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One of the many pre-installed apps on Samsung Galaxy devices is Samsung Internet, the company's own Android browser. While your first instinct might be to switch to another browser like Chrome, you shouldn't.
Samsung Internet is a great app packed with features that really enhance your mobile browsing experience. Let's take a look at some of Samsung's best Internet features that you may not know about, but are worth using.
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Unlike other browsers that have all browsing settings on top, Samsung Internet uses a toolbar at the bottom of the screen to helpmakes it easy to operate the screenbecause it is closer to the thumb. You can go backward or forward, view tabs, open bookmarks, enable private mode, view downloads, and much more.
You can also customize the toolbar. A total of 30 buttons are available, of which up to seven can be placed on the toolbar, whichever is most useful when browsing the web. You can access the rest by tapping the buttonTools(Hamburger menu icon) - This is the only toolbar button that cannot be removed.
2. Better dark mode
If you're as obsessed with dark mode as we are, Samsung Internet will serve you better. It has a more aggressive approach to dark mode than other popular browsers. It darkens as much of the screen as possible and sometimes even goes black. You can set the dark mode to be always on, always off, or match your device's default mode.
Switching to dark mode is not only a matter of aesthetics, but it also saves battery. As long as your phone has an AMOLED panel, it can detect black on the screen and knock out pixels wherever that color appears. It helpsextend phone battery life.
As for dark mode, other browsers, includingChrome can't compete with Samsung's Internet. But because Samsung Internet is so aggressively implementing dark mode, it can sometimes crash and make certain web pages difficult to read.
3. Secret mode
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Most browsers are pretty lacking when it comes to incognito mode. Sure, they all pause search history, delete cookies, and limit data collection, but these features are more passive in nature. You as a user have nothing to do with it. By comparison, Samsung Internet's secret mode goes much further and is much more practical.
For example, you can lock secret mode with a password or fingerprint so that only you can see your private tabs. That is also possiblehide your files in the Gallery appif they are downloaded in secret mode. These files are only accessible after entering secret mode again. This makes your private documents invisible to others.
4. Privacypaneel
If you're concerned about your online privacy, Samsung Internet offers a privacy dashboard where you can view information about your web browsing sessions throughout the week. That is possible, for exampleSee which pages have followed youand blocks pop-ups and automatic downloads.
As an extra precaution, you may also receive warnings about potentially harmful sites. When Samsung Internet detects that the website you are visiting is unsafe, it sends you a warning. You can ignore it if you think it's a false positive or leave the page if it looks suspicious.
You can also set your browser to clear your browsing history, cached images and files, cookies, and site data when you close a tab.
5. Customizable address bar for one-handed operation
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Samsung Internet allows you to customize the location of the address bar for better accessibility. You can move it to the bottom of the screen, just above the toolbar, so you can easily type web addresses without having to move your hand every time. This is very useful for people with smaller hands.
But if you prefer the original position, you can try enabling a tab bar that mimics the look of desktop browsers.
Whichever position you choose, the browser hides the address bar and toolbar as you scroll through a web page, so you can see more content at once. You can also hide your device's status bar to get a little more information about your screen's status.
6. Video-assistant
If you watch a lot of video content in your browser, Samsung Internet Video Assistant is a godsend. Different websites use their own video players, which are not always very good. Samsung Internet Video Assistant uses intuitive gesture controls to enhance your viewing experience. Is this how it works:
- Swipe up/down from the left side of the screen to increase/decrease the brightness.
- Swipe up/down on the right side to increase/decrease the media volume.
- Swipe left or right from the center to rewind or fast forward the video freely.
- Double-tap the left side to go back 10 seconds and the right side to go forward 10 seconds.
- Double tap the center of the screen to pause/play the video.
- Tap the lock icon to restrict changes. When a video is locked, you cannot change the volume, brightness, or playback speed. You also cannot go home or leave the website. To do so, tap the same icon again to unlock the video.
- Tap the full screen icon on the right to resize the video.
- Tap the auto-rotate icon to flip the video to portrait or landscape mode.
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to share the video, view the playback speed, or watch the video on your TV.
The only thing missing from Samsung Internet Video Assistant is the settings for changing the video quality. Moreover, it is packed with controls.
7. Save web pages as PDF files
If you visit a website often, you can save it as a PDF file to your device to view later offline. This works best for web pages that contain text, such as articles or blog posts.
After downloading the PDF file, you will see a preview that divides the web page into several pages of the PDF file based on its length. You can also uncheck the pages you don't want or choose a custom range to download if there are too many. just touchPrint / PDFin the menu to start.
8. Lezermodus
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Reading mode is a standard feature of most mobile browsers, which you can use, for example, to read an article online and get a simplified view of the content. But Samsung Internet's implementation of this feature deserves praise.
Enabling Reader mode removes all embedded images and videos (including ads!) in an article, making text content easier to read. Similar to the Kindle, you can also change the font size to make the text easier to read.
To enable this feature, tap the hamburger menu icon, tapSettings > Useful featuresand activeShow reader mode button. Once enabled, when reading articles you will see a read mode button in the address bar.
The best features of Samsung Internet
Samsung Internet is one of the best browsers for Android, and not only for Samsung devices. You can also find it in the Play Store for all other phones. Many of the features we've listed here aren't available in Chrome or any other browser.
There are many more Android browsers available, with many features to suit different needs. Want a privacy-focused browser? One with a built-in VPN? Or one that works well with Windows? You can get all this and more.