How do I set a sound file as a ringtone?

[Bethl52]

Okay. I am not THAT old - lol 52. But I am brand new to smart/android anything. Phones, tablets, etc.

I just bought a ringtone from verizon and it was texted to my Galaxy S III. It has a lock on it (pic looks like a padlock). I was able to play the tone from the text message. But I am clueless how to unlock it and/or make it my ring to me for all incoming calls.

Also, while I am asking questions, I have 3 more please. When I swipe my finger to "open" my phone the weather page ALWAYS opens. I have tried shorter swipes, nope, it still opens. I want to keep it on my "desktop" but don't like it opened on every swipe. By the time I get it closed I am using up unwanted data, many times a day.

Is there any way to tell how low my battery is? Right now I just guess by the bars. I have tried swipping it, but that didn't work

Last question - I was told by Verizon store people that I should not charge it until it is at 20% or less left. But if I wait till then to charge I end up with a dead phone before I can get back home 4 or 5 hours later. Can I charge it safely before that low?

Thanks, Beth

[#2 · Accepted solution]

As far as the ringtone. I believe if you press on hold the ringtone a pop-up should appear to ask what you want to do with it.

For the battery go to settings then press BATTERY there should be a box to check where it says "Display battery percentage on indicator" or something like that.

You can charge your phone whenever you want. But batteries only have so many charge cycles. Should be at least 500 before they stop charging as much as they should so you don't necessarily want to keep charging it all the time when it's not necessary, but if you charge it at 25% or 30% or whatever every now and then there shouldn't be an issue.

[#3]

From one 50 something to another -  The GS3 was my first smart phone also, awesome phone, I went up to the Note 3 .

Your battery should last all day.  I was getting 2-3 days on mine.  GPS and Bluetooth use a lot of battery.  Swipe down from the top bar and turn them off when not in use.    You can use the cable with a car charger if you need to.

Paw through settings to reduce battery consumption - Turn off the vibration function for everything except when rigger is off.   Reduce screen brightness if possible. 

Set the phone to backup and do updates or any large downloads over wifi. 

The weather widget:

This only works if you have GPS on.   IF you don't use the phone for navigation all the time - turn GPS off.    Change setting to refresh weather less frequently.   Move the widget off the home screen.

There are a lot of "widgets" on your home screen you can move them off.  Touch and hold the weather widget, when the teach can appears above, drag it up to the trash and let go.    You can also move it off the home screen by dragging it left or right to a blank page.

Start a google play account and download ZEDGE.  It's an app with ring tones and notifications and wallpaper.  These are all free.

Do not fall for the "task manager" apps to manage battery or turning off tasks.  The GS3 does a great job on it's own if you use the back button to leave apps.

[Bethl52]

Thank you, but that idea for ringtone did not work.  Thanks for Battery info

[Bethl52]

Oh I am happy it seems i made a good choice then   Thanks for your help. I will play around and check it out. I use my phone quite a bit and never get through 1 day without having to do a charge.