Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use Magnification Gestures in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

If you explore the accessibility menu in your Samsung Galaxy S5, you'll notice that this menu contains with various features, one of which is the magnification gestures feature. By enabling this feature, you can easily magnify the screen and zoom in on a specific area.


How to enable or disable magnification gestures?
Generally, you can find the magnification gestures option and then turn it on or off by using two methods available, through the direct access option or the settings menu.

Method #1: From the direct access option
You can quickly enable or disable the magnification gestures feature by using the following steps if you have enabled the direct access feature and added accessibility menu to the direct access option:

1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to open up the direct access option.
2. On pop up menu select Accessibility.
3. Tap Vision.
4. Tap Magnification gestures.
5. Depending on your current settings, tap the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to enable or disable the magnification gestures feature. When the switch is on the right side or shows green means the magnification gestures feature is enabled.

Method #2: From the settings menu

1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalization section and then tap Accessibility .
4. Tap Vision.
5. Tap Magnification gestures.
6. Depending on your current settings, tap the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to enable or disable the magnification gestures feature. When the switch is on the right side or shows green means the magnification gestures feature is enabled.

How to use magnification gestures?
When this feature is enabled, you can use it as described in the following steps:

1. On any screen, triple tap the screen to zoom in. While the screen is zoomed in, you can do the following actions:
• You can pan or explore different part of the screen by dragging two or more fingers across the screen.
• You can increase the zoom level by spreading two fingers apart together on the screen.
• You can decrease the zoom level by pinching two fingers together on the screen.
• Triple tap the screen again to zoom out and return to the previous state.
2. You can also temporarily zoom in the screen by triple tapping the screen and holding your finger on the screen. Without lifting your finger from the screen, you can do the following actions:
• You can explore different part of the screen by dragging your finger.
• Lift your finger from the screen to zoom out the screen and return to the previous state.

Please note that this feature can't work along with air view and one-handed operation, thus both these features will be automatically turned off when you enable the magnification gestures feature. The magnification gestures feature can be used on any screen or app except the keyboard. But, you may notice that while this feature is enabled, the keyboard can't be displayed in floating view and the response time in some apps could be slowed down.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use Single Tap Mode in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Single tap mode is a feature available in Samsung Galaxy S5. Enabling this feature will allow you to dismiss or snooze alarms and calendar events, dismiss timer alerts, as well as answer or reject incoming calls by single tapping the on-screen icon instead of dragging the on-screen icon.


How to enable or disable single tap mode?
You can turn on or off the single tap mode feature by using two methods available, through the direct access option or the settings menu.

Method #1: From the direct access option
You can quickly turn on or off the single tap mode feature by using the following steps if you have enabled the direct access feature and added the accessibility menu to the direct access option:

1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to open up the direct access option.
2. On pop up menu select Accessibility.
3. Depending on your current settings, tap Single tap mode to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox is checked means the single tap mode feature is enabled.

Method #2: From the settings menu

1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalization section and then tap Accessibility .
4. Depending on your current settings, tap Single tap mode to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox is checked means the single tap mode feature is enabled.

How to use single tap mode?
You can use single tap mode in the following actions:

1. Answer or reject an incoming call
   When you receive an incoming call, single tap to answer the call or single tap to reject the call.
2. Dismiss or snooze alarms
   When your alarm goes off, single tap to dismiss the alarm or single tap to snooze the alarm.
3. Dismiss timer alert
   When the time you have set in the timer app is over, tap to dismiss the timer alert.
4. Dismiss or snooze calendar event
   When the reminder of a calendar event is displayed on the screen, tap to dismiss the event or tap to snooze the event.

I personally prefer to enable single tap mode in my phone because single tap the on-screen icon is easier and simpler for me compared if I have to drag the on-screen icon. So, how about you? Which one do you like best, single tap or drag the on-screen icon?

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable or Disable Flash Notification in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Actually, the flash notification feature is not a new feature. This feature was launched first time in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. If you enable this feature, the camera light at the back side of the phone will be flashed when you receive notifications or incoming calls or when alarms sound. This feature will be more useful for the deaf or hard-hearing users because the flash notification is more noticeable for them than the ringtone notification.


How to enable or disable flash notification?
Generally, you can turn on or off the flash notification feature by using two methods available, through the direct access option or the settings menu.

Method #1: From the direct access option
If you have enabled direct access and added accessibility menu to the direct access option then you can use the following steps to enable or disable the flash notification feature with more quickly:

1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to open up the direct access option.
2. On pop up menu select Accessibility.
3. Tap Hearing.
4. Depending on your current settings, tap Flash notification to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox is checked means the flash notification feature is turned on.

Method #2: From the settings menu

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalization section and then tap Accessibility .
4. Tap Hearing.
5. Depending on your current settings, tap Flash notification to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox is checked means the flash notification feature is turned on.

As a note, mute/pause motion will be enabled automatically when you enable the flash notification feature, thus you can stop the camera light from flashing when you receive notifications or incoming calls or when alarms sound by turning the device over so that the screen will face downward. So, how about you? Do you enable or disable this feature in your phone?

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use Direct Access in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

As we all know that Samsung often places various features in the accessibility menu. That's why for most of users, the accessibility menu becomes one of the frequently accessed menus because they often need to access this menu to enable, configure or disable certain feature. Instead of accessing this menu through the settings menu which will little bit longer, you can shorten it by activating the direct access feature. This feature will allow you directly access the accessibility features that you frequently use simply by triple pressing the Home key quickly.

How to enable direct access?
You can enable this feature by using the following steps:

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalization section and then tap Accessibility .
4. Tap Direct access.
5. Slide the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to the right to enable direct access.
6. In the Accessibility setting section, you can select from the following menus you want to add to the direct access option:
• Accessibility
• Talkback
• Negative colours
• Interaction control. FYI, this option will be available if you have enabled the interaction control feature in the accessibility menu. We'll learn further more about it in other post.

How to use direct access?
Assuming that you have enabled the direct access feature and added all menus to the direct access option, then you can use the following steps to access them quickly:

1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to open up the direct access option.
2. If you tap Accessibility, then the accessibility menu will be opened.
3. If you tap Talkback, then the talkback feature will be turned on or turned off depending on your current settings.
4. If you tap Negative colours, then the negative colours will be applied or removed depending on your current settings.
5. If you tap Interaction control, then you'll be asked to configure interaction control or this feature will be turned off depending on your current settings.

For me, enabling the direct access feature is really helpful because I often need to access the accessibility menu. By using this feature, now I can save more time because I can open the accessibility menu directly from any screen simply by triple tapping the Home key quickly.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Take Screenshots in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Basically, most of Android phones, including with Samsung Galaxy S5, have the ability to capture the screen. You can use this feature to share what's on your screen to others through the picture with more easily. I myself often use this feature to capture the screen and then use the result to help me explain my post better through the picture.


How to take a screenshot?
Generally, there are two methods available that you can use to take screenshots in this phone, by using the physical buttons combination or by using the palm motion.

Method #1: By using the physical buttons combination
By default,most of Android phones have the ability to take screenshots by using this method, thus you don't have to set anything to be able using this method. Below are the steps to do so:

1. On any screen, long press the Home button and Power button simultaneously until you hear the shutter sound.
2. The currently opened screen has been captured.

Method #2: By using the palm motion
This method is simpler and easier than the method #1, but you have to enable the palm motion first . You can enable and use the palm motion to take screenshot by using the following steps:

1. Enable the palm motion.
• Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
• Tap to go to the settings menu.
• With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Motion section and then tap Motions and gestures .
• Tap Palm swipe to capture.
• Slide the ON/OFF switch to the right to enable this motion.
2. On any screen, place the edge of your palm on the screen and sweep it across the screen from side to side until you hear the shutter sound.
3. The currently opened screen has been captured.

All screenshot images will be saved in the device storage/Pictures/Screenshots or you can see all of them in the Screenshots album in Gallery app. Also note that the size of the screenshot images may be different each other depending on what's currently displayed on the screen.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use Smart Stay in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Have you ever felt annoyed if the screen turned off while you were reading e-book or long web post? If that so, you can save yourself from this problem by increasing the screen timeout and enable the smart stay feature in your phone. This feature will utilize the front camera to help you tell the phone to keep the screen stays on as long as you're looking at it.


How to enable or disable smart stay?
You can enable or disable the smart stay feature through the quick settings panel or through the settings menu. If you'd like the faster method, then you can do so through the quick settings panel.

Method #1: From the quick settings panel

1. Swipe down the top of the screen using two fingers to open up the quick settings panel.
2. Depending on your current settings, tap Smart stay button to enable or disable the smart stay feature. When the button shows green means the smart stay feature is enabled.

Method #2: From the settings menu

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Sound and display section and then tap Display .
4. Depending on your current settings, tap the Smart stay option to enable or disable it. When the checkbox in the left side of the smart stay option is checked means the smart stay feature is enabled.
5. If necessary, you can also tap Screen timeout and then select the longest or highest screen timeout value (5 minutes or 10 minutes).

How to use smart stay?
Since the smart stay feature works by utilizing the front camera thus you have to ensure that it's not being used by other apps while you're using the smart stay feature and make sure to hold the phone steady and upright in a well-lit environment but the screen is not in direct light so that the phone can detect your face with more easily. To make it easier, you can see the example on how to use this feature while reading a long web post in Internet app in the following steps:

1. Open Internet app.
2. Open a webpage by entering URL in the address bar and then tap Go.
3. While you're reading, within a certain time (it depends on screen timeout value on your phone) you'll see the smart stay icon is displayed on the status bar to check whether you're still looking at the screen or not by utilizing the front camera. If the front camera detects your face then the screen will stay on.

As long as the smart stay feature is not turned off, then the front camera will keep trying to detect your face when the screen timeout value is almost over. Since the checking process needs quite a lot of power, thus to save your battery life while using this feature, it'd better if you set the screen timeout value with the highest/longest one. Other way, you can turn on this feature if needed only. FYI, based on my experience, the smart stay feature in this phone works better than in other Samsung Galaxy phones because the front camera can detect my face even when I'm in the low light environment.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use Air View in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Samsung Galaxy S5 has some features that can work though you don't touch the screen, one of which is the air view feature. This feature will allow you to perform various functions (e.g: preview content, extend text, view information in pop up window, enlarge the picture, etc) simply by hovering your finger over the screen.

How to enable or disable Air view?
You can enable or disable the air view feature by using the following steps:

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
2. Tap to go to the settings menu.
3. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Motion section and then tap Air view .
4. Depending on your current settings, tap the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to enable or disable Air view. When the switch is on the right side or shows green means the air view feature is enabled.

How to use Air view?
Since you are not allowed to select the apps where the air feature will work, then once this feature is enabled you'll be able to use this feature in all supported apps.

Using Air view in Gallery app

1. Open Gallery app.
2. Hover your finger over an album to see the preview of some pictures inside the album.
3. Tap an album.
4. Hover your finger over the picture to enlarge it.

Using Air view in S Planner app

1. Open S Planner app.
2. Regardless the S Planner view (month, week, day, etc), hover your finger over an event to see the detail.

Using Air view in Phone app

1. Open Phone app.
2. Hover your finger over the keypad to see the contacts you have assigned to speed dial numbers.

Using Air view in Messaging app

1. Open Messaging app.
2. Hover your finger over the the conversation to view the full message. FYI, this feature won't work if the conversation contains with multiple messages.

Using Air view in Video player app

1. Open Video player app.
2. Tap a video to play it.
3. Tap the screen to view the progress bar.
4. Hover your finger over the progress bar to see a scene or the elapsed time.

Given to the function, this feature will be able to provide you an alternative way to control and interact with your phone. Now, instead of tapping the screen, you can do some functions simply by hovering your finger over the screen.