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Why Is the Galaxy S9 So Bad?

I don't get how people aren't returning these "phones" in droves because they lack so much basic functionality. I can't even set a photo as my background because I cannot find it even after saving it. It is nowhere to be found in any directory. Granted, this doesn't happen with every single photo, but it is ridiculous nonetheless.

Why shouldn't I have the freedom to save and use whatever photos I want? Now I'm stuck with a horrible phone that doesn't even work. Guess I'm going back to the iPhone as soon as possible.
 
I think the problem is that you are assuming that your experience is typical. If it were then I'm sure you would be correct about people returning them, but although I don't own one myself I've not heard of this problem before.

Usually the Gallery app (whatever one Samsung use, probably their own) will locate photos wherever they are stored (unless you specifically tell it to exclude certain folders). So have you tried (a) using the Gallery in a timeline rather than a folder view, (b) installing a different gallery app to see whether it can find it, or (c) using a file browser and looking in the DCIM folder or one if its subfolders (this is where photos are usually stores).

The other thing is, is there anything special about these photos rather than those that don't disappear? And to be sure, is your camera app set up to save on the internal storage (which, confusingly, may be addressed as /sdcard!) or the removable SD card (I don't offhand know how Samsung will address that)? If the latter, are you absolutely certain of the authenticity of the card? If you've got a "fake" one (a card that's been edited to appear to have a higher capacity than it really has) then it will start to overwrite data once its real capacity is exceeded, which could also produce this effect (fakes are very common on eBay or Chinese online stores).
 
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I think the problem is that you are assuming that your experience is typical. If it were then I'm sure you would be correct about people returning them, but although I don't own one myself I've not heard of this problem before.

Usually the Gallery app (whatever one Samsung use, probably their own) will locate photos wherever they are stored (unless you specifically tell it to exclude certain folders). So have you tried (a) using the Gallery in a timeline rather than a folder view, (b) installing a different gallery app to see whether it can find it, or (c) using a file browser and looking in the DCIM folder or one if its subfolders (this is where photos are usually stores).

The other thing is, is there anything special about these photos rather than those that don't disappear? And to be sure, is your camera app set up to save on the internal storage (which, confusingly, may be addressed as /sdcard!) or the removable SD card (I don't offhand know how Samsung will address that)? If the latter, are you absolutely certain of the authenticity of the card? If you've got a "fake" one (a card that's been edited to appear to have a higher capacity than it really has) then it will start to overwrite data once its real capacity is exceeded, which could also produce this effect (fakes are very common on eBay or Chinese online stores).
I have tried 3 different photo gallery apps and none of them worked. Also, there is nothing "special" about the photos as they are just regular photos from the Internet. I am also not using an SD card (I don't even have one inserted) and I am trying to save the photos to internal storage.
 
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Ok, so these are not photos from your camera.

I have run into problems using the Google search widget/voice search when viewing webpages. Even when you are at a website Google keeps within the search app, even if you visit several pages.

(This is similar to a website linking another site within a frame on its own site back in the noughties and was frowned upon back in the day!)

See attached image.

Google has brought this nasty element back, so as to keep profiting from your clicks!

The issue here is I have downloaded many images while in this frame and it stated they were downloaded, yet they are nowhere to be found! If this is what you are doing it could well be your problem. Try opening your browser of choice and doing your search and image downloads from within a browser rather than a voice or widget search.
 

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Ok, so these are not photos from your camera.

I have run into problems using the Google search widget/voice search when viewing webpages. Even when you are at a website Google keeps within the search app, even if you visit several pages.

(This is similar to a website linking another site within a frame on its own site back in the noughties and was frowned upon back in the day!)

See attached image.

Google has brought this nasty element back, so as to keep profiting from your clicks!

The issue here is I have downloaded many images while in this frame and it stated they were downloaded, yet they are nowhere to be found! If this is what you are doing it could well be your problem. Try opening your browser of choice and doing your search and image downloads from within a browser rather than a voice or widget search.
I just tried this and it didn't work. I just don't get why everything is such a pain with Samsung. They do not give a shit about their customers.
 
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Sorry to hear that.

Which browser are you using and how are you downloading your images? And do you have a file browser installed?

FYI: if you pop into your apps list you will find a Samsung folder, in there is a Samsung Members app. Sign your self up there and you can directly contact Samsung with any issue. Normally they reply within a few working days.
 
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Sorry to hear that.

Which browser are you using and how are you downloading your images? And do you have a file browser installed?

FYI: if you pop into your apps list you will find a Samsung folder, in there is a Samsung Members app. Sign your self up there and you can directly contact Samsung with any issue. Normally they reply within a few working days.
Interesting, thanks. I'm using Google Chrome to download images and I do have a file browser installed.
 
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Ok, so when you download an image in Chrome a popup appears stating where the images are saved.

Normally:

/storage/emulated/0/Downloaded

Download an image in Chrome and when the popup appears at the bottom of the screen select Open.

Once open please take a screen shot and post it here using the Upload a files option when posting. (Power button and volume down together to take a screen shot)

This way we can see where the images are being saved too.

See attachments..
 

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Photos from internet. This would depend on how you downloaded them because Google and Chrome suck. They store the photos in a weird location that you can only access from within them, and the gallery can't see them. You have to enable some stuff in the settings for them to save to gallery. I just stopped bothering and stopped using Chrome and started using Samsung Internet, which is actually better than Chrome since it is able to see Chrome Bookmarks, has a dark mode, has ad blocking extensions, has anti-tracking extensions, a password protected secret mode(incognito), and a few other features Chrome lacks.
 
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