Samsung Galaxy S6

Replace the Facebook App and Improve Android and iOS Performance

A bloated Facebook app manifests itself differently on the two major smartphone operating systems.  This article will talk about the symptoms and suggest a few good remedies. iOS and Facebook Circa late 2016, my Apple iPhone 6s Plus was beginning to run short of memory.  Granted, it only had 16 GB and probably should have been purchased with at least double.  Looking at the largest consumers of memory, Facebook was always at the top of the applications. There are a few tricks to get some memory back including trying to download a 5 GB movie and tricking iOS into freeing … Read more

Some Help Fixing a Slow Samsung Galaxy Phone

Recently switching from an Apple iPhone 6s Plus to a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge bought about some good and bad surprises.  Good stuff included the availability of wireless charging, NFC integration and a much broader and useful assortment of apps.  The bad surprises?  Well there were two.  The beveled edge is a pain.  I’m always mistakenly opened apps and pulling the edge apps open.  The second, and most surprising bad aspect is occasional performance lag.  We’re going to discuss a few ways to fix a slow Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Turns out that my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge isn’t the only … Read more

My Quest for Wireless Charging with an Otterbox Ended with a Company Called Youshares

My recent migration to a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge had me all excited about the prospects of wireless charging.  Right after selecting an Otterbox Defender as my day to day case, my excitement abated slightly as I remembered how thick this case was.  Thankfully I found the Youshares Halo Wireless Fast Charging Pad. The Youshares Halo Wireless Fast Charging Pad sits on my dresser.  That’s what you see in the photo that accompanies this article.  This is one of three that I have deployed. Settling on the Youshares charging pad was no easy feat as I tried several other brands.  The … Read more

How does Qi Wireless Charging Work and Why Do You Need It?

Qi wireless charging is just plain great.  What a terrific invention.  I hate having to plug my phone in every night.  You have to match up the plug with the little hole on the phone and plug it in.  It’s even worse with a thick case because the plug is somewhat recessed and you need to pull a flap out of the way. This is where Qi wireless charging comes into play.  What’s Qi wireless charging in a few sentences?  It’s a powered pad or disk.  You just lay your phone down on the Qi charging pad and that’s it. … Read more

NFC: What is it and what can you do with it?

Let’s discuss NFC technology and how this fairly new technology can make your everyday life a little easier.  NFC has become quite popular with certain Android based smartphones and tablets manufactured over the past few years.  Not so much with Apple, although you might be surprised to know it’s used for Apple Pay. NFC stands for Near Field Communication. This technology allows devices to communicate with other devices.  Your device looks for what’s called an NFC tag.  A tag looks like a round or square adhesive disk with a small circuit board embedded into it.  You might be using this technology without even knowing … Read more

Qi Enabled Smartphone Car Mounts and Holders

Samsung continues to be one of the leaders when it comes to smartphone hardware technology.  Qi charging technology is another innovation where Samsung is leading the way.  Having to plug that lightning cable into my Apple iPhone 6s Plus every night is annoying.  The fact that I have an Otterbox Defender case makes it all that much more difficult.  I have great appreciation for this new charging technology.  The technology has been embraced by Samsung and a few other companies.  Sadly, not by Apple. The premise of Qi is pretty simple.  Place your phone on a wireless charging pad and your phone gets … Read more