Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 5 i Android Smartphones & Tablets The Complete Manual

Your Android phone or tablet is the perfect tool for checking your emails on the go, browsing the Internet while you wait for your train or listening to music while you exercise, but it is also capable of so much more. From playing the latest games and watching ondemand TV to managing your work/life balance and writing that long-planned novel. This Android guidebook will take you from getting the most from the stock Android apps such as Gmail and Chrome, through solving common problems and on to learning about adding launchers and sideloading your device. We will show you how to explore the OS and get more from any Android phone or tablet, whether it is four years old or the latest cutting edge, flagship model. Master your tech @…

Choosing a microSD Some memory cards may not be fully compatible with the device. Using an incompatible card may damage the device or the memory card. If you buy your memory card from a well known mobile store, you should be OK. Card Capacity As already mentioned, not all devices can read all sizes of microSD card. The most recent Android devices can use a card of up to 1TB, but your particular model might be limited to a smaller capacity, or not be able to use a memory card at all. Check this before buying a microSD card for your device. Recycling Cards You may have a microSD card in an old device you can use. Be aware that some memory cards may not be compatible with your device…

Essential Keyboards Tips The keyboard is updated almost every time Android is updated, so the exact features you have access to on your device might vary, depending on the version you are using. Here’s a guide to the newest version. Tip 1 – Hide or Reveal Tap anywhere you can enter text, such as the text box in the Messages app or the Search field in just about any app, and the virtual keyboard appears. If you want to hide it again, tap the down-pointing chevron at the foot of the screen, which has replaced the Back button and it disappears. Tip 2 – Toggle Caps Lock To type a capital letter in any app, tap the Shift key once. The next letter you type will be upper case, after…

Changing the Wallpaper The exact steps for changing the wallpaper may vary between devices, depending on how new the device is, and which version of Android is currently being used. 1 Tap and hold in any blank area on the Home screen until it shrinks and options appear. Exact options will vary but you will usually see Wallpapers, Widgets and Settings. Tap the Wallpapers option and the Wallpaper selection screen will show under the “My wallpapers” heading. 2 Tap the ‘View all’ or ‘My wallpapers’ option and then scroll through the wallpaper thumbnails to see all system wallpapers available on your device. If you like the look of one of them, tap on the thumbnail and then choose whether to apply it to Lock screen, Home screen or both. 3…

Automatic Email Setup For most users, the automatic email setup wizard will take any hard work out of configuring your email app and should be able to find the relevant email server details from the email address you provide. 1 Open the Gmail app from the Apps menu on your phone and choose ‘Add email address’ then the type of email you’re setting up to start the setup process. Enter your email address, along with the password. Tap Next and wait to see if the Email app can pull the email settings from your ISP automatically. 2 Once the automatic setup is complete, you can choose if and when the app checks for new emails. You can set a higher frequency for peak times and a lower frequency for off-peak…

Notification Panel The Notification panel is the quick way to view and interact with alerts on Android. If you learn how to use this properly, you might never need to view notification settings. Here’s how to go about using your Notifications panel. 1 Notifications will appear as small icons in the status bar at the top of the screen. To open the Notification panel, drag your finger down over the status bar. They are grouped together so, for example, if you have several Gmail messages, they will be displayed in a single list. 2 Notifications are usually displayed with a small amount of information in the panel. However, you can expand most of these by dragging your finger down the notification group. This will allow you to see more information…

Multi-window on Android Multi-window mode on Android devices has been available for some time, and works very slightly differently to most other devices, even after updating to the latest version of Android. Here’s a guide to how it works. 1 On your Android device, tap the Recents button to view the thumbnails of recently opened apps. On the top bar of each app thumbnail is a multi-window icon. Tap this to open the first app in the top half of the screen. You will see that the bottom half still shows Recent Apps. 2 You can then tap the thumbnail to open an app in the bottom half of the screen. To change the ratio of the split, touch and hold on the dividing line and drag it up and…

1 Shutter Button The job of the Shutter button is fairly obvious: to take a photo. Press the button once to take a single photo, or hold the button down to activate burst mode, which will take up to 20 photos in very quick succession. The Volume down button on your phone can also be used to take photos. 2 Settings There are quick settings here to change aspect ratio, turn the flash on or off, set a timer, and change the photo filter. The quick settings will change depending on the camera mode (photo, video, panorama, etc.). You can also access the main camera settings from this menu. 3 Lens Select Many Android device cameras now offer the use of different lenses. This button lets you choose between Wide…

Android App Management The app management options have changed slightly over time, so some older devices, or those running older versions of Android, may have fewer options than shown here. This tutorial gives you a good overview. Set App Defaults There are many apps available on Google Play that provide the same or similar functions to your phone or tablet’s built-in tools. When you install one of these apps and then use a particular function it provides, Android will give you the option to make it the default app for that function. Removing Apps Most apps take up just a few MB of space but if you wish to remove an app, the process is simple. Head to Settings > Applications > Application Manager. Select the app you wish to…

Setting Up Google Wallet Google Wallet is a secure system, but as with anything to do with money and payments, it is important to make sure that you set everything up properly. With our help, it’s not difficult to do. Here’s how to go about it. 1 You make sure you have all the credit and debit cards you wish to register close at hand, and have all the details available (account numbers, sort codes, security numbers, etc.). You also need to download the Google Wallet app from Google Play, if you don’t already have it. 2 Once installed, tap the App icon and get started. If you have more than one Google account, chose the one you want to use with the app. If you already have a credit…

Setting Up Android Pay Android Pay is a secure system but as with anything to do with money and payments, it is important to make sure that you set everything up properly. 1 You will need to make sure that you have your credit or debit cards close at hand and have all the details available: account numbers, sort codes, security numbers, etc. You will also need to download the Android Pay app from Google Play, if you don’t already have it on your phone. Setting up Android Pay can take a little time, mainly due to the security questions and settings. 2 Once installed, tap the app icon and then Get Started and choose the Google account to use with the app (if you have more than one). If…

Enable Developer Options If you choose to do so, before you can start to use the developer options, you will need to unlock and activate them in the settings. 1 Open the main settings app and locate the About Device menu (usually found at the bottom of the settings list). This menu gives you access to lots of information about your phone or tablet. Scroll down until you see the Build Number section. 2 Tap on the Build Number heading ten times quickly. As you do so, you will see a message appear counting down and then saying “You are now a developer”. Continue to tap the build number heading and the message changes to “You are already a developer”. 3 Tap Back and look for the new heading Developer…

Save Web Pages as PDF There are a few different options available to you when you want to save a web page for offline reading. The first we will look at is saving as a PDF file. 1 This first technique should require no additional apps to be installed, instead taking advantage of the built-in support for PDF’s which is part of the printing options on Android. However, if you are using an older device, with an older version of Android, you may need to install the Cloud Print app. 2 Open the web page you want to save to read offline later. In this example, we are using the Chrome browser, but the same features are available in almost all third-party browsers as well. In Chrome, tap the Menu…

Sideload with Confidence Sideloading is inherently more risky than installing. apks from the Google Play store but as long as you take care, your device should be safe. 1 On your device (or any device running Android 4.0 or higher), tap the Main Settings app, tap the More tab and scroll down to Security. Under the Device Administration heading, select Unknown sources. 2 Selecting this option will allow you to install apps outside of the Google Play Store. Depending on your device, you can also choose to be warned before installing harmful apps by selecting Verify Apps. 3 The next step will be finding an Android package file, also known as an APK, which is the way Android apps are packaged, distributed and installed. APKs can be found quite easily…

App Management Smart Manager is a very useful tool, or collection of tools, which helps you keep your device running faster and more smoothly at the touch of a button. 1 Smart Manager can be found in the main app drawer of your Android device device. As mentioned if it isn’t pre-installed you should be able to download and install it through the Galaxy Apps store. If you are using a Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Tab S2 or Tab S, you already have it. 2 Tap the icon to open Smart Manager and you will see a fairly simple interface. The four main areas of the app are: Battery Remaining, Storage Used, RAM Used and Device Security. At the bottom of the screen you will see a button…

How to Access The Chrome OS Settings You can accomplish most of the main personalisation of Chrome OS from within the, wait for it… Personalisation section in the Settings menu. You can get to the Settings page by one of two ways: To start simple say ‘Hey Google, open settings’ in range of your device. Providing you’ve got the Android device Chromebook plugged into a power source and your battery is live, the Google Assistant will automatically open the main Settings Page for you, as shown below. Alternatively click on the power, Wifi and time icon in the bottom-right of the desktop. When the information menu opens, look to the cog icon in the top row, and click it. Either method will take you to the Settings page. In here…

Create and Manage Routines Learn how to customise, create and use Routines with your Google Home speaker and the Google Home app on your mobile device. 1 Your Google Home app comes with several pre-set routines. To view or edit these, tap the Menu button at the top left, and select “More settings”. Scroll down and tap the “Routines” section. Here you will see displayed all of the existing routines, for example “Good morning” or “Bedtime”. 2 Below each routine name, you will see the number of associated actions. Tap a routine to start editing it. While all routines can be edited, you will notice they have differing numbers of actions that can be added. The pre-set routines illustrate this difference. 3 Each Routine is split into sections. These are:…

Connections Whichever model of Android device you have, it has several ports and other such facilities to connect it to peripherals and also to charge and connect to a computer. It will also, of course, have a SIM card drawer to house the SIM card provided by your mobile service provider. Not every Galaxy model has every port described here. USB-C/Micro USB Most modern devices, including recent Android device models, use USB-C connections for charging the phone or tablet and as a data cable, for connecting it to your computer. Older Android phones and tablets might use Micro USB instead. Either way, it’s usually found at the bottom of your device. 3.5mm Audio Port The most recent Android devices forego the headphone or 3.5mm port, as most users today use…

Dialling a Number There are lots of different ways to initiate a call on your Android phone, but if you know the number you want to contact, it’s usually fastest to simply open the keypad and type in the number on the screen. 1 To begin making a call on your Android device, tap the phone icon on your Home screen and, by default, the call log screen (Recents) will open. This lets you quickly return a call to a recent caller. If the person you want to call is not in the call log, tap the Keypad button at the bottom of the screen to enter a number manually. 2 The Android phone dialler is pretty much standard and should be familiar to anyone who has used a phone…

Change the Default Ringtone You can customise most of the various sounds used on your device, even if that just means turning them on or off, from the ringtone to keypad tones. Here’s a guide to personalising the sounds on your Android device. 1 Open the main Settings app and look for “Sounds” or “Sounds and Vibration”. You can access almost all of the sound options on your device from this settings menu. Scroll down until you see the Ringtone heading, tap it and you will see a list of all of the available ringtones. 2 Select a ringtone and a preview of it plays. Tap the Back button if happy with your selection. Scroll down to the bottom of the list to see the option to ‘Add from phone’…

Creating Your Own Wallpapers Using AI for creative purposes is something of a controversial subject. Although one could argue that using AI to generate art is the opposite of what art is, does this apply to your Android device’s wallpaper? 1 First of all, you must access your Wallpaper & Style settings. There are two ways to do this. You can either open the Settings app and look for it there, or you can tap and hold on your current Android wallpaper until this window pops up. 2 With the Wallpaper & Style settings open, tap the More Wallpapers option and then select the AI Wallpaper link. You can find it under the Create a Wallpaper option near the top of the screen. You can see it in this screenshot…

Browsing the Internet The Google Chrome browser is far from the only option for getting onto the Internet but unless you need very specific features offered by other browsers, Chrome is a great all round choice. Here’s how to use it. Search Field Type your search terms or URL here. You will also see a microphone icon, which when tapped will allow you to search by voice. Chrome Menu The Menu button should always be visible and gives you access to the bookmarking button, page refresh and the forward and back buttons. Bookmarks List Tap the star at the bottom of the Chrome Home screen to see your bookmarked websites. You can also access bookmarks through the menu. Recent Sites Recently visited websites will be displayed as thumbnails on the…

PIN, Pattern or Password Locks Choosing between PIN, Pattern and Password lock is down to personal preference, and also your security concerns regarding the level at which you want to protect your data. Here’s how to go about making that choice. 1 Open the main Settings and scroll down to the Security section. Screen Security is the first section, with Screen Lock the first option. Within the Screen Lock settings you will see five options: None, Swipe, Pattern, PIN, and Pattern. Swipe and None can be ignored for now. 2 To set up a pattern lock, tap Pattern and choose whether you want to add an extra sign in on start-up. Tap Continue and draw your pattern out on the dots. The lines of your pattern can cross over each…

Always on Display The Always on Display shows information in a very low power way, using less than one percent of your battery life per hour. If your battery power drops below five per cent, the display turns off. Here’s how to set up your AOD. 1 Head into the main Settings app on your Android device and look for the Lock Screen settings. About halfway down the list of settings you see ‘Always on display’. Tap the switch to turn this option on. The lock screen is now shown even when the Galaxy device goes to sleep. 2 Tap the Always on Display option to show its settings. You can change how the Always on Display behaves, such as whether you need to tap it to show or it’s…

Adjust and Improve Images There are lots of third-party image editing apps, but the tools built in to the Gallery app can do a very good job of helping you improve your images. Here’s a guide to getting you started in the Gallery editing tools on your device. 1 Open the Gallery app and find the image you want to edit. The app automatically sorts images depending on their source: photos from the camera, downloads, WhatsApp images, etc. Tap the image to open it on screen and to see the first set of edit options in Gallery. 2 To open the editing tools, tap the pencil icon under the photo. The basic tools (along the bottom) are, from left to right: Auto Enhance, Crop/Rotate, Effects, Brightness and Exposure, Add Stickers/Add…

Pairing Your Headphones Before you can connect your headphones, speaker or other peripherals to your Android device, you need to allow the devices to connect to each other. This is called ‘Pairing’. Here’s a guide to doing exactly that. 1 With your Bluetooth device fully charged, turn it (or them) on, then put it/them into pairing mode (see the device’s instructions if you’re unsure how). You probably need to press a button for a few seconds, and normally, a blinking LED light shows the device is ready to pair. 2 Now, on your Android device, head into Settings > Connections and tap Bluetooth; make sure it’s switched on. Your Galaxy automatically scans for available Bluetooth devices within range, and should soon display the name of your own Bluetooth device. 3…

Calendar View You can easily change the view displayed by the app to suit your own needs or requirements, editing options such as which calendars are shown and which is the default view. Here’s how to go about it in the Calendar app. 1 When you open the Android device’s Calendar app you should see the default month view screen. The current day will be highlighted, and any known events or tasks will have a coloured line or label beneath the date. Tap the three-lines icon at the top of the screen to change to year, week, day or task view. 2 For most users, month view is the most useful but even this can be customised. Drag up from the bottom of the screen to reduce the size of…

Set Up Google Maps Before you can use Google Maps on your Android device device, you need to ensure a few other services are activated. These may vary, depending on where you are trying to use the app. Here’s how to go about it. 1 Because Google Maps uses Live data you will almost always need to be connected to the Internet to use it to its full extent. So the first thing you need to do is connect to a Wi-Fi network or, if you are out of range of a Wi-Fi network, connect to a mobile data network such as 3G or 4G. 2 To take full advantage of all of the features of Google Maps, you will also need to ensure that Location Services are enabled and…

Preparing to Reset Before you reset and wipe your device you need to make sure that you understand and are prepared for what you need to get back up and running afterwards. 1 To show that it’s you doing the reset, you’ll need to enter security information. If you can’t enter the information, you won’t be able to restore your data to the device. Therefore, you will need to know the Google account information that is currently being used on the device. 2 A factory data reset will erase your data from the device. While data stored in your Google account can be restored, all apps and their data will be uninstalled. Open your device’s Settings app, tap System > Backup. Turn on Back up to Google Drive. 3 A…

Modify Animation Settings You can now begin to modify development settings, including the animation settings. It is a good idea to back up your device before continuing. 1 Whilst it may be tempting to play around with the settings here, we suggest leave everything alone until you know what the possible effects could be. And if you do decide to change developer options, change them one at a time and test the changes before altering anything else. Otherwise it can be hard to know what caused any problems that occur. 2 For this guide, we are looking at animation options, which can be found in the “Drawing” section about halfway down the list of settings. You will see three animation settings: Window animation scale, Transition animation scale and Animator duration…

Antivirus Software Just like on your computer there are lots of different Anti-virus tools available on Android; and just like on a PC, they all do broadly similar things and offer similar features. You will also have a choice of using a free app, or paying for a premium app. One of the best free apps is AVG AntiVirus FREE. With AVG AntiVirus FREE for Android phones and tablets you’ll receive effective, easy-to-use virus and malware protection, as well as a real-time app scanner, phone locator, task killer, app lock and local device wipe. Understanding Virus Threats You really don’t need to panic over the threat of viruses on your device, but it makes sense to know more about them. Android Viruses There are thankfully still few known viruses which…

Smart Home Essentials If you want to add Smart Home features to your home, you will need to ensure a few essentials are in place first, aside from the Smart gadgets we will look at in a moment. 1 – Wi-Fi Almost without exception, Smart tools and gadgets will need to connect to a Wi-Fi network to work properly. This is how the devices share information, and how they are remotely controlled. This means you need to have a fairly strong and stable Wi-Fi network set up in your house. Without a Wireless network in place, a Smart Home on a budget is just not possible. 2 – Controls The Smart Home gadgets we will be looking at here all require a companion controller app to be installed on a…

1. Battery Drain The easiest way to quickly reduce battery drain is to switch off a few power hungry features such as GPS (location) and Bluetooth, reduce the screen brightness and restart your device. This should see an immediate improvement in battery life. Some devices also now include battery saver modes, allowing you to reduce functionality for a short term increase in battery life. These are, however, generally designed as emergency measures, not day to day solutions. You can read more about way to save battery power elsewhere in this book, and the application of a few or even one of these measures should help. If you are still having problems lasting the day on a full charge, then consider buying a new battery (if your device allows battery replacement).…

1 Background/Wallpaper As with any other operating system, Chrome OS features a customisable background, or wallpaper, for you to change and personalise. There are plenty available from within Chrome OS itself, including works of art, fantasy, and even solid colours; you’re also able to include your own images. 2 Welcome Page When you first log into Chrome OS you’re presented with a welcome page. This includes details and quick tutorials on how to accomplish the most frequently used tasks within the operating system. It’s worth spending a few minutes going through what the Welcome Page has to offer, to help familiarise yourself with the new OS. 3 Searching & Apps Still within the Launcher, you can enter anything into the text box provided to search the files stored on the…

Choosing Music Services You can connect your speaker to a great variety of different music services, from Google Play Music to Spotify and Deezer, which will give you access to millions of songs. 1 You will have been asked to choose a music service during the setup of the Google home speaker, but if you skipped this step, or want to add more, you can add services at any time. Open the Google Home app on your Android device and tap the +Add button on the Home tab. Then tap Music and audio. 2 If you have a Google Play Music or YouTube Red account (connected to the current Google account), these services will be linked automatically to the Home app. To link one of the other music services (Spotify,…

Inserting Your Nano-SIM Card Before you get started with your Android smartphone, you need to insert the Nano-SIM card you got from your mobile phone service provider. If you have the wrong size card, go to your provider’s store and get it exchanged. 1 To activate your Android smartphone, you must first insert the SIM card provided by your mobile phone network provider. If you don’t have one, or have the wrong size, go to their store. 2 Use a SIM eject tool like the one pictured here, or maybe a straightened paper clip, and insert it into the small hole next to the SIM slot. The tray then pops out as shown. 3 Place the SIM card in the tray (there’s only one way it can go in) and…

Create a New Message Despite how simple an act it might seem, there are a number of options to consider when composing and sending SMS messages on your Android device device. Let’s take a look at the Android Messages application. 1 To start a new message, first of all, tap the Messaging app icon on the Home screen. On many Android devices, the Messages app icon is in the dock at the bottom of the screen. Tap the New Message icon at the bottom right of the screen to begin composing the message. 2 In the top box, either type the phone number that you want to message, the name of the contact, or tap the Contacts icon beside the box and choose who you want to message from the…

Improving the Lock Screen With the introduction of widgets and qucik access short cuts, we actually spend far more time interacting with our device’s lock screens that we actually realise. So let’s make it the best it can be. 1 To follow this guide, you need to have Android 14 installed. If you haven’t, check for updates on your phone. When it’s installed, to begin with, open the Settings app from the Home Screen and go to the Wallpaper and Style option. 2 On the left of the screen you see a Lock Screen preview. Tap it to go to the Lock Screen Customisation View. You can change the appearance of the clock in the centre of the screen, including its style, shape and position on the screen. 3 Tap…

Connecting to a Network Before trying to connect to a Wi-Fi network, you should make sure you know the SSID (its name) of the network you want to connect to, as well as the password needed. These should be supplied with your router. 1 Open the Settings app and look for the Wi-Fi heading. It’s probably under ‘Connections’. First of all, you must turn your Wi-Fi connectivity on. Drag the slider to the right, then tap Wi-Fi. Your device begins to scan for and displays any networks within range, in a list. 2 Next to each available network, you will see an indication of signal strength and whether the network is secured. Hopefully you will see your Wi-Fi network in the list. If not, make sure that the Wi-Fi router…

Set Up Google Assistant The Google Assistant is really rather clever, and it makes sense to take advantage of it. After all, its complete design is entirely based on making your life easier, so why not let it? Here’s how to get started with your Google Assistant. 1 You can access Google Assistant at any time, by pressing and holding the Home button. This opens a small panel at the bottom of the screen, with the assistant immediately ready to listen to voice commands, or react to typed searches or queries. You can even take photos for Google to identify. 2 When you open Google Assistant for the first time, you will see a link to “Unlock more Assistant features”. This allows you to turn on screen context, which changes…

Cloud Backing Up and Restoring Several cloud backup options are available to Android device users. To get to them, open the Settings app and go to Accounts and Backup. From there, proceed with the following steps to back up and sync your device. 1 Open the Settings app, and go to Accounts and backup. Here you see the backup options that are available to you. In this case, we can back up to your choice of Cloud or Google Drive. We’re using Samsung Cloud, which is why there’s no Restore option for Google Drive. 2 Tap Back up data, listed under the service you want to use. Once again, we’re using Samsung Cloud. On the next screen, you’re given a list of things that are optional in a backup. Switch…

Dark Mode Dark mode, which turns much of the interface black instead of the default white, can be scheduled to turn on and off at regular times as well as being enabled as and when you want to. This is how to do it. 1 Open the main Settings app and look for the Display settings. Here you can find the option to enable Dark mode, as well as the options to configure it. If you just want to turn Night mode on straight away, just tap the Dark graphic and you see the Settings screen change to black. 2 If you want to schedule Dark mode, tap Dark mode settings underneath the graphics. You have the choice of scheduling Dark mode for sunset to sunrise, or you can choose…

Digital Wellbeing When you’ve set it up, Digital Wellbeing is a great tool for helping you to keep control over your digital life. At last, you have a tool to keep tabs on your online activity, and help you reduce your social media use if you see fit. 1 The Digital Wellbeing settings and controls are found in the main settings of your Android device device, where it has a section with the parental controls. If you’ve also installed the Digital Wellbeing app from Google, you can find this in the main app drawer of your phone or tablet. 2 Open Digital Wellbeing and you immediately see a bar chart showing the total time spent on your device, broken up into sections that identify individual apps (Facebook, Google Play Store,…

Exploring the Play Store Getting used to navigating and using the Play Store is one of the first things you should do if you’re new to the Android operating system. 1 Google Play Menu The search field is always visible when browsing any category in Google Play. Search in Apps & Games and the results are apps. If you search in Books, the results only includes books. You can also use voice search by tapping the Mic icon. 2 Account Settings When you open the Play Store, the default screen shows apps and games recommended for you. Tap your icon here to access account settings, see your installed apps, view notifications and subscriptions, and lots more. 3 App Gallery You can scroll down the main screen of the Play Store…

Set Up Google Meet You can initiate a Google Meet call directly from the Google Meet app, or through Gmail or chat, and also schedule a meeting through the Calendar app. Here’s a guide to setting up a Google Meet on your Android device. 1 Open the Google Meet app. The first screen shows your latest activity, which will of course be blank when you first use the app. If you’ve been sent a code with which to launch a Google chat, put it in the top field here. Otherwise, tap the New button (bottom right). 2 On the next screen, you can search your Contacts app using the field at the top of the screen, or dial a number directly. Tap the icon in the right of the search…

Local Search You can use Google Maps to find people, places and businesses in your local area. It’s great for finding places to visit. 1 Turn on Location, connect to Wi-Fi and open Google Maps. The local search feature also works using just your 3G or 4G connection which is easier on your battery but isn’t quite as accurate. 2 From the main map screen tap in the search field and type what you want to search for. You can search for specific businesses or just type something like “hairdressers” to see all in that area. 3 Results relevant to your search will now be shown on the map. The bottom half of the screen contains a list of those locations, along with a button to quickly load directions to…

1 Terrain Your mobile phone communicates using simple radio waves and these travel in straight lines from your phone to the nearest visible cell tower. Anything that gets in the way can cause loss of signal strength or even signal failure. For example, if your nearest cell tower was a mile away, but hidden behind a hill, and the next visible tower was five or ten miles away, your phone would be forced to connect to that one, rather than the much closer tower. In this case, distance would also begin to have an effect on signal strength. If you lived in a valley and all of the cell towers were outside the valley, you would effectively be in a Dead Zone. You might think that living in a city…

Testing Menu Code Whichever carrier or manufacturer is involved, these test codes should work for the majority of Android devices. If they do not, try searching online for specific codes for your particular device. 1 Open the phone dialler screen on your phone and type *#*#4636#*#*. As soon as you type the last *, the test menu will appear on screen. This contains four main sections: Phone Information, Battery Information, Usage Statistics and Wi-Fi Information. Tap any heading to see more info. 2 You can gain access to a lot of general information about your phone by going into the Phone information menu. You will also be able to run a PING test that checks the speed of connection to your current phone mast. Be careful when running tests or…

Application Settings The exact location of the app settings will vary between devices. You should however, always be looking for Applications, App Management or App Settings. 1 When disabling bloatware, don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you don’t use a particular app or service that it is not essential to your device. Removing essential apps or services may cause problems with how your device works. It is therefore important that you understand exactly what you are disabling before you disable it. 2 The best way to put a stop to bloatware safely, is to disable one app at a time. Once you have disabled an app, check that your device is still working as it should before you go ahead and remove the next bit of bloatware. This…

1. Add a Screen Lock It has probably been said to you before, but setting up a screen lock pattern, password or PIN is an essential security step; one which every user should make a priority as soon as their device is set up. PIN and password locks are the most secure option, but a pattern lock generally offers faster access to your device and is easier to remember for most users. If you do use using a pattern lock, at least make it complicated enough that it can’t be easily guessed. Several of the more advanced Android security features will require a screen lock in place before they can even be set up, let alone used effectively. 2. Set Up User Profiles If your device is to be shared…

The Chromebook Without beating around the bush too much, and in very basic terms, a Chromebook is a laptop that runs Google’s Chrome OS (Operating System). There can be subtle hardware differences between a laptop that is installed with Windows 10 or 11, and even a MacBook with the latest macOS, but essentially that’s all there is to it. The first Chromebooks were commercially sold in June 2011, with several different models from laptop manufacturers Samsung and Acer, in partnership with Google. From then, the humble Chromebook has evolved and is now as widespread as any other OS-independent computing device; in fact, Chromebooks outsold Apple MacBooks during the first lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. There are also different Chromebook variants. There’s a desktop variant, called the Chromebox, which…

Setting Up Google Home All of the setup for your Google Home speaker is done through the Google Home app for Android. Use this app for future access and changes to the settings. 1 Plug in your Google Home device and wait for the audio cue to show it is ready to be set up. Make sure that the switch that controls the microphone is set to “On”. If you accidentally turn the microphone off on your speaker, the device will inform you accordingly. 2 Currently, Google Home is only available for Android devices, and most have it pre-installed. If you don’t already have it, find the app on the Google Play Store, download and install it on your mobile device (phone or tablet). Once installed, open the app. 3…

Play Music on the Home Speaker Being able to play music stored on your phone or tablet through the Google Home speaker is a useful addition to its bag of tricks. 1 Open the Google Home app and tap the name of the device you want to connect with via Bluetooth. In the top right corner of the device info card, tap the device settings menu and then find the Paired Bluetooth devices heading and tap it. In the next screen, tap the Enable Pairing Mode button. 2 Now open the Bluetooth settings on your mobile device and turn Bluetooth on. The device will scan for available connections and you should see the name you gave your speaker appear in the list. If not, tap the Scan button to make…