3 Questions About My S5

[LordDarkStar]

Howdy all,

I own an unlocked, AT&T Samsung Galaxy S5 that is running Marshmallow (6.0.1) and my provider is Tracfone. I have a handful of questions about it and about smart phones running the Android O/S. I'm a semi-retired IT Geek and my system runs Linux (Ubuntu 16.10 with GNOME at present) so I'm not entirely clueless, but at the same time, when it comes to the Android O/S and smart phones as a class of technology, I'm still pretty green. I'm hoping all of you can help me fix that shortcoming! I'll keep the questions as brief as possible. BTW - the model number of my S5 is: SM-G900A.

1) The phone still is using the same 2800 mAh Lithium Ion battery it came with. It really needs to be replaced, but... As an interim solution, I picked up a 50,000 mAh battery pack. It works fine, but it has both a 1 and a 2 Amp port. Looking at the charger that came with the phone, it states that its output is 1.1 Amps. My question is: Can I safely connect my phone to the 2 Amp port to charge it, or not?

2) As I carry the phone around with me, either in a hip pocket or in my shirt pocket, when I bring it out to use it, it seems to have launched at least one and sometimes more than one app. The only thing I can figure out is that the AMOLED touch screen is so sensitive, riding around in my pocket is sufficient to activate it (which is funny in a way b/c there have been times when I try to make it do something and I practically have to beat on it before it does more than just smirk at me!). My question: WHAT can be done to DECREASE the sensitivity of the touch screen beyond using the phone's settings? Alternatively, is there some method by which you can suspend the phone's actions except for receiving calls/texts, etc?

3) FINALLY (for now) , I connect my phone to my computer when I'm at home to a - charge it and b - upload files to and download files from it. Occasionally, I will go exploring inside the phone using my computer's file manager (Nautilus). What's odd is that there appear to be a large number of directories especially within the phone's memory, that are completely empty (or do they just appear to be empty?). That's my last question for now: Is there a way that I can have complete access to the data in my phone's memory as well as on the SD Card I have installed in it? Before you suggest that I root my phone, I tried that with a couple of previous phones and got mixed results at best. In one case, I 'bricked' the phone and that did not make me at all happy!

That's enough for now (I'm sure you all agree as well!). I do appreciate the help you can provide for me in learning the 'facts of life' about smart phones!

 

[smvim]

1. Yes it's OK to use the 2A port. Theoretically with a 2800mAh battery if you had a 2.8A charger that would still be OK (1A = 1000mA). And actually if you had a charging device that can supply up to 4A you'd still be OK as your S5 is only going to be pulling in what it needs. Also, while your battery is charging it will initially start to require a higher number of amperage and then it gradually fades as it gets charged up -- so (completely made up numbers here) if your battery is at 45% when you plug it in to get charged it might pull in 1950mA but by the time it's close to done, say 98% it might only be pulling in 100mA.

2. No comment on what you're asking specifically. I use a phone holster with a belt clip. Some view them as silly or geeky-looking but I prefer it because I never have to worry about what pocket to use or leaving my phone on a table somewhere, it's always in the same place on my hip. Plus with my phone not being in any pocket there's less of a chance inadvertent contact with the screen will be an issue.

3. Not quite sure which directories you're referring to, but running a Linux system (also a Linux user, Slackware since 2003) does allow you to access more things with less friction than say a Windows box. There's a basic file manager that Samsung includes, look for the 'My Files' app in your Apps menu, and be sure to go into its Settings menu and check off the boxes for 'Show hidden files' and 'Show file extension'. Using My Files go into some of those directories in question and see if they're still empty, or not.

 

[LordDarkStar]

Thank you VERY much for your reply to my questions! I'm sorry that it took me this long to return and acknowledge your response.

I too use a holster for my S5. One that actually has a belt loop since I have had bad luck with the holster and phone getting detached from my belt and going MIA. Even so, using my holster (which fits very snugly around the phone by design), I have pulled the phone out to find applications open and I cannot account for how that happened. However, my index of suspicion is high that somehow pressure was applied to the touchscreen in such a manner that the phone thought I wanted the offending application to be opened.

I think that the answer to this issue is to A) shorten the length of time the display is active without input and/or B) Discover how to lock the phone's display immediately before stowing it.

To answer your question about my third question: I wish to have unrestricted access to ALL of the files on my phone. Not because I have any desire to tinker with them unnecessarily, but on the general principle that it is MY phone and I insist on the right to have access to ALL of the information it contains - ALL the information. When it comes to the O/S, I'm sure that Google would take exception to my point of view, but FWIW Google can go straight to Hell and right along with the horse they rode in on! "Don't Be Evil" my a**!

And closely related to my desire to have unfettered access to all the data contained on my phone is the crapware installed on it as a consequence of being associated with AT&T. I would gladly give a buffalo nickel (if I had one to give!) to be given directions on how to remove these applications from my phone. I have all of them turned off or otherwise disabled, I would just as soon not have them taking up any of the measly 16GB of memory my S5 has, Likewise with the crapware installed by Google, although I grudgingly acknowledge that some of them may be unavoidable unless I want to get root access and replace the O/S and everything else. As I said previously, I'm just not willing to go that route....not yet at any rate!

I did appreciate the insight about the built in file manager. When I opened it, I found that the show hidden files feature was not enabled, so I enabled it, however I have not had the time yet to go surfing around in my phone yet through Nautilus. Hopefully I will this weekend. Happy Friday, BTW!

Thanks again,

Frank