[Android General] paarthdesai:
Avoid task killers

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

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

Bookmark a contact on your homescreen

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

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

Bookmark a web page on your homescreen

To bookmark a website on your homescreen, go into your browser and find the bookmark of the page you want to create a shortcut for.

Then long press on the bookmark and select Add Shortcut to Home.

If you regularly visit certain websites, this can be handy as you will have a shortcut to the site on your homescreen.

Create folders to tidy your Apps

If you find yourself with too many Apps on the homescreen, then you can create folders to organise them.

To start, simply press and hold on an App and drag it over the top of another App. The App should change colour/shape. Then release your finger and the two Apps will be combined into a folder.

You can then drag more Apps into this folder using the same process.

To give your folder a label, simply long press on the folder and you will be able to enter a name.

Double tap for a full stop (period)

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

Install new keyboard to improve accuracy

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

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

A good one is GoKeyboard.

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

Accents and special characters

If you want to type non-English letters (eg those with an accent), long-press on the relevant letter. A list of options will appear for you to select.

Access the scientific calculator

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

The calculator will change to a scientific one

Add email or phone number from text

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

Add widget to the homescreen

To add a widget, go to the homescreen and press the Apps icon (the circle with 6 dots). Then you will see a list of your Apps with the word Apps and Widgets at the top. Press Widgets, then you will be presented with a list of available widgets.

To add a widget, press and hold on it and then position it where you want

Android Easter egg

There is an Easter egg hidden in the Android operating system. To see it, go to your Homescreen, then press Menu - Settings - About phone.

Then tap on the Android version option 5 times and you will get a surprise.

Sometimes it doesn't work, so try a couple of times. By the way don't expect to see an actual Easter Egg. That is just the name given to things hidden inside software or operating systems.

Auto focus the camera

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

Bring up more predicted words

If you have word prediction enabled while you are typing, you can long press the middle word that is suggested. This will bring up a menu allowing you to select various other suggested words.

Browse websites in full-screen mode

If you want to browse in full screen mode, without the URL bar at the top of the browser, then you can enable this..

Open the standard browser and press Menu - Settings - Labs. Then put a check mark under Full Screen .

To get access to the browser options (that are now invisible), there is now a neat hidden menu. Slide your finger in from the left or right of the screen. A circular menu will appear with various options.

Capture a still shot while recording video

To capture a still shot while recording a video, simply tap the screen while you are recording.

This will save a still image.

Change keyboards

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

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

Change quick response texts

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

To change these, go to your Dialer App - Settings - Quick responses. You can only have 4 of them and you may need to edit existing ones.

Change the backlight screen timeout

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

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

Change the screen brightness

To change the screen brightness, start from the Homescreen and press Menu - Settings - Display - Brightness.

Then choose the desired brightness setting. You can also select Automatic brightness to let the phone decide for you.

If you have auto-brightness enabled, you can also press, hold and slide the top notification bar left and right. The brightness will increase and decrease accordingly.

Check phone status and battery usage

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

Check the firmware version

To check your firmware version, start from the Homescreen and press Menu - Settings - About Phone- software version

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

Copy files between your phone and PC using WiFi

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

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

Copying iTunes songs to Android

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

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

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

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

Create folders in your Quick Launch bar

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

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

Create shortcut to websites on your home screen

To create a shortcut to a website on your homescreen, go to your browser bookmarks.

Then long press on a site and select Add shortcut to Home

Customise your favourites tray

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

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

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

Enable / disable vibrate / haptic feedback when you type

To disable / enable vibrate (also called haptic feedback) when you type or press the screen, go to Settings - Language & input - Settings.

Then uncheck Vibrate on keypress.

Enable sideload of Apps

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

Note: use at your own risk.

Help, I have forgotten my unlock pattern

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

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

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

Hide folders or files

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

Make volume / music louder

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

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

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

Make your phone run faster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

note this guide is mainy to help the people who didnt recieved a manual instructions booklet along with their phone like my country(INDIA)

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