How To Use Motions To Control Your Galaxy Phone

Motions is a group of little features that register your phone’s motions to:

• Make calls
• Make sure you know about notifications
• Zoom and move through zoomed photos
• Mute incoming calls and messages

If you think you don’t need help to do these things the way you always have (tapping the screen), you’re probably right. Much like Air gestures, Motions are simply a different, and surprisingly intuitive way to perform these actions. So why not “go through the motions” and give them a shot, you might like them.

This how to is for Samsung phones (Samsung tablets have slightly different Motions). It should be on by default, but might as well check and make sure. Below, I explain how to turn Motions on, what each Motion does, and how to turn it off if you prefer the old fashioned way of doing things.

I. Turn On Motions

1. Swipe down from the the top of the screen to pull down the notifications menu.

 

2. Tap the Setting icon on the top right (it looks like a gear).

 

3. Tap Controls towards the top right.

 

4. Scroll down to Motions. It should be on by default, but if it’s not, slide the slider button right to the On position.

5. Slide the slider button from Off to On for each motion you want to use. I explain below what each Air gesture does and how to use them.

II. How to Use the Different Motions

• Direct call: when you are viewing a message, log or a contact’s details, you can call that person simply by putting the phone up to your ear.

• Smart alert: if you’ve received any notification while you were away from your Galaxy device, such as a call, message or email, it will vibrate when picked up to alert you that you missed a notification while you were gone.

• Zoom: while viewing a photo in Gallery, tap and hold the screen with both thumbs, and tilt the phone back or forward to zoom.

• Browse an image: when you’re zoomed into a photo in Gallery, tap and hold the screen with one thumb (or finger) to move around the photo.

• Mute/pause: mute incoming calls, message alerts, alarms, or pause media simply by turning your device over screen down.

III. Turn Off Motions

1. Follow steps 1-4 in Section I.

2. Slide the slider button to the left to the Off position on the top right.

Motions use your phone’s accelerometer to detect the movements, and it’s about time the accelerometer is used for more than rotating screens and games.