[Q] New to Android and SGS3 - Need some help

[twizller]

I just got my first smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Virgin Mobile (Bell network) and i am liking it so far, but i feel lost and need some help.

I noticed that the phone lags a bit, especially with the keyboard when clicking on a textbox it takes about 2-3 seconds for the keyboard to appear, and while typing on the keyboard, it sometimes lags. I also noticed a bit of lag while switching screens. Is there any way to get of the lag?

I am wondering if and how i can theme the phone without having to root? Can i theme the touchwiz from samsung? What are some performance tips and tricks that i should do? And is there a google navigation but offline so my data usage won't be drastic?

Also, how do apps run? If i open an app, will it always be open? Does it consume RAM if not used? Should i use a task killer? I read that a task killer does more damage than good. is it true? How does Android 4.1 handle memory?

I also noticed the battery drains quickly, lasts around 9hours on light use. How can i improve my battery life?

Thanks a lot for the help

 

[tdesbien31]

I just got my first smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Virgin Mobile (Bell network) and i am liking it so far, but i feel lost and need some help.

I noticed that the phone lags a bit, especially with the keyboard when clicking on a textbox it takes about 2-3 seconds for the keyboard to appear, and while typing on the keyboard, it sometimes lags. I also noticed a bit of lag while switching screens. Is there any way to get of the lag?

I am wondering if and how i can theme the phone without having to root? Can i theme the touchwiz from samsung? What are some performance tips and tricks that i should do? And is there a google navigation but offline so my data usage won't be drastic?

Also, how do apps run? If i open an app, will it always be open? Does it consume RAM if not used? Should i use a task killer? I read that a task killer does more damage than good. is it true? How does Android 4.1 handle memory?

I also noticed the battery drains quickly, lasts around 9hours on light use. How can i improve my battery life?

Thanks a lot for the help

the stock samsung keyboard is bad, that is the reason it lags. Solution: download swiftkey from the play store

The lag from "switching screens" could be caused by the touchwiz launcher. Solution: try downloading a new launcher from the playstore (Nova, Apex, Go Launcher, Holo, etc)

Performance tricks to make the phone faster: Settings -> Developer Settings -> chance the animations to .5

Close apps by holding down the home button and swiping them to the side to close. Apps run in the background and use memory. NEVER use a task killer, they do more harm than good.

If the battery drains quickly try a bunch of stuff, make apps that consistently use network connection stop, such as email searching every 10 mins, weather auto updating every 30 mins, twitter checking for new tweets every 30 mins, etc.

Hope that helps you get started!

 

[crash822]

Try swype beta. It is a damn fine keyboard and doesn't cost money right now.

 

[KennyG123]

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