The Ridiculously Simple Guide to the Samsung Galaxy S20

By Scott La Counte

★★★ Unlock all the features of your Galaxy phone  ★★★

When it comes to popular phones, most people think about iPhone; that's a shame because while Apple may dominate the headlines, when it comes to number of phones sold and technology innovation, Samsung frequently has them beat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SL Editions
• Release date: Sep 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781610421249

Book preview

Introduction

When it comes to popular phones, most people think about iPhone; that’s a shame because while Apple may dominate the headlines, when it comes to number of phones sold and technology innovation, Samsung frequently has them beat.

If you are making the switch from iPhone to Samsung or are upgrading from another Android or Samsung phone, then this guide will walk you through the basics of the OS.

You’ll learn about:

Setting up your phone

Making calls

Installing apps

Using the camera

Surfing the Internet

Changing system settings

And much more!

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Start Here

What’s New In Android 10

If you are new to Samsung, the OS may confuse you. You’ve heard about Samsung—about how revolutionary it is—about how it stands out from iPhone and Pixel. So why are talking about Android here?! This is a Samsung phone not an Android phone, right?

While people do say Android Phone what you have to understand is Android in itself isn’t a Phone. Android is the operating system on the phone (kind of like your computer probably runs Windows). Samsung runs the Android operating system, but behind that operating system is unique hardware and technology.

But it gets a little more confusing, because Samsung builds a UI (user interface) on top of Android; it’s called One UI (more on that in the next section). So while Android OS is indeed on Samsung phones, One UI makes it look and behave differently.

As of this writing, the Android OS on most Samsung phones is Android 10 (which came out in Fall 2020). Android OS is typically updated once a year around November; it is usually released first on Google Pixel phones.

If you are coming from Apple, you might be used to updates that come to all phones at the same time. That’s because Apple only has one phone manufacturer. Android updates come to phones at different times; that means you might have a brand-new Samsung phone and it’s still running an older OS. So if you are reading this guide and using it with another Samsung phone, then these features might not be on your phone yet.

So, what’s new to Android 10? Below are the major features (I’ll cover most of them in more depth later in the book).

Dark Theme – Dark theme turns your backgrounds (such as reading) into black; Google claims it’s better on both the eyes and the battery.

Family Link – Set limits on apps and control what your kids do on the device.

Focus Mode – Currently in beta, Focus mode lets you pause certain apps so you can use your phone with less distractions.

Gesture Navigation – Gestures are nothing new on Galaxy, but more have been added to Android 10 to make navigating even easier.

Live Caption - Add captions to your videos with a tap.

Privacy Controls – More controls to let you pick what apps see what.

Smart Reply – If you use Gmail then you might notice as you reply to emails, Google starts making suggestions of what to say; this is the same concept, but it now applies to text messages.

Sound Amplifier – Allows you to plug in headsets and boost or filter out noises so you can hear things better on your phone.

Samsung has their own spin on many of these features, and One UI often enhances them.

What’s New In One UI 2.5

As referenced above, One UI is a skin that’s built on top of Android. Think of it like this: Android is the body, and One UI is the clothes that person wears. It’s still Android, but it looks different.

While One UI 2.5 is on the newest Samsung flagship devices, it’s not necessarily on older ones; and even for the older ones it’s on, all the features below might not be there. So if you are reading this book with an older device and it’s missing something, that’s probably why.

One UI 2.5 is the latest version of Samsung’s UI. What’s new on it?

Sharing Wi-Fi Password - A guest comes into your house, and before they even drop their bags, they're asking hey, what's your wi-fi password? If they have a Samsung phone, sharing is a tap of the button.

Pro Video Mode - Pro Camera mode is nothing new to Samsung users; it's been there for a while; but those features were never for video. UI 2.5 changes that adding a Pro Video mode, which lets you change settings like ISO, shutter speed, AF points, and more.

Record Cinematic Videos - Along with Pro Video mode, there's now a cinematic 21:9 mode, which can go all the way up to 8K.

Gesture Navigation Support - This update brings support to third-party launches, which means you can create different gestures for them (think long swipe, tap X times).

Samsung Notes Improvement - Samsung Notes has been on phones for a while now, but this year, Samsung made some pretty big improvements to it. This includes text to audio and writing handwritten notes in different languages that are automatically recognized.

External Microphone - Podcasting is a breeze with new external microphone support, which lets you use an external mic on the phone for recording.

What A Difference a Phone Makes

The Samsung Galaxy is obviously a high-end phone. But so is the iPhone. So is the Pixel. So are lots of phones. So what’s the difference? Why go with Galaxy over other popular phones?

Galaxy S vs Note 20 vs Fold 2

When it comes to Samsung’s flagship devices, there are three devices: the S series, the Note series, and the newest series, the Fold.

The Fold is Samsung’s luxury phone—even its box makes you feel like you are getting something very high-end—and for the $2,000 price tag, it should make you feel that way. Obviously, the biggest difference between Fold and other Samsung phones is it folds in two. It's a truly unique and innovative phone—but