Widgets and freedom with Android
12 OCTOBER 11
At Optimus HQ we've always been big fans of the iPhone, but recently we were given a new Samsung Galaxy S II to trial. This is our first foray into the world of Android phones so we thought we'd share our thoughts on this rival operating system and let you know about the helpful things we discovered along the way, as well as share some of the best apps that we found.
ANDROID OVERVIEW
Android is the operating system developed by Google that was designed to be used on a variety of different smartphone and tablet devices. It is an "open source" software which means that it can be used by various different phone manufacturers and those manufacturers can make slight modifications to fit with their hardware and to put their own personal touch on it.
For this reason, we are unable to give specific "tips and tricks" as we have done with the iPhone as there will be differences in the user experience depending on what hardware device you are using it on. We have, however, discovered a couple of helpful tricks and a few great Android apps that we wanted to share with you.
OUR THOUGHTS
Overall the Android is pretty good. However, coming from the iPhone we did find it a little hard to get the hang of things and found the user interface a little "busy". If you've never used a smartphone before then you'll probably have no problems, but if you're familiar with the ease and simplicity of the iPhone then it can feel a little clunky at first. Apple is very minimalist, and the Android is all screens, widgets, gadgets and buttons. Mind you, if they were the same, someone would be getting sued right now.
One of our initial concerns when moving to an Android device was that we would lose our interoperability with the farm of products we have in the house built around iPhones etc; especially playing music. But within a few clicks we found great apps such as doubleTwist and Air Sync that allow us to easily leverage our Apple technology. With so many apps in the market, we're sure there's going to be an app for everything we had on Apple.
One of the great features we particularly like is the notifications tray at the top of the screen. You can easily swipe it down the screen to see a list of your most recent notification activity. It also has buttons for easily turning on and off services (such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth), so that you don't need to go searching through the Settings menu.
The widgets (such as the weather, email and search function) are fantastic. It's great to be able to have information directly on your phone home screen without having to go into an application. Overall we've found the Android phone much more customisable so that you can get everything at your fingertips rather than having to dig around for things. It almost gives a sense of freedom.
HELPFUL TIPS
See a few of helpful tips below for getting the most out of your Android phone.
Customise Your Pages
One of the great things about smartphones is that you can personalise them and really make them function exactly as you want them to. You can customise your pages so that you have your most often-used applications directly on the Home screen. To remove features from the Home screen simply hold down the icon for a couple of seconds and then drag and drop it into the "Remove" bin. This does not delete the app, it simply removes it from the Home screen. To add features to the Home Screen, go to Menu and find the app that you want. Hold down the icon for a couple of seconds and then drag and drop it to your Home screen. To delete an app completely go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. Select the app that you want to delete, touch Uninstall, then OK.
Keep Quiet at Night
If you don't want to be plagued by beeps and noises at night then you can easily turn off your background data so that you won't get any notifications. Go to Settings > Accounts and sync. Tick the Background data box so that it is not green, press OK. When you're ready to get connected again in the morning simply repeat the process and tick the box so this it is green.
The Secret Wonders of the "Long Press"
The easiest way to describe the long press would be to compare it to the right click. Ever wonder if there were more options or settings in any Android App? Try holding down on the screen with your finger and see if it will vibrate and pop up a window with additional features or shortcuts. The following are a few helpful long press options built directly into Android:
Of the four standard on-screen buttons, the most under-utilised has to be “Search”. Google’s success comes from their advanced ability to search anything and everything, and it’s no different for Android. At first I was frustrated by how many clicks it takes to make a phone call, or the need to scroll through rows and rows of apps. By hitting the search button from the home screen, you can type the name of any app or contact and have the results immediately available.
Internet Tethering
Internet tethering - over USB and as a wireless hotspot, is a super handy feature and one that we use a lot with the iPhone. It's great to see that we can do the same on the Android. You can use your phone as an Internet Access Point using the portable Wi-Fi hotspot feature. This allows other devices (maximum 8) to connect to it via Wi-Fi. The Internet will be available on connected devices to share your 3G network. To set it up go to Settings > Wireless and network > Tethering and portable hotspot. Then select from USB tethering or Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings. If you're going to use the hotspot you'll probably want to make sure you make it secure so everyone else in the area can't connect and use your 3G connection. To do this touch Configure portable Wi-Fi hotspot, then under security select WPA2 PSK, and type in a password.
Bluetooth
Whilst the Bluetooth feature is most commonly used to pair a headset to the phone, it can also be used for sharing files, pairing the mobile device to a Bluetooth-enabled automobile, and much more.
Bluetooth Settings
On an Android phone, you can (generally) get to the Bluetooth settings by tapping Menu > Settings > Wireless & Network Settings. From here you can prepare your device for pairing using other Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Pairing the Headset
The first thing you need to do is enable Bluetooth, which you can do by tapping the Bluetooth option in the Settings window. Once Bluetooth is enabled, the phone is ready to scan for devices. Once you have placed your headset in pairing mode, tap Scan Devices from with the Settings screen - this will list all Bluetooth devices your phone can see. Once the devices are listed, tap the entry for your particular headset, and the entry should go from being Paired to Connected. A device can only be used when it is listed as "Connected".
Sharing Files
To share files you must set your device to be "discoverable" or "visible" by other devices. To do this tap Menu > Settings > Discoverable or (Visible). Once enabled, the device will be visible for the next 120 seconds. While in this mode, files can then be transferred from another Bluetooth-enabled device from an application such as the Gallery. The only device that needs to be "discoverable" is the device that will receive the file. Once the file is sent, the recipient has to accept the file. This is done by dropping the notification window, tapping on the Bluetooth share entry and accepting the file.
Apps for Bluetooth Management
If you do a search for "Bluetooth" in the Android Market, you will find numerous applications to help with Bluetooth. Many of these apps are just toggles for the desktop (so Bluetooth can be turned on or off quickly), but some apps help with Bluetooth management, such as the ASTRO Bluetooth Module, which turns a device into an FTP server via a Bluetooth connection.
GREAT ANDROID APPS
Click here to see our article on the most some good Android apps.
TIPS FOR SAVING BATTERY LIFE
Click here to see our article with top tips for conserving battery life on an Android phone.
ANDROID OVERVIEW
Android is the operating system developed by Google that was designed to be used on a variety of different smartphone and tablet devices. It is an "open source" software which means that it can be used by various different phone manufacturers and those manufacturers can make slight modifications to fit with their hardware and to put their own personal touch on it.
For this reason, we are unable to give specific "tips and tricks" as we have done with the iPhone as there will be differences in the user experience depending on what hardware device you are using it on. We have, however, discovered a couple of helpful tricks and a few great Android apps that we wanted to share with you.
OUR THOUGHTS
Overall the Android is pretty good. However, coming from the iPhone we did find it a little hard to get the hang of things and found the user interface a little "busy". If you've never used a smartphone before then you'll probably have no problems, but if you're familiar with the ease and simplicity of the iPhone then it can feel a little clunky at first. Apple is very minimalist, and the Android is all screens, widgets, gadgets and buttons. Mind you, if they were the same, someone would be getting sued right now.
One of our initial concerns when moving to an Android device was that we would lose our interoperability with the farm of products we have in the house built around iPhones etc; especially playing music. But within a few clicks we found great apps such as doubleTwist and Air Sync that allow us to easily leverage our Apple technology. With so many apps in the market, we're sure there's going to be an app for everything we had on Apple.
One of the great features we particularly like is the notifications tray at the top of the screen. You can easily swipe it down the screen to see a list of your most recent notification activity. It also has buttons for easily turning on and off services (such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth), so that you don't need to go searching through the Settings menu.
The widgets (such as the weather, email and search function) are fantastic. It's great to be able to have information directly on your phone home screen without having to go into an application. Overall we've found the Android phone much more customisable so that you can get everything at your fingertips rather than having to dig around for things. It almost gives a sense of freedom.
HELPFUL TIPS
See a few of helpful tips below for getting the most out of your Android phone.
Customise Your Pages
One of the great things about smartphones is that you can personalise them and really make them function exactly as you want them to. You can customise your pages so that you have your most often-used applications directly on the Home screen. To remove features from the Home screen simply hold down the icon for a couple of seconds and then drag and drop it into the "Remove" bin. This does not delete the app, it simply removes it from the Home screen. To add features to the Home Screen, go to Menu and find the app that you want. Hold down the icon for a couple of seconds and then drag and drop it to your Home screen. To delete an app completely go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications. Select the app that you want to delete, touch Uninstall, then OK.
Keep Quiet at Night
If you don't want to be plagued by beeps and noises at night then you can easily turn off your background data so that you won't get any notifications. Go to Settings > Accounts and sync. Tick the Background data box so that it is not green, press OK. When you're ready to get connected again in the morning simply repeat the process and tick the box so this it is green.
The Secret Wonders of the "Long Press"
The easiest way to describe the long press would be to compare it to the right click. Ever wonder if there were more options or settings in any Android App? Try holding down on the screen with your finger and see if it will vibrate and pop up a window with additional features or shortcuts. The following are a few helpful long press options built directly into Android:
- “Home” button will bring up a list of your most recent apps.
- “Search” button will enable voice search instead of text.
- Text input box will give the option to change input methods (e.g. Switch from Swype to standard keyboard).
- Any Icon or Widget to move/remove from or to the home screen.
- Any Open area on Home screen to quickly add a shortcut, widget, or folder.
- Any email within Gmail App to pop up action options.
Of the four standard on-screen buttons, the most under-utilised has to be “Search”. Google’s success comes from their advanced ability to search anything and everything, and it’s no different for Android. At first I was frustrated by how many clicks it takes to make a phone call, or the need to scroll through rows and rows of apps. By hitting the search button from the home screen, you can type the name of any app or contact and have the results immediately available.
Internet Tethering
Internet tethering - over USB and as a wireless hotspot, is a super handy feature and one that we use a lot with the iPhone. It's great to see that we can do the same on the Android. You can use your phone as an Internet Access Point using the portable Wi-Fi hotspot feature. This allows other devices (maximum 8) to connect to it via Wi-Fi. The Internet will be available on connected devices to share your 3G network. To set it up go to Settings > Wireless and network > Tethering and portable hotspot. Then select from USB tethering or Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings. If you're going to use the hotspot you'll probably want to make sure you make it secure so everyone else in the area can't connect and use your 3G connection. To do this touch Configure portable Wi-Fi hotspot, then under security select WPA2 PSK, and type in a password.
Bluetooth
Whilst the Bluetooth feature is most commonly used to pair a headset to the phone, it can also be used for sharing files, pairing the mobile device to a Bluetooth-enabled automobile, and much more.
Bluetooth Settings
On an Android phone, you can (generally) get to the Bluetooth settings by tapping Menu > Settings > Wireless & Network Settings. From here you can prepare your device for pairing using other Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Pairing the Headset
The first thing you need to do is enable Bluetooth, which you can do by tapping the Bluetooth option in the Settings window. Once Bluetooth is enabled, the phone is ready to scan for devices. Once you have placed your headset in pairing mode, tap Scan Devices from with the Settings screen - this will list all Bluetooth devices your phone can see. Once the devices are listed, tap the entry for your particular headset, and the entry should go from being Paired to Connected. A device can only be used when it is listed as "Connected".
Sharing Files
To share files you must set your device to be "discoverable" or "visible" by other devices. To do this tap Menu > Settings > Discoverable or (Visible). Once enabled, the device will be visible for the next 120 seconds. While in this mode, files can then be transferred from another Bluetooth-enabled device from an application such as the Gallery. The only device that needs to be "discoverable" is the device that will receive the file. Once the file is sent, the recipient has to accept the file. This is done by dropping the notification window, tapping on the Bluetooth share entry and accepting the file.
Apps for Bluetooth Management
If you do a search for "Bluetooth" in the Android Market, you will find numerous applications to help with Bluetooth. Many of these apps are just toggles for the desktop (so Bluetooth can be turned on or off quickly), but some apps help with Bluetooth management, such as the ASTRO Bluetooth Module, which turns a device into an FTP server via a Bluetooth connection.
GREAT ANDROID APPS
Click here to see our article on the most some good Android apps.
TIPS FOR SAVING BATTERY LIFE
Click here to see our article with top tips for conserving battery life on an Android phone.
