Galaxy S9 Tip: Enhance display touch sensitivity if you’re using a screen protector

Screen protectors may have fallen out of fashion thanks to the advancements in Gorilla Glass, but some of us still don’t feel comfortable using our high-end phones without a screen protector, even if it may mess with the look and feel of the device. If you’ve selected a screen protector for your Galaxy S9 from our recommended options, you probably don’t have issues with the display’s touch sensitivity. But those who find themselves having to press down on the display harder than usual after installing a screen protector on their Galaxy S9 or S9+, Samsung has built in an option to increase the screen’s touch sensitivity to get around the problem.

The ability to increase the display’s touch sensitivity isn’t a new feature on smartphones. In the beginning, it was introduced as “Glove mode” by manufacturers in an attempt to make a phone’s display react more accurately when used with gloves on. With time, display technology has advanced enough to not need a special feature to work well with gloves, but thanks to those curves on Samsung’s flagship phones, screen protectors may still wreak havoc with regular operation. Well, maybe some technicality makes it an issue with the Galaxy S9 in particular, as it’s the first of the company’s modern flagships to come with the option to enhance touch sensitivity, or Samsung may just have thought of it now, but in either case, it’s a handy feature that you may want to try out.

Unfortunately, the option to increase touch sensitivity isn’t where you’d think it’d be (i.e. the display settings), so you may not have noticed it’s there. Fret not, as that’s precisely what we’re here to help with.

How to increase Galaxy S9 touch sensitivity?

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your Galaxy S9 or S9+.

Step 2: Tap Advanced features.

Step 3: Scroll down to the bottom of the list to find the Touch sensitivity option. Toggle this on to enhance the phone’s touch sensitivity.

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Check out all of our Galaxy S9 tips to get the most out of your new phone. Need help with the steps above? Leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to get you back on track.

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Exclusive: Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ will be released in these markets

Samsung has significantly revamped its Galaxy A series and they can no longer be considered your average mid-range devices. The Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8 (2018)+ are borderline flagships which means that there’s room in the lineup for mid-range devices. According to recent reports, this void will be filled by a couple of new handsets that will be called the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6 Plus.

We can now reveal that Samsung is indeed developing the Galaxy A6 and the Galaxy A6+. The new handsets will be released in a handful of markets later this year.

Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ release

A recent benchmark listing for the Galaxy A6 has revealed that the handset will be powered by an Exynos 7870 processor instead of the Exynos 7880 on the Galaxy A5 (2017). It will ship with 3GB of RAM. The Galaxy A6+ will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 4GB of RAM. Both handsets have support for Bluetooth 4.2 and not 5.0 which further indicates that they’re meant as replacements for last year’s Galaxy A handsets.

The recent Bluetooth certification revealed that the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ will be running Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. That doesn’t come as a surprise as one can expect the new handsets that Samsung launches this year to come with Android 8.0 at launch. No further information is available at this point in time about the specifications of these devices but we can expect it to be a mid-range affair through and through.

We can reveal that Samsung is going to release the Galaxy A6 and the Galaxy A6+ in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The new handsets will likely be out in the coming months in the aforementioned markets.

Pricing is obviously going to vary by market but we can expect the handsets to be relatively affordable as they’re mid-range devices after all. Samsung is also believed to be preparing another pair of mid-range devices under the Galaxy J8 and Galaxy J8+ monikers, they’re also expected to arrive later this year.

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Samsung Pay has nearly 7 million monthly users in South Korea

Samsung Pay has quickly become one of the most popular mobile payments services in the market and with good reason. Its support for both MST and NFC technologies enables customers to use Samsung Pay at almost all merchants where they can pay using a credit or debit card. The service has been doing particularly well in Samsung’s home country of South Korea. According to a new report, the number of people using Samsung Pay monthly has nearly hit 7 million.

Samsung Pay users in South Korea

Samsung Pay was first launched in South Korea and it was very well received. The mobile payments service has grown considerably, its user base doubled in one year after launch in Samsung’s home market.

Industry tracker WiseApp reports that Samsung Pay’s monthly users in South Korea have reached almost 7 million. Its data shows that 6.94 million users with Samsung’s Android smartphones used its mobile payments service at least once a month. The number has steadily increased over the past few months and significantly compared to a year earlier when it stood at 4.47 million.

The report adds that Samsung Pay was most frequently used during lunch times with people in their 30s and 40s accounting for 28 percent and 27 percent of the usage respectively. Users in their 20s accounted for around 20 percent of the usage, this suggests that usage is almost equally distributed among different demographics.

Samsung continues to launch its mobile payments service in more markets across the globe, it was launched in Italy just last week. Samsung Pay is now one of the most widely accepted payment solutions in the world that’s available in 21 markets.

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Samsung launches the 128 GB variant of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in India

After the official unveiling in Barcelona, Samsung didn’t waste any time in bringing the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ to India. The latest Galaxy flagship smartphones were available for purchase in India from March 16 onwards, in line with other major markets around the world. Both the devices were available in 64 GB and 256 GB storage variants so far.

Available currently in offline channels

According to an NDTV report, Samsung has quietly launched the 128 GB variant of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in offline channels in India. We can independently confirm this news from our sources in the retail channel as well. At the time of this article, the 128 GB model is not listed on any of the major shopping websites in India. We currently don’t know if Samsung intends to sell the 128 GB model exclusively through its offline partners and the color options the company will provide. The 256 GB variant is only available in Midnight Black in India, and that may be the case for the 128 GB version as well.

As far as the pricing is concerned, 128 GB model will retail for INR 61,900 and INR 68,900 for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ respectively. In comparison, the 64 GB S9 and S9+ currently retail for INR 57,900 and INR 64,990 respectively. The 256 GB model, on the other hand, is priced at INR 65,900 for the Galaxy S9 and INR 72,900 for the Galaxy S9+. As you can see from the pricing details, there is a difference of INR 4000 between the 128 GB and 256 GB storage variants. Given that the current prices of the 128 GB microSD cards hover around INR 3000, going for the 256 GB model makes more sense.

The base 64 GB model is already enough for most users. However, those who love to shoot a lot of 4K videos or watch a lot of VR videos should consider buying the 256 GB model. If you’re planning to buy the Galaxy S9 or S9+, do check our review.

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Samsung set to face Dutch Consumers’ Association in court over updates

Back in 2016, the Dutch Consumer’s Association filed a summary lawsuit against Samsung demanding regular software updates and transparency in the update schedule. The judge did not pass a verdict then as the issue was too complex for the legal process adopted.

In November that year, the Consumers’ Association filed a more comprehensive lawsuit to pursue the matter further. The two parties are now going to face each other in the District Court of The Hague as the matter is up for hearing today.

Demanding timely updates

Though Samsung has improved its update policy in the last couple of years, it is still far from satisfactory. The Netherlands Consumers’ Association is demanding Samsung to provide timely Android updates for four years after a device hits the market or at least two years from the date of purchase. The group is also demanding increased transparency and communication about Android updates.

The Consumers’ Association has conducted several surveys to bolster its argument against Samsung’s poor track record in software updates. According to the group’s most recent survey, only 22% of the Samsung smartphones sold between January 2015 and February 2018 had received a security update in the first two months of this year. Android feature updates are even rarer with little to no information about the update schedule.

However, the Association’s demand doesn’t make sense in its entirety. That’s because it would be impossible for Samsung to track purchases and provide software updates for two years after the date of purchase. Samsung could do that for units that it sells directly but not for those sold through carriers and retail partners which tend to account for the bulk of its sales.

Having Samsung support a device for four years after it has been launched would make sense on paper but it would make little business sense for the company to do that for devices that don’t make it a lot of money. So this is far from being an open and shut case. It will certainly be interesting to see what arguments are put forward by both sides.

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SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine: March 26, 2018

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly Firmware Magazine. You can think of it as your go-to resource to find out which of your Samsung devices has received a new update or if it’s going to receive a new firmware update in the near future.

To keep things interesting, we present the Firmware Magazine in new designs every week. It will always include the important details about firmware updates such as the firmware versions, device model numbers, Android OS versions and the country where said update is out already.

SamMobile Firmware Update Magazine

Keep in mind, however, that these firmware details are based on the firmware that are available in our database, and in some cases, the latest updates might not show in the same week as the full firmware files take additional time to make it to our database.

The purpose of this magazine is to bring all of that important information about firmware updates to you, the reader, in a manner that’s easy to comprehend—so even if you’re new to the world of firmware, you’ll have no trouble making sense of it all.

Click on the image below to grab the latest firmware magazine!

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Samsung Premium Care for the Galaxy S9 will soon cover aftermarket enrollment

Samsung has confirmed that it will soon open up Samsung Premium Care for Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ to aftermarket enrollment. The company launched its extended warranty program in the United States with the Galaxy S8 last year and later expanded it to the Galaxy Note 8.

While customers are able to sign up for Samsung Care for Galaxy S9 when they purchase their handset, it doesn’t allow them to enroll the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ after the fact, but the company has now promised that this will change soon.

Samsung Premium Care for Galaxy S9

The Samsung Premium Care enhanced warranty program costs $12 per month and it includes accidental damage protection. The company teamed up with HelloTech and Dish in the US to provide this service.

Subscribers can have a service representative meet them at their location in select regions who can then help them with setup, troubleshooting, repairs as well as replacements in just a few hours.

The replacement process is quite simple. A remote assessment is carried out and once the claim is approved, Samsung will dispatch a courier to the subscriber who will swap the broken handset for a new one in-person. Users can get up to three replacements per year if they pay a $99 deductible every time.

As previously mentioned, Galaxy S9 customers can only sign up for this program when they’re buying the handset. Even Samsung’s website mentions that the Galaxy S9 is not eligible for aftermarket enrollment in Premium Care. On the other hand, Samsung allows aftermarket enrollment for the Galaxy S8/S8+ and the Galaxy Note 8.

Customers just have to use a diagnostic app and upload photos of the front and back of their device using a mirror. If their device meets the criteria it will be signed up for Premium Care regardless of when and where it was purchased.

“In the coming weeks, we are launching the ability to sign up for Premium Care to all customers, regardless of where they purchased their Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+,” Samsung has confirmed in a statement, adding that it will notify owners when that happens.

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