If you’re unable to find options for customizing your phone or you’re not impressed with your Galaxy S3, continue reading to find out about the best ways to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3.
1. ZEDGE Ringtones & Wallpapers
This is my favorite customization toolkit for Android and whether you own the most expensive Android smartphone or you have a low budget Android smartphone, the ZEDGE app can take care of most of your customization needs. The ZEDGE website has been around for years, catering to the pre-Android era such as the Symbian OS. While there are specialized apps for different customization areas like Android wallpapers and cool ringtones, ZEDGE is the perfect app if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution. You can choose wallpapers, ringtones and notification sounds from the millions available in the ZEDGE database. You can also set wallpapers and learn how to get ringtones directly from the ZEDGE app.
2. Customize Fonts
Fonts are also an important part of how your phone looks and while many users avoid the importance of fonts, you’ll be surprised at how much these fonts can change the overall feel of your phone. Changing fonts on Samsung Galaxy devices is extremely easy as this is a built-in Samsung feature. Open the Settings app, go to Display and tap on Font style. Select your preferred font. You can also download more fonts online. To change the size, tap on the Font size option.
3. Lock Screen
No one does lock screens better than Android and you can easily set your customized lock screen. If you’re tired of the old password locks (forgetting your password all of the time) and are looking for something more unique and fun, you’ll probably enjoy the screen lock options that Android offers. Currently, you can choose from 6 different types of lockscreens. Swipe unlock doesn’t have any security and you just need to swipe to unlock. Face unlock and Face and voice unlock are relatively new and unique lock screen options. Pattern is probably one of the most used methods, while PIN and Passwords offer the highest security. To change the screen lock, go to Security in the Settings app, tap on Screen lock and select your preferred screen lock.
4. Facebook Feed In Lock Screen
This is another popular way to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3 as it allows users to make the most out of their lock screens. You can display your Facebook news feed directly on the lock screen so that you don’t have to unlock your phone every time you want to check Facebook. In order to use this, you’ll need to set the screen lock as Swipe. Go to Security in the Settings app, tap on Lock screen options and enable the Information Ticker option. Change the Content type to Facebook.
5. Sort Applications
If you have a lot of applications in your Galaxy S3, then you’ll probably find this tip to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3 useful. If you’re always browsing through your app drawer and trying to find a particular app, you can sort applications to find apps easily. You can sort the apps in an alphabetical grid, alphabetical list and a customized grid. For the customizable grid, you can move around apps to fit your preferences and the alphabetical order will list the apps alphabetically. In order to use this, launch the app drawer, press the Menu button and select View Type.
6. Zooper Widget
Zooper Widget is a fantastic app available on the Google Play store that lets you create customized widgets. Creating custom widgets is extremely easy and you make different types of widgets using different colors, fonts and templates. If you’ve looked at different types of widgets on the Play Store, but couldn’t find something that matches your exact needs, then you might want to try Zooper Widget.
7. Nova Launcher
While there are tons of launchers available on the Google Play Store, my favorite is Nova Launcher. The problem with some customizable launchers is that they can interfere with the performance of the phone, however, this particular launcher is known for its superior performance. Rated highly by some of the most popular Android websites, Nova Launcher lets you change animations, themes, layouts and icons.
8. Arrange Homescreens
Another awesome way to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3 is to add, arrange and delete homescreens. This is really helpful if you use a lot of widgets and app shortcuts. While on your homescreen, press the Menu button and select Edit page. You’ll now see all your homescreens together. To delete a homescreen, drag and drop it in the trash can and to add a new screen, tap on the Add or Plus icon.
9. App Folders
App folders are a great way to customize your homescreen by adding app shortcuts in customized folders. This can be really helpful if you want to save up space on your homescreens while having many app shortcuts as well. Basically, only one folder icon will be available on your homescreen and when you tap on it, you’ll see many app shortcuts inside. While the traditional Android method for creating folders is quite easy, Samsung has its own way. Press the Menu button while on a homescreen and tap on Create folder. You can now edit the name of the folder and drag and drop app shortcuts inside.
11. Light Flow
The ultimate app for customizing LED notifications is Light Flow. You can easily create customized LED notifications using this app. Aside from customizing colors, the app also lets you customize the blink rate and duration. You can customize your Samsung Galaxy S3 for almost everything including SMS, MMS, calls, emails, Bluetooth, low battery and signals.
12. Swype Keyboard
The keyboard is one of the things that all of us use a lot and getting this right is ideal if you want speedy typing on your phone. You might have heard of the famous Swype keyboard and if you’re looking for something similar, then Samsung has a built in Swype-like feature. Basically, you swipe around the keyboard in order to type words rather than actually pressing individual keys. In order to activate this, go to Language and input in the Settings app, tap on the Settings icon next to Samsung keyboard and enable Predictive text. Check the Continuous input option to finish off this tip to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3.
13. Lock Screen Shortcuts
Another cool customization feature for the lock screen is setting up shortcuts. This is a great way to access some apps on your Galaxy S3 without actually unlocking your phone. In order to set lock screen shortcuts, go to Security in the Settings app and tap on Lock screen options. Tap on shortcuts and enable it. Select your desired lock screen shortcuts.
14. Custom ROMs
Possibly the best way that you can completely customize your Samsung Galaxy S3 is by installing a custom ROM. All the other customization features will help you change the feel of your phone, but they’ll still be on top of your stock firmware. In order to install a custom ROM, you’ll need to root your device first. There are tonnes of ROMs available and you can see my post on the 10 best custom ROMs for the Galaxy S3.
15. Google Now
Google Now is basically a personal voice assistant that lets you do all sorts of stuff on your phone. The great thing about this is that it is extremely customizable and you can edit the settings according to your preferences. It’s one of the cooler ways to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3. For instance, you can edit Google cards to stay updated with the latest football scores if you can’t watch the game. You can customize Google Now according to your needs so that you can get all your preferred information automatically. In order to learn more on how to set up Google Now, you can read my Google Now post.
Conclusion
If you’re totally new to the Android OS, you’ll find all these customization features really helpful and even if you have used Android before, the features above will help you interact better with your Galaxy S3. You might even want to further take advantage of your S3 by learning to take screenshots, resetting the phone or unlocking the S3. After using these features, I’m sure you’ll love your Galaxy S3 even more as you’ll be able to modify it more towards your preferences. Feel free to downgrade your phone or update your S3 as well for more customization. If you have any questions on how to customize your Samsung Galaxy S3, feel free to mention them in the comments section below!
