A n d ro i d Fo r B e g i n n e rs Date Here DEFINITIONS.............PAGE 2 INSTRUCTION - Android Navigation.............PAGE 3 INSTRUCTION - Customizing Your Home Screens...........PAGE 4 INSTRUCTION - Contacts, Calendars, Email..............PAGE 5 INSTRUCTION - Using the Internet..............PAGE 6 INSTRUCTION - Taking and Sharing Photos and Video.........PAGE 7 INSTRUCTION - Finding and Using Apps...........PAGE 8 RESOURCES - Apps...........PAGE 9-11 INSTRUCTION - Accessories and Security.............PAGE 12 INSTRUCTION - Troubleshooting...........PAGE 13
D E F I N I T I O N S App Short for application, an app is a program or a group of programs designed for end users. Apps have limited and specific functionality that allows them to work more quickly than websites and many will work when not connected to the Internet. Amazon Account or Google Account The password associated with your Android device. Used to give permission to download new apps and make purchases. Bluetooth A wireless technology standard for exchanging data between devices, over short distances. Allows devices to communicate with each other without being connected by a cord. Browser Short for Web browser, a browser is a software application used to locate, retrieve and also display content on the World Wide Web, including Web pages, images, video and other files. Common browsers are Internet Explorer, Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox. Cloud Online Storage. Also referred to as a network cloud. In telecommunications, a cloud refers to remote public or semi-public server space that holds data storage. (Example: Owned Kindle books can be stored on Amazon s Cloud, rather than on a person s computer) GPS/Location Services A location-based service tracks where your device is located using GPS (Global Positioning System). The service will often tailor your information to your location. For example, the Weather Channel app uses GPS and provides the weather for your current location. Icon A small picture that represents an object or program. Operating System (OS) The most important program that runs on a computer. Every computer must have an operating System to function. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of stored files, and communicating with printers. Examples: ios, Android, Windows 7, Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Your device uses a version of Android. Wifi Wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. Wi-Fi works with no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency (RF) technology. 3G A term used to represent the 3rd generation of mobile telecommunications technology. 3G is basically the wireless service provided for cell phone coverage. Sync To update and merge information between devices and accounts. Streaming Watching/listening to media where the content in delivered continuously from the internet. - 2-
Android Navigation The Home Button On some devices, it is a physical button, usually on the bottom middle. On others, it is an icon of a house. If the house icon is not visible, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and it should appear. Press Once: Takes you back to a home screen Press Twice: Allows you to scroll through your most recently used apps. (physical button only) Press and Hold: Turns on Google Voice (physical button only, not for Kindle Fires) Typing/keyboard To turn on the keyboard, simply tap when you want to type and a keyboard will appear. It will typically disappear on its own, but to manually do so, touch the small down arrow in the bottom left of your screen. Multi-Touch Gestures Tap: A quick, firm touch with the tip of the finger used to open an app or follow a link. Tap and Hold: Use to select text for copy/paste function and to rearrange icons. Swipe: Allows you to navigate between different home screens, scroll up or down in a website, or reveal hidden features. Double Tap: Automatically zooms in or out with photos and certain webpages and apps. Pinch/Unpinch: Zooms out or in on photos, most webpages and apps. Very useful for maps. Voice Dictation Button - 3-
A Home Screen has many icons on it. I N S T RU C T I O N S Customizing Your Home Screens Your Tablet will have several Home Screens. Swipe from side to side to move between them. The Kindle HD has been reformatted to have a home screen called the Carousel. You can quickly find oft-used apps, books, and other pages by swiping through it. Managing Icons: When you download a new app, the icon will appear on one of your home screens. To rearrange icons, touch and hold the chosen icon until it becomes moveable, then drag to the desired location. The icon will then stay in the new location. To move an icon to a different home screen, drag it slowly to the side of the screen, until the new screen appears. This may take several attempts. You can group similar apps together. Touch and hold until the icon can be moved, then drag the icons on top of each other to create a folder. Give the folder a descriptive name such as news, reading, etc. To delete an app/icon, touch and hold, then move the icon to a red X, the word Remove, usually located at the top of the screen, or the Trash. It depends on the device. Note - this will not remove the entire app from your device. Androids come pre-installed with some apps, also called native apps. These will be visible on the first home screen, but can be moved around, even though they cannot be deleted. Changing the Background: From Settings: Go to settings, then Display, Wallpaper. From there choose one or access your own photos for a custom background. From Gallery: Go to photos. Click on the desired photo to bring it to full screen. Tap the settings in the upper right corner. Then tap Set as Wallpaper. - 4-
Contacts, Calendars, and Email Syncing You can sync your Android to your existing email accounts, online calendars, and address books (contacts). This means that you do not need to be in front of your computer for email, to check your appointments or find phone numbers and addresses. To Add Your Account(s): Touch the Mail Icon - Settings (top R corner) - Add Account Composing and Sending a New Email: Touch the Mail icon on your home screen. Touch the new message icon, located in the top left corner of the screen. Type in an email address, subject, and write your message. Touch the arrow icon or send at the top of the screen. You must be connected to wifi to send or receive email, but you can compose new messages and read existing messages while you are offline. Adding New Contacts (or People): Open your address book by touching the People icon. Find and touch a person with a plus sign icon. Insert info. When you compose a new email, your tablet will remember the email address that you type. If it recognizes it from your address book, it may fill in the rest as you type. It may also prompt you to make a new entry in your address book. Adding New Calendar Appointments: Open your calendar. Find and touch a plus sign icon or press and hold the day for the new appointment. Insert info. You can set reminders to appear as a pop-up or be sent as an email. - 5-
Using the Internet Browser Most Android s pre-installed web browser is called Browser (on Kindles, it is simply called Web or Silk.) To open Browser, touch the world icon, usually found on the main home screen. To go to a website, touch the address bar to make the keyboard appear, then type the address of the site you wish to visit. The address bar also functions as a search bar. If you don t know the exact web address, type search terms and suggestions will appear. Tabs You may have multiple web pages open at one time. Each page is viewed in a Tab. To open a new tab, touch the plus sign on the right. When following links in websites, new tabs will often open on their own. Be sure to close tabs that you don t need anymore. Having too many tabs open will slow down your device. The titles of open tabs will be visible directly below the address bar. Touch the title to move between tabs. Touch the X to close that tab. Favorites/Bookmarks Save sites you go to often to your Favorites, by using the star button. These will be available to get to from your Bookmark icon. Back button Address bar Create Bookmark Refresh/Reload Open New Tab View Bookmarks/Favorites Close Tab - 6-
Taking and Sharing Photos and Video To take a photo: Open your camera by touching the icon. Preview the image on the screen. Touch the circle on the screen to take the photo. The photo will be stored to your Gallery. When in camera mode, the most recent photo will be visible in the corner of the screen. Touch this to view the image. You can share or delete the image using the icons in the top corner. You can also access your saved photos by touching the Gallery icon on your home screen. To switch between front and rear camera, touch the image of a camera with arrows. Use the rear camera to take most photos. Use the front camera to easily take photos of yourself, or when using video chat / Skype programs. Not all devices have a front and/or rear camera. To take video: To switch between photo mode and video mode, touch the video recorder icon within the Camera. To start and stop the video recording, touch the red button on the screen. Sharing Pictures and Videos: View the image, or video then touch the Share icon. You can upload it to Facebook or send it as an email attachment. - 7-
Finding and Using Apps How Do I Get A New App? Most Androids: You will go to the Play Store and download it. You must be connected to the Internet while downloading. Kindles: You will go to the Amazon App Store. You must have your device authorized by either your Google Account or Amazon Account. Cost Some apps are free and some apps cost money. Some apps offer a free version and a paid version. In most cases, the free version is enough. Don t pay for an app without trying a free one first. Beware of In-App Purchases (see Security on Page 12) Finding Apps / Exploring the App Store. If you know the name of the app that you want, enter it in the search bar of your app store s home screen. Results will display. Tap the result to get more information, including price and reviews. Tap Install, then Accept to download. If the word Open or Update displays instead of a price, that indicates that the app is already installed on your device. If you are looking for new apps to try, explore the categories in your app store.. Many apps are also available on the developer s website. It you go to a website, and an app is available, you may be prompted to download the app or it may redirect you to the App Store. Are apps safe? Apps available through app store are not vetted by Google or Amazon, so you will need to review and check them, unless you know they are standard apps. Android apps can be created and shared by anyone, which makes them riskier. It is a good idea to read ratings and reviews before installing. Generally, the most popular apps are also the best. - 8-
R E S O U RC E S Free Reading Apps Overdrive Media Console Check out and read ebooks and eaudiobooks from the library. Goodreads Talk about books! Kindle Read Kindle Books from Amazon (or the library!) Nook Purchase and Read books from Barnes and Noble. Social Apps Facebook Keep up with friends, chat, play games, and share updates. Twitter Post short messages or follow others. Popular for celebrity news, professional development, communication, research. LinkedIn Social networking for professional purposes. Great for job seekers, career progression, sales, contacts. Pinterest Share your favorite Internet finds on a virtual bulletin board. Great for recipes, crafts and decorating ideas. Instagram Edit and share photos with others Skype Video chat with friends and family. Yelp Yellow Pages and a user-review site. Good for restaurants and businesses Google Hangout Use this to video chat, send text messages and chat with friends and family - 9-
R E S O U RC E S Free Library Apps AccessMyLibrary - Public Edition Access to Gale Research Databases from your tablet or phone. WCPL, such as Legal Forms, Books & Authors, Literature Resource Center, and reference ebooks BYKI Also known as Transparent Language Online, learn a foreign language! Freegal Get free music from the library that you can keep! Overdrive Media Console Check out and read ebooks and eaudiobooks EBSCOhost Get full-text articles, magazines, and other research right on your mobile device. Zinio Get your favorite magazine delivered directly to your app, instantly - 10-
R E S O U RC E S More Free Popular Apps Dropbox A free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. My Fitness Pal Track your food intake and exercise. Easy to use! Scan barcodes with your tablet s camera. Evernote All of your notes, web clips, files and images are made available on every device and computer you use. Epicurious Recipes and meal ideas. Generate a shopping list. Keeper Keeps all your user names and passwords organized and in one place. Weather Channel Quick access to your local weather, or plan for a trip. Qrafter/QR Droid Scan those strange black-and-white barcodes you ve been seeing everywhere. It will take you to a website or video Pandora Internet Radio. No long commercials breaks! Set favorites and receive suggestions for new songs. You Tube Watch short videos or full-length programs. NBC / ABC / CBS / Fox Watch TV on the go. Slacker Radio Internet Radio. No long commercials breaks! Set favorites and receive suggestions for new songs. Spotify Free music streaming. No commercials. USA Today/CNN/ NYT Up-to-the-minute news from your favorite source. TuneIn Listen to local and global radio stations. - 11-
Accessories Screen Protector A thin plastic sheet that protects your screen from scratches. Android and Kindle screens are glass and can scratch unless protected. Covers/Cases Protect your device from damage. Many double as stands. Many designs/colors available. External Keyboard Type the old-fashioned way. Some cases come with keyboards built into them. Stylus A pen used to touch the screen on a tablet. More precise than using fingers. Charging Cables/Connectors Charge via USB, wall outlet, or car. Security Privacy Nothing online is truly private, especially when using wifi. Be careful when choosing remember my password. You may lose your device. Applications will ask for permission to take information or data from Calendar, People, Reminders, or Gallery. You can also control this in Settings > Security. Security Locking You can choose to make your Android more secure by creating a specific slide, pattern, PIN, or password to access your device in order to access your device. It can be either a 4 digit PIN or an alphanumeric phrase, a dot-to-dot pattern, or simple slide. Go to Settings > Security > Screen Lock In-App Purchases Many apps are free to download, but then offer in-app purchasing to further enhance play. You can safeguard against that by changing your settings WITHIN the Play Store: Open Play Store > Settings > Check Password. Then you will always be asked your password for your Google Account whenever a purchase is attempted. - 12-
Troubleshooting 1. Tap the Screen Makes hidden navigation and menu icons appear Makes keyboard appear Try Single Tap, Double Tap, or Touch and Hold. 2. Touch what you want to change Tablets are intended to be intuitive. Touch for a keyboard, menu or other option to appear. Look for Xs or arrows to close windows or go back to previous screen. Don t be afraid you will not break your tablet by touching the wrong thing. 3. Check for Updates It s important to update your system and software, as well as your apps. For Software updates go to Settings > About Tablet > System Updates. For apps go to the App Store > My Apps. All the updates will appear at the top of your My Apps. Updates solve problems by correcting bugs. It can look different, but will provide more stability and greater functionality. 4. Check Your WiFi Connection Are you connected? Do you need to be? Do you have a good signal? Some wifi networks require a password or sign-in verification 5. Google Your Problem You are not the only one! Check the date of messages/answers. - 13-