[Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra] Paras Lehana:
Device Settings Menu Guide, Tips & Discussions

Part 3 - Display, Lock screen, Biometrics and security, Safety

If you're new to this series or want to see the index, please read the Introductory Post first.​

Display

Dark mode settings: I have kept it 'Turn on as scheduled' with 'sunset to sunshine'. If scheduled, the dark mode is only enabled after the screen gets off.

Brightness: When you change brightness in 'Adaptive brightness' mode, your device is smart enough to learn your usage patterns to determine the best level according to the environment as per your preferences. 'Reset usage patterns' in case you think your phone is drunk when in Auto mode.

Motion Smoothness: You have a monster with a 120 Hz refresh rate! Use it with 'Adaptive' mode. It also saves battery keeping your refresh rates low when not needed. 'Standard' mode uses a constant 60 Hz refresh rate. Use it when you know you will be scrolling and watching movies but want to save battery.

Eye comfort shield [Formerly Blue light filter]: Learn why you should use it here. I've set it to 'Custom' > 'Turn on as scheduled' > 'Sunset to sunrise'. You can toggle it from the notification panel as well. Still need to see how the new 'Adaptive' mode works - it claims that it makes minor adjustments throughout the day. Anyone can comment?

Night Mode: (Pie update) Enable it to make use of true blacks on your AMOLED screen, save battery and put less strain on eyes. I know you want it to only enable at night, so hop up to developer mode and set 'Night mode' to Automatic.

Screen mode: I've set it to 'Vivid' to let Samsung be where it is best at - Display Vibrance! If you are towards the cooler or warmer side, you have now the option to customize with 'White balance'. In 'Advanced settings', you also get to tweak RGB colours!

Font size and style; Screen zoom: I've set 'Screen Zoom' to 'Small' and 'Font Size' to Level 2 in order to get more content in a screen view. Please tell me if there's any better font on Galaxy Apps.

Screen resolution: By default, you don't get the resolution enabled that your S22U is capable of. I've changed it to WQHD+ for getting the most out of the best display in the market. I've the resolution set to HD+ in Medium Battery Saver mode in case I'm on Survival mode.

Full screen apps: I customize it when needed for an app. You can tell which apps should not show your camera cutout (so they show a bar instead)!

Screen timeout: Mine is set to 10 minutes. You know, pro users!

Home screen: Self-explanatory and I use Nova Launcher. Do enable 'Quick-open' notification panel.

Edge panels: You can set a maximum of 9 panels. Explore options for each panel and try more of them from the Store. I've enabled Apps edge (also make app pair and folders), People edge (upto 10), Smart select (take portion screenshots, make screen GIFs, pin a screen's content), Clipboard edge (auto-categorizes items), Reminder, Device maintenance (useful to review device performance OTG), Tasks edge (explore all available tasks), Quick tools (must have), Calendar. Tap Menu and 'Reorder' the panels as per your needs. In 'Edge panel handle', I've set the Transparency to highest and Size and widht to larges. I've dragged the handle to Right near power button so that I can always guess where the handle is.

Navigation bar: You can enjoy the immersive display by setting 'Navigation type' to 'Swipe gestures' and disabling 'Gesture hints' and 'Show button to hide keyboard'. I eventually got used to this. You also have an option to go back by dragging the sides. You can use Nav bar button on Quick Settings by dragging down the notification panel to toggle showing the navbar then.

Accidental touch protection: Really useful because I keep my phone screen faced to my leg side when inside pocket so that it's protected from the outside cruel world.

Screensaver: In case phone is your life even when it wants to get charged peacefully.

Lock screen

Screen lock type: I use Pattern with Biometrics (Intelligent Scan and Fingerprints mostly Fingerprints only). Fingerprints remain the best security and battery-efficient method to date at least for me. Use Iris for more security than regular face recognition. Also, with Iris, your device won't get unlocked while you're sleeping or with your photo. Use 'Intelligent Scan' for bit more ease (read about it here).

Smart Lock: It's a Google feature that can unlock your phone via On-body detection, Trusted places/devices and Voice Match. I used it once with On-body detection but couldn't impress me. Read about it here.

Secure lock settings: Disabled 'Make pattern visible'. Set 'Lock automatically' to 15 seconds in case I want to turn on the screen immediately without unlocking it. Anyways, 'Lock instantly with power key ' is enabled when I explicitly want it to get locked. Use 'Auto factory reset' carefully as someone could initiate this by simply making incorrect attempts. I've enabled 'Lock network and security' especially for theft use-case.

Always On Display: For customizing it, go to 'Clock style' below. Guide on AOD here and video here. You now have new display mode as 'Tap to show' AOD for 30 seconds. I've set it to 'show as scheduled' such it doesn't glow when I sleep. Also, I get an idea that it's time to get to bed when AOD stops showing up (same for wakeup).

Clock style: You can customize AOD with different clock styles, pictures, GIFs, Calendar and roaming clocks. Blue 'colour' gives a soothing effect every time I look at the clock for me. Similarly, you can customize your Lock Screen clock style here.

Content to show: 'Home button and clock' feel elegant for me.

Auto brightness: If enabled, you can also change it by double tapping the AOD clock. I have set it to the maximum to get eyes on it! ;)

Show always; Set schedule: If you often check the clock at night, you can enable the former. I've disabled AOD during my night sleep schedule so that I additionally get a hint when it's already time to go to bed and whether it's time to get up or not.

Turn off to save battery: Enabled. Do you need AOD in survival mode too?

Roaming clock: I had to disable it as every operator in India puts SIM to Roaming mode when you're out of your circle (mostly defined to a state) and I get two identical clocks whenever I travel out of state.

Widgets: Enabled all available choices and will decide about the reordering or need of each of them after I arrive at the use-cases. The same goes for you maybe.

Contact information: Do fill it. I've included my name and number on it. Can be useful when stolen, lost or misplaced. You can include email or alternative mobile numbers as well since the primary number would probably be in the device itself.

Notifications: I've changed it to 'Details' from 'Icon only' since later makes it similar to AOD style notifications and I want the description of notifications once I go over my AOD screen. 'Hide content' if you don't want people to read your notifications. I rather do this on a per-app basis (like messages for OTPs, sensitive apps). 'Notifications icons only' Toggle 'Transparency' if you find it difficult to read notification over the wallpaper or want your wallpaper to expose. 'Auto-reverse text colour' makes it easier to adapt with the wallpaper. You can define 'Where to show' your notifications here (AOD or Lock screen or both).

Shortcuts: Define the two shortcuts you see on the bottom screen corners while on lock screen. You can choose any app though default (phone and camera) works for me.

Biometrics and security

Biometrics: You can remove biometrics data and configure 'Samsung Pass' to use these here. You can enable 'Screen-on' scan for making the device scan for your face as soon as screen turns on. This increases brightness immediately while it's scanning (can be annoying) and will drain some battery. In 'Fingerprint Scanner', you can add as many as 4 fingerprints (reserve one for Secure Folder).

Screen transition effect: Disabled as I want things at fastest.

Google Play Protect: Enabled. Read more here.

Find My Mobile: 'Remote controls', 'Google location service' and 'Send last location' enabled. This should be the first things to review once you buy the device. Prepare yourself with a demo on findmymobile.samsung.com.

Security update: Shows the patch level and gets updated with 'Software Update'.

Samsung Pass: Saves your passwords, addresses and payment information securely.

Install Unknown Apps: Allow/Disallow existing apps to install apps from APK.

Secure Folder: The replacement for Samsung My Knox. Must-use feature to separate your very private and confidential part of the phone. Guide here and video here.

Private Share: You can share your photos and videos without letting anyone save or download it. Uses blockchain. Need to learn more about this.

Other security settings: 'Set up SIM card lock' disabled (same reason as in 'Secure startup'), 'Make passwords visible' disabled, 'Security policy updates' auto update enabled (Here is what are these), 'Send security reports' enabled. Set 'Device admin apps' with care (Learn about them here in case you haven't). You need to remove an app from here before uninstalling it. 'Creditial Storage' for CAs and user certificates (Learn more about CAs here). 'Pin windows' is a very useful feature for me. In cases where you need to give your device to someone (for like watching a movie or seeing the gallery), if this is enabled with 'ask for pattern before unpinning', when you 'pin' that app (video player or gallery), people will have to pass the lock method to get out of that app. Configure which apps can have 'Usage data access', 'Notification access' and 'Do not disturb permission'.

Privacy

All permissions; Permissions manager: Manage and view granular level permissions per app or apps per permission basis.

Controls and alerts: You can set if apps can have 'Camera access' or 'Microphone access'. Disabling this makes no installed app to access these - could be done when you are in spy mode. You can also get alerted when an app accesses your clipboard with 'alert when clipboard accessed'.

Samsung: You get the privacy policy in Samsung Privacy. In Customization Service, I have disabled Use mobile data to save my data against nothing important. You can also request to Download your data Samsung has collected about you.

Google: Just like above, see what Google collects!

Location

App permissions: Allow apps and sites to detect your device's location. I've enabled it since I use too much location-specific content. You can turn it off if you suspect your dad working in NSA (approx. locality can still be tracked through IP, use VPN). If you need to enable Location for an app, I suggest using Allow while using app than Allow all the time for apps that you think only needs to use while you are using the app. Why allow Instagram to get location all the time when you only need it while sharing something? Google Maps, on the other hand, can give you information about upcoming traffic if allowed in the background!

Wi-Fi scanning; Bluetooth scanning: Wi-Fi scanning uses the database of Wi-Fi locations to predict your location. Read how it works here. Similar goes for BT.

Safety and emergency

Fill your Medical Info like Blood group and conditions so that any help knows about this when life goes wrong.

Add your Emergency contacts so you can access them on lock screen.

You can enable DND while you are driving with Silence notifications while driving.

Emergency mode [Formerly Ultra power saving mode]: You get a black screen that enables you to call and text. Saves a great battery when you are in survival mode. You can add few apps like WhatsApp too!

Panic mode: Keep this enabled (can save you) and when you press your power key 3 times, your device sends Location, Emergency text and photos from your camera to your selected content. Be careful that you are likely to press the power button multiple times when you are stressed and you would be sending unwanted photos to your contacts. Either disable the photo-sharing option or select contacts carefully.