Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 4 i Samsung Galaxy The Complete Manual

Mixing intelligently designed devices with cleverly planned software and features, it is not hard to see why the Samsung Galaxy range of phones and tablets is just about the most successful ever created. From the latest Galaxy S23 range to the amazing Galaxy Tab, every device is packed with incredible tools and innovations. However, even if you have owned an Android device before, getting to grips with the numerous unique features, tools and apps packed into your Samsung Galaxy can be a challenge. In this guide we will show you how to get your device set up and working smoothly, as well as explaining what the more advanced features do and showing you some cool tips and tricks that will help turn you into a Samsung Galaxy pro! Learn how…

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 Samsung mobile store, you should be OK. Card Capacity As already mentioned, not all devices can read all sizes of microSD card. The most recent Samsung 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 depending…

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…

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 is working…

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 what 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 other, allowing…

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 so you can stay malware-free. Android Viruses There are thankfully…

Multi-window on Samsung Multi-window mode on Samsung 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 Samsung 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 down. If…

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 Samsung Galaxy cameras now offer the use of different lenses. This button lets you choose between Wide angle…

Edge Panels Edge panels are designed to give you quick access to different types of phone data and tools with just the swipe of a finger or thumb at the edge of the screen. Here’s how to set up and use them on your own device. 1 Edge panels should be enabled by default on your Samsung Galaxy device. Can you see a thin tab on the right-hand edge of the screen when you wake and unlock your device? If you don’t, open the main Settings app and go to Display > Edge Panels and tap the switch to turn them on. 2 Once switched on, the edge panels are always accessible, despite what else is on the screen (apart from when playing some games). To open the panels, swipe over the…

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 to…

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 Samsung Galaxy. 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 field to…

Set Up Google Maps Before you can use Google Maps on your Samsung Galaxy 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 that the…

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 Samsung Galaxy 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…

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, etc.), tap…

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 would…

Quick Settings Every current Android device now allows you to quickly see and control what services are running: Wi-Fi, GPS, etc., in the quick settings panel. This is similar to the Power Control widget found on some older devices. Although the quick settings don’t actually save battery power themselves, 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…

1 BatteryDrain 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 ways 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. Android Lollipop and…

Connections Whichever model of Samsung Galaxy 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 Samsung Galaxy models, use USB-C connections for charging the phone or tablet and as a data cable, for connecting it to your computer. Older Galaxy 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 Galaxy 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 Samsung Galaxy 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 Samsung 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 Samsung phone dialler is pretty much standard and should be familiar to anyone who has used a phone in…

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 Samsung. 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’ or ‘Add ringtone’…

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 times. If…

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 while staying…

Fingerprint Unlock Adding your fingerprint to compatible Samsung Galaxy devices is a relatively simple task but one that needs to be completed before continuing. Follow this guide to registering and using fingerprints on your device. 1 Before the fingerprint recognition will function, you will need to register one or more of your prints with the device. Once you have added one or more fingerprints, you can use them to unlock the device, sign in to certain websites, verify some payments and verify your Samsung account whenever asked to. 2 Open Settings > Security and privacy > Biometrics and look for Fingerprints or similar. Confirm your PIN if necessary, tap Continue on the next screen and then tap Add Fingerprint. You’re now taken to the print registration screen, where you can see some…

1 Add a Screen Lock It has certainly been mentioned elsewhere in the security guides in this book, but we will say it again; setting a screen lock pattern, password or PIN is an essential security step! And it is 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’re using a pattern lock, at least make it complicated enough that it can’t be easily guessed, and disable the option to have it displayed on screen as you draw it. 2 Set Up User Profiles If your device is to be shared with other members of…

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 Samsung Galaxy 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 shown always…

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 Samsung. 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 Text/Draw. Tap…

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. Here’s how to connect your mobile device to your PC and exchange files between them. 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…

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 or debit…

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 Chromebook, your emails,…

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 your device…

Smart Viewing Depending on the age of the Samsung device you’re using the screen mirroring feature may have a different name. Older devices tend to use the name Smart View rather than Screen Mirroring. 1 The first task is to check what your device has in terms of screen mirroring. Hold the device and swipe down from the top with two fingers. This is important, as a two finger swipe down reveals a different menu to that of a normal single finger. Within this menu you should see either Screen Mirroring or Smart View. If you don’t see the option here, try opening the Settings app and searching for it using the search bar at the top. The Google Home app also allows for screen mirroring/screen casting. 2 Next, ensure that your…

Inserting Your Nano-SIM Card Before you get started with your Samsung Galaxy, 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 Samsung Galaxy, you must first insert the Nano-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 slide the tray…

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 Samsung Galaxy 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 Samsung 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 contacts list.…

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 The wallpaper chooser…

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. 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…

Cloud Backing Up and Restoring Several cloud backup options are available to Samsung Galaxy 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 Samsung 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 on every item you…

Bixby Set Up Before you can use the Bixby digital assistant, you have to set it up. Fortunately, this is fairly easy to do. Follow this short guide and you’ll soon be up and running with your Samsung assistant, and ready to use Bixby to its fullest. 1 To access Bixby, press and hold the side button. The first time you open the Samsung digital assistant, you’re shown this screen, which gives information about the service and what it can do on your Samsung Galaxy device. Tap the Continue button to begin the setup process. 2 There’s not much to do here. If necessary, you might be asked to choose a language for Bixby. You get to pick a voice style (male or female), and you’re shown a list of the permissions…

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 a custom…

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 Samsung Galaxy 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, and so…

Pairing Your Headphones Before you can connect your headphones, speaker or other peripherals to your Samsung Galaxy, 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 Samsung 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 Tap the name…

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 Samsung 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 the calendar and…

Improve Performance Bloatware can be anything from unwanted apps to unused services. Taking the time to disable bloatware can really help to free up processing power on your device by getting rid of unwanted material and making space available. 1 The first thing to think about when disabling bloatware is that just because you don’t use (or don’t think you use) a particular app or service, it might be essential to your phone. Removing essential apps or services may cause problems. 2 Open the main Settings app on your Galaxy and look for Apps, or if running an older version of Android, Application Manager. This may be in the main settings list or possibly under the More tab at the top of the main Settings screen. 3 The best way to put a…

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 You will need…

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: “When I say…”,…

Modify Animation Settings You can now begin to modify some of the development settings, including the animation settings we’re looking at here. It’s not a particularly dangerous task, but even so, it’s 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…

Multi-Function Mobiles Aside from sending your device up to the edge of space in a balloon, there are countless other amazing and interesting things you can do with a Samsung Galaxy. Here are ten to whet your appetite. Scan the Heavens For around £15 you can purchase Solomark Universal Cell Phone Digiscoping Adapter and Bluetooth Remote Controller Kit. Whilst a bit of a mouthful, this kit effectively allows you to mount your Samsung device on to a telescope and take some stunning images of the heavens. In essence, you’re using your Galaxy to view the galaxy. Find Your Way Knowing which direction you’re heading in, or where North is in relation to you, is a handy skill. Not all of us can read the position of the sun or stars,…

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…