Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini Tips and Tricks

Offering a slice of Samsung Galaxy S3 goodness in a smaller, more affordable form, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini is designed to appeal to a wide audience, here are some tips to help you get the best from it.

Tip 1: Home Screen Mode

From multiple homescreens, to apps and widgets, smartphones are packed with features, which can be overwhelming for novices or anyone making the transition from featurephone, to help  Samsung offers two types of homescreen. Go to Settings - Home screen mode and you'll see two options: Basic mode offers a conventional layout, but in Easy mode the homescreens are automatically populated with commonly used widgets and shortcuts - such as Favourite Contacts, Alarms and Favourite Settings. It's a nice feature and simplifies the experience for first time smartphone owners.

Tip 2: Quick swipingSamsung Galaxy S3 Mini quick swipe

On eachscreen there's a line of horizonal dots representing each individual homescreen. Place your finger on the dots and they will turn into a slider you can use to quickly move between screens (right).

Tip 3: Keyboard shortcuts

Save time and precious keyboard clicks by using Samsung's swipe-style keyboard. Go to Settings - Language and input and tap the settings icon next to Samsung keyboard.  Select Continuous Input and now instead of tapping each letter, simply slide your fingers over the keys to compose words.

From the same menu tap Advanced and tick Auto-punctuate and  every time you double tap the keyboard a full stop is inserted into your sentance.

Tip 4: Offlne reading

If you haven't had time to finish reading a web page, or you don't have unlimited data and want to store a pages to read at another time, tap the Menu button and select Save for offline reading. To retrieve the page tap the Favourites tab located at the top right of the browser and select the Saved pages tab.

Tip 5: Power SavingSamsung galaxy s3 mini font size

Worried about your battery? Use the built-in power saver to extend the battery life, by simply swiping down and tapping Power Saver. When the battery gets low features like push email will be turned and the screen brightness will be reduced.

Alternatively if you want more control over what features of the phone are affected by power saving, head to Settings - Power saving and you'll see two options.  CPU power saving limits the performance of the phones processor (but unless you play lots of intensive games you won't notice much difference), while Screen power saving reduces the brightness and frame rate.


Tip 6: Adjust the font size

Struggling to read text? Head to Settings - Display - Font Size and choose the new size, which will be used throughout the menu and native applications - like messaging and Gmail.

Tip 7: Lock Screen shortcuts

Save time by opening apps directly from the lock screen. Select Lock Screen - Lock Screen Options from the Settings menu, turn the Shortcuts slider on and Chat On, Google and Camera shortcuts will appear on the lock screen ready to launch by swiping up. Weather updates and a News Ticker can also be position on the front page.

Tip 8: Automatic form details

Fed up of filling in online forms? Launch the internet brower, hit the Menu button and select Settings - General - Form auto-fill, tap Auto-fill text enter your details and every time you fill in a web fob, the fields are populated automatically with your details with a single tap.

Tip 9: Motion controls

One of the unique things about new Samsung Galaxy phones are its Motion controls, which enable you to a activate certain commands simply by moving the phone. Go to Settings - Motion to check the list out. Some like Double tap to Top and Turn over to mute/pause are more useful than others, but it's worthwhile looking at the tutorials first and experimenting to see what suits you.

Tip 10:  Folders

It's easy for homescreens to become cluttered with apps, shortcuts and features, which is where folders come in handy. Tap on the required app and drag it to Create Folder choose a name for the folder, then add to its  by dragging other apps on top. Alternatively press down and select Folder.

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Sony Xperia Z Tips and Tricks

Sony kicked 2013 off with a bang when it announced the Sony Xperia Z. This new flagship Android handset is now in stores offering up its wealth of features to all, so let us show you how to get the most from this new top dog.

Tip number 1: Controlling home screens
The first thing you’ll want to do when you get your Xperia Z is customise it to your style. By default there are five homescreens, but pinching together will let you add up to seven, reduce them down to one and change which screen serves as your default, simply by tapping the house icon in the corner.

Tip number 2: Using themes
Another way to customise your Xperia Z is with themes, again by pinching together on any homescreen and choosing ‘themes’ from the menu at the bottom you can select from a range of themes, each with its own colour scheme and wallpaper.

Tip number 3: Organising apps
All of your phone’s applications can be found in the app drawer, but keeping track of where each one is can get tricky, to try and make it easier, Sony has added a drop down menu which lets you organise your apps to your own order, alphabetically, by frequency or by when they were installed.

Tip number 4: Quick Settings
One of the most useful widgets Sony has included on the Xperia Z is Quick Settings. Adding it to a homescreen grants you fast access to toggling WiFi, Bluetooth, brightness, mobile data, sound settings, GPS, flight mode, roaming, your mobile hotspot and NFC.

Tip number 5: HDR video
The Xperia Z is the first smartphone on the market capable of HDR video, but it’s not immediately clear how to activate this mode. In your camera, rather than just pressing the record button, choose video mode and the option for HDR will then appear on the left hand side, from here you can toggle whether it’s on or off whilst you’re shooting a Full HD movie.

Tip number 6: Stamina Mode
With a quad-core processor and a 5-inch 1080p display, you might find yourself getting sucked into Full HD movies or 3D games and as a result draining the battery a lot faster. Stamina mode helps squeeze every last ounce of power out of your phone before needing a trip to the charger and Sony says it can extend the life of your phone by up to four times. To turn it on, head to ‘Power management’ in the Settings app and toggle STAMINA mode on.

Tip number 7: Getting your phone wet
Typically smartphones and water don’t mix but if your drop your Xperia Z in a puddle or spill a drink over it, don’t worry. Sony has made sure all the important ports and connectors are covered and as such it can survive a quick dip without worry.

Tip number 8: Uninstalling apps
Uninstalling apps on stock Android requires that you wade through menus to find, stop and remove the app you want, with the Xperia Z, choose the uninstall option from the app drawer menu and simply tap the red ‘X’ next to the app you want gone, simple.

Tip number 9: Using NFC
More and more smartphone manufacturers are introducing NFC into their phones. With the Xperia Z, make sure you tick the box in your ‘Wireless & networks’ settings and you’ll be able to transfer media or connect to compatible accessories, with a simple tap.

Tip number 10: Small apps
Widgets permanently frequent your homescreens until you manually remove them, but the Sony Xperia Z also has temporary widgets called Small apps. Tapping the app switching button not only shows any full applications currently running, but along the bottom offers up quick access to a calculator, timer, virtual post-it note, and voice recorder with the option to install more if you want from the Play Store.

25 more tips for  Sony Xperia Z:

1. Importing contacts and email settings

You'll need a Google account to purchase apps from the Google Play app store. Log in and contacts associated with that account will be recognised on the Xperia Z.

2. Install Sony's file transfer manager

PC Companion is Sony's USB file transfer manager, letting you easily move photos, video and more from your computer to your phone, including stuff from your old phone. It can be used to import contacts from your computer too. Tap the Contacts app on the home screen and you'll be offered PC Companion as an import option.

3. Share contacts using NFC

NFC stands for near-field communication, and is another close-range radio tech, a bit like Bluetooth. You can share contacts -- and music and photos -- with friends just by touching your NFC-enabled phones against each other (the Nokia's Lumia phones, such as the 620, can do this too). Enable NFC content sharing in the Settings > Wireless and Networks > More menu. When the phone vibrates, tap the onscreen message that says 'touch to beam'.

4. Manage battery life

The Xperia Z has a gorgeous screen, but it's a battery-zapper. In Settings > Display set the screen to go into Sleep mode after 30 seconds or less. You could also turn off the Bravia screen optimiser and disable the auto-lighting adjustment feature in the Settings > Screen brightness menu. In the Developer options you can also adjust the screen rendering to require less processor power.

5. Manage mobile data settings

For a more stringent battery-saving regime, activate the Stamina mode in the Settings > Power Management options. This will switch off mobile data when the screen is in Sleep mode. As an alternative, low battery mode lets you select whether Bluetooth, mobile connections, Wi-Fi and auto-sync should become inactive when the battery levels drop below 20 per cent. [pic: Xperia Z 5.png]

6. Manage your apps

Use the dropdown preference list above the apps screen to switch between recently installed, alphabetical list, most-used or your own order. In Settings > Storage there's a list view of all installed apps, plus all those currently running. Click on an app and choose Stop to switch it off.

7. Call up a legion of little helpers

What Sony calls 'small apps' are a bit like the simple onscreen widgets in Windows 7 or the Dashboard on a Mac. Calculator, timer and voice commands can be accessed by clicking the overlapping photos icon at the bottom right of the screen. Use the + option to install more, such as media remote control tools. [pic: Xperia Z 7.png]

8. Boost your storage

The Xperia Z has 16GB of internal storage, but you can supplement this with a microSD card. The phone takes up to 32GB microSD cards -- available online for as little as £15 -- taking the total storage to 48GB. Offload photos, files and videos by going to Settings > Storage. Select Transfer to SD card.

9. Archive photos and free up more storage

Use the Dropbox Android app to automatically archive your smart phone's snaps. Dropbox's Camera Uploads folder stores photos taken on your Android smart phone when you're connected to Wi-Fi. You can then then delete them from your phone.

10. Backup options

Google servers offer a simple backup option. Go to Settings > Backup & Restore and tick the Back up my data option. Your ebooks, apps and digital magazines will be backed up, along with your photos and music.

11. Edit documents

Mobisoft Office6 is preinstalled on the Xperia Z and is useful for working on documents when you're out and about. It's a cinch to log in to your Google Drive, SkyDrive, SugarSync or Dropbox account, then pull down Word or Excel documents to work on.

12. Setting up visual voicemail

Verizon is offering visual voicemail to US Xperia users, while O2 and EE in the UK now give iPhones 5 users the service. There's no word yet about it coming to the Xperia Z here, but we wouldn't bet against it. In the meantime, try the HulloMail app for advanced voicemail management.

13. Tethering your phone using NFC

The Z's preinstalled Xperia Link software lets you provide tethered Web access to an Xperia tablet or other Xperia smart phone. Launch Xperia Link and the Xperia Z's camera will be activated. This is because it's searching for a keen-to-be-tethered device displaying a QR code. Scan this with your phone to make the connection.

14. Tethering without NFC

Bluetooth and USB can also be used to tether your phone. Click on your Xperia Z's device name in the Bluetooth menu to make it visible, and ensure the other device is also discoverable. Click the option at the bottom of the Xperia screen to search for Bluetooth devices and tap on the device you want to pair with. Check the passcodes match, and connect. You also need to check in the Tethering & Portable Hotspot menu that Bluetooth tethering is selected.

15. Push phone content to your TV

NFC can also be used to mirror video content on your TV. Go to Settings > Xperia > Mirroring and have the phone search for the suitably NFC-enabled device. Unfortunately, so far it only works with the Sony Bravia TV with NFC that the company demoed at CES. For any other device you need to use the Settings > Throw feature. It uses the widely supported DLNA tech and your Wi-Fi connection to push video and music to your TV or speakers.

16. Setting up your phone as a remote control

The Media Remote app is not installed by default, but there's a link to the Play Store app so you can easily retrieve it. It works with DLNA-compliant devices such as Sony Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players. Use it to switch TV channels, skip through scenes in a Blu-ray film and browse programmes stored on your PVR.

17. Send music to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi speakers

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct can both be used for media sharing. Ensure Bluetooth is active in the Z's Settings menu and that it's visible to all nearby devices (not just those with which it's already paired). NFC-enabled accessories are in the pipeline. When these launch, you'll be able to connect your headphones and speakers this way and instantly switch output options.

18. Automate frequently used actions

Smart Connect initiates a preset action when you plug in headphones or a charger at a set time of the day. Options include switching data traffic on or off, connecting to a Bluetooth speaker and playing music through it, and sending a custom text message. Paired devices can be controlled using Smart Connect too. Buddy up with your Sony Tablet S, for example, and the Xperia can mirror content to it.

19. How to use Xperia Smart Tags

Xperia Smart Tags are coloured discs used to trigger preset actions. So when you get home, your 3G data could be switched off as you know Wi-Fi is available. Set up a tag by placing it on the back of your Xperia Z phone, and selecting an action. Put the tag somewhere logical, such as by your front door or next to your bed, so you'll pass that location with your phone and trigger the changes to the phone settings. Tags cost £13 for four. The app is free to download from Google Play.

20. Taking photos in challenging conditions

The autofocus on the Xperia Z is effective, and anti-shake is also active by default. For moving subjects, try using the Sports scene option or Burst mode so you take multiple shots -- that'll give you a better chance of taking at least one good one. Use the light metering tools to help overcome poor light conditions. In the image above left, the sharp autofocus means there's little glare, while in the middle image, the macro mode is able to resolve the pattern of my jumper.

21. Taking underwater photos and video

The Xperia Z is waterproof, which theoretically means it can be used underwater for photography or video. Our putative attempts at an homage to Steve Zissou proved less than convincing. For the best results, use the video option and start recording before you take the plunge -- the touchscreen isn't especially responsive underwater.

22. Creating panoramas

Panoramas are easy-peasy. Open the Xperia Z's camera, tap the yellow i-camera option and select Sweep Panorama. Follow the onscreen lead and pan at the pace the moving lozenge dictates. To change panning orientation tap the panorama arrow icon and select your preferred direction.

23. Take a photo while capturing video

In Video Camera mode, you can change the resolution, set the self-timer for 2 or 10 seconds and select scene modes. Choose the Quick Launch > Launch and capture option to enable photo capture while recording video. The camera shutter button will remain onscreen as you shoot video footage. Tap this when you're ready to take a still shot.

24. Editing your photos and videos

Vignettes, lomo, sepia, black and white, and documentary effects can be added, as can particular colour or scene effects and image crops. Tap the bar at the extreme top right of a photo and choose Edit photo. Videos can simply have custom output options. Turn on location settings to have geo-tagging information automatically added to your shots. Bear in mind there's no option to add it afterwards.

25. Sharing your photos and videos

Photos and videos can be shared too. Click the Share button for standard Messaging, Facebook and Twitter options, but if you tap See all, you can share via Bluetooth, Picasa, Google+, Gmail or Notes too. d

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Samsung Galaxy S3 tips and tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of the most feature-packed gadgets of the year. It can do so much that it’s impossible to get your head around everything it's capable of in a few days. We’ve spent an age with the phone, and are here to share what we've found.

If you want to get to know your Samsung Galaxy S3 a bit better, check out our round-up of the 50 juiciest tips and tricks for the Android giant. Think we've missed something? Drop us a line in the comments.

Interface
1. Smart stayHere’s a neat little gimmicky Samsung Galaxy S3 feature that could come in very handy if you like to read books or web articles on your phone. Smart stay uses the user-facing camera to scan for your eyes looking at the screen. If it finds them, it’ll keep the screen backlight active, rather than let it sleep. You can activate the feature from within the Display submenu of the full Settings menu.

2. Font changer
If you don’t like the standard, fairly serious look of the Samsung Galaxy S3, you can change the font used in the menu systems for a more light-hearted style. There are three other fonts available from the off, and you can download more from Google Play. The font changer option is in the Display submenu.

3. Check out OAP mode
Android can be confusing for people who aren’t massive tech fans. We’re not quite sure why such people would have bought as fancy a phone as the Samsung Galaxy S3, but we’re not here to judge.  For this eventuality, Samsung has provided an “easy” UI mode, which simplifies the look of home screens, using large, blocky preset widgets. You can try out this mode in the Home Screen Mode submenu within Settings.

4. Motion controller
The Samsung Galaxy S3 takes the “kitchen sink” approach to features, shoving in everything it can manage. Motion controller options are evidence of quite how far this extends. You can flick between home screens by flicking the phone left and right, and that's just the beginning. There are bundles of options here, from zooming in and out of web pages by tilting the phone up and down to being able to take a screengrab by wiping the side of your hand across the screen. Check out the full list in the Motion submenu in Settings.

5. Don’t forget folders
To make effective use of your home screens, you need to think about using folders, which store app shortcuts. To make one, just hold a finger down on an app shortcut and drag it onto another app shortcut.

6. Quick search bar access
The quickest way to perform a quick web search on the Samsung Galaxy S3 when on a home screen is by using a dedicated gestural shortcut. Hold down the Menu soft key for around two seconds and you’ll be taken directly to a Google search bar.

7. Customise your lock screens
The custom lock screen of the Samsung Galaxy S3 features a row of icons that can be used to take you directly to any app. By default, the lock screen houses the phone caller, SMS hub, S Voice app and the camera. There’s a dedicated Lock Screen submenu in Settings that lets you define your own shortcuts.

8. Face unlock – it ain’t magic
Here’s a pro tip – if you want to keep your phone secure, Face Unlock isn’t the way to do it. Face Unlock recognises the geometry of your face to unlock the Samsung Galaxy S3 without any fingers needed. It’s more of a fun feature rather than a hardcore security measure, and someone that looks a bit like you may well be able to unlock your phone. Heck, even a picture of you will do it.

9. You can gesture type, like Swype
The Samsung Galaxy S3 features its own Samsung virtual keyboard. One of the neat extras it offers is gesture typing, which lets you drag a path over the letters in words rather than tapping them one-by-one. Many people find it much faster than standard typing, and with a good corrections algorithm it’s arguably more accurate too. Swipe-y typing is enabled in the keyboard menu, under the heading continuous input.

10. You can have up to seven home screens
Samsung gives you control over how many home screens there are in your Galaxy S3. To add or delete home screens, head to a home screen and use the pinch gesture to zoom out and see the whole roster of screens. From there you’ll be able to add additional ones, or drag existing ones into the virtual dustbin.

Calling

11. Contacts book touchscreen gesturesFrom within the Contacts book, you can call and text people directly using touchscreen gestures. A right-to-left swipe across a contact entry will message them, and a left-to-right swipe will call them. It’s a lot quicker than tapping on their entry and then tapping again on their phone number.

12. Install Facebook and Twitter for quickie contact-gathering
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is a fantastic social networking tool, but you can make your social apps work for you too. Install the Facebook and Twitter apps and you can use your friends and followers lists to pull contacts into your phone’s Contacts book.

13. Avoid people with block mode
If you’re just a little too good at making friends and influencing people, you may want to check out the block mode. This lets you control the sorts of notifications, calls and alerts you get at certain times of the day. The most obvious use is to stop people from ringing you while you’re asleep. The Samsung Galaxy S3 also lets you keep up a list of “approved” contacts that can get through at all times. You’ll find the blocking option in the Settings menu.

Battery life

14. Make use of notification bar settings options
The quickest way to increase battery life is to manage the connections that the Samsung Galaxy S3 uses. 3G is one of the biggest drains on a smartphone’s battery, cutting stamina from several days to a day and a half. The pull-down notifications bar lets you turn off connections within a screen tap or two. Connections we recommend managing include Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS.

15. Investigate power saving mode
When your battery level gets a bit low, the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with its own emergency power saving mode that cuts down the power-draining features used by the phone. These include haptic feedback, screen brightness, CPU speed and the background screen colour in the internet browser.

16. Boost battery with a dark background
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has an AMOLED-type screen. As it does not use a universal backlight, this display uses more power when more of the screen is bright white. Use a dark or black background and you should find that the battery lasts that little bit longer.

17. You can change brightness from the drop-down notification bar
Along with connectivity settings, the notifications bar also has a brightness slider. It’s the quickest way to change brightness. There’s also an “Auto” tickbox, which lets the Samsung Galaxy S3 use the ambient light sensor on the front of the phone to judge how bright the screen needs to be, altering the backlight automatically depending on the surroundings.

Music

18. You can record radio using the FM tunerFM radio isn’t really cool anymore, we’ll admit, but it uses a whole lot less battery than streaming internet radio over 3G – and it doesn’t demand you’re connected to the internet either. The FM radio uses your earphone cable as an antenna, and the Samsung Galaxy S3 even lets you record radio to the internal memory. You can then easily pull recorded files off the phone to archive on a computer, if you like.

19. Check out the custom EQ setting in the music player
Don’t like the sound that your earphones produce? The Samsung Galaxy S3 lets you tweak audio output with a custom equaliser. There are loads of presets included, or you can choose your own settings, with a 7-band EQ, 3D effect, Bass boost, reverb, and Clarity treble optimiser. You’ll find the shortcut to the EQ on the playback button bar of the music player.

20. Use Music Square for auto playlists
Gimmick or genius? Music Square tip-toes along the divide. It analyses your music and decides whether it’s relaxed or exciting, joyful or passionate. You can then pick exactly what mood you’re after using the Music Square interface – which looks a bit like a Korg Kaosspad. It works remarkably well, and is a boon if you like playlists but can’t be bothered to make them.

21. You can edit videos in the video player
The integrated video player of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is excellent for several reasons, primarily because it can play loads of different video types. It does more besides, too. You can trim videos from within the app, which is handy for those who love making their own little videos using the phone’s camera.

22. Check out AllShare
AllShare is Samsung’s take on DLNA. Sound like tech jargon? DLNA is a wireless standard that lets you stream video and music over a Wi-Fi network. AllShare uses DLNA and packages the tech into an easy-to-use package, especially if you’re piping content between Samsung brand devices. Plenty of Samsung gadgets support AllShare include tablets, Blu-ray players and TVs.

Accessories

23. HDMI adapter
The Samsung Galaxy S3 does not have a dedicated video output, but there is a way to output video from the phone without using Wi-FI – the Samsung MHL adapter. This uses the microUSB port on the rear of the phone to send up to HD video and surround sound to TVs and other devices. The £20-odd adapter plugs in to the socket and ends in an HDMI socket, letting you jam in a standard HDMI cable.
24. Consider a battery booster
There are plenty of batteries available Samsung Galaxy S3 - standard-size ones, extra large ones and dodgy knock-off ones that might set your house aflame. Some will double your battery life, such as the top-quality Mophie juice pack that’s made specifically for the Galaxy S3. The phone slots into the battery pack, increasing the body size without ruining ergonomics.

25. Forget the 64GB edition
Our buyer’s tip is to forget the 64GB edition of the Samsung Galaxy S3. It’s not widely available in the UK – the 16GB and 32GB editions are far more common – and it’s not really worth the extra cash. The Galaxy S3 has a microSD memory card slot, and expanding the memory using one of these cards is much cheaper than spending the extra on a phone with greater internal memory.

26. Get a capacitive stylus – nearly a Note
The main thing that has got so many people buying the recent Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is its neat stylus. It uses clever Wacom tech that enables full pressure sensitivity. There’s no easy way to get this sensitivity on the Galaxy S3, but you can get a similar pen input feel with a capacitive stylus. These pens have tips that the touchscreen of phones like the Galaxy S3 can sense.

Browsing

27. Search the web with your voiceThe Samsung Galaxy S3 has a dedicated Voice Search app that lets you search the web by speaking into your phone’s microphone. It uses Google’s voice recognition tech. Alternatively, you can use S Voice, which is Samsung’s own take on the voice recognition feature.

28. Save sites for offline reading
The integrated web browser of the Samsung Galaxy S3 lets you save websites on the internal memory of the phone for reading while you’re out of range of Wi-Fi and 3G. To save a page, tap the menu soft key while on a site and tap the Save for offline reading option. Right by this, you’ll see the Request desktop site checkbox, which is another useful nugget.

Connectivity

29. How to use NFCThe Samsung Galaxy S3 features NFC, or Near Field Communication. There are several uses for this short-range connectivity type, and the most interesting is mobile payments. These let you use your phone as a contactless payments tool. Support is limited at the moment, but if you’re on Orange, you can use the QuickTap system, which will let you buy small items from food outlets like Subway, EAT and others. For more on NFC, check out our full guide.

30. How to use S Beam
S Beam is Samsung’s own utilisation of NFC. It lets you transmit files between compatible phones. At the moment, that’s limited to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 – hardly a vast array. However, it is one way to open up NFC to those who aren’t keen on using their mobile as a debit card of sorts. You can turn S Beam on from within the More Settings submenu in the main settings area. Don’t miss it if you have Galaxy S3-owning friends.

31. Kies is optional
Kies is Samsung’s desktop software, which can be used to sync content to Samsung phones, and can be used to update firmware. In the past it has been mandatory to use it for some uses in some phones, but it’s largely options with the Samsung Galaxy S3. You can easily drag ‘n’ drop files onto the phone, and firmware updates can be made directly from the phone. Why use it when you don’t need to? That said, Kies does support Wi-Fi synchronisation, which is neat.

32. Use data usage monitor if you’re on a data limit
Most Samsung Galaxy S3 owners will probably have to live with a data limit, whether it’s 1GB, 500MB or 10GB. Unless your mobile data usage is completely unlimited, it’s best to keep an eye on your consumptions to avoid unnecessary bill stings at the end of the month. Right near the top of the Settings menu is a Data usage section that will do just that. It lets you see how much data you’ve used, and within which apps. If you need to cut down, switch off mobile data and stick to Wi-Fi.

33. Don’t forget Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct is great. Once we were restricted to Bluetooth for wireless file transfers. It was slow, unreliable and, well, a bit rubbish. Wi-Fi Direct is here to change all that. It lets you fling files from one Wi-Fi Direct compatible device to another, without needing a Wi-Fi internet spot to act as the middle man. It’s one of the best ways to get a file from A to B, and can be used throughout the phone – look for it in the Share options of any given app.

Downloads

34. Essential Android appsAndroid apps you need to download or check out right now include Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify (if you have an account), Netflix (again, if you have an account), BBC iPlayer, Instagram, Flipboard, Movies, IMDb, SoundHound, WhatsApp Messenger, TuneIn Radio. Also, do take a look at the Google apps pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S3. They’re all fab.

35. Essential Android games
Android games you need to download in 3… 2… 1… now include World of Goo, Fieldrunners, Angry Birds Space, Bad Piggies, Infinity Blade, Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, Temple Run and the original Angry Birds. That should keep you busy for a little while.

36. Solving app problems
Android is a lot more stable than it used to be, but you’re going to have to expect the odd crash/computer implosion. If you find that a particular app is giving you a lot of trouble, it’s a good idea to try wiping its cached data. To do this, go to the Applications manager in the Settings menu. Then pick the errant app from the list that appears and tap the Clear data and Clear cache buttons. If that fails, you can try reinstalling the app. You’ll see an Uninstall button on this screen that’ll wipe its current install.

37. App side-loading
Google Play is the place to be if you’re out for Android apps and games for your Samsung Galaxy S3, but Android does not limit you to the official app store. You can side-load apps from just about anywhere, you just need to remove the security barrier blocking apps from unknown sources. This is in the Security submenu of Settings. Once done, you can download APK Android installation files directly from within the browser, or transfer them to the internal memory manually from a computer. Then locate them using the My Files app, tap the app you want and follow the on-screen prompts. Be careful though and only download from trusted sources as apps downloaded from unofficial sites have a much higher chance of containing all sorts of viral nasties.

38. Adding app shortcuts to the homescreen
One of the key uses for a Samsung Galaxy S3 home screen is to give you quick access to your favourite apps. To add one to a home screen, go to the main apps menu, hold a finger down on an app icon and a home screen preview will pop up, letting you place the shortcut

39. Backup to SD = a good idea
If you value your data, it’s a good idea to backup your data every now and then. There are two main ways to do this. The first is to use Kies, Samsung’s desktop software, which lets you keep an image of your phone’s goodies on your computer. There are also plenty of apps that will backup your precious data to an SD card. Just search for backup on Google Play for a selection.

Video

40. Video overlaysA great gimmick of the Samsung Galaxy S3’s video player is that it lets you properly multi-task. On the bottom right of the transport bar is a little button with an arrow on it. Tap this and any playing video will appear as an overlay on your home screen. It’ll hang around until you tap the cross icon (which appears when the video is tapped), letting you watch videos while browsing the web, reading emails and so on. You can also resize the video with the pinch gesture.

41. Galaxy S3 codec support is great
Samsung has been a bit of a mobile video star for years. Its top-end phones always tend to offer better video support than just about any other maker’s models. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is no different. It can handle most file formats, including – in our testing – the popular MKV type. Most people shouldn’t need to transcode many of their videos to get them playing on the phone.

Camera

42. Check out HDR modeHDR mode is a useful mode for getting good photographic results in conditions of problematic lighting. It involved merging the information of multiple exposures, letting the Samsung Galaxy S3’s camera reap the most detail information from dark and light areas in a scene. The phone saves both an HDR version and a non-HDR version, so there’s no downside other than that the processing time needed between each shot will slow down your photo snapping.

43. Combat closed eyes photos with Best Face
If you’re trying to take a snap of a difficult subject, Best Face is a great way to avoid papping them with their eyes closed, or while pulling a face. It takes five shots of the same scene in rapid succession, then lets you pick the one with the best result. As the Samsung Galaxy S3 camera is so fast, the whole five exposures only take a bit over a second.
44. Panorama
The classic add-on feature of any phone camera that wants to impress is Panorama. It lets you take a wide shot of your surroundings, capturing the shot as you slowly turn the phone around. It’s not quite as good as the iPhone 5’s panorama, but it’s not bad.

45. Fill in the Photosphere gap with an app
One of the features that the Samsung Galaxy S3 currently misses out on is Photosphere. It’s because the phone uses Android 4.1 Jelly Bean rather than version 4.2, which brought the world the new photo feature. It lets you take a full 360-degree panorama shot of the world around you. Don’t fret, though, because there are apps that do just that form Google Play. Apps to try include 360 Panorama and Photo360. The Galaxy S3 may get the official Photo Sphere feature once the update to Android 4.2 arrives.

46. Share photos directly with Share Shot
Share Shot uses Wi-Fi Direct to let you fling shots over directly to other people nearby. It requires that the recipient device has Wi-Fi Direct engaged too, though.

Advanced

47. Root it – if you dareThere’s a massive Android modding community, and if you want to get involved you’ll need to root your Samsung Galaxy S3. This strips off a layer of protection, giving you direct access to the phone’s virtual organs and bones. It will also let you install custom ROMs – customised installs of the Android operating system. Doing this, you could strip away TouchWiz if you like. You can brick your phone in this process, though, so proceed with caution.

48. Remote wipe your phone with Remote Control
A great security feature of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is remote wiping of data. You’ll need to sign up for a Samsung account, after which you can remotely manage your phone from samsungdive.com. You can wipe data, lock the phone so it can’t be used and even locate the device using the Find my Phone feature. If there’s even a small chance you’re phone’s going to be nicked (let’s face it, there is), we recommend signing up for this. It doesn’t cost you anything either.

49. For frequent fliers – dual clock lock screen
Here’s a clever bit of software jiggery-pokery. The lock screen clock can change automatically when you’re roaming to show two times, one for the country you’re in and another for the time back home. You’ll find this in the Lock screen menu of the Settings menu, called Dual clock. d

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich tips and tricks

Google's latest version of its Android software takes it up to version 4.0 and higher, which is commonly known as the Ice Cream Sandwich update of the mobile OS.
The big selling point is that it unifies the experience across all hardware, so users of phones running ICS see largely the same interface, albeit with some layout changes for the bigger screened devices.

Of course, there's still the issue of manufacturer skins to take into account. While Android 4.0 offers a basic and seriously updated feature set, some tools and features may be missing or accessed through different means when using the same OS on phones made by different companies.

So Samsung's Android 4.0 update, which we're seeing arrive on its Galaxy S II right now, looks and works differently to the Android 4.0 you'll shortly see arriving on HTC's exciting new One Series of phones.

Which makes compiling a list of tips that work on all versions of the OS out there rather hard. But enough of our moaning. Here are a few useful shortcuts to getting the most out of your Ice Cream Sandwich serving, whenever the metaphorical waitress decides to bring it to your metaphorical table.

1. Add quick controls to the browser
One of the options buried beneath the Labs section of Android 4.0's web browser is the Quick Controls option. This adds a pop-out menu to the browser, which pulls in a little semi-circular collection of shortcuts to the main browser features, removing the URL bar and giving you more screen to play with. Also, holding down the Back button is the Android standard way of bringing up the bookmarks and history tool, too. But that's been around for years.

2. Long-press to uninstall
Long-pressing on an app within the app drawer lets you drag it to a Home screen, but it also pops up a couple of menus along the top of the screen. App Info gives you the boring technical stuff about how much memory it's taking up, or you can fling it off the other way to uninstall it.

3. Flying Android screensaver
One odd undocumented little secret within Android 4.0 is this strange little collection of flying Androids, which you can... look at. Look at for as long as you like. To activate it, head into the phone's About screen and hammer away at the Android Version tab and it'll all happen.

4. Save your eyes with inverted rendering
Inverted rendering is a posh way of saying it makes the pages black and turns the text white, so it looks like you're reading the internet from 1997. It also supposedly saves battery, plus is easier on the eyes if you're reading in the dark. It's under the browser's settings tab, within the accessibility area - and there's a contrast slider, too.

5. Set a custom rejection text message
When your Twitter action is rudely interrupted by someone actually telephoning you, there's a polite way to give the caller the boot. Android 4.0 lets users ping a rejection text message to callers - and you're able to customise this too. Just answer a call and ping the lock screen notification up to access to custom rejection messaging area.

6. Stop app icons automatically appearing
One of the many new ICS features is the way Google lets apps automatically add shortcuts to themselves on your Home screen when they've finished installing. It's useful, but if you're a control freak and wish to remain 100% in charge of your Home layout, head to the Google Play app's settings tab and untick the Auto-add Shortcuts toggle.

7. There's a Settings shortcut in the Notifications pane
That little settings icon in the ICS notifications area isn't just art to fill the space. It's a shortcut to your phone or tablet's settings area. So use that instead of giving it a Home screen icon slot all to itself.

8. Manually close apps
Google's lovely new recent apps multitasking menu also lets you close apps quickly, should you suspect one's gone rogue. A Long-press within the Recent Apps listing lets you visit the app's info page, from where you can easily force close it.

9. Remove the lock screen
It's possible to entirely bin your Android 4.0 lock screen, making the phone instantly turn itself on when you press the power button. It's a security nightmare, but if your phone lives entirely on your desk and you demand instant access without any unlocking, head to Security > Screen lock and select none. Then be very careful.

10. Folders in the dock
Android's new official love of folder formation makes it dead easy to combine app shortcuts and make folders, simply by dragging one icon on top of another. You can make these groups of apps even easier to access by dragging a folder onto the ICS floating dock, meaning you can squeeze stacks more content on to each creaking Home screen.

11. Take photos while recording video
The Android 4.0 camera app that arrived with the Galaxy Nexus has one cool little extra feature - the ability to fire off still photos while recording video clips. Simply tapping the screen takes a shot at full resolution, which is saved to the phone's gallery while the video's still happily recording away.

12. Bin animations and transitions
Hidden within the Developer Options section of the Ice Cream Sandwich software are quite a few nerdy ways to adapt your phone. Most won't be of any use to those who are just using their phone as a phone, but if you want it to feel faster, or at least look a little different, the scrolling, zooming effects on windows and menus can be edited in many ways.

13. Take a grab of your phone
Screen grabbing of your phone's display is finally in Android. On the Galaxy Nexus, it's activated through holding the power button and volume down switch. On HTC's new models it's done by holding the power button and pressing Home. Other phones had different techniques for doing this before Ice Cream Sandwich, but it's good to see this now becoming part of the standard Android feature set in Android 4.0.

14. Long-press dotted words
When typing on the Android 4.0 keyboard, you may see some suggested words appear with the "..." icon beneath. Doing a long-press on this one will pop up a much bigger window of suggested words, letting you bail out on some of that tedious typing a little quicker.

15. Add additional faces
The ICS face unlock feature, as found in the Galaxy Nexus, lets you unlock it by scanning your face with the front camera. Which is great, but what if you haven't shaved for a month? The software can actually store multiple images of your face, so you can do left parting, right parting, shaved, unshaved - or even add a trusted a friend to the visually verified user list.

16. Experiment with GPU settings
Another hidden little gem found within the Development options tab is the hardware acceleration 'Force On' toggle. This makes ICS attempt to boost the performance of any apps that don't already use the feature. It may also break them in the process, though, so it's something of a trial and error fiddling exercise to do on a very rainy day.

17. Type like an adult
Make a stand for grammatical standards in this day and age by long-pressing on the stock Android 4.0 keyboard's full stop button. This brings up such doomed punctuation as commas and speech marks, plus even a semicolon for the extra brave mobile typist.

18. Nick wallpapers off the internet
Found a lovely photograph of some stars, a pretty computer generated planet or even the mighty Professor Brian Cox himself? Long-pressing on any image in the web browsers lets you instantly set it as your wallpaper, without the hassle of saving it, finding it, and setting it the long way.

19. Limit background process
If you fancy an even more serious bit of fiddling, the same ICS developer area contains the option to "limit background process" demands by the OS. You can use this to stop your phone or tablet storing so many apps in memory. Whether this has any effect of the actual battery life of us users is up for debate, but again, it's something to play with and see if it suits your phone use patterns.

20. Quickly access Notifications
Here's a simple yet huge change Google's made in Android 4.0 - the Notifications pane can be accessed from the lock screen. Press power, touch the Notifications area, then scroll down to read your latest messages. Obviously it's a bit of a security risk and lets anyone access your messages, so best be careful. d

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Must Read Instructions

Must Read Instructions For All Those Who Try The
Methods Presented In Site

• Rooting Voids Your Phone's Warranty
• Back Up all your data before attempting any methods 
• Claim your warranty after Unrooting.
• We are not responsible for any damages that may happened due to using this ROM. If any problem happens that related to installing, we will help you to solve it.
• Use this guide at your own risk. We shall not have any liability or responsibility for whatever happens to you and your device by using the instructions in this guide.
• The instructions provided in this tutorial for educational purpose only. There is no guarantee that these steps will work for your device.
• The steps given in any article will be highly specific. Must only try these for corresponding devices only.
• Read and Understand the whole tutorial first, before going to perform the steps.
• Please comment if any problems occur

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How to Root Samsung Galaxy Ace s5830i

Samsung Galaxy Ace s5830i is a well reputed android device in low-mid range series. It is equipped with android 2.3 Gingerbread, 832 MHz CPU, Adreno 200 GPU, a 5MP primary camera.. It has 32GB expandable memory. Let's see how to root this champ.


Warning:
Rooting can void warranty. Be careful while doing these steps.If incorrectly done, it can brick your phone. Don't worry warranty can be secured if unrooted.
Make sure you have atleast 65% battery remaining
Back Up all your required data
Follow these methods carefully

 Instructions: Must Read

Downloads:

Root package zip

Let's Begin:

- Download the root file (update2.zip)
- Copy the zip file to your phone's SD card.
- enable USB debugging on your device.
- switch off your phone, then you have to reboot into recovery mode.
- To enter recovery mode of your ace, press Power+Volume up+Home together
- Select "install zip from SD card"
- choose the copied zip file and continue.
- Wait for the process to finish
- When installation completes successfully, select "reboot now"
- Your Ace s5830i is rooted. You can check whether it is rooted  by Root Checker app from playstore. d

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