Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Enable and Use the Best Face Mode in Camera App in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

The stock camera app in Samsung Galaxy SIV has several modes that will allow you to get a better photo, one of which is the best face mode. This mode will let the camera to take multiple shots in quick succession and then allow you to select the best face for each of the subjects/persons on the photo and then combine them to create the best possible image.


How to use the best face feature?
You can enable and use the best face feature by using the following steps:
  1. Open Camera app.
  2. Tap and then select Best face.
  3. Point camera to the subject.
  4. If necessary, you can adjust the zoom level by using the Volume key or using gestures (pinch the screen or spread two fingers apart together on the screen).
  5. If necessary, you can also change the focus manually by tapping anywhere on the screen where the camera should be focused.
  6. Tap to take multiple photos. To get the best result, make sure to hold the phone as steady as possible until the camera has finished taking 5 photos.
  7. You'll be shown with the review screen and you'll see each of the recognized faces will be shown with a yellow frame around it.
  8. Tap the yellow frame on each person on the photo and then select one of the best faces that is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The best face will be labelled with .
  9. Tap Save button to combine the selected best faces into a single photo and then save it.

Given the function, the best face mode is best used to take a group shot since it will allow you to select the best face of each person on the photo. By using this mode, now you can save yourself from the problem of unwanted face expression of a person in a group photo.

Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Enable and Use Best Photo Mode in Camera App in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Have you ever had a friend who was always blinking when photographed? If that so, you can fix this problem by taking his photo using the best photo feature owned by the stock camera app in Samsung Galaxy SIV. By using this mode, the camera will take a series of photos in quick succession and then allow you to select which best photos you want to save.


How to use best photo feature?
You can take a best photo shot by using the following steps:
  1. Open Camera app.
  2. Tap and then select Best photo.
  3. Point the camera to the subject.
  4. If necessary, you can adjust the zoom level by using the Volume key or by using gesture (pinch the screen or spread two fingers apart together on the screen).
  5. If necessary, you can also change the focus manually by tapping anywhere on the screen where the camera should be focused. The focus icon will turn green when the focus point is locked.
  6. Tap to take a best photo. The camera will take 8 photos in sequence therefore you have to hold the phone as steady as possible while the camera is taking the photos to get the best result.
  7. All captured photos will be displayed at the bottom of the screen and one of them has been selected by the device as the best one and labelled with .
  8. You can also select more best photos by tapping and holding the thumbnail of photos you want to set as best photo. All best photos will be labelled with .
  9. Tap Save button to save the best photos and discard the rest.

FYI, the best photos will be saved into the internal storage automatically regardless the default storage you have set in the camera app settings. In other word, you can't save the best photos into the SD card.

Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Enable and Use Beauty Face Mode in Camera App in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Have you ever felt dissatisfied with your portrait photo because your face was having acne or had large pores? If that so, you may have to try the beauty face feature in the Samsung Galaxy SIV. This mode will enhance your portrait photo by removing the facial flaws (e.g: noises, acne, pores, etc) so that your face will look smoother and clear.


How to use the beauty face feature?
You can enable the beauty face mode and then use it to take a better portrait photo by using the following steps:
  1. Open Camera app.
  2. Tap and then select Beauty face.
  3. If you want to take a beauty face shot with the front camera, tap to switch from the rear camera to the front camera. But, if you use the front camera, the zoom function can't be used and the focus point can't be changed.
  4. Point the camera at the subject. As a note, make sure the subject is not too close and it gets enough lighting so that the camera can easily detect the face.
  5. If you use the rear camera, you can adjust the zoom level by pressing the Volume key or by pinching the screen/spread two fingers apart together on the screen. You can also change the focus manually by tapping anywhere on the screen where the camera should be focused.
  6. The camera will detect the face and show the enhanced face in real time.
  7. Tap to take a beauty face shot. The camera will capture the photo and make some necessary adjustments automatically to correct facial imperfections. You can see the picture below to know the differences when you take a portrait photo with and without using beauty face mode.


This mode will beautify your face by removing the facial flaws as much as possible to get smoother and clear face. Unfortunately, in some cases, too many adjustments will make your face looks unnatural or waxy.

Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Enable and Use Drama Shot Feature in Camera App in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Drama is a camera mode available in the stock camera app in the Samsung Galaxy SIV. By using this mode you will be allowed to take a series of photos of a moving object in sequence in one frame and then combine them into a single image. Given its function, this mode will be helpful if you want to show a trails of the movement or show the speed of a moving object within a single image.


How to take a drama shot?
Before taking a moving object using drama shot, you have to meet all of the following conditions so that you can get the best result:
  • The subject is moving in one direction.
  • No other moving object in the background.
  • The color of the subject and the background should be different.
  • The subject is not too close or too far away to fit within the viewfinder. It needs to be done so that the subject has enough space to move from one side of the camera's preview screen to other, thus you can capture the movement of the subject across the entire screen.
  • The subject is not too long such as bus or train so that the trails of movement can be captured in one frame.


If all conditions above have been met, than you're ready to take a drama shot by using the following steps:
  1. Open Camera app.
  2. Tap and then select Drama.
  3. By default, the camera will focus in the middle of the screen. So, if necessary, you can change the focus manually by tapping anywhere on the screen where the camera should be focused. The focus icon will turn green when the focus is locked.
  4. Tap to take a drama shot. The camera will capture the moving object in several times in sequence within one frame, thus you have to hold the phone as steady as possible until the camera has finished taking a series of photos.
  5. All captured photos will be displayed at the bottom of the screen and you can select which photos you want to combine.
  6. Tap Save button.
  7. All selected photos will be combined into a single image. You can see the picture above to know how a drama shot image will be looked like.

FYI, I've ever read in Samsung website that this mode could capture an object that was moving at 160 miles per hour with a good result, but I personally have not ever managed to capture a moving object with high speed because the subject was always blurred or didn't captured well. I thought it caused because I didn't hold the phone steadily while the camera was taking the moving object. So, how about you? Have you managed to capture a moving object with this mode?

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Configure Color Adjustment in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Samsung Galaxy S5 provides the users with various useful features, one of which is the color adjustment feature. This feature is designed for those of users who have difficulty to distinguish the colour or have difficulty to read the display because its colours. By enabling this feature, you will be asked to complete the initial color adjustment process and the phone will use the result to determine whether the colours of the display need to be adjusted or not.



How to enable and configure colour adjustment?
To get the best result, do the initial color adjustment process in an environment with normal indoor lighting so that you can distinguish the color well. You can enable and configure color adjustment by using the following steps:
  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. Scroll down to find Color adjustment and then tap it.
  6. Slide the ON/OFF switch to the right to enable color adjustment.
  7. Tap Start button.
  8. Arrange the provided color tiles in order of similarity, starting from the fixed color on the bottom panel. Tap the color that is most similar with the previous one. If you have mistakenly selected the colours, you can re-arrange the colours that have been placed on the bottom panel by dragging and dropping them.
  9. Tap Done button. FYI, if you can distinguish the colours well, then the phone won't adjust the colours.
  10. If you can't distinguish the colours, tap Camera or Image.
  11. Slide the color adjustment bar to the left or to the right to fine-tune the color.
  12. Tap Done button.
  13. The colours have been adjusted and changed into more recognizable colours.
  14. For any reason, if you want to readjust the colours and start a new initial color adjustment process, long tap the Recent apps key or tap to open up the additional options and then tap Readjust colour.

FYI, I myself have enabled the colour adjustment feature and did the initial colour adjustment process. As the result, my phone told me that the color didn't need to be adjusted. So, how about you? Have you enabled and configured this feature? Did the colours on your phone need to be adjusted?

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?