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

Samsung Galaxy S5 has some air gesture features which will allow you control your phone or do certain function by waving your hand above the proximity and gesture sensors located at the top side of the phone. One of the air gesture features available in this phone is the air wake up feature. When this feature is enabled, you can easily wake up your phone after the screen has turned off without you have to press any physical button since you can do so simply by waving your hand above the sensors.


How to enable or disable the air wake up feature?
You can turn on or off the air wake up feature by using two different methods: from the general settings menu and from the direct access option.


Method #1: From the settings menu
You can do so by using the following steps:
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalisation section and then tap Accessibility .
  3. Tap Dexterity and interaction.
  4. Tap Air wake up.
  5. Depending on your current settings, tap the ON/OFF switch to enable or disable the air wake up feature. When the ON/OFF switch is on the right side or turns green means the air wake up feature is enabled.


Method #2: From the direct access option
You can use this method if you have enabled the accessibility menu within the direct access feature. See the following steps to enable or disable the air wake up feature from the direct access option:
  1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Tap Dexterity and interaction.
  4. Tap Air wake up.
  5. Depending on your current settings, tap the ON/OFF switch to enable or disable the air wake up feature. When the ON/OFF switch is on the right side or turns green means the air wake up feature is enabled.


How to use the air wake up feature?
Assuming that you have enabled the air wake up feature, then you can use this feature to turn the screen back on without pressing the Home key or Power key. See the following steps as the example:
  1. When the screen has turned off, put your phone on a flat or stable surface, or you can hold your phone securely so that it won't move.
  2. Move your hand back and forth over the sensors(it's located above the screen in the right side of the earpiece). FYI, make sure to make a smooth and steady movement up to three inches above the sensors so that the sensors can easily recognize your gesture.
  3. The screen will be turn back on.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Fix Screen Colour Looks Like a Negative Film in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

If your screen colour is inverted or looks like a negative film, don't be panic first since it doesn't always mean that the screen is broken. It may happen if you have accidentally turned on the negative colours feature which will inverse the screen display to the negative colour and display the on-screen text white on black. So, if you're experiencing this issue, you can fix it and get back a normal screen colour by disabling the negative colours feature in your phone.


How to disable the negative colours feature?
If you like to reverse the screen colour back to the default, then you have to disable the negative colours feature in your phone. You can do so by using two different methods: from the general settings menu and from the direct access option.


Method #1: From the settings menu
You can disable the negative colours feature from the general settings menu by using the following steps:
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalisation section and then tap Accessibility .
  3. Tap Vision.
  4. Scroll the screen to the bottom and then clear the checkbox next to Negative colours to disable this option.
  5. The screen colour will be reversed back to the default and the text will be displayed black on white.


Method #2: From the direct access option
If you have enabled the negative colours option within the direct access feature, then you can use the following steps to disable the negative colours feature:
  1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly.
  2. Tap Negative colours to disable this option.
  3. The screen colour will be reversed back to the default and the text will be displayed black on white.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable Mono Audio in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Mono audio is a feature available in Samsung Galaxy S5 that will allow you to set the device to switch the sound output from stereo to mono when you connect your earphones into your phone. You can use this feature when you have a hearing impairment that makes you can only hear well with your left or right ear or when you're in a situation where using a single earphone is more convenient.


How to enable mono audio?
You can switch the audio from stereo to mono for listening with a single earphone by using two different methods: from the general settings menu and from the direct access option.


Method #1: From the settings menu
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalisation section and then tap Accessibility .
  3. Tap Hearing.
  4. Check the box next to Mono audio to enable this option.
  5. Mono audio for listening with a single earphone has been enabled.


Method #2: From the direct access option
This method can be used if you have enabled the accessibility menu within the direct access feature. You can use the following steps to switch audio from stereo to mono from the direct access option:
  1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Tap Hearing.
  4. Check the box next to Mono audio to enable this option.
  5. Mono audio for listening with a single earphone has been enabled.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable Negative Colour Mode in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Negative colours is a feature available in Samsung Galaxy S5 that will allow you to reverse the screen colour so that the screen visibility can be improved and the text on the screen can be easily recognized. When the negative colour mode is enabled, the screen will look like a negative film and the text will be displayed white on black instead of black on white. The inverted screen colour will not only make it easier for your eyes, but also be able to help you conserve the battery.


How to enable the negative colour mode?
In this post, we'll try reversing the screen colour by enabling the negative colour mode using two different methods: from the settings menu and from the direct access option.


Method #1: From the settings menu
You can enable the negative colour mode from the general settings menu by using the following steps:
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalisation section and then tap Accessibility .
  3. Tap Vision.
  4. Scroll the screen to the bottom and then check the box next to Negative colours to enable the negative colour mode.
  5. Now, the screen colour will be reversed to the negative colour.


Method #2: From the direct access option
This method can be used if you have enabled the negative colours option within the direct access feature. Well, you can use the following steps to enable the negative colour mode from the direct access option:
  1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to view the direct access option.
  2. Tap Negative colours to enable the negative colour mode.
  3. Now, the screen colour will be reversed to the negative colour.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Set Notification Reminder in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Samsung Galaxy S5 has some features that have been designed to help you easily know that you have unread notifications so that you won't miss any of them, one of those features is the notification reminder feature. If you enable this feature, your phone will alert you with the default notification sound at the specified interval to remind you of any unread notifications, in other words, the phone will keep playing the sound at the specified interval until you read or open that unread notification.


How to set the notification reminder feature?
In this post, we'll try enabling and setting the notification reminder feature with two different methods: from the settings menu and from the direct access menu.


Method #1: From the settings menu
You can enable and set the notification reminder feature from the general settings menu by using the following steps:
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Personalisation section and then tap Accessibility .
  3. Tap Vision.
  4. Tap Notification reminder.
  5. Slide the ON/OFF switch to the right to enable the notification reminder.
  6. If needed, you can adjust an interval between alerts by tapping Reminder interval and then select the required interval from the following options:
    • 3 minutes
    • 5 minutes
    • 10 minutes
    • 30 minutes
    • 1 hour
  7. Now, when you have an unread notification, the default notification sound will be played at the specified interval until the unread notification is opened.


Method #2: From the direct access option
This method can be used if you have enabled the accessibility menu within the direct access feature. See the following steps to enable and set the notification reminder feature from the direct access option:
  1. On any screen, press the Home key three times quickly to display the direct access option.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Tap Vision.
  4. Tap Notification reminder.
  5. Slide the ON/OFF switch to the right to enable the notification reminder.
  6. If needed, you can adjust an interval between alerts by tapping Reminder interval and then select the required interval from the following options:
    • 3 minutes
    • 5 minutes
    • 10 minutes
    • 30 minutes
    • 1 hour
  7. Now, when you have an unread notification, the default notification sound will be played at the specified interval until the unread notification is opened.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Adjust Screen Timeout in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

Samsung Galaxy S5 has some features that have been designed to help you save more battery, one of which is the screen timeout feature that will allow you to set the length of the idle time that should be waited by the device before turning off the screen backlight, in other words, the device will turn off the screen backlight if you don't use your phone until the specified screen timeout is over. The screen timeout can be adjusted from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.


How to adjust the screen timeout?
You can do so by using the following steps:
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Sound and display section and then tap Display .
  3. Tap Screen timeout and then select from the following options:
    • 15 seconds
    • 30 seconds
    • 1 minute
    • 2 minutes
    • 5 minutes
    • 10 minutes
  4. The screen timeout has been adjusted.

As a note, if you're tight with battery life issue, you'd better to set the screen timeout to a shorter period since it'll help you to save power as the battery doesn't have to keep the screen backlight on for longer time, unless you're using the smart stay feature then you'd better to set the screen timeout for a longer period.

Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Fix Can't Send Text Messages to Premium Numbers, Short Numbers or Short Codes in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

A couple days back, an insider named Amber sent me an email and told me that she had accidentally chosen the "never" button when trying to send a premium or short code text message to get a store discount. Afterwards, she couldn't send that message anymore. Well, if you're also experiencing the same problem where you can't send text messages to premium numbers, short numbers or short codes using the stock Messaging app, you can fix this issue by changing the Messaging app permission.


How to set Messaging app to allow you sending a text message to a premium number, short number or short code?
There are two methods available that can be used to change the Messaging app permission so that you'll be able to send text messages to premium numbers, short numbers or short codes: from the apps menu and from the app manager.


Method #1: From the applications menu
  1. In Home screen, tap Apps to go to the apps menu.
  2. Tap and hold Messages and then drag it to the App info icon located at the top of the screen.
  3. In the App info screen, scroll down the screen to the Permissions section.
  4. Tap the box below the "This app may charge you money: Send premium SMS" and then select Ask if you want to be asked each time you send a premium SMS or select Always allow if you want to directly send premium SMS without having to be asked first.


Method #2: From the application manager
  1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
  2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the Applications section and then tap Application manager .
  3. Swipe the screen from the right to the left to access the ALL screen. All installed apps in your phone will be listed here.
  4. Scroll down the screen to find Messages, and then tap it.
  5. In the App info screen, scroll down the screen to the Permissions section.
  6. Tap the Box below the "This app may charge you money: Send premium SMS" and then select Ask if you want to be asked each time you send a premium SMS or select Always allow  if you want to directly send premium SMS without having to be asked first.

As a note, I do believe that these steps can be used to fix the same problem in other Samsung Galaxy S phones since I can also use these steps in my Samsung Galaxy S4.