If you’re looking to adjust the DPI, Screen Size and/or Screen Zoom feature of the Galaxy S8 then simply follow the step by step guide detailed below.
Previously, in order to make everything such as the UI elements, font, icons, etc. bigger or smaller, then it required that we have root access to the smartphone or tablet. This is known as adjusting the DPI of the device and it let you make everything on the screen the exact size you wanted to.
In recent updates to Android though, Google started to allow this setting to be adjusted without root access and right from the Settings application.
Google calls this adjusting the Screen Size and naturally Samsung has decided to call it something else. In the Settings application of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, this feature is called known as Screen Zoom. It almost does the same thing, but again, Samsung choose to do things differently. When adjusting the Galaxy S8 DPI with its built-in Screen Zoom feature, it will change all UI elements and fonts except for the Home Screen and the App Drawer.
I’m guessing that this is the case because Samsung already has a feature that changes the Galaxy S8 Home Screen Grid Size.
Galaxy S8 DPI
- Launch the Settings application
- Scroll down and tap on the Display option
- Tap on the Screen Zoom and Font option
- Then set the Screen Zoom slider to how you like things to be displayed
- And tap the Apply button at the top right of the screen
Explanation
So yes, technically this isn’t adjusting the DPI of the Galaxy S8, but this will be what most people are looking for since it doesn’t require root access. If there’s a demand (let me know in the comments section below) for a true way to modify the build.prop file and adjust the DPI, then I will do another guide for that in the future. For now, I’d like to focus on what most people are able to adjust and that is the Screen Zoom feature of the Galaxy S8.
So to start, you’ll need to launch the Settings application and then scroll down until you see the Display option. Once you tap that, you’ll be taken to another sub menu and from here you find and tap the Screen Zoom and Font option. This should toward the top and is actually right below the Screen Resolution option on my Galaxy S8+. From here, you should see a Screen Zoom slider right under the demo and this is where we’ll adjust the Galaxy S8 DPI.
Keep your eye on the demo preview image at the top of the screen because it will change when you move that slider. You can also swipe that demo preview image to see how this change will impact messaging applications as well. By default, at least on my Galaxy S8+, the Screen Zoom feature is set to Small. This means it will be making all of the UI elements as small as this feature will allow so the only thing we can change here is to make things bigger.
The middle part of the slider adjusts the Screen Zoom feature to Medium, and then moving that slider to the far right will set it to Large. Each change will adjust what the demo preview image looks like as this is a way to see how things will look before you actually change them. When you’re done and ready, simply tap the Apply button at the top right of the screen and that will set the Screen Zoom feature to whatever you moved it to.
Explore some applications and games and other areas of the Settings application to see if this is how you like them. You can always come back here and adjust the Galaxy S8 DPI from this screen at any time so feel free to experiment with it.
