ANDROID TIPS AND TWEAKS FOR NEWBIES

Android is the most popular and one of the best Mobile Operating System for modern and new smart phones, but this operating system can be tiring and may look complex to new users. Goggle's mission is to make every one feel at home and have full control over the smart phones by adding as many as possible tweakable setting for users. This OS can put some people into little misery sometimes, because there are widgets to worry about, the home screen layout, you want to maximize your Data plan and battery life and much more hidden things.
          So here are some tips that make things a little easier for Android newbie's and those seeking for more tips.

#1                HOW TO SWITCH BETWEEN OPENED APPLICATIONS

When running an application, you can minimize it by simply tapping the Home icon. Getting back to it is not just one click on the task-bar like the way you do in Windows. But the Android way is pretty straight forward. Tap the Recent Apps icon to reveal the apps that you recently opened. (Note 2)
Slide down to see more recent apps.
Tap a screenshot from the list to instantly switch to the app.
NOTE 1: You can clear the recent apps from the list by swiping them sideways one by one.
NOTE 2: On Android 2.x, touch and hold the Home button to reveal recent apps.

 

 

# 2               HOW TO CLOSE RUNNING APPLICATION

The Android system doesn't need you to close a running app for every instance. But in some cases you may need to force stop an app that is misbehaving, or like playing a game, you may need to actually close the app in order to start a new level rather than continuing the last or in order to conserve battery. Here are the steps to follow:
-Run the Settings app and tap Apps under DEVICE.
-Select the app you want to close.
-Tap the 'Force stop' button and tap 'OK' to confirm. 

#3                HOW TO UNINSTALL/REMOVE AN APPLICATION

Installing apps from the Google Play store to your Android device is convenient, likewise removing them is pretty straight forward.
Tap the All Apps icon on the tray and select the Apps tab on the top.
Touch and hold the icon of the app you want to uninstall.
Drag and drop the app icon over the Uninstall icon then tap 'OK' to confirm. (The Uninstall icon appears only for the app that can be uninstalled from the system.)

Alternatively, you can run the Settings app, tap Apps under DEVICE then select the app you want to uninstall from the list.       

#4                    HOW TO RENAME AN APPLICATION

 Other than the apps on the tray, sometimes it's difficult to quickly look for an app to open if you have many icons spreading across a few home screens. Why not create a folder to group similar apps together? it is much easier.

Touch and hold any icon for a second.
Drag the icon over the top of another. The system then automatically groups two app icons in a folder.
Touch the folder, then tap n Unnamed Folder n key in a name for the folder and tap Done

You can rename a folder at any time—tap a folder then tap its name to rename.

While the system auto creates a folder for you, it does the same to removing a folder automatically—tap a folder to expand it, then clear all grouped items inside the folder—just touch and hold, then drag them out from the folder one by one.

Note: Older Android system doesn't support this feature, but you can rely on a third-party app such as GO Launcher EX to achieve almost the same effect. 

#5            HOW TO TYPE WITH MULTIPLE SPACES

Instead of typing a period at the end of each sentence and follow by a space, you can tap the space bar twice to get the same result.

#6                     HOW TO COPY AND PASTE

This looks simple but can be tricky sometimes when you use different apps. In general, these steps can be used in Email or some other apps: 

Double-tap or touch-and-hold to select a word.
Drag the handles to adjust the area if needed, then tap Cut or Copy.
Tap an insert point, and drag the handle to adjust it if needed.
Select Paste (Hint: tab the handle when the 'Paste' button doesn't appear).

Note: When working in a web browser such as Android's Browser, use touch-and-hold to select a word since n double-tap n has been used to enlarge or reduce a webpage

 

  

#7             HOW TO LOCK SCREEN ORIENTATION

The Android screen switches to either the portrait or landscape view in response to the way you hold the device when you run certain apps. What if I want to lock the screen orientation to one view so that the screen doesn't rotate to another? Easy.
Run the Settings app.
Tap Display under DEVICE.
Uncheck n Auto-rotate screen n

Your screen will then lock to the portrait mode. To unlock it, check the above option.


#8               HOW TO PRINT SCREEN

Where’s the PrintScreen button when you need to take a screen shot of your Android device? Instead of using one button, try a combination of two:
Press and hold down the Power and Volume-down buttons simultaneously.
Open the Gallery app, and you can see your screenshot already saved in the Screenshots album.

Note: Older Android system doesn't support this feature, but it has a more complicated way to take screenshots using Android SDK such as this without rooting the device.

#9            HOW TO SELECT WALLPAPER FOR YOUR ANDROID

You can easily select a wallpaper from a collection of a few in your system and set it as wallpaper for your a  your Home screens.
Touch and hold an empty location of a home screen.
Choose either Gallery, Live Wallpapers or Wallpapers from the pop-up menu.
Select an image and set it as wallpaper.

Alternatively, you can run the Settings app, then go to DEVICE>>> Display>>> Wallpaper, and continue with the step 2 above.

#10           HOW TO EDIT BOOKMARKS AND FOLDERS IN ANDROID'S BROWSER

Just like most browsers, the default Browser in Android allows you to add bookmarks and folders easily for getting to the websites fast when browsing.

Add a bookmark/folder
On the page you like to bookmark, tap the Menu button and select 'Save to bookmarks'.
Change the Label if needed.
Click 'OK' to save to Bookmarks, or select 'Add to' then 'Other folder', browse to a folder or add a new folder and tap 'OK'.

Remove a bookmark/folder
Tap the Tabs button , then the Bookmarks button .
Touch and hold a bookmark or a folder, then select 'Delete bookmark' or 'Delete folder' from the pop-up menu.
Press 'OK' to confirm.

Posted in: MOBILE TRICKZ