Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 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 on-demand 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 rooting 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. www.pclpublications.com…

Single Touch To activate items on the screen such as application and settings icons, to type letters and symbols using the on-screen keyboard, or to press on-screen buttons, you simply (gently) touch them with your finger. The touch screen is capacitive, meaning it is sensitive to the tiny electrical charge in our bodies. This means you only have to tap the screen, not press down hard with your finger. Swipe or Scroll Many of the menus or web pages that you can access on Android require you to scroll. To swipe or scroll, quickly move your finger across the surface of the screen, without pausing when you first touch it. For example the app drawer lets you slide the screen up or down to scroll through the list and in…

Scan For Networks You need to make sure that you know the name of, and the password for, your chosen Wi-Fi Network. If you don’t know already, you can usually find it printed on a label stuck to the back or bottom of your wireless router. 1 Open the Settings app and look for the Wi-Fi heading. Before you can start to find your Wi-Fi connection, you will need to turn the feature on. Drag the slider to the right. 2 Now tap the Wi-Fi heading. The device will scan and any networks within range will appear in a list. Next to each is indication of signal strength and whether the network is secured. 3 Hopefully you will see your Wi-Fi network in the list (if not, tap Scan to…

Dialling a Number There are lots of different ways to initiate a call on your Samsung Galaxy phone but if you know the number you want to dial this is usually the fastest method of making a call. 1 Tap the phone icon on your Home screen and, by default, the call log screen 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 dialler button at the bottom of the screen to enter a number manually. You can also search the call log/contact list. 2 The Android phone dialler is pretty much standard and should be familiar to anyone who has used a phone in the last twenty years. Simply use…

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. 1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Recent Sites Recently visited websites will be displayed as thumbnails on the opening screen of Chrome. Tap…

Using the Play Store Getting used to navigating the Play store is one of the first things you should do if you are new to Android. 1 Google Play Menu The default screen when you open the Play Store is the Apps & Games screen. To view the main screens for Movies, Music, Books etc. tap the menu button here. You can also access account settings here. 2 The Search Field The search field is always visible when browsing any category in Google Play. Search in Apps & Games and the results will be apps. If you search in Books the results will only include books. 3 Charts and Categories These buttons will take you either to app charts, free, bestselling etc. or let you view the different categories within this section…

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. 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 other, allowing you to make the pattern lock…

Transferring Files with a USB Cable The USB cable that you use to charge your phone or tablet can also be used to transfer files between the device and a computer. 1 Connect the USB cable to your device and to a spare USB port on your PC. You may see a notification on your computer telling you that a device is being installed (USB drivers being added). Unlock your phone or tablet and check the notifications panel to see a ‘Use USB for…’ notification. 2 Select the Transfer files option and then open the File Explorer on your PC. You should now see you your device listed (Galaxy S8, for example) in the This PC section of the window. Click on the device name and select either the internal…

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 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 your…

Set Up Google Maps Before you can use Google Maps on your device, you will need to ensure that a few other services are activated. These may vary, depending on where you are trying to use the app. 1 Google Maps uses Live data, so 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 the features of Google Maps, you will also need to ensure that Location Services are enabled and that the GPS feature of your device…

Activate Smart Lock Smart Lock is a new addition to Android, which allows the use of several further locking and security options. Without enabling Smart Lock first, you will not be able to use many of these tools. 1 As mentioned, Android features lots of different security settings and more are being added with every update and new version of the OS. All of the system security settings are accessed in Settings > Security. Scroll to the bottom of the Security settings and you will see Trust Agents under the advanced heading. This is where you enable Smart Lock. 2 Before you can use Smart Lock, you will need to set up a screen lock on your device. Many of the additional security features in Android require this. Your choice…

Launching Multi-window It seems that most apps can be viewed in multi-window mode but you may find some force full screen (including many games) so this feature won’t work. 1 Open the first app you want to view on your phone or tablet. This will obviously fill the whole screen as usual. In our case we have opened Facebook but almost any non-game app will work with multi-window mode in Android Nougat and later. A few apps, and nearly all games will force full-screen, and cannot be viewed in multi-window mode. 2 Now tap and hold the Recent Apps button, the square icon on your device, previously known as the multitasking button. If the button is on screen (not a capacitive button), you will see that the it changes to…

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…

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…

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).…

Connections These are the plugs, ports and other interfaces which allow you to connect or add something to your device, or connect your device to the mains for charging. Most devices have a standard set of connection ports, but some may have additional ones. Micro USB/USB-C Most modern devices use Micro USB or the newer USB-C connections for both the charging cable and the data cable (for connecting to a computer to transfer files). The position of this will vary depending on what device you have, but it can usually be found on the bottom edge or sometimes the side of the device. 3.5mm Audio Port Almost all Android devices, including Samsung, feature a 3.5mm standard audio port, for use with headphones, headsets or speakers. This is usually on the…

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. Card Capacity As already mentioned, not all tablets can read all sizes of MicroSD card. The largest capacity card you will easily find is 256GB, and the smallest is 2GB. All tablets with a MicroSD slot or tray will accept and work with a 2GB card but only a very few will work with more than 128GB (let alone 256GB). 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 depending on the memory card manufacturer and type. To view your device’s maximum memory card capacity,…

Open a Data Connection As long as your device has a working SIM card inserted, you should be able to connect to a mobile data network. If not you should speak to your mobile service provider/carrier. 1 Your mobile data connection can be activated using the button in the quick settings on the notification panel, or you can go into the main Settings and turn it on via the Network Connections category. You can tell if you are connected to a data network by the 3G, 4G or similar symbol in the status bar. 2 When connected to your mobile data connection, it is worth having a look to see which apps or other features are allowed to use the connection for downloads. Tap the Menu button and you can…

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. 1 The easiest way to start a new message is to tap the Messaging app icon on the Home screen. The SMS icon will almost always be one of the icons in the dock at the bottom of the screen. Now tap the New Message icon at the top of the screen to begin composing the message. 2 In the top box, either type the phone number that you want to message, type the name of the contact, or tap the Contacts icon beside the box, and then choose from the contacts list. You can add more than one contact…

Set Up Now on Tap Now on Tap, also known as Screen Search, is one of those features that you don’t know you were missing until you start to use it. Android works perfectly well without it, but even better with it. 1 You can activate Screen Search on Android by pressing and holding the Home button. If, when you do this, the Google (search) app opens instead, you will need to turn Screen Search on. Open the settings in the Google app (the multicoloured G icon) and enable the feature here. 2 What is shown when you press and hold the Home button with Screen Search enabled, varies depending on what you are doing at the time. If you are on the Home screen, you may see a series…

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. 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. Reset App Defaults If for any reason you decide that the default app you have chosen is not the one you want to use all the time, you can easily remove its default status. Go to Settings > Applications > Default Applications. Choose the function…

AirBrush: Easy Photo Editor AirBrush won’t help you take better photos but it certainly can help you to improve the photos you have already taken. It includes loads of airbrushing tools, including these. Blemish This allows you to remove annoying acne spots or other blemishes from your photos. Zoom in on the blemish and tap and hold on screen. Move your finger to highlight the spot and then lift your finger off. The blemish should disappear, or at least lighten. You can repeat the action for stubborn blemishes. Skin Tone Choose a skin tone you desire from the palette at the bottom and then tap and hold on the image. Rub your finger over the photo to gradually change the skin tone closer to the colour you chose. You can…

Fingerprint Unlock Adding your fingerprint to compatible Samsung Galaxy devices is a relatively simple task but one that needs to be completed before continuing. 1 Before the fingerprint recognition will function, you will need to register your prints with the device. Once you have added one or more fingerprints, you can use it to unlock the device, sign in to certain websites and verify your Samsung account whenever asked to. 2 Open Settings > Lock Screen & Security and look for Fingerprints or similar. Tap through to the next screen and then tap Add Fingerprint. You will now be taken to the print registration screen, where you can see some more information, along with some instructions. 3 You can actually register up to three fingerprints, either all of your own,…

Music As well as Play, Stop, Pause and Resume, you can also: Request a song - “Play <song name>,” “Play <song name> by <artist name>.” Request an artist - “Play <artist name>,” “Play music by <artist name>.” Request an album - “Play <album name>”, “Play <album name> by <artist name>.” Play music based on mood - “Play happy music.” Shuffle - “Shuffle.” News You can choose which News sources to use in the Home app: Listen to the latest news “Catch me up,” “Listen to the news,” “Tell me the news.” Listen to news from a specific provider “Listen to NPR News,” “Play BBC Minute.” Listen to news about a topic “Listen to news about North Korea.” Listen to news from a specific category - “What’s the latest in business/technology?”…

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:…

Facebook App Setup This guide assumes you already have a Facebook account set up on a computer. If not, you can create one easily at www.facebook.com or by clicking the link on the login screen of the app. 1 Download and install the Facebook app from the Google Play store. Facebook is one of the larger apps you will find on Google Play, so it might take a little while to download, depending on your Wi-Fi Internet or mobile data connection speed. It will then automatically install. 2 Tap the Open button and enter your Facebook login details in the spaces provided. As mentioned, there is also a link to create a new account if required. There is also a link to tap if you have forgotten your password. With…

Choose Widgets Carefully Widgets are a key part of what makes Android so usable but it is very easy to fill several home screen panels with the ones you find useful. Doing so will almost certainly impact on the running of your device, as each widget uses small amounts of processing power (not to mention battery power). Clearing some of these widgets off your home screens will, in many cases, give you a noticeable improvement in performance. You don’t need to strip your home screens back to nothing, just remove those widgets you rarely use or which don’t increase usability that much. Use Device Maintenance Many devices, including most current Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets, feature a built-in device maintenance tool. These provide a one-click way to clear out old…

Monitor System Statistics Being able to easily view important system stats is the first step towards making sure that your Android device runs smoothly. 1 There are lots of different system monitors available, both free and pro versions, which will monitor a variety of system functions. We have chosen the lite version of System Monitor by Christian Gollner. This version is free, but offers the option to upgrade should you want to. 2 Once installed, open the app to set the monitor running. The initial screen will show CPU usage on a graph, in real time. If your device is a multicore, this will be split into two or four separate charts, showing what each of the cores is doing. Tap the Grid button to view the CPU as a…

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…

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…

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…

1 Sleep/Power As well as being the button that turns your tablet on and wakes it up out of sleep, the power button, when held also brings up a menu for shutting down and restarting your tablet. 2 Volume Up/Down The volume profile that the up and down buttons controls depends on what you are doing when it is pressed. When the volume display appears on screen, you can access more volume sliders. 3 Recent Button This capacitive button, when tapped opens the recent app screen. This shows a list of all apps opened recently and allows you to quickly switch between them. 4 Home Button Almost all devices have a physical home button, flanked by capacitive (but part of the hardware) Back and Recent buttons. The Home button often…

Creating a Google Account You can easily find anything you want to do in Google, by simply searching using relevant terms. For example, if you want to find the Google+ account page, simply search for “Google+ Account” in your browser. 1 Using any Internet browser, navigate to https://accounts.google.com and click on the Sign Up button in the top-right corner of the screen. Alternatively, search for “Google Account” in any search engine. Enter your name into the boxes provided and choose your preferred gmail.com email address. This will be your future username for Android. 2 If the name you want is already taken, you will be shown some alternatives. Or you can try another of your own. Complete the remainder of the information, including a phone number and alternative email address…

What is Pairing? Pairing devices or a device and peripheral ensures that the two can connect using Bluetooth more easily in the future. Sharing Your Mobile Internet The ability to tether or share your Internet connection depends on your mobile device and your operator, although most carriers (and devices) will let you do this these days, even if your data is limited. 1 Open the main Settings app on your device and look in the Connections section for Tethering and Mobile Hotspot. Open the menu and tap Mobile Hotspot. You will see a slider to turn the mobile hotspot on. When you turn on mobile hotspot, any Wi-Fi connection open will be turned off. 2 You now need to turn on the Wi-Fi on the device you want to connect…

Activating Your Gmail Account If you have a Google account, you also have a Gmail account by default, even if you have never used it. Your Gmail account is useful for lots of things on Android, including syncing your contacts. 1 When you open the Gmail app, if it’s the first time you have used it, it will ask you to set up a new account or log in to an existing one. Select “Sign In” and enter your username (Gmail address) and password. If you don’t already have an account choose Set Up. 2 Enter your first and last name along with the Gmail address you would like to use. If your name is not available you can try a different one; you may need to add a number…

Viewing Notifications Whilst it may seem that how you view notifications on Android has barely changed for years, this important element of the OS has been subtly updated several times. 1 When notifications appear, if you are using your device at the time, they will be displayed in a bar at the top of the screen for a few seconds. Icons for different notifications, an “F” for Facebook, for example, will then be displayed in the status bar until they are viewed or cleared. 2 To view notifications in more detail, drag your finger down over the status bar at the top of the screen. The notifications panel will then open, showing a list of everything from emails to Facebook updates to app alerts. Notifications are now (in Nougat) bundled…

Default Keyboard These tips are based on using the standard keyboard found on devices running Lollipop. Custom keyboard settings will certainly vary from those shown here. Tip 1 – Hide or Reveal Many apps, especially communication apps where typing is assumed to be the standard input method and the reason you are using them, will automatically open the keyboard when first opened. In others, you will need to tap in the text box to make the keyboard appear. To hide the keyboard in any app, tap the Back button once. 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 which it will automatically switch back to lower case as you…

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 open. 2 Scroll through the wallpaper thumbnails to see all system wallpapers available on your device. If you like the look of one of the system wallpapers, tap on the thumbnail and then choose whether to apply it to lock screen, Home screen or both. 3 The wallpaper chooser also gives you the option to use an image from…

Google Home Speaker From enjoying your favourite music or hearing the morning news, to checking traffic or adjusting your thermostat, you can ask Google Home anything – no hands required. Powered by the Google Assistant, you have command of your home, your music and your curiosity, whilst its sleek design fits wherever you want to enjoy music or access the Google Assistant. Start by saying, “Ok Google,” or “Hey Google.” Dimensions Diameter: 3.79 in (96.4 mm) Height: 5.62 in (142.8 mm) Power cable: 70.8 in (1.8 m) Weight Device: 1.05 lbs (477 g) Power adaptor: 4.58 oz (130 g) Colours Body: White Base: Standard base is slate fabric. Supported audio formats HE-AAC, LC-AAC, MP3, Vorbis, WAV (LPCM), Opus, FLAC with support for high-resolution streams (24-bit/96 KHz) Wireless Network 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4…

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,…

1 Listen to Audio Your Google Home allows you to listen to music, news, podcasts, radio stations, audiobooks and more. You can also tell it to play ambient sounds in the background. Just say, “Hey Google, help me relax,” or “Hey Google, play forest/nature/ocean sounds.” You can even make it play white noise! 2 Control Your TV If you have a Chromecast plugged in (or built in) to your TV, you can easily control it with your Google Home speaker. If your Chromecast is plugged in to a power socket (rather than USB), you can even use the speaker to turn your TV on and off. Just say, “…Turn on the TV,” or “… turn my TV off.” 3 Plan Your Day Start your day off by saying, “Hey Google,…

How to Chat on WhatsApp WhatsApp is a very popular chat platform and not just because it is secure and private. There are dozens of features to explore but here are the most important tools and functions. Adding Contacts WhatsApp quickly and easily recognises which of your contacts are using WhatsApp by accessing your phone’s address book. If you can’t see your contacts, make sure you have allowed WhatsApp to access your phone’s contacts in your phone’s Settings (Settings > Apps > App Permissions). Start a Chat Assuming this is a fresh install of WhatsApp, you won’t have any conversations listed under the Chats tab. Instead, tap the New Chat button at the bottom right and choose a contact from the list that opens. For a group chat, tap the…

Never Forget Your Login You almost certainly have dormant or inaccessible accounts littering the Internet, all because you have forgotten the login details. 1 To install, open Google Play Store on your phone or tablet and search for LastPass. If you would like to attempt a manual installation, you can download the Android app file (apk) from https://lastpass.com/lpandroid.apk. LastPass will only work properly for apps on devices running Android 4.1 and later. If you want to fill in forms in Chrome, version 4.3 is needed. 2 You will then need to create a new account. Enter your email address first, and then choose your master password. This is the password which gets you into LastPass, and controls access to all of your other passwords and form information, so make sure…

Quick Settings Many current Android devices now allow you to quickly see and control what services are running: Wi-Fi, GPS, etc. This is similar to the Power Control widget found on some other devices. Although the quick settings don’t actually save battery power, they do allow you to quickly and easily keep battery draining services under control. Adjust Backlight Brightness One of the quickest and easiest ways to save some battery juice is to turn down the brightness of the screen backlight. There are a couple of different methods to do this. Open Settings > Display > Brightness and then move the slider down to wherever you think is acceptable. Less than 50 per cent is advised. You can also access the brightness control from the Notifications panel. Power Saving…

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…

Screen Shift App There are actually a few Android apps that will allow you to add a low blue light mode. For this guide we have chosen to use Twilight, as it offers more features than most. 1 Search for, download and install the Twilight app from the Google Play store. The app is free, although some of the more advanced features will require an update to the Pro version. The app is compatible with almost all Android devices (phones and tablets) currently available. 2 Twilight is designed to be a “set and forget” app. This means that you shouldn’t really have to mess about with settings once the initial set up is complete. The first screen that appears after tapping the app icon contains every option you need to…

Mightytext Alternative If instead of wanting to receive messages on your tablet, you want to receive them on your PC or Mac, the best option is the superb AirDroid. AirDroid allows you to access and manage your Android phone or tablet from Windows, Mac or the web, wirelessly, for free. AirDroid lets you focus on your PC, type with a full physical keyboard and control with a mouse, and transfer things faster without looking for a cable. AirDroid also makes it easy to transfer files between your phone and computer. Running Mightytext Mightytext will only work if you have a compatible smartphone to run the parent app. This is the software which sends the SMS messages to your tablet. 1 Before you start setting up Mightytext on your tablet, you…

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 Samsung Galaxy 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…