Android Beyond the Basics Table of Contents

Transcription

1 Android Beyond the Basics Table of Contents The Settings Menu... 2 Device Settings... 2 Personal Settings... 3 System Settings... 3 Customizing the Home Screen... 3 Setting the Wallpaper... 3 Image from the Gallery... 3 Image from Wallpapers... 4 Live Wallpapers... 4 Widgets... 4 More About Apps... 5 Organizing and Deleting Apps... 5 Moving Apps to the Home Screen... 5 Remove an App from the Home Screen... 5 Uninstall an App... 5 Grouping Apps... 6 Updating Apps... 7 Reinstalling Apps... 8 More About Using the Internet... 8 Customizing the Browser Homepage... 8 Bookmarking a Web Page... 9 Saving a Picture from the Internet Cut, Copy and Paste

2 The Settings Menu Access the settings menu by tapping on the icon labeled Settings on your home screen. The icon will look like a gear or a dial. The settings menu contains many important features and settings for your device. Device Settings Under device settings, you have options to customize your device. For example, in the sound menu, you can chose if you want your device to play sounds for certain actions (such as typing on the keyboard) or notifications (such as a new ). In the display menu, you can choose the wallpaper (the background image) for your home screen and your lock screen, the font style and font size of letters on your screen, and adjust the screen brightness and screen timeout timeframe. There is also the option to display the battery percentage, which when enabled will display the percentage of battery life remaining on your device in the notifications panel. Also under device settings is the application manager, which lets you see all of the apps that are loaded onto your device. Tapping on one of the apps gives you detailed information about that app, as well as the option to force stop or uninstall the app. You may need to force stop an app if it is not working properly. 2

3 Personal Settings Under personal settings there is a lock screen menu where you can input a passcode. This means that each time the screen locks the correct passcode will need to be input to use the device again. Advanced security options are available in the security and back up and reset menus. System Settings Under system settings you can change the date and time of your device. In the about device menu you can also update your tablet software. Customizing the Home Screen You can customize your home screen to look how you d like and to give you information at a glance. You can do this by setting your wallpaper and by using widgets. Setting the Wallpaper Your wallpaper is the background image on your screen and you can customize your wallpaper to an image of your choice. To change your wallpaper, you can visit your settings, and then choose display under the device settings. You can also change your wallpaper by tapping and holding on top of any blank area of the home screen. This will bring up a menu with the option to set wallpaper. After tapping on this, you may also be given the option to choose which screen you would like to change the wallpaper of (home screen, lock screen or home and lock screens). Tap on the name of the screen you would like to change. You have three options when setting your wallpaper: you can choose an image that you have saved to your Android tablet, you can choose a stock image for your wallpaper or you can choose a Live Wallpaper. Image from the Gallery The gallery is the place on your Android device that stores images you have saved. If you have taken a photo with the device s camera, it will be saved here. Also, any images you save from the Internet will be saved here. Once you have tapped on gallery, tap on an image to set as your wallpaper. Once you ve chosen the image you may need to tap on done. 3

4 Image from Wallpapers The wallpapers area has stock wallpaper images that come with the device. Once you have tapped on wallpapers, tap on an image you would like to set as your wallpaper. Once you ve chosen the image, you may need to tap on set wallpaper. Live Wallpapers Live wallpapers are animated backgrounds for your home screen. Android devices that support live wallpapers will come with some stock ones to choose from. Once you have tapped on live wallpapers, tap on one of the available wallpapers. Once you have tapped on the live wallpaper you want, you may need to tap on set wallpaper. Additional live wallpapers are available at the Play Store. Simply search for live wallpaper to see what is available to download. Some are free, but some may cost money. Widgets Widgets are small, continually running app windows that allow you to see information at a glance. Some widgets are linked to apps and basically act as mini versions of the app. To add a widget to your home screen, tap on your all apps button. At the top of the screen, tap on the widgets tab. This will show you all of the widgets currently installed onto your device. Once you find a widget you d like to place on your home screen, long press and hold on top of the image of the widget. Then, dragging your finger and the widget, place the widget where you d like on the home screen. Widgets can be removed from the home 4

5 screen the same way as apps. You can find more widgets to download at the Play Store. More About Apps As you accumulate apps, you may decide that you d like to organize them into groups or even re-download apps that you have uninstalled. The Play Store may also prompt you to update apps you have on your tablet. What follows are guidelines on how to handle these tasks. Organizing and Deleting Apps When you have a number of apps installed on your tablet, you may wish to organize them. Organizing your apps can help you find them easily and save space on your home screen. You may also wish to delete an app that you don t use anymore. Moving Apps to the Home Screen To move an app from the all apps area to one of your home screens, first tap on the all apps button and find the app you want to move. Then, long press and hold your finger on top of the app. This will make the main home screen appear, and you can drag your finger to where you would like to put the app. Release your finger when the app is in the desired spot. You can also use this same process to rearrange icons on your home screens. Remove an App from the Home Screen To remove an app from the home screen, long press on top of the app. A trash can will appear on your screen. Drag your finger with the app overtop of the trash can and then release. This will remove the app from the home screen, but will not uninstall the app from your tablet. You can still access this app from the all apps area. Uninstall an App To uninstall an app from your device, tap on settings and then on application manager under device settings. In the list of apps, tap on the app you would like to uninstall. The app information is displayed as well as the uninstall button. Tap on the uninstall button and the app will be removed from your tablet completely. However, you can always re-download the app from the Play Store. If you paid for the app, you can redownload the app from the Play Store without paying for it again. 5

6 Grouping Apps It is possible to group apps into folders, which organizes the apps as well as creates more space on your home screen. To group apps, follow the steps below: 1. From the home screen locate one app that you would like to group in a folder with others. Long press on top of the app. 2. While long pressing, you will see the option to create a folder show up somewhere on your screen. Drag your finger with the app overtop of the create a folder option. 3. Release your finger overtop of create a folder. 4. A box will pop up on your screen allowing you to name your folder. Tap in the box for the title, type in the title and then tap OK. 5. This changes the icon for the app, which may differ depending on your tablet. The app may look to have a ring around the bottom. 6. Add other apps to this folder by long pressing on top of the app icon you d like to add, and dragging the icon overtop of the folder you have created. Release your finger to add the app to the folder. When you would like to access an app in a folder, tap on the folder. The apps inside the folder will pop up in a box, and you can tap on the app you would like to open. 6

7 Updating Apps Every so often you will be notified that one or more of your apps has an update available. Updates are generally improvements to an app that the developer has made, and updates often fix problems the app may have. You can update an app in one of two ways: 1. When you receive a notification in the notifications panel that an app has an update, tap on the notifications panel to open it and then tap on the message indicating the update. This will take you to the app details page in the Play Store. From this screen, tap on the update button. 2. Tap on the Play Store app on your home screen. Tap on Play Store at the top of the screen and then on My Apps. On one side of the screen under the Installed tab you will see the list of apps currently installed on your device. Those listed under the label updates have updates available. Tap on one of the apps from this list and then on the update button on the side of the screen with the app details. Note that you can tap on the box next to allow automatic updating to let your tablet update an app automatically. 7

8 Reinstalling Apps You can reinstall apps that you have previously uninstalled very easily. Even if you had originally paid for the app you can reinstall it on your device without paying for it again because your app downloads and purchases are linked to your Google account. Apps that you have downloaded for free or purchased can be reinstalled on your tablet an unlimited number of times. This is useful if you have purchased a new tablet, since you will be able to reinstall all of the apps you had on your previous device onto your new one at no cost. If you happen to have two devices that are associated with your Google account, you can install purchased apps onto both of your devices. Follow these steps to reinstall an app you previously uninstalled: 1. Tap on the Play Store app on your home screen. 2. Tap on the words Play Store at the top of the screen and then on My Apps. 3. Tap on the all tab at the top of the screen. This will list all of the apps associated with your Google account, including those currently installed on your device as well as those you have uninstalled. 4. Locate the app you would like to reinstall from the list and then tap on that app. On the side of the screen with the app details, tap on install. More About Using the Internet Most people use their tablets to surf the Internet. As you become more comfortable using your tablet, you may want to take advantage of some additional features that the Internet browser offers. Customizing the Browser Homepage When you tap on the Internet button to get online, the first web page that opens is called the homepage. The Android Internet browser defaults to the Google search page, however you can change this to a different web page if you like. Follow the steps below to change your homepage: 1. Navigate to the web page that you would like to have as your homepage. You may need to perform a Google search for the web page, or you can enter the website address into the address box at the top of the browser window. 2. Once you re on the web page, tap on the menu button. 3. From the menu options, tap on settings. 8

9 4. Under general settings tap on set homepage. A box will pop up with options. From the list of options, tap on current page. Bookmarking a Web Page While you re using your tablet to surf the Internet, you may find yourself visiting a website regularly, maybe even every day. To save you from searching for the website each time in Google, or navigating to it by typing in the website address, you can bookmark a web page (also called saving a favourite) to quickly and easily get to it whenever you like. Follow the steps below to bookmark a web page: 1. Navigate to the web page you would like to bookmark. 2. At the top of the browser window you will see the outline of a star or a button that looks like a flag. This is the bookmarks button. Tap on it. 3. A window will pop up asking you to input information about your bookmark. 4. If you would like to adjust the name of your bookmark, tap inside the box next to name (or label), and then type in the name you want to give your bookmark. 5. You can create a folder to store your bookmark in (and add more bookmarks to later) by tapping on the drop-down menu next to the word folder (or add to). 6. Tap on OK. If you would like to navigate to one of your bookmarks, tap on the button that looks like a flag. This will display your bookmarks. Tap on the bookmark you want to visit and the browser will take you there. 9

10 Saving a Picture from the Internet If you find a picture on the Internet that you would like to save to your tablet, follow these steps: 1. Long press on top of the picture you want to save. 2. A box will pop up with options. Tap on save. 3. The tablet will download the picture and save it to the gallery. 4. To find the saved picture on your device, tap the gallery app on your home screen. Then tap on the group labeled as downloaded. 5. Locate the picture and tap on it. Cut, Copy and Paste Cut, copy and paste are functions that let you move text and pictures around. If you cut text or picture you are removing it from one spot and placing it on the clipboard, a temporary storage space. Using the paste function, you take the text or picture from the clipboard and insert it somewhere else. If you copy text, you are making a copy of the text and placing it on the clipboard. Doing this does not remove the text from the originating source. Using the paste function, you take the copy from the clipboard and insert it somewhere else. Follow the steps below to cut/copy and paste text: 1. Highlight (or select) the text you would like to cut or copy. To do this, long press on top of part of the text you would like to cut or copy. 2. You will see two selection points near the text. Tap and hold your finger on top of one of the selection points and drag it to the beginning of the text you want to cut or copy. Then drag the other selection point to the end of the text you would like to cut or copy. The text is now highlighted. 3. In the text selection menu tap on either cut or copy. 4. Navigate to the place where you would like to insert your text. 5. Long press on top of the area where you would like to insert your text. Tap on the paste button and the text will be pasted. 10

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