Galaxy S7 contacts list are not in alphabetical order, can’t sort icons in the Apps screen, other issues

Today, we bring you #GalaxyS7 solutions to relating to issues about contacts, icon sorting, and notifications. We hope you’ll find this post helpful.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Galaxy S7 contacts list are not sorted alphabetically, can’t sort icons in the Apps screen

I have my contacts list organised alphabetically by first name. But when I try to compose a fresh SMS message, it jumbles the contact list. Some are by last name and others are at the bottom of list if they have numbers somewhere in the name! Looked everywhere on the phone to resolve this and nothing.

Also, slightly unrelated but I’m having issues moving icons on the app screen. When selecting edit to make them move around, I try moving them to a different position or page and they always seem to snap back into original position. After about 50 tries I can move them eventually. These two issues are driving me insane! Can you help please? Thanks in advance. — John Smith

Solution: Hi John. If you’re using the stock Contacts app, there are only two ways to sort your contacts: either by First name or Last name. Make sure that the under the Name format section, you select First, last option. Naturally, if the name of your contacts have numbers in them, sorting will be done differently and may appear illogical. Be sure to help the system by eliminating numbers or non-alphabet characters mess with how it sort the contacts list. If you can’t get away with numbers in the names, be sure to make them in a logical order. For example, if you have multiple John Does in the list, you can differentiate each one by doing something like this:

1. John Doe1
2. John Doe2
3. John Doe3
4. John Doe4

Remember, your phone may be smart but it’s not smart enough to recognize what you intend your contacts list to be like.

For the second issue, we think you’re confusing some things up. First of all, there are only two things that you can do when you’re in the Apps screen: edit and sort. When you select Edit, you should be able to move things around by pressing, holding, then dragging the icon to the desired position. Once you’re satisfied, you can then tap DONE to confirm the change.

If your apps seem to appear to return to their original position after editing the Apps screen though, that’s probably because you selected a different sorting option. Be sure use Custom order under Sort to retain the non-alphabetical order you selected.

Problem 2: Galaxy S7 SMS are sent in duplicates, keeps saying “message not sent”

Hello. Thank you for listening. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 and my service provider is Straight Talk. Usually, I use the Facebook Messenger app to send messages and texts but, recently the app has been saying “message not sent” and the other person receives the text twice. I’ve tried shutting down/restarting the phone, uninstalling the app, all to no avail. I called Samsung and the lady on the phone told me to use the “volume up/power button/home screen” option to try and reset the software. None of this has helped. I don’t want to perform a factory reset, but I feel that is my only option. Thank you for your time. Sincerely. — Kevin Prince

Solution: Hi Kevin. Before doing a factory reset, consider checking if it’s an app issue first. This is a simple step and you can do that by using a different messaging app like the stock Messages app from Samsung. If you have another third party messaging app like Google Hangouts, you can also try that. If the problem continues to show when using a different app, then possible remaining reasons include:

1. an operating system bug
2. a firmware coding issue,
3. or a network problem

If it’s an operating system bug or a firmware coding issue, you may be able to fix it by doing a factory reset. If that’s not it. You should let your carrier know about the problem.

For reference, here are the steps on how to factory reset your phone:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Problem 3: Galaxy S7 edge SMS won’t work during calls, Calendar notifications not working

Hi. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and having a few issues with it. I don’t know if its settings or the phone its self as i have tried the SIM in another phone and it worked fine.

The first issue is i cant send or receive text messages while i am on a phone call and sometimes the 4G and wifi is on at the same time. i have tried looking everywhere but can’t find anything.

The second is before i would get a notification of a calendar event and now there is no notification. But when i open the phone it gets something where before when the screen was locked there was a window with the event there. And the next is basically the same. I am not getting a notification window for a text message. Can someone please help me? Thanks. — Jonnocd

Solution: Hi Jonnocd. The first issue has anything to do with the SIM card at all. We’ve observed this behavior in some Samsung devices designed for CDMA networks. This is usually because some CDMA phones are built with one radio only. So, if a device is on a call, mobile data will normally be shut off to allow signals for voice calls to work freely. In theory, SMS should still work though as text messaging uses a different channel in CDMA networks. We can’t be sure if your issue is isolated to your device, which means that it may not be true for all similar devices in your network, or if there’s a coding issue behind it. We suggest that you do the basic software troubleshooting in your device like cache partition wipe and factory reset to know this. If the problem remains after a factory reset, you should contact your carrier for first hand information. Such behavior may be how it’s designed by your carrier so you may not be able to “fix” it.

For reference, here are the steps on how to wipe the cache partition and factory reset your S&:

1. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
2. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
3. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
4. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

For notification-related issues, there are a number of things that you want to check.

Ensure that app notification is enabled. The first thing that you want to do is to ensure that the app is permitted to show or display notifications. You can do this by enabling notifications within said app’s settings. Here’s how:

1. Open the app in question.
2. Tap the three-dot icon at the upper right side.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Move the slider for Notifications to the right to enable it.
5. Tap Notifications.
6. Tap Notification sound.
7. Select the tone you want to use.
8. If necessary, try to check Set default reminders to ensure that Calendar event notifications are what you want.
9. Restart the device.

Verify that system sound notification is enabled. Sometimes, app notifications settings won’t work if the operating system sound notifications are not set up correctly. To check, make sure that you do the following:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Sounds and vibration.
3. Tap Notification sounds.
4. Tap Calendar notifications.
5. Tap Notification sound.
6. Select the tone you want to use.
7. Restart the device.

Check if a third party app is responsible. We don’t know the full history of your device so we can’t say for certain whether or not a third party app is causing this problem. You need to check it yourself. To do that, you need to restart your S7 to safe mode. Here’s how:

1. Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
6. Observe how Calendar event notifications work. If the issue won’t occur, you can bet one of your apps is to blame.

Clear Calendar app’s cache and data. If all the steps above won’t help, consider wiping the email app’s cache and data to see what happens. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
3. Once in there, look for the application and tap it.
4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more.
5. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
6. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application.

 

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