Don’t worry. Because after reading this post you will. Here are six settings and a few tips for the Samsung Messages app to improve your texting experience. Let’s get started.
1. Schedule Messages
Not everyone is particular about dates and time when it comes to sending wishes or an important text. This is where scheduling messages comes in handy. Unlike Android Messages, Samsung Messages has a native feature to schedule texts. To do so, follow the steps: Step 1: Open Samsung Messages and compose a new message. Step 2: In a newly created thread, tap the Add icon in the bottom-left corner. From the options, select Schedule message. Step 3: Then select the date and time when you want to send the message. Next, hit the Done button. Step 4: Tap on the Send button. Don’t worry, the app won’t send your message right away. A clock icon next to your message indicates that it has been scheduled.
2. Star Messages
Among loads of messages that we receive, only a few important. And it’s not an easy task to find them in exceptional situations. To avoid this trouble, you can star or favorite individual messages. For instance, if you get a discount coupon from a website via an SMS, you can star that message for a quick reference later. So when you need the coupon, just open the Starred messages section and it will be easier to locate that message containing the coupon. To star a message, open the chat thread and go to the message that you want to star. Then hold it and select Star message from the pop-up menu. To view your starred messages, tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner on the home screen of Samsung Messages, and then tap Starred messages.
3. Pin Messages
What if you want to follow an important conversation whenever you open Messages? You can do that by pinning it to the top. Basically, when you pin a thread, it will always be available at the top of the chat list making it easily accessible. To pin a chat thread, open Samsung Messages and hold the one that you want to pin. Then tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner and select Pin to top.
4. Add New Quick Responses
We all know how helpful quick responses can be to save time. Apart from the existing ones in Samsung Messages, you can add your own to the list. To add new ones, follow these steps: Step 1: Open Samsung Messages and tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. Then select Quick responses. Step 2: Type the message and hit the Add icon. To use quick responses, tap the add icon in any message and select Quick response. Then select the message you wish to use.
5. Mute Conversations
Do persistent messages from a friend or a brand annoy you? Instead of putting your phone on silent, you can mute such messages. Doing this will not affect other conversations. A true win-win situation. To mute one, go to the home screen of Samsung Messages, and hold the message thread. Then tap on the Mute option at the top-right corner. Now the conversations from that number won’t bother you with notifications until you decide to unmute them. To unmute, repeat the steps and tap the same icon again.
6. Disable Web Preview
By default, if you get a link in an SMS, Samsung Messages will show its web preview inside the thread. If for some reason, you don’t like this feature, you can turn it off. To do so, follow the steps: Step 1: On Samsung Messages home screen, tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner and select Settings. Step 2: Then tap on More settings. On the next screen, turn off Show web previews.
Bonus Samsung Messages Tips and Tricks
1. Change Background Color
In the previous versions of Samsung Messages, you could change the background color and bubble style right from the Messages settings. But for some reason, Samsung removed these settings with Android 7.0 Nougat update. Now if you want to change the look of Messages, you will have to change the overall theme of the phone. To do so, open the Themes app on your Samsung device and apply a new theme.
2. Increase Font Size
Another setting that Samsung removed from the messaging app is font size. Earlier, pressing the volume up and down button would increase or decrease the font size. But you can still do that by zooming in the individual messages. Use your fingers to perform pinch in and out gesture on the screen while viewing any message.
3. Use Bixby to Send and Dictate Messages
If you are a fan of using voice to control your phone, you can use Bixby to compose new messages and even type them out. The Bixby typing is available in addition to the voice-typing feature available in the keyboards. If your Samsung phone has a Bixby button, it gets simpler. Just press the Bixby button and say ‘Send a text message to ‘ to proceed. This will open a new message. Now hold the Bixby button again and say ‘Dictate’ followed by your message to watch it get typed out.
4. Direct Call
Samsung has a really cool feature called Direct Call that enables you to call the person your texting without any additional taps. Simply take your phone towards your ear, and the call will connect automatically. Magic! To disable this feature, go to device Settings > Advanced features > Disable Direct call.
Change the Game
So if you own a Samsung smartphone, you don’t have to switch to other texting apps. Samsung Messages has some cool features, as you would know by now. You can always customize them and use options as per your needs. Unfortunately, there are no ‘profiles’ that let you switch between your settings for messaging apps. That would be something cool.
