Feature discoveries

Search This thread

dickie2007

Senior Member
Jan 6, 2007
152
67
Portsmouth
EDIT: I have updated this post with features/discoveries to date - 01/08/2011

Hey guys,

i've just arrived off the HTC boat and i'm lovin' the world of the Galaxy S2... what a phone!!


anyways, thought i'd make a thread on features as they get discovered as i tend to find that a lot go undocumented, and as i'm not a user of a previous version of Touchwiz, i'm not sure whether some of these are new or not, but maybe of interest to someone else like me...


Dickie


Mentioned so far - 01/08/2011

Dragging left on a contact sends them an SMS, and right calls them. This works in all the contacts list, messaging, call log etc...

You can pinch-zoom the app drawer and move panes as per the home screens

Home + Power buttons = screenshot

With manual brightness set, hold your finger down on the notification bar after a few seconds it becomes a brightness scroll. You just move your finger left/right on the notification bar to decrease/increase the brightness

In the address bar type in "about:debug", hit the go button. It won't do anything, or so it seems. Hit the menu contextual key and pull up the options. Go all the way to the bottom

In the address bar type in "about:useragent" to change user agent

An easter egg you didn't know about(it's from Google), if you go to preferences and about phone and click three times on Android Version you get an art

Pinch on browser whilst zoomed right out takes you to Tab/Window overview

Customise shortcuts in the Camera app. Just click 'Menu' and 'Edit' or hold the 'Cog' icon and you can drag the shortcuts you want to appear on the left of the screen

The dots that represent the home screens/app screens can be tapped to take you directly to the relevant screen, or held to reveal a slider for super fast scrolling

You can Pinch to zoom in the camera app

If you pinch to zoom in the stock e-mail mailbox it compresses all the mail by date. When you press on a compressed date, it expands the mail for that date only

You can smart dial in the phone app by typing a contacts name, if its not the correct contact displayed, click it to reveal all possible contacts, then select to call

Hold the power button for approx 5secs for an immediate shutdown

Use 2 fingers to scroll on a list to get an immediate stop upon release, use 3 to get a fast scroll that will continue to the end

Drag left and right on the video player to control FF and RW

Pinch the calender app to view by year, then swipe to change

holding on a letter on the right side of the contacts list & dragging to the left (without lifting your finger) will bring up another alphabet list & do a sub-contextual search under that letter of available options like 'AA', 'AB', 'AC'...'AZ'
 
Last edited:

shabs52

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2011
118
4
didnt know the app drawer could be pinched zoomed : ) that sounds cool.

the swyping contact to call or message was there in the original G S as well though.
 

dickie2007

Senior Member
Jan 6, 2007
152
67
Portsmouth
cool, thanks for letting me know!!

the pinched view of the app drawer, with my current 6 panes, are very large, requiring scrolling down to see them. theres only enough room for the first 4 (2 per row) and 2 halves before scrolling... if that makes any sense lmao...


Dickie
 

ryude

Senior Member
Jun 19, 2010
2,812
766
USA
I don't know if they left this feature in, but in the original SGS if you hold your finger down on the notification bar after a few seconds it becomes a brightness scroll. You just move your finger left/right on the notification bar to decrease/increase the brightness. I think it only works if you enable/disable auto-brightness. Someone will have to verify of course :)
 

steve228uk

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2010
426
33
Bristol
www.graphicsplant.com
I don't know if they left this feature in, but in the original SGS if you hold your finger down on the notification bar after a few seconds it becomes a brightness scroll. You just move your finger left/right on the notification bar to decrease/increase the brightness. I think it only works if you enable/disable auto-brightness. Someone will have to verify of course :)

Very cool! Still works :)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: qasdfdsaq

ryude

Senior Member
Jun 19, 2010
2,812
766
USA
Very cool! Still works :)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Can you also see if the browser trick still works?

In the address bar type in "about:debug", hit the go button. It won't do anything, or so it seems. Hit the menu contextual key and pull up the options. Go all the way to the bottom and see if it will let you change user agent strings now :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: qasdfdsaq

steve228uk

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2010
426
33
Bristol
www.graphicsplant.com
Can you also see if the browser trick still works?

In the address bar type in "about:debug", hit the go button. It won't do anything, or so it seems. Hit the menu contextual key and pull up the options. Go all the way to the bottom and see if it will let you change user agent strings now :)

It worked to an extent although there is no browser agent option any more.

522e1e43-1472-9d18.jpg


Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
 

Enthrall

Member
Sep 16, 2010
31
5
Sweet! Let's hope you guys find some neat tricks!

As for the ones mentioned:

- The sliding on the logs/contact list was already present in the predecessor (slide to the right to call, and to the left to message)

- Helicopter view/Pinch-zoom on the App Drawer was enabled in TouchWiz after the official Froyo update on the Galaxy S (International version)

- Screenshots were also enabled on the previous GS(International version) after the Froyo update, but there you had to hold the Back softkey for a second, then press the Home button.


Let's keep hoping for new things!

On a side note, could you try and let me know about this please:
While editing text, does it pop a magnifying glass to help easily position the cursor, similar to the iPhone's iOS and I believe HTC Sense as well?

Thanks! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: edolba and hmm1967

r2001uk

Senior Member
Oct 1, 2008
196
22
Leeds
Thanks for the screenshot trick. I was thinking it was the same combination as the original Galaxy, never thought to try other combos!

Now I can uninstall the shortcut app I downloaded :)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
 
  • Like
Reactions: Giiar

QuboidRC

Member
Apr 19, 2010
27
2
On a side note, could you try and let me know about this please:
While editing text, does it pop a magnifying glass to help easily position the cursor, similar to the iPhone's iOS and I believe HTC Sense as well?

Thanks! :)

No, but there is a little tab that appears just below the cursor, which you can drag so your finger doesn't cover the text you are trying to look at. It works well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Enthrall

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 24
    EDIT: I have updated this post with features/discoveries to date - 01/08/2011

    Hey guys,

    i've just arrived off the HTC boat and i'm lovin' the world of the Galaxy S2... what a phone!!


    anyways, thought i'd make a thread on features as they get discovered as i tend to find that a lot go undocumented, and as i'm not a user of a previous version of Touchwiz, i'm not sure whether some of these are new or not, but maybe of interest to someone else like me...


    Dickie


    Mentioned so far - 01/08/2011

    Dragging left on a contact sends them an SMS, and right calls them. This works in all the contacts list, messaging, call log etc...

    You can pinch-zoom the app drawer and move panes as per the home screens

    Home + Power buttons = screenshot

    With manual brightness set, hold your finger down on the notification bar after a few seconds it becomes a brightness scroll. You just move your finger left/right on the notification bar to decrease/increase the brightness

    In the address bar type in "about:debug", hit the go button. It won't do anything, or so it seems. Hit the menu contextual key and pull up the options. Go all the way to the bottom

    In the address bar type in "about:useragent" to change user agent

    An easter egg you didn't know about(it's from Google), if you go to preferences and about phone and click three times on Android Version you get an art

    Pinch on browser whilst zoomed right out takes you to Tab/Window overview

    Customise shortcuts in the Camera app. Just click 'Menu' and 'Edit' or hold the 'Cog' icon and you can drag the shortcuts you want to appear on the left of the screen

    The dots that represent the home screens/app screens can be tapped to take you directly to the relevant screen, or held to reveal a slider for super fast scrolling

    You can Pinch to zoom in the camera app

    If you pinch to zoom in the stock e-mail mailbox it compresses all the mail by date. When you press on a compressed date, it expands the mail for that date only

    You can smart dial in the phone app by typing a contacts name, if its not the correct contact displayed, click it to reveal all possible contacts, then select to call

    Hold the power button for approx 5secs for an immediate shutdown

    Use 2 fingers to scroll on a list to get an immediate stop upon release, use 3 to get a fast scroll that will continue to the end

    Drag left and right on the video player to control FF and RW

    Pinch the calender app to view by year, then swipe to change

    holding on a letter on the right side of the contacts list & dragging to the left (without lifting your finger) will bring up another alphabet list & do a sub-contextual search under that letter of available options like 'AA', 'AB', 'AC'...'AZ'
    8
    Also, theres a Get Fonts Online option that takes you to a Market Search of available fonts to import
    Forget the market for fonts -- what you want is this thread:
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=894397

    ;)
    6
    This is a big one: apparently Home + Power buttons = screenshot... I just heard about it. I live in America so haven't used it.
    4
    Here's a list of 15+ tips/tricks/shortcuts that I've complied in text and on video, derived from what I knew, what I read here and a few other places. Hope this helps new users from having to go through 14 pages! :)

    hxxp://thehandheldblog.com/2011/06/14/galaxy-s2-tips-tricks/

    Oh and I can't post links yet, so you'll have to bear with the xx in http! ;)

    Cheers
    4
    I don't know if they left this feature in, but in the original SGS if you hold your finger down on the notification bar after a few seconds it becomes a brightness scroll. You just move your finger left/right on the notification bar to decrease/increase the brightness. I think it only works if you enable/disable auto-brightness. Someone will have to verify of course :)