Updated on 09-15-2015 by Robert Nazarian: Added in tips on wallpaper, apps bar, disabling apps, customizing Quick Settings, and Power Saving Mode.
Choose Edge sides, night clock, add favorite contacts, send quick reply, and Edge feeds
How to choose Edge sides
The first thing you’ll want to do with the Edge display is choose the side that suits you best for one-handed operation. Go to Settings > Edge screen > Edge screen position and you can pick Right side or Left side.
How to use the night clock and alarm
There’s no need to have a bedside alarm clock anymore, because the S6 Edge has got it covered. Go to Settings > Edge screen > Night clock. Choose the times when you usually sleep and the clock will come on automatically. As long as you’re not in the habit of sleeping more than 12 hours, it should serve you well. If you want to set up an alarm, then go to Apps > Clock > Alarm. If you find the alarm options limited, it might be worth trying out an app like Timely.
How to add favorite contacts to the Edge
Go to Settings > Edge screen > People edge > My people, choose the contacts you want and put them in order. You can also swipe the transparent tab just above the middle of the Edge screen, and tap the plus icon to quickly add a contact from your list. Each person can have their own color, and there’s a choice of blue, green, yellow, orange, or purple. When you tap a contact you’ll get the option to call or message them. Make sure that any numbers and email addresses you have for that person are correct in your Contacts app.
Next, go to Missed call, Messages, and Email in Edge screen > Select notifications. Here you can ensure that when you miss an incoming call or message from a favorite contact, a small tab will appear on the Edge display. Swipe it out and you’ll see what you missed.
Your top contacts light up your Edge display in a specific color when they call or message you. Set this up by visiting Settings > Edge screen. When a favorite contact calls, and the S6 Edge is lying face down on a flat surface, the Edge display will light up and pulse in the relevant color.
How to send a quick reply
If you’ve set up the People Edge with your favorite contacts and a call comes in while you’re busy, there’s a really nifty way to send a quick message to let them know it’s not a good time. Go to Settings > Edge screen > Edge lighting > Quick reply and pop in a quick auto message. Switch the feature on and when a call comes in, simply hold down your finger on the heart rate sensor for a couple of seconds, and your quick reply message will be sent. Very cool.
How to use feeds
If you want the Edge to show a ticker tape readout of handy information, then hit Settings > Edge screen > Information stream. Tap Reorder at the top right to change the line-up, and tap the box at the top of each stream to include it. You’ll find that choices are limited to begin with. There’s Briefing feed — that’s all about notifications — Yahoo! News, Twitter trends, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, and a separate Weather option. If you tap Manage feeds, and then Download feeds, you’ll find more options for things like RSS feeds, caller ID, and news. We expect to see more added in time. Once set up, swiping across the Edge display will bring the Information stream up. You can decide how long it takes before timing out in Settings > Edge screen > Information stream > Edge screen timeout.
Search your phone, add storage, print wirelessly, improve audio, and track lost phone
How to find anything on your phone
As your S6 Edge fills up it can become more difficult to find what you want, when you want it. Samsung’s answer is S Finder, which you’ll find in the notification panel at the bottom left. Just swipe down from the top of the screen, tap S Finder, and type in your search. It covers all your files, apps, and contacts, but it can also search for settings, and it’s a lot faster than digging around.
How to add storage
There’s no option to add a microSD card into the S6 Edge, but you can boost your storage in other ways. The S6 Edge supports USB OTG. If you buy any USB OTG cable, then you can plug any USB drive into it. You could even pair it with a microSD card and USB SD card reader. If you already have a microSD card, then this is definitely your cheapest option.
You might also consider a Wi-Fi storage drive of some type. They are quite expensive, but they can serve multiple devices.
How to print wirelessly
You can print directly from your S6 Edge to any Wi-Fi printer on your network. Head into Settings and you’ll find Printing listed under Connect and share. There might be some options pre-installed, but most likely you’ll need to add your printer. The link to add a plug-in will take you to the Play Store to search for your printer’s software. Once installed, turn it on and you should be able to link your S6 Edge to your printer. Whenever you want to print something, tap the Share option and you’ll find Print, then select your printer.
How to improve headphone sound
Find a quiet environment and plug your choice of earphones into your S6 Edge. Go to Settings > Sounds and notifications > Sound quality and effects > Adapt Sound. When you turn it on you’ll be prompted to run through a series of tests that should tailor the sound on your S6 Edge to suit you. If you’re a little skeptical then tap to listen to the original sound and your personalized version to hear the difference. Back in the Sound quality and effects menu, you’ll also find SoundAlive+ for a surround effect, and TubeAmp, which simulates the sound from a tube amplifier.
How to track your S6 Edge
It’s worth taking some precautions to help you locate your S6 Edge should you ever lose it in future. Samsung offers a special Find My Mobile service. Go to Settings > Lock screen and security > Find My Mobile and log in with your Samsung account. Turn Remote controls, Google locations service, and Reactivation lock on. If your phone goes missing, then go to the Find My Mobile website and log in with your Samsung account. You’ll be able to lock it, remote wipe the data on it, turn Emergency mode on, and even ring the device.
Live wallpaper for Edge sides, apps bar, disable apps, Quick Settings, and Power Saving Mode
Add a live wallpaper to one or both of your edge screens
Add a little pizzazz to your home screen with a cool animation along the edges. Just download the S6 Edge HD Live Wallpaper app from Google Play to get started. Once installed, open the app and pick the type of animation, background color, speed, type of motion, and whether you want it to appear on the left, right, or both edges. Then tap on Go, and the wallpaper will be enabled. Your selected animation will appear on all home screens, including the lock screen. Just open the app again to make any changes. The only negative is that it will replace your entire wallpaper, but you can choose what color you want it to be. It’s still a cool way to show off your edginess.
Add a quick launcher of your most used apps on one or both of your edge screens
One of the things that the Galaxy S6 Edge lacks is the ability to launch apps from one or both of the edge screens. However, you can download an app called Side Apps Bar (Edge Sidebar) from Google Play that will give you this ability.
This app allows you to add as many apps as you want to either or both edge sides. You can even add shortcuts to most settings and customize the bar with transparency levels. A quick swipe in from the edge reveals the side bar, and you will be able to quickly open your favorite apps or tweak your most used settings.
Disable pre-installed apps
One of the things that can be annoying with the Galaxy S6 Edge is the amount of apps that come pre-installed on the phone that you have no interest in. Most carriers don’t allow you to uninstall them, but you can disable them so they don’t appear or run in the background anymore.
Just open the Settings and navigate to Applications, followed by Application Manager. Swipe left until you get to the All heading. From here, just tap on each individual app and select Disable. If you want to re-enable any of these apps, just swipe to the Disabled heading under the Application Manager. All of the apps that were disabled will appear here. Just tap on each individual app and select Enable.
Customize the Quick Settings bar
The Quick Settings are all those icons at the top of your notification panel. They are handy for toggling various features or settings quickly. Just tap on the little pencil icon above the Quick Settings to customize them.
The top of this screen shows the ten toggles that are currently part of your Quick Settings. You can re-order them by long pressing on any icon to move it to where you want in the list. You can also remove any toggles that you don’t want to appear or replace them with any of the extra ones below the main list. You are limited to ten toggles in total.
We found the built-in flashlight wasn’t already part of the Quick Settings, so we recommend moving that one up if you can live without one of the existing ones.
Conserve battery with Power Saving Mode
The battery life on the Galaxy S6 Edge leaves a lot to be desired, but you can improve the time between charges using Power Saving Mode. When this mode is enabled, the CPU will be throttled slightly, the display brightness will be reduced, and vibrations will be disabled.
You can toggle Power Saving Mode from the Quick Settings, or you can set it to kick in automatically when the battery levels gets to a certain point. Head into Settings, and select Battery, followed by Power Saving Mode. From here, you can toggle the button to turn it on. Tap on Start Power Saving to change what level of battery life you want for it to kick in automatically.
