Make your Galaxy Note 2 awesome again

In our continued series of making older devices feel that much more new, we set our sights on theGalaxy Note 2 today. Sure, it has been replaced earlier in 2013 by the Galaxy Note 3, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome than it was when it first came out. For those of you looking to bring a little bit more to the table with their Galaxy Note 2, check out a few of our tips on how you can breathe some new life into it.

© Samsung

Control it with your PC

Like we said above, this is by no means exclusive to the Galaxy Note 2, but it is something that you should definitely check out if you use your Galaxy Note 2 as a portable toolkit.  AirDroid is a fast and free solution to manager your android device from your desktop computer. The connection is made without cables and you can easily control your android with mouse and keyboard.

© AirDroid

You can send SMS, load data to the device, install apps, delete or move data around, take screenshots, and a ton of other things. AirDroid is intuitive to use, does not require any root rights and should be staple for all android users.

AirDroid - Best Device ManagerINSTALL

Ditch Touchwiz, Get CyanogenMod, Profit

If you’ve stuck around with Touchwiz on your Galaxy Note 2 since you got it, it’s time to venture out of the walled garden and try something else. First, you’ll need to unlock and root your device (just follow our handy guide) and then you can go ahead and grab something a little bit more exotic, say, CyanogenMod?

© AndroidPIT

With a ton of features including PIE Mode, customizable lockscreens and quick launch guides, automated profiles based on location/connection, it’s hard to imagine why you wouldn’t give it a shot. Plus, with the CyanogenMod Installer officially supporting the Galaxy Note 2, installation is literally just a click away.

Stand it up

Let’s face it, the Galaxy Note 2 almost borders on a tablet-sized device.  As such, it’s not out of ordinary to want to be able to watch videos on it. I do it all the time with my tiny little smartphone (I’m ashamed to say it’s an iPhone 4S) when I’m at my desk doing work, so it would make sense to do the same for a Galaxy Note 2.

© Amazon

With the aid of a handy stand case, you can make watching videos or media a breeze and more comfortable than trying to prop it up against something. Plus, it doubles as a normal case for when you need to head out and take it with you. 

Turn it into a PC, sort of.

Probably one of the cooler accessories out there, this Smart Dock for the Galaxy Note 2 allows you to turn your Note 2 into a semi-computer. Great for if you’re on the road and need to get some work done in your hotel room and don’t feel like fiddling with the smaller screen on your Note 2 for extended periods of time.

© Gottabemobile/AndroidPIT

This smart dock turns a HDTV into a workstation and has three USB ports, which you can connect a mouse, keyboard, and USB drive at the same time. As well, there is also a line out and charging port to complete the awesomeness of this dock.

WhatsApp: how to backup and restore your conversations

WhatsApp has become a universal communication app: several billion messages are sent every day through its services. After a short time, you can easily accumulate a ton of archived sentimental messages that you’ll either want to make sure to keep and save. However, with phones being lost, stolen, breaking, or some random freak of nature causing WhatsApp to lose your messages, it is advisable to make sure you back up on your own every so often. We’ll show you how.

© AndroidPIT

Fortunately, the developers of WhatsApp have made this pretty easy and provide a way for you to do this yourself without much hassle. All you have to do is head to the main view of the app where all your chats are showcased. From there, click the three dots in upper right corner and chooseSettings. From there, simply choose Chat Settings and then choose Backup Chat History. This is usually done automatically and it will show the timestamp of the last time it was complete. However, without being able to transfer it off your smartphone, it may not be able to do you any good if you have any of the issues listed above.

© AndroidPIT

© AndroidPIT

When connected to your PC via USB, you can head to the WhatsApp / Databases folder. In there will be all the backup files saved with the date that they were performed. The file with the latest date is logically the most current backup and you can copy and paste it to your PC/Thumb Drive/Cloud Storage, whatever you want.

And so, if you ever need to restore your chats, all you do is do the opposite and copy and paste your backed up copy of your messages from your storage space and place it in the WhatsApp / Databases folder. The next time you fire up your app, you should see all your backed up messages restored as per normal.

How to see who's stealing your WiFi and how to block them

Have you ever wondered why your internet connection is being so laggy? This is probably a good time to get suspicious of your neighbours who might be using your WiFi network without your permission. Yes, you can set up a password, however there are ways to bypass this. So what should you do to block an intruder who is infiltrating your connection? The answer is simple: with a smartphone! Today we will tell you how it is done.

© talkandroid

Like almost everything to do with Android, you can find out who has been sneaking some of your WiFi with an application. There is a free network tool which you can download right from the the Google Play Store called Fing.

The first thing you have to do is connect to your smartphone or tablet to the WiFi network you want you want to test. Now simply download the application, which you can do by pressing the install button below.

Once the installation process is complete, the tool can easily get started finding the trespasser. At the top of the app’s main page, you will see the name of your network as well as a refresh and the settings menu buttons.

Tap on the refresh button update and the application will show what devices are connected to your WiFi network, specifying whether the router is a smartphone or a computer.

There are many other options in Fing, like sending reports, checking open TCP ports and the list goes on. Perhaps one of its best advantages is that users can change the viewed IP name, which allows the user to know who they are on the app and who the infiltrators are. Once you know who the trespassers are, simply click on the intruder and above you will see an option to  'enter a name '. Enter a new name for that IP address, like WiFi thief for example.

The grey areas show IP information, MAC addresses and other details. / © AndroidPIT.

How to block unknown trespassing devices

In the event that you’ve located a intruding device, you are able to access the NAT and MAC information and connect to the router in order to block the unwanted guests from accessing WiFi in the future.

On your computer that connected to your router, enter your IP address into the browser. It will ask you for the password and username on your router and if you haven’t changed it, it will be specified in the device.

Now you’ll need to authenticate. The home page of your router will appear, showing a menu. Go to the security tab and enter a new password. (Remember, to connect to WiFi on your phone or your computer, you must enter this new password).

If this isn’t enough, you can block access for other devices entirely. On the Fing application, you will see information from your connected devices. Write down your MAC address (or your MAC addresses, depending on how many devices you have connected) on a piece of paper.

Search for the block devices option on the configuration page which you can open on your computer. In Access Control area, you can filter the MAC (one or more) that you've noted down. This will block any other invading addresses that try to infiltrate. Remember that if you choose this option no one else will be able to connect to your WiFi without having turned off the Access control option, which is good to keep in mind for friends or family who are visiting.

Which ways do you figure out who has been stealing WiFi? Have you ever been a trespasser yourself?

More LG G2 tips and tricks

Thanks to its super compact body of 5.2 inches and a strong battery, the LG G2 has become an unsuspecting star under the high-end smartphone radar. I’ve used this device for a few weeks now and have accumulated a few useful tips and tricks that other G2 owners might find helpful.

 © AndroidPIT

Customize the on-screen buttons

The G2 lacks any physical buttons on the front-facing side. Instead LG adopted on-screen software buttons, typical of Android, for the back, home and context menu options. LG also lets the user arrange the buttons the way they see fit as well as add a fourth button, either Quick Memo and the status bar. Lastly, the design can also be changed.

Go into the settings menu, where you will be able to find 'Front buttons' under the 'Display' section. © AndroidPIT

Disable QSlide

QSlide is what LG calls the apps that you can have ‘floating’ in the form of a popup window above the home screen. But why would one even need these pop ups on a 5.2-inch display? Though this makes sense on a desktop screen, it is sometimes more cumbersome than helpful on a smartphone, taking up much needed space.

Unfortunately, LG also wasted a significant portion of the notifications bar (Notification drawer) with a wide bar with shortcuts to QSlide apps. This precious space could have been better used for emails and other types of notifications. LG doesn’t make it easy for the user to get rid of the QSlide bar from the notifications bar. But when there is a will, there is a way!

The QSlide quick settings take up a lot of room in the status bar, by tapping on the settings button you can get rid of these. © AndroidPIT

First you’ll need to activate the QSlide button so that it will show in the Quick settings menu on the top right corner of the status bar. Simply swipe the bar to the right and tap on ‘edit’. This will open the settings menu and show a checkmark next to QSlide, disable this by tapping on it.

Set up folders on the homescreen

Though you may not like the bright user interface that LG laid over top of the stock Android system, the fact of the matter is, only very few manufacturers offer so many customization possibilities. For example, the size of folders can be augmented or decreased on the homescreen by pulling out the edges. The bigger it is, the more shortcuts will be able to fit in. Shortcuts which aren’t visible can also be quickly reached because these folder ‘windows’ have a scroll function.

You are able to make folders bigger or smaller by pulling on the edges. © AndroidPIT

Edit icons on the home screen

Lg has added the option of customizing individual icons on your home screen and there is a lot to this function. By long pressing on an icon, a small purple paintbrush will appear for a few seconds and when pressed, will open an editing menu. Here you are able to switch out icons, change the size and even create your own. Whether the ones you are able to make are any better than the originals depends on the eye of the beholder. What I can really appreciate here though, is the fact that you can scale the size.

Instead of boring icons, you can even set them as pictures from your gallery, which really gives your home screen a fresh look. Don't forget which shortcut is which though! © AndroidPIT

Multitasking, OS X-style

This feature reminds me a lot of the MultiTouch trackpad used on Mac computers. When you swipe your three fingers from the right side to the left on the screen, this will display saved apps. Use the same gesture to bring them to the foreground again. You can have three apps in total here, each of which can easily be swiped to the back. The animation reminds me a lot of the Mac OS, though Apple has you use four fingers instead of three.

In the settings menu, you can activate Q Slide by switching on the toggle. The respective apps will show in the three tabs that you can swipe out from the left. © AndroidPIT

Uninstall apps directly from the home screen

Again, very reminiscent of Apple, you are able to uninstall apps right from the home screen. On the G2, you simply need to tap on the settings icon (cogwheel) in the upper right corner, which will prompt an ‘x’ to show next to all apps. Just tap on them to get the app completely off your device. Most Android smartphones or tablets only allow this from the settings menu.

Just like Apple, apps can be uninstalled right form the app drawer. © AndroidPIT

These were my favorite tips that I wanted to share with you. There are of course other great ones with the LG G2, which you can discover in our previous tips and tricks for LG G2 article. If you know of more, let us know in the comments below!

How to fix more Android 4.3 problems on the Galaxy S3

Most Galaxy S3’s have received the Android 4.3 update for quite some time now, but that doesn’t mean there is an end to the problems, much to the frustration of many S3 users. Verizon clients in particular seem to not be getting a break either, problems emerging from every nook and cranny of their Samsung device. We’ve had a ton of people complaining about Android 4.3 problems on the Galaxy S3 in our forum, and have already offered solutions to some of these problems in the past. If you still need help though, don’t despair, here are some more fixes to other issues. I certainly hopethe Android 4.4.2 KitKat update won’t be littered with bugs, like with the Galaxy S4.

© Samsung

Mobile data use is out of control

Chances are when this is happening is that you have some apps that are using excessive amounts of your data, so it comes down to a question of better managing these data-sucking apps. There are many useful apps in the Google Play Store that will monitor data consumption, like Android Assistant, SD Maid or other apps to boost your Android system performance. You can also look into the settings of your phone and then ‘Data usage’. Here, swipe down to see how much data each app is using. If you notice that one is using a lot of it, it may be wise to uninstall it.

In Settings, under Data Usage, you will find a lot of info about which apps use the most data. © AndroidPIT

WiFi disconnects constantly

This is an issue that we’ve been seeing for quite some time now. Though it could just be a matter of proper setup. Head to your homescreen and tap on the menu button and then settings. From here, you want to select the ‘Connections’ tab and choose Wi-Fi. Again, tap on the menu key and then ‘Advanced’. Here you will find some other helpful options: you want to make sure that ‘Keep WiFi on during sleep’ has been switched to ‘Always’ and that the ‘Auto-connect’ option is unchecked.

Head to the settings, then WiFi and hit the menu button. Choose Advanced. © AndroidPIT

We’ve also heard that turning off the power-saving mode will work, this function often leading to a WiFi disconnect. To do this, simply open the notifications bar by swiping down and deselect the power saving toggle. If you can’t find it in the Quick Settings, tap on the Settings icon (cogwheel), scroll down to ‘Power saving mode’ and then switch it to ‘off’.

If this isn’t working, another thing you could do is to reflash the last workable modem firmware for your specific country via Odin. Simply go to the SamMobile website to find the appropriate firmware. If you are more advanced and are able to flash firmware manually on a rooted S3, then check out the XDA developer’s forum thread for a plausible solution. Though I have not tried this fix, it seems to have worked for many users. Hopefully one of these options have helped.

Bluetooth disconnection problems

Again, this problem seems to be plaguing Galaxy S3 owners since the 4.3 update, a complaint that has been manifested in many of AndroidPIT forum threads. Apparently the Galaxy S3 is struggling to pair with Bluetooth 4.0 or Smart Ready (BLE) apps and accessories, despite Samsung marketing the phone as Smart Ready compatible. What many are stipulating, is that the when the Galaxy S3 was updated, many of the older cached data become incompatible with the higher version of Bluetooth. First try to remove the pairing, reboot your smartphone and then try to repair. It is also a good idea to clear the data by performing a factory reset for the Galaxy S3 (please backup not only app of your data, but also your game settings, photos, videos, messages, app data etc).

You can also try a soft reset to delete any temporary files that may be causing the issue:

• Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off, and then tap OK to turn your Samsung Galaxy S III off.
• Remove the battery. After 30 seconds, reinsert the battery.
• Press and hold the Power key to turn your Samsung Galaxy S III back on.
• Test your device to see if the issue is resolved.

© Bluetooth

Finally, something as simple as an app can get rid of your Bluetooth woes, such as A2DP Connect.

A2DP ConnectINSTALL

Calls arrive but phone doesn’t ring

This can be really annoying and it has happened to me a lot. The phone will ring, you’ll see the animation come up on your display, but there is no sound or it is delayed and the person hangs up before the ringtone even commences. Annoying? Heck yes!

First off, you may have set a ringtone for a particular contact and when that person calls, the system cannot locate the audio files. Your settings may be messed up ever since the update, which is why a Galaxy S3 factory reset might do the trick to fixing the problem. Remember, as always, to ensure that all of your data is backed up. You can also set up a new ringtone for that person and see if that works.

 © Sergey Nivens / shutterstock

Unfortunately Gallery has stopped

This isn’t just a Galaxy S3 problem, I believe it also affects other Samsung smartphones from what we’ve been hearing in the forum. Some believe it to have to do with the Paper Artist app, and by disabling this app in the settings, your Gallery app problems will disappear.

I’ve also read that the Android OS often gets ‘impatient’ with apps that take longer to load, which is often the case with pictures. The system will automatically close the app in question so that it doesn’t interfere negatively with the running of other apps and services. Just like with computers and smartphones, if your internal storage is quite full, this will cause some things to malfunction.

There are many possible solutions for this problem, but one should work! © AndroidPIT/Google

What you should do is backup your photos either onto your computer, a cloud service or an external source (which you should do anyways, regardless of this problem). After this, head to the setting of your S3, then ‘Applications manager’, swipe to the left until you see ‘All’ apps and scroll down to the Gallery app. Here you are going to want to first disable the app, then force close it, clear the cache and the clear the data. Press Ok to confirm.

Battery issues and other problems

If you are getting battery problems, please check out the multitude of articles we have written on the subject, such as 16 ways to improve battery life. You can also consult our other articles,'Solutions to Android 4.3 problems on Galaxy S3' as well as 5 more tips to fix Android 4.3 problems on Galaxy S3. Here you will find solutions for recurring download notifications, lockscreen lags, battery problems, multi-window issues, notification woes, etc.

If you have a problem not mentioned above, please ask in the comments or in the forum.