Samsung Galaxy S9 for Dummies

by Hughes, Bill

• ISBN13: 9781119502906
• ISBN10: 111950290X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-07-03
• Publisher: For Dummies

Summary

The bestselling guide to getting the most out of your Android Samsung Galaxy S9

Samsung Galaxy S9 For Dummies documents all the features and capabilities of this popular smartphone, approaching them from the point of view of a user who is perhaps a bit baffled by the documentation and online support that comes with the phone. All aspects of the device are covered, from setup and configuration, to extensive use of the new features and capabilities.

Whether you’re looking for approachable guidance on the basics like texting, e-mailing, and accessing the internet, or more advanced topics like downloading apps, synching with a PC, and expanding the phone’s potential with new software releases, this trusted resource covers it all.

• Take pictures, watch movies, and record videos
• Use maps and navigation
• Stay connected on social networking sites
• Make sense of software updates 

You’ll want to keep this book close by, referring to it often as you explore the features and functions of your new Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone.

Author Biography

Bill Hughes is a veteran marketing strategy executive who has worked for Xerox, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Motorola, and US West Cellular. He has led initiatives to develop new products and solutions and has written articles for several wireless industry trade magazines, as well as for USA Today and Forbes.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with the Samsung Galaxy S9 5

Chapter 1: Exploring What You Can Do with Your Phone 7

Discovering the Basics of Your Phone 7

Taking Your Phone to the Next Level: The Smartphone Features 8

Internet access 9

Photos 9

Wireless email 10

Multimedia 11

An intelligent agent 11

Customizing Your Phone with Games and Applications 11

Downloading games 11

Downloading applications 12

What’s cool about the Android platform 12

Surviving Unboxing Day 13

Chapter 2: Beginning at the Beginning 17

First Things First: Turning On Your Phone 17

Charging Your Phone and Managing Battery Life 20

Navigating the Galaxy S9 25

The phone’s hardware buttons 25

The touchscreen 29

The extended Home screen 33

The notification area and screen 38

The Device Function keys 40

The keyboard 41

The orientation of the phone 42

Going to Sleep Mode/Turning Off the Phone 43

Part 2: Communicating with Other People 45

Chapter 3: Calling People 47

Making Calls 47

Answering Calls 52

Keeping Track of Your Calls: The Call List 54

Making an Emergency Call: The 411 on 911 56

Syncing a Bluetooth Headset 57

Options Other than Headsets 59

Chapter 4: Discovering the Joy of Text 61

Sending the First Text Message 61

Carrying on a Conversation via Texting 66

Sending an Attachment with a Text 68

Receiving Text Messages 69

Managing Your Text History 69

Chapter 5: Sending and Receiving Email 71

Setting Up Your Email 71

Getting ready 72

Setting up your existing Gmail account 73

Setting up a new Gmail account 75

Working with non-Gmail email accounts 77

Setting up a corporate email account 82

Reading Email on Your Phone 85

Writing and Sending Email 86

Replying To and Forwarding Email 88

Chapter 6: Managing Your Contacts 91

Using the Galaxy S9 Contacts App 92

Learning the Contacts App on your phone 92

Deciding where to store your contacts 94

Linking Contacts on your phone 98

Creating Contacts within Your Database 101

Adding contacts as you dial 102

Adding contacts manually 104

How Contacts Make Life Easy 104

Playing Favorites 106

Part 3: Living On the Internet 107

Chapter 7: You’ve Got the Whole (Web) World in Your Hands 109

Starting the Browser 110

Accessing Mobile (or Not) Websites 112

Choosing Your Search Engine 114

Deciding Between Mobile Browsing and Mobile Apps 117

Chapter 8: Playing in Google’s Play Store 119

Exploring the Play Store: The Mall for Your Phone 120

Getting to the Store 120

Seeing What’s Available: Shopping for Android Apps 122

Navigating the Google Play home page 123

Navigating the Google Play games page 125

Installing and Managing an Android App 127

Downloading the Facebook app 127

Creating a Facebook account 132

Rating or Uninstalling Your Apps 134

Part 4: Having Fun with Your Phone 139

Chapter 9: Sharing Pictures 141

Say Cheese! Taking a Picture with Your Phone 142

Getting a Little Fancier with Your Camera 150

The Photography Mode settings 151

Settings options on the viewfinder 152

Photo Effects options 155

The Digital Camcorder in Your Pocket 156

Starting the camcorder 156

Taking and sharing videos with your camcorder 157

Managing Your Photo Images 157

Using Images on Your Phone 158

Deleting Images on Your Phone 159

Chapter 10: Playing Games 161

The Play Store Games Category 162

The Games Home screen 163

The Games Categories tab 164

Leaving Feedback on Games 167

Chapter 11: Mapping Out Where You Want to Be 171

GPS 101: First Things First 172

Practically Speaking: Using Maps 173

Changing map scale 174

Finding nearby services 176

Getting and Using Directions 179

Upgrading Your Navigation 182

Chapter 12: Playing Music and Videos 185

Being Mindful of Carrier Quirks 186

Getting Ready to Be Entertained 186

Choosing your headset 187

Wired headsets 187

Choosing your Bluetooth speaker 189

Connecting to your stereo 190

Licensing Your Multimedia Files 191

Listening up on licensing 191

Licensing for videos 192

Using the Full Capacity of Your SD Card 192

Enjoying Basic Multimedia Capabilities 194

Grooving with the Play Music app 194

Playing downloaded music 198

Jamming to Internet Radio 203

Looking at your video options 205

Part 5: Getting Down to Business 213

Chapter 13: Using the Calendar 215

Syncing Calendars 215

Setting Calendar Display Preferences 217

Setting Other Display Options 220

Creating an Event on the Right Calendar 222

Creating, editing, and deleting an event 222

Keeping events separate and private 224

Chapter 14: Talking with Bixby 227

Bringing Up Bixby 228

Visualizing What You Can Do with Bixby Vision 233

Blabbing with Bixby 236

Look Ma! No Hands! 237

Setting Up Bixby for Your Voice 237

Dictating a Text 238

Preparing to Work with Bixby 239

Chapter 15: Paying with Samsung Pay 243

How Mobile Payment Works 244

Getting Started with Samsung Pay 246

Setting Up Samsung Pay 248

Using Samsung Pay 253

Managing Samsung Pay 255

Part 6: The Part of Tens 257

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Make Your Phone Totally Yours 259

Using a Bluetooth Speaker 260

Cruising in the Car 261

Considering Wireless Charging Mats 263

Making a Statement with Wraps 264

You Look Wonderful: Custom Screen Images 265

Empowering Power Savings 267

Controlling Your Home Electronics 268

Wearing Wearables 268

Using Your Phone as a PC 269

Creating Your Own AR Emoji 270

Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Ways to Make Your Phone Secure 273

Using a Good Case and Screen Cover 274

Putting It on Lockdown 276

Preparing for your Screen Lock option 278

Selecting among the Screen Lock options 278

Entering your fingerprints 279

Entering your face and/or iris 282

Encrypting Your SD Card 283

Using Knox to Make Your Phone as Secure as Fort Knox 284

Being Careful with Bluetooth 285

Protecting Against Malware 287

Downloading Apps Only from Reputable Sources 287

Rescuing Your Phone When It Gets Lost 288

Wiping Your Device Clean 289

Chapter 18: Ten Features to Look for Down the Road 291

Always-on Personal “Dash-cam” 291

Home IoT Services to Differentiate Real Estate 292

New Delivery Concepts 292

Smarter Customer Care for Your Phone 293

Smartphone as Entertainment Hub 294

Driving in Your Car 294

Serving You Better 295

Placing You Indoors 296

Better 911 Services 296

Less Worry about Charging 297

Index 299