14 First things every Galaxy S8 owner should do

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus are finally here! We’ve already unboxed the phones and shared some initial camera samples and battery life results. Now it’s time to get down and dirty with tips and tricks. Before we dive into the full arsenal of features, we’ve got a shorter list of things you should do first. Let’s get started.

NOTE: These tips and tricks work with both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

Use your eyes to unlock the phone

One of the coolest features of the Galaxy S8 is the iris scanner. You can unlock your phone by scanning your eyeballs, just like in the movies. It actually works surprisingly well. It doesn’t work as well if you wear glasses or contacts, but it’s still very cool.

Go to Settings > Lock screen and security
Select Iris scanner
Read instructions and tap Continue
Hold your eyes in the viewfinder
Tap OK when complete

Read Also: How to find a lost or stolen phone

For more, discuss the Iris Scanner at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Or use the fingerprint scanner

If the iris scanner isn’t your cup of tea, the Galaxy S8 also has a fingerprint scanner. Unfortunately, it’s not in the best spot. Samsung put it high up on the back next to the camera. The good news is it still works pretty well. Here’s how to set it up and use it.

Go to Settings > Lock screen and security
Select Fingerprint scanner
Tap Add fingerprint
Follow the instructions until 100% of your fingerprint has been scanned
Tap DONE
Toggle on Fingerprint unlock

For more, discuss the fingerprint scanner at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Delete useless apps and bloatware

Carriers love to pre-load tons of useless apps on Android phones. The Galaxy S8 is no different. There could be over 20 apps already on your device that you have no intention of ever using. The good news is we can uninstall, or at least disable, most of the bloatware.

Open the app drawer to see all of your apps
Long-press on any app
Tap Select multiple items
Select all the apps you want to remove
Tap Uninstall
Tap OK or Disable on all the prompts

If you would like to revive a disabled app you can go to Settings > Apps. Select Disabled from the drop-down menu and tap the app you’d like to Enable.

For more, discuss bloatware at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Swap the navigation buttons

For years, Samsung has been using a navigation button configuration that is different from every other Android phone. If you only use Samsung devices, it’s not a big deal, but it can be very annoying if you’re coming from something else. The Galaxy S8 has software navigation buttons, which means we can finally swap them around.

The Galaxy S8+ finally has software navigation buttons, which means you can finally swap them around. Samsung is the only Android OEM that uses the Recents, Home, Back order. Here’s how to switch it.

Go to Settings > Display
Select Navigation bar
Tap Button layout
Choose Back, Home, Recents

For more, discuss navigation buttons at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Enable the Always-on Display

The always-on display gives you quick information on the display without unlocking your phone. It’s a great way to save time and get a glance at what’s going on. Samsung has included this feature on the last few Galaxy devices and it keeps getting better.

Go to Settings > Lock screen and security
Tap Always on display
Tap the toggle to turn it on or off
Select Content to show to change content
Choose one of the layouts
Toggle Show always to disable at certain times of day

For more, discuss the always-on display at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Change things up with a Theme

The Galaxy S8 comes with a built-in theme picker. The themes can change your wallpaper, icons, sounds, and even system apps and UI. Samsung has included a few themes that you can try out, plus a bunch more to download (Material Blue and Gray is pictured in this post).

Long-press on any blank space on the home screen
Tap Wallpapers and themes
Go to the Themes tab
Scroll down to explore themes
Find a theme you like, select it, and tap DOWNLOAD
After it installs you can tap APPLY

For more, discuss the Themes at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Set up the Bixby assistant

Bixby is Samsung’s new virtual assistant for the Galaxy S8. At launch, it’s basically a Samsung version of Google Now, plus some camera features. The main feature is a page that displays cards with useful information. Even if you don’t want to use Bixby, it’s worth a shot to check it out.

Press the Bixby button on the left side of the device
Tap Start
Agree to the conditions

Now you’ll want to customize what Bixby can show

Tap the Settings icon in the upper right
Select Hello Bixby cards
Toggle all the content you want to see
Go back, select Hello Bixby on Lock screen
Toggle all the content you want to see on the lock screen

Bixby can be accessed from anywhere with the physical button or by swiping to the left on Samsung’s launcher.

Another way to use Bixby is a feature called “Bixby Vision.” This uses the camera to scan items and find relevant information.

Open the Camera
Tap the eye icon
Point your camera at something
Bixby will scan and show results, such as images and shopping

For more, discuss the Bixby at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Take advantage of the Edge Screen

Edge screen started way back on the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, but it has finally made its way to the regular Galaxy S8 models. The curved display means you get to use the Edge Screen features. There’s a lot you can do with it.

Shortcuts to apps & people

Swipe the Edge screen handle from the edge of the screen
Swipe left or right on the panel until you see People or Apps
Tap the + icon to add an app or contact
To remove an app or contact, long press and drag to the trash
Drag the apps or contacts to re-order the list

You can add more panels by going to Settings > Display > Edge screen. Select Edge panels.

Edge Lighting

You can have the edge of the display light up when you receive notifications.

Go to Settings > Display
Select Edge screen
Toggle on Edge lighting
Tap Edge lighting and choose when to show it

For more, discuss the Edge Screen at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Use the phone with one hand

The Galaxy S8 is a very nice size, but the Galaxy S8+ is a bit on the larger end of the spectrum. It’s not as big as you might think, but it’s still large. Samsung has included a “One-handed mode” feature to make it easier to use. This can also come in handy on the regular Galaxy S8.

Go to Settings > Advanced features
Toggle on One-handed mode
You can activate it with two methods:
- Swipe up diagonally from either bottom corner
- Tap the home button three time
Tap outside the display to go full screen

For more, discuss the One-handed mode at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Get the Quick Settings in order

The notification panel is full of handy toggles called “Quick Settings.” By default, Samsung has this area crammed with every toggle known to humans. It’s a bit of a mess. You should organize it and put your favorites at the top.

Pull down on the notification shade
Pull down again to reveal all the Quick Settings
Tap the three-dot menu icon and select Button order
Drag and drop icons to rearrange
Move icons to the bottom to remove from Quick Settings
Tap the back button when finished

For more, discuss the Quick Settings at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Expand storage with an SD card

Samsung dropped the microSD card slot for a while, but they have thankfully added it back. You can easily upgrade your storage capacity without buying the expensive high storage models or a cloud storage subscription and relying on a data connection. Buy these great SD cards and pop one in.

For more, discuss SD cards at the Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus forums

Prevent burn-in on the Galaxy S8

Avoid static UI elements when possible

It seems rather obvious, but the easiest way to avoid burn-in on your device is to avoid static images being displayed whenever possible. Of course, the most severe burn-in is caused by the navigation buttons at the bottom of your device and the static icons in the status bar. Although there’s not much you can do about those, but there are UI elements that are in your control.

For instance, the “handles” used to pull up the Galaxy S8’s Edge screen panels or Samsung Pay — it’s best to keep those fully transparent or hidden to avoid unnecessary burn-in when possible. Here are the steps for each:

Edge screen

Open Settings
Tap Display
Tap Edge screen
Tap Edge panels
Tap the 3-dot menu
Select Handle settings
Set Transparency to really high

Samsung Pay

Open the Samsung Pay app
Tap the 3-dot menu > Settings
Tap Use Favorite Cards
Lock screen > OFF
Home screen > OFF
Screen off (optional)

Keep the brightness turned down low

Again, pretty obvious, but turning down the brightness of your Galaxy S8’s display can help prevent the rate at which burn-in occurs. I wouldn’t recommend going overboard with this and making the display so dark you can’t read anything, but be mindful and turn it down to the lowest brightness setting possible, while still providing comfortable viewing.

Use a screen saver when charging at night

It’s not the most widely used feature, but Android has included a handy screen saver mode for years now. It’s something that activates when your device is charging and while there are different types of screen savers available the one I recommend using to prevent burn-in is Colors.

The screen saver will slowly cycle through various colors and shades, effectively erasing any image retention on the device and prevents it from becoming an issue down the road. I recommend turning this on before bed when you can. Here’s where you’ll find it in the Settings:

Open the Settings app
Tap on Display
Tap on Screen saver (the actual text)
Select Colors
Flip to switch on top to the ON position
Go to bed

Reverse burn-in damage on the Galaxy S8

My go-to app for testing, prevention — and best of all reversing — burn-in is AMOLED Burn-in Fixer. It’s a free application on the Google Play Store and works wonderfully. Basically it will help reverse the effects of burn-in by inverting the colors on your Galaxy S8. There is a bit of a setup process involved, so here are the steps to get everything up and running:

Note: You will need to enable full screen mode for it to work properly on the Galaxy S8’s 18:9 display. (Settings > Display > Full screen apps > AMOLED Burn-in Fixer > ON)

Open AMOLED Burn-in Fixer
Tap ENABLE INVERTED COLORS
Tap Vision
Scroll down and select Negative colors > ON
Tap the back button twice
Tap HIDE SETTINGS (screen will stay on as long as the app is open)

For all intents and purposes, this app will reverse the naturally occurring “burn-in” on your Galaxy S8 and you can download it for free using the link below. While the length of time required to reverse burn-in on your device may vary, I’d recommend running it overnight about once or twice a week.

Download on Google Play

Find the best apps and games

As awesome as the Galaxy S8 is, it’s not much without some great apps and games. We’ve compiled tons of helpful guides for finding the best apps and games in the Play Store. Before you dive in and rummage around, you’ll want to check out these lists first.

Download the Forums for Android app

These tips will get your feet wet, but this is only the beginning of what the Galaxy S8 can do. For even more content, we’ve got the Galaxy S8 forum and Galaxy S8+ forum at AndroidForums.com! All you have to do is download the Forums app and you’ll automatically be added to the correct forum. You’ll find more helpful tips and other users like you. It’s easy to ask for help and get answers. Here are a few threads to get you started: