Hot Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Posts

How To: Set Emergency Contacts to Bypass Silent & Vibrate Modes on Your Galaxy Note 2

Extremely important calls have a way of coming at the most inopportune moments: when you're in class during an important lecture, at a big business meeting for work, or even when you're just enjoying a day at the movies.

How To: Fix Lock Screen Issues When TalkBack & Explore by Touch Are Enabled on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

One little known feature on Android devices is TalkBack, which provides you with spoken feedback and vibrations in order to help you navigate your device. Obviously, if you're not blind or visually impaired, this isn't a feature you're likely to use.

How To: Enable the Hidden Voice Call Recording Feature on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

In most states, it's completely legal to record a telephone conversation that you're a part of without the other parties knowing. You can even record a conversation that you're not a part of, as long as you have consent from at least one person involved in the call.

How To: Watch YouTube Videos Offline on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

With over a billion videos uploaded to YouTube, passing your time browsing through the immense library can be an emotional roller coaster ride. One second you're bawling your eyes out over this devastatingly sad clip of Oden the dog's last minutes with his owner, and the next you're laughing hysterically at Spider-Man falling on his face.

How To: Control the Auto-Rotate Settings for Apps Individually on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Controlling the screen rotation on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is one of the easiest things you can do. Just slide down the Notification tray and you have instant access to the Screen Rotation toggle in the Quick Settings menu. If you want your screen orientation to automatically rotate when you move from vertical to horizontal positions, just make sure it's turned on. To lock the current orientation, turn it off.

How To: Replace a Broken Home Button with a Soft Key on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

There may only be a few hardware buttons on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but when they're not working, your phone might as well be a doorstop. A few years back, I was texting while walking to class and a student on a bicycle crashed into me. My phone was flung thirty feet—straight into a puddle. I picked it up and checked for damage, but everything seemed okay. The biker apologized profusely, but nothing was wrong, so I told him not to worry about it and proceeded to class.

How To: Get iOS-Style "Badge App Icons" on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or Other Android Device

Converting from iOS to Android doesn't have to be a particularly difficult process, but people make it that way anyways. Transferring contacts becomes a big deal, dimensions and hardware become an issue, and most importantly, features that were once loved become sorely missed.

How To: Minimize Incoming Calls When Playing Games or Using Apps on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Phone interruptions are commonplace, as is evident by my historically epic missed phone call list, ranging from annoying sales people to my mom checking in every five minutes to see if I'm still alive.

How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Using ODIN for Windows (So Easy Your Grandma Can Do It)

Just like the recently rediscovered Star Wars ruins in the Tunisian desert, there are tons of hidden treasures in your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 just waiting to be unearthed. Rooting enables you to install custom ROMs, exclusive features from other devices, add Wi-Fi tethering, overclock the CPU for faster speed, and many other customizations.

How To: Flash a Custom ROM onto Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Enhance Your Android Experience

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 just received an update to Android 4.2.2, so why is it that my Galaxy Note 2 is still running an older version of Jelly Bean? It felt like yesterday that my device was finally updated to 4.1.2, but why even bother since 4.2 has been around since last November?

How To: Adjust Your Samsung Galaxy Note's S-Pen Sensitivity for Better Touch Response

Touchscreens are all the rage these days, and it seems that the stylus has become a relic of the past thanks to newer and better fingertip responsive smartphone displays. But when it comes to phablets like Samsung's Galaxy Note line, the added S-Pen is definitely helpful for more accurate and precise actions (and a less greasy screen). Of course, there are disadvantages of using an S-Pen too, one being hardware issues. Unlike your finger, the S-Pen can malfunction and become a huge problem, n...

How To: Music Not Loud Enough? Here's How to Increase the Volume Limits on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Got a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phablet? Sure, it has its problems like any other mobile device, but it's still one of the hottest phablets on the market right now, because, well... it's awesome, right?

How To: Prank Friends, Cheat Games, & More with Android Bot Automation on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

During a contest in 2010 regarding which country Justin Bieber should visit next on his tour, North Korea won by a landslide. Unfortunately, he never went, and that's partly because nobody in the internet-less dictatorship probably voted. Instead, the contest was rigged by 4chan members and a few playful bots that voted for NK hundreds of thousands of times. What this shows is that not only is Justin Bieber an asshole, but that bots can be used as a very powerful tool—not only to cause mischi...

How To: Download & Install the Xposed Framework on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Android's deeply customizable platform has long been the attraction for those of us looking to make our smartphones more unique, but that doesn't mean that it's always easy. Flashing mods and installing custom ROMs can be difficult at times, as well as dangerous.

How To: Enable the Swipe-Back Gesture for All Apps on the Galaxy Note 2 & 3

While some Android applications have built-in gestures that allow you to perform certain actions, it's not a feature that's been comprehensively, let alone consistently implemented. If you're on Twitter or Facebook and you want to go back, the only global way is by tapping on the capacitive back button at the bottom of your device. Thanks to XDA dev PeterCxy, you can now enable a global swipe back gesture on your Android smartphone or tablet, making it easier than ever to backtrack within apps.

How To: Get Floating Chat Head Notifications for All Apps on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

The HTC First (aka "Facebook phone") has been a bigger disappointment than Dwyane Wade in this year's NBA playoffs. AT&T even dropped the price to $0.99 (with a contract) a mere month after its release. When they realized that the price drop wasn't enough to increase sales, they decided to just discontinue the damn thing altogether. Although the phone itself isn't doing so well, one feature from the Facebook-centric device that people actually seem to like is Chat Heads. On the HTC First, Cha...

Mobile Surround Sound: How to Make Any Android Device a Wireless Speaker for Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

One of the coolest features of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is Group Play, which lets you connect other Samsung Galaxy S4s up to yours so you can use them as extra speakers to create a surround-sound stereo of sorts.

How To: Make Incompatible Apps Work in Multi-Window View on Your Galaxy Note 2

Multi Window, a feature that was greatly improved with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, is still quite limited on the older Note 2, allowing only the use of a few stock applications to multitask with.

How To: Rename Almost Any App on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Changing an app's name on your home screen is not something you can do on stock Android or TouchWiz, but it should be. If you think of it merely from a customization angle, sure, it's not a big deal, but having the ability to alter an app shortcut's name can do wonders for cleanliness and being able to distinguish from similar icons.

How To: Really Auto Adjust the Brightness of Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2's Screen

If you're constantly going from dark to brightly lit areas, you've probably noticed that the stock auto brightness feature on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 doesn't work that well. Either the screen is really dim and unreadable, or it's just way too damn bright. Sure, you can disable auto brightness, but then you have to manually adjust the brightness all of the time for that perfect comfort level. This isn't really all that bad of an option, but don't be surprised when you see this: However, the...

How To: Schedule Ringtone Silence for Weekly or One-Time Events on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

We've all had that moment when we enter into a classroom, meeting, or theater and completely forget to put our cell phones on silent.

How To: Find & Eradicate Android Apps Maliciously Tracking You on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

A wave of shock and anger swept across the country after Edward Snowden released private documents recounting the U.S. government's secretive mass surveillance programs. Although some of the fear was unwarranted (they don't read your emails or listen to your calls), many scrambled to find privacy of new heights for protection from the all-watchful eye. While the government may not be tracking you down, there are a myriad of other candidates that fill that Big Brother role—and I'm not talking ...

How To: Bypass the 31-Character Limit in Snapchat Captions on Android

Twitter found a sweet spot with its 160-character limit, but Snapchat sports a social media low of 31 characters, forcing us to condense our ideas into a few short words when typing in picture captions because of their ephemeral nature. While this severely limited amount of words is Snapchat etiquette, I've got so much more to say than 31 characters!

How To: Customize Quick Settings Toggles with Colors, Photos, & New Icons on a Samsung Galaxy Note 2

I've been on a customizing kick over the past few weeks, showing you sweet mods for your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 like interactive live wallpapers, app and settings backgrounds, status bar tweaks, and more. But, I'm not done yet. There's still plenty to softMod on your Note 2, and today I'm going to show you how to customize your Quick Settings toggles.

How To: Control & Customize System Sounds & Volume Settings on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Rooting your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 grants you access to system files, giving you the ability to change things on the device that you normally wouldn't be able to. Sounds great, right? There's just one problem. How in the hell do you manually change those system files?

How To: Get Ambient Weather Readings Instantly Using Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2's Built-In Sensors

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 may be the only phone to include temperature and humidity sensors, but your Galaxy Note 2 has a few weather-detecting features of its own.

How To: Hack a Self-Timer into Instagram & Vine for No-Touch Video Recording on a Samsung Galaxy Note 2

With the introduction of Vine and the subsequent Instagram update, abbreviated video sharing has come to the masses, to be experimented with in an unprecedented way.

How To: Use Any Photo or Video as a Self-Destructing Snapchat on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

I've already covered how you can automatically save Snapchat photos and videos to your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and how to take screenshots of Snapchats sent to you without the sender knowing, but there's one other thing about Snapchat that could use some softModding.

How To: 40,000+ Ways to Customize the Android Home Screen on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (No Root Required)

Customizing isn't all rooting and ROMs—there are plenty of ways to customize your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or other Android device without gaining superuser access. One of the easiest ways is to install an Android launcher, sometimes called a home launcher, that matches your style.

How To: Remotely Power Off Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with a Simple Text Message

Gaining remote access to a phone isn't only for super hackers and spies. There are plenty of times when the average smartphone user would want to have remote access to their device.

How To: Use S Voice Commands on a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 & Galaxy S3 to Unlock, Open Camera, & More

With voice commands becoming conventional on most new smartphones, it's only ideal that their abilities increase as well. Thanks to Apple's Siri, you can do things like update your Twitter account and look up who the president of Costa Rica is.

How To: Play Space Invaders & Other Old School Atari 2600 Games on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Atari—it's the home gaming console officially responsible for starting the trend of sleepless nights and malnutrition amongst kids and adults alike. If you think Call of Duty is addicting, try playing Space Invaders in the '80s on the old Atari 2600 (voted the second greatest console of all time by IGN). While bad gaming habits have pretty much stayed the same over the last 30 years, technology has not, and it's thanks to that tech that we can fulfill our nostalgic need for '80s gaming.

Never Miss Another Track: Get Daily Reminders for Google Play's Free Song of the Day on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

With millions of options to choose from in Google Play's expansive library of songs and albums, it can most definitely take a toll on the wallet after a while. As (slight) consolation, Google offers one free song a day, available for download straight from Google Play onto your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or other Android device. Google's daily free song sure beats other services' free selections. Apple only offers one free single each week, and Amazon offers a decent selection of free songs from r...

How To: The Flashlight That Finally Lets You Adjust LED Brightness on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

I know what you're thinking. Why spend time talking about another flashlight application when there are literally thousands of them scattered throughout Google Play? As it turns out, there is a void in the realm of flashlight Android apps. Flashing lights, strobe lights, cop lights, warning lights—they're all available, but the one feature that's missing is adjustable brightness.

How To: Change Font Size & Text Colors in Snapchat on Your Galaxy Note 2

In an attempt to keep things simple, Snapchat has a limited amount of editing features, made up of "smart" photo filters, drawing pens, and special text captions. If you want more editing capabilities, you'll be pleased to know there's a way, no thanks to Snapchat, but you will need to be rooted.

How To: Customize App, Menu, & Settings Backgrounds on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

While there are many customization options available for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, they aren't always easy. The large selection of custom ROMs and difficulty implementing certain hacks and mods can be a nightmare for anyone not well versed in all things Android. But the good news is, it doesn't always have to be complicated.

How To: Share Full-Size Photos on Instagram Without Cropping on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Uploading certain pictures to Instagram can be problematic, especially when the dimensions of your picture exceed the dimensions of the square crop that's forced upon you. Why should I be forced to hack up my awesome fisheye picture inside of a lame square? I get the whole square thing, and I love it, but there's just some times when you can't be bound by the rules.

How To: Send Shutdown, Sleep, & Other Commands to Your PC Remotely from Your Galaxy Note 2

You probably use your smartphone to mostly surf the web, play games, and communicate with others, but there's so much more it can do. Thanks to integrated features and third-party apps, you can seamlessly control things around your home, including your TV, tablet, Bluetooth speakers, and even lighting fixtures.

How To: Get Rid of the Annoying Low Battery Alert for Good on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

If you use your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 consistently throughout the day, you're more than likely to encounter the low battery warning on occasion—anytime you dip below 15 percent remaining. While the low battery warning may be a convenience for some, it can also be a nuisance for others (like me), as it continues to appear intermittently after dropping from that 15 percent. In this softModder tutorial, I'm going to show you how to get rid of that annoying low battery alert for good.

How To: Completely Back Up Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Using Kies, Helium, or the Note 2 Toolkit

An average of 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States each week, according to online backup service Mozy. Additionally, 70 percent of Americans have lost a laptop, smartphone, or tablet, and the average person now loses 1.24 devices each year—less than half of which are ever recovered.