Samsung Galaxy S21 For Dummies

Feeling hamstrung by your new Samsung? Figure out how to navigate your new phone in no time 

Your Samsung Galaxy comes packed with features you’ll use every day, and Samsung Galaxy S21 For Dummies is your guide to exploring them. What do you want to do first? Send a text or email? Take photos and videos? Make a basic call? Play games? Shop? This handy guide can help you do all that and so much more.  

• Get an overview of the buttons, screens, and apps that are essential to operating your new phone 
• Manage your contacts so you can stay connected with calls, emails, or texts 
• Surf the web and find new games and apps in the Google Play Store 
• Customize your phone with ringtones, wallpaper, and awesome accessories 
• Watch videos and movies, shoot your own videos, and take photos 
• Boost your productivity with calendar, GPS, and productivity apps 
• Secure your Samsung Galaxy with your face ID, thumbprint, and Screen Lock 

Not only does Samsung Galaxy S21 For Dummies describe features and walk you through steps to use your new phone, it also shows you what the screens look like and where to tap to make things happen. It’s like having a Samsung expert at your elbow. So pick up your copy today to make the most of your Samsung smartphone. 

Bill Hughes is a marketing strategy executive with more than three decades of experience at several leading corporations. He graduated with honors with an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is the author of all previous editions of Samsung Galaxy S For Dummies.

Introduction 1

About This Book 3

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with the Samsung Galaxy S21 7

Chapter 1: Exploring What You Can Do with Your Phone 9

Discovering the Basics of Your Phone 9

Taking Your Phone to the Next Level: The Smartphone Features 10

Internet access 11

Photos 12

Wireless email 13

Multimedia 13

Customizing Your Phone with Games and Applications 13

Downloading games 13

Downloading applications 14

What’s cool about the Android platform 14

Surviving Unboxing Day 15

Chapter 2: Beginning at the Beginning 19

First Things First: Turning On Your Phone 19

Charging Your Phone and Managing Battery Life 21

Navigating the Galaxy S21 26

The phone’s hardware buttons 26

The touchscreen 29

The extended Home screen 34

The notification area and screen 38

The Device Function keys 39

The keyboard 41

The orientation of the phone 42

Going to Sleep Mode/Turning Off the Phone 43

Part 2: Communicating with Other People 45

Chapter 3: Calling People 47

Making Calls 47

Answering Calls 51

Keeping Track of Your Calls: The Recents 54

Making an Emergency Call: The 411 on 911 55

Syncing a Bluetooth Headset 56

Options Other than Headsets 59

Chapter 4: Discovering the Joy of Text 61

Sending the First Text Message 61

Carrying on a Conversation via Texting 66

Sending an Attachment with a Text 68

Receiving Text Messages 69

Managing Your Text History 69

Chapter 5: Sending and Receiving Email 71

Setting Up Your Email 71

Getting ready 72

Setting up your existing Gmail account 73

Setting up a new Gmail account 75

Working with non-Gmail email accounts 76

Setting up a corporate email account 82

Reading Email on Your Phone 84

Writing and Sending Email 85

Replying to and Forwarding Email 87

Chapter 6: Managing Your Contacts 89

Using the Galaxy S21 Contacts App 90

Learning the Contacts App on your phone 90

Deciding where to store your contacts 92

Linking Contacts on your phone 96

Creating Contacts within Your Database 99

Adding contacts as you dial 99

Adding contacts manually 101

How Contacts Make Life Easy 102

Playing Favorites 104

Part 3: Living on the Internet 105

Chapter 7: You’ve Got the Whole (Web) World in Your Hands 107

Starting the Browser 108

Accessing Mobile (or Not) Websites 109

Choosing Your Search Engine 111

Deciding between Mobile Browsing and Mobile Apps 114

Chapter 8: Playing in Google’s Play Store 115

Exploring the Play Store: The Mall for Your Phone 116

Getting to the Store 116

Seeing What’s Available: Shopping for Android Apps 118

Navigating the Google Play apps offerings 119

Installing and Managing an Android App 122

Rating or Uninstalling Your Apps 128

Part 4: Having Fun with Your Phone 131

Chapter 9: Sharing Pictures 133

Say Cheese! Taking a Picture with Your Phone 135

Getting a Little Fancier with Your Camera 144

Using the Photo mode settings 144

Settings options on the viewfinder 146

Photo Effects options 148

Visualizing What You Can Do with Bixby Vision 148

Managing Your Photo Images 150

Using Images on Your Phone 151

Deleting Images on Your Phone 152

Chapter 10: Creating Videos 153

Ready Action! Taking a Video with Your Phone 154

Taking Videography to the Next Level 158

The Video mode settings 158

Settings options on the viewfinder 159

Messing with the AR Doodle option 160

Chapter 11: Playing Games 163

The Play Store Games Category 164

The Games Home screen 165

The Games Categories tab 166

Leaving Feedback on Games 169

Chapter 12: Playing Music and Videos 173

Getting Ready to Be Entertained 174

Choosing your headset 174

Wired headsets 175

Choosing your Bluetooth speaker 177

Connecting to your stereo 178

Licensing Your Multimedia Files 179

Listening up on licensing 179

Licensing for videos 180

Using the Full Capacity of the Memory in Your Phone 180

Enjoying Basic Multimedia Capabilities 182

Grooving with the YouTube Music app 182

Playing downloaded music 187

Jamming to Internet Radio 190

Looking at your video options 192

Part 5: Getting Down to Business 199

Chapter 13: Using the Calendar 201

Syncing Calendars 201

Setting Calendar Display Preferences 203

Setting Other Display Options 206

Creating an Event on the Right Calendar 208

Creating, editing, and deleting an event 208

Keeping events separate and private 211

Chapter 14: Mapping Out Where You Want to Be 215

GPS 101: First Things First 216

Practically Speaking: Using Maps 217

Changing map scale 218

Finding nearby services 221

Getting and Using Directions 224

Upgrading Your Navigation 226

Chapter 15: Paying with Samsung Pay 229

How Mobile Payment Works 230

Getting Started with Samsung Pay 232

Setting Up Samsung Pay 234

Using Samsung Pay 238

Managing Samsung Pay 240

Adding Loyalty Cards 241

Part 6: The Part of Tens 245

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Make Your Phone Totally Yours 247

Using a Bluetooth Speaker 248

Cruising in the Car 249

Considering Wireless Charging Mats 251

Making a Statement with Wraps 252

You Look Wonderful: Custom Screen Images 253

Empowering Power Savings 255

Controlling Your Home Electronics 256

Wearing Wearables 257

Using Your Phone as a PC 259

Creating Your Own AR Emoji in the AR Zone 259

Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Ways to Make Your Phone Secure 263

Using a Good Case 264

Putting It on Lockdown 266

Preparing for your Screen Lock option 269

Selecting among the Screen Lock options 269

Entering your face 271

Entering your fingerprints 273

Creating a Secure Folder 274

Using Knox to Make Your Phone as Secure as Fort Knox 277

Being Careful with Bluetooth 278

Protecting against Malware 279

Downloading Apps Only from Reputable Sources 280

Rescuing Your Phone When It Gets Lost 280

Wiping Your Device Clean 282

Chapter 18: Ten Features to Look for Down the Road 283

Your Medical Information Hub 283

Better 911 Services 284

Home Internet of Things Services to Differentiate Real Estate 285

New Delivery Concepts 285

Smarter Customer Care for Your Phone 286

Smartphone as Entertainment Hub 287

Driving in Your Car 288

Serving You Better 288

Placing You Indoors 289

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint 290

Index 291

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