Samsung Galaxy S5 Tips & Tricks – Best Hidden Options & Features

 

The latest flagship from Samsung, the Galaxy S5 comes with some brilliant features which although one might not use on a daily basis, are quite useful at some situations and Samsung has made the interface of the S5 a lot better when compared to the one in the recent past flagships, and the TouchWiz UI looks pretty neat.

Kids Mode

There is a dedicated kids mode in the Galaxy S5, and this isn’t just another feature which would do a limited stuff, but there is a lot included, and the kids gets to see a totally different interface which not just helps them get some interactive things to do, but at the same time, all your personal settings, apps and folders would go hidden and are kept safe.

Not just this, the kids can try to play around with the camera where there are options such as editing and placing effects while capturing the photo, and there are shortcuts to gallery, drawing and music but everything is limited. To enter the Kids Mode in the Samsung Galaxy S5, you need to set it up with the Pin unlock setting in the device.

How to check Heart Rate with Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with the heart rate sensor on the rear side, just below the camera. To check the heart rate using this sensor, you don’t download any special apps because the S Health application does the job perfectly, with a feature named Heart rate. You need to open the S Health app and go to Heart Rate.

When it says “Ready Place your finger on the sensor.”, place the finger horizontally over the sensor on the back, and you don’t need to press it. It would start measuring and would record the heart rate for a minute, before the average is shown to you.

Control Samsung Gear Fit – Change Clock & Wallpaper

The Samsung Gear Fit, a fitness tracker which was launched by Samsung alongside the S5, is compatible with only this smartphone for now. And the compatibility and functioning is so good that you can instantly change the wallpaper and clock on the Gear Fit by just a touch of the option on your smartphone. The syncing and change in options happens instantly.

To change the wallpaper or clock, you need to open the app called “Gear Fit Manager” which is a pre-installed app in your smartphone. There you would first need to connect and pair these two devices if you haven’t done it already, and then check for the options “Clocks” and “Wallpapers” under Edit home screen. That is where these can be changed.

Using Download Booster

The Download booster is a new feature in the Galaxy S5 which would help in downloading large files faster via Wi-Fi and mobile networks simultaneously. Everything is done by the phone itself and the only thing you need to ensure is that both the Wi-Fi and Data network connectivity are turned on.

To activate the download booster, you need to go to Settings > Download booster and then drag the download booster switch to the right to turn it on. To do it in a faster way, there is a direct toggle in the quick settings in the notification panel.

One of the best parts about the download booster that I notice is that the feature would turn off automatically if the device is getting heated a lot while trying to download the file using both the connections simultaneously.

How to use Emergency Mode

The emergency mode is something which does two things at the same time – enter the smartphone in a mode where the standby time is increased in an emergency situation so that the device is running for a longer time while it sends sound alarms, location information via messages and turns on the flash, reducing the other functions of the phone.

To activate the emergency mode, press and hold the power buttons until you see the window that is shown in the screenshot below. Tap on Emergency mode to activate it. Alternatively, you can even go to Settings > Safety assistance > Emergency mode and turn it on from there.

Receive Weather Notifications via Geo News

The Galaxy S5 comes with a feature where it would let you know of any calamity in the nature by checking for the location and then would let you know of any severe weather conditions around the set location. To activate the Geo News, you need to go to Settings > Safety assistance > Geo News and then drag the Geo News switch to the right to turn it on.

To receive the notifications, you need to tick Notification pop-ups. Whenever you receive a notification through a pop-up window for any severe weather condition, you can directly make emergency calls or send emergency SMS to the preset contacts. There is even a Geo News widget available for direct checking of the weather conditions.

Activating Power Saving Mode

The power saving mode in the Galaxy S5 comes with the options such as blocking background data, restricting performance, greyscale mode and there is an even better ultra power saving mode. The standby time as well as the usage time is increased as many functions are changed. The greyscale mode is to set the device to display colors on the screen as grey tones. To activate the power saving mode on your Galaxy S5, you need to go to either the Settings app and select the option, or there is a shortcut to it in the quick settings section in the notification panel.

Using the Galaxy S5 as Smart Remote

There is a pretty excellent app provided by Samsung in the Galaxy S5, which would make the device work as a smart remote. To use as a remote, you need to set it up by opening the Smart Remote application from the app list and then select the location, TV service provider and then it is just the touch of the buttons which would do the functioning like a standard remote. This feature was there on the LG G2 and G Pro 2 already, but still is quite good for the Samsung devices.