Samsung Galaxy S5 Tutorials, How Tos and Tips [Part 2]

Welcome to the second part of the common tutorials our readers are asking us to publish.

The topics below are the items that we are covering in this post.

• Rooting an S5 using Towelroot hack
• Unrooting a Samsung Galaxy S5 (any variant)
• How to enable Developer Mode on an S5
• How to move game files to an SD card
• Tips on how to optimize Samsung S5 camera

How to root a Samsung Galaxy S5 using Towelroot exploit

Rooting a Samsung phone has never been this easy. Thanks to Geohot’s Towelroot, any S5 user can now root their phone very easily under a minute. The surprisingly fast and easy root procedure is mainly due to how the exploit is designed–as a downloadable app. Yes, even a first time user cannot commit a fatal error simply because the process is so easy and does not even require a PC to do it unlike other root procedures for other phones.

To do it, just follow the steps below.

1. Enable Unknown Sources. Towelroot app is not sanctioned by Google Play Store so you must allow your phone to sideload it. Just go to Settings, tap Security, and put a check mark on the box that says Unknown Sources. Press OK to confirm the change.
2. Download the app. Using your phone’s web browser, go to https://towelroot.com/, tap the lambda icon and download the APK file. Check your phone’s notification bar and tap Install once download is finished.
3. Initiate rooting. Open Towelroot app and tap the button that says make it ra1n. Wait for at least 20 seconds as the phone processes and copy needed files. The phone will reboot afterwards. That’s basically it and you now have superuser access.

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How to unroot any Samsung Galaxy S5 variant

Unrooting a Samsung Galaxy S5 running Towelroot exploit is easy. Just go over the list of steps below and you are on your way to restoring the phone’s factory settings.

1. Install Chainfire’s SuperSU. This is a free app that you can download from Google Play Store.
2. Update Superuser Binaries. In order for your SuperSU app to unroot your Galaxy S5, the latest superuser binaries. Just think of it as a partner of your SuperSU app to work properly. You can do the update by simply opening SuperSU app then tapping Continue when a pop up will ask you if you want to update SU binary. Select Normal as the method of installation. Tap Cancel if prompted whether or know to disable KNOX. Hit OK to confirm the modification. This will tell the phone to reboot itself.
3. Unrooting the phone. After the phone reboots, open the SuperSU app again, then hit Cancel once it asks if you want to delete Knox. Tap Settings tab on top and look for a line that says Full Unroot. Tap Full Unroot and hit Continue. Your phone will reboot and will revert back to its stock ROM. Unrooting finished!

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How to enable developer options

For some unknown reason, Samsung has decided to hide developer mode in all its phones after Android 4.2 was released. Perhaps, the most common reasoning would be to keep some curious minds from tweaking something that may cause problems. Whatever the real reason is though, enabling developer options by default should have been left unchanged.

Anyway, enabling developer mode is not difficult to do. The steps below should guide you on what to do.

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to the System and tap About Device
3. Now scroll down to Build number
4. Tap Build number section seven times. (You’ll see a warning that you’re about to unlock developer options.)
5. Now back out to the main settings menu, and you’ll see Developer options listed.

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How to move game files to an SD card

There can be a variety of  reasons why you want to move your game files to an SD card but the most obvious one is to free up your phone’s limited internal memory storage.  This guide will walk you through the steps on how to move graphics-heavy game files to an SD card. Today’s games can take precious GBs out of an S5’s internal memory storage so moving your games to an SD card can dramatically give your S5’s memory unit a much needed boost.

By default, Samsung does not allow moving game files or OBB files to an SD card. Fortunately, an outstanding hack can lift this restriction rather easily if you meet three requirements:

• Installed Xposed Framework
• Unknown Sources enabled
• Rooted Android device

In case your S5 is not rooted yet or may be missing the needed Xposed Framework, please visit our tutorial page for instructions.

To proceed with this tutorial, please follow the steps below:

1. Download and Install “KitKat SD Card Full Access”. Assuming that you have installed Xposed Framework on your phone, your first step is to open Xposed Installer app and look for KitKat SD Card Full Access (developed by Murlan Nuhanov) under the Download section. Tap the very first option that shows on top and swipe over to the Versions tab and hit the Download button. Tap Install button when prompted and press Done when finished.
2. Install OBB on SD Module. Open Xposed Framework app again and head back to Download section. Search for OBB on SD from Marcel Dopita. This is the module that does the real process of moving OBB files to an SD card. Because this app is at its beta stage, we need to make sure that we change one option before downloading it. Go to Settings tab, tap Version to be shown, select Experimental from the list, then press Download button after swiping back over to the Versions tab.
3. Enable the modules and do a reboot. Now it’s time to activate both modules for the changes to take effect. Just press the drop-menu from any screen on the Xposed Installer app and select Modules. Put check marks on the box for each module, reboot the phone, and hit OK when prompted.
4. Begin copying OBB files. After your phone reboots, you can begin moving your game files to your SD card. You may want to use any file manager app you already have to browse for your game files.

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Tips on how to optimize Samsung S5 camera

One of the best things in a Samsung Galaxy S5 is its amazing camera. It’s easy to see why so many users love to take pictures using their S5. Most probably, you are one of many S5 owners who uses their camera to preserve their memories and to capture moments of their lives.

Samsung has packed lots of features within its flagship phone that a basic user may feel overwhelmed. We outlined some of the fundamentals of S5’s camera in this guide to help you get started.

1. Familiarize yourself with the defaults. If you’ve been using a smartphone for some time now, you must have noticed the difference how an S5 photo differs from photo capture of another phone, say, an iPhone or another Android phone. You may or may not like the default settings  of an S5 camera so it won’t hurt if you tailor fit them to your preferences. Some of the default settings that Samsung enable out of the box includes video stabilization and Ultra HD video. You may want to keep an eye on them if you they don’t align with your taste.
2. Keep tabs on photo effects. It’s amazing how good an S5 camera can be, especially in enhancing photos with the aid of a collection of effects. To access photo effects, just head to the settings menu and look for a magic wand icon. You can preview how a picture looks like with a particular photo effect in real time and there are several effects to choose from.
3. Take advantage of HDR. High dynamic Range or HDR is a term most commonly used by imaging professionals to refer to a set of techniques to stitch together a number of photos to make a single, better-quality image. HDR basically combines several pictures of the same subject of different levels of composites and exposures to produce a stunningly, surreal picture. Depending on your taste, HDR on an S5 may or may not produce the image that you like so feel free to turn it on or off by tapping on the Venn diagram icon.
4. Play with selective focus. Your S5 allows you to manipulate the depth of field in your photos to make them look like a product a professional. This can be achieved with the aid of selective focus feature by allowing you to change the focal point of an image. This function can give a great option to sharpen only a nearby object, objects in the background, or even the entire picture. There are three options under this feature: Near, Far, and Pan focus.

These four items are only some of the editing tools you can enjoy in your S5 although you can continue to explore many other features packed in your camera app.