Our team of experts show how to make the most of the new
tools in Android 4.0
Create App Folders
With all the great apps that are available for Android, your
phone can quickly become cluttered with icons, making it difficult to find what
you want. Bring organisation to the chaos by grouping similar apps, such as all
your photo apps, in a single folder.
Press the menu button to go to the All Apps launcher, then
press and hold an app. After a second or two, you'll be taken to your home
screen, where you can drop the apps icon. Drop it on top of another app to
create a folder Drag and drop more apps onto it to add them to the folder.
To move an app out of a folder, tap, hold and then drag it.
Drag it to the top of the screen to remove it from the home screen.
Add widgets
Having your most frequently used apps on the home screen is
useful, but even better are the widgets with live content that let you access
handy elements of an app without having to launch it or leave the home screen.
From your home screen, swipe to the right to get to a blank
screen, then tap and hold on the background. Browse through the widgets by
swiping right to left. Try the Gmail one, for example. Tap and hold the widget
and you can then drag it to one of the screens at the top.
It will display a title bar and the first couple of messages
in your inbox. Swipe down to browse the 25 most recent messages. You can create
a new email by tapping the icon at the right of the widget title bar. Tap the
email icon in the title bar to open the full version of the app.
Resize widgets
Widgets placed on the home screen can be resized. Tap one
and hold, then let go. A box is drawn around the widget with handles on each
side. Tap and drag the handle to grow or shrink the app and make it the size
you want.
Multitasking
Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" can handle multitasking (running more than one
app at a time), so you can switch between apps easily. On new Android phones,
you'll notice a Recent Apps button, which looks like a box with another box
behind it. Tap the button and you'll get a view of all the apps that are
currently running in the background, so you can quickly switch between them.
Look to unlock
If you don't want prying eyes to access your personal
information, you can use Android 4.0's face-recognition tool to protect your
phone, SO that only your face can unlock it. To set up face recognition, go to
Settings and then Security. Select 'Screen lock' and find Face Unlock among the
options. There are several screens, so tap through them and take a snapshot of
your face when prompted. As a back-up, in case you can't be recognised, you are
also asked to choose a pin or pattern lock.
To outwit someone holding a photo of you in front of the
phone to unlock it, Samsung has tweaked this feature by requiring you to blink
when unlocking, to prove it's really you!
Email quick responses
Typing on a mobile phone is awkward, but the email app's
Quick Responses can help by storing sentences that can be entered with a tap or
two. For example, you might want to store something like "I'm out right
now, but I'll mail you as soon as I get back".
Start the email apps press the menu button and tap Settings.
Tap your email account and then Quick Responses. Tap Create and then enter the
text and save it. Add other messages in the same way. When you are writing an
email, tap the menu button and select Insert Quick Response to see messages you
have stored. Just tap one to insert it.
Quick phone responses
Sometimes you can't or don't want to answer a call. You can
slide left to ignore a call or right to accept it, or select a Quick Response
text message. For a Quick Response, tap and slide not to the left or right, but
up to the icon above. You'll see a list of ready-made responses, such as
"I'll call you later,a' and "I'll call you right back". Choose
one. You can edit these responses by going to the Phone app, Menu button,
Settings, Quick Responses, Tap one to edit it.
No comments:
Post a Comment