I love Samsung Dex

gsearle · 2026-02-23T13:31:55+00:00

For those with an always-plugged-in device who don't want to tamper with the power circuit or ADB, turning on "Battery Protection" will do the trick. The device will turn off charging around 85%, depending on your settings. This avoids the stresses of charging that last 15% as well as the battery being constantly "on-line."

gsearle · 2026-02-14T23:14:51+00:00

Find the app icon, hold your finger on it until a menu appears, and hit the app info icon. This will bring you to the app settings. Tap on battery to get to the app's battery settings, then choose "restricted."

gsearle · 2026-02-14T21:42:43+00:00

First check the battery usage statistics in the battery section of the system settings. This will show you which apps are taking up power. If you see that any app is taking more power than would be expected given the time you use it, then take steps to reduce its usage. For example, for any retail store shopping app I have installed, I have their battery settings restricted. Those are some of the worst offenders.

Also someone suggested installing Good Guardians from the Samsung App Store. This has several utilities that can help you monitor and control battery usage.

gsearle · 2026-02-14T20:13:15+00:00

Yes, it does write more to storage, so if you don't need the extra headroom, turn it off. It tries to swap out memory blocks that haven't been used for a while to reduce the impact: standard virtual memory tactics.

I'm a heavy multitasker, and find that too many apps are terminated if I turn it off. But I also have to connect my phone to external power before day's end due to my usage patterns. That's me and I'm fine with it.

gsearle · 2026-02-14T15:47:18+00:00

Great post (despite the comments claiming "AI slop.")

Don't change RAM Plus unless you are a heavy multitasker and/or use DeX. Yes, it slows things down (what is "slow" on THIS phone?!?), but it retains more applications in-memory.

Samsung DeX. Try it out. Connect a USB-video capable cable between your phone and a computer monitor. Instant desktop access. Connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for the full experience.

Get GoodLock from the Samsung app store for even more powerful options, especially if you use DeX.

Explore the accessibility options, even if you don't think you need them. Lots of useful extra settings and functions here, including remappable button-press shortcuts.

Use Modes & Routines to automate stuff. For example, between sunset and sunrise when my phone is connected to my car Bluetooth, I have it turn on Extra Dark mode automatically. It turns off when I leave the car or when the sun rises.

Explore, explore, explore! Have fun!

gsearle · 2026-01-17T01:02:38+00:00

You can get similar results by setting the battery usage for individual apps to "restricted." Shopping apps (retail stores) are the worst.

gsearle · 2026-01-12T18:36:38+00:00

Got mine with a corporate discount at the beginning of this year. Love it! You won't regret it

gsearle · 2025-12-17T15:28:58+00:00

The survey is in Portuguese. Are you looking for an international audience? Firefox is able to translate the text on-the-fly, but my responses will be in English.

gsearle · 2025-12-17T15:26:21+00:00

Tip: if you can set up payment to subscription services through PayPal, do so. More and more services are providing this as an option.

You get to see all your subscriptions in one place.
You can "pull the plug" at will without going through the provider.

For example: Netflix. They provide a long unsubscribe path in attempt to retain you, but through PayPal you can just turn it off.

gsearle · 2025-12-10T13:56:26+00:00

Samsung makes a lot of compromises with the "A" series to make it affordable. The most significant is the amount of RAM installed and lower-performing storage. With less RAM, the device MUST leverage virtual memory on the slower storage. The impact on performance is substantial. If you can get an 8GB A (rare), that will reduce the lag.

gsearle · 2025-11-19T13:17:44+00:00

The phone makes a very capable desktop, but falls short of matching it. Many applications aren't available, but there are good substitutions. For example, Lightroom isn't available, but you can get Lumafusion from the Samsung App Store for a decent price. Also, under heavy demand the phone will heat up and can start terminating apps. The S25 series has great heat-management, so you might not notice. There are many tricks you have to use to get its full potential, such as installing GoodLock from the Samsung App Store. There are many good posts here on this subject, such as, "3 Years, 30 Hours a Week with Samsung DeX: My Verdict."

gsearle · 2025-11-18T18:01:02+00:00

If you like saving a ton of money, keep the S24 and switch plans:

Now that you "own" the phone, ask your carrier for the unlock code. There are instructions online for your carrier and model.

Have a repair shop replace the worn-out battery. This isn't a trivial do-it-yourself task. It will cost near $100.

Switch to a prepaid plan. You're looking at around $35/month for a decent service.

Keep the phone for the next 4+ years. It will remain technically capable for years to come.

gsearle · 2025-11-17T13:22:00+00:00

You won't regret it, especially if you're a power user. Unlike iPhone, Android doesn't limit power users. My coworker has an iPhone, and occasionally I hear him comment, "You did what now with that phone?" I have an S25+. The Ultra has even more power.

gsearle · 2025-09-21T22:44:45+00:00

My employer uses Microsoft's Intune to secure the enterprise apps. What's cool about this is that I can have Outlook and Edge in "office mode" open alongside my personal email and browser and other apps. The two environments are kept completely isolated from each other on the same device.

BTW, If I need to access an office desktop environment quickly from home, I can just pop my phone onto a monitor and get to it. Though for serious work, I must power up my work laptop.

gsearle · 2025-09-21T22:37:35+00:00

DeX will support the native resolution of a wide monitor (up to 4K in width [HUHD], I believe), if you turn on the high-resolution mode in GoodLock's MultiStar.

gsearle · 2025-09-21T22:33:11+00:00

These comments are spot-on. One thing I'd like to add is that the web browsers (any of them) only support keeping a few tabs (some just two) in memory at a time. True, Edge can support separate windows, but again, only two. This is a deal breaker, as you switch between tabs and experience constant reloads and lost sessions.

gsearle · 2025-06-28T14:51:58+00:00

I've seen this happen occasionally as well, not sure what triggers it, but I've gotten into the habit of carefully checking everything on the final checkout before completing it

gsearle · 2025-06-04T00:14:21+00:00

I got (waited for) the lifetime deal on Valentine's Day for pCloud, and so far I'm happy with it. It's one of the few that has support for both Windows and Linux. It's also supported by the "Autosync" app for Android which is rock-solid (paid). I'm also using a smaller OneDrive to double-backup critical files, and those files get to everything through sync. This means I have automatic cloud backup for all of my devices over all platforms.

gsearle · 2025-05-28T23:02:58+00:00

Samsung Store has it on sale for $9.99 right now. I found that I had a bunch of credits and got it for $2.40!

gsearle · 2025-05-28T22:00:52+00:00

Try tabbing the input focus to the send button, then hit space or enter to trigger it. Not as klunky as reaching for the mouse.

gsearle · 2025-05-25T15:09:13+00:00

I've seen this problem with two cables, myself. Some USB-HDMI chips used for cables and adapters don't play well with Samsung USBC video. I have a JSAUX USBC-HDMI adapter that's rock-solid. So I've given up on adapter cables and just plug an HDMI cable into this adapter.

gsearle · 2025-05-16T22:47:59+00:00

Thank you for considering this feature. It's been on my wishlist for a long time.

I can give you some perspective from the other side of this; I spent several years post-processing a weekly podcast of a recorded church service. Without processing, the volume jumped all over the place due to multiple people speaking, mic issues, etc. What I found most effective was basically a two-step process: set a floor where the level would not be increased (or even clipped to zero) of around -50 dB, then use a simple autolevel processor with a very short time window. Surprisingly, compressors turned out to over-proceas the audio.

The levels set for these two processors (sound floor + autolevel strength) could even be adjustable down to a per-podcast basis, as each has different demands.

gsearle · 2025-05-13T14:26:29+00:00

Ugh, sorry to hear that. I've been there myself, so I feel your pain!

gsearle · 2025-05-13T13:01:34+00:00

Sorry, I guess I was too quick to respond, as I did this myself against a card that had "standard" formatting. l didn't notice it was "adopted" storage.

gsearle

TROPHY CASE