Galaxy S5 Tips and Tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is crammed full of useful features and many aren't as much of a focus as the more prominent ones like the fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor. Below are a few clever, useful, time-saving, and just plain cool things your Samsung Galaxy S5 can do.

Increase Screen Sensitivity

If the Galaxy S5 doesn't respond to touch, make it more sensitive to your finger. Go to Settings > Display and select the Increase touch sensitivity check box. This helps the phone understand your touch easily, even if you're wearing gloves.

Hide Things in Private Mode

Private Mode on the Galaxy S5 hides media files from the person using the phone, useful in situations where you let someone such as your kid or friend access your device. Put items stored in Gallery, Video, Music, Voice Recorder, and My Files in Private Mode to keep these files secure from prying eyes. The Private Mode feature is found in Settings, in the Personalization section.

To use the Private Mode function, select an unlock method that will reveal the hidden content when entered correctly. Choose either a pattern, PIN, password, or fingerprint scan.

To put files into Private Mode, select the files to hide, tap the menu at the top of the screen, and choose Move to private. You can view the hidden files while Private Mode is on, so you must turn off Private Mode to hide the data (or switch it off automatically each time the screen goes black).

Enable Music Auto-off

If you like to listen to music as you fall asleep, but don't want to play a whole album and potentially waste the battery, set the music player to turn off after a set period.

Open the music player, go to the menu, select Settings, then choose Music auto off to see the options. This Samsung S5 feature has preset timers between 15 minutes and two hours, or you can set a custom timer.

Open the Camera From the Lock Screen

It's easy to miss a brilliant photo opportunity when you have to unlock the phone, find the camera app, tap it, and wait for it to launch. With one change in the settings, you can add a camera quick-start button to the Samsung Galaxy S5 lock screen. Go to Settings > Quick Settings > Lock screen, and enable Camera shortcut.

Use Priority Senders

As you use your phone and receive messages, the Galaxy S5 suggests priority senders. These are the people you message a lot or that message you frequently; they can be added to the priority sender box at the top of the SMS app. To select a priority sender, tap the + button and choose from your contacts list.

Enable In-App Call Notifications

This useful setting lets you continue using an app when a call comes in. Rather than interrupting what you're doing to accept or reject the incoming call, a notification pop-up appears, letting you answer (even in speaker mode) or reject the call without leaving the app.

To make a Galaxy S5 stop interrupting you during calls, open the Phone app, tap the menu button, then go to Settings > Call > Call-related pop-ups. Select the Call notification pop-ups check box.

Add Multiple Fingerprint Scans

The fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5 has benefits, and to use it, register your fingerprint so that the phone recognizes it when it's time to scan it. However, did you know that you can register more than one fingerprint?

Put more than one fingerprint reading in a Galaxy S5 if you don't like having to change how you're holding the phone in your hand just to scan your fingerprint. Or maybe you want someone else's fingerprint to be able to open the phone. You can even register the print on the side of your thumb for one-handed operation. 

Open Settings and go to Finger Scanner from the Personalization section. Tap Fingerprint manager and choose the plus sign to add another fingerprint.