What Should I Be Sure To Do When Setting Up a New Note 3?

[radicchio]

As I slowly inch closer to getting a Note 3, I am thinking about all the things I will need to do to get the phone set up properly from the beginning. I have a few things on my list, such as disabling My Magazine, but since I've never had a smartphone before I'm afraid I'll miss some key elements. What do you think are the most important things to get right from the very beginning? Or what are some settings I might not think of adjusting that would maximize the performance of the Note 3.

I think I will be a moderate user, and I will probably be starting out with a fairly limited data plan (1/2 gb to 1 gb). I want to make sure I watch my data usage, as well as battery drain. OTOH, I don't mind having to charge my phone every evening---but I would like to make sure I can get through the day without the battery dying.

Another question: Is there any reason that I should or should not turn off my phone once a day? I notice many people here mention that they never turn their phone off. Is that best? Or just personal preference?

 

[UJ95x]

1. Make sure you set up your Google account. Sync as many things as possible but at least make sure your contacts are...
2. Also make sure that you back up personal/important data. Use something like Google +/Photos to automatically backup your pictures.
3. Going back to point #2, but also applying to anything that will use data...set as many apps as possible to only update/backup when on WiFi. Don't want your limited data being used up in the first week.
4. Avoid task manager/cleaning apps. You can read up on why it's not necessary here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-tos/380592-guide-ram-android.html

As far as turning off your phone, I'd say it's not necessary to do so daily. I only do it because I swap out the two batteries I have. But you probably do want to do it every few days just to keep performance up.

 

[mavrrick]

Disable all the extra ATT redundant apps. ATT has them chewing up resources and the phone will run smoother with them disabled. If you have a different carrier look for what is carrier supplied if any.

My note 3 is rarely restarted. I only do so when they acts very or of the ordinary, or I experience a unusual battery drain. Probably at most it happens weekly. Probably much longer as it just doesn't need it.


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[sarkycow]

As I slowly inch closer to getting a Note 3, I am thinking about all the things I will need to do to get the phone set up properly from the beginning. I have a few things on my list, such as disabling My Magazine, but since I've never had a smartphone before I'm afraid I'll miss some key elements. What do you think are the most important things to get right from the very beginning? Or what are some settings I might not think of adjusting that would maximize the performance of the Note 3.

I think I will be a moderate user, and I will probably be starting out with a fairly limited data plan (1/2 gb to 1 gb). I want to make sure I watch my data usage, as well as battery drain. OTOH, I don't mind having to charge my phone every evening---but I would like to make sure I can get through the day without the battery dying.

Another question: Is there any reason that I should or should not turn off my phone once a day? I notice many people here mention that they never turn their phone off. Is that best? Or just personal preference?

I'll leave it up to the experts as to whether it's beneficial to restart your phone daily. I do it maybe 1-2 times a week but generally I don't see any lag etc when I go for a longer period without rebooting.

You can set up the note 3 to warn you when you are reaching your data limit (you set when you want notified - for example I set it to warn me when I'm 0.5gb from reaching my limit). You can also set it to turn off data when you reach the limit so you won't go over. I found this useful when I had an app that wasn't working correctly and used my data when it wasn't supposed to.

I would also say that investing in a Dropbox account (or similar - I love Dropbox) to back up your photos/videos would be wise. I had a bad sd card and if I didn't have Dropbox backing up my photos I would have lost 4-5 months worth of photos. You can set it up to backup only when you are on wifi or wifi&data. I've had absolutely no problem with it using my data. It backs up over wifi without me having to do anything.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Sarks.

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[conanheath]

Also remember to only download apps from Google Play, Amazon App Store or Samsung App Store. You mentioned in your other thread you were making the switch from a flip phone. I've been using Android for 5+ years with no virus issues but it is the most susceptible OS. Just remember you have to tell it to download the virus. So stay away from apps off of websites and you will be fine. You don't need any virus software or ram clearing apps either. Old android did but not new. They are a waste of time.

The only other thing I haven't seen mentioned is the gestures/motion settings. These can be a battery hog and it may be a good idea to turn them all off. I did on day one because I couldn't find one that was really necessary.

Off thread topic: This was mentioned in other thread. As far as signal issues people have mentioned. You will get a new sim card when you get your phone. This us usually the primary cause for weak signal. Not all 4glte sim cards are created equal. You will notice less bars than you did on your flip phone. That is your phone conserving battery by limiting power to antenna. 2 bars is just as good as 5 bars. Your phone doesn't know any different. It could give you five bars all day long but you would pay with battery. If you are in a major city you shouldn't have issues with any of the big carriers unless you are deep inside a bldg or basement. You just won't see a full signal very often.

Launchers: You mentioned a launcher you use on your tablet. You may give Touchwiz (Samsung built in launcher/skin) a try. It is pretty clean and easy to navigate. It is different from regular Android but it is very logical once you use it. It also has an easy view mode which makes it even easier to navigate for first timers. It cuts down on the clutter a little. You will see this setting when you first setup your phone.

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[sarkycow]

Also remember to only download apps from Google Play, Amazon App Store or Samsung App Store. You mentioned in your other thread you were making the switch from a flip phone. I've been using Android for 5+ years with no virus issues but it is the most susceptible OS. Just remember you have to tell it to download the virus. So stay away from apps off of websites and you will be fine. You don't need any virus software or ram clearing apps either. Old android did but not new. They are a waste of time.

The only other thing I haven't seen mentioned is the gestures/motion settings. These can be a battery hog and it may be a good idea to turn them all off. I did on day one because I couldn't find one that was really necessary.

Off thread topic: This was mentioned in other thread. As far as signal issues people have mentioned. You will get a new sim card when you get your phone. This us usually the primary cause for weak signal. Not all 4glte sim cards are created equal. You will notice less bars than you did on your flip phone. That is your phone conserving battery by limiting power to antenna. 2 bars is just as good as 5 bars. Your phone doesn't know any different. It could give you five bars all day long but you would pay with battery. If you are in a major city you shouldn't have issues with any of the big carriers unless you are deep inside a bldg or basement. You just won't see a full signal very often.

Launchers: You mentioned a launcher you use on your tablet. You may give Touchwiz (Samsung built in launcher/skin) a try. It is pretty clean and easy to navigate. It is different from regular Android but it is very logical once you use it. It also has an easy view mode which makes it even easier to navigate for first timers. It cuts down on the clutter a little. You will see this setting when you first setup your phone.

Posted via Android Central App

This has reminded me of a couple of other things. They're not really NEED TO DO as soon as you get the phone but nice to find out sooner I think (at least I wish I did).

The Amazon app store does a free app of the day - a lot of the time they're games (which is nice but I'm not much of a game person - except 5 minutes every few months), but sometimes they are different and I've gotten quite a few apps I like for free there.

Also, if you don't mind giving google your opinions on some things download "google rewards" from the playstore. You answer questions every now and again (usually it's just 1-3 nothing lengthy) and they give you credit towards the playstore. In the few months I've had it I've earned like 6 bucks to use. This I like because sometimes I put something on my app store "wishlist" and use that $ to pay for it.

Oh, if you like to write quick memos then add the widget version to your homescreen (s). The s-pen will give you the option to write a memo ...but then I couldn't find the memos I'd written! ...until I added the widget - then you can just swipe up or down to go through your memos or push the 3 dots/lines and it will list all your memos. I use the widget constantly. As well as the calendar widget because it let's me view what's happening on all the calendars I've synced at a glance.

Thank you conanheath for reminding me of other stuff I had forgotten!

Oh and I use touchwiz and have done since I got the phone when it came out. I have no complaints about it.

Sarks.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[anon8380037]

Samsung account log in (1st thing you need to enter and after a reset), it saves stuff like S-Notes and Scrapbook.

Android Device Manager. Make sure it's allowed in Settings. Test it on your phone and from a pc by asking for location. Same Google account log in from pc. 2 urls get you in. If you lock your phone and forget the pin / password this will get you back in; as well as locate, lock or wipe your phone remotely if lost. Best case is Lock and leave a message on the lock screen with another phone # for the finder.
I personally think pin and password locks are more trouble than they're worth, so many people can't save their data when locked out, but I live and work in a quiet environment!

I would go to Google account settings and disable Picasa / Photos and other stuff except for contacts, calendar, apps (call log + sms?) etc.
You will only see check boxes for the sync settings there when Master Sync is on.

Also disable Google + photos back up, and disable Google + altogether if you don't want a named public profile. It's cute for information you may or may not want, try it out.
Google Now has proved very useful for people, with severe weather warnings etc.

Find the wall with the softest padding, and leave the bottom half of a large window permanently open with a large mattress outside. These will be your go to spots when, and it may, drive you to distraction figuring how to do this or that. Head banging is not medically recommended, and the Note 3 is not aerodynamically designed for flying lessons, as a recent poster put it.

The signal bars don't mean much, but when someone can't understand you or you them on 2-5 bars it can be an issue. I have had 4 sim cards, and most of the time its ok, but my older phones are better. Hopefully you will get a better one.

"We're all counting on you. We know you can do it. Good luck. "

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[radicchio]

First, I want to thank every one of you for your answers. They are so helpful. Some of the things I've read about before, others I haven't. Having them here in one thread will be such a big help. I'm going to open this thread (or print it) when I get my phone and start doing the set up.

I hope there will continue to be more ideas posted here, as people think of them. These are exactly the kinds of things I was hoping you guys would help me with. I also have a question about Google +. I stay away from all social media---I have more private, secure ways to communicate with friends and family. I have been advised by a few people to use Google+ for backing up my phone, but I really don't want/can't have a public profile. I don't have a gmail account either, but I was wondering if I opened a gmail account with a made-up name that would be nonspecific and not identify me personally, is that the name that would go on the Google+ account? Is other private information made public without my permission? I actually want to open the gmail account, as right now my Google Play Store account is under one of my business accounts, which has my full name. I didn't even think of this when I got my tablet and went to the Play Store the first time to get some apps. I want to create a new gmail account so that my Play Store account, calendar, etc. won't be under my full name. (I keep my calendar private at this time, so I don't know if any of that information is available so far.) I'm trying to be prepared ahead of time for any set up questions that will come up when first turning on my new phone so that i won't inadvertently end up using my business email or full name on things that could end up in the public domain.

I also would welcome more detailed information about how to back up my phone and what I can back up. Once I get it set up the way I want, with all the tweaks recommended above plus my own personal choices (i.e., launcher, wallpaper, etc.), is there a way to back up ALL of those settings so that if I had to to a reset I could automatically restore everything as it was? Once I get it set up the way I want, I doubt I'll want to make any major changes, so it would be nice to be able to back up everything and then restore it quickly, without having to spend a lot of time trying to remember all the adjustments I made to various settings on the phone and in apps to get it back to what it was before. I know that I also need to have a backup plan for music and photos (I doubt I'll keep any documents on my phone), so that's another question. Something else I don't understand is how to restore apps after a reset. Do you just get them again from the Play Store, or am I able to back them up, including whatever settings I've adjusted within the apps, and then restore them with all the settings intact?

Hope you guys don't mind all these extra questions---as you can see, I'm pretty inexperienced.

 

[anon8380037]

You have a Google account, which you need for downloading apps, recognising your phone etc.
Then you have Google +. You can do without Google + altogether and disable the app, the phone will run smoother too. You can put any Gmail name for your email account, eg: imnotamoron@gmail.com, or banana5@gmail.com. You may be better advised to give Google your real name and DOB plus favourite place and a secondary email account eg Yahoo to help you confirm yourself when there are problems and you need to confirm your ID with a link in your non Google email. These would remain invisible except to Google.

To create a Google + profile I think you need to add your own name as you already have a Google account. The only thing I miss without having Google + is recently I cannot leave an app review on the Play Store without Google +, before I could.

I only use my Gmail account for android / phone app related stuff. People contact me on my Yahoo account or others.
So without Google + your photos (if you want), contacts, Google calendar if you use it are synced to your Gmail account. Having Google + backup enabled stores all your media and info in the Google cloud. I don't need that, though I do use Dropbox for some things, which is very good, works from a pc and is very easy as others mentioned.
But I mostly drag all my photos, music, documents to/from my pc via usb cable.

 

[radicchio]

Madd54, Thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond to my many questions. So, if the regular Google account (without Google+) syncs contacts, calendars, and app data, then I probably don't need Google+. Does syncing app data mean that, if I reset and then reload my apps on my phone that all the settings can be restored, as well, because of the app data being synced with Google? I would really hate to have to go through and set up the entire phone and every app again.

The only other thing I can think of to back up would be music, so I guess I will try using the usb connection between laptop and phone. I do have a cloud storage account that I've used for many years for my business backups. There is an app to use directly with an Android device, but I don't want to do that for security reasons. But if I can copy the music files to my laptop, I could then upload them to my cloud storage from the laptop.

 

[anon8380037]

Madd54, Thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond to my many questions. So, if the regular Google account (without Google+) syncs contacts, calendars, and app data, then I probably don't need Google+. Does syncing app data mean that, if I reset and then reload my apps on my phone that all the settings can be restored, as well, because of the app data being synced with Google? I would really hate to have to go through and set up the entire phone and every app again.

The only other thing I can think of to back up would be music, so I guess I will try using the usb connection between laptop and phone. I do have a cloud storage account that I've used for many years for my business backups. There is an app to use directly with an Android device, but I don't want to do that for security reasons. But if I can copy the music files to my laptop, I could then upload them to my cloud storage from the laptop.

I'm actually not entirely sure how much app data Google saves in Syncing. I would think it saves your information. Hopefully someone can fill you in. You can go to the Play Store of course and download from My Apps but they would be new.

I had to do a reset 2 months ago after 6 months use, with a faulty card issue. I don't think I had the app syncing checked on my Google account.
I downloaded and logged in to most of my apps manually, a pain but I have had a better running fresher phone and battery since. That's where my Samsung account and Dropbox helped more.

Then you have Samsung Kies for pc which helps you save media and sync loads; backup and restore, and check for updates online. It doesn't save and restore everything like it used to in older versions, so like Google, don't rely on it entirely after any reset (which hopefully you won't need to do, though it's not so bad, it just took me 2-3 days to set it slowly back to the way the screens were).
Kies does allow me to sync my calendar and contacts with old MS Outlook 2003/7 after a fashion. You can sync wirelessly with Kies, but again I prefer via USB.
Each person will have different experiences.
You also have a choice of Calendars to sync, a Google one, a Samsung account one and a My Calendar which only syncs between the device and Kies.
All my music is from ripped CD's transferred in Lossless quality from Windows Media Player (wma files) and works great.

 

[Shannon Loyd]

Here lately.. and this has to do with any phone not just the note 3 since I have a note 3 it caught my eye. Be careful for the apps that you download.. Because there are a lot of spam type stuff out there lately that will open your default browser go to play store if you have play store app choosen by default it will open that and then head to some game that it has chosen for you to advertise.. It will do this several times a day until you pick which game it was that you downloaded that is infected and uninstall it.. Ad blockers will not remove it nothing will.. just removing the infected app will.. just spreading the word.. =)

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[neonworm]

Download Nova Launcher.

 

[vr002sh]

couple more ideas, if you have wifi at home or work, connect to it. install apps over wifi (turn off the auto update feature in Google Play - you will be notified when app updates are available and then install them on wifi, that way you wont use your data plan).

Helium Backup (previously carbon backup) is pretty good (ok, great on rooted devices) but good on non rooted (rooting has advantages, you may never need to, but dont jump in too early, get to know your phone). Helium will back up your data (you can safe space and time by not backing up the apps, as you can always get them from Google Play). You can back up to Dropbox or Google Drive.

Back to rooting. I have had the Note 3 since the day it launched, never felt the need to root it. Also have a Note 10.1 not rooted. I have a Nexus 7 that is rooted, that's my play machine, if I brick it, I brick it, never have. so my daily drivers are stock.

As others have said, you can go into the app manager and turn off many of the preinstalled apps, doing so will save your battery.

Launchers, Touchwiz (built in on this phone) is good. all features work, many will tell you to get Nova, or Apex or the Google Experiance launcher. All are good, i have tried them all. I use one called simple launcher. it's very light, not a memory hog, and it has several very clean simple layouts. worth taking a look, but play with touchwiz for a bit, you might just like it.

Lastly, do yourself a huge favor. The first app you want to install is swiftkey, best keyboard i have ever used. also when you do, go into advanced settings and turn on the number row. you wont regret it (and free is not a bad price).

OK, one more that lastly, go to youtube and subscribe to the daily note 3 (or the daily note 2). the guy puts out short videos on how to do things, some are good, some are not, but he has about 70 videos and you can learn a lot from him.

 

[mavrrick]

Lastly, do yourself a huge favor. The first app you want to install is swiftkey, best keyboard i have ever used. also when you do, go into advanced settings and turn on the number row. you wont regret it (and free is not a bad price).

Actually this is a great point to be made. The phone comes with 2 keyboard preinstalled. It comes with the Samsung's Keyboard, and Swype. Keyboards and the preferences are certainly a personal thing. On top of those to I have used, Thumb keyboard, Swiftkey, and the Google keyboard.

Each has it's plus's and minus's. I believe the general consensus is that Swiftkey is the best with predication, and Swype is the best for gesture based typing. Google does both of those OK. The Samsung keyboard on the Note 3 is actually based on Swype, and is pretty darn good. The note 3 is the first phone I stuck with the Samsung keyboard.

I have heard that Swiftkey has some new layout functions that are really cool though so.

The key here is try a few of them out and see what you like and what fits your use case.