Essential and top 40 tricks and tips of Android

Android was designed purely as a contradiction to Apple’s iOS. It is open source OS with fully customizable platform and no unexplained third party app rejections. If the Apple’s iOS is a house guarded by some elite commando force then Android is a house with the mattress saying ‘You are Welcome’. It’s your house, you can set the furniture as you want and if you want throw out some of furniture and bring in some new.

Here I have assembled some general Android tips which are common in all Android versions and the best thing is they do not require any sort of hacking. So it’s time to get started for the path to become an Android expert.

Navigation in Android

1. Use a utility called Astro which will make file management super fast and extremely easy if you have used a computer. Get the ease of navigation directories and moving or deleting files just you are used to in a computer.
   
2. For a cut-paste functionality long press on any text input area. If you are on a web page click the menu key and use the select text option. This functionality has now been replicated on most other mobiles OS too including Symbian.
   
3. Using the hot keys of Android you can perform almost all activities on an Android ranging from zooming into a webpage or image to launching an application.
   
4. Like computer shortcuts you can also make your own hotkeys to directly launch an application. Go to the main settings menu, select applications and proceed to Quick launch.
   
5. If the on-screen keyboard is disturbing you by popping up when you don’t want it to then just touch and drag it downward to make it disappear.
   
6. For current date on Android touch your finger at the top left corner of the screen.
   
   

   Customise your home screen

7. Wisely use the space on your screen by placing widgets on the home screen. These are dynamic programs that run directly from your screen. You can select from a large variety of widgets with varied functions and sizes to run from the Android market. Just hold your finger on any empty space on your home screen and select widgets.
   
8. You may not want to have a ringtone for every notification like email. Just head into Gmail’s setting menu and set the ring tone to silent. You will still see the notifications on the home screen and you can always pull down the panel to see more information on it. You can do the settings of the other notification generating apps similarly.
   
9. There are always some selected group of people that you will call the most. For them you can set on touch dial. Just hold your finger at empty space and select shortcuts. Now select direct dial and choose your contacts from the phonebook. If you prefer to remain in contact through messages then you can also set up Direct messages in the same way.
   
10. To have your favorite website option on your home screen long press on the webpage in your bookmarks and select shortcuts.
    
11. If your home screen becomes too crowded due to number of apps, contacts and shortcuts then you can shift these into a folder. Just hold your finger on a blank space at your home screen and select folders. Now you can drag and drop whatever apps, contacts or shortcuts you want in it. For renaming the folder press and hold the title bar of the folder when it is present.
    

     

    Staying connected with Android

12. To load your files on your Android phone connect the mobile to your PC, now select USB connect in the notification box followed by mount. Now your phone storage will appear on the Pc as a hard drive. Now you just need to drag and drop the files onto the hard drive icon to transfer the files.
    
13. To manage you music including the iTunes playlist you can use a free Android utility program named Double Twist which will make Motorola’s Media link look like a outdated relic.
    
14. To sync your outlook calendar install Google calendar sync and let it mange the rest.
    
15. For your contacts in outlook if you are not using Exchange sync hen you can use a open-source utility for your PC named GO contact sync.
    
16. Manage all your feed using NewsRob which will automatically sync your feeds for your phone through Google reader account.
    
17. If you want to import your browser’s bookmarks from PC to your Android phone, just download MyBookmarks from the market on your phone.
    

     

    Boosting the power of Android functionalities

18. Increase your outgoing call options by installing Google voice on your Android phone. After signing up for an account, download the official app and watch how your outgoing call options increase. Add the Google voice widget on the screen for one-touch toggling of outgoing voice calls.
    
19. Enjoy free messaging service with Google voice widget. Everything is ready in the app and you just need to install and use it. Just configure it to refresh every 5 seconds so that you receive incoming messages timely.
    
20. You can also enjoy free call on your Android by using Fring. This is a free mobile chat client which lets you make calls over Skype, Gtalk and any SIP calling service.
    
21. Irritated going through the automatic response systems of business companies when you have to talk to a particular businessman quite often? Well, then Dial Zero is probably the best free app for you. It lets you bypass the phone trees and directly get connected to human representatives.
    
22. Keep away telemarketing or for that that matter any unwanted call by sending them directly to your voicemail or just rejecting the call. First save the contact, then go to the contact profile then press the Menu button, tap Options, and check the Incoming calls box.
    
23. The incoming calls option also contains a option to set personalised ringtones for every contact person. Select ringtone and change the ringtone for whichever person you want.
    
24. You can also use your own mp3s for ringtones, alarms and notifications. Just go to your memory card and create folders named ringtones, alarms or notifications and save your respective audios in proper folders. These folders will show up in selection of sounds when you browse ringtones, alarms or notifications respectively.
    
25. If you are a music lover and want to setup a clip of a song as your ringtones, alarm or notification then you must try out a free app RingDroid which will grab a precise segment of a song.
    
26. Multiple tabs are all too common in every browser app and default browsers nowadays. Opera mobile has multiple tab functionality for about a year now and otherwise too in Android you have multiple tabs in default browser too. Long press on a link and select open in a new tab. Click the menu button to browse between different tabs.
    
27. Both in Opera mobile and Android you can select a option to tell Android to always display your webpages in landscape mode. This can be done in the setting option of the browser.
    
28. Other than Android browser the other best bet is Opera browser which also has its own plugin store.
    

     

    Security options for your Android phone

29. Android phones have patterns as unlock code for your mobile. Just swipe your finger across the screen in a specific manner for a code. The setting can be found under ‘Location and Security’ in the main menu by the name of Screen unlock pattern.
    
30. To protect all your phone data including apps, contacts, call logs, texts and your settings you can back up the data in a single file on the SD card or not a secure server. Use MyBackup for this purpose. For saving your messages periodically you can use SMS Backup which will periodically save all your messages to your Gmail account.
    
31. For remote protection of your mobile data use Mobile defense which will allow you to track your phone remotely, lock up the mobile remotely then back up all the data and after retrieving it wipe all memory from the phone.
    

     

    Some essential apps for a Android phone

32. If you handle a lot of Office files then Documents To Go is just the app for you. It’s free version allows you to view the files and the paid version allows you to edit the files as well.
    
33. Prefer to work with your Office files on cloud? Then Google docs is the thing for you, to access this service use GDoc or ThinkFree Mobile Office both of which will allow you to access Google docs on your Android phone.
    
34. If all you need from Office is some note taking application then download a PC sync based app like GDocs Notepad With Sync which saves the document directly to Google Docs for easy access.
    
35. Do photo editing even while on-move with your Android phone. Use Photoshop.com Mobile app which has amazing features and I doubt if any competition.
    
36. Enjoy your music experience with TuneWiki which plays the lyrics of the song along with the music. Additionally it also gives you access to Internet radio streaming and some cool social music sharing features.
    

     

    How to completely customise your Android phone

37. Decide your phone profiles using Locale. This app allows you to practically decide any type of profile customisations and save them for use whenever required. For example shifting to silent or making your phone glow brighter.
    
38. Enjoy the LED variation of your phone using Missed Call which lets you define some colors to flash when calls from some specific persons slip by.
    
39. Include your name and other proper nouns so that they pop up when you are typing on your Android phone. Go to Language and Keyboard setting in System Settings to do the necessary.
    
40. If you don’t like a app purchased from Market place you can claim a complete refund provided you return it within 24 hours and also you have not returned it previously too.