;t read out sender or body of text grrrrrgrgrgrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Any pointers? Anyone got this working or is it marketing BS? s

Where is the "driving mode" on icon at the top of the pull down menu? Is it something I have to add? My only options are "wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS, sound,screen rotation, mobile data, power saving, airplane mode and sync"

 

[jules20]

How do you get this feature to work? (Vibration patterns)

 

[thedude417]

Awesome, stupid me I didn't notice that I could scroll down in that menu.

 

[dervari]

I found that you can set Bluetooth audio devices to do only Phone Calls, only Media, or both. I have a BT adapter on my truck and use it only for music and such. Now I can set it to only handle media so it doesn't try to take over phone audio from my headset.