It’s with trepidation and delight that I explore new and unusual features on a Samsung phone or tablet. You just never know what they’re going to toss in, which makes Samsung one of the wackiest device manufacturers ever.
I suppose Samsung desires to be like Apple, but Apple releases stuff that’s at least modestly cool. I mean, they’ve had some duds, but overall, Apple’s stuff has a super smooth, elegant, and modern feel. Samsung is more like, “My cousin Kim developed this tool and we must include it in the next tablet or you will be fired.”
For example — and eventually I’ll get to the Smart Manager — consider the far right Home screen on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The newsy-something page that Samsung adds instead of Google Now.
On most Android tablets, the far right Home screen is just another Home screen page, or it’s the Google Now app. On a Galaxy Tab, however, it’s something funky, probably something you don’t want to use. On the Tab S2, it’s some news app. Like other unique Samsung toys, you can’t disable it, you can’t get rid of it, so you’re stuck with it.
Samsung tablets are riddled with such weird and frequently annoying features.
The Smart Manager, however, isn’t one of those features. At least, I think it isn’t.
Shown in Figure 2, the Smart Manager apparently lets you manage the tablet’s resources from one screen. Tap the CLEAN ALL button and each item is processed and, well, “cleaned.” I’m not certain whether this tool does anything useful, but it makes me feel good.
Figure 2. The Smart Manager, which does something that looks like it’s important, but is probably just tantalizing graphics.
Like other odd and unique Samsung tools, my guess is that the far right Home screen and Smart Manager will probably go away with the next generation of Samsung tablets. And that’s the real problem.
Where Apple hangs onto things (sometimes for too long), Samsung drops technology innovations like extra potatoes flying off the back of an over-filled pickup truck. Some things are great! But then they’re gone. And some things just annoy me, like the far right Home screen page that I’ll never use and wish I could find the switch to replace it with Google Now.
Actually, I’ll tap that CLEAN ALL button again. Yeah. That feels good.
I have an old S3 Mini phone, I got it when my contract came up for renewal (I had a Blackberry and I was in serious trouble the day they messed with the email). Now they are trying to goad me in to upgrading again (true the battery is pooched, but I have found a source for a replacement). The problem I think is the phone is trying to be a PC replacement and it can’t be too small, wrong layout. Most people that use a phone as a PC just use Farcebook. I’m sad I tend to phone people from my phone and check E-mail if I am away from a computer.
Comment by glennp — September 8, 2016 @ 9:06 am
As my books generally prove, the typical smartphone does way more than anyone really needs or could even use. It’s not a PC replacement. In fact, I read email on my phone, but I rarely reply. I’m just too much of a keyboard snob.
Comment by admin — September 8, 2016 @ 8:55 pm