One of the things I love about Android phones is how much control you get over finer settings to make the phone look and feel the way you want it to.
Out of the box, the Samsung Galaxy S20 is a great smartphone, but it’s not the greatest it could be. Surprisingly, some of Samsung’s default settings don’t make the most of some of the device’s hardware, like its new 120Hz screen. That’s one of the first few things you should change.
Otherwise, there are a bunch of little tweaks you can make to make the Galaxy S20your phone and work the way you like it.
Check out the first 10 things I did when I received the Galaxy S20 Ultra review unit, and note that all these tweaks are available on all Galaxy S20 models:
The Galaxy S20 has a sharp WQHD 1440p display, but it’s set to FHD 1080p by default. Don’t change that — it’s better for your battery life, and FHD still looks great.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
When you first start up the Galaxy S20, its display resolution is set to FHD 1080p by default.
The temptation is strong to set the display resolution to its full WQHD 1440p option for the crispiest, sharpest look for Android, your apps, photos, and videos.
I hardly noticed a difference between the default FHD 1080p mode and the WQHD 1440p option. And keeping it to FHD resolution will help extend your battery life, as the Galaxy S10’s processor won’t need to work as hard to render items on the display at a sharper resolution.
The Galaxy S20’s screen is also capable of giving you a smoother experience while you swipe around the phone. You have to actively enable that feature.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
By default, the Galaxy S20’s screen is set to the standard 60Hz refresh rate, which gives a familiar look and feel to the phone.
But you can set the screen to 120Hz for a faster and smoother overall experience, and it’s absolutely worth it. It might reduce battery life a little bit, but I have no complaints so far on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Battery life is still among the best I’ve ever experienced on a smartphone.
To change the screen from 60Hz to 120Hz, head to Settings > Display > Motion smoothness > tap High refresh rate (120 Hz) > then tap Apply.
Also note that the 120Hz option is only available for the FHD 1080p resolution.
Turn on Dark Mode to give your Galaxy S20 a sleeker look. It’s also easier on the eyes at night.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Not only is dark mode easier on the eyes – especially at night – but it looks sleeker, in my opinion. Setting whatever you can to a dark or night mode will also help with battery life, as the Galaxy S20 won’t be using up battery power to light up the default white color theme.
To enable Night Mode, swipe down the notifications shade > swipe down again > swipe left > tap Dark mode.
Use the latest Android navigation mode with swipes instead of the traditional buttons on the bottom of the screen. Not only are they more useful, but it gives your phone a cleaner look, too.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
By default, you get the standard Android navigation buttons on the bottom of the screen, including the multi-task button, the home button, and the back button.
You can clean up Android’s look on the Galaxy S20 by switching to gestures instead of buttons, which removes the navigation bar at the bottom. I kept the Gesture hints option turned on to serve as a guide for where to swipe.
To do this, go to Settings > Display > Navigation bar > select Full screen gestures.
Swipe down from anywhere on the home screen to pull down the notifications shade.
Out of the box, swiping down on the Galaxy S20’s home screen will bring up the Android app drawer where all your apps can be found. The thing is, swiping up already does that. So I decided to set the swipe-down gesture for something more useful – bringing down the android notifications shade.
Doing this makes it easier to pull down the Android notifications shade, as you don’t need to reach up to the top of the screen to swipe the shade down. You can swipe down the notifications shade from the middle of the home screen, or even close to the bottom, if you want.
To do this, go to Settings > Display > Home screen > tap Quick-open notification panel.
Change the way Samsung’s One UI interface looks to make it less cartoon-y.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
The icons are set to look large by default on the Galaxy S20, and it looks a little cartoon-y, which doesn’t match the Galaxy S20’s sleek aesthetic.
To remedy this, I made the home screen icon grid more compact, which made the icons smaller and let me add more apps to the home screen.
To do this, go to Settings > Display > Home screen > Home screen grid > tap 5×6,or whichever grid style you like.
Do the same for the „Apps screen grid“ option in the Home screen menu.
Change the way the edge lighting looks and works on the Galaxy S20.
Foto:
I’m a big fan of the Galaxy S20’s edge lighting when a notification shows up, but I was underwhelmed by the default blue color. I set the edge lighting’s color to be white and made it thicker to be more noticeable, which creates a more impressive effect when you get a notification.
Below is the edge lighting on the Galaxy S10, but it’s almost identical on the Galaxy S20, except you get more options with Samsung’s latest device:
Set the side button to do something useful for you.
Foto: Source: Crystal Cox/Business Insider
Instead of summoning the Bixby virtual assistant with the Galaxy S20’s side button, you can set it to act as a shortcut for your favorite app, or even back to a power button!
To do this, head to Settings > Advanced Features > Side Key > select what you want the side button to do.
Change the keyboard to Google’s Gboard.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Samsung’s default keyboard is fine, but I’ve always preferred Google’s own Gboard. The keys are wider, which makes it easier and faster to type more accurately. It’s also a cleaner keyboard compared to the cluttered Samsung keyboard. You can also customize Gboard more than you can Samsung’s keyboard.
Just install the Gboard app from the Google Play Store and follow the instructions. Then, you can customize Gboard to your preferred themes and settings.
Make the Galaxy S20 feel faster.
Foto: Source: Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
You can reduce the superfluous animations when navigating around the Android operating system, which lets you get back to your home screen and close or open apps more quickly. It gives the Galaxy S20 feel faster overall.
With animations switched on by default, it always felt like I was waiting for the animations to finish before I could go on to do what I wanted to do next.
To get rid of them, go to Settings > Advanced features > tap Reduce animations.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
