Technologies

Hidden Galaxy S23 Features That Make Your Life Easier

These are not the most obvious Android settings, but the enhancements are worthwhile.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

During Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in February, the electronics giant announced the Galaxy S23 series with several new capabilities, including GIF remastering to improve the quality of GIF files, Astro Hyperlapse to capture time-lapse night videos of the stars and, of course, the massive 200-megapixel camera on the Ultra.

However, underneath all the popular specs, there’s an array of new, lesser-known features and settings that can significantly improve your experience on the Galaxy S23. You just need to know where to look. Here’s where you can find five hidden Galaxy S23 features and what they can do for you.

Don’t have a Galaxy S23 just yet? Check out our review of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, as well as the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. And if you’re looking to upgrade, here’s how the Galaxy S23 compares to the Galaxy S22, iPhone 14 and the Pixel 7.

1. Clip objects out of your photos and videos with a single press

Just as Apple added an image-clipping feature to iOS 16, so has Samsung to the Galaxy S23. With image clipping, you can go into any image (or even video) in your photo gallery and separate an object, such as a person or an item, from the background, allowing you to then share it with others.

If you want to cut something out of an image, go to your camera roll and simply press on the object you want to clip from the photo. Not all objects can be clipped, so you may get a notification that says «Couldn’t find anything to clip.» If an object is successfully clipped, you’ll feel a slight vibration and you’ll be able to drag the clipped object around the photo. This also works on videos, but they do have to be paused.

You then have three options: Copy the clip to your clipboard, share the clip (email, SMS, etc.) or save the clip as a new photo in your gallery.

Clipping out Baby Yoda from a photo — For better clipping, choose a photo with a clear object in the foreground and a solid background.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

2. Take Expert RAW photos from within your camera

In 2022, Samsung released its advanced camera app Expert RAW, allowing seasoned photographers to shoot in Expert RAW format. Like RAW files, Expert RAW files are uncompressed digital images but with the bonus of multi-exposure HDR, giving your images greater dynamic range. The only reason to shoot in Expert RAW is for improved photo editing in the post-processing phase. While Expert RAW is available on the Galaxy S22, it’s only through the Expert RAW app. On the Galaxy S23, Expert RAW is now built-in to the native camera — but you’ll need to enable it first.

In the Samsung camera, swipe through the various camera modes at the bottom and tap on More. Next, tap Expert RAW, which will ask you to then download the Expert RAW application. You only need the app downloaded on your device, but you won’t need to open it to shoot in Expert Raw. Once it’s downloaded, you can freely use Expert RAW mode in your camera to take Expert RAW photos.

Expert RAW mode on the Galaxy S23 — You can control white balance, shutter speed and more with Expert RAW.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

3. Prioritize your battery life over processing speed

There are many ways to preserve the battery life, including turning your phone off, using dark mode and enabling airplane mode — but Samsung has added a battery-saving feature on the Galaxy S23. The new Light mode prioritizes your battery life and cooling efficiency over processing speed, meaning your phone will use less energy to preserve battery life without affecting general use.

To enable the new Light performance mode, go to Settings and type «performance profile.» A single result, under Battery and device care, should appear — tap it. Next, tap Performance profile and select the Light option. Note that while this feature doesn’t apply while you’re gaming, it may affect the performance of other apps, so go back to Standard if you notice any issues.

Preserve your battery life by enabling this setting.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

4. Choose which app notifications are shown on your lock screen

If your Galaxy S23 is locked, you may not want to receive notifications for every single application on your lock screen. Instead of enabling Do Not Disturb mode, which stops all alerts in general, there’s a new feature that allows you to customize what shows up on your lock screen.

In the Settings application, go to Notifications > Lock screen notifications and tap the gear icon next to Show content. A list of every application on your phone will appear — if you don’t want to see certain app notifications on your lock screen, toggle it off here.

Lock screen notification setting on the Galaxy S23 — You can choose to disable lock screen notifications for all your apps or individually.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

5. Check out the battery life for all your Galaxy devices on your home screen

Samsung now makes it easier to keep an eye on the battery life of all your Galaxy devices. In your home screen customization settings, you’ll find two new battery widgets you can add to your home screen to check out the battery life of your Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds and more from your Galaxy S23.

Battery widget on the Galaxy S23 — As long as your other Galaxy devices are connected to your S23, you can monitor their battery from your lock screen.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Press your finger down anywhere on a blank space on your home screen and then go into Widgets. You now have two new battery widgets you can add to your home screen: battery status circles in a 4×1 grid and a battery status list in a 4×2 grid. As long as your other Galaxy products are connected to your S23, you can check out their battery life from your home screen.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 24, #713

Hints and answers for Connections for May 24, #713.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle has a fun variety of categories. The purple one appeals to my English major heart. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Goo-goo.

Green group hint: Not shirts.

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Acclaimed writers.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Baby gear.

Green group: Kinds of pants minus «s.»

Blue group: New York sports team members.

Purple group: Black women authors.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is baby gear. The four answers are bib, bottle, monitor and stroller.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of pants minus «s.» The four answers are capri, jean, jogger and slack.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is New York sports team members. The four answers are Jet, Met, Net and Ranger.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is black women authors. The four answers are Butler, Gay, Hooks and Walker.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, May 20

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 20.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is a fun one, and now I’m singing the song from 1-Across in my head. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Pink ___ Club» (Chappell Roan hit)
Answer: PONY

5A clue: Instrument that might be made with a comb and wax paper
Answer: KAZOO

6A clue: How bedtime stories are often read
Answer: ALOUD

7A clue: On edge
Answer: TENSE

8A clue: Short Instagram video
Answer: REEL

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Less colorful
Answer: PALER

2D clue: Layer of the upper atmosphere
Answer: OZONE

3D clue: Totally pointless
Answer: NOUSE

4D clue: Hit a high note in a high place, perhaps
Answer: YODEL

5D clue: Kit ___ bar
Answer: KAT

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Want to Speak to Dolphins? Researchers Won $100,000 AI Prize Studying Their Whistling

The scientists studied a bottlenose dolphin community in Sarasota, Florida, uncovering evidence of language-like communications.

If any dolphins are reading this: hello!

A team of scientists studying a community of Florida dolphins has been awarded the first $100,000 Coller Dolittle Challenge prize, set up to award research in interspecies communication algorithms.

The US-based team, led by Laela Sayigh of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, found that a type of whistle that dolphins employ is used as an alarm. Another whistle they studied is used by dolphins to respond to unexpected or unfamiliar situations. The team used non-invasive hydrophones to perform the research, which provides evidence that dolphins may be using whistles like words, shared with multiple members of their communities.

Capturing the sounds is just the beginning. Researchers will use AI to continue deciphering the whistles to try to find more patterns.

«The main thing stopping us cracking the code of animal communication is a lack of data. Think of the 1 trillion words needed to train a large language model like ChatGPT. We don’t have anything like this for other animals,» said Jonathan Birch, a professor at the London School of Economics and Politics and one of the judges for the prize.

«That’s why we need programs like the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which has built up an extraordinary library of dolphin whistles over 40 years. The cumulative result of all that work is that Laela Sayigh and her team can now use deep learning to analyse the whistles and perhaps, one day, crack the code,» he said.

The award was part of a ceremony honoring the work of four teams from across the world. In addition to the dolphin project, researchers studied ways in which nightingales, marmoset monkeys and cuttlefish communicate.

The challenge is a collaboration between the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. Submissions for next year open up in August.

Dolphins are just the beginning

Researching animals and trying to learn the secrets of their communication is nothing new; but AI is speeding up the creation of larger and lager datasets.

«Breakthroughs are inevitable,» says Kate Zacarian, CEO and co-founder of Earth Species Project, a California-based nonprofit that also works in breaking down language barriers with the animal world.

«Just as AI has revolutionized the fields of medicine and material science, we see a similar opportunity to bring those advances to the study of animal communication and empower researchers in this space with entirely new capabilities,» Zacarian said.

Zacarian applauded Sayigh’s team and their win and said it will help bring broader recognition to the study of non-human animal communication. It could also bring more attention to ways that AI can change the nature of this type of research.
«The AI systems aren’t just faster — they allow for entirely new types of inquiry,» she said. «We’re moving from decoding isolated signals to exploring communication as a rich, dynamic, and structure phenomenon — whish is a task that’s simply too big for our human brains, but possible for large-scale AI models.»

Earth Species recently released an open-source large audio language model for analyzing animal sounds called NatureLM-audio. The organization is currently working with biologists and ethologists to study species including carrion crows, orcas, jumping spiders and others and plans to release some of their findings later this year, Zacarian said.