I would definitely suggest to back the device up with Kies, it's one of the best things Samsung has made.

SAMSUNG KIES

 

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?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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).

 

Glad you sort of got your issue fixed

Feel free to stop by if you ever have anymore issues.

--------------------> Nova Launcher paired with Tesla Unread is still on the board as an option.

 

Yes, you can restore the stock launcher if you try a different one.

 

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