Androids Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-17-2022

One of the best things about your Android smartphone is that it is, well, yours. Android gives you a number of ways to customize not only the look and feel of your phone, but also the way it works for you. From adding widgets to your home screen, disabling notifications from apps of your choosing, and setting tap and zoom accessibility settings, you can add a little personality to your Android smartphone and turn it into a unique device for a truly unique user experience.

Article / Updated 01-14-2022

The word roam takes on an entirely new meaning when applied to an Android phone. It means that your phone receives a cell signal whenever you’re outside your cell phone carrier’s operating area. In that case, your phone is roaming. Roaming sounds handy, but there’s a catch: It almost always involves a surcharge for using another cellular service — an unpleasant surcharge. Relax: Your Android phone alerts you whenever it’s roaming. A Roaming icon appears at the top of the screen, in the status area, whenever you’re outside your cellular provider’s signal area. The icon differs from phone to phone, but generally the letter R figures in it somewhere, similar to what’s shown in the image. How to turn off data roaming on your phone There’s little you can do to avoid incurring roaming surcharges when making or receiving phone calls. Well, yes, you could wait until you’re back in an area serviced by your primary cellular provider. You can, however, altogether avoid using the other network’s data services while roaming. Follow these steps: Open the Settings app. In the Wireless & Networks section, touch the More item. Choose Mobile Networks. On some Android phones, you may have to choose Battery & Data Manager and then Data Delivery. Remove the check mark by the Data Roaming option. On some phones the option is titled Global Data Roaming Access. Choose it and then choose the Deny Data Roaming Access option. Your phone can still access the Internet over the Wi-Fi connection when it roams. Setting up a Wi-Fi connection doesn’t make you incur extra charges, unless you have to pay to get on the wireless network. How to avoid texting surcharges Another network service you might want to disable while roaming has to do with multimedia, or MMS, text messages. To avoid surcharges from another cellular network for downloading an MMS message, follow these steps: Open the phone’s text messaging app. Ensure that you’re viewing the apps’ main screen, the one that lists all the conversations. Touch the Back icon or the app icon in the upper-left corner of the screen until the app’s main screen is displayed. Touch the Action Overflow icon or Menu icon. Choose the Settings or the Messaging Settings command. Remove the check mark by the Auto-Retrieve or Roaming Auto-Retrieve command. Or if the item isn’t selected, you’re good to go — literally. The lock screen may also announce that the phone is roaming. You might see the name of the other cellular network displayed. The text Emergency Calls Only might also appear.

Article / Updated 10-15-2021

One way to share the Android phone’s digital cellular connection is to connect the phone directly to a computer and activate the tethering feature. Not every Android phone has this capability. Tethering is a solid way to provide Internet access to another gizmo, such as a laptop or a desktop computer. Follow these steps to set up Internet tethering: Connect the phone to a computer or laptop by using the USB cable. The best success with this operation is when the computer is a PC running Windows. Open the Settings app. Choose More, and then choose Tethering & Mobile Hotspot. Place a check mark by the USB Tethering item. Internet tethering is activated. The other device should instantly recognize the phone as a “modem” with Internet access. Further configuration may be required, which depends on the computer using the tethered connection. For example, you may have to accept the installation of new software when prompted by Windows. When tethering is active, a Tethering or Hotspot Active notification icon appears. Choose that notification to further configure tethering. Unlike creating a Wi-Fi hotspot, you don’t need to disable the Wi-Fi radio to activate USB tethering. Sharing the digital network connection incurs data usage charges against your cellular data plan. Be careful with your data usage when you’re sharing a connection.

Article / Updated 10-08-2021

You don't have to live with the unbearable proposition that you’re stuck with only the apps that come preset on your Android’s home screen. Nope — you’re free to add your own apps. Just follow these steps: Visit the home screen page on which you want to stick the app icon, or launcher. The screen must have room for the app icon. Touch the Apps icon to display the apps drawer. Long-press (press and hold) the app icon you want to add to the home screen. Drag the app to the home screen page, lifting your finger to place the app. A copy of the app’s icon is now placed on the Home screen. The app hasn’t moved: What you see is a copy or, officially, a launcher. You can still find the app in the apps drawer (see below for more on this), but now the app is also available — more conveniently — on the home screen. Not every app needs a launcher icon on the home screen. I recommend placing only those apps you use most frequently. The best icons to place on the home screen are those that show updates, such as new messages, similar to the icon shown. These icons are also ideal to place in the favorites tray. You can add apps to the home screen also by choosing the Apps command from the home screen menu. Often this command merely skips over Steps 1 and 2 in this section; you still have to long-press the icon and drag it to a Home screen page. Finding apps in the apps drawer The place where you find all apps installed on your Android phone is the Apps drawer. Even though you can find launcher icons (app shortcuts) on the home screen, the Apps drawer is where you need to go to find everything. To view the Apps drawer, tap the Apps icon on the home screen. This icon has a different look to it, depending on your Android phone. Here are some variations on the Apps icon, though more varieties may exist. Apps icon varieties After you tap the Apps icon, you see the Apps drawer. Swipe through the pages left and right or up and down across the touchscreen. To run an app, tap its icon. The app starts, taking over the screen and doing whatever magical thing the app does. As you add new apps to your phone, they appear in the Apps drawer. Some phones allow you to create folders in the Apps drawer. These folders contain multiple apps, which helps keep things organized. To access apps in the folder, tap the Folder icon. The Apps drawer displays apps alphabetically. On some phones, you can switch to a non-alphabetical viewing grid. With that feature active, it’s possible to rearrange the apps in any order you like. For apps that you use all the time, consider creating launcher icons on the Home screen.

Article / Updated 10-06-2021

Wallpaper is one of the standard items controlled by your Android’s home screen menu. The home screen background can be decorated with two types of wallpaper: Traditional: The wallpaper is chosen from a selection of still images. These images can be preloaded as wallpapers on the phone, or you can pluck an image from the phone’s gallery, such as a photo you’ve taken. Live: The wallpaper image is animated, either displaying a changing images or reacting to your touch. For your home screen To set new wallpaper for the home screen, obey these steps: Long-press the home screen. Choose the Set Wallpaper or Wallpapers command or icon. Choose the wallpaper type. For example, choose Gallery to use a photo you’ve taken or Wallpapers to select a preset wallpaper design. You may see a scrolling list of wallpaper options. The Pick Image option lets you use the Gallery or Photo app to choose an image. Live wallpapers may be shown in the list by name. If prompted, choose the wallpaper you want from the list. For selecting an image from the phone, you see a preview of the wallpaper. A cropping tool may appear, and you can select and crop part of the image. For certain live wallpapers, a Settings icon appears. It lets you customize certain aspects of the interactive wallpaper. Touch the Save, Set Wallpaper, or Apply button to confirm your selection. The new wallpaper takes over the home screen. Live wallpaper is interactive, usually featuring some form of animation. Otherwise, the wallpaper image scrolls slightly as you swipe from one home screen page to another. Other options You may also be able to change the lock screen wallpaper on some phones. For example, after Step 2 (in the preceding list), you may be prompted to select wallpaper for the home screen, the lock screen, or both. The Settings apps may feature a Wallpaper command. Choose Display and then look for a Wallpaper command. Likewise, you might find a Lock Screen command on the Settings app’s main screen. Use it to set the lock screen’s wallpaper. The Zedge app has some interesting wallpaper features. Check it out on the Google Play store.

Article / Updated 09-13-2021

It's nice to be able to take advantage of the ability to connect your Android phone to other devices, like a computer or monitor. Here's how to handle those connections. Connecting to an HDMI TV set or monitor A popular feature on several Android phones is the capability to connect the phone to an high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) TV set or monitor. To make that connection, the phone must have an HDMI connector, and you need to buy an HDMI cable. After doing so, you can enjoy viewing your phone’s media on a larger-size screen. Nothing beats playing Angry Birds on an 80-inch plasma TV. After making the HDMI connection, you see a pop-up menu on the screen or you can choose the HDMI notification. Among the options you’ll find for using the larger screen are the following: Gallery: You can view pictures or a slideshow, according to the directions on the screen. Music: Choose a playlist, an album, or an artist, and enjoy watching the Music app on the big screen. (The sound should play from the TV’s speakers.) Mirror on Display: The screen output on your Android phone is duplicated on the HDMI TV or monitor. This option is the one you choose when you want to watch a rented movie on the big screen. How to Configure Your Android’s USB Connection Upon the successful connection of your Android phone to a computer using a USB cable, you have the option of configuring the USB connection. A menu appears, either automatically or when you choose the USB connection notification. If not, you can manually configure the USB connection by following these steps: Open the Settings app. Choose Storage. Touch the Action Overflow icon and choose the USB Computer Connection command. Choose either Media Device (MTP) or Camera (PTP). Select Media Device (MTP) if it’s not already selected. MTP stands for Media Transfer Protocol. When that setting is chosen, the computer believes the phone to be a portable media player, which it is, kind of. This option is the most common option. PTP stands for Picture Transfer Protocol. In this setting, the computer is misled into thinking that the phone is a digital camera. Select this option only when the MTP option fails to make the connection. If you can’t get the USB connection to work, check to see whether the phone features a proprietary synchronization program, such as Samsung’s Kies utility. No matter which USB connection option you’ve chosen, the phone’s battery charges whenever it’s connected to a computer’s USB port — as long as the computer is turned on, of course.

Article / Updated 09-13-2021

Unlike someone interrupting a conversation by making an incoming call, a conference call is one you set out to make intentionally. You make one call and then add a second call to it, allowing three (or more) people to talk together at once. Touch an icon on the phone’s touchscreen and then everyone is talking. Here’s how it works: Phone the first person. After the call connects and you greet the first person, touch the + symbol labeled "Add Call." After touching that, the first person is put on hold. Call the second person. You can use the dial pad or choose the second person from the phone’s address book or the recent calls log. Say hello and let this person know that the call is about to be merged. Touch the Merge or Merge Calls icon. The two calls are now joined. The touchscreen says Conference Call, and the End Last Call icon appears. Everyone you’ve dialed can talk to and hear everyone else. Touch the End Call icon to end the conference call. All calls are disconnected. When several people are in a room and want to participate in a call, you can always put the phone in speaker mode. Touch the Speaker icon on the ongoing call screen. Your Android phone may feature the Manage icon while you’re in a conference call. Touch this icon to list the various calls, to mute one, or to select a call to disconnect.

Article / Updated 09-09-2021

It's handy to know how to connect your Android phone to a Wi-Fi network and a WPS router. Here's how. Connecting to a Wi-Fi network After you activate the Wi-Fi function on your Android phone or tablet, it automatically connects to any known Wi-Fi network ― meaning one that you’ve accessed before and for which the password is still valid. If not, you can hunt down an available network. Follow these steps: Visit the Wi-Fi screen in the Settings app. Select a wireless network from the list. Available Wi-Fi networks appear on the screen, similar to what’s shown in the figure. When no wireless networks are listed, you're out of luck regarding wireless access from your current location. If prompted, type the network password. Tap the Show Password check box so that you can see what you’re typing; some of those network passwords can be long. Tap the CONNECT button. The network is connected immediately. If not, try the password again. If prompted to remember the network, do so. Some Androids may ask whether you want to automatically reconnect to the same Wi-Fi network in the future. Choose that option. While your Android is connected to a wireless network, the Wi-Fi Connected status icon, which looks like a tiny fan, appears at the top of the touchscreen (see the figure above). This icon indicates that the Wi-Fi function is on and the device is connected and communicating with a Wi-Fi network. Some public networks require that you sign in to their web pages after connecting. The sign-in page may appear automatically. If not, open the web browser app and visit any page to be redirected to the sign-in page. Heed the directions there to gain network access. A wireless network without a password is considered unsecure. The absence of security makes it easier for people to do bad things on the network. My advice is to use the connection but avoid sending sensitive information over a nonsecured public network. The Wi-Fi connection works best when you plan on being in a specific location for an extended time. That’s because the Wi-Fi signal goes only so far. If you wander too far away, the signal — and your connection — are lost. The Wi-Fi connection stays active until you wander out of range. To deliberately disconnect from a Wi-Fi network, turn off the device’s Wi-Fi function. Connecting to a WPS router Many Wi-Fi routers feature a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). It’s a network authorization system that’s simple and secure. If the wireless router features WPS, follow these steps to quickly connect your phone or tablet to the network: Visit the Wi-Fi screen in the Settings app. Tap the WPS connection button on the router. The button either is labeled WPS or uses the WPS icon, shown here. On your Android, choose Wi-Fi Preferences. This item is found at the bottom of the list of available networks on the Wi-Fi screen. If not, tap Action Overflow and choose Advanced. Choose WPS Push Button or WPS Pin Entry, depending on how the router does its WPS thing. If you don’t see these items, expand the Advanced category. For a WPS push-button router, push the WPS button on the router. For a WPS PIN router, look on the device’s touchscreen for a PIN. Type that number on the Wi-Fi router. Connection with the router may take a few moments, so be patient. The good news is that, as on all Wi-Fi networks, once the initial connection is established, the connection is made again automatically in the future.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-22-2021

An Android is a complex piece of electronics: delightful, inspirational, intimidating. Obviously, that qualifies an Android phone or tablet as the next great thing. It also means that if you want to get the most from the device, you need some gentle hand-holding and careful explanation. This Cheat Sheet provides that information, plus plenty of tips and tricks and other useful information that help make your Android mobile device experience a pleasant and productive one.

Article / Updated 09-21-2020

Your Android may be capable of doing things you never imagined was possible. Check out these 10 tips, tricks, and shortcuts to help you get the most from your device. Switch apps quickly Android apps don’t quit. Sure, some of them have a Quit action or Sign Out option, but most apps loiter in the device’s guts while you do other things. The Android operating system may eventually kill off a stale app. Before that happens, you can deftly and quickly switch between all running apps. The key to making the switch is to use the Recent gesture or tap the Recent navigation icon, found at the bottom of the touchscreen. When you see the Overview, or list of open apps, swipe the screen up or down to peruse what’s available. To dismiss the list, use the Back or Home navigation gestures or navigation icons. To remove an app from the list of recent apps, swipe it from the list (up, down, left, or right). This technique is effectively the same thing as quitting an app. For devices with the Recent navigation icon, double-tap this icon to switch between the two most recently used apps. Deploy the Flashlight One of the first “killer apps” on mobile devices is the flashlight. It uses the camera’s LED flash to help you see in the dark. For a while, everyone had to get a flashlight app, but today the flashlight feature is frequently found on the quick settings drawer. Use two fingers to swipe down the screen and display the quick settings. If one of the icons looks like a flashlight, tap it to activate the flashlight feature. Tap again to turn off the flashlight. The flashlight feature might also appear as a lock screen app, or you might be able to place it on the lock screen as an option. Be aware that keeping the LED lamp on for extended durations drains the battery. Use the Flashlight quick setting instead of obtaining a flashlight app. Though it may no longer be the case, at one time flashlight apps spied on their users. The apps collected data and beamed it back to a remote server somewhere. Such malicious apps were purged from Google Play long ago. In any event, the availability of the quick settings feature has rendered such apps unnecessary. Improve the display Two things to consider helping your eyeballs when looking at your pet Android are to enable the dark theme and activate the night light feature. Dark theme inverses the color scheme of many apps, replacing the obnoxious, glaring, white background with a gentle, power-saving, dark background. The night light feature removes the blue end of the spectrum from the display, which provides for an easy transition to sleep during the night hours. Avoid data surcharges An important issue for anyone using an Android phone or LTE tablet is whether you’re about to burst through your monthly data quota. Mobile data surcharges can pinch the wallet, but your Android has a handy tool to help you avoid data overages. In the Settings app, you can use the data usage screens, illustrated here. To access the data usage screens, open the Settings app and choose Network & Internet. Tap the Mobile network item to view cellular data information, as shown on the far left. To view the Wi-Fi usage screen (shown on the far right), from the Network & Internet screen, choose Wi-Fi and then Wi-Fi Data Usage. On Samsung devices, in the Settings app, choose Connections and then choose Data Usage. The data usage screens show how much data your device has consumed for both mobile data and Wi-Fi connections. A list of data-consuming apps is also presented. Showing the details is interesting, but what’s useful is setting warnings and limits on mobile data. Follow these steps: Open the Settings app. Choose Network & Internet. Choose Data Saver. Ensure that the master control by Use Data Saver is in the On position. Use the Back gesture or tap the Back navigation icon to return to the Network & Internet screen. Choose Mobile Network. Choose Data Warning & Limit. The Data Warning & Limit screen appears. Tap Set Data Warning. Choose Data Warning and use the slider to set the data warning limit. Say your plan allows for 3.0GB (gigabytes) of mobile data per billing cycle. Set the warning at 2.5GB. Tap the Set button. Ensure that the master control by Set Data Limit is in the On position. Tap Data Limit and set a limit. This value should be just below your allowed usage — say, 2.8GB for a plan that allows 3.0GB per month. On a Samsung device, follow these steps: Open the Settings app. Choose Connections. Choose Data Usage. Activate the setting Alert Me About Data Usage. Choose the item Mobile Data Usage. Tap the Settings icon. Continue with Step 8 in the preceding set of steps. It’s important to remember that your device and the cellular provider monitor data usage differently. For example, your monthly quota may be 5GB, but if you set the limit (when the device stops using the mobile-data network, in Step 5) to 5GB, you may still be surcharged. That’s why I recommend (in Step 5) to set a limit below your maximum allowed monthly usage. Watch your Android dream After the touchscreen time-out kicks in, the apps keep running and activity goes on, but does the device dream? Well, of course it does! You can even see the dreams, if you activate the Daydream feature — and if you keep a power source connected. Heed these steps: Start the Settings app. Choose Display. Choose Screen Saver. You may need to tap the Advanced item to find Screen Saver. Tap the Current Screen Saver item to choose a screen saver. On Samsung devices, the list of screen savers is shown instantly. Some daydream options feature the Settings icon, which customizes the daydream’s appearance. Choose When to Start. If this item is unavailable, the screen saver is activated only when the device is charging. Select an option, such as While Charging or While Docked. Choosing the Never option disables the screen saver. The daydreaming begins when the screen would normally time-out and lock. For some Androids, the device must be receiving power for the screen saver to activate: when charging, when docked, or both. Bring back the navigation buttons! Using gestures for the Home, Back, Recent, and other activities can be useful, but as an old-timer, I like having navigation buttons. To me, they bring a consistency to the interface and are welcome, like familiar friends. To restore the navigation buttons, heed these directions: Open the Settings app. Choose System. Choose Gestures. Choose System Navigation. Select 3-Button Navigation. The three familiar navigation icons appear at the bottom of the screen. Use them to navigate your Android when the gestures are disabled. Add spice to dictation If you’ve used dictation, you might notice that it occasionally censors some of the words you utter. Perhaps you’re the kind of person who doesn’t put up with that kind of s***. Relax. You can follow these steps to lift the vocal censorship ban: Start the Settings app. Choose System and then choose Languages & Input. On Samsung devices, choose General Management and then choose Language & Input. Choose Virtual Keyboard and then choose Google Voice Typing. On Samsung devices, choose On-Screen Keyboard and then choose Google Voice Typing. Disable the option Hide Offensive Words. And just what are offensive words? I would think that censorship is an offensive word. But no — apparently, only a few choice words fall into this category. I won’t print them here. Visit the dictionary Betcha didn’t know that your Android sports a dictionary. The dictionary keeps track of words you type that may not be recognized as being spelled properly. Unrecognized words are highlighted on the screen. Sometimes the word is shown in a different color or on a different background, and sometimes it’s underlined in red. To add that word to the internal dictionary, tap it and choose Add to Dictionary. To review or edit the dictionary, follow these steps: Start the Settings app. Choose System and then Languages & Input. Choose Virtual Keyboard. Choose Gboard. Choose Dictionary. Choose Personal Dictionary. Choose English. Behold your added words, if any. With the dictionary visible, you can review words, edit them, remove them, or manually add new ones. Tap a word to edit or delete. To add a new word to the list, tap the Add icon. Samsung devices (which use the Samsung Keyboard instead of the Gboard) lack an editable dictionary. This situation may change in the future. Add useful widgets Your Android features a wide assortment of widgets with which to festoon the Home screen. They can be exceedingly handy, though you may not realize it because the sample widgets that are preset on the Home screen are weak and unimpressive. Good widgets to add include navigation, contact info, eBook, and web page favorites. Adding any of these widgets starts out the same. Here are the brief directions: Long-press a Home screen page that has room for a widget. Choose Widgets. Drag a widget to the Home screen. Complete the process. The process is specific for each type of widget suggestion. Direct Dial widget Use the Contacts/Direct Dial widget on an Android phone to access those numbers you dial all the time. After adding the widget, choose a contact from the address book. Tap this widget to dial the contact’s default number instantly. Directions widget The Maps/Directions widget allows you to quickly summon directions to a specific location from wherever you happen to be. After you add the widget to the Home screen, select a traveling method and destination. You can type a contact name, an address, a business name, and so on. Add a shortcut name, which is a brief description to fit under the widget on the Home screen. Tap the SAVE button. Tap the Directions widget to use it. Instantly, the Maps app starts and enters Navigation mode, steering you from wherever you are to the location referenced by the widget. eBook widget When you’re mired in the middle of that latest potboiler, put a Google Play Books/Book widget on the Home screen: Choose the Book widget and then select which eBooks in your digital library you want to access. Tap the widget to open the Play Books app and jump right into the book at the spot where you were last reading. Web bookmark widget If you collect bookmarks in the Chrome app, add their list to the Home screen. Choose the Chrome Bookmarks widget. For a specific web page, however, open the Chrome app and visit the page. Tap the Action Overflow and choose Add to Home Screen, edit the web page name (if necessary), and then tap the Add button. A widget is created to access that specific page. How to take a screen shot on Android A screen shot, also called a screen cap (for capture), is a picture of your Android’s touchscreen. If you see something interesting on the screen or you just want to take a quick pic of your digital life, you take a screen shot. The stock Android method of shooting the screen is to press and hold both the Volume Down and Power/Lock keys at the same time. Upon success, the touchscreen image reduces in size, you may hear a shutter sound, and the screen shot is saved. Screen shots are accessed through the Photos app or from a screen shot notification. In the Photos app, the images appear along with any photos you’ve snapped from the camera. Some Samsung galactic gizmos use a Motion command to capture the screen: Hold your hand perpendicular to the touchscreen, like you’re giving it a karate chop. Swipe the edge of your palm over the screen, right-to-left or left-to-right. Upon success, you hear a shutter sound. Internally, screen shots are stored in the Pictures/Screenshots folder. They’re created in either the PNG or JPEG graphics file format.