For those who haven’t noticed, every now and then the home screens and the widgets are visibly redrawn. Most notably when you’re using an application and go back to the home screen, you’ll notice a small delay while the home screens and widgets redraw themselves. It is a very minor annoyance, but one that most Android devices suffer from. For the Samsung Galaxy S III, there are not one, but two ways to fix the problem or at least reduce it to a less noticeable level.

The original method was released by XDA Recognized Developer zeppelinrox, who uses the modification in the popular Supercharger V6 script. To put it bluntly, it’s a very long tutorial, but the end result is accomplished by increasing the priority of the launcher. It runs users through decompiling the services.jar and making a number of code changes, recompiling, and putting it back. Due to the complexity of the tutorial, XDA Senior Member UpInTheAir created a second tutorial to help simplify the process. Complete with a more organized layout and screen shots, it makes it a little easier to make the changes.

Both tutorials end up with the same result, which is to reduce or completely fix visible home screen redraws. This can be useful for the end user, but the tutorials are more laid out for ROM developers wishing to put this in their work. As for widget redraws, UpInTheAir makes this comment:

Some widgets (weather) may occasionally redraw as their OOM priority may allow them to be killed off, but you should see reduced TW Launcher redraw.

So there may still be some widget redraws that this mod won’t fix. For further info, check out either zeppelinrox’s tutorial or UpInTheAir’s tutorial.

One of Android’s hallmark features is true multitasking—the ability to run many applications simultaneously like you can do on computers. However, one of the biggest issues with Android is the hardware to support it. Yes, the CPU and GPU have gotten mammoth upgrades to help run these apps together more quickly, but sometimes a little problem like not having enough RAM can get in the way. From average, day to day use, RAM isn’t a big problem. However, for power users and for those who use a significant number of applications, RAM can start becoming an issue. Samsung Galaxy S III users can now create a Swap Partition to help ease the strain put on the RAM.

The guide walks users through the creation and removal of a Swap Partition. XDA Senior Member Yank555 wrote up the guide with ease of use in mind. Users need to partition their SD card properly, then flash a zip to get the swap partition installed and working. Users can test it using the Terminal Emulator.

Setting up a swap partition simulates additional RAM for users to play with. However, users should be aware that swap partitions are only a fraction of the speed of actual RAM. Furthermore, some issues can arise if used improperly: When though the storage part of the SD card can be un-mounted, the SD card absolutely should not be removed while the phone is on and running. It will cause problems. As Yank555 explains:

You can unmount / remount the SD card, since that will only unmount / remount the FAT/exFAT partition (e.g. the one you see in Windows and “/mnt/extSdCard”).

But you should by no means remove the SD card (even if unmounted) while your system is running !

If would be as if removing part of RAM without prior notice while the system is running.

Always power off the device before removing the SD card !

Yank555 also explains why this Swap option is better than ZRAM. For the full explanation, tutorial, and more, check out the original thread.

Devices are rarely released with their full potential realized. If this were the case, root access wouldn’t be required to fix many inherent device issues. Granted, most users likely would still seek superuser status because having root is fun. Thankfully over time, OEMs have at least thought to quell the biggest and worst bugs before releasing a device. Still, there always seems to be a little problem here and there that needs to be fixed. The Samsung Galaxy S III is no exception, as users have found that the brightness settings are a little quirky.

XDA Senior Member mattiadj has released a couple of fixes for the settings to make them a little more logical. The first is a custom fix by mattiadj, and the others are copycat settings from the Samsung Galaxy Note. Differences between the two aren’t much, as the custom settings are geared toward battery saving and the values keep the screen pretty dim at low levels. The Galaxy Note settings are brighter at low levels to, as mattiadj put it, make the SAMOLED look more brilliant.

The tweaks are easily flashed through any custom recovery. Two versions of each mod have been made: one for non-stock based ROMs and for stock based ROMs.

For more information, check out the original thread.

Android devices are well known for their hidden features. One such area is using custom dialer codes to access various hidden apps. XDA Recognized Developer E:V:A is heading up an effort find all of these and more on the Samsung Galaxy S III I9300. One such example is typing *#*#197328640#*#* to access the Service Menu.

Not only has E:V:A provided a few codes for users to check out, but he actually shows users how they can find new codes themselves. Users first must download the appropriate applications:

Get jd-gui (Often crashes) Get jad (doesn’t crash, but is cmdline based) Get sgs2toext4 (and here) Get Disk Internals Linux Reader Get a disk image with deodexed Apps (see below)

And from there, E:V:A instructs users on how to use each one to get new codes and find new little hacks. While it isn’t development in the traditional sense, it’s definitely something interesting to do. If users are interesting in learning more, there are over a dozen reference links to check out.

For additional info, check out the original thread.

Even with new devices featuring 16+ GB of internal storage, users still manage to run into problems with there not being enough space for applications and other things. Although this is usually only a problem that older devices face due to their small internal storage, it’s also possible on newer devices as well. Thankfully, a solution has already been crafted for the Samsung Galaxy S III.

The method, called ExtSd2InternalSd, helps users overcome this problem by effectively swapping the internal and external SD cards so that users can user the internal SD for applications only. As XDA Senior Member mattiadj explains:

My aim so became to use the external sd as internal sd and internal sd ONLY for apps installation so became used as internal memory!
And… yes after a while i have to make this working!!! So now my 64gb external sd is used for all tasks which the internal sd was used and the internal sd is only used for apps storage!! All extra files (resources, caches, etc etc) are stored in my external SD!!

Also if i want to see the internal memory management i can see that now my phone has 64gb internal memory and 16gb external!!

As described, the method essentially switches the internal and external SD cards so that the external is mounted as the internal and vice versa. It is not an overly complicated process. Users are directed to format their external SD card to FAT32 with their computer and then flash an update.zip to automatically switch mounts for you. After that, simply reboot, and enjoy up to 64 GB of internal storage and 16 GB of external storage.

To learn more, head over to the original thread.