Services: Android

With Google Android, you can customize your screen’s look and feel, and you can even switch back and forth between work and weekend mode. Now, that’s way cool. Android Market gives you one-click access to a whole new world of cool apps.

With the latest Google apps built right in, you’ll be ready to connect to the world, right from the start. You can also make sure to check out http://www.m.google.com from the android browser to re-check which Google apps are available and download them straight from the page.

With Google Chrome Browser, Google is using it to teleport Web pages and files directly to the phone. With the latest Android OS release and a small app, Android users can zap anything from their Chrome browser to their phones in a blink.

On Android, there are apps and widgets. A widget is a tiny slice of an app that shows up on the phone’s home screen. This lets you experience a bit of the app without actually launching it. Take social networking, for example: On Android, you can browse the most recent posts in your feed without leaving the home screen, diving into the app only if you want to go deeper.

Android phones already keep their contacts, settings, and app choices synced and backed up on google cloud but remember that there are plenty of free apps available in the now over 100,000 app android Market built into the phone to back up other information.

 
Quick Links



 

Android Tips & Tricks



When the screen is off, you can double press the Menu button to bypass the Lock screen. Pressing the Menu button from the Lock screen will also wake the phone, if you don’t want to do the sweeping motion. This requires that the “Unlock pattern” option is disabled.

If your device is in silent mode, you can quickly turn the ringer on again by pressing the Volume up hardware button.

When using the on-screen keyboard, instead of hitting “.” then space for a new sentence, you can just double tap on the space bar and it will do a full stop, space, and then capitalize the next letter. This method is much quicker.

If you want to edit a text, like an SMS, and have a hard time getting to the correct spot by tapping on the screen, slide your finger in any direction over the trackball to get to the correct spot.

On the HTC Hero, you can also use the trackball to switch between your homescreens by swiping your finger across it.

In long lists, like your contacts or all the songs in your music collection, flick the screen to scroll down and then tap the gray scroll bar that appears to the right to quickly go to a certain letter in the list.

If you think it’s difficult to grab the just mentioned scroll bar, tap and hold it until the scroll bar unfolds, instead of catching it with a downward or upward motion. You can also simply touch it and drag the bar to the left.

Pressing the Menu button in All programs will let you switch from Grid mode to List mode.

To see the current date, just tap on the notification bar and it will be displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen.

Turning your device upside-down when you receive a call will mute the ringtone. Pressing the volume down button will have the same effect.

If you have your phone set to silent mode, pressing the volume down hardware button will activate vibrate mode. This trick may not apply to all Android models.

During a call, hold the hardware Call button to activate the speakers. You can also turn the speakerphone off and on during calls by pressing the Menu button.

The Search button on your device that looks like a little magnifying glass is very handy. It can be pressed almost anywhere to bring up a search function.
Hitting the Menu button on your device will almost always bring up a menu with options.

If you tap on a contact picture in the Messages or People / Contacts apps, a pop-up box will be displayed that offers quick links to certain actions: call, email, SMS, Google Talk, open contact, and find on map – depending on the data contained in the contact’s details. This tip also applies to the third-party messaging application Handcent SMS.

 

 

On Android phones with HTC Sense, you can pinch the screen to bring up an overview of all the different homescreens, in order to quickly switch between them. You may also press the Home key when you have the main (middle) screen selected to display the overview. If you press the Home button while on any of the other screens, you will jump back to the main screen.

This should be common knowledge, but when you set a new custom wallpaper for your homescreen, make sure to use the box to select the largest possible area of the image, or your wallpaper may look pixelated.

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