After a couple of months since the most recent Android Galaxy S iteration was released, we’ve noticed that more and more users are reporting issues similar to previous Galaxy S phones. We hope that this post today will help address some of the common #GalaxyS7 problems some members of our community encounters.

Below are the topics discussed in this material today:

Galaxy S7 Google Assistant keeps popping up when playing Netflix
Galaxy S7 sends duplicate SMS when connected to wifi
Galaxy S7 edge sound out of sync when recording videos on Snapchat
Galaxy S7 won’t save video clips
Accidentally dropped Galaxy S7 has black screen issue
Galaxy S7 edge won’t turn on after installing firmware update
Galaxy S7 restarts after taking a picture
Galaxy S7 “IMS service has stopped” error | Galaxy S7 infected by virus

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy S7 Google Assistant keeps popping up when playing Netflix

The Google Assistant comes on by itself. It happens whenever I use Netflix but will also happen spontaneously. Usually at the same time the “media” volume will go up and down by itself or the “ringtone” volume will go up and down by itself. This happens when the phone is sitting on the table and I am not touching it as well as when I am running Netflix. I followed the steps you gave to another user who was having issues with Google Assistant when she played music. That did not solve the problem. To get rid of the GA, I press back. It keeps coming back four, five or six times before it decides to take a break. I hope you can help me. Thank you. — Rebecca

Solution: Hi Rebecca. We don’t think your problem is caused by a setting in the Google Assistant app. In other words, the problem is not due to the current state of Google Assistant (whether it is on or off) but by something, probably a bug we don’t know about. It’s still best to turn off Google Assistant though.

Turn off Google Assistant

There are two ways to do that, depending on the software environment running on the device. Here are the steps on how to do it:

Method 1:

From the Home screen, slide the apps list up and open the “Google” app.
Select the “Menu” icon located at the upper-left corner, then choose “Settings“.
Under “Google Assistant” choose “Settings“.
If disabled. you will be prompted to turn Google Assistant on. To disable it, proceed to the next step.
Slide the “Google Assistant” setting to “On” or “Off” as desired.

Method 2:

On your phone, touch and hold the Home button.
At the top right, tap More and then Settings.
Next to “Google Assistant,” turn off the switch.

Observe the phone in safe mode

If turning off Google Assistant won’t fix the problem, try to boot the phone to safe mode and observe the phone for some time. This will help you determine if a third party app is intervening in the function of Google Assistant app and causing it to behave erratically. Booting to safe mode will block third party apps and services so if the issue won’t occur, that’s a confirmation of our hunch. When in safe mode, try to observe the phone as long as you can and replicate the issue by playing Netflix or something that seemed to trigger the issue before. Here are the steps on how to do it:

Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
Press and hold the Power button.
Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
Observe the phone for at least 24 hours.

Return software settings to default by factory reset

If safe mode won’t help and the issue continues, you can do the more drastic option of wiping the phone clean via factory reset. Factory reset will wipe the phone clean and revert all software settings to default. Make sure that you create a backup of your files such as photos, videos, etc., before proceeding. To factory reset your S7, follow these steps:

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

Home button must be defective

If factory reset won’t fix your issue, there’s a chance that the Home button may be defective, sending false inputs to the operating system that you’re pressing and holding it (one of the ways to pull up Google Assistant is by pressing and holding the Home button). If the issue persists, we recommend that the you send the phone in so the hardware can be checked. Better still, simply ask for a replacement phone instead of having the phone repaired.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 sends duplicate SMS when connected to wifi

Hi. My issue involves my Galaxy S7 sending multiple texts, i.e.: the same text 2 or 3 times to the recipient. This happens no matter what phone the recipient has. It’s happening with friends on Android and Apple devices. It appears to only be happening when I am connected to my home wifi. My wifi is through AT&T UVerse. When I turn off my wifi and just use the Sprint Network, the duplicating texts is no longer an issue. I have troubleshooted multiple settings with no luck. It also seems that this mostly happens at night. Any thoughts on something I can set on my phone or could this be an issue with my AT&T Uverse wifi? — Suzy

Solution: Hi Suzy. We don’t think the issue lies with your AT&T Uverse wifi at all. SMS, whether or not it’s sent or received via wifi, is managed by your wireless carrier’s system so the problem may lie on their end, or on the phone’s software itself. If you have a Galaxy S7 from Sprint, you are most probably using Wifi calling feature in order to send/receive SMS/MMS. The feature works by simply using existing wifi connection to the internet to allow your phone to contact Sprint servers instead of the usual cellular network. The bulk of the steps in the complex processing of text messages still resides in both the phone and in your network’s servers though so you should focus your troubleshooting in these areas.

To see if it’s a phone issue, the first troubleshooting step that you can try is to wipe the cache partition. This will make sure that the phone uses an updated system cache. Here’s how to do it:

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

If wiping the cache partition won’t work, the next thing that you can do is to delete the messaging app’s cache and data:

Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6.0.
Once in there, click on an application.
You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

You can also try to factory reset the phone should nothing appears to improve the situation. Refer to the steps above.

Finally, if factory reset won’t work at all, contact Sprint technical support and let them know about the problem.

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 edge sound out of sync when recording videos on Snapchat

Hey Android Guy. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge that is giving me trouble when recording videos on Snapchat. Once the video is played back the sound is out of sync. I have figured out that this is caused by Sunday Voice when Voice Wake-up is enabled.

When Voice Wake-up is switched off the sync issue does not occur. This is great except for the fact that I find Voice Wake-up very useful. Do you know more about this issue and if I can have my cake and it by having Voice switched on and my videos playing in sync.

Really appreciate your time in reading this. Thanks a million. — Maitiú

Solution: Hi Maitiú. There’s nothing that we can do to help you with this issue. You must talk to the developers of the apps involved so they can do some coding changes to their products to work properly. It can be a limitation on the Snapchat app so make sure to let the developer know that their app won’t work when a Samsung feature is enabled.

Problem #4: Galaxy S7 won’t save video clips

Hi. I recently bought a Samsung S7 and when i record any videos they don’t save properly and show a “!” error mark. When i go to view them they would say file not supported. I was saving them straight to my SD card and the error would show so I started saving them direct to phone instead. But I still get the error “!” appear, not letting me view my video clips. One day i filmed over 10 clips and not one saved then next day filmed one clip and saved fine which is very frustrating. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you. — Sarah

Solution: Hi Sarah. Your problem may be caused by an unknown software bug as we haven’t heard of this problem before. Try wiping the cache partition first to see if that will help the camera app work properly again. If the system cache is not the cause of this trouble, a third party app may be so the next step is to restart the phone in safe mode. If that too will not help you fix it, try deleting the camera app’s cache and data. Finally, if all else fails, wipe the phone clean by performing a factory reset.

Problem #5: Accidentally dropped Galaxy S7 has black screen issue

Hello. I have a Galaxy S7 and I dropped it today while skating. The screen cracked slightly in the corner near the camera, but is still almost fully intact. I tried to use the phone and realized that the screen background light will not turn on, I am unable to see anything on the screen (it remains black, but the notification lights still work, sounds work, and vibrate works). Also it charges. I tried to reset the phone by pressing Volume down and Power simultaneously, it does turn on but I still am unable to see the screen. Any solutions? — Sky-blue

Solution: Hi Sky-blue. Your phone has taken hardware damage so there’s no amount of software troubleshooting and hacks that you can do to fix it. You need to have the hardware checked by Samsung (if it’s still under warranty) or by an independent service center if Samsung is not readily available. The best scenario that you can hope is for damage concentrated in the screen assembly only. If the unnecessary shock due to accidental drop damaged other components or broke loose some contacts, you may be looking at a possible motherboard replacement, which is more costly than a screen replacement. Keep in mind that our suggestion that you bring the phone to Samsung service center is to ensure that your phone will be repaired by trained technicians. It doesn’t mean however that the repair will be free as dropping your device constitutes customer misuse, which automatically voids the warranty. A screen replacement may cost somewhere between $150 to $300 so make up your mind for the additional cost. A motherboard replacement may cost more than this range.

Problem #6: Galaxy S7 edge won’t turn on after installing firmware update

Hi. I was wondering if you can help. I’ve got a Samsung S7 Edge and after a firmware update by phone rebooted a few times and then got a black screen with a blue continuous light. Please help as I can’t do anything on the phone. — Mansuk

Solution: Hi Mansuk. When faced with an issue such as yours, the main thing that you should address first is whether the phone can still boot up. Only then can you do follow up steps. If you can’t do that, there’s nothing more that you can do except to send the phone in for repair. To see if your phone can still boot up, try the steps below.

Boot in Recovery mode:

Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
Wait until the Download screen appears.
If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
Press and hold the Power button.
Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

Problem #7: Galaxy S7 restarts after taking a picture

I got an S7. Almost every time I took a picture, the phone froze and most of the time restarted after awhile. It got worse where I’d have to use the tear drop. I took it in then did the warranty. Last night I got a new phone. I was worried it was something on my phone so I didn’t transfer files. The first picture I took today it restarted itself after freezing for 5 minutes. This is infuriating as I moved to a Droid for the camera for my kids. If in an emergency I couldn’t even use my phone. I paid $695 dollars for something that doesn’t work. Please help. — Laurie

Solution: Hi Laurie. If the replacement phone behaves exactly as the first one, the cause of the problem must be something you introduced after setting up the phone. This means that the cause can be any of the installed apps, or the SD card. To check, try booting the phone to safe mode. Once the phone has been restarted to safe mode, try to replicate the problem by taking pictures. If the issue won’t occur, that means that one of the installed apps is causing it. To identify which of the apps is problematic, you must uninstall apps one by one, making sure that you observe how the phone behaves after every uninstallation.

The other thing that you can try is to see if it’s the SD card that’s triggering crash. If you have another SD card, format it using your phone and see if the problem continues.

Problem #8: Galaxy S7 “IMS service has stopped” error | Galaxy S7 infected by virus

Hi. My friend’s phone is saying IMS and we have been researching how to stop it. Things like “IMS service has stopped” and its coming up every 15 seconds. It’s coming up with too many unwanted notifications lagging your device, select 360 notification manager to help you clean when this virus was happening it was on charge. We have been researching how to fix it but nothing’s coming up. We don’t want to lose all there photos and everything else if you could let us know that would be great. — Porcha

Solution: Hi Porcha. The phone may have been infected by malware so you want to factory reset it. Viruses or other forms of malware are usually transmitted by malicious apps so make sure that you only install ones from trusted developers. Before you factory reset the device, make sure that you create a backup of your files. If you can’t create a backup at this time, try installing an antivirus in your phone and scan it. Some viruses will prevent installation of antivirus apps. If this is happening in your phone, you have no other choice but to factory reset the phone without creating a backup.

Here are the steps on how to master/factory reset your phone:

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

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

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Galaxy S7 Google Assistant keeps popping up when playing Netflix, other issues