50 Android Tips S3

7/29/2019 50 Android Tips S3

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If you're struggling to choose a phone from the vast selection on offer right now, try our

straightforward guide --what phone should I buy?And if you've already mastered thebasics on your new Android phone, you should check out our choice of thebest Android

appsto make your homescreen feel like, well, home.

Getting started

1. The notification area at the top of the screen shows your phone's charge, and itsmobile, data and Wi-Fi signal strengths. Drag it down to view notifications, or to toggle

power-hungry features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS on and off. Use the Sound iconto enter or leave silent mode.

2. Regularly call, text or email someone? Create a shortcut by tapping the Home screen

and holding your finger down (tap-holding), then tap Shortcuts and choose Contact. Just

tap the shortcut whenever you want to get in touch.

3. Giving someone a unique ring tone means you don't have to look to know they're

calling. Tap Contacts, find and tap the right entry, press Menu and tap Edit. Scroll to

Ringtone, tap it and choose the sound you want.
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4. Adding photos to contacts helps personalise them. Edit a contact as above and tap the

silhouette next to their name. Choose an existing photo from an album, or use the camerato take one there and then.

5. The Google Search widget should already be on your Home screen (if not, see tip 11for how to add it). Type in a word or phrase then tap the arrow to search for it. Tap the 'g'

icon to choose what to search, or the microphone icon to try speaking your search.

6. To change your phone's default wallpaper tap-hold the Home screen and tapWallpaper. Now you can choose from supplied wallpapers, photos in the Gallery or even

animated Live wallpapers -- just remember the latter can sap your battery.


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Market and applications

7. Tap the Applications button to see your installed apps, dragging your fingertip across

the screen to scroll between pages. Find and tap Market to go to the Android app store.Here you can browse thousands of free and cheap applications. Install one you like by

tapping its Download box and agreeing to its permissions (see the 'Getting online' section

below).

8. Sometimes there are several competing apps available to do the same job. The apps at

the top of the Market search results are normally both popular and highly rated -- trythese first.

9. You can get a no-quibble refund for an app you don't like, but only within 15 minutes

of buying it. From the Market, press Menu, tap My Apps and select the questionable app.

If you're quick enough to see a Refund button, tap it to uninstall and get your money

back.


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10. Create shortcuts for quick access to the apps on your phone. Hold your fingertip

down on the Home screen and select Shortcuts in the pop-up menu. Tap Applications,

and select the shortcut you want. To move it, tap-hold and drag it.

11. Some apps have cool widgets. Tap-hold the Home screen, select Widgets and choose

from the list. Move widgets just like shortcuts, and delete by tap-holding then dragging to

the Remove bin at the bottom of the screen.


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12. Deleting shortcuts or widgets won't uninstall the app. Tap Applications to view your

installed apps. To uninstall, press the Menu button, tap Edit, then tap the minus sign nextto the app you're tired of.

13. You can use the same screen to edit the 'docked' icons visible from all Home screens.Drag icons on or off the dock then press Menu again and tap Save.

14. If you want to quit the application you're running, keep pressing Back until you return

to the Home screen. Using the Home button instead leaves the app running, rather likeminimising a program in Windows.


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15. Want to re-open the app you just closed? Hold the Home key for a second to see the

most recently used apps. On some Android phones this also lets you start a task manager.You can use it to close apps, but it's better to quit them normally if possible.

16. Android phones have several Home screens -- dragging the background scrollsbetween them, while on many phones a 'pinch' gesture zooms out to show them all. Try

grouping similar shortcuts and widgets on each page so you have, say, one for

socialising, navigating, shopping and so-on.

17. Home screens getting messy? Tap-hold the Home screen and tap Folders to create an

empty folder, then drag icons into it. To rename the folder, tap it open and tap-hold thebar at the top.


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Text tips

18. Finding text entry a drag? Write words on Samsung Galaxy phones by dragging yourfinger through the letters. Open the Settings menu (see tip 38), tap Locale and text, tap

Select input method and choose Swype. Follow the tutorial to master it. On other phones,

try installing the FlexT9 app.

19. Cut, copy and paste text by tap-holding it, then dragging the brackets to the correct

selection and tapping either Cut or Copy. Navigate to, then tap-hold where you want the

text to go and tap Paste.

20. Enable Caps Lock by tap-holding Shift. To delete an entire word, tap Shift then tap

Backspace, or tap-hold the backspace key and keep it held down to delete larger sectionsof text.

21. Who needsSiri? InstallVlingoand add its widget to your Home screen to control

your phone with your voice. Tap it, give a command such as, "text Dad", then dictate

your message.
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Getting online

22. You'll need a mobile phone account with data before you can use the Internet on the

move. SIM-only customers may need to contact their network to set it up. Avoid hugebills for data while abroad by selecting Wireless and network from the Settings menu,

tapping Mobile networks and ensuring that Data roaming isn't ticked.

23. While in the UK, save your bundled data by using Wi-Fi wherever possible. Enter theSettings menu then select Wireless and network. Tap Wi-Fi settings, scroll down and

pick a network from the list, providing the password if necessary.

24. Android's browser works just like any other -- run it by tapping the Internet app.Many sites are optimised for mobile phones, but there's often a link to the full site at the

bottom of the page. If text is too small to read, double-tap it to zoom.


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25. The Menu key brings up options to open and switch between multiple browser

windows. Bookmark a site by pressing Menu to display the address bar, then tapping thestar icon to the right of it.

26. To change the Internet homepage, visit the site you want then press Menu, tap Moreand tap Settings. Scroll down the Internet settings menu and tap Set home page, then tap

Use current page.

27. Mobile data is expensive, and many apps send and receive it in the background.Disable this by tapping Accounts and sync in the Android Settings menu, then un-ticking

Background data. Alternatively hold in the power button for a second and tap to turn offData network mode.


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28. Allowing apps to update automatically can hammer your mobile data allowance. Visit

the Market, press Menu, tap Settings and tick Update over Wi-Fi only.

29. If you're on the road and need to get your laptop online, connect it to your phone with

a USB cable if available then exit the phone's PC mode. Enter the Android Settingsmenu, tap Wireless and network and tap Tethering. Tick USB tethering to use your

phone's data connection for your PC. If USB isn't available, tick Mobile AP and tap

Mobile AP settings to turn your phone into a wireless hotspot. Be warned: most mobile

operators frown on tethering.

30. To use your phone on a plane, prepare it before you take off. Hold in the powerbutton for a second and tap Airplane mode to disable all radios, then turn the power off.

When you turn the phone on in the air it'll already be in Airplane mode.


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Extra functions

31. Your phone is also a travel alarm clock. Find Clock among your applications, tap it torun the app, then tap Create alarm. Set the time and day(s) for the alarm and any other

options, then tap Save. Leave the phone on overnight or the alarm won't sound.

32. Clock does more than tell the time. Start the app and tap Stopwatch to time an event,or tap Timer to set a countdown timer with an alarm -- ideal for cooking, or just for a

well-judged power nap.


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33. World clock can save your blushes and stop you Skypeing someone at four in the

morning. In Clock, tap World clock, tap Add city, then choose from the list to keep an

eye on another time zone.

34. Leave the MP3 player at home, and add songs to your phone by connecting to your

PC and using the phone's file-management software. Alternatively, use Explorer tomanually copy tunes across to a new folder. Either way, Android's media scanner will

find them when you disconnect the phone from the computer.

35. Play music with Android's built-in player -- find and start Music from among your

apps, then browse by track, album or artist. Tap a song or album to play it.


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36. GPS enables some of your phone's most exciting features. Google Maps is a must-

have free app. It tells you where you are, includes Places to show you what's nearby, andNavigation to direct you by foot or car.

37. GPS can provide precise locations for the photos or updates you upload to socialnetworks. With apps like Runkeeper, joggers and cyclists can track where they've been.


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Settings and system

38. Most of Android's more advanced options are in the Settings menu. Find it by

pressing your phone's Menu button and tapping Settings. The options here control almostevery aspect of your phone -- to avoid problems, only change the ones you understand, or

just make a note of what you've changed so you can switch back if something goes

wrong.

39. Thwart mischievous friends from messing about with your settings by locking your

screen. Enter the Settings menu, tap Location and security and tap Change screen lock toset a pattern. Un-tick Use visible pattern to use a code instead.

40. Protect your mobile account from abuse if your phone is stolen -- scroll further down

the Location and security menu and tap Set up SIM card lock. Tick Lock SIM card then

tap Change SIM PIN -- and don't forget your PIN!


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41. Tap Call settings in the Settings menu to change the way voice and video calls

behave. Click Voice call to set and change forwarding, barring and waiting. One money-saving barring option is to block all incoming calls while roaming.

42. Store your contacts and appointments on Google and they'll be backed up should theworst happen, but other data may not be. There are several Android backup apps such as

MyBackup, which will copy files to the phone's storage or an online vault.


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43. Shortlived battery? To find out what's killing it, enter the Settings menu and scroll

down to select About phone, then tap Battery use. The chart at the top of the screenshows how quickly the battery has drained over time.

44. Improve battery life by entering the Settings menu, tapping Sound and disabling bothVibrate and Haptic feedback. Under Display, turn the screen brightness right down. Keep

GPS and Bluetooth off unless you're actually using them.

45. Eke out an ailing battery by disabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS and quitting allrunning applications. If things are really bleak, disable data network mode, too (see tip

27). Most importantly, tap the power key to turn off the screen -- and leave it off.


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46. Running out of space? You can move most apps to the phone's SD card. Enter the

Settings menu, tap Applications and tap Manage applications to see how much storage isfree. Tap an app and, if available, tap Move to USB storage (on some phones it'll say

Move to SD card) to free up system space.

47. If you don't know your new phone number, or you just want the detailed status of

your phone, get to the About phone menu as in tip 43, then tap Status.

48. Personalise your phone by using a music file as a ringtone or notification. Copyringtones to the main phone memory, into the media > audio > ringtones (or

notifications) folder (see tip 34). Now enter your phone's Settings menu, select Sound andyou should find your custom tones among the ringtone or notification options. You can

use any ringtone as an alarm sound, too (see tip 31).


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49. If you're the hands-on type, a decent file manager lets you view, move or rename files

stored on the phone. Search the Market for 'file manager' to see some options.

50. If you encounter severe problems and nothing else helps, you can entirely reset your

phone -- although this really is a last resort that will wipe all of its data. Take a fullbackup first (see tip 42), then enter the Settings menu, choose Privacy and select Factory

data reset. You'll need to restore all of your data and reinstall any apps you had.

Documents

50 Android Tips S3