We all use our phones in different ways at different times, and you don’t necessarily want your device operating in exactly the same way around the clock—while you sleep, while you work, while you travel.
If you’ve got a Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet, then there’s a built-in feature that acknowledges this, called Modes. The idea is that you set up multiple modes for multiple scenarios—so you might have one for the office, one for when you’re at the gym, and so on.
Modes can help you use your Galaxy phone in a smarter and more efficient way—these modes don’t take long to set up, but you may well end up relying on them every day.
Getting started with Modes
You can find Modes on your Galaxy device by heading to Settings, and then tapping Modes and Routines. Routines are extensions of Modes, and are groups of actions (like muting the volume or changing the display brightness) that you can perform together when certain triggers are activated.
On the Modes tab, you’ll see Samsung has already created six modes for you, which are a handy way of understanding what they’re all about. Tap the Sleep mode, for example, to see what it does: It’ll turn on Do Not Disturb, and activate the display’s grayscale mode, so your phone is less of a distraction as you get ready for bed. Just tap Turn on at the top to activate the sleep mode.
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Some of the other preset modes require a bit of configuration before they’re ready to go. Select Relax and then Start, and you’ll be asked how you want to set up this mode for when you’re chilling—and that includes whether or not you want the mode to turn on automatically at a certain time or when you reach a certain place.
All of your modes can be configured in this way, to be turned on automatically or manually as you prefer. It can make sense for some modes: Having a work mode enable itself when you get to the office, without you having to remember to do it each time, for example. If you don’t want automatic activation, just tap Skip.
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You’ll continue to be asked questions as you set up the mode, and to add specifics where needed—so if you want the volume lowering, perhaps, you’ll be asked how low you want it to go. When you’ve worked your way through all of the steps, the mode is ready to go and to be used alongside the others in the list.
You can also get at Modes from the Quick Settings panel (swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers to see it). If you want to tidy up your list of modes and find that you’re not using some of them, open up a mode from the list, tap the three dots up in the top right corner, then choose Delete.
Creating your own Modes
Besides the six modes that Samsung starts you off with—which can be tweaked as required—you can also create new ones from scratch by tapping Add mode at the end of the list. You’ll need to give your new mode a name, a color, and an icon, to help distinguish it from the other modes on your phone.
The new mode is added to your list with nothing set for it, so you can work your way through the various options. At the top are the settings we’ve already mentioned for enabling the mode automatically, and for disabling the mode—modes can stay in effect until you turn them off, or until a specific amount of time has elapsed.
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Farther down, the other mode options are split into three groups: First there’s the group of settings related to distractions (so this is Do Not Disturb and any restrictions on app usage you want to apply), then there are all the other settings (from enabling dark mode to adjusting the volume), and finally you’ve got lock screen and home screen options—modes can actually trigger wallpaper changes, if you want them to.
We won’t cover every single option, but one example is the Play music option under the Other actions heading. Select this, and you’re able to pick a music app to handle the playback—it’ll simply carry on from where it left off, so it might be useful as part of a mode that you want to trigger in the morning as you get up.
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Right at the end of the Other actions list, there’s an Add action option. This gives you access to a host of additional actions, so you can do everything from disabling Bluetooth to changing the performance profile that’s enabled. You can even get your phone to beep or buzz whenever a certain mode is enabled (under Effects).
You’ll soon get a feel for how Modes work, and all of the different possibilities. Whether you only make use of a select one or two, or you set up a bunch of them to turn on and off throughout the day, they can be genuinely helpful in getting your Galaxy phone or tablet working the way you need it to.
