How to take a Screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy S2 with ICS

When the Samsung Galaxy S2 first came out it was using the "Gingerbread" version of Android since then however the Galaxy S2 has been updated to "Ice Cream Sandwich" (or ICS). Whilst the update to ICS was a pretty big step forward it also changed a few things about how the phone operated, notably how a user took a screen shot.

 Originally to take a screen shot with the Samsung Galaxy S2
 a user had to press the Home Button and then swiftly press the power button, as described in our original guide.

Now however the user needs to press and hold both the volume down and the power button for around 2 seconds. After doing this the phone screen will "flash" and you will get a message like the one in the screen shot on the right with the phrase "Saving Screenshot..."  This means your screenshot is taken.

A few seconds after the "Saving" message you will see a new message saying "Copied to clipboard" then you are all done and the image is saved. From here you can either "Paste" the image into an e-mail or message (as long as it's still in your clipboard) or go into your gallery and find the "Screenshots" folder, where the screenshots will now be stored in.

Note-This isn't as easy as the old method, so you may find yourself needing practice. The best advice is to hold both buttons until the screen flashes, if the volume shows on the screen however try again.

How to take Screen Captures with the Samsung Galaxy S2

Although it's not a necessity for most, some phone users do ask “is it possible to take a screen shot of my phone?”

The answer is simple. Most of the time it is indeed possible to take print screens or screen captures of mobile phones. Depending on the actual phone however you may need to find yourself doing very different things. Most phones require you to download a computer program and have the phone and computer connected by a USB cable to use your computer to take the screen capture. This is how many websites take the screen captures for things like phone reviews and showing off features.

Rather than looking at the overly complex system involved in what the programs do we will look at how Samsung phones take screen captures. This feature has been in the most recent Samsung's including the Samsung Wave and now the highly acclaimed Samsung Galaxy S2. The way the Samsung phones take screen shots, or as they are known by some as "screen captures" or even "print screens",  is incredibly simple and is actually an in-built feature that seems to be lacking in almost all the other phones.

By holding the “Home” button and pressing the “lock” button at the same time you will manage to use the secret “Screen capture” function of the phone which will take a print screen of the phone exactly how it is. The quality of this is far superior to using another phone (or camera) to take a picture and for people who want to use a picture of the screen this is an almost valuable tool.

If you are successful when you try the phone will vibrate and a message will appear on the phone saying “Screen captured. Saved as image file”. These image files can be found very easily on the phone by looking in the Screen Capture folder of the phone for use later on.

Quick tips:
If at first you find your phone locking or going to the menu just try again.
Hold the "home" button for a slight moment before pressing the lock button (to stop the phone from locking)

Hopefully this guide will help you take screen captures with your Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone.

Edit:
I've noticed a few people finding this place through google (hi folks) with one person googling "Screen capture directory"

The directory will be something along the lines of Computer\GT-I9100\Phone\ScreenCapture when connected to a Windows 7 computer. On the phone by it's self they can be found in Gallery\ScreenCapture. Hope that helps you with making the screen capture function of the Samsung Galaxy S2 as useful as it is for me.

For those wanting to know about the quality of image from a screen capture all the pictures of the Samsung Galaxy S2 screens have been done via this method of screen capturing.

Samsung Galaxy S2 secrets

Whilst using the Samsung Galaxy S2 you may want to know what secrets the phone has and what little tricks we have to play with. Whilst the Samsung Galaxy S2 has a number of widely known features which are covered in the manual it also has a lot of hidden secrets that we can take advantage of.

Firstly the “Zoom” feature for the browser and gallery.
This is a trick that is featured in the manual and often comes up on the screen when we open a number of programs. To use it you need to place a finger on either side of the screen then tilt the phone up and down. This is a new function and one that is useful for some though using the “pinch” method is generally just as easy and a little bit more 

 “natural” to users.

Secondly is the “Print Screen” feature
This is a feature that has been carried over from some earlier Samsung's including the Samsung Wave. This is the method I get pictures for the site through and what you need to do is press the “menu” and the “lock” button at the same time. If you press them right the phone will vibrate then give a small message saying “Screen captured. Saved as image file.” These files will be stored in a folder called “ScreenCapture”.

The phone also had a shortcut to the "Task manager". The typical way of getting to the Task manager is through the application screen however if you hold down the "Home" button you get a list of the last few apps you've had open and an option to open the task manager. This saves a lot of time if you are wanting to find the task manager.

The phone also has a secret search function that appears if you hold the menu button on the homescreen and acts much like the "search button" on other android phones. This is something that very cleverly allows Samsung to take off the much maligned "Search" button and yet also have a search function. Clever lot these Samsung folk.


So some new things well...did you know that by using a tethered connection (guide here) you can actually use the phone as a Wi-Fi card allowing a computer without a Wi-Fi adapter to connect to a wireless hub inside your home!

If you slide your finger along the notification bar (the bar that has the clock and the signal bars on) you can change the brightness of the phone. If you slide your finger to the right you will make the screen brighter if you scroll it to the left you will darken the screen.

We've also found that the Samsung Galaxy S2 has a secret test menu that allows you to check if you're phone is in perfect working order with tests ranging from the Proximity sensor to checking the vibration and accelerometer.

And course we've also learned how to access that tricky to access 5.1. dolby surround sound now we've had a longer play with the phone.