HOW TO USE YOUR ANDROID PHONE OR TABLET
HOW TO USE YOUR ANDROID PHONE OR TABLET This teaches you every basic step to using your android device From locking your screen to adding widgets. *In Partnership with GraniteNet Inc. This project has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through State Library Queensland. © 2012 GraniteNet Inc. OPAL DIGITAL LITERACY PROJECT A joint project between the Queensland Government, State Library Queensland & GraniteNet Inc. -1- INDEX Copyright &Disclaimer of Liability Page.3 References Page.4 Part.1: The Android Slide and Lock Screen Page.5 Part.2: The Android Buttons Page.7 Part.3: Home Screens Page.8 Part.4: The keyboard Page.10 Part.5: Voice Input Page.11 Part.6: Sharing In Android Page.13 Part.7: Using QR Codes and Barcodes in Android Page.15 Part.8: Text Messaging Page.17 Part.9: Notifications Page.19 Part.10: Understanding widgets Page.21 Part.11: Replace these devices with Apps on your phone or tablet Page.25 Part.12: Android System Updates Page.32 Part.13: Android Wallpapers and Live Wallpapers Page.35 Part.14: Android Security Page.37 Part.15: Android Memory Page.40 Part.16: Battery Settings Page. 43 Part.17: Backing up your Android Phone or Tablet Page.46 Part.18: How to use email and contacts on an android device Page.50 -2- Copyright &Disclaimer of Liability The information contained in this manual is distributed by GraniteNet Inc. as a guide or information source only. Various factors beyond the control of GraniteNet Inc. can affect the quality or accuracy of the information and products. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and completeness, no guarantee is given nor responsibility taken by GraniteNet Inc. for errors or omissions in this Manual. GraniteNet Inc. does not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred as a result of the use of, or reliance upon the information provided in this manual or incorporated into it by reference. On Line The GraniteNet Inc. Web Site http://www.granitenet.com.au provides links to other Internet sites. These external information sources are outside of GraniteNet Inc.’s control and it is the responsibility of Internet users to make their own decisions about the accuracy, reliability, suitability and correctness of information found. Copyright Copyright in this Manual is owned by GraniteNet Inc.and is protected by the Copyright Act 1968. You may use this Manual for the purpose of a guide or information source for the Opal Digital Literacy project. Other than for this specified purpose and for the purposes of and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act 1968 and similar statutes that apply in your jurisdiction, you may not, in any form or by any means: adapt, reproduced, store, distribute, transmit, print, display, publish or create derivative works from any part of this Manual; or commercialise any information, products or services obtained from any part of this Manual. Requests to use GraniteNet Inc.’s copyright material should be addressed to: GraniteNet Inc. 15 Hilton Street Stanthorpe, QLD, 4380 Tel: (07) 46814384 E-mail: [email protected] Any authorised reproduction however altered, reformatted or redisplayed must acknowledge the source of the information and that GraniteNet Inc. is the owner of copyright. -3- References Google Inc. – Guide to http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/the-slide-and-lock-screens/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/voice-input/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/the-buttons/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/home-screens/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/the-keyboard/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/notifications/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/text-messaging/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/qr-codes/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/using/sharing-in-android/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/memory// versions/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/advanced/android- http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/links/videos/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/apps/understanding-widgets/ websites/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/links/android- http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/security/ updates http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/system- http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/apps/apps-to-replace-your-devices/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/backups/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/battery-settings/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/configuring/wallpapers/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/advanced/tips-and-tricks/ forums/ http://www.howdoiuseandroid.com/links/android-internet- http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/3291268/how-to-use-email-and-contacts-on-an-android-device/ http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-image-editor-android.htm -4- Part.1 The Android Slide and Lock Screens The Slide screen The first thing you'll notice when you turn on your Android phone or tablet is the slide screen. It's designed to prevent you from accidently dialling someone (But dialling) or from running an App inadvertently. When the slide screen is activated, you can't get to any features of your phone except for the two sliders on the bottom left and right. The time and date do display, and you can see what's in the notification bar at the top, but you can't see any more than that without clearing the lock screen. To clear the Slide Screen, touch the lock icon on the bottom left, and then slides your finger over to the right edge of the screen. The slide screen will vanish after that. Then you'll be looking at your Home Screen or the Lock Screen. This is what my phone's lock screen looks like: -5- The Lock Screen The Lock Screen is what you see after your Android phone/tablet is powered on, or when you resume your device from standby mode. Changes in Android 4.0 The Android 4.0 lock screens now let users do more without unlocking. From the slide lock screen, users can jump directly to the camera for a picture, or pull down the notifications window to check for messages. When listening to music, users can even manage music tracks and see album art without unlocking the device completely. You can see the lock that chooses apps on the bottom of the screen in a circle: You'll definitely want a lock screen of some type to prevent someone from picking up your phone and getting access to your e-mail. Besides the PIN screen above, you can also choose from a pattern unlock (where you connect the dots in a certain order), an alphanumeric password, and face recognition in the latest phones with Android 4.0 (ICS). -6- Part.2 The Android Buttons The Android Buttons Every Android phone or tablet has three or four buttons that perform functions you often have to do. Which buttons you have depends on what type of device you have? There are two types of buttons - soft buttons that are part of the display screen, and hard buttons which are regular physical buttons. Four Buttons Most Android Phones have four buttons, but a few only have three. Here is a description of what they do: Context menu - This button is aware of when it's pressed, and brings up an appropriate menu list. Pressing it on the home screen allows you set phone settings. Pressing it when an App is running brings up the App's menu choices. Home - Takes you to the default Home screen. Back - Works like the escape key on a PC and moves you back to the previous screen you were on. Search - Opens a Google Search window. Some Apps allow themselves to be executed by this button instead of the default. Hard Buttons Here are the four hard buttons on my DroidX phone. Note that the order of the buttons can vary from device to device. That makes it confusing when you borrow someone else's Android phone. Soft Buttons Here are soft keys on the Nexus One phone. Instead of a "hard" physical button, these are part of the screen, and can appear and disappear as appropriate. You're just pressing the screen instead of an actual hard button. You can configure them to vibrate when you push them if you like feedback when you push a button. These are the keys that Android tablets running Honeycomb (3.x) have: Back - The first button is the back button. Home - Go to the Home Screen. Recent Apps - Displays Apps you recently ran, with a snapshot of its actual state when you last viewed it. There's also a Context menu button that only appears when needed. -7- Part.3 Home Screens These are the screens where you put App shortcuts and widgets. You don't want to waste time searching for an App when you want to run it. So put your most commonly used Apps directly on a home screen. What to Add Most Android devices have anywhere from 3 - 7 home screens. To see them all, just hold your finger on the screen and slide it left or right. Use the default home screen for the Apps you use all the time (e.g. Email). Besides shortcuts to Apps, you can also place shortcuts to: One-touch dial someone from your contact list TXT message someone from your contact list Directions to somewhere in Google Maps Settings shortcut for making quick system changes Bookmarks to your favourite web pages Folders that contain collections of Apps to help keep your home screen organized. (Not available in Honeycomb Tablets) Plus there are many Apps which allow you to create shortcuts from inside the App. Widgets Widgets are Apps that run in the background and display up-to-date information directly on your home screens. They are made for placing on home screens. Many Apps come with Widgets built-in, and you get standalone widgets from the Android market. There are probably some built in widgets already installed on your device for displaying the date or the weather. They can quickly fill up a screen though since they can be big. You can learn more about Widgets (and their limitations) by going to this page: Understanding Widgets. -8- How to Add There's a couple of ways to add something to your home screen. One way is to long press a blank area of the home screen where you want to put something. A menu will pop up asking you what you want to add. This looks different in each version of Android, so I won't show you a screen shot, but it should be selfexplanatory. How to Remove Removing any thing that you placed on a home screen is easy. Just press and hold an icon. A trash can icon will appear on the bottom of the screen. While holding the icon, drag your finger to the trash can and let go. This will just remove the icon, but not uninstall the App. You have to be careful though. If you hold the dragged icon over the trash can for a second, it will ask you if you also want to uninstall the App. Fortunately you can always cancel that easily. Oh, and feel free to remove any of the gunkity gunk shortcuts that your carrier put on your home screens. This is Android - you have a choice ;) -9- Part.4 The keyboard The Keyboard Most Android devices do not come with a built-in hardware keyboard. If your phone doesn't have a hardware keyboard, then read below to learn about the many different types of software keyboards. Since you use the keyboard in almost every App, it's worth it to get a good keyboard that will save you time and typos. It's possible that your phone came with multiple keyboards already installed. Go to "Language & keyboard" in settings to see. You can try out new keyboards to replace the default one that comes with your phone, and easily switch back if you don't like the new keyboard. One thing to note is that all keyboards have access to everything you type (obviously). That means passwords too. Make sure the keyboard App you try is from a real company and has at least hundreds of thousands of users. Types of Software Keyboards Life hacker has a good article below that explains the major types of keyboards. They list four types of keyboard styles: 1. 2. 3. 4. The Tap Typist The Text Predictor The Swiper The Adventurous They also list their favorite keyboard in each style: How to Find the Right Android Keyboard for You at Life hacker Reviews of Software Keyboards There's a fantastic review of 47 free keyboards below. I didn't even know there were that many keyboards. Android Soft Keyboard Alternatives: Comparing 47 different (free) input methods from ABC Keyboard to Zeta Type for Droid 84 - 10 - Part.5 Voice Input Voice Input You’ve probably heard of “Siri” - Apple’s software that allows you to use your voice to send messages, make calls, schedule meetings and many other things. Would you believe that Android had many of these capabilities a couple of years before Apple? If you've never tried using Voice Input, you're missing out on some useful tools. There are many ways that you can speak to your phone or tablet and have it do something. Below are the Apps, commands and tools you'll want to use to take advantage of Voice Input on Android. Voice Search / Voice Actions for Android Google’s Voice App is called Voice Search or sometimes Voice Actions. It's free and built-into most phones and tablets that run Android 2.2 or higher. If it's not already installed, you should be able to download it at the Google Play store. It does a lot more than just search. Here’s how Google describes the App: Quickly search your phone, the web, and nearby locations by speaking, instead of typing. Call your contacts, get directions, and control your phone with Voice Actions. There are a few ways to run Voice Search: 1. 2. 3. Run the "Voice Search" app. Click the microphone icon on the "Google Search" widget Press and hold the search button on your phone. Then a "Speak now" window opens that you can start talking to: - 11 - Start talking to it in a normal voice, not a robotic voice. You don't need to talk slow, just your usual voice. When you say something, Android will usually just search the Internet for it. Alternatively, you can say any of the phrases below to run commands: send text to [contact] [message] listen to [artist/song/album] call [business] call [contact] send email to [contact] [message] go to [website] note to self [note] navigate to [location/business name] directions to [location/business name] map of [location] learn more at Google’s main Voice Actions web page. Google also created a short video at YouTube that demonstrates how to use: Google Voice Actions for Android Note that some phones have a separate "Voice Commands" App that runs some of the commands listed above. This App is usually created by the phone manufacturer, and is not as powerful as Google's Voice App. People rave about Siri, but Google Voice Actions is no slouch. Here is a YouTube video that shows how Google Voice Actions can outperform Siri in simple tasks: DROID RAZR with Voice Actions for Android vs. iPhone 4S with Siri Keyboard Voice Input Instead of using a tiny keyboard to write on your phone, why not try using voice input? Every soft keyboard has a microphone key (usually in the bottom corner) that allows you to dictate your text. I've found that they are fairly accurate, and can save you a lot of typing. Note that voice translation requires you to have an active Internet connection to work. Apps That Use Voice Recognition Apps Many apps work with voice input. The one I use most is Google's Navigation. Just say where you want to go and it takes you there. Other Apps that really take advantage of voice input are Google Translate, e-mail and texting. Apps like Siri There are several Apps that are similar to Apple's Siri App. All are free and easy to try. See which one responds best to your voice and commands: Speaktoit Assistant - Very similar to Siri, you get a virtual assistant that you can ask questions to. You can customize what your assistant looks like, and even name it. I told her my name was Inigo Montoya, and it's hilarious to hear her call me that. Vlingo Voice Assistant - One of the earliest voice input Apps, it's also the most polished in my opinion. Here are some samples of what it can do: "Where is Harry Potter playing?" "Find Italian restaurants nearby" "Get directions to the Smithsonian" "Call taxi" "Why do some sunsets look red?" "Open calendar" It also has a completely hands free "InCar" solution that allows you to send and receive messages, make calls, and get directions while keeping two hands on the wheel, and two eyes on the road. - 12 - Part.6 Sharing In Android Sharing from your Android device to other smart phone users Since your Android phone or tablet can generate content like pictures and notes, it's great that Android allows you to easily share those things with other smart phone users (even those not running Android) and with Internet users. There are Apps that generate content (e.g. your camera), and Apps that consume content (e.g. Facebook). Connecting these two different types of apps to share with each other is easy to do. Here is a partial list of things on your Android phone or tablet that you might want to share with others: Pictures Apps Bookmarks Contacts Notes Locations Documents And many other file types like MP3 files. Almost anything on your Android phone or tablet can be shared if you have the right App. How to share Most Apps provide an option to share via the "Settings" button. For instance, I use the handy QuickPic App to manage my photos on my Android phone. When I select a photo and press the "Settings" button, I get the menu choices shown at the bottom of this screen: Pressing the "Share" button brings up a list of Apps that can do something with the selected photo: - 13 - For instance, you could e-mail the photo, or send it to the App Camera Zoom FX which could then enhance or modify the photo with special effects. Note that the Share option is sometimes called "Share", "Send to", "Send" or something else besides "Share". What / Who to share with As you can see from the partial list of Apps above, many Apps are enabled to receive shared items from other Apps. Android makes it easy for Apps to communicate with each other. Note that I said "What/Who" to share with. You might share a photo with a person, or share a Photo with an App that enhances photos. Here are some examples of Apps that you would want to share things with: Your E-mail App (e.g. GMail) Photo Editing Apps (e.g. PicSay Pro) Note Taking Apps (e.g. Evernote) Social Media Apps (e.g. Facebook, Google+, Twitter) Photo Sharing Services (e.g. Picasa, Flickr) Text Messaging (e.g. Handcent SMS) File Sharing (e.g. Dropbox) and many more types of Apps. - 14 - Part.7 Using QR Codes And Barcodes In Android Using QR Codes and Barcodes in Android What exactly is that thing underneath this text? It's a Quick Response code, commonly called a QR Code. It's a two dimensional matrix that stores data encoded. It's similar to the old UPC barcode that has been around for a long time, but it can contain much more data. All smart phones (Apple and Android) can easily scan these QR codes to get the information embedded in them. They are starting to appear all over the place - magazines, newspapers, stores, web pages, business cards, badges and many other places. What can be in a QR code, and what can I do with it? QR codes can contain several different types of data, and your Android device will take the appropriate action for the QR code: 1. Link to a web page - Scan to open the page in your phone's browser (The QR code above points to this website). 2. Contact information - Save the contact information to your address book by scanning a QR code. 3. E-mail address - Start to compose an e-mail by scanning a QR code. 4. Phone number - Scan a QR code to dial the number. 5. SMS / Text Message phone number - Compose an SMS text by scanning a QR code. 6. WIFI network connection information - Automatically connect to a WIFI network by scanning a QR code. 7. Map Location - Get an address sent to your phone's GPS navigator by scanning the QR code. 8. Calendar Event - Scan a QR code to add an event to your calendar. 9. App Information - Install an App by scanning a QR code. - 15 - For comparison, an old barcode generally contains a UPC code or a number only. How exactly do I scan a QR Code or a Barcode? To scan a QR Code (or an old UPC barcode), you'll need an App that can scan them. Fortunately, there are many such Apps, and most of them are free. I've found QR Droid to be the most powerful scanner, and Barcode Scanner is one of the simplest scanners to use. To scan a QR Code or Barcode: 1. Open your Scanner App (or one of the Apps listed below) and have it start a scan. 2. Point your Phone/Tablet's camera at the code when the app says to. A red horizontal line will appear in the middle of the screen along with a box frame. Try to center the code in the frame with the red line on the middle of the code. 3. Move the Phone/Tablet back and forth until the picture gets clear, then the App will automatically take a picture of the code.This is what the Price Check by Amazon scanning screen looks like when you try to scan a barcode: What Apps make use of QR Codes or Barcodes? These Apps below are all FREE, and they take full advantage of QR codes and Barcodes to make your life easier. Grocery iQ - Makes a list of groceries for the store. If you run out of something, scan the empty container's UPC code, and the item is automatically added to your shopping list. App Referrer - If you want to share an App with someone, run this and select the App. This will generate a QR code and display it on your device's screen so the other person can scan the QR code to get the App from the Android Market. Price Check by Amazon - If you're at a store and thinking of making a purchase, scan the UPC code, and find out what the price is on Amazon.com, and what type of reviews the product gets. One of my favorite shopping Apps. Google Shopper - Scan a UPC code and this will do a price check of online shopping sites and stores nearby. RedLaser Barcode and QR Scanner by eBay - Similar to the other Shopping programs, but it also checks to see if you can get the item on eBay. - 16 - Part.8 Text Messaging Texting is exchanging brief text messages between phones/portable devices over a network. Originally, just text was sent using the Short Message Service (SMS). Later messages containing pictures, video and sound were added (called MMS messages). Replace Your Android Phone's Text Messaging App The built-in Text Messaging App works fine, but it doesn't contain the fun extra features that 3rd party Apps now provide. Some of these extra features include: Password protection of text messages Built-in sets of Emoticons Emoji (Enhanced Emoticons) Backup your messages to a web site Send electronic greeting cards Send Doodles/Handwriting Popups with quick reply or read-a-loud Extensible with plug-ins and much more There are many 3rd party text messaging Apps, but I personally use Handcent SMS and highly recommend it: Handcent SMS (FREE) A powerful, customizable, and free SMS/MMS app that fully unleashes the messaging potential of Android devices. More than just an unsurpassed alternative to the stock Android messaging app, Handcent SMS features optional, seamless online integration with your My Handcent Online account allowing users to circumvent the limitations of the Android OS and wireless carriers. The second most popular 3rd party text messaging app appears to be Go SMS Pro (FREE) - 17 - Stop Paying for Texting by Using These Free Apps Rather than use your cell phone carrier's Text Messaging system, switch to these Apps and send FREE text messages! That's right, totally free (although you may have to see ads displayed). These Apps run on many different devices such as Android, iOS (Apple), Blackberry and Nokia. That means your Android device (phone or tablet) can send FREE text messages to someone with a different type of phone like the iPhone or Blackberry. These are the most widely used Apps I could find in the Android Market. I personally use Google Voice, but the others look good too: Google Voice (FREE) Make cheap international calls with your Google number. Send free text messages. Place calls and send text messages showing your Google number. Listen to voicemail and read transcripts. Currently only available in the US. WhatsApp (FREE first year, $1.99 a year afterwards) Cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message. Pinger Textfree (FREE - Ad-Supported) Enables you to send and receive free texts (real SMS) with your very own free texting number. You can send free texts to your friends who don’t need to be using this free app to receive them. In addition, send free texts from anywhere in the world as long as you have a data connection. Chat with your Facebook friends, too! Your Account works from the pinger.com website too. HeyWire (FREE - Ad-Supported) Free Texting (Real SMS) & Picture Messaging in the USA and to 45 Countries from a real U.S. phone number, Worldwide Smartphone Messenger, Twitter, Facebook Chat + More... Texting from Android Tablets While most tablets don't support text messaging over Carrier's networks, all is not lost. The Android Apps mentioned above should work fine on Android Tablets that use 3G/4G or Wifi to connect to the Internet. In fact, it's often easier to text from a tablet since they have bigger keyboards. Give it a try. Texting from Websites Some of the Android Apps mentioned above have Internet websites where you can send free text messages with your PC's Internet Browser. Here are two that also have Apps (see above), but there are many others that are free or near free: Google Voice (U.S. only currently) - Sign in with your Google account Pinger (International) - Account required - 18 - Part.9 Notifications Android phones and tablets use several different ways to notify you about things you need to now. Notifications could contain anything - from reminders to error messages. Sometimes they are created by the App you're currently using on your device, while other times they are generated by an App that is running in the background, or by the Android operating system. These notifications usually contain information you'll want to know, and possibly actions you should take. There are three ways that Android will try to notify you: Status Bar Notifications Across the top of your Android phone is a horizontal bar that contains one or more icons along with the current time on the right. This "Status Bar" is always visible when you're not currently running an App and you have your device open. To get more information about the notifications, touch the Status Bar and then slide your finger down the screen in one motion to expand the Status Bar. Note that you'll have to have your screen unlocked to slide open the Status Bar. When opened, the Status Bar notifications will fill the screen. Some will be marked as Ongoing (Apps that never close, or a cable connection status), but most messages will show up in a "Notifications" section as this image shows: These notifications are usually persistent reminders that are requesting you to take action. Touching the notification message will open up the App that created the notification and display more information - 19 - about the message, or ask you to perform an action based on the message. In the example above, clicking the message would run the e-mail App on your phone and display the full e-mail message. Each App (including your phone's built in functions like battery strength) will display different icons in the Notification bar to show you that you have actions to take. Consult your owners manual to understand what your specific phone's icons are. Also, some Apps allow you to choose if an Icon should show up in the Status Bar by selecting that option in the App's "Settings" screen. Dialog Notifications A dialog notification is a small window that opens up in front of what you were doing. The dialog window takes focus away from what you were doing and requests your immediate response. These are usually simple requests that are needed for determining the next action that the App will take. Toast Notifications A toast notification is a small message that pops up on the surface of the window. It only fills the amount of space required for the message and it does not prevent you from seeing or working with the current App. It automatically fades in and out, and does not require any interaction. An example would be a "File saved" message from an App. Other Notifications Your Android Phone or Tablet will also notify you in other ways such as: Vibrating/Buzzing (Best if you are in a noisy environment) Playing sounds (You can sometimes choose what sound it plays) Blinking the LED indicator (Not all Android devices have an LED light) - 20 - Part.10 Understanding widgets Widgets are one of Android's best features - even the iPhone and the iPad do not have them! Widgets are Apps that run in the background and display up-to-date information directly on your home screens. They usually perform a specific function when you touch them too. Widgets can be standalone Apps, but often they are included as part of an App. For instance, an app that provides news feeds might come with a widget that display the news headlines on a portion of your home screen. If you put several different widgets on a home screen, you can get see all of their displays at the same time. Examples of using Widgets Here is an example Android Phone screen that shows a few different widgets: Music player showing what is playing. Tapping the >>| button skips to the next song. The calendar widget shows the current day and what's coming up. Tapping it allows you to see more details. The photo frame widget will flip through the pictures on your device. Tapping one displays that picture full-screen. - 21 - Setting up your Widgets You choose what widgets to display, and where to display them. Widgets come in several sizes and shapes. They are described based on their name and the size of your App icons. For instance, a 1x1 widget is the same size as an App Icon. A 2x3 widget is 2 Icon sizes wide, and 3 icon sizes tall. So the Music widget above is 4x1. Install Widgets by touching and holding an empty area of a home screen, then select "Widgets" from the menu. Your device will display all the Widgets that are installed, then select the widget you want. Some Widgets come in several different sizes that you can choose from. You can put widgets on as many screens as you want, as long as you have enough space for them. You might even dedicate an entire home screen to just widgets. Widgets are even better on Android Tablets because of the larger screens. Here is an example from the Android developer page of multiple widgets on a large screen. Where to get Widgets The same place where you get Apps is where you'll find widgets. I recommend starting at the Android Market Widget page. Recommended Widgets Of course, there are many websites that review widgets. Here are a few: Widgets I recommend 15 Android Widgets that will make iPhone users jealous Top ten Android Widgets Downside to Widgets Now that I've told you how great Widgets are, I have to tell you the bad news about them. Because they are always running in the background, they do drain your battery a bit. Every widget you add to a home screen adds to your Phone or Tablet's battery drain. Some drain it a lot, while others hardly at all. It all depends on what the widget does, and how often it does it. I recommend you experiment with which ones to use and see what works best for you. - 22 - Apps to Protect Your Android Phone or Tablet If the information above has scared you about installing Android Apps, then you might want to install an anti-malware App on your Android device to protect it. Two of the most popular Apps to protect your phone or tablet are: Antivirus Free (FREE) - Protects your phone from viruses, malware, spyware & online exploitation in real-time. It can: Scan apps, settings, files, and media in real-time Find/locate your lost or stolen phone via Google maps Lock and wipe your device to protect your privacy Kill tasks that slow your phone down There's also a Pro version of it for $0.99 Lookout Security and Antivirus (FREE) - Provides Antivirus protection as well as a great "Find My Phone" and backup service. Antivirus: Block malware, spyware, and Trojans Scan each app you download to make sure it is safe Schedule daily or weekly scans. Get automatic, over-the-air, protection against the latest threats The Bottom Line Although I believe these types of Apps can help protect your Android device, some people believe they are of limited value: Free Android antivirus software is 'useless,' says testing firm (via Infoworld.com) - 23 - The absolute best way to keep your Android phone or tablet safe is to follow the guidelines above and do your homework before installing any App. Since your device is always at risk, make sure you backup whatever you don't want to lose. Learn more about malware by reading the fascinating info graphic below (courtesy of bullguard.com): - 24 - Part.11 Replace these devices with Apps on your phone or tablet Your Android Phone is a powerful device with many sensors and controls built into it. Here's what's often included in an Android Phone: Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Electronic Compass, Light Sensor, plus more. These functions may allow you to replace many of your existing electronic devices. Here's a list of all the devices that Android can mimic. I'll point out which are easy to replace, and which can only replace lowend devices. MP3 / iPod Music Player There are numerous programs that allow you to play your music list, sort songs, categorize songs and randomly play songs. Your phone has a built-in music player, but other great ones to try out include Google Music and Amazon MP3 which both come with free online storage, and TuneWiki which also displays lyrics as the songs play. All are free. Radio Two problems with the radio is that when you travel out of town you lose your stations, and you have a limited number of stations, only some of which you actually like. Radio Apps on Android don't have those limitations. You can listen anywhere you can get a cell phone signal, and there are literally thousands of stations available. Try these three FREE Internet Radio stations and you'll be hooked: Pandora Internet Radio, TuneIn Radio, iHeartRadio and Sky.FM Internet Radio. - 25 - Watch I don't see as many people wearing watches these days, because you can just look at your Android phone. You don't even need to swipe open your phone to see the current time and date since the lock screen usually shows the time. Kitchen Timer Forget about that simple little timer whose battery is always dying. Kitchen Timer is a free timer that you can use for cooking. There are speciality timers like Egg Timer Free that focus on just helping you with cooking eggs. Outdoor Thermometer Do you really need an old inn-accurate thermometer sitting in your backyard when your Android Phone can tell you the exact temperature, and give you a forecast for the rest of the day? Your phone probably has a built-in Weather widget, but if it doesn't, the popular Beautiful Widgets App ($2.69) has several different types of weather widgets (current weather, daily forecast, weekly forecast). The Weather Channel App (FREE) is also excellent for displaying the current/future weather, and has extra features like a Radar map. Alarm Clock There are Alarm Clock Apps that do a lot more than just have a snooze button. You could use the built-in Alarm Clock that came with your Android phone, but there are better Apps. Alarm Clock Xtreme Free can wake you to music of your choice, gently raise the alarm volume to wake you, make you solve math problems to prove you're really awake and more. Another free well-designed alarm clock worth looking at is MRKAlarm. - 26 - One last free app worth considering is called iHome Sleep and it has a nice feature that lets you fall asleep to music. It will even read you the news the next morning. Stop Watch Your Android phone can function as a powerful Stop Watch. The two most popular Stop Watch Apps are StopWatch & Timer, and UltraChron Stopwatch Lite. Some of the features they have include: talking timer, large display, lap times, multiple timers, editable descriptions, countdown loops and more. Walkie Talkies I had fun as a kid with a pair of walkie talkies. Today, they are a mix of phone+texting. Short messages can be sent to other smart phone owners (Android and iPhone/iPod Touch) who also have the same App installed. These Apps can integrate with your contact list, and have extra features like saving the last message received if you don't hear it. It even has Group broadcast which can be fun. The two most popular Walkie Talkie Apps are HeyTell and TiKL - Touch to Talk. Calculator Forget about your low-end cheap calculator. Android calculators are much more powerful, and are almost at the level of the TI scientific calculators. One of the best is RealCalc Scientific Calculator which has standard functions plus conversions, Trig Functions, Scientific display and more. Best of all it's free. Another highly rated calculator is Cube Calculator Free. It's powerful, but easy to use. If you are willing to spend $2.99, you can get Wolfram Alpha. It's like having a super computer on your Android phone. It does plotting, Algebra, Matrices, Calculus, Geometry, Logic Functions and numerous features that calculators don't have like Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy and Engineering. - 27 - GPS Navigator Unless you a have a top-of-the-line GPS Navigator for your car, you can probably replace it with the built-in Google Maps with Navigation app. If it's not pre-installed on your Android phone, install it from The Android Market. It's free with built-in navigation, the ability to find places (even brand news places), live traffic, and social aspects like recommending places and checking in. Cool features like Street View make this better than older GPS units. For even more social features, check out Waze. It's free, and it gets it's data from drivers running Waze. Waze users report accidents, speed traps and heavy traffic. You can even communicate with other drivers with Waze to find out more information. Flashlight You're Android phone probably has an LED light on its back. You're phone may have come with a built-in flashlight App. When you run it, your LED light comes on and turns your phone into a surprisingly good flashlight. If your phone doesn't have a built-in flashlight, or you want a flashlight App with extra features, check out Tiny Flashlight + LED or Color Flashlight HD. Besides turning on your LED, these Apps can use your phone's screen as a weaker flashlight, flash different colors on your screen, scroll words across your screen and use special effects like blinking and strobes. I find myself using this flashlight almost every week. The light is surprisingly strong and while it won't be the only flashlight you'll want to use when camping, at home it should handle most situations where you need a little light. Level Have a small bubble level? Your Android phone's accelerometer can do the same thing. The most popular Level App is calledBubble. It has nice - 28 - features you won't find on a simple level like speaking the angle out loud, or buzzing when it's level. Compass Your Android phone probably has a built-in magnetometer that it can use to detect the magnetic north pole. There are Compass Apps that use this to provide you with a simple compass. They may not have enough for orienteering, they provide basic NSEW labeling. The leading Compass App is called "Compass". The reviews say it doesn't work well on some Tablets, but it should work fine on your phone. It also has integration with a note taking program called "Catch". Digital Voice Recorder No need to buy a voice recorder to record audio at lectures,presentations and other events. There are Apps that use Android's built-in microphone to record directly to SD card. The most widely used Voice Recorder for Android is called "Voice Recorder" oddly enough ;) The highest ranked Voice Recording App is called "Tape-a-Talk Voice Recorder". You should test these apps for at least 5 minutes before using them of course. Camera and Video Camera Your Android Phone comes with a camera. Depending on how good it is, you might be able to ditch your old low-end digital camera. A A basic phone App came with your camera, and depending on what version of Android you're running it might have advanced features like panoramic photos. There are Apps that allow you to take photos with special effects, and allow you to customize how you camera works. I recommend Paper Camera ($1.99) for special effects and Camera ZOOM FX ($2.99) for tweaking your phone's controls. Pedometer There are many pedometer Apps in the Android market for free, but most of them don't get great reviews. The highest rated one I could find - 29 - was Walkroid - simple pedometer. Besides just counting your steps, it can log it so you can see your progress over time. Don't know how accurate it will be on your Android phone, but most low-end pedometers aren't too accurate either. Geiger Counter I didn't make this up. Lifehacker.com has this article that discusses how the REAL Radioactivity counter App uses the CMOS camera sensor on your phone to record radiation levels. It costs $4.99, but if you're glowing in the dark, it might be worth trying out ;) Thumb Drive (USB Stick) If you have your Android Phone's USB cable, you should be able to attach it to a computer and mount the SD card. Then you can copy files from your PC to your phone. This works great for files that are too large to e-mail. Your PC might have to have the latest drivers installed on it though, so it might be a bit of a headache. Also, you're limited by what's free on your phone's SD card. Radar Detector Your Android phone can't detect the Radar that Police Officers use, but there are Apps that can help you avoid speed traps. Previously mentioned GPS navigator Waze has a feature where other Waze users report the location of speed traps. Waze will then notify you if you approach one. - 30 - Web Cam If your Android phone or tablet can take videos, then it should also be able to act like a web cam. It may come with video chatting software built in, or you could download Skype or a similar App to have video chats. But what if you want someone on a PC to see what your phone can see, or what if you want to use your device as a web cam to monitor something in another room? IP Webcam is a free App that can turn your device into a wireless camera. It streams your phones video to any PC/Tablet with a web browser. HERE is an article that explains how to configure it. Use your Android Tablet to replace your ... Digital Picture Frame Want to show your photos to friends and family? An Android tablet can do great job of being a digital picture frame. Besides displaying pictures one by one, it can do montages and hide photos you don't want to display. I use QuickPic (FREE) which does a lot more than just display photos, but Photo Gallery (Fish Bowl) (FREE) is also widely used. E-Reader (Kindle / Nook) Did you know that Amazon has a Kindle App that runs on your Android phone or tablet? Barnes & Noble also has a Nook Android App. In fact, there are several E-readers available for any Android device. While these Apps will run on an Android phone, it's hard to read for a long time on a small screen, and it can strain your eyes. These Android apps have almost all of the capabilities that the dedicated E-Reader has, plus more capabilities. The biggest downside to using these is that most Android tablets do not have e-ink screens which are easy on the eyes. - 31 - Part.12 Android System Updates The Android operating system regularly checks for software updates. Updates usually provide bug-fixes and new features. When an upgrade is available, you will be prompted to download and install the update with a pop-up window like this: Read below to see why this happened, and if you should install it. Checking for Updates Most Android devices are configured to notify you of updates. Some devices though allow you to turn off the automatic notifications. You can check to see if an update is available for your phone by following these steps: Press your Options button, then select “Settings” Select “About phone” Select “System updates” or “System software updates” For tablets without an Options button, follow these steps: Start the “Settings” app Select “About Tablet” Select “System update” - 32 - The Update Process When a pop-up window tells you that an update is available, it will usually let you install it at a later more convenient time. Just select “Install Later”, and it will prompt you periodically to update. The first part of the update is downloading the update file. The update can be very large and take a long time. I recommend you use Wifi or 4G when you’re downloading an update. Note that there are no charges for updates, but the usual data connection charges still apply. After the update is downloaded, it will ask you to install the update. Note that you will not be able to make calls (including 911 calls) while it’s updating, so don’t start doing anything life threatening while it installs ;) Some installations will reboot your phone and you’ll see a picture of a little green Android robot jumping out of a box. The progress bar on the bottom of the screen will show you how far along you are. After the reboot you may or may not notice anything different in your phone. It all depends on what was included with the update. - 33 - Why You Should Update If everything goes well, you’ll have new features and fewer bugs - for free. How cool is that? Some updates also include new free Apps with the update. Unfortunately, these are often just trial Apps. Why You Might Not Want to Update If your Android device is Rooted, then the update will probably revoke your root access. In some cases it’s easy to re-root, in other cases you might have to wait until a new rooting process is discovered. Some updates may also fail if they detect that you used root to remove Apps that came with your phone or tablet. I had this problem and had to painfully find the missing Apps on the Internet and re-install them. - 34 - Part.13 Android Wallpapers and Live Wallpapers Wallpaper is the background that you use on your home screens. It can be anything you want including a photo stored on your Android Phone or Tablet, a solid color or an image that you got from the Internet. Android even has "Live Wallpapers" which are moving/animated pictures. Android Wallpaper Wallpapers are the background image that you see when you look at your home screens. Here are some sample wallpapers: Your Android Phone or Tablet probably came with several Wallpapers already installed. You can set them a couple of different ways. For devices running Android 2.3 or lower, just press the "Settings" button when on a home screen, and you'll see a "Wallpaper" button toward the bottom of the screen. Pressing that will bring up a menu titled "Select wallpaper from". That screen gives you options about where to get the wallpaper from. It could be an existing gallery, or it could be a picture you have on your phone/tablet. The other easy way to set a wallpaper on any version of Android is to just long-press any blank area of your home screen and then select "Wallpapers" when the menu choices appear. - 35 - Apps That Set The Wallpaper I personally like an all-black background for my wallpaper. To achieve this, I use the Colors App (FREE). It lets me pick from a set of colors and then sets my wallpaper to that color. The biggest App for Wallpapers is called Zedge (FREE). You can use it to choose between thousands of wallpapers. It even has a widget that makes switching wallpapers easy too. Besides wallpapers, it also has free ringtones and notification sounds. Live Wallpaper Starting with Android 2.1 you can use live wallpapers - rich, animated, interactive backgrounds on your device's home screens. A live wallpaper is basically a running App (so don't use them if your battery doesn't last too long). They make your screen become smart and come to life. For instance, it may check the time and change the picture of the sky to a nighttime sky after the sun has set. Note that Live Wallpapers will drain your power a bit when you are looking at them running on your home screens. Android Live Wallpapers are another feature that iPhone users don't have, and it can be stunning looking. I usually don't run one, but broke down to run the impressive looking Snowfall Live Wallpaper recently. It's a nice Christmas Live Wallpaper that shows a snowy scene with Santa's sled appearing in the background. - 36 - Part.14 Android Security Android Security It's important to setup security on your phone. You never know if you'll lose it or someone will steal it. Once it's been compromised, someone can reset your website passwords by having the new passwords sent to your phone's e-mail. If you run any mobile banking apps or stock trading apps, you could also be in big trouble. Screen Locks There are several types of screen locks you can use on your device. All of them are under "Settings - Location & Security" Android 2.3 has a "Change screen lock " option there, and a "Security lock timer" option for setting the length of time before the lock comes on. Under the "Change screen lock" setting are these options: None - Disable screen unlock security Pattern - Draw pattern to unlock screen. Below is what a pattern looks like. You pick what you want it to be, and whoever wants to get into your phone needs to know the correct sequence to swipe. Note that some people think that fingerprint smudges on the screen can give away the pattern chosen. - 37 - PIN - Enter a numeric PIN to unlock screen. Password - Enter a password to unlock screen On Android 3.X (Honeycomb), the security settings are under "Location & Security" -> "Configure Lock Screen". Even better, Android 4.X (Ice Cream Sandwich) has a face unlock screen where your phone will unlock if it sees your face. How cool is that? - 38 - Security Apps If you're really concerned about losing your phone, then there are some Apps that can help. These two apps can locate your phone, show you on a map where it is, then lock the device: Seekdroid Lite (FREE, $4.99 for the full version) Wheres my Droid (FREE, $3.99 for the pro version) They also have other security features to help protect your data: Audible alarm (even on silent) w/ custom message Lock device w/ custom code Retrieve recent calls made Remotely wipe entire phone Remotely wipe SD Card Receive SIM ID, IMEI, and active phone number - 39 - Part. 15 Android Memory One of the main constraints of Android devices is the amount of memory (storage) you have. First off, the Android Operating System itself needs memory to operate. Memory is also needed for storing and running Apps, and storing all your photos, music and other files. Your device has a limited amount of memory, but should be expandable in some ways. The bottom line is that you can never have too much memory. Android Architecture Android has three pools of memory. Note that these can vary by device and Android version: 1. RAM - Embedded memory where Apps execute. Can't be expanded. 2. Internal storage (Application Storage) - Built-in memory for Apps and key files. Can't be expanded. 3. SD card - secondary storage for files like photos and music. You can also put Apps here too to free up internal storage. This can be expanded by buying a larger SD card. Also, there is also external USB storage for some tablets, and some phones have an internal and external SD card. - 40 - Memory Management Android automatically manages much of how memory is allocated. If you try to run more apps than memory allows, Android will shutdown Apps that have not run in a while, thus freeing up their memory. Older versions of Android were not good at this, so Task Killer Apps appeared on Google Play to help. Today, Android does a good job managing memory, and Task Killers are really not needed. To see how much app storage you have, Press the Menu button, then: Settings / Storage (or SD Card on older devices). IT will display total and used SD card storage, and the total and used App Storage (also called Internal Storage). To get more out of your device's memory, follow the suggestions listed below. Uninstall Apps you don't use This is the simplest approach to help with storage. Each App is taking up space somewhere. What's worse is that some secretly run in the background all the time. If you don't ever run an App, uninstall it. Move Apps to SD Card If you're running Android 2.2 (Froyo) or 2.3 (Gingerbread), you can move programs from your device's internal memory to the SD card, but only if the App is written to allow it. You'll know if the App doesn't allow it because the "Move to SD Card" button will be greyed out. To manually move Apps to the SD card, select the Menu button, then: Settings > Applications > Manage Applications ((Manage Apps on older devices) Tap on the App, And you'll see a button named "Move to SD Card". - 41 - If the App doesn't allow the move to Internal Storage, there are Apps that will force it to move there. They require Android 2.2 and higher though. Here are two free Apps with similar names: App 2 SD App2SD They can also help you manage your storage, sort Apps, show totals and perform other useful functions. Note that widgets can't be run from the SD card. In order to function, they have to be installed on Internal storage. Turn off Live Wallpapers They look great, but Live Wallpapers (wallpapers that are constantly moving) waste resources including memory and battery. I recommend you don't use them. Don't use too many Widgets Each widget has a background process that is always running to keep the widget up-to-date. This will take up memory and never be aged out like older Apps since it's always active. Don't use a Task Killer You may get some memory relief by using a Task Killer App if you are running Android 2.1 or lower. For Android 2.2 and above, it's recommended to let Android handle memory management on its own. It's a topic that's often debated, but I recommend NOT running a Task Killer and letting Android kill Apps when it needs memory. You can read more about Task Killers in this Battery Life page. - 42 - Part.16 Battery Settings This is the worst aspect of owning a smart phone. It really doesn't matter which type of Android phone you have, heavy use of your phone will run down your battery. Some phones do well at keeping a charge, and others are horrendous. You will likely have to take steps to get the most out of your battery. Tips for extending battery life Below are some of the best tips for making your battery last longer. These articles below are mainly for phones since tablets have larger batteries, but many tips are helpful for extending tablet battery life too. These articles typically say you should reduce your screen's brightness and timeout, turn off services like Bluetooth if you don't use them, reduce sync frequency, and uninstall Apps or Widgets that you don't need. Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phone’s Battery Life Improve Your Android Phone's Battery Life Which Apps are draining your battery I recommend checking to see what is draining your battery the most. The biggest drain might come from built in processing labeled "Android OS". If so, you don't have too many options. However, if it comes from an App that you don't use much, you might want to uninstall the App. Here is an article on CNET that shows you the exact steps to see what is using your Android devices battery: - 43 - How to see which apps are draining your Android device's battery I was dismayed to read this article at BBC news about one of the major causes of battery drain: Free Mobile Apps Drain Battery Faster Apps for extending battery life As they say: "There's an App for that", and battery life is one area that can benefit from an App. The leading App for this is JuiceDefender. Their Google Play page says that it is a powerful yet easy to use power manager app specifically designed to extend the battery life of your Android device. Packed with smart functions, it automatically and transparently manages the most battery draining components, like 3G/4G connectivity and WiFi. The App is free, but there is a version with more features called JuiceDefender Plus for $1.99 and another version calledJuiceDefender Ultimate for $4.99. Try the free JuiceDefender first and if it works well for you, then you should consider buying the "Plus" or "Ultimate" version. Well-known software vendor Trend Micro recently released a new App called Longevity Battery Saver. It has a fantastic user-interface, and some simple but powerful ways to save battery life. It can warn you when something is using too much power or the battery life drops quickly. It has a "Just-a-phone mode" that turns off things you don't need if you're going to be just talking on it. - 44 - Task Killers Task Killers are Apps that kill other Apps or Services that are running or using up memory. Early version of Android (2.1 and below) needed Task Killers because Android did not manage Apps as well as the latest releases of Android do. Android versions 2.2 and up really don't need Task Killers, but this is a hotly debated topic on the Internet. Many people claim they see an improvement in battery life, while others say Task Killers make things worse. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between there, and it depends on the Apps you are running. PCWorld did a small test, and found that the average battery life improvement was only 1.9%. LifeHacker wrote a great article saying why you don't need them, and what else you can do to get more battery life instead. I don't run a Task Killer, but if you do want to try one, Advanced Task Killer (FREE) is the leading product at Google Play. Extended batteries for your phone Many phone makers recognize that battery life can be poor, so they produce an extended battery that can last long than the standard phone battery. The downside to them is that they are typically bigger and bulkier than the normal battery. Some phones like the HTC Thunderbolt have such terrible battery life, that it's almost a requirement to get the extended battery. You can then keep the old standard battery around for extra power when you need it. - 45 - Part.17 Backing up your Android Phone or Tablet Have you thought about what happens if your Android phone or tablet is lost? What about if your drop it and break it? These things happen all the time, so it's best to think about backups before the unthinkable happens. Backups allow you to save things on your Android device elsewhere, and then restore those things when you repair or replace your Android device. Below is a list of WHAT to backup, WHAT NOT to backup, WHERE to backup to, HOW to perform backups and WHEN to do backups. WHAT to backup What to backup depends on what you're using your Android device for, and how important those types of files are to you. The most popular types of files to backup are: Photos Videos Music App Data Configuration Settings Ringtones Wallpapers E-books Documents WHAT NOT to backup Many Apps store your data on their servers on the Internet (often referred to as "the Cloud"). One example of an App that stores its data in the cloud is Google's Gmail App. All the e-mail you get is stored on Google's - 46 - GMail servers and your phone or tablet just displays a copy of it. If your Android device were lost, when you replaced it, all your E-mail would still show up in Gmail. Here are some types of apps that store their data in the cloud: Contacts - One of the most important types of data on your Android device. Imagine how tough it would be to collect and re-enter all of that data back. Fortunately, you shouldn't ever have to do that. Your contacts are stored on Google Servers just like your Gmail. That's why you have to have a Google account to activate Android on your phone or tablet. Games - Many use the Open feint network to store your game scores in their servers. Calendar - If you use Google's built-in calendar (or Apps that use Google's calendar), then your data is safe in their servers. Some Settings - Google will automatically back up some of your Android device's settings if you activate that feature. On your device, go to Settings -> Privacy and then check the "Backup up my data" checkbox. This will backup your wireless network settings, bookmarks, and custom dictionary words. Apps - Google will back up the list of what Apps are installed on your Android device. It won't backup any data they have, but it does make reinstalling Apps easier. WHERE to backup to The Cloud - If you're comfortable with your data being on a company's server, then the cloud is probably the best place to backup your data. Companies like Google know how to manage their servers and you often don't have to pay anything for this. - 47 - An SD memory card - The nice thing about SD cards is that if your device is broken, you can still remove the SD card and its files will likely be perfectly fine. A Personal Computer - You can connect your Android phone/tablet to your PC with a USB cable, and backup key files to your PC. There are also ways to copy files over a Wi-Fi connection instead of a cable. HOW to backup files There are many Android Apps that perform backups for free or just a few dollars. Check out my recommended backup apps to see some of them. Other Apps that help you backup some types of files or data include: Sweet Home WIFI picture backup - Make it easy to transfer your pictures from your Android device to your PC over Wi-Fi. Google+ - One of the great features of Google+ is how it can automatically upload the photos you take to online photo albums. Then you can easily share them with other if you want. Dropbox - Backup all types of files to the cloud for free. Other similar Apps included Sugar Sync (which gives you more free space than most services), and the Box.net App. Google Music - You can store up to 20,000 songs on Google's servers for free, and access them from your Android device with the Google Music App. Unfortunately it doesn't allow for uploads from your Android device right now. You'll have to use your PC to upload your music collection to the cloud first, then download them to your Android device. Another popular option for managing your music is Double Twist. - 48 - HOW to backup your entire Android device If your phone is rooted, then there are ways you can back up the entire Operating System image running on your Android phone or tablet. This will capture everything except for files on your SD card. Read my review of Nandroid (bundled with ROM Manager) to see how. WHEN to do backups How often you should perform backups depends on how often you're creating new files or data and if you care if you lost them. If you take pictures every day, and don't want to ever lose any, then you should perform daily backups. Many Apps can automatically schedule backups for you. If you've never performed any backups, I recommend you at least perform one backup to try out the process and have a baseline for future backups. You never know when something bad might happen to your phone or tablet! - 49 - Part. 18 How to use email and contacts on an android device Android offers options for both Gmail and non-Google email accounts. When you first power up a Google Android tablet or Google Android phone the setup process will help you configure a primary Gmail account, which will automatically appear in the integrated Gmail app, and you'll always see mail appear there instantaneously as it arrives. In Android 2.0 or higher, you can add other synced Gmail accounts. In the Gmail app, press the Menu key, then select Accounts. Touch the Add account button at the bottom, and then follow the prompts. Once the process is complete, you can toggle among your Gmail accounts by pressing the Menu key while in the app and selecting Accounts. To customize how Android notifies you of incoming messages just tap the Menu key while viewing any account's inbox, and select Settings. If you don't want to be notified of new messages at all, untick the Email notifications box. If you want to receive only a visual notification – an alert in your notification panel and a flashing LED – set the ringtone to silent and untick the Vibrate box. You can have individual settings for each Gmail account: just repeat these steps from any account's inbox and the changes will apply only to that address. Any message you'd see in Gmail will now appear in Android too. Your sent, deleted, and even spam messages are also synced by default. Press the Menu key and select the View labels option in Gmail to access all of your different mail folders. - 50 - How to use email on a Google Android device 1. Import contacts Your Android device can incorporate contact data from a wide range of sources. On first use it will import your contacts from Gmail. If you also want to add contacts stored on your SIM card, open the Contacts app, press the Menu key and choose Import/Export, then Import from SIM card. 2. Install HTC Sync HTC Sync lets you synchronies the Outlook contact and calendar information on your PC with your phone. Install it from tinyurl.com/2b9sucs and launch the app. Choose Sync Manager, tap Settings, then work through the menu on the left-hand side. 3. Adjust sync settings One setting in particular is very important: it dictates what HTC Sync will do in the tricky situation when the information stored on both your computer and your Smartphone has been updated since the last sync. You need to be careful that you choose the correct setting here to ensure that the most up-todate information is retained following the next sync. 4. Perform sync Having checked that all the settings meet your needs, click Synchronies now. This process can take a little while to complete on the first run, since HTC Sync needs to copy across all the data from PC to phone; subsequent syncs will be faster, with the software looking only for changes made since the most recent sync. 5. Add email You’ve already configured your device to pick up email from your Gmail account. But it can also cope with other POP and IMAP email addresses. To add a new email account, open the Email app and click Menu, Add Account. Enter your email address and password, then tell Android the type of email account you hold. - 51 - 6. Enter details Add the required information when prompted. You’ll need to know the POP3 and SMTP server information for this email account, which is available from your ISP. Before moving on to each new settings screen, Android will verify the information you have given it and warn you of any errors. 7. Pick options Set the frequency with which the email service should check for new messages and other handset notifications. Also give your account a name. This will be what appears on all of your outgoing mail. 8. Inboxes If you set up more than one email account, you can choose to view mail from each separately or in a single inbox. Press the Email icon, then choose either the combined inbox or select the inbox you want to view. 9. Account settings Open any account, hit the Menu button and pick Account Settings. Here you can alter the download frequency. The default account will be used whenever you compose an email. The Combined Inbox Besides Gmail, Android provides a general email app that can connect to multiple POP, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange accounts. Open the email app (found in the app launcher) and follow the prompts to add any email account you wish. You have the option of configuring multiple accounts within a combined inbox. While inside the app, tap the Menu key and select Accounts. This lists all the email accounts you've configured. Tap on any account to open it individually, or on Combined Inbox to view messages from all accounts together. You can always add more accounts from this screen, too: tap the Menu key again to find the Add account option. The email app, unlike Gmail, doesn't support ‘push' (except for Hotmail), so messages won't show up instantaneously; instead, the app checks for new mail once every few minutes. You can define how frequently it checks each account in the Account settings menu (press the Menu key while viewing an account). - 52 -
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