Samsung smartphones have been all over the news in the last few years – whether it is the release of the Galaxy S8 now, or the hoopla around the famous Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, or the fact that the Samsung S6 Edge getting the much-talked about Nougat update. However, don’t despair if you still own your trusty Samsung Galaxy S3 – which features on almost all bestselling phones of all time lists – here are some tricks and tips to make the best use of your phone and still rule the roost:

Using Smart Stay: The Smart Stay feature in the Samsung Galaxy S3 lets one surf the internet or read books easier – the feature keeps the phone’s backlight on until one either averts their eyes away from the screen or closes their eyes. One can activate it by going to Settings > Display > Smart Stay and checking it.

Recording music from FM: While listening to songs on the radio isn’t so prevalent anymore, it is great to have that option on one’s phone! Especially since streaming music from Goole Play Music or Spotify drains battery and uses data both. One can record songs from the radio and even save and store music on the SD card or the internal memory.

Blocking mode: One of the worst things about keeping the phone on in the night is the unnecessary ‘ping’ of notifications at all odd hours. Luckily, the Galaxy S3 features a nifty ‘Blocking Mode’ (Settings > Device > Blocking Mode). Once switched on, the user can easily customize what they want to block – it could be LED indicators, timers, alarms, Facebook notifications, mails, etc. permanently or for a specific time period. Users can, at the same time, also make sure that urgent calls about emergencies are able can get through at any and all times by editing the ‘allowed contacts’ list and specifying them.

Remote wipe: If someone steals your Galaxy S3, you can immediately triangulate the location of your device and ensure that no one gets access to your personal and private data by executing a complete wipe of the phone data. All users need to do is sign up for a Samsung account and set a password, then sign in to the ‘Find My Mobile’ option of Samsung, which will enable one to locate their mobile phone, unlock their screens, wipe their mobiles, see call logs, forward messages or calls, make the phone ring or lock it.

Extras: While the S3 isn’t designed to sync with iTunes, one can do so using some third-party apps such as Easy Phone Sync (on Play Store). One needs to have the same desktop counterpart, letting one transfer his/her entire iTunes library to the phone.