kincaed's Posts

RetiredTrooper​ Normally I use Nova Launcher to replace the stock Samsung launcher. Under Oreo it shows up as "Samsung Experience Home". I switched from Nova to the stock launcher and my icon appeared with 9 dots. Once clicking on it the apps list appeared and then sorting was adjusting via tapping on the 3 stacked dots on the top right side of the windows. Select Sort and then you have the option of "Custom order" or "Alphabetize order". Now, you say you don't even have the 9 dot button to access the apps on your home screen? Okay, try the following: Long-press on an empty space on your home screen until the window changes and you see it get smaller in size and icons for wallpaper, themes, widgets, and home screen settings appear on the bottom of the screen. Select "Home screen settings" Look at the fourth item from the top of the setting screen that appears. It should read "Apps button" with a description under it. Tap on it. You will now be presented with a screen with two options: "Show Apps button" or "Hide Apps button". Obviously, make sure that "Show Apps button" is selected and click apply after changing it. After changing the setting you'll be switched back to the previous setting screen. Press the Home button and the Apps button should be on your Home screen. Click on the Apps button, in the Apps selection click on the 3 stacked dots at the top right of the screen, click Sort, and then click "Alphabetical order". All the apps should now be alphabetized. You can then click the Home button to exit back to your Home screen. In case an alternate launcher is being used these are the directions to switch back to the "Samsung Experience Home": Pull down from the top of the screen Select the Settings icon in the top right. Scroll down to "Apps" and click on it Tap on the 3 stacked dots in the upper right side of the screen. Tap on "Default Apps" Tap on "Home Screen" Select "Samsung Experience Home" You'll be exited back to the previous setting screen. Press the "Home" button and you'll now be running "Samsung Experience Home" as your launcher.

What version of Android are you running? From the description it sounds like you have Data Saver enabled in your settings. At some point the symbol apparently changed from a circle with a plus inside it to a triangle with and upward and downward facing arrow inside of it.

As far as I can remember the visual voicemail app used to be a standalone app you could grab from the Play Store. These days it appears to be baked into the Samsung's release of Android. I cannot comment on why you are experiencing this. I've tested on my S7 running Android 8.0 and my Visual Voicemail is functioning normally.

Did you experience issues yourself? My phone updated earlier in the day; >6 hours ago. Poor timing as I was in the middle of something else but I let it go and it ran its course. No issues experienced thus far. If anything the phone actually seems more responsive.

With all due respect, with major update releases bugs will exist. We see it all the time be it Android, Windows, MacOS, iOS, etc. The reality is that the existence of bugs is normal. Until widespread release to everyone certain issues aren't found. Delaying release for long periods of time to look for undiscovered bugs accomplishes what? When is it decided that they can stop looking? Furthermore, Android 8 (Oreo) was publicly released 8 months ago. Do we wait 12 months? 24 months? 36 months? End up at least one major version of Android behind if not more? In a perfect world there would be no issues with new updates. We don't like in a perfect world. I'm looking forward to Oreo. It's been a long enough wait already.

Take a look at the Samsung Smart Switch app. I believe it supports both wired - via a USB cable connected to both devices, obviously - and wireless transfer. When I upgraded from my S5 to my S7 I had the two devices connected together via USB and not sure exactly how it all started. The Verizon employee got the process going and I left the store while it was still completing. I had a LOT of data to transfer. Regardless, I believe Samsung Smart Switch should work via a USB cable but if not then check in with your local Verizon store. Someone there should be able to help you out.

natashaa_vzw​ Thanks for the reply. I understand, of course, that there are things bundled by Verizon and those that Samsung has bundled that are beyond Verizon's control. Unfortunately, I get irritated in both cases because most of these decisions aren't really about customers, IMHO, but rather about the money that changes hands for pre-bundling things that waste space and can potentially negatively impact performance. Yes, I have already disabled all the annoying Verizon-bundled apps as well as any Samsung ones that I am able to via uninstalling or disabling in the Application Manager. Unfortunately, that doesn't resolve all issues of completely unnecessary apps/services wasting battery and really comes down to Android development as well as Samsung's own programmers, etc. Regardless, I managed to disable Gear VR and the Beaming Service via a third-party non-root method. Pretty sad that this was required but such is life. NOTE: For those interested I will not be saying how I disabled the apps/services because I am evaluating the benefits. I will also not accept the responsibility of someone who doesn't know what they are doing doing something that they shouldn't and bricking their phone because they did something that they should not have.

Doing some more digging I found that there are a chain of apps/services that relate to one another. The reason I was unable to force stop Gear VR was that Beaming Service (Beaming Service for Samsung - Android Apps on Google Play) was running. You cannot disable Beaming Service but you can uninstall it. It's really not necessary/critical but it's a standard Samsung bundle thing.That said, it'll wind up being reinstalled one way or another. Now, frankly, beaming service has been around awhile and before Gear VR if my memory is right so... again... it's ridiculous that I cannot disable Gear VR. I have no Gear VR or any VR-related accessories for my phone yet the Gear VR service has to be installed/running  and has used 13% of my battery since I last fully charged it. The logic there is... lacking. NOTE: Just because I said the Beaming Service isn't critical doesn't mean people should just go and uninstall. It could break other apps that make use of it. If you don't know what you're doing don't just go killing apps/services/processes, disabling things, and uninstalling things.

Don't know about anyone else but under Applications Manager the options to both Disable and Force Stop are greyed out for Gear VR service. While I am not having serious issues like the original poster the service is having a negative impact on my battery life and it's pretty ridiculous that it has to be running when I have absolutely zero need for it.

Personally, I'm marking the early release for this month's update up to the holiday. Push it out the door before the rush at the end of the month and the new year. Any other month this likely would have been pushed out right around Christmas day. That's definitely not the best time this month when many people are traveling, etc.