Galaxy Note Tips & Tricks

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Who stole my butter? Solving slowness probelms in Galaxy Note after Jelly Bean update

By 56 Comments · ·

slow-jelly-beanJelly Bean 4.1 updated for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in phases since February 2013. This update brings Galaxy Note owners many excited improvements, new features and apps. Some of the new features were explained in  the Top 12 new features you should try after getting Jelly Bean 4.1 update for Galaxy Note.

However, some users reported serious slowness issues after the Jelly Bean update in their Galaxy Notes. It seems the Project Butter is nothing, or Samsung stole our butter.

What are the causes, and what are the solutions?

First, Galaxy Note is powerful enough for running Jelly Bean smoothly. 1GB RAM, and dual core 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Dual 4210 chip are still decent hardware specifications even after1.5 years. A lot of middle range Jelly Bean handsets has far less powerful hardware specifications.

So, do not suspect your hardware. Jelly Bean is not hungry for hardware. Any hardware that can run Ice Cream Sandwich should meet the requirements of Jelly Bean. A lot of manufactures do not give Jelly Bean update simply because  they do not want to put more resources on an old model. In this sense, Samsung did an excellent job.

The slowness problem in Jelly Bean update lies on the update itself. When you update the system, most of your old settings will be kept, some are necessary, some are unnecessary . Some of these settings are fully compatible with Jelly bean; some are compatible  but with degraded performance. For the known incompatible settings, the update will handle them. The biggest issue is that some old settings are not compatible to the new OS/ROM, but it is unknown yet.  Therefore, for the slowness caused by such problematic settings, a factory reset will solve the issue.

Please be careful when performing the  factory reset because it will erase your internal storage. You need backup all your data in the internal storage, including your contacts and messages. Apps can be re-installed, but the settings will be gone. If you have rooted your phone, you can use Titanium Backup  to …

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Top 12 new features you should try after getting Jelly Bean 4.1 update for Galaxy Note

By 14 Comments · ·

jelly-bean-update-for-galaxy-noteJelly Bean 4.1 update has been available in more and more regions since February. Now our almost 1.5-year-old Note gets a new life again after the Ice Cream Sandwich update last year.

If the rumor can be trusted (and it is usually can be trusted), Galaxy Note will get Jelly Bean 4.2 update this year as well. Even better news for Galaxy Note 2 owners, Key Lime Pie (aka, Android 5.0) update will very likely be available for your Note 2. Well done Samsung!. Now Samsung is only second to Google in providing an update for their Android handsets.

Last November, we list top 10 expected features in this Jelly Bean update for Galaxy note. After testing the update recently, we found all features mentioned except Airview were included in this update.

Some of these new features and improvements are part of Jelly Bean update, for example, Google Now and popup browser. Some are Samsung’s extension or exclusive apps, for example, multi-window, Paper Artist,  and easy clip.

In this post, I will share with you 12 must-try new features in this Jelly Bean 4.1 update in your Galaxy Note. All these features are already available in Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 8.0  and Galaxy Note 10.1. So, if you own Galaxy Note 2, Note 8.0 or Note 10.1, you can also try all these features out of the box.

1.  Google Now (part of Jelly Bean)

Google Now is the killer feature of Jelly Bean. It was officially unveiled in Google I/O 2012. With Google now, you become the master, not the slave of your smartphones. Google Now essentially digs all your info in your Google accounts, then predicts what info you may need before you ask. The info is presented in “cards”, which are presented once you start Google Now. In Jelly Bean 4.2, more cards will be available.

Of course, you can also use Google Now as knowledge navigator: simple ask questions, Google Now gives you results in natural language. It works far better (not so arguable) than Siri in iPhones.

To …

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Top 10 expected features in Jelly Bean 4.1 update for Galaxy Note

By 26 Comments · ·

jb-new-logoWe all know Samsung has been working on Jelly Bean (4.1) update for Galaxy Note, although this Korean company never officially confirm or announce this update. The information we have is the update may be rolled out as early as in December. and most users will get it in Q1/2013. There is no information on Jelly Bean 4.2 update yet.

Anyway, the waiting is almost over. Now, let’s list the top 10 anticipated features in this Jelly Bean 4.,1 update for our more-than-one-year-old Galaxy Note. For Top 10 new features in ICS update, please read this post: http://www.allaboutgalaxynote.com/top-10-new-features-in-galaxy-note-after-ics-update/ 

All these features are available on Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Note 8.0 already.

1. Faster, smoother, and more responsive as claimed by Google

Thanks to Project Butter, one major improvement in Jelly Bean is the performance: faster, smoother and more responsive. Of course, I guess Samsung’s TouchViz UI may degrade the performance a bit. Some carriers’ bloatware may also have negative impact on the performance.

But overall, we should notice significant performance improvement.

2. Google Now

It is a shame that Google Now has not got sufficient attention. Google Now is a true innovation on getting relevant information on a mobile device. It makes you the master, not the salve, of the information. Just as claimed by Google, Google Now gets you just the right information at just the right time. If you do not have any Jelly Bean devices now, you may get more info on the Google Now offical site

3. Multi Window

Yes, you can run two apps side by side. Although very limited apps are compatible with multi window at this time, it is a really nice feature for a 5.3″ screen. Of course, this feature is best for Galaxy Note’s bigger brother Note 10.1.

4. Offline voice typing

In Jelly Bean, a new embedded speech recognizer lets you use Voice Typing even when you don’t have an Internet connection.

5. New notification system

The notification system will have significant improvements: more info and more controls. Notifications from the …

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Top 10 new features in Galaxy Note after ICS update

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After the official release of ICS 4.0.3 update for Galaxy Note  in May and ICS 4.0.4 update last week, some users asked me what the new features are. Thanks to Samsung’s Touch Viz UI, most users will not visually find any changes after the update. Here I prepared the top 10 new features in your Galaxy Note after the ICS update.

Each update fixes some bugs and the performance should be improved, so we usually recommend users to apply the update, although some new problems may be reported, e.g. battery issues, RAM issues. Given the short lifespan (1-3 years) of samrtphones, it is impractical to wait for the perfect firmware.

In this post I will try to introduce you the features. I will create  tutorials for some of these features later.

1. Pop- up play (ICS 4.0.4 update is needed)

pop-up-play-galaxy-notePop up play was debuted on Galaxy S3  last May. In the Googl Play store, there are a few paid apps (e.g., Stick it! (Pop-up Player)) doing the similar job. What it does is quite simple, you can watch your video and use other apps at the same time. The video will be re-sized as thumbnail and you can move it to any locations on your screen. Pretty cool, right?

Of course, only the built-in video player support this. Once the video is open, you can find the re-sizing (or pop up play?) button in the top right corner. If you want to stop the video, just touch the video area and release your finger. If you want to go to full screen, you can long press the home button to get the task manager and open the video player.

Two limitations: 1). the size of the video cannot be adjusted, at lest I did not find any ways to adjust it; 2). If you want to go back to full screen, the video will be played from the beginning, not from where you stop in the pop up play mode. Thanks to julien for correcting me. (Tap the video,  it will go back to the full …

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ICS 4.0.4 update for Galaxy Note is arriving, globally

By 395 Comments · ·

ics-4.0.04-galaxy-note-300After 2 months of the initial ICS update(4.0.3) for Galaxy Note, Samsung now quietly roll out ICS 4.0.4 globally. I was a bit surprised when I saw the update notification, because I just got the information the 4.0.4 update would be roll out gradually.

Apparently, immediately after releasing the ICS update for AT&T’s version Galaxy Note on July 11, Samsung also pushed out the ICS 4.0.4 update for Galaxy Note users in German. And today, more regions including most European countries and Asian countries get the Android ICS 4.0.4 update for Galaxy Note.

Hopefully, this update will solve some of the battery issues most users experienced in GB and ICS 4.0.3.

Now, all Galaxy Note users are expecting the next major update for Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). The information we have is that Galaxy Note  and S3 will get the Jelly Bean update, probably in Q1 2013.

Also, the coming Galaxy Note 2 (with ICS pre-installed, not Jelly Bean) will be very likely announced in the IFA 2012 (August 31-Sept. 5) and start to shipping in November (roughly one year after the release date for Galaxy Note) . So, hopefully, in the Q1 of 2013, both Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 will get the Jelly Bean (4.1) update.

Anyway,today’s minor update (from 4.0.3 to 4.0.4)  is about 100MB.  So, please try to download through WiFi or Kies if your mobile data is very limited.

Any questions? please post the  in the comments section below or in the Galaxy Note Forums.

ics-4.0.4-galaxy-note-updated…

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Why did I get less free RAM after the ICS update in my Galaxy Note?

By 28 Comments · ·

Some users felt the sluggish immediately after the ICS update on the Galaxy Note. Some users even want to go back to Gingerbread, as commented by some users on the post of Top 10 questions on ICS update for your Galaxy Note and Ice Cream Sandwich is coming to your Galaxy Note

Of course, it is NOT necessary to go back to GB. Don’t over-react on the feeling. In this post, I will share with you how to read your available RAMs, and some tips to make your Note more responsive.

During the ICS update, for some unknown reasons, all apps will be started (we all know all apps will be re-installed by the updater, but I am not sure why they are started). So, after the update, your Note will not so responsive. A quick solution is rebooting your phone after the update. Most apps will not run automatically, so, after the reboot, only some apps started.

Now, you can check your memory (RAM) usage through Settings–Applications–Running. You should have 200-400MB free RAM. This is more than sufficient for most apps!! For example, for my note as shown below, it still have 299MB free RAM after running a few days.

But if I use the bundled Task Manager, it reported only 101MB free RAM as shown in the screenshot below. This is why a lot of  users get scared!. Do not trust any task manager or system info apps. Most of them suck. Most of apps report available RAM inaccurately.

Wait a minute, the specification says my Galaxy Note have 1GB ram, but it shows I only have about 800MB.  Is Samsung cheating us? Surely not. The about 200MB RAM is reserved by the system, mainly for GPU.  In your Galaxy Note, there is a GPU (Mali 400-MP, to be precisely) whose duty is to render whatever to be shown on the screen. All such embedded GPUs do not have “dedicated” memory: they have to share the system RAM (your 1GB RAM). As GPU need contiguous (both physical and virtual)  address, memory should be …

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AllAboutGalaxyNote updated: from one-way communication to N-way

By 2 Comments · ·

galaxy-note-owners-communityYou may already notice this blog was updated this weekend: from a blog to a community.

Blogging is an effective to share experience, to discuss some specific issues with a small group peers. This is the original format of AllAboutGalaxyNote.com, powered by WordPress.

However, when a blog post has 100-200 discussions, the limitation is obvious: it is hard to navigate (although WordPress is really a solid platform). In addition, it is very hard for a visitor to start a new topic  due to the default security control in WordPress. So, an integrated forum is needed.

Sometimes, some people prefer private discussions. This is also hard to implement in WordPress.A private messaging system would be also helpful.

After some comparison, I chose BuddyPress, which is a social plugin for WordPress to extend the functions of WordPress.  So, all contents (posts and comments) are preserved. Now we get additional features with this update:

  • Private messaging (for registered users)
  • Forum
  • Chat room (coming soon)
  • Facebook integration (some users want to receive update from Facebook)
  • Google+ page (again, some users, like me, prefer receive update through RSS or Google +)

Now the communication is N-way.

Please give us feedback on any features, as well as your other suggestions.

What else do you want to have here?

 

 

 …

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How to solve battery issues after ICS update in your Galaxy Note?

By 322 Comments · ·

galaxy-note-battery-issuesUpdate: although the post was initially written for Galaxy Note with ICS, the method actually works for Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 3 and many other Android devices with different versions of Android.

After ICS update, some Galaxy Note users complained about poorer battery life compared with that with Gingerbread. Initially, I thought it is a problem of “feeling” because I personally felt similar battery life after the ICS update. I was a bit disappointed because I had expected some sort of battery life improvements.

Suddenly, last week, I encountered the battery drain issue: battery just draining crazily. In one hour it can drain 3-10% battery capacity when the phone is idle. So, I know the users complaining are not alone.

As I finished my investigation and found the culprit, now I share with you how to solve battery issues on your Galaxy Note after the ICS Update. If you already have battery issues or you feel you have battery issues, you may follow my steps.

First, I installed an free app called CPU Spy (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bvalosek.cpuspy), which will give you the duration of  each CPU state. When your phone is idle (screen off, no music playing, no downloading), normally, your CPU should be in “Deep Sleep” state. For example, after one night, you check your CPU Spy, it should look like this.

As you can see, this is the normal situation. In the night, 95%of the time, the CPU is in deep sleep, and after 11 hours, about 6% battery was drained (I also checked emails before sleep).  If your phone does not go to deep sleep, you will find the duration on other state is higher. Very likely, you have battery drain issues if more than 20% battery are drained when you are sleeping (6-10 hours),  You probably will find far larger percentage on 200MHz state. If more than 30% are drained in one night, very likely, your phone never goes to Deep Sleep state.

So, install the CPU Spy (free), use your Galaxy note as usual for a few hours,  fully charge your phone, disconnect …

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Top 10 questions on ICS update for your Galaxy Note

By 328 Comments · ·

galaxy-note-ics-update-girl-with-phonesYes, ICS update is available for about one third Galaxy Note users. To get the most current    status on the availability of ICS update in different regions, you may check this post (I will update it once new info is available).

I received some inquiries on ICS update for Galaxy Note: some are through comment of the post mentioned above; others are through Google+.  For all these questions, I tried my best to answer them, and will continue to answer them.

I noticed there are some repeated questions, so I decided to put some frequently asked ones in this post to save reader’s time. It will not be just 10, as I will always update it if it is necessary.

Question #1. Why did some users get the ICS update earlier than me? 

Normally, firmware update must go through local testing. For regions with more users (and so Samsung collected more money there), the testing usually is faster. And Samsung also may put some sorts of priority for such regions.

The second reason is that the local carrier may want to bundle more bloatware (in addition to that bundled by Samsung). This may slightly delay the update availability. If your handset is subsidized, the carrier always tries very hard to give you more bloatware.

Another possible reason is marketing scheduling. For example, if Samsung is planning to launch Galaxy S3 in your region, usually it is not a good idea to release ICS update for Galaxy Note (another flagship product) just a few days before the launching event. In this case, the update will be normally scheduled after the event.

Question #2. Why should I update to ICS?

ICS update for your Galaxy Note is just a software update. Software generally is getting better and better: more stable, more functions, more compatible apps. Android 4.0 (ICS) is a major update merging software stacks for phone (Ginger Bread) and tablet (Android 3.0, Honeycomb). So, it is almost perfect for Galaxy Note, which is somewhere between phone and tablet.

Specifically, with ICS update for your Galaxy Note, you get

  • Latest
…

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Ice Cream Sandwich is coming to your Galaxy Note

By 399 Comments · ·

ICS update for Galaxy Note

The long-waited Ice Cream Sandwich (aka Android 4.0) is quietly rolled out to unlocked Galaxy Notes. This is firstly reported by Devin Balentina.
It seems only some users in Europe can update now, and none of users in Asia can get it up to now. The size of this update is reported at 318MB. The hyped Premium Suite is included.

Of course, this update is for international version, not the US (AT&T) version.

I will post my hands-on report once my Note get updated.

Did you get the update?

Update 1: The update is only available for Galaxy Note users in Europe up to now (8:50am GMT, May 11).

Update 2: Samsung Mobile Singapore confirmed the ICS update for Singapore Galaxy Note users is still under local testing. So, Singapore Note users have to wait at least a few weeks.

Update 3: Samsung Mobile Hong Kong confirmed the ICS update will be available for Hong Konmg users in May.

Update 4: Update for US (AT&T version) Galaxy Note users has not scheduled, although the leaked ROM seems close to release. But AT&T will decide when to roll it out.

Update 5: ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in India and Korea today (May 23).

Update 6:  ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in Singapore today (May 25).

Update 7:  ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Taiwan,the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and  Vietnam today (May 25)

Update 8: ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in UK today. (June 1)

Update 9:  ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in Baltic states,  Czech, Ireland, Russia, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago today. (June 8)

Update 10:  ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in Kuwait, Morocco, Portugal,  Slovenia,  United Arab Emirates today. (June 13)

Update 11:  ICS update for Galaxy Note has been rolled out in Iran. (June 14)

Update 12.…

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Ice Cream Sandwich for Galaxy Note leaked (for AT&T version)

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galaxy-note-with-ice-cream-sandwich.jpgYes, about 5 million Galaxy Note users are patiently waiting for the update to the delicious Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS, aka Android 4.0) since last November. Initially, we heard the ICS update will be available together with Galaxy SII  in March. Later, Samsung officially announced the ICS update for Galaxy Note would be pushed to Q2, with Premium Suite specially for Galaxy Note.

Yesterday, another ICS ROM for Galaxy Note was leaked. According to Rootzwiki, the build is for AT &T version, not the international version. It has most functions (e.g., face unlocking) expected in ICS and almost all works flawlessly.

SlashGear/Android Community also put a 5-min video on Youtube:

If you have an AT & T version of Galaxy Note, and want to try the update, you may follow these steps (it may avoid your warranty and may damage your phone!!):

  1.  download the file from RootzWiki site to your Windows PC (it works on Windows PC only)
  2. Connect your Note to PC through USB
  3. Power off and boot to flash mode (press volume down and power buttons simultaneously ), then confirm with volume up
  4. Run the downloaded Odin OneClick file
  5. Follow the instructions to flash your ROM
Anyway, it seems the waiting for ICS on Galaxy Note will be over soon!

 …

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Ice Cream Sandwich will goes to Galaxy Note in Q2 of 2012

By 5 Comments · ·

Samsung-GALAXY-Note-ics-update-android-4In February, we reported that Galaxy Note probably would get the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS, aka, Android 4.0) update in March (together with Galaxy SII).

Obviously, Samsung missed the target. Galaxy SII users in Europe and some other regions started to receive ICS update about two weeks ago. Nothing for Galaxy Note users.

Last week, Samsung officially pushed the date to Q2. So, your waiting time should vary from one week to one week plus 3 months. Usually, when a phone manufacturer tells in Q2, it usually means June; it seldom means April.

The good news is that Samsung will bundle the S-Pen “Premium Suite” Apps together with your delicious ICS. You may watch the preview video of this  “Premium Suite” on Youtube. It is not so bad, anyway.

 

 

 …

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Galaxy Note (and SII) will receive Ice Cream Sandwich in early March

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Tipster Eldar Murtazin (Editor-in-Chief of Mobile-Review.com) said Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich, ICS) will hit S II in March in a recent tweet.

In November 2011, Samsung confirmed  Ice Cream Sandwich would be coming to its Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note smartphones some time in 2012. In last December, the release date was further narrowed to the first quarter of 2012.

According to the information we received, Samsung is still testing the firmware update on selected handsets in Korea. The roll-out date has been tentatively scheduled in the first week of March through Kies first in Asia, immediately followed by Europe market.

Interested? wait another  two or three weeks.

 …

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