Something is wrong with my phone screen?

Bianca DeBelen

New member
Jan 9, 2014
2
0
0
Visit site
So I've had my Galaxy S3 for about a year and 4 months now. I occasionally drop it every once in a while like any clumsy teenager, but I've never purposefully tried to break my phone.

So like always, I dropped my phone on carpet from my hand. It's fine. But like three hours later, I go to check my phone, and a corner of the screen is blacked out, and the rest of the screen is dimmed and kind of tinted. I can still use the phone like normal, but sometimes I touch the screen and nothing happens. Sometimes, it's bright, and sometimes it's really dark. And if I squeeze the corner of the phone that's most affected, then it can make things better or worse. The screen itself isn't shattered; it's just the display of the screen that's broken.

I was going to take it in to Verizon to get it fixed because I can't do this stuff myself. I was wondering, would fixing this take longer than an hour or two? I can't be without my phone.

Also, side question, if I end up just getting a new phone, will all of my contacts be on my SIM card? And since I have a Samsung account, will all of my pictures on this phone be saved to Samsung Link, or do I have to transfer ever single picture from my phone to my laptop? I don't have a microSD card in my phone.
 

B. Diddy

Senior Ambassador
Moderator
Mar 9, 2012
166,967
7,050
113
Visit site
Welcome to Android Central! It sounds like the screen or digitizer are damaged. Verizon won't be able to repair it for you. If you have phone insurance, you can file a claim with the insurance company and get a replacement phone that way after paying the deductible. If you don't have insurance, then check if your phone is still under warranty--if so, then contact Samsung directly. If you're out of warranty, then you'll need to bring the phone to a cellphone repair shop and get a quote from them. In any of these cases, it will take at least a few days for either the phone to be repaired or a replacement phone to be sent to you.

What happens to your contacts depends on how you've been storing them. Are they connected to your Google account? If so, they should be synced to your Google cloud account, and will automatically sync to any new phone you get where you login with that same Google account. If they're connected to the "Phone Account," then that's a little trickier. The contacts are probably on the SIM card, but I'm not sure if they'd automatically show up in another phone after plugging the same SIM card in. You may have to ask Verizon to transfer the contacts using their transfer device. Or you could try exporting the contacts into a file, and then importing them into your Google account, as described here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...-android-2014-part-iii-managing-contacts.html

I can't give you an answer about Samsung Link, but while your phone is still functional, I suggest hooking it up to your computer via USB cable and copying all of your photos to the computer now​ before you potentially lose any.
 

GSDer

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2011
8,469
15
0
Visit site
Verizon also provides an app called 'Backup Assistant Plus' (you'll find it in Settings under the Accounts subheading; they may have changed the name since I used it last) which you can use to backup your contacts (and other things? I thought they upgraded the cloud storage to allow pictures).

There are other options for keeping your pictures safe (ex. Cloud Drive http://market.android.com/details?id=com.amazon.clouddrive.photos) and lots of ways to backup your contacts (ex. Excel<->Contacts Lite: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...xcelcontacts.excelcontactslite&token=1unH-wo3).

I'd recommend that you install Samsung Kies (just Google it - look for v3) on your computer and you can use it to backup/restore everything we've discussed. It's one of the only ways to backup MMS, and it has worked reliably for me through numerous Factory Resets, firmware installations, etc.

BTW, a replacement screen assembly will set you back about $130 if you want to replace it yourself (there's lots of instructions online).

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk
 

Asurioncares

Well-known member
May 31, 2013
79
0
0
Visit site
Hi Bianca!

Do you have phone insurance through Verizon? If so, please visit Welcome to Phoneclaim.com to file a claim in minutes! We replace your entire device, give you a 12-month warranty on that device and offer next day shipping. Depending on your device, you may be able to activate and transfer your data from the comfort of your home. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Thanks!

Asurion Social Media Team
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
948,749
Messages
6,939,994
Members
3,161,232
Latest member
pg0512