QR Code Scanning on Samsung Galaxy S3

According to Wikipedia, QR Code or Quick Response Code is the trademarks of matrix barcode or two dimensional barcode first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. Nowadays, you can find the QR code not only in the automotive industry but also on another things, such as TV advertisement, business card, website, tickets, etc.

The QR code can easily readable by the smartphone, including with the Samsung Galaxy SIII. All you need to make it works is by downloading QR Code scanning app then use it to scan the code and retrieve data stored inside them.


How to scan QR Code using Google Googles apps?
There are lot of apps that allow you to scan QR code, but given from the apps reviews seem this apps is work well with lot of users. So, here are the steps:

1. Download install Google Googles apps from the Play Store.
2. Once the installation is completed, open the Google Googles apps.
3. Point the phone's camera at the QR Code, wait for seconds, then you'll see the data--such as, URL links, text or location-- stored inside the code displayed at the bottom of the screen. 

By knowing this step, now you can easily retrieve the data stored inside the code by using your phone. And of course, you can also save more time when you want to visit this blog by scanning QR code embedded in this post.

 Unlocking of  the Phone for Free in 2 Easy Ways

If your Samsung Galaxy SIII is locked and you want to unlock it for certain reason, said that you want to go abroad and want to put the local SIM card to get their services, then you can do this easily by using two methods available as listed below. Both of these methods is easy to do, no need to pay and no root required.

Method 1: Ask your carrier to unlock the phone
The first method that you can do to unlock your phone is by asking the unlock code from your provider. Here are the complete steps to do:

• Reach the provider through the calls or emails to ask them to unlock your phone. You can give them the explanation of what the reason that force you to unlock the phone, for instance you need to unlock the phone because you want to go to abroad, etc. FYI, some of carriers may refuse to unlock the phone until the contract is over, or you have to use their services for certain time period. If you managed to get the code then go to the next step, while if your carrier doesn't provide you the code then try to use the next methods.
• Turn the phone off, remove your old SIM card and insert with the new one.
• Turn on the phone.
• You'll see an 'Enter the unlock code' screen. Enter the unlock code here. Once you've finished, now you can use the phone with the service from the new provider.

Method 2: Unlock the phone from the Service Menu
If your carrier refuse to provide you the code, then you still be able to unlock the phone by following the easy steps as listed below:

• To make it works, make sure your Samsung Galaxy SIII is already with the Android 4.1 or above. You can check the software version through About device under the Settings menu.
  
• Open the Phone app, then enter *#197328640# to get the Service menu.
• In the ServiceMode menu, select the [1] UMTS.
• Open the Debug menu by selecting [1] DEBUG SCREEN, then select [8] PHONE CONTROL.
•  In Phone Control menu, select [6] NETWORK LOCK.
• Next, select [3] Perso SHA256 Off. Wait for about 30 seconds then tap the Menu key and select Back.
• Select [4] NW Lock NV Data INITIALLIZ. Wait for about 1 minute then reboot your phone.
• Insert the new SIM card to the phone. If the code you've entered is correct, then you should not see the Enter the unlock code screen.
• Now you can enjoy your new SIM card and all services available in it.

Well, these are two methods that you can use to unlock your Samsung Galaxy SIII for free. 

How to Use Camera Best Face Mode Use on Samsung Galaxy S3

Upgrading your Samsung Galaxy SIII to the Android Jelly Bean will bring some features inside the phone, including with the Camera apps which also get some new shot mode. One of which is low light mode which will allow you to get a better picture while you use the camera to take a picture in low-light condition.

In addition with the low light shot mode, you can also find other shot mode available there named best face. Previously, you may ever seen this feature in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. This mode will allow you to swap the individual face in the picture taken by the camera with that particular person's different individual expressions to get the best face as you want.


How to use best face mode?
To do so kindly follow the steps listed below:

• Open the Camera apps.
• Tap the Settings icon.
• Tap the Shooting mode, then select Best Face.
• Take a group photos.
• The camera will take 5 consecutive pictures and will let you to choose the best face for each person in the picture.
• Once you've finished, tap Save button to save the result.

This mode will give you better result for group photos because this mode will allow you to get best face for each person of those shots by swapping the desired face of those shots with that particular person's different individual expressions

 Easy Snap Feature Using on Samsung Galaxy S3

Talk back mode is one of the feature available on Samsung Galaxy SIII, either with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean. Enabling this feature will make the phone provide the spoken feedback for whatever the user do. But, you should remember while in this mode, you need to use double tap instead a single tap to make selection and use two fingers instead one finger to swipe or to scroll.

Well, for those of you who now already use Android Jelly Bean inside the phone, then you can combine the talk back mode with the face detection in Camera apps to make easy snap. Combining both of them will make the phone able to tell you how many faces detected by the camera while in preview screen and focuses on them.

How to use easy snap?
To make it works, make sure you have enabled talk back mode as you can see in the link above. Next, you just need to follow the steps listed below:

1. Double tap the Apps icon on the Home screen.
2. Double tap Camera.
3. Double tap the Settings icon.
4. Double tap Shooting mode, then double tap Face detection.
5. Point the camera to the object. The camera will detect any human face and focuses on it, also the phone will tell you how many faces can be detected by the camera.
6. Now you're ready to take a picture using the easy snap feature.

The easy snap will be able to help you to get better picture when you use it for portrait or group photos, because the camera will be able to focus in any human faces detected by the camera.

How to Set and Clear Default on Certain Apps

Once upon the time, one of this blog's visitor named Kelly was send me an email. She ask me how to bring back the "Complete action using" menu because she was accidentally made a wrong selection when her Samsung Galaxy SIII prompt her to choose between the stock Internet browser and Mozilla Firefox browser when opening a URL of website.

How to set apps as default for certain action?
For those of you who don't know how to set certain app as the default to perform specific action, here I show how to do so. According to the Kelly's problem, we'll try to set the stock Internet browser as default when the phone open the URL of a website:

1. Open the URL of a website in any app, for example if you already receive a text message with a URL inside, then open the Messaging app and open the required text message contains with URL.
2. Tap the URL.
3. You should see "Complete action using" option menu appears (on Kelly's mail, she said that she has two option available, Internet Browser and Mozilla Firefox Browser). The option appears may vary depending on the apps installed on the phone.
4. Tick the checkbox next to the "Use by default for this action" option.
5. Tap the Internet Browser.
6. The URL will be loaded in the Internet Browser app for now and so.

How to clear default on certain apps?
In certain case, you may ever made a wrong selection, as happen in Kelly's problem. Well, to fix this problem kindly follow the steps listed below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down to Application manager, then tap it.
3. Swipe to the All screen.
4. In this case, tap the Internet Browser app.
5. Tap Clear defaults button.
6. Now you should see the "Complete action using" menu whenever opening the URL link.

Well, these two methods also can be applied in another applications. For instance if you want to get rid the annoying "Complete action using" menu or want to set the Gallery apps as the default when opening the image, then you can use the step to set certain apps as the default as mentioned above. 

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Fix Couldn't Sign In Error in Gmail Applications

Gmail app is one of the stock apps available inside Samsung Galaxy SIII that you can use to send or receive email messages. The username and password of the Gmail account also can be use to login and using another Google services, such as Google Play Store, Youtube, etc.

However, in certain condition you may have to open the same Gmail account on the web and change the password. Other times, you may noticed that your phone give you a notification of sign-in error when the Gmail account try to sync in the background resulting you can't login and using your Gmail account in Gmail app.


How to solve sign-in error on Gmail apps?
There are two ways available to fix the problem as listed below.
I. From the notification bar
After you've change the Gmail password on the web, when the Gmail app in the phone try to sync then you should see a exclamation sign in the notification bar. If so, do as follows:

1. Pull down the notification bar.
2. Tap the sign-in error message.
3. Now you should see a Re-type password screen which will allow you to enter your new Gmail password.
4. If the password you have entered is correct, then you should be able to login to your Gmail account.

II. From the Gmail app
If you encountering this error but don't see a sign-in error message in notification bar or you may have accidentally cleared them, then you can fix this problem through the Gmail app by following the steps listed below:

• Go to Apps through the Home screen.
• Tap Gmail.
• Tap Sync button.
• Now you should see Couldn't sign in error message appears with the SIGN-IN link.
• Tap the SIGN-IN link.
• Now you should see a screen which will allow you to enter your new Gmail password.
• If the password you've entered is correct, then you should be able to login and use your Gmail account in your phone.

Well, these are two possible ways that you can do to fix the sign-in error message on your Gmail apps due to password changes. 

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Use AirDroid App to Sideload Applications

Samsung Galaxy SIII allows the user to install applications from another sources outside the Google Play Store or Samsung Store by sideloading apps into the phone or users usually refer it as install .apk file. To make it works, first you should enable Unknown sources option under security settings. Once you've enabled this option, now you can download .apk file from your phone's browser app or transfer .apk file from your PC to your phone then open it with the File manager app available on your phone to start installing.

Well, there are another way that you can do to sideload apps into your phone, one of which is by using another third-party app called AirDroid app. This apps will allow you to upload and/or install .apk file to your phone without connecting your phone to the PC, as what you do if you use the ADB.

How to use AirDroid app to install .apk file?
Before you do these steps below, make sure your phone and your PC or laptop is connected with the same network. Well, let see the complete steps:
Do these steps below on your phone

• Download install AirDroid app from the Google Play Store.
• Once the process is completed, launch the apps.
• Tap Start button.
• AirDroid app will provide you an IP Address that you can use to access your phone through the browser on your PC or laptop. You'll also provided with a password that you can use to login into the web and prevent unauthorized access to your phone.

Do these steps below on your PC or laptop

• Open Internet Browser.
• Enter the IP Address provided by the AirDroid app into the address bar.
• Enter the password provided by the AirDroid app into the login field, then click Login button.
• Now you'll see AirDroid's Home screen which contain links and statistic of your phone.
• Click Apps icon to view all installed apps in your phone.
• Tap Install App button to upload a .apk file to your phone and install it.

Do these steps below on your phone

1. Confirm the installation by tapping the option on your phone.
2. Once the process is completed, now you are ready to enjoy your newly installed apps on your phone.

By knowing how to use AirDroid app to sideload apps, now you can install the apps--and do another things by utilizing this apps capabilities--from the browser on your PC or laptop easily even without connecting your phone. Also, for the beginners--according to me--this steps is more easier than if you use the ADB. Finally

 Installation of  Apps Remotely from the Computer

As we all know that the Google Play Store is the official market of the Android phone, including with the Samsung Galaxy SIII. From there, you can find lot of apps that you can choose which best suit you. In order to allow you accessing the Play Store, make sure you have activated a Google account on your Samsung Galaxy SIII.


Once you've activated the account, then you can use it to log in to the Play Store and install apps from there. But, in certain condition search an apps between lot of apps on the Play Store using the phone is less convenient way to install apps. Fortunately, you can install apps remotely to your Samsung Galaxy SIII through the Google Play Store website on your PC or laptop.


How to install apps from the Google Play on the web?
Make sure your Samsung Galaxy SIII is registered with the Google Play, or in other word you have activated a Google account on your phone. Well, here the complete steps to do:

• Open web browser on your computer or laptop then navigate to the play.google.com
• Login with the Google account associated with your Samsung Galaxy SIII.
• Here you can search and browse the apps you wish to install to your phone.
• Once you find the apps, you'll be presented with the apps information, including with the app permissions.
• If the apps is free then simply click the Install button.
• If the apps is paid then you'll be presented with the payment options you wish to use, and then you just need to follow the process given to you.
• Once the process is completed, now you can enjoy your newly installed apps on your phone.

By knowing the step to install apps through the Google Play Store website, now you can install apps remotely through the PC or laptop with ease.

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Stops Ads Appears in Notification Bar

Generally, lot of Android users said that they feel annoyed with the ads from certain apps appears on their devices, even when they're not using the apps. Luckily, if you already upgrading your Samsung Galaxy SIII to the Android Jelly Bean, then you can easily set the apps not to send you a notification or ads.

But, if your phone is still with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich which is not have the option to disable the notification on the apps and you encountering the problem of always receiving ads in the notification bar, then there are some steps that you can do to fix the problem.


How to stop ads in notification bar?
Usually you'll see some ads with a green plus or star, can't be removed until you tap it which will bring you to certain web page. For some user, this is so annoying and of course it'll eat the data. Well, here are some steps that you can do to get rid the ads and free up your notification bar from them:

• Review of any installed apps in your device to know which one may have push ads. If you noticed that you start receive an ads after install certain apps, then this may the culprit. You can also read on the customer review of the apps you have installed to know the apps history, from there you may get some information to know whether the apps contains these ads or not.
• If the step #1 can't tell you what the apps causing the problem, then you can try to install another third-party apps to help you determine which the apps may have push ads included in it, such as Addons Detector apps.
• Once you've know the apps sending you the ads, then you may have to consider to uninstall the apps.
• For further prevention, don't reinstall the apps that you already know it has the ads included in it. Also you can leave a review to help other users knowing that the apps has the ads included in it.

Well, these are four steps that you can do to stop ads appears in notification bar. 

Blocking of  Notifications on Certain Applications in Android 

The easiness to download and install applications through the Google Play Store sometimes make you end up with installing lot of applications into your Samsung Galaxy SIII. Lot of installed apps that not managed well of course will give you some problems later, such as low internal storage, error when save or read saved files, etc. One of the solution that you can do to fix this problem is by uninstalling the apps.

Another problem you may have encountering when you install lot of apps is that some of them start sending you an advertisement in the notification bar, even when you're not using them. Well, if your Samsung Galaxy SIII already with the Android Jelly Bean inside and you feels annoying with the ads, then you can easily block the ads on certain apps to not appearing.

How to disable notifications of the apps?
Here are the steps you need to do:

• If you already know the apps which displaying ads, then go to the App info window by following one of the steps listed below:
• On the Apps menu, tap and hold the required apps then drag it to the App info icon.
• Go to Settings> Applications manager> tap the required apps.
• Uncheck the box next to the "Show notifications" option to stop the apps sending you a notifications or ads.
• If you don't know the apps which displaying ads, then you may have to install another third-party apps named Addons detector to help you to monitor all of the notifications that appear in the notification bar and tell you which the apps displayed them.
• Another way, if you no longer use the apps that displaying the ads then you may have to consider to uninstall the apps. This will be able to not only stop the apps displaying the ads, but also will be able to free up some space on your phone's storage.

By knowing how to disable notifications, now you can get rid the annoying ads appearing in the notifications bar. The other benefit of this step is it will save you more data because now you would no longer accidentally tap the ads and load the site referred from them. 

 Adding of  Contextual Tag in the Photo

Once you've upgraded your Samsung Galaxy SIII to the Android Jelly Bean, then you'll find some new features inside the phone. One of them is contextual tag feature. This features is similar with the face tag to allow you to tag each face in the photo. The difference is the contextual tag not only allow you to tag the face with the name but also allow you to tag the weather, date and location.

To make this feature works well, make sure you've enable location services on your phone to allow the phone use the location information, in this case the phone will use the weather and current location information.


How to use contextual tag?
Below are the steps you need to do:

• Open the Camera apps.
• Tap settings icon, then turn on GPS tag and Contextual filename.
• Take the picture, then tap the photo result which will bring you to the Gallery apps.
• Tap the image and you'll see the yellow box appear there.
• Tap Add name to bring up the contacts, then tap to the desired contact. If you want to skip the step #3 and #4, simply disable face tag feature as you can see in the link above.
• Tap the Menu key then select Tag Buddy.
• Slide the slider to the right to enable tag buddy
• Select from the available options, they are: Weather, Location and Person. Tick the box next the option to add the information to the photo.
• Tap the Back key.
• The information will be displayed in the photo.

Take the picture is one of the way to keep a memorable moments. But, by adding contextual tag in the photo, of course will make the photo more memorable and will be able to help you to remember the moment more better.

How to Adjusting of  Sound Balance

As we all know that the Samsung Galaxy SIII support with the stereo and mono audio. That's why you can use two earphones when in a stereo audio and use one earphone when in a mono audio. To switch between stereo and mono audio, you can head to the accessibility settings then switch between both of them by using mono audio option.

In the same screen you can also find an option named sound balance which will allow you to adjust the sound balance to get the best balance between the left and right audio. This of course will expand your experience while using this phone to listen to the music or other sounds.

How to customize sound balance?
Below are the steps you need to do:

• Go to Settings.
• Tap Accessibility.
• Scroll down to the Hearing section, then tap Sound Balance.
• To adjust balance between left and right audio, slide the bar to the left or to the right.
• Tap OK button to save the changes.

By knowing the steps to adjust balance while you're in the stereo audio, now you can customize it according to your hearing, preferences and the sound sources.

 How to Enable or Disable Smart Rotation

If previously in the Samsung Galaxy SIII with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich inside, you may already be familiar with the feature called auto rotate. This feature will allow your phone to automatically switch the screen according to your phone's position.

Now, if you have upgraded your Samsung Galaxy SIII to the Android Jelly Bean, then you'll notice that your phone has the new features similar with the auto rotate, called smart rotation. By enabling this features, the phone will disable auto rotate then use the front-facing camera to track your eyes and rotate the screen accordingly.

How to turn on or off smart rotation?
To do so, kindly follow the steps listed below:

• Go to Settings.
• Tap Display.
• Scroll down to Features section then depending on your current settings, tap Smart rotation to enable or disable this option. When the box next to this option is checked means the option is turned on.

For the record, to make this feature works well, don't use the phone in the dark situations and make sure the source light behind you is enough to help the camera detecting your face and eyes properly. But, aside from its advantage, some of user also said that their phone sometimes encountering lag whenever they use this features because the phone keep scanning their face.

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Use Camera Low Light Mode

When you already have upgraded your Samsung Galaxy SIII to the Android Jelly Bean then you'll noticed that your phone has equipped with some new features inside it, such as multi window feature which will split the screen allows you to open two apps that support with this feature at once.

You can also find another new features that come with this operating system in Camera apps. If you open the shooting mode, you'll find the new shoot mode available there called Low light mode. This mode will allow you to take a picture in the low-light situation with more better result than before.


How to use camera low-light mode?
To do so, kindly follow the steps listed below:

1. Go to Apps through the Home screen.
2. Tap Camera.
3. Tap the Settings icon.
4. Tap Shooting mode
5. On the shoot mode list, tap Low light mode.
6. Now you're ready to take a picture in a low-light situations by tapping the camera icon.

To get the better picture while using this mode, try to use spot lighting to give more lights in the focus area before you take a picture to help the camera knowing where to set the focus. Another thing that you can do is making the camera in the most stable position to avoid shake, such as by placing the phone in a stable surface when taking a picture. 

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Use Reader Mode in Browser Apps

Internet Browser apps is one of the pre-installed application that you can find inside the Samsung Galaxy SIII. You can use this apps to meet your Internet needs, such as to browse the webs or read online magazine, etc.

While you use this apps to view web page and read its content, usually you'll see another web's components, such as widgets, header, frame, advertisement, etc. Luckily, when your Samsung Galaxy SIII have upgraded to the Android Jelly Bean then you'll see the new feature in the Browser apps called reader mode. This feature will make the Browser only to show the main content allows you to read the content more comfort.


How to enable or disable reader mode?
Below are the steps to do so:

• Open the Stock Internet Browser apps.
• Navigate to the desired web page you wish to read its contents.
• Once the web page is fully loaded, tap the R icon next to the URL in the address bar to use reader mode.
• Now the browser will only show the main contents. This would be like you're reading a book.
• You can adjust the web's font by tapping the T icon at the top area of the browser apps.
• To disable reader mode, simply tap the Back key and the Browser will display the web with all its components.

Enabling this mode of course will help you when you want to read magazine or article on certain web page without being distracted by other components owned by the web page you're currently viewing. 

Samsung Galaxy S3: How to See Downloaded Applications in Google Play Store

As we all know that Samsung Galaxy SIII has the ability to manage multiple email accounts, including with the Google account. You can add multiple Google account inside this phone and use each of them to access another Google services available in this phone, for instance you can Switch and use each of the added Google account to download or purchase content in Google Play Store.

For certain reason, adding some of Google account also will helps you to separate purchases you've made in Google Play Store. Here you can also knowing the apps you've downloaded using one of your Google account.

How to see my applications on the Play Store apps?
Below are the steps you need to do to know the apps you've downloaded using the Google account currently signed in:

1. Go to Apps through Home screen.
2. Scroll to Play Store, then tap it.
3. If required, switch to the desired Google account you wish to show the apps you've downloaded with it. See how to switch account in the link above.
4. Tap the Menu key.
5. Tap My Apps.
6. The purchased items you've downloaded with the selected Google account will be visible here.
7. If you want to show the purchased items in another Google account, then switch to the desired account as you can see in the step #3.

All the downloaded apps will listed here, either they're installed or have been removed. This step will be useful to help you knowing the purchases history on certain Google account.