Help New User PROBLEMS!!

[brickrick]

I bought the s3 for sprint and have had it for a few weeks. i'm on the verge of returning it. i have several issues with it, which i will post below. i wouldn't be shocked if many other new users are experiencing the same problems. i'd be grateful for any help.

1. keyboard - does any keyboard exist for this phone that has not only directional arrows and permanent voice input icon, but also permanent (immediate) punctuation keys on the main screen?

2. the home button delay - the phone pauses very nicely after i hit the home button before it takes me to the home screen. this can get irritating, especially when im short on time. is there any way to make it work immediately?

3. ringtime - is there any way to change how long the phone rings before it goes to voicemail?

4. instant google search button - my old htc evo 4g had a search button on the bottom which would immediately allow u to search google, not just while in the browser, but from just about any screen on the phone. this was extremely convenient and helpful. is there any way to replicate this on the s3?

5. startup programs - is it possible to control which apps run at phone startup and in the background during use, the way u can with windows by going to msconfig? (other than to manually go to app manager every time u restart and close what u dont want running one by one)

6. text editor - i need a basic text editor for taking simple notes. the only one ive tried is jota which is pretty lame. any recommendations?

7. speaker volume - the max speaker volume is too low. the ringer and alarm are not as loud as im used to with my old phone. any way to remedy this?

8. browser video control - when playing streaming video in the browser (probably flash), there are no controls available in full screen mode! those were always there, and very handy! on my old phone

9. lock screen icons - is there any way to change the four icons at the bottom of the screen when the phone is locked?

10. 4g - the biggest reason im missing my old phone. i was told before buying the s3 it would work w both the current and forthcoming 4g on sprint. of course that person was sadly mistaken, and it will be months before seeing any lte from sprint in my area.

11. free tethering - foxfi or anything else doesn't work with the s3 to my knowledge. are there any alternatives/workarounds for this?

 

[fevs]

1 check out swiftkey 3
2 disable double click s-voice. load up svoice and press menu
5 hold menu button brings up google search
9 yes settings-security-lock screen options- shortcuts
11 foxfi works for me (verizon) or root it

 

[jimbo1mcm]

I bought the s3 for sprint and have had it for a few weeks. i'm on the verge of returning it. i have several issues with it, which i will post below. i wouldn't be shocked if many other new users are experiencing the same problems. i'd be grateful for any help.

1. keyboard - does any keyboard exist for this phone that has not only directional arrows and permanent voice input icon, but also permanent (immediate) punctuation keys on the main screen?

2. the home button delay - the phone pauses very nicely after i hit the home button before it takes me to the home screen. this can get irritating, especially when im short on time. is there any way to make it work immediately?

3. ringtime - is there any way to change how long the phone rings before it goes to voicemail?

4. instant google search button - my old htc evo 4g had a search button on the bottom which would immediately allow u to search google, not just while in the browser, but from just about any screen on the phone. this was extremely convenient and helpful. is there any way to replicate this on the s3?

5. startup programs - is it possible to control which apps run at phone startup and in the background during use, the way u can with windows by going to msconfig? (other than to manually go to app manager every time u restart and close what u dont want running one by one)

6. text editor - i need a basic text editor for taking simple notes. the only one ive tried is jota which is pretty lame. any recommendations?

7. speaker volume - the max speaker volume is too low. the ringer and alarm are not as loud as im used to with my old phone. any way to remedy this?

8. browser video control - when playing streaming video in the browser (probably flash), there are no controls available in full screen mode! those were always there, and very handy! on my old phone

9. lock screen icons - is there any way to change the four icons at the bottom of the screen when the phone is locked?

10. 4g - the biggest reason im missing my old phone. i was told before buying the s3 it would work w both the current and forthcoming 4g on sprint. of course that person was sadly mistaken, and it will be months before seeing any lte from sprint in my area.

11. free tethering - foxfi or anything else doesn't work with the s3 to my knowledge. are there any alternatives/workarounds for this?

RE#3 I believe I changed the ringtimes with my carrier, because my wife just could not get to her phone in time. I had to convince them because they didn't want to. Tell them you are hearing impaired. They can change the setting.

 

[matttye]

#1 swiftkey has a comma and full stop (period) on the main keyboard, with question and exclamation marks a quick swipe away (really easy and fast to access.)

#2 open S voice and turn off the "launch S voice" option in the settings.

#3 follow the instructions at www.iphonefaq.org/archives/971382 - its not iPhone specific.

#4 hold the menu button down for about a second.

#5 download "startup manager" from the play store. I would not recommend force closing background apps as it can cause all sorts of horrendous problems, but if you insist you can do this by holding down the home button and then tapping on task manager. From there you can kill tasks.

It's up to you.
DON'T DO IT THOUGH!!!


#6 I use Evernote. If you want a really simple one, root explorer has a built in text editor. Despite the name you don't actually need to be rooted to use it. It just won't have complete functionality without root.

#7 only by rooting AFAIK.

#8 google chrome has controls and is an altogether better browser IMO.

#9 yes, settings, security, lock screen options, shortcuts.

#10 not much you can do about this one.

#11 my S3 has USB tethering, Bluetooth tethering and portable hotspot features built in. Does yours not? Settings > wiress and networks > more settings.

 

[DroidX_Gamecock]

#
#7 only by rooting AFAIK.

I've been thinking about rooting, but am a little hesitant because of warranties and so forth. I know there's a rooting section and I should probably go look there, but how does rooting allow you to increase the speaker output? What about warranties, etc? Also, when ear phones are connected it lowers the volume as a safety feature. It seems like on my DX I could disable this. I plug into ext speakers quite often to listen to an audio book or music while doing things around the house. I find this an annoyance, but a simple fix to turn up the volume of course. Is there a known way to stop this feature?

 

[matttye]

I've been thinking about rooting, but am a little hesitant because of warranties and so forth. I know there's a rooting section and I should probably go look there, but how does rooting allow you to increase the speaker output? What about warranties, etc? Also, when ear phones are connected it lowers the volume as a safety feature. It seems like on my DX I could disable this. I plug into ext speakers quite often to listen to an audio book or music while doing things around the house. I find this an annoyance, but a simple fix to turn up the volume of course. Is there a known way to stop this feature?

I haven't looked into it on the S3, but on my HTC Desire and Galaxy S2 you could install a mod that removed that safety feature. It was a feature in a lot of custom ROMs.

 

[brickrick]

1 check out swiftkey 3
2 disable double click s-voice. load up svoice and press menu
5 hold menu button brings up google search
9 yes settings-security-lock screen options- shortcuts
11 foxfi works for me (verizon) or root it

tyvm.

2. did that. its seems slightly faster, but still slow

5. nice

11. no work on sprint (yet) afaik

#1 swiftkey has a comma and full stop (period) on the main keyboard, with question and exclamation marks a quick swipe away (really easy and fast to access.)

#2 open S voice and turn off the "launch S voice" option in the settings.

#3 follow the instructions at www.iphonefaq.org/archives/971382 - its not iPhone specific.

#4 hold the menu button down for about a second.

#5 download "startup manager" from the play store. I would not recommend force closing background apps as it can cause all sorts of horrendous problems, but if you insist you can do this by holding down the home button and then tapping on task manager. From there you can kill tasks.

It's up to you.
DON'T DO IT THOUGH!!!


#6 I use Evernote. If you want a really simple one, root explorer has a built in text editor. Despite the name you don't actually need to be rooted to use it. It just won't have complete functionality without root.

#7 only by rooting AFAIK.

#8 google chrome has controls and is an altogether better browser IMO.

#9 yes, settings, security, lock screen options, shortcuts.

#10 not much you can do about this one.

#11 my S3 has USB tethering, Bluetooth tethering and portable hotspot features built in. Does yours not? Settings > wiress and networks > more settings.

1. what do u mean 'with question and exclamation marks a quick swipe away'. dont u have to either press one key for a few seconds, or hit the secondary keys button?

2. as i wrote above, seems slightly better, but still slow.

3. ty, i will check this out

5. will check this out too. is this THE ONE for this job, or r there good alternatives?

6. nice, will look into

11. im on sprint, have to pay for wireless hotspot use, 30/mo! would prefer not to pay this. esp considering im already paying 10/mo for 4g data, and im not getting 4g as it doesnt exist yet for this phone!



to anyone reading, id be grateful for more input

 

[brickrick]

also, where do u guys learn all this stuff??

 

[dmanindfw]

also, where do u guys learn all this stuff??

reading the threads on here. Wealth of info but not always easy to find. This phone is VERY flexible but not always easy to access the advanced features. Take the time to read here and learn more about your phone before returning. Also read the owners manual...a lot of the info is there.

BTW, Foxfi (wireless tethering) is great BUT Sprint is currently blocking that app to their users

 

[Crafty]

1. Many people replace with swiftkey or swype, I don't know if they fit your requirements.

2. As a poster above said, disable s-voice on double tap.

3. I think ringtime is down to your carrier, not the handset

4. On a homescreen long press, select "add to homescreen", then "apps", select widgets at the top, in there I have a google search 4x1 widget which looks something like the below screenshot:

I have that on my homescreen. If you don't have it I am pretty sure you can download from the play store, its called "google search" IIRC.


5. AFAIK by default only things that the O/S (and your firmware) need to start will run. If your carrier firmware is doing nutty things I think the only thing you can do is put a custom ROM on. I guess if you were rooted you may be able to find the correct config file and edit it and stay on the stock ROM, but I don't know for sure. I'd look on XDA.

9. Go settings -> security -> lockscreen options -> shortcuts

Can't answer the rest I'm afraid.