13 Best Samsung Call Settings Tips and Tricks

Some people still use their smartphone to call people. Strange, right? Just kidding. We all do. One of the basic and the most important feature of any smartphone is to make and receive calls. And then, a few phone makers spruce it up with nifty components.

So if you own a Samsung smartphone, today we are going to change the way you make and receive calls. Here are the 13 Samsung call settings, hidden features, and tips to help you achieve that.

Let’s jump in.

1. Gestures

Who doesn’t like gestures? There are a number of hidden gestures in Android. Samsung lets you make calls or even send a message. In a Samsung Phone or Contacts app, swipe left on any number to message them and swipe right to call them.

The feature is enabled by default on Samsung phones. However, if it’s not working, go to Settings on your device. Then tap on Advanced features and enable Swipe to call or send messages. And if you don’t like this feature, you can disable it in the same setting.

2. Add to Favorite

You should add people whom you contact regularly to the Favourites list. It is easily accessible in Contacts.

To add a number to Favourites, open the Phone or Contact app. Then tap on the contact name that you want to favorite. From the options at the bottom, select Details. On the contact info screen, tap on the Star icon to favorite it.

3. Add to Speed Dial

Similarly, you can add people to Speed Dial to call them quickly by assigning contacts to the keypad numbers. When you hold the number on the keypad, the contact’s number will be dialed.

For that, open the Phone app and tap on the keypad icon at the bottom-right corner. Then hold any number. You will get a pop-up asking you to assign a contact. Tap on Assign and you will be taken to Contacts. Select the contact name and repeat the steps for other numbers.

To view all the Speed Dial numbers or to remove a number, open the keypad and then tap on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. From the menu, select Speed dial number. Then add or remove numbers.

4. Change Open Mode of Phone App

When you launch the Samsung phone app, it will show the recent calls list by default. You will have to tap on the keypad icon to open the keypad, and thereby making it a two-step process. But if you want, you can change this behavior. You can set the app to launch keypad directly.

To do so, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Samsung Phone app and tap the keypad icon at the bottom-right corner.

Step 2: Then tap on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. From the menu, select Open to keypad.

5. Direct Call

Imagine there’s a number on the screen and if you take your phone towards your ear, the phone dials that number automatically. Something like this is possible in Samsung’s three apps — Messages, Phone, and Contacts.

Yup, not kidding. The feature is known as Direct Call which automatically dials the number whose messages or contact details are on the screen the moment you bring the phone close to your ear.

Enabled by default, you can disable it in the settings. To do so, go to device Settings > Advanced Features and turn off Direct Call.

6. Flash Notification

I have seen many people who have this feature enabled, not sure if it’s by mistake or they actually like it. But if you also want the camera flash to light up when you get a call, you can do it easily.

To enable this feature, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open device Settings and go to Accessibility. Then tap on Hearing.

Step 2: Tap on Flash notification. Here you will get two options: Camera light and screen. Enable Camera light.

7. Single Tap Answer

Normally, to answer or reject a call, you have to use the swipe gesture, which is a hit-or-miss affair at times. Thankfully, Samsung lets you respond to calls and even alarms or other alerts with just a single tap.

To enable this mode, go to device Settings > Accessibility. Enable Single tap mode.

8. Use Buttons to Answer or Reject Calls

Even though you don’t get dedicated physical buttons to respond to calls, you can use other buttons. Yup, when enabled, you can answer and reject phone calls using the Volume up and Power key respectively.

To enable, go to device Settings > Accessibility > Answering and ending calls. Here you will get two separate options for answering and rejecting calls. Enable the buttons that you like.

9. Hide Messages and Filter Call Log

You must have noticed in the Phone app that apart from call history, you are also shown message history. It’s quite annoying if you ask me. I prefer to hide it and you can do it too.

To hide messages from the call log, open the Phone app and tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. Select Hide messages.

Further, the default behavior of the Phone app is to show all calls in the call log. Sometimes, you only want to see missed or rejected calls. To filter call log, tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the Phone app and select Calls to show. Then choose the appropriate filter from the pop-up menu.

10. Clear Call Log

You will not find a dedicated clear all calls button. So how does one clear the entire call log? You have to use the Delete option. It is present inside the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the Phone app.

Once you press Delete, you will see a small All icon at the top-left corner. Select it and hit the Delete button at the top-right corner.

11. Show Caller Information

When you make or receive calls, you will see information about caller’s recent social network activity (only if your contacts are synced with your social networks). You will also be shown the history of communication with them.

To enable this feature, follow the steps:

Step 1: Open the Phone app and tap the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. Then select Settings.

Step 2: Enable Show caller information.

12. Show Calls in Pop-Up

While using other apps, if you are on a call, you can show ongoing call in a pop-up instead of letting them occupy the entire screen. The feature comes handy in many ways.

To activate it, go to the Phone app Settings from the three-dot icon. Then enable Show calls in pop-up.

13. Vibrate When Answered

When we make calls, we have to either keep our phone near our ear or look at the screen to see if the call has been answered. An alternate way is to enable the feature that makes your phone vibrate when the call is answered.

To enable this, in the Settings of the Phone app, tap on Call alerts. Then enable Vibrate when answered.

Get Going!

A typical bare-bones Phone app packed by a phone maker rarely has so many configurations. Gestures for rejecting or answer a call have now become pretty basic.

Samsung’s host of settings makes the calling experience a way more personalized. I’m sure you didn’t know half of these settings in your Samsung phone. Now that you are familiar with them explore and enjoy.