Android 4.3



Reformat a column while browsing



If you are browsing and have zoomed in or out and the column you're reading doesn't fit the screen properly, you can pinch to zoom in. Then double tap on the column. The column will then be reformatted to fit the screen width.

Encrypt your phone



If you're worried about your sensitive data falling into the wrong hands then Jelly Bean has a great new encryption feature that scrambles every pieces of content on your device.

Go to Settings - Security settings - Encrypt device or Encrypt external SD card.

Change Google Navigation voice



If you prefer a different voice when listening to the Google Maps voice navigation, you can select another language or accent.

From the Homescreen press Menu - Settings - Language and input - Text-to-speech options. Then under the Preferred TTS engine, press the gear icon.

From there, select Language and you will be able to choose from different languages or language variations.

Remove homescreen widgets



To delete or remove homescreen widgets, simply press and hold. Then drag the widget to the top-right corner of the screen and into the Trash icon.

 

Avoid task killers



It is best to avoid task killers such as Advanced Task Killer. Android is designed to automatically pre-load certain applications, even if you don't load them yourself. If it starts to run low on memory, it will smartly unload the oldest running apps automatically.

Manually killing tasks will only mean they get loaded in memory again. Task killers can make the phone slow, laggy, or drain battery life more quickly.


How to import Contacts from your old phone



If you already have an Android phone, then simply ensure each of your old Contacts are stored on Google (rather than the Phone memory). This means your contacts are stored on Google's servers under your Google/Gmail login. Then once you get the new phone, log in with your Gmail account and your Contacts will be automatically synced.

If you do not have an Android device, you need to find a way to Export your old contacts to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and save this to a PC. You may need to install the correct software for your phone first in order to do the export.

Then, if you don't have a Gmail account, sign up for one.

Once that's done, open Gmail. Go to Contacts, then press More - Import. Then import the CSV to your Gmail contacts.

Then on your phone, open the Contacts App. Press Menu and then Sync Contacts. This will pull the contacts from Gmail to your phone.


Make volume / music louder



WARNING: Making your volume or music louder can damage your hearing.

Most phones have their volumes limited by local laws to protect our hearing. There is a way to boost your volume however. Go to the Android Market and download an App called Volume+ (Sound Boost). There is also a free version called Volume+ Free.

You will need to root your phone for this App to work.

Setting up and Access Point Name (APN) for browsing with 3G



Normally you can simply insert a SIM card and you will be able to browse the internet using 3G. Sometimes, this must be setup manually however. Before you start, you will need to ask your carrier or Telco for your APN settings.

Once you have those, from your homescreen press Menu - Settings - More networks - Mobile networks - Access Point Names.

From here press the Menu key again (bottom left corner) and select New APN. Then fill in the details your carrier gave you. Then press the menu icon again and press Save.

Display Owner Info on Lock Screen



Android now has a way to display your name, phone or email on your lock screen. Perfect if you have lost or misplaced your device.

To enable this go to Settings - Lock screen - Lock screen widgets. Then at the bottom press Owner information. Here you can enter any information you want, such as your name or email address.

Create folders in your Quick Launch bar



If you have used up all of your Quick Launch spaces, then there is a trick.

Once it is full, press and drag an App from the homescreen and move it over the top of an App in the Quick Launch area. Then release your finger. This will create a folder containing the original App plus the new one. This is a great way to have access to regularly used Apps.

Take photos while recording video



With the latest version of Android you can now take photos while recording video by simply pressing the screen.

This will save that particular frame to the gallery while continuing to record video.

Use Offline Speech to Text Dictation



The Speech to Text feature is a great tool for dictating speech on to your phone, but has normally only been possible when your phone is connected to the internet.

Now this is possible in Offline mode too. Simply go to Settings - Language & input - Voice Search. Then choose Download offline speech recognition.

You can now use this feature without needing an internet connection.

Speed up your phone



To speed up your phone, you can turn off screen animations. Go to Settings - Developer options.

Then scroll down to Window animation scale and select that. From here you can choose to turn Animations Off. This will make screen transitions faster.

Note: Developer Options is not enabled by default. To enable, go to Settings - About Device. Then tap on Build number 7 times.

Speed up your browser



You can speed up the page load speed on your browser by disabling JavaScript.

To do this, open your Browser, then Menu - Settings - Content Settings. Scroll down and untick Enable JavaScript

Please note that this may affect the functionality of some sites.

Set voicemail number / password



To set your voicemail number which allows your phone to automatically input your voicemail password, then open your Dialler App.

Then press the Menu key and choose Call settings. Then scroll down to Voicemail settings and set a Voicemail number (you might need to check with your carrier for the correct number).

Depending on your carrier you may have to enter the series of steps required to go through the voicemail menu, for example: *86,,yourpassword# (a comma inserts a pause).

Change quick response texts



The phone has the ability to send quick response text messages if your phone is ringing but you can't answer it.

To change these, go to your Dialler App - Call Settings - Set up call reject messages. You can then add or edit your reject messages.

Delete all contacts



There are a number of ways, as below. The first two of these may be disabled on some networks/carriers or Android versions however.

1) Go to Settings - Applications - Manage Applications. Then chose All at the top. Then scroll down to Contacts Storage - Clear Data.

2) Go to Contacts. Then press Menu - Delete. Then press Select all (at the top) and then Delete again.

3) Go to Settings - Accounts and sync. Then untick Background data and Auto-sync. Then go to Gmail (or an account that your phone syncs with) and delete all of your Contacts from there. Then re-sync your phone.

4) Download an App called 'Delete All Contacts' and use that as a last resort.

These methods above will delete contacts from the phone only, not the SIM card.

Stop Apps automatically appearing on homescreen



Normally when Apps are installed, an icon is automatically placed on your homescreens.

This can be annoying for users who want to keep their homescreens clutter-free.

To stop then, go to Google Play - Menu Key - Settings. Then untick Auto-add Widgets.

Bookmark a contact on your homescreen



To bookmark a contact on your homescreen, long press on the home screen background and select Shortcuts. Then select Direct dial.

If you call someone regularly this can be useful as you will have a shortcut to them handily placed on your homescreen.



Fix blurry images in phone browser / carrier compression



When browsing on your phone you may notice images are quite blurry. This is because your telecom provider is compressing the images before they are downloaded on to your phone.

There is no way to prevent this, but if you have a WiFi connection nearby, then you can turn that on. This will mean that all browser downloads come through the WiFi connection, rather than the carrier, and your images will appear normally.

Use blocking mode when asleep



If you find yourself woken up by notifications, text messages or incoming calls, then there is a handy feature called Blocking mode.

To enable this go to Settings - Blocking mode. From here you can set a From and To time in which to block these notifications.

You can also allow notifications through from certain contacts that you don't mind bothering you.

Blink for face unlock



Jelly Bean has improved the facial unlock feature by creating a setting whereby you must blink when unlocking your phone. This prevents fraudsters using a photo of yourself and holding it up to the phone.

To activate this feature go to Settings - Lock screen - Screen lock - Face unlock. Then setup your facial unlocking.

Then once that is done, go to Face unlock again and tick Presence check.

Save a word to the dictionary



Type a word that is not in the dictionary. The word will show up in the suggestion box to the left. Long press on the word and it will save to the dictionary.

Android Easter egg



There is a hidden Easter egg on the phone. If you go to your Homescreen, then press Menu - Settings - About device, then tap on the Android version option 5 times you will be surprised.


Once you see something on the screen, you can then rub the screen with your finger to produce another surprise.

By the way don't expect to see an actual Easter Egg. That is just the name given to things hidden inside software or operating systems.


Copy files between your phone and PC using WiFi



To copy files between your phone and PC, go to the Android Play Market and download an app called Air Droid.

This is an extremely useful App that connects your phone to your PC wirelessly, allowing you to move files and many, many other things.

Use dual shot mode



A great new feature is dual shot which lets you take a picture of someone else with the rear camera, while simultaneously taking a picture of yourself with the front facing camera. The problem is this feature isn't obvious to find as it isn't included in the list of camera Modes.

To find it open your Camera App and you will see three icons in the top right corner. Dual shot is the middle icon of these. Press that and you both cameras will activate allowing you to shoot away.

Hard reset / factory reset



Warning: This will remove ALL data on the phone (but not the MicroSD card).

To perform a hard reset, or factory reset, then there are a number of methods to try:

1) From the home screen, press Menu - Backup and reset - Factory data reset - Reset phone. It may ask for a password. Then select Erase everything

If the phone is totally unresponsive, even after a reboot, then try the following methods.

2) While the phone is turned off, press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons together. Then, while holding these, press and release the Power button (keep holding the volume buttons). The phone should turn on and a menu will appear. Press the Volume down button to navigate to the Recovery option. Press the Volume Up to select (if that doesn't work, use the Power button to select). A yellow triangle and an Android logo will appear. Press the Volume Down and Volume Up button together and a recovery menu should appear. Use the Volume buttons to move to the Wipe data/Factory reset option and then press Power to select. Again, use the Volume Down key to choose Yes and press the Power button again to select.

3) While the phone is turned off, press and hold the Volume Down button. Then, while holding, press and release the Power button. A menu should appear. Use the Volume down key to go to Clear Storage. Use the Power button to select the option. Then when asked to confirm, press Volume Up for Yes.

4) While the phone is off, press and hold down Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time. Then release the buttons when you see the Logo. Use the Volume Down button to go down and the Home or Power key to select. Choose the Wipe data/Factory reset option. Then Select Yes to delete all user data. Then choose to reboot the phone.

5) A final method is to enter the code into your phone's dialler: *2767*3855# This method will not give you an option to reverse the process, so be careful! This method will only work if you can boot into your phone.

Add widget to the homescreen



To add a widget, simply long press on a blank part of one of your homescreens. Then select Widget. Scroll through the list of available widgets and choose one. It will be placed on your homescreen and you can move it around as you desire.


Improve Face Unlock speed and accuracy



Face Unlock allows you to unlock your phone by holding it up to your face. It is highly recommended to use the Improve Face Unlock feature to make the recognition faster and more accurate.

First, ensure you have Face Unlock enabled. Menu - Settings - Lock screen. Then chose Screen lock Face Unlock.

Once that is done go to Menu - Settings - Lock screen - Improve facial recognition. You might have to do this a few times to improve the speed of recognition. It is also a good idea to position the phone at different angles to your head to improve the accuracy.




Change keyboards



To change keyboards (if you have additional keyboards installed), you can switch between them by pressing the small keyboard symbol in the top left of your screen. You will need to be in keyboard input mode (i.e. typing something) for this to work.

Note: you need to have more than one keyboard installed for this to work.


Reject certain calls



If you find yourself being stalked or receiving unwanted calls nuisance calls from people or companies then you should use the Call rejection mode.

Simply go to Settings - Call - Call rejection. From here you can manage your rejection list of numbers.


Access the scientific calculator



To access the scientific calculator, rotate the phone to landscape mode.

The calculator will change to a scientific one.


Separate your notifications from your ringtone



If you want to receive calls during the night, but don't want to be woken up by notifications like text messages, then you can turn notifications to silent.

Go to Settings - Sounds. Then change notifications to silent.

Another great option is to download an App called Profile Valet. This will help you switch profiles automatically based on the time of day or location. Perfect for when you have a regular work routine and don't want to have to worry about switching profiles several times a day.


Swipe right to dial contact



From the Contact list or the Messaging list, swipe from Left to Right to call a Contact.

This might not work on all models.


Remove numbers from the call log



To remove numbers from the call log that you don't want anyone seeing, then open your Call Log.

This will normally be found on your Apps list or you can also go to your Dialler and find Logs or Call Logs.

Then press and hold on the contact you want to remove. When the Menu appears, press Delete.


Show browser history



To show the Browser History, open your Android stock browser (the default browser). Then press the Menu key (bottom left) and select History.

To clear history, press the Menu key again and select Clear History.


Use Swype for quick text entry



Most Android devices come with an alternative way of entering text called Swype. Many prefer this method and believe it is quicker.
When any text entry box appears, press and hold the box. Then select Input method: SWYPE. Once enabled, you simply drag your finger around the keyboard moving over the letters in the correct order to spell a word.


Turn on / off text message preview on homescreen



If you would to see a preview of text messages appear on your homescreen or lock screen as they come in, then to into the standard Messaging App. Then go to Settings - Notification settings - Preview message


How to fix homescreen lag / slowness



Depending on how your phone is set up, sometimes you will see lag when swiping between homescreens. There are a number of things you can try to fix this, as follows:

First, try restarting your phone. This will fix many problems.

If that doesn't work, then remove any Widgets that pull data to the phone, such as Twitter, Weather widgets etc

If you have Live wallpapers turned on, then try turning them off by going to Settings - Wallpapers, then changing to a different Wallpaper.

Go to Settings - Developer Options - Window Animation Scale and Transition Animation Scale. Try changing these to 0.5x (or even 0).

Sometimes the problem can be with the phone or operators skin or launcher, so try going to the Play Store and downloading a third party launcher such as Nova launcher or Go LauncherEx. Note: you will need to re-create your homescreen shortcuts, but they are both great launchers.

Another tip is to always press the Back key instead of the Home key when leaving Apps. The Back key will often close the App properly, while the Home key will leave it running in the background.




Double tap to highlight a word



When entering text into Apps such as your Messaging App, Facebook App and so on, you can tap on the words to start selecting text. Normally, you would then drag the left and right sliders to select the word, or words you want to highlight.

If you double tap on a word however, it will quickly select that word. Very handy for quickly copying and one words, name or place.


Quickly close Apps



To quickly close Apps, press the Home key

This will display your currently running Apps. From here you can simply swipe the Apps off the screen by dragging your finger left or right. This is a very quick way to free up some memory.


Quickly access notifications from lock screen



To see notifications on your homescreen, the best option is to download an App called NoLed from the Play Store. This will show notifications such as text messages, emails and missed calls as bright icons on your homescreen.

You can choose between very small squares or small icons and these can assigned by coloured.


Pair with Bluetooth speakers or headset



From the homescreen, press Menu - Settings - Bluetooth. .

Check that Bluetooth is enabled and it will start to Scan devices. Choose the desired device and press Accept. You may be asked to enter a PIN or Password.


Change the backlight screen timeout



To change the backlight screen timeout, go to Settings - Display - Screen timeout. Then choose the screen time out duration.

You can also tell the phone screen to always stay lit when it is plugged in via USB. Go to Settings - Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.

Note: Developer Options is not enabled by default. To enable, go to Settings - About Device. Then tap on Build number 7 times.


Swipe left to text contact



While viewing your list of Contacts you can swipe from Right to Left to send a text message to the selected contact.

This might not work on all models.


Quickly switch between App screens



This tip is relatively obvious, but some users overlook it.

Once you go into your Apps screen you should see a row of 5 dots. This indicates which of the 5 App screens you are on. Rather than flick between each screen, you can simply press one of the dots and you will jump to that homescreen.

Or alternatively, slide your finger across the dots to move between screens.


Use equaliser in your Music App



Jellybean now comes with an Equaliser so you can adjust your bass and treble.

Simply open a music file using the Music Player App. Then go to Settings - SoundAlive and select Custom.

Then simply drag the sliders up and down to adjust the bass and treble.


Useful widget to close all running Apps



Your phone comes with a handy widget which lets you kill all running tasks. This is great if you want to quickly free up some memory.

To use the widget, press and hold for 2 seconds on a blank part of any homescreen. Then find the Active Applications widget and install it.

Once that is done, press the widget and it will show you all currently running Apps. Press End all to close all running Apps.


Make your phone run faster



Here are the top 5 tips to make your phone run faster:

1) Use only essential widgets on your homescreen - each widget consumes memory and processing power which can slow your down your phone.

2) Uninstall apps that you don't use - after awhile your phone can get cluttered as some Apps are designed to always run in the background. If you rarely use an App, then uninstall it to free up memory and CPU resource.

3) Install Apps to your phone memory - if you have an SDCard, always install Apps to the phone memory, which can be accessed faster. If you have Apps on the SDCard, then move them back to the phone memory with an App called Move2SD available from the Play Market.

4) Use Static rather than Live wallpapers - Live wallpapers consume processing power and memory. Unless you really must have them, uninstall them.

5) Kill tasks occasionally - Some Apps will run in the background indefinitely unless you kill them. Most of them won't cause a problem, but it pays to check your running tasks from time to time. Hold down your Home key and check the Task Manager.

One last thing: Don't use Task Killers. Android manages tasks very well and Task Killers just make your phone unstable and can slow it down further.




Enable / disable vibrate / haptic feedback when you type



From the Homescreen press Menu - Settings - Sound.

From here you have various options including Haptic feedback, Vibration intensity and so on.

You can also adjust notifications for various functions.


Enable auto App updates



Android has a feature allowing you to update Applications automatically. This is turned off by default, but you can turn it on.

Open the Android market, then Menu - My Apps.

Then you need to open up each installed App, then press the Menu key again and tick or untick Auto-update

Unfortunately you do need to do this for each App.


Customise your favourites tray



At the bottom of each homescreen is your favourites tray, which consists of 5 icons. You can customise it by adding icons to the tray. If it's full however, you will first need to remove some.

To remove an icon, simply press and hold an icon. Then drag it to your desktop.

Then to add a new one, simply drag an icon from your homescreen to the favourites tray.


End a phone call by pressing the Power button



Rather than having to locate the hang up icon on the screen after each call, you can quickly end a call by pressing the Power button.

To enable this, go to Settings - Accessibility - Answering/ending calls. Then tick The power button ends calls.


Resize homescreen widgets



If you want to resize your homescreen widgets, then press and hold on a widget for 2 seconds. If the widget is resizable, then an outline will appear around the widget. Simply drag the sides to resize the widget.

If the outline doesn't appear or you can't drag the lines, then the widget is a fixed sized widget.


Create shortcut to websites on your home screen



If you want to have quick access to some websites on your homescreen, then there are a couple of ways to do this.

First, browse to a site you want a shortcut created for. Then press the Menu button - Add shortcut. The shortcut will then be placed on your homescreen for you to move where you want.

Another way is to create a bookmark first. So go to the website, then press the Menu button - Add bookmark. Then press the Bookmarks icon (in the top right) and find the bookmark you have just created. Long press on it and select Add shortcut.


Create home screen shortcut to a file or folder



Normally you don't have the ability to create shortcuts to files or folders on your home screen.

There is a workaround however. Go to the Play Store and download an App called Linda File Manager.

Once installed, browse to a file or folder. Then press and hold on the file and select Create shortcut.

The shortcut will be created on your homescreen where you can hold and drag it elsewhere if you want.


Disable the screen lock



If you don't want to have to unlock your screen every time you take your device out of standby then go to Settings - Lock screen - Screen lock and change the settings there.


Add Apps into Folders



If you like your Apps neatly sorted into folders, then there is a simple way to accomplish this.

First find the first App you would like in a folder. Then choose a second App. Press and hold on the second App and drag it over the top of the first App. They will both combine into a folder.

You can repeat this process to add more.


Silence the phone when ringing



To silence the phone when ringing there are two methods:

Either press the Volume Down (or Up) button or if the phone is on a surface facing up, simply flip it over so it is facing down.




Take a screenshot



To take a screen shot, hold down the Volume Down and Power Buttons together (i.e. exactly the same time).

This will save the current screen to your phone's memory card. They will be stored in the folder /Device Storage/Pictures/Screenshots. You can get to this folder by going to your My Files App.


Add photos to contacts



First open your Contacts App and select a contact. Then press the phone's Menu button and select Edit.

Then you should see a silhouette of a person. Press this, or a little + sign next to it and you will be given a number of options to create a photo or image for that contact.


Change your default font



To change your default font, go to Settings - Display - Font style. You can also change the font size here also.

Another option is to install the popular Go Launcher EX App. Then once this is installed, download their GoLauncher Fonts App.


List of Google Now commands



General
Search for
Who invented
Show me the stocks for
Author of
How old is
How tall is

Time & Date
What time is it in
When is the in
When is the sunset in
What is the time zone of
Time at home

Weather
Show me the weather
Is it going to rain tomorrow?
Do I need an umbrella?
Do I need a jacket
What is the weather in
How is the weather on going to be?

Maps / Location
Map of
Show me the nearby on map
Where is situated?
in
Navigate to on car
I am hungry (shows all nearby food points on map)
How far is from

Calculations / Conversions
How much is times
What is percent of
Square root of
... equals
What is the numerical value of Pi
Convert into
Temperature of the sun

Sports
points table
Who won the last match between and
scorecard
Schedule of games


Websites
Go to
Open
Show me
Browse to

Entertainment
Listen to
Play
YouTube When was the first episode of


Hide folders or files



If you want to hide folders or files from being index or displayed, simple put a . (full top / period) before the file or folder name.


Check the firmware version



From your Homescreen press Menu - Settings - About device.

This should list your Android version, Build number and Model Number


Enable sideload of Apps



If you want to install Apps outside of the Android Market (called sideloading), then go to Settings - Security - Unknown sources.

Note: use at your own risk.


Have more control over your notification light



If you are not happy with your notification light, then you can change and tweak it. Go to the Android Market and download an App called Lightflow.

You might need to enable the notification light before the App works. Go to Settings - Display. Then check Pulse notification.


Hide on-screen keyboard



To quickly hide the on-screen keyboard, press the Back button


Find Developer Options



On more recent versions of Android, the developer options have been hidden. To enable these, go to Settings - About Phone. Then go to the bottom and you should see Build Number. This needs to be pressed a total of seven times. You should get a message at the fourth press. On the seventh, you'll get another message saying that Developer Options are unlocked.

To find them, go back to Settings and they should be on the list of options.




Turn off camera shutter sound



If you don't want to hear the shutter sound when you take photos, then there are a few things you can try.

Firstly, some countries have laws to force the phone to play these sounds. Assuming you're not in one of these countries, then the first thing you can try is to go to the Camera App - Settings - Shutter Sound - Off.

If that doesn't work, then you can try turning the volume of the phone down or put it in silent mode when taking photos.

The last option is to Root your phone. If you don't know what that means, then it's best not to attempt it unless you have thoroughly read about the process. Once Rooted, go to this folder on your phone: /system/media/audio/ui and rename the camerashutter and/or cameraclick OGG files to something else.

Alternatively, on a rooted phone you can use a Root Browser, to edit /system/csc/feature.xml and set the option to TRUE. Then you should be able to go to Camera App - Settings - Shutter Sound - Off.


How to change keyboards



While the stock standard keyboard is fine, there are much better keyboards available. First, you need to go to the Android Market and download one. Try searching for the word 'keyboard' and you will see a number of options.

One of the best keyboards is a keyboard called Swiftkey, which is a top-rate App.

Download your chosen keyboard and go through any install steps that you are presented with.

Then, go to the App you want to type in. You should now see a little Keyboard icon on the row at the bottom of your screen, towards the bottom-right corner. Press that icon and you can switch between all of the keyboards you have installed.


Browse websites in privacy / incognito mode



The stock Android browser does not have a privacy or incognito mode, so the best solution is to download Google's Chrome browser for Android from the Play store. Then open Chrome and go to Settings - New incognito tab.

Another option is to use the popular Dolphin browser whenever you want to browse privately. Then each time you exit, Dolphin asks you whether you want to delete your Cache or History. If you select yes, then your activity will be untraceable.


Increase security with a custom unlock pattern



Instead of the simple swipe gesture to unlock your phone, you can set a custom one which can be extremely difficult for a thief to guess.

From your homescreen, go to Menu - Settings - Lock screen. Then chose Screen lock and choose Pattern.

It is also a good idea to untick Use visible pattern. Then if someone is watching over your shoulder while you entering your pattern, it will be harder for them to remember the pattern.

If you have forgotten your unlock pattern, then after 5 unsuccessful tries a button will appear saying 'Forgot pattern'. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password. The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern. If you don't have a Gmail account, then you will have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.


Enter Accents and special characters



If you want to type non-English letters (e.g. those with an accent), long-press on the relevant letter. A list of options will appear for you to select. For example, to insert an acute รก, then press and hold the a key, then drag your finger to the accented character.


How to close Apps



Android manages Apps very well and some Apps do not have the option to close them specifically. Normally the App will stay running in the background and only close when many other Apps have been opened.

If you do want to close or terminate an App, then press and hold the Home key on your phone. Then you can swipe the Apps off the screen to close them.


Manually close an application



Android manages your applications so if the phone is running low on memory, it will close the oldest running App.

If you do need to manually close an application go to Settings - Applications - Manage Applications - Running. Choose the application you want to stop and select Force Stop.


Quickly open settings



If you want to go to settings, then normally you would go to your home screen, then press the Menu key and select Settings.

There is however a quicker way of getting to your Settings. Simply drag your notification bar down from the top of the screen and press the Gear icon. It should be the second right icon in the top right corner.


Swipe to clear individual notifications



A handy feature of Android is to quickly clear your notifications.

Simply pull down your notifications bar by swiping your finger from the top of your phone downwards.

Then when you see each individual notification, swipe your finger left or right to clear each one. You can do this with your Apps too - press and hold the home button. Then swipe left or right to close Apps.

Enable Flash player



If your browser does not play Flash items while browsing websites then you may need to enable Flash in the settings.

To do this, open the standard browser. Go to Settings - Advanced - Enable plug-ins. Then select Always On.




Turn off WiFi while the phone is sleeping



If you want to conserve battery life, you can turn off the WiFi while the phone is asleep.

Go to Settings - WiFi. Then press the Menu key and press Settings - Advanced.

Then untick Keep WiFi on during sleep.


Change vibration intensity



If you find the vibration of your phone a little too much, this can easily be reduced.

From the homescreen press Menu - Settings - Sound - Vibration intensity. Then slide the bars left or right to change the intensity for various features.

You can also turn off Haptic feedback if you really don't want any feedback.


Store number from email



To store a phone number that you have received in an email, hold down on the number and you will be given the option to call, send an SMS or add the number to your contacts


Remove large applications



If you are running low on phone memory, you can look for your largest applications to uninstall.

Go to Settings - Application manager. Then swipe from right to left and select Running.

From here you can see which applications are taking up the most memory and close them.


Lock screen while watching videos



To lock your screen while you are watching videos, simply press the power button.

This will disable the touchscreen buttons while the video is playing, but it won't turn the screen off like the lock key normally does.

Note, this will only work on video files that you are playing that are stored on your phone. It won't work for videos played within websites, such as YouTube videos.


Setup a new email account



If you want to setup new email accounts, like Yahoo or Hotmail, go to your Homescreen and press the Home key. This will take you to your list of Apps.

Form here, choose the Email icon. A setup wizard will then be launched.

Enter you email address and password into the fields. You can also change the settings after this step.

Once you're happy with the settings, give your account a Name and you're done.


Pinch and zoom in emails



While in your email App, a handy trick is to pinch and zoom out to see a 'day view' of your emails. This is handy if you have a lot of emails and want to quickly sort them by recency.


Improve the keyboard accuracy



There is no need to be stuck with the standard Android keyboard.

Go to the Android Market and search for 'Keyboard' to see some great alternatives, many of which are more accurate and make typing much easier.

One of the very best is Swiftkey. They provide a free trial, but once the trial is over it is well worth the small amount of money they charge. It can increase your typing rates massively.

Another good one is GoKeyboard.

If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.


How to add more Homescreens



Most Android phones only come with a fixed amount of homescreens. There is a way to add more however.

Go to Android Play Market and search for 'launcher'. These are third-party user interfaces that allow you to customize your phone in many ways. Most of them allow multiple homescreens.

A very popular launcher which supports multiple homescreens is GoLauncher EX.


Set / change wallpaper



To change the homescreen or lock screen wallpaper, press on a blank part of the homescreen. Next, choose Wallpapers. Then choose Live (animated / moving wallpapers) or standard wallpapers (images) and choose whether you want the wallpaper on the homescreen or the lock screen. Then crop the wallpaper and press Ok in the top-right corner.

You can also use images Gallery images taken with the phone's camera for your wallpaper.




Check available RAM



If you want to check how much RAM you have available, go to Settings - Application Manager. Then swipe from right to left so you see the Running Apps. At the bottom it should say how much is used and how much is free.


Use Talkback accessibility feature



Jelly Bean has an interesting new feature called Talkback which is designed for blind and low vision users.

The feature is an interesting way to navigate your phone however.

Simply go to Settings - Accessibility - Talkback to activate it. Then your phone will give you an ongoing narration of its various functions.


Double tap for a full stop (period)



While typing emails or notes, you can simply tap the space key twice and the phone will insert a full stop / period


Check phone status, battery usage, signal strength etc



To find out information about Signal Strength, Network Information, Remaining Battery Time and Battery Usage (by Application), go to your Homescreen - Menu - Settings - About Device - Status.


How to find your IMEI address / number



There are a number of ways to get your IMEI number.

First, the easiest option is to look at the label of the box that your phone came in.

Secondly, if your phone has a removable battery then open the cover and remove the battery. Your IMEI should be on a serial number plate and your IMEI number should be shown there.

Thirdly, from the Dialler, enter *#06# and it should be displayed on the screen. This won't work on all phones and all networks however.

Lastly, you can go to Settings - About Phone - Status.


Stop Photos or Music files being indexed



To stop the Photo App or the Music player from indexing your files, place a blank text file called .nomedia in the folder containing your photos or music


View HTML source code of web pages



If you are browsing a website and want to see the HTML source code behind the page, then Android doesn't offer you the ability to do this by default.

There is however a handy App called View Web Source which can be installed. Whenever you want to view the HTML of a web page, you just press the Menu - Share - View Web Source.

You can then browse the code or copy the content into the clipboard.


Using Google Maps for offline viewing while abroad and data avoid roaming charges



If you are abroad and don't want to pay high data roaming charges, then you can save Google Maps for offline viewing later. Here are two ways to do this:

The first method will depend whether your phone supports it. First, open Google Maps and navigate to a section of the map that you want available offline. Then press on the search bar and scroll right to the bottom and select Make this map area available offline. You may need to repeat this with multiple areas.

Alternatively, open Google Maps and zoom down to street level. Then scroll around area you'll be travelling too. If you're visiting a city for example, do this at street level and cover as much area as you think you've be visiting. If you're travelling outside a city, then street level view might be too detailed, so zoom out and just cover the main roads, towns etc.

This will load all the segments into your phone's cache. Then when have arrived at your destination and you have data turned off, you will see the areas you've stored on the phone's memory.

Note: this won't give you your GPS location because that normally needs a data connection to pinpoint your position.


How to find your MAC address



If you want to find your phone's WiFi MAC address (for improved WiFi security), then from the Home screen, go to Menu - Settings - About Phone - Status.

Then scroll down until you see WiFi MAC Address. The address should be a series of Hex numbers and letters.


Install new keyboard to improve accuracy



The standard Android keyboard is good, but not great. There are many third party keyboards available which will improve your typing speed and accuracy.

Go to the Android Market and search for 'Keyboard' to see some great alternatives, many of which are more accurate and make typing much easier.
A good one is GoKeyboard.

If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.


Copying iTunes songs to Android



If you have decided to ditch your iPhone in favour of Android, then there is a simple way to take your iTunes music, playlists and album art with you.

Simply go the Android Marketplace and download a Free App called Easy Phone Tunes. You will also need the computer version of the software, so go to http://easyphonetunes.com and download it from there.

Then, when that is done, turn your phone into a USB storage device (this will vary from device to device, but instructions are on the website).

Once your device is connected to your computer, open the computer version of the software and select your device from the Easy Phone Tunes list. Then follow the instructions to Sync your media.


Check your data usage



Smartphones that are always connected to the internet are great, but if you have a data plan that is capped each month, then you will want to keep an eye on how much data you are downloading. Fortunately there is a built in feature to monitor this.

Go to Settings - Data usage. From here you can set a limit and set the usage cycle (eg a from and to date).

If you press the Menu button on this screen you will also see a number of features such as restrict background data usage (although this will prevent some Apps from working).


Change your Contact list order



In Contacts press Menu - Settings - Sort list by. Then choose Given name or Family name.


Allow swear words in voice recognition



By default, the phone will recognise swear words, but insert x's instead of the word. To change this, go to Settings - Voice input & output - Voice recognition settings. Then untick Block offensive words.


Move widgets between homescreens



If you want to move a widget from one homescreen to another, simply press and hold on the widget. Then drag it to the edge of the screen. The next homescreen will appear. Then, just drag the item to where you would like.


Enable / disable notification light



To enable / disable your notification light, go to Settings - LED indicator.

From here you can choose various options.

This may not be available on all models. An alternative however is to download NoLED from the Play Store, which has many options for incoming notifications.


Enable Power Saving mode



If you tend to run out of battery power quickly, then you can turn on power saving mode.

Pull down the notification screen by swiping your finger from the top of the phone. Then select Power Saving.

To change the settings, go to the Homescreen - Settings - Power saving mode. Then press on that option.


Use PIN instead of Face Unlock



If you use the Face Unlock feature but you're in a dark room or wearing a hat and scarf, you can bypass the unlock just once.

Simply press the Lock icon on your screen and you can then enter your PIN instead.


Quickly search for a contact



There are a couple of ways to bring up one of your contacts.

First, while in your Contacts App, simply start typing in the search bar at the top of the screen.

Or else a quicker method is to use the Goole Search widget (installed by long pressing on a vacant part of your homescreen and installing the widget) and start typing the name of the contact you want to dial. This will quickly filter the correct contact.


Help, I have forgotten my unlock pattern



If you have forgotten your custom unlock pattern, then don't panic.

After 5 unsuccessful tries a button should appear saying 'Forgot pattern'. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password.

The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern. If you don't have a Gmail account, then you might have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.




Clear browser cache and cookies



If you have been browsing websites that you would prefer other people to not know about, then it's relatively simply to clear your browsing history.

Open the browser and press the Menu button. Then Settings - Privacy - Delete personal data.

From here you can select whether to clear the cache, cookies, passwords and more.


Quickly switch between Month and Year view in the Calendar App



In the Calendar App there is no Year view along the top of the App. You can however use pinch to zoom gestures to zoom in and out of Month and Year view however.

This is useful if you want to quickly jump backwards or forwards through a few months at a time.


Enable Face Unlock



To enable Face Unlock, go into Settings - Lock screen - Screen lock.

Then select Face unlock. From here you will be required to look at the phone via the front facing camera. It is usually better to do this during the day when the lighting is better, although the phone will guide you through the process.


Copy photos to your PC



To copy photos to your computer, plug the device in via a USB cable. (you might have to install your device's software or drivers first).

Then locate the new drive on your PC. Go to the /DCIM/Camera/ folder Your photos will be stored there.

This may vary slightly between devices, however once you have opened the device's drive, you can do a quick search for .jpg files which will show you where your photos are located.


Bookmark a web page on your homescreen



If you regularly visit a website you can add a shortcut to your homescreen. To do this, go into your browser and find the bookmark of the page you want to create a shortcut for. Long press on the bookmark and select Add Shortcut to Home


Save images in browser, email or text



To save an image in an email or in the browser, long press on the image and a menu will appear allowing you to save it.

For images inside text messages, you might have to press and hold on the message itself, rather than the image.


Remove a whole text message conversation



If you want to remove an entire text message thread, go into Messages and look for the thread. Then long press on it and select Delete thread


Use phone as a WiFi hotspot / USB / Bluetooth tethering



To use your phone as a WiFi hotspot, tether it via USB or via Bluetooth, then go to Settings - More networks - Tethering And Portable Hotspot.

You can then choose from three options:

1) USB - connect your phone via a USB cable. The phone should automatically configure the correct settings.

2) WiFi Hotspot - To turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot, press Configure WiFi hotspot. You will then be asked to enter a Network SSID (this is your own name for the WiFi hotspot). Then choose Security and lastly, choose a password (this is password for your WiFi hotspot which you will enter on your computer).

3) Bluetooth - With this option, you will need to pair a Bluetooth device with your phone. On the other device, ensure you search for Bluetooth devices and your phone should show up.


Share / upload videos to media services like Facebook or YouTube



To share or upload a video to services like Facebook or YouTube, simply go to your Video App and long press on a video.

Then select Share via. From here you will be given options to share the video with various services.


How to turn off predictive text



if you would prefer to correct your own mistakes, then go to Settings - Language and input. Then select the keyboard you are using and press the Settings icon again.

You should be able to find a predictive text option on this screen.




Soft reset



To soft reset your phone press and hold the Power/Lock button for around 8 to 10 seconds. The phone will restart automatically.

If that doesn't work, then remove the battery (if it has one). Wait 30 seconds and put the battery back in. Then press the Power/Lock button to turn the phone on.


Change the screen brightness



From the Homescreen press Menu - Settings - Display - Brightness. Then choose the desired brightness setting. You can also select Automatic brightness to let the phone decide for you.


Turn off App update notifications



If you would prefer not to be told every time an Application has been updated, open the Play Market - Menu - My Apps. Then Menu again. Then Settings.

Under General settings, untick the Notifications option.


Fix this player does not support this type of audio file error



There are a number of solutions to this error. Go through the following steps:

Go to Settings - Applications. Then swipe right to left to go to All (along the top). Then find the App called Media Storage. Click on that and select Force Close. Then select Clear Data. (warning: this will delete the cache for your media player so you may lose things such as recently played, most played etc. But you will not lose your music).

Next, go back to list of Apps and find Music Player. Again, press Force Close and then Clear Data.

Once that's done, go to the Play Store and download an App called Re Scan Media and run it. Wait 5 minutes for the device to re-scan your media.

If you still cannot play your music, then try turning your phone off and removing your SDCard / memory card (if you have one). Then turn the phone on without the card. Then turn it off again and reinsert the card. Finally turn it on again with the card back in.

If you still can't play music, then some users have said that there may be a conflict with the Twitter App. Try uninstalling this and see if the error persists.


Display Battery Percentage



It can be very useful to see your battery life in percentage terms instead of just the icon.

To enable this, go to Settings - Display and tick Display battery percentage.


Remove Google Search bar



If you want to remove the Google Search bar, then go to Settings - Application manager - All - Google search - Disable.


Auto focus the camera



When taking photos or videos, tap the screen where you want to focus on. The phone will automatically adjust the settings to improve the image or video


Turn on / off vibrate for text messages



To enable or disable the vibrate function when you receive text messages go to the standard Messaging App. Then go to Settings - Notification settings - Vibrate


Open web pages in a new tab



To open a web page in a new tab, find a link on a web page. Then press on it and then choose to open the site in a new tab.


Stop YouTube videos from being blurry



If you are browsing YouTube videos on your phone and they appear blurry, then this is usually because of your connection speed.

If you are using 3G / 4G and you're in an area of low signal strength, then YouTube will sometimes automatically reduce the quality of the video. Unfortunately this can make the video very pixelated and of poor quality.

If you are using the standard Android browser, then when the video is in full screen, press the back button. Then press HQ and start playing it again.

If you are using another browser, then press the Settings icon on the bottom right of the YouTube video. Then change the quality.

This may improve the quality, but it may also lead to buffering issues.

Another solution is to use a WiFi connection, if one is available.


Add email or phone number from text



To add an email or phone number to your contacts from a text message, you can long-press on the email / phone number. Then select Add to contacts


How to stop screen going bright or dim when in browser



The brightness of the browser is set separately to the phone's main brightness. If you find the screen dims or brightens when you go into your browser, then you can change this by opening the browser, pressing the Menu key and scrolling down until you see Brightness and colour. You can adjust it from here.

To adjust the phone's main brightness, go to the Homescreen, press Menu - Settings - Display - Brightness.

An alternative is to use a third party browser like Dolphin, Firefox, Opera and so on. These all use the phone's main brightness setting.

Lastly, sometimes Power Saving Mode affects the screen brightness. Go to Settings - Power Saving Mode and change the Background Colour Only mode in there. Power Saving Mode can be found by in the Notifications bar by swiping down from the top of the screen too.


Zoom when using the camera



While in the Camera App, there are two ways to zoom in or out.

First, you can use Volume Up and Down keys.

Secondly, you can pinch your fingers on the screen to zoom in and out.


How to remove Picasa albums from phone Gallery



Android cleverly uses Picasa to sync photos between your account and your phone. Sometimes however, this means that you will get duplicates appearing in your Gallery when they're not actually on your phone.

To stop this from happening, and so you only see photos on the Phone or SD card, then follow these steps:

Drag down your notification menu from the top and click on the Gear icon to bring up your Settings. Then select Accounts and Google. Then select your Gmail account.

You should see a list of options that are ticked. Scroll down to the one that refers to Picasa and untick that.

Now that's done we want to remove the thumbnails from your Gallery, so we need to refresh the Gallery. To do that, swipe down and go to Settings again. Then select More - Application Manager. Swipe across to show ALL Apps. Then find the Gallery App and press Clear Data.

This will erase the thumbnails in your Gallery, so don't panic that your photos have disappeared. Just wait for the Gallery to re-build its index which could take awhile.

But the good news is that your Picasa Albums shouldn't be there anymore.


How to unmount SD card



If you would like to unmount your SD card for whatever reason, then drag down your notificatons menu from the top of the screen and press the Settings icon.

Then go to the More tab - Storage - SD card - Unmount SD card