5 Things You Didn’t Know Your Samsung Phone Could Do

When you buy a new phone, it’s always fun to poke around and test out the different settings, features, and apps to see what cool things you can do. This is especially true for Samsung’s Galaxy series and the brand’s collection of devices, which tend to receive new updates and software upgrades with each iteration – they are usually also offered to older generations, such as older Samsung phones receiving the new One UI 8.5 update. But even if you’ve had your phone for years, you may not know the full potential it offers if you’re not an experienced user. Did you know that you can take a screenshot at any time by pressing the screen and volume down buttons at the same time?

This is actually an Android feature available on most Android devices; it’s not exclusive to Samsung. But it’s still useful to know. This is also relevant because you can completely change certain button combinations for the physical buttons on your device. If you dig into the settings, there’s a lot more to find, options that might even improve your experience.

Let’s say you’re listening to some funky tunes and you don’t want this jam session to be interrupted, but you have another app open that requires you to hear the audio, like turn-by-turn navigation. You can actually separate app audio streams so they come from two different devices. Thanks to Samsung’s DIY, you can keep the navigation instructions coming from your phone’s speaker, while the music plays through your vehicle’s speakers and Bluetooth connection, or vice versa.

Alternatively, if you’re chilling with friends, listening to music on a Bluetooth speaker, and only want the sound of your current app’s music to play through the speaker, while everything else is still sent to your phone, you can do just that. Setting everything up is actually quite simple in Samsung’s One UI, but keep in mind that any devices you want to use, like a Bluetooth speaker, need to be synced and connected before changing any settings. So go ahead and do that first, if you haven’t already.

Next, go to Settings > Sounds & vibration > Separate app sound and enable the Turn on now option. A pop-up will appear informing you that you need to select the app and audio devices and then choose Select. Next, you will need to choose the app you use or want and pair it with a particular device, like a Bluetooth speaker. You can always come back and change the settings later or turn it off if you want to return the device sound to normal.

By default, there is a single button on newer Galaxy devices that acts as the screen power button, and the Bixby button if you hold it down. You can also double-tap the button to automatically open the camera, which is useful for quick captures if your phone’s screen is locked – this keyboard shortcut works regardless. But what’s also special about the button is that you can customize what it does and which apps it opens to really improve access to your favorite apps.

To change the button action, go to Settings > Advanced Features > Side Button. The top option, Double Press, lets you open the camera with a double press. You can swap it for another app, routine, or tool like the flashlight. If you don’t use it at all or want to eliminate accidental presses, you can turn it off entirely with the toggle.

Below the Double tap option is the Long press shortcut. Unfortunately, you are limited by what you can set in system settings. You can swap it to open another assistant, like Alexa, Meta AI, or Google Assistant. Alternatively, you can open the power off menu. In any case, you can customize the reaction of the physical buttons, which is good to know.

A unique privacy feature only available on Android phones is the ability to create a second private space for your apps and data, like your photos. On Pixel it’s called Private Space, but Samsung’s version is called Secure Folder. It creates a completely separate instance or partition where you can install applications, store sensitive files, and keep certain data-intensive tasks away from your most vulnerable content.

For example, you can install a banking or financial application in your secure folder that does not have access to your main profile and vice versa. You can also store risky photos or apps that you don’t want others to know you have in there. Secure Folder has its own security lock and is only accessible when unlocked.

To configure it, go to Settings > Security & privacy > More security settings > Secure folder. You will be asked to set up a unique password, PIN, or pattern for a lock. Fingerprints and biometrics also work. You will also associate the secure folder with a Google or Samsung account. Once ready, a new Secure Folder icon will appear in your app drawer. You can also hide the icon and use the quick settings toggle to access it instead, which appears in the notifications bar.

Let’s say you want to be logged into two WhatsApp accounts simultaneously, using the app in two separate instances. You don’t have to use Secure Folder for this. Instead, you can use a cool feature that Samsung calls Dual Messenger. It clones the app you choose, like Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp or any other app you use the most. You can even configure the cloned app to use a completely different contact list so it doesn’t have access to your main contacts profile.

Before setting everything up, make sure the email app you want to clone is already installed. Head to Settings > Advanced Features > and scroll down to Dual Messenger. From the list of available apps, choose the one you want to clone and select what you want to do about the contact list. After that, you will see two copies of the affected email app in your app drawer. You can treat them as two different app installations.

Starting with Samsung’s One UI 5.1, you can actually separate the subject of a photo to save it as a separate image, like a cutout, or save it as a sticker that you can use elsewhere. This allows you to turn cans of your favorite drink into a sticker that can be used in various applications, or create a cutout of objects and personal belongings, or even people. Open Samsung gallery, image gallery app and find a photo you want to use. Then, tap and hold on an item to cut it out.

A bouncing animation will appear and you will see an outlet around the topic or element. When you release your finger, you should see a shortcut bar with options including Copy, Share, and Save as Sticker. To save as an image, tap More (three vertical dots) and select Save as image. You can also choose to edit the topic, which opens it in an exclusive window and allows you to manipulate the individual selection.

It’s a quick and neat way to cut out photo elements and remove the background. You can also use Samsung Photo Assist (AI editing tools) to erase subjects from photos using a similar selection method. Now, some of these features are exclusive to Samsung, yes, but if you own a Pixel or other brand device, there are actually a lot of cool or hidden things that you had no idea your Android could do. It’s worth Googling your phone to see if you can find one.