Your new Galaxy S22 Ultra is more than just a beautiful face. Samsung filled the new flagship with tons of unique and useful features – so many, in fact, that some of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s best features can fly under your radar. So here are seven cool things you can do with your Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Most of these tricks, minus those that require an S Pen, will work with the Galaxy S22 or S22 +. Keep in mind that some of the features listed in this article debuted in older Galaxy phones.
Write and view notes without unlocking your phone
By default, removing the S Pen from your Galaxy S22 Ultra opens an “Air Command” dialog with a lot of confusing options. But what if you just want to take notes without unlocking your phone or going through some nonsense?
A simple change of Settings will automatically create new notes when you remove the S Pen from your phone. This feature works even when your device is locked, and funnily enough, you can actually attach new notes to your Always On Display for quick viewing.
To take notes without unlocking your phone, simply open Settings, go to “Advanced settings” and select “S Pen”. You should see an option titled “When S Pen is Removed.” Tap this and select the “Create note” option. (Remember that your phone does not open the Air Command dialog box when this option is enabled.)
When creating a note from your lock screen, it should display a small “pin” icon. Click this icon to attach the note to your Always On Display. You can release notes from Always On Display at any time; just press the little “X” button.
Enhance your photos with shooting suggestions
Having a good camera does not make you a great photographer. You just can not automate composition or framing – you know, the way motifs are laid out in an image. Still, your Galaxy S22 Ultra can enhance your image composition with a feature called Shot Suggestions.
I’m surprised this is not enabled by default; Shot Suggestions analyzes your subject and asks you to enhance your images with subtle animations. These animations can help you smooth your image or re-frame subjects to get the best possible image.
To enable Shot Suggestions, open the Camera app and tap the “Settings” icon (gears). Under the “Intelligent Features” section, enable “Shot Suggestions”.
Charge other devices wirelessly
Earphones and other accessories always die when it is least convenient. Fortunately, your Galaxy S22 Ultra works as a wireless charger. Do you need to get a smartwatch or smartphone up and running? Just put it on the back of your Galaxy S22 Ultra!
Well, it’s not that simple. Reverse wireless charging does not happen automatically. To prevent accidental charging, activate this function every time you want to use it.
Drag down the notification sharing on your Galaxy S22 Ultra and look through the icons for quick settings (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, auto-rotation, etc.). You should see one titled Wireless PowerShare. Tap it to activate reverse wireless charging – this feature still works when your Galaxy S22 Ultra is charging with a USB-C cable.
Wireless PowerShare automatically shuts off when you stop charging another device. It can also turn off if your Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery drops below 30%, although you can adjust this threshold in your “Battery and device care” settings.
In addition, Wireless PowerShare only works with devices that support wireless Qi charging. Most phones fit the bill, though many cordless earphones and smartwatches require wired charging.
Improve performance with virtual RAM
Is the Galaxy S22 Ultra struggling to keep up with your intense multitasking habits? Maybe it’s time to boost your phone’s virtual memory through the RAM Plus settings. This process is unlikely to speed up your phone, though it should prevent apps from restarting when pushed to the background.
RAM Plus takes up part of your phone’s storage space and turns it into virtual memory. The same process happens on your Windows or Mac computer – when the computer detects that it is running out of RAM, it dives into your storage for an extra bit of horsepower.
By default, RAM Plus uses 4 GB of your Galaxy S22 Ultra’s storage space for virtual memory. You can increase this value to 6 GB or 8 GB to improve multitasking performance. Simply open Settings, go to “Battery and device care”, select “Memory” and press “RAM Plus”.
Remember that your phone resets when you make changes to RAM Plus. You can also not disable RAM Plus. If you would rather use that storage space for files, apps and games, your best option is to opt for 2GB of virtual RAM.
Read remote signs with the telephoto lens
One of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s most impressive features is its telephoto lens, which offers 10x optical zoom. I’m not sure how Samsung managed to fit this lens in such a low profile, but it’s there and it’s like binoculars.
Let’s say you walk up to a store and see a piece of paper wallpaper for the door. Is the store closed? You do not have to get out of your car and find out, because the Galaxy S22 Ultra can zoom in enough to see what’s on that piece of paper.
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Josh Hendrickson
Josh Hendrickson
Josh Hendrickson
Josh Hendrickson
Using your Galaxy S22 Ultra’s telephoto lens is a breeze. Just open the Camera app and tap the phone icon – the small circle with a single blade. You can then increase the zoom ratio by spreading two fingers across the screen.
Now your telephoto lens is not one Perfect replacement for binoculars. You may notice noise or smearing in a zoomed image, and of course you need a relatively stable hand to use this feature effectively.
Use your front and rear cameras at the same time
Some situations require more than one camera. Maybe you’re trying to put together a viral TikTok, or hey, maybe your band wants a fancy video for Instagram. But you do not need two phones for these situations, because you can use several of your Galaxy S22 Ultra cameras at the same time.
Your Galaxy S22 Ultra has a smart feature called “Director’s View”. When enabled, this mode lets you switch between all the cameras on your Galaxy S22 Ultra during recording. You can jump from a wide-angle image to a zoom image, for example, everything by tapping a small thumbnail on the screen.
More importantly, you can enable “Vlogger Mode” to use your rear and selfie cameras at the same time. The benefits here are quite clear; you can fully capture a conversation with a stranger, your reaction to a birthday present or two sides of a room.
Activating Director’s View is easy. Just open the Camera app, press the “More” button and select “Director View.” By default, this mode starts in multi-cam view. To enable “Vlogger Mode”, tap one of the small white squares at the top or side of your screen. One of these options places your selfie feed in a small window above the main video feed, while the other places both camera feeds in split view.
Control your camera with the S Pen
The S Pen is more than just a stylus. It is also a remote control that you can use to operate your Galaxy S22 Ultra remotely. Now, this feature is not so useful when surfing the web or shopping on Amazon, but it is super convenient when you need to take a picture of yourself.
Try it now – open the Camera app and remove the S Pen from your Galaxy S22 Ultra. If you press the S Pen button, your phone will take a picture. It is the perfect solution for selfies, group photos or photos that need to be super stable and consistent, such as product photography.
But what if you want to change which camera you use? No problem, if you fan your S Pen upwards, you will switch between the rear and selfie camera. You can also swing your S Pen to the right or left to switch between photo or video modes.
You are ready to get the most out of your Galaxy S22 Ultra! We hope you find these features useful as they are some of the most unique (and least known) benefits of owning Samsung’s latest flagship.