Android 4.0 Tips and Tricks #1

By
Russ
Posted in: Guides

Welcome to the first of a series of guides to using Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Featuring everything you need to know to get up and running with the newest Android OS, and starting with the basics, over the coming days and weeks this series of posts will grow to become a complete guide to getting started with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Touch & type

Use your fingers to manipulate icons, buttons, menus, the on-screen keyboard and other items on the touch screen. You can also change the screen’s orientation.

To select or activate something, touch it.

To type something, such as a name, password or search terms, just touch where you want to type. A keyboard pops up that lets you type into the field.

Other common gestures include:

  • Touch & hold: Touch & hold an item on the screen by touching it and not lifting your finger until an action occurs.
  • Drag: Touch & hold an item for a moment and then, without lifting your finger, move your finger across the screen until you reach the target position. For example, you can drag to reposition shortcuts on the Home screen.
  • Swipe or slide: Quickly move your finger across the surface of the screen, without pausing when you first touch (so that you don’t drag something instead). For example, you can slide a Home screen left or right to view the other Home screens.
  • Double-tap: Tap quickly twice on a web page, map or other screen to zoom. For example, double-tap a web page in Browser to zoom in and double-tap again to zoom out.
  • Pinch: In some apps (such as Maps, Browser and Gallery), you can zoom in and out by placing two fingers on the screen at the same time and pinching them together (to zoom out) or spreading them apart (to zoom in).
  • Rotate the screen: On most screens, the orientation of the screen rotates with your device as you turn it. You can change this Display setting.

Use the lock screen

To protect personal information, you can adjust your phone’s lock settings:

  1. From the Home or All Apps screen, touch the Settings icon .
  2. Scroll down and touch Security.
  3. Touch Screen lock.
  4. Touch the type of lock you’d like to use.

After you set a lock here, a lock screen is displayed whenever your screen wakes up, requesting the pattern, PIN or other specified key.

Important: Screen lock options are listed in the approximate order of the strength of their security, starting with None and Slide, which provide no security. Face Unlock and Pattern provide minimal security, although they can be more convenient than the stronger options.

If your phone’s playing music when the screen locks, you can continue listening or pause the selection without unlocking.

 

Search your phone & the web

Google Search can help you to find anything that you need on your phone or the web:

    • At the top of any Home screen, touch Google to type your search term or the Microphone button  to speak it.

As you type, suggestions from Google web search appear below the Search box and results from your phone (such as apps and contacts) appear below that.

Touch a suggestion to search for it immediately or touch its arrow just to add the term to the search field without starting to search.

To change the way Google searches on your phone or the web:

  1. Touch Google at the top of the screen.
  2. Touch the Menu icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
  3. Touch Search settings.
  4. Touch Searchable items or Google Search.

Tip: In addition to speaking search terms, you can use Voice Actions to call your contacts, get directions, send messages and perform a number of other common tasks by speaking.

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