Samsung Galaxy S6 Tutorials, Guides, FAQs, How Tos, and Tips [Part 6]

Howdy readers! Welcome back to our Samsung Galaxy S6 Tutorials, How Tos and Tips — the sixth part of the series. This post serves as a continuation of the second edition, which tackles basic operations every user should know of their new Samsung smartphone, such as working with the Home screen and applications, phone settings menu, screen orientations, and more.

To give you a quick heads-up of what this post is all about, check out the following outline of topics for your reference.

1. Samsung Galaxy S6 Home screen and Applications List
2. Samsung Galaxy S6 Settings Menu
3. Samsung Galaxy S6 Screen Orientation
4. How to capture Screenshots on the Galaxy S6
5. How to launch Apps on the Galaxy S6
6. How to display your Phone Number
7. Samsung Galaxy S6 Airplane Mode Settings
8. How to use the touchscreen Samsung Keyboard and Google Voice Typing
9. How to create and sign in to your Google Account on the Galaxy S6
10. How to access Google Play Store on the Galaxy S6

Read on for a more detailed content of each of the aforementioned topics.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Home screen and Applications List

The Home screen serves as a starting point for applications, functions and menus of your mobile phone. To customize your Home screen, you can add more application icons, shortcuts, folders, widgets, and more items for quick and easy access.

The Galaxy S6 device is schemed with a Home screen that extends beyond the initial screen. You can view or display additional screens by swiping the screen left or right.

By default, the topmost portion of the Galaxy S6 Home screen comprises the Notification Area, Status Area and Status Bar. Beneath the Status bar is the Widget section. Application icons are placed in the mid-section, below Google search. Icons at the bottom are the Primary Shortcuts with Applications (Apps) List.

Let’s get to know more of these Home screen items:

1. Application Icons – are shortcuts to your favorite apps. These shortcuts can be removed or added as you prefer.
2. Apps List – is a primary shortcut available from all Home screens, used to open the applications list.
3. Notification Area – is where notifications for incoming messages, missed calls, and application updates are shown.
4. Primary Shortcuts – refer to the application shortcuts shown in the same area on all your phone’s Home screens. These shortcuts can be customized but the Apps shortcut remains static.
5. Status Area – is where phone and service status information such as signal strength, battery status, Wi-Fi and data connectivity, ringer status, and time are displayed.
6. Status Bar – is where icons to notify you of your phone’s status and notifications are shown.
7. Widgets – are self-contained onscreen applications located on your phone’s Home screen.

Aside from the main Home screen, the Galaxy S6 smartphone also features extended Home screens that offer more space for you to add icons, widgets and other items.

More Hints:

• To display the main Home screen, press the Home key and then drag your finger across the screen to move from the main screen to an extended screen.
• To go to an extended Home screen, swipe left or right.
• To return to the main Home screen from an extended screen, just press the Home key.

Adding More Home Screens

You can add more home screens if you want to set up more widgets or shortcuts than you have allocated for. Follow these steps:

1. Touch and hold an empty space on the Home screen.
2. Scroll through the thumbnail screens to the right until you will see a blank screen with a plus (+) sign.
3. To add the screen, touch the plus (+) sign. You will then see a new blank home screen added to the distant right of your screens.

Accessing the Galaxy S6 Settings Menu

The Settings menu will give you access to adjust and control many functions of your phone like Internet connection, phone security and the display. You can also view what applications are using the most data but the data usage you see may not reflect the actual data usage on your account.

Settings and options on the Galaxy S6 can be customized through the Settings menu. Among these options are the basic settings, Wi-Fi calling settings, Bluetooth, Hotspot, Airplane Mode, Data Usage, and more.

Following are available methods to access the Settings menu on your phone:

First Method

1. Go to the Home screen.
2. Touch Apps.
3. Touch Settings.

Second Method

1. Drag the Notification Panel down to open it.
2. To display the Settings menu, touch Settings.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Screen Orientation

By default, your phone’s screen orientation is set to portrait or vertical orientation. When you rotate the phone sideways, many apps will change to landscape or widescreen orientation.

If you don’t want your screen to switch from portrait to landscape or vice versa, then you can just turn the screen rotation off. Here’s how:

1. Drag down from the top of the screen to open the Status bar.
2. To turn the option OFF or ON, touch Screen rotation. In this case, turn it OFF.

Hints: It may be necessary for you to scroll right or left to view the Screen rotation option. If this option is not available, touch Edit to show/view the complete options list. It should be there. Also, not all screens will adjust for landscape orientation.

How to capture Screenshots on the Galaxy S6

Capturing screenshots on your S6 device can be done in two ways. First, is using the Power and Home keys and second is through palm swipe.

First method

Press and hold the Power key and Home key simultaneously. Doing so will capture a screenshot of the current or active screen.

By default, the current screenshot will be captured and stored in the Screenshots album inside the Gallery of your phone. To access your phone’s Gallery, touch Apps, and then select Gallery.

Second method

Another way to capture a screenshot is through palm swipe. Simply swipe your palm across the screen from side to side. If you opt to use this method, be sure to enable the Palm swipe to capture option under Motions and gestures on your device. Here’s how:

1. Touch Apps from the Home
2. Touch Settings.
3. Touch Motions and
4. Touch the ON/OFF switch next to Palm swipe to capture. Make sure it’s turned ON.

How to launch Applications on the Galaxy S6 

All applications installed in your phone can be accessed and opened from the Apps list. Here’s how:

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen and the apps list will open.
2. Touch an application icon to open or launch the corresponding application.

Apps list on the new S6 device can expand to include any applications you’ve downloaded and install on your device. Among the primary applications that have been pre-installed (built-in) on your device include 1Weather, Amazon, App Pass, Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Drive, eBay, Email, Facebook, Galaxy Apps, Gallery, Gmail, Google, Google Settings, Google+, Hancom Office 2014, Hangouts, Instagram, Internet, Lookout, Maps, and more.

Note: Available apps may vary from carrier to carrier.

How to display your Phone Number on the Galaxy S6

Follow these steps to display the your phone’s wireless phone number:

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Touch About device to view necessary information about your device.
4. To display your wireless phone number, touch Status. You should then see the number shown in the list under My phone number.

How to access Airplane Mode Settings on the Galaxy S6

When you turn on or enable Airplane mode on your device, all functions that send or receive signals will be turned off, while leaving your phone on. This state allows you to use applications that do not require a signal or data.

Here’s how to turn on or enable Airplane Mode on your S6 smartphone:

1. Press and hold the Power key to view the device options menu.
2. Scroll to and touch to select Airplane mode from the given options.
3. Touch Turn on to turn Airplane mode on or activate the feature.

Hint: You will know when your phone is already in airplane mode when the Airplane mode icon appears on the Status Bar.

Another way to access Airplane mode on the Galaxy S6 is through the Notification Panel. To display or open the Notification Panel, slide the Quick settings buttons to the left, and then touch Airplane mode to turn Airplane Mode on.

If you want to turn Airplane mode off, follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the Power key to show the device options menu.
2. Touch Airplane mode from the given options. Doing so will then restore all your wireless connection features on your phone.

How to use the touchscreen Samsung Keyboard and Google Voice Typing

There are different options for you to enter text or type on your S6 device including the touchscreen Samsung keyboard and Google voice typing. Read on to learn how to use either of these text input methods.

Using the touchscreen Samsung keyboard

If you want to use the touchscreen Samsung keyboard for entering text on your Samsung Galaxy S6, you will be prompted with the traditional QWERTY keyboard setup that functions by tapping the keys just like on a computer along with some enhancements and options that will let you enter text faster and more accurately. Among the enhanced features of the touchscreen Samsung keyboard on the S6 device include a continuous key input, personalized usage dictionaries, and more.

The keyboard appearance may also vary depending on which application you are using like Messages or Email, for example.

How to use

To use the touchscreen Samsung keyboard, tap a text entry field and the keyboard displays automatically onscreen, in either portrait or landscape mode.

How to set the Samsung Keyboard for Text Entry

You can select the Samsung keyboard and set it to be your default text input method, if you have several text input methods installed on your phone. To set or assign the Samsung keyboard as default text input method, go to Settings and configure necessary options. Here’s how:

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Touch Language and input.
4. Select Default keyboard.
5. Finally, touch to select Samsung keyboard.

Alternatively, you can choose the Samsung keyboard while entering text on your phone. Here’s how:

1. While entering text, drag down from the top of the screen to launch or open the Notification Panel.
2. Touch Select keyboard.
3. Select Samsung keyboard.

Commonly used keys on the touchscreen Samsung Keyboard

Here are some tips to use the touchscreen Samsung keyboard to enter text on your S6 device.

Enter text by tapping necessary keys. While entering text, you can use the following options:

1. Delete Key – tap this key to delete incorrect characters or if you make a mistake. To delete a whole word or field, touch and hold the Delete key.
2. Shift Key – tap this key to change the case of the text and you will see the arrow will turn blue. To switch to all capitals, tap the Shift key twice and you will see the key will turn blue.
3. Symbols Key – tap this key to switch to a symbols keyboard, and to enter symbols. There are two symbol keyboards available for you to use.
4. Voice Key – touch and hold this key to switch to Google Voice typing and enter text by speaking. Please see Google Voice Typing guide to learn more.
5. Spacebar Key – swipe your finger over the Spacebar Key to switch between languages, if you have more than one language selected in the touchscreen Samsung Keyboard settings.

If you want to configure some settings or options on the touchscreen Samsung Keyboard in your S6 smartphone, follow these steps:

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings to continue.
3. Touch Language and input.
4. Select Samsung keyboard.

Using Google Voice Typing on the Galaxy S6

Another text entry method you can use on your Galaxy S6 smartphone is the so-called Google Voice Typing. This method utilizes Google voice recognition to convert speech to text. Read on to learn how to use Google Voice Typing to enter text on your new Samsung handset.

1. While entering text, drag down from the top of the screen to view or open the notification panel.
2. From the notification panel options, touch Select Keyboard.
3. Finally, touch Google Voice typing.

You can also access Google Voice Typing while using the Samsung keyboard. Here’s how:

1. Just touch the Voice key/icon or touch and hold the same icon on the Samsung keyboard and then touch the Google Voice Input Key.
2. Speak into the microphone and watch your text being entered onscreen.
3. If the text is incorrect, touch Delete to erase it.
4. To get back to the onscreen keyboard, touch the Google Voice Keyboard icon once you’re done entering your text via Google Voice Typing.

More hints:

You can change or set a new language for use on Google voice typing, with the following steps:

1. Tap the Google Voice Language icon.
2. Tap to select a language to use.

If you want to add more languages:

1. Tap the Google Voice Language icon.
2. Tap on Settings.
3. Tap Languages.
4. Tap to select the language you want to add and use.
5. Tap Save to save your recent changes to the Google Voice language settings.
6. Tap the Back key.

To configure Google Voice Typing options, follow these steps:

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Select Language and input.
4. Touch Google Voice typing.

Editing Text on your Samsung Galaxy S6

There are several options available for you to make entering text easier, like copying, cutting and pasting, using voice-to-text input, customizing the user dictionary, using predictive text, and more.

Here are the most commonly used text-editing commands you too may use on your S6 smartphone:

Typically, you will need to highlight a text or phrase to edit. It’s like when you highlight or select text on a computer text editor.

To highlight, just double-tap the text or phrase to highlight and then choose any from the given options:

1. Select All – command to highlight all the text in the field at once. To use this command, touch the Select All Text icon.
2. Cut – command to remove the highlighted text and then saves it to the clipboard. To use this command, touch the Cut Text icon.
3. Copy – command to copy the highlighted text to the clipboard. To use this command, touch the Copy Text icon.
4. Paste – command to insert the last text or phrase you copied or cut into the current field. To use this command, touch the Paste Text icon.
5. Clipboard – command used to show the clipboard to select previously cut or copied text. To use this command, touch the Clipboard icon.
6. Dictionary – command used to access your personal dictionary. To use this command, touch the Dictionary icon.

How to create and sign in to your Google Account on the Galaxy S6

A Google Account is a requisite to have access to several features of your phone like Gmail, Google Maps, Hangouts, and the Google Play apps. This means you may need to enter your account information for you to access Google applications. These apps synchronized between your online Google Account and your phone.

Important note: Please ensure not to forget your Google Account ID and password.

If you haven’t yet created a Google Account, then you can use your phone to create one this time, online. Or you can just use your phone’s Setup application to create and sign in to your Google/Gmail account using your mobile phone.

Follow these steps to create a Google Account over the Internet using a computer or your mobile phone’s wireless network:

Using a computer

1. Open the web browser and navigate to google.com.
2. Click Sign in on the main page.
3. Click the label to Create an account.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to create your Google account for free.
5. Search for an email from Google in your email inbox you have provided, and reply to the email to confirm and activate your new account.

Using your phone

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Scroll to and touch to select Accounts to start creating your Google account.
4. Touch Add account from the Accounts menu to continue.
5. Scroll to and touch Google. A new screen will then prompt you to enter your email to sign in or create a new account.
6. Enter your First and Last name, and then touch Next to proceed.
7. Choose or enter a Username you want in the Username field, and then touch Next.
8. Enter and re-type your password when prompted, then touch Next.
9. When prompted with the Rescue Info screen, enter a valid phone number to use in case you need to recover your Google Account and password if you ever forget or lost it, then touch Next.

Hint:

You may be prompted to add a secondary email address. If so, then enter a second Gmail address or any other email address you currently used to send and receive emails. This email address will be used to authenticate your account if ever you encounter problems or forget your password in the future. Android users are strongly advised to add a secondary email address to regain access to Google services and purchases on their mobile phones.

10. When prompted, read and review the Google Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and other legal documents, and then touch Accept.
11. Allow your phone to connect with the Google servers and shows your account information, then touch Next to continue.
12. From the Google services screen, configure your Google data backup and communication, and then touch Next.
13. The following screen will prompt you to set up your payment information. If you want to, then you can set up your payment options for purchases using the Google Play Store. Just select any from the given options, and then touch Next to proceed with signing in to your new Google Account.

You will find your Google account listed in your phone’s Accounts menu. Just go to Apps -> Settings -> Accounts. From there you can sign in to your Google Account with your phone anytime you want. In case, you need further assistance, here’s how to do it.

1. Touch Apps from the Home screen.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Scroll to and touch to select Accounts.
4. Touch Add account from the Accounts menu.
5. Scroll to and touch to select Google from the given options.
6. Touch the field to Enter your email, and then enter your Gmail address. Touch Next to proceed.
7. Enter your password, and then touch Next.
8. When prompted, read and review the Google Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and other legal documents, and then touch Accept.
9. Set up payment information for use in the Google Play store, and then touch Next.
10. From the Sync your account screen, touch the Google Account items you want to sync to your phone. Items that are checked will be synced. Touch Next to continue signing in to your Google Account. Your phone will now begin to sync with your Google Account.

How to access Google Play Store on the Galaxy S6

You will be required to sign in to your Gmail account on your Samsung Galaxy S6 device for you to access Google Play Store. Once you’ve signed in, you may proceed with searching for apps, download and/or install any apps you want to have on your new phone. You can refer to the following steps if you want.

1. Touch Play Store from the Home screen.
2. Touch the Google Play field to search for your desired app.
3. Enter your search terms.
4. When prompted with the search results, just touch to select the application.
5. Tap Install to proceed with download and installation.

Note: Be sure to read the Terms of Service disclaimers (if prompted), and touch Accept if you agree.

6. Wait until the app is completely downloaded, and then touch Open to launch or open it right away.

Aside from downloading and installation, you can also access the Google Play Store to uninstall any applications you no longer wish to have on your device. Here’s how:

1. Touch Play Store from the Home screen.
2. Touch the Navigation icon to continue.
3. Touch My apps to view all your applications.
4. Scroll to the application you would want to remove or uninstall.
5. Touch to select the app you want to uninstall.
6. Touch Uninstall to begin uninstallation of the selected app.
7. Touch OK from the onscreen prompt to confirm uninstallation of the app and wait until the uninstallation process is complete.

Hint: When you uninstall an application or widget from your device, all of its data will be erased.

And that covers everything in the sixth edition of our Samsung Galaxy S6 Tutorials, How Tos and Tips series. Please keep posted for more relevant contents to populate soon in our Tutorials Index pages.

For more questions and/or guides/tutorial requests concerning Galaxy S6, please don’t hesitate to send them to us via email at [email protected]. We will be glad to assist you further. You may also visit our Facebook page to keep track of our latest posts and website updates.