4 tiny Samsung Galaxy features you'll actually use every day

Published Nov 7, 2026, 6:30 AM EST Cory Gunther is a senior author and Newsletter Editor at Valnet, covering cutting-edge tech, Android, and more for How-To Geek. He's covered Android, cars, and technology for over a decade. When he's not reviewing the latest gadget, you can find him off-roading in his Toyota truck, fixing said truck, or doing something outdoors with friends and family. He's covered CES, SEMA, and MWC and reviewed countless phones, TVs, speakers, EVs, e-bikes, and more. Before Valnet, Cory worked for GottaBeMobile. His writing has also appeared on SlashGear, InputMag, and AndroidCentral. He's written over 9,000 articles. Samsung's Galaxy phones are some of the best Androids you can buy, and we all know why. They're packed with a slew of features, excellent screens, and solid cameras. Part of what makes Galaxy phones unique is the dizzying number of features and customization controls. You're probably familiar with all the big-name ones, but here are a few tiny features you'll actually appreciate. The problem with so many features is that keeping up with everything, both old and new, can start to become a challenge. There are so many great forgotten or underrated Galaxy features you'll love. I'm constantly showing friends and family little tricks on their Galaxy devices, including a few you're probably not using. Change the album cover photo in your gallery Highlight your best photo, or hide recent ones Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek | Framesira/Shutterstock I don't know about you, but I like keeping my phone and the photo gallery neat, clean, and organized. A big part of that is knowing exactly what others will see if I open the gallery to show someone a photo. Have you ever opened the gallery app on your Samsung phone, only to realize there are album cover photos you'd rather people not see, whether that's screenshots of Christmas gifts, personal photos, or something else? Each album in your gallery, whether that's the camera, downloads, messages, or screenshots, always shows the last image on the cover before you open the album. Luckily, you can long-press the album, tap the 3-dot "More" button near the bottom right of the screen, andselect Change cover image. Now, choose whatever image you'd like to always show up on the cover for that album, hit Apply, and that's it. I use this on every album but the Recent album. Samsung Gallery app is actually quite powerful. Alarm "Turn back on for tomorrow" feature It's so small, but so helpful Have you ever had a day when you wouldn't be waking up at your normal hour, so you decided to turn off your alarm? Only for it to fail to go off the next day because you forgot to re-enable it and ended up late for work. Yeah, me too. Maybe you've noticed, or maybe you haven't, but if you have an alarm set for 6:30 am every morning and go to skip a day, you'll get a little toast notification that pops up and asks if you'd like to "Turn back on for tomorrow." You can easily turn off an upcoming alarm, or your alarm for one day, and with one tap turn everything back on to continue as usual. That way, you won't have that awful feeling of waking up and realizing it's 9 am and you're late. There are several reasons I always choose Samsung Galaxy phones, and this little feature is one of them. Sometimes it's the little things that matter the most. Mute with Gestures is so underrated Silence your phone with a gesture or a flip Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Justin Duino / How-To Geek This next tip could actually be several different tips, but we'll just throw it all under one. All the different gesture controls on Samsung phones are great. You probably used some of them a few years ago but stopped, and this is your reminder to try em again. A prime example is "Mute with gestures," which lets you instantly silence incoming calls or alarms by placing your hand over the screen or turning the device over. This is super handy when you need to mute your phone without fumbling for buttons. Head to Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures > Mute with gestures and toggle it on. From here, take a look at all the different gesture controls. Bonus tip: if you have a Galaxy Watch, you can set it up so a shake of your wrist will reject a call. Neat, right? And don't forget about the App Pair feature One tap opens two apps in split-screen Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek | ZinetroN/Shutterstock Finally, one of my favorite little Samsung Galaxy features that you probably forgot about is called App Pair. Samsung's App Pair feature lets you easily open two apps simultaneously in split-screen or multi-window view. It's pretty nifty. If there are specific apps you use in split-screen mode all the time, like YouTube and a browser, Gmail and your calendar, or anything else, you can add a one-tap shortcut for both right on your home screen. You can even have three apps on select Galaxy Z foldables. All you have to do is open two apps in split-screen or multi-window mode, select the little screen divider in the middle, then tap the star icon. From here, you can save that app pair to your home screen, Edge Panel, or the taskbar on your Galaxy Z Fold. This is one of the best ways to multitask on your Galaxy phone. Do more with your phone These are just a few of my favorite little Samsung Galaxy features thanks to One UI, but they're not the only ones. I also love Modes and Routines and rely on it daily. Separate app sounds and One-Hand Operation+ modes are great, and I recently changed this one feature, which fixed my notification overload. Try them all and do more with your phone.