How to fix Galaxy J7 texting or calling issues: not receiving text or call alerts

Hello and welcome to another #GalaxyJ7 troubleshooting article. Today’s post will try to answer three common issues that many J7 users encounter. We hope you’ll find our solutions helpful in fixing your own issues.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy J7 texting or calling issues: not receiving text or call alerts

I have the J7 refine and I will be able to send/receive messages and receive phone calls with no problems and then someone will tell me they called or texted me several times. I check my phone, i have no missed calls and no messages but if I restart my phone right then, once it’s restarted all these messages and missed calls come through. It happens all the time, I could be at home with excellent service or at a friend’s where I am also connected. I have 4 bars and and full internet and wifi. I don’t understand why this keeps happening but I’m afraid I could miss a call or message and it could be an emergency! I don’t know what to do!!

Solution: At this point, there’s no telling what exactly is going on. Cellular issues of this type can be caused by anything. All you can do are basic device troubleshooting steps. If those steps won’t help or make any difference, it’s possible that the problem may be something that can’t be fixed on your end, or something on the network side.

Force reboot

To begin troubleshooting your device, you can force restart your phone. Sometimes, this simple procedure can fix bugs that developed after the system has run for a long time. Just turn off the phone, remove the battery, leave the phone off for about 10 seconds, then insert the battery again to power the phone back on. This should clear the memory (RAM) and refresh the system. This is, at times, enough to prevent bugs from running.

Install system and app updates

Don’t underestimate updates. In fact, sometimes, updates are even necessary in fixing network issues. Make sure that your phone’s firmware is up-to-date. The same is true for all apps.

Check for bad third party app

In case the problem is caused by a bad app, you can try to restart your phone to safe mode. Doing so will suspend all third party apps, allowing only pre-installed ones to run. If the problems are absent when your phone is on safe mode, that’s a clear indication that one of your apps is causing all these troubles.

To boot your J7 to safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
8. Observe the phone and see if the problems are present.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

1. Boot to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
5. If your J7 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Reset app preferences

Resetting app preferences is oftentimes overlooked in many Android troubleshooting articles but when it comes to an issue like yours, it might help a lot. It’s possible that one or some of your default apps may not be set correctly, causing this glitch to occur. Because there’s no way to know if this guess is true, what you need to do is to simply ensure that all default apps are turned on. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Select Reset app preferences.
5. Restart your J7 and check for the problem.

Reset Network settings

This procedure is separate from the previous one as it covers all settings of your Android device and not just the apps. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
3. Tap Reset network settings.
4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

This is the last resort on your level. The goal is to return all software setting to their known working status. If the reason for the problem is due to a software bug, factory reset should fix it.

To factory reset your J7:

1. Create a backup of your data.
2. Turn off the device.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
4. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.
11. Let the phone run for a few days but do not install any app. Try to replicate the problem.

Contact your network operator

Factory reset can only do so much in this case. If the main reason for the problem is not in the device itself, even a factory reset will be of no use. So, if the issue returns after a factory reset and even when there are no apps installed, your problem is not fixable on your end. Make sure that you let your network operator know about it so they can help you troubleshoot it.

Problem #2: What to do if Galaxy J7 loses battery fast

So I have been using this phone for almost 2 years now. It’s great! But since recently it’s power started draining fast. Either I watch Youtube or just stay on it and do nothing , but I got to admit that the phone is draining power the fastest when I watch Youtube. I got to add that I came from a trip with my class but there the power was doing the same. Is it because I use my mom’s charger? She is using a J5 2017. I used her charger since she got it and my phone was doing the same, but I used my charger too and my phone used to charge normally when I was using my charger. But now I got to use her instead to charge cause my phone is draining fast when I stay on it. My charger always charged my phone normal to slowly. I got to add that I used my charger on the trip and there I think it was charging faster. Is it because I used different outlets? Sorry for the too many “charge” words , Thank you!

Solution: After using your phone for 2 years, the battery may have simply lost significant capacity to hold a charge. Lithium-based batteries degrade over time so there’s fair chance that this is the main reason why your phone can’t stay as long it used to at this time. If you want to check this out, replace the current battery with a new official one from Samsung and see what happens.

Recalibrate the battery and Android

Battery degradation is just one of the possibilities. Another likely reason is Android needing calibration to detect battery levels. To see if that’s the case, try to calibrate the battery with these steps:

1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
4. Restart the device.
5. Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Too many apps running in the background

While the number of apps may affect how fast battery drain goes, quality can also be another factor. Poorly coded apps, malicious apps, viruses, malware, can also play a role. Try to check battery usage under Settings and see what apps and services tops the list. If there are many you don’t recognize, they’re probably the reason why your battery drains so fast.

Keep in mind that even legit apps can also contribute to battery drain problem. For instance, frequent culprits in this situation include the likes of Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and any other social networking apps. That’s because this type of apps require regular communication with remote servers to get new updates. If you have a lot of these apps installed and you have constant internet connection on your phone, they can be the reason for the problem.

Problem #3: What to do if Galaxy J7 freezes at Samsung screen and won’t boot up

I have a J7. I put it on WiFi to update apps and it froze and turned off and won’t turn back on at all. tried few things to see if would, it wouldn’t charge either. today tried charging again. it came up with red light and said phone was at 15% then managed to turn on but froze at samsung screen and turned off again. now it has a blue light where it should be red. when charging the blue light stays on all the time and won’t turn on again.

Solution: The first troubleshooting step that you want to do in this case is to check whether or not you have charging accessory issue. We don’t think this is charging accessory issue though so you can skip it. Instead, what you want to do next is to see if there’s an Android operating system bug that prevents the device from booting normally. To do that, you want to restart the phone to either Recovery Mode or Download Mode. Either of them doesn’t require Android to work because each of them are separate software environments. If the issue is with Android OS only, the phone should still be able to boot to either Recovery or Odin Mode. If the phone boots to any of them, that means the problem is probably software-related, which means you may be able to fix it on your level. If not, you’ll most probably end up sending the phone to Samsung.

How to boot a Galaxy J7 to Recovery Mode

1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).

If the phone boots to Recovery, make sure to factory reset it to fix the issue.

How to boot a Galaxy S9 to Downlod Mode

1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. You’ll know if you’re on Download Mode when you see a screen that says “Downloading….”

Odin Mode is a software environment where Samsung technicians install firmware or updates. This is where you flash a firmware. If your phone won’t boot to Recovery Mode but runs in Download Mode, you can consider flashing stock firmware to the device. Flashing is a risky procedure and can potentially brick your phone. If you’re not familiar with it, make sure to do some research first before doing it. Better still, you can let Samsung do it for you.

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