I’ll admit that my journey with Android started with a bumpy ride. My first smartphone was a Samsung Galaxy S, and Touchwiz experience w...
I’ll admit that my journey with Android started with a bumpy ride. My first smartphone was a Samsung Galaxy S, and Touchwiz experience was so leggy that I bought an iPhone after using it for a full year. Though my first encounter with Android was not that good, there’s no doubt that it have improved a lot over the years. My vanilla experience with the 2012 Nexus 7 tablet, was quite awesome, which I received as a gift just after its release. After that, I’ve always kept an android device with me, using it as an e-reader, gaming device, web browser, and uses are endless. Throughout the years I’ve discovered a few useful Android related tips and tricks which will help you to improve your experience to a great extent!
1. Take advantage Android’s customization potential
I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent on the XDA Forums just browsing "Show Your Homescreen" threads, only to see how people have configured their homescreens, Some of them were pure minimal, some were full of application icons, much like an iPhone. That’s great but if you want simplicity and streamlined, Apple’s products do it better. But iOS falls back when it comes to customization, there are endless possibility's and designs for you Android homescreen! This means using your homescreen for cool widgets, search bars, custom launchers, iconpacks, and then there are zooper and KLWP, etc. You might be surprised by how many interesting options are available to you…
2. Maintain it like a PC to improve performance.
While Android can do much more than iOS, it's processing power and abilities to fineline are a poor then iOS. You can’t do anything about your smartphone or tablet’s processor, but you can optimize what you have with a little work and time. Much like an computer, Android devices need to be tuned up very now and again. There are several apps that can help you to clean out your android, like CCleaner, which is also available for PC. Even without that app you can do the task manually like deleting old, unused apps, removing widgets you don’t use from homescreen or uninstalling them, and killing unnecessary background processes on your own. To do that last one go to settings, apps, running, and manually end anything taking up too much RAM.
3. Make your phone harder to break into than white house
Warning: Don’t do this one unless you’re really like badly concerned about your phone’s information being stolen. Android gives option to encrypt your device. To encrypt your device, go to settings > security > encryption, and just tap “Encrypt phone.” Then you will be required to create a pin or pattern, which will be required to enter every time you turn on your phone (in order to decrypt/unlock it). This is quite same like the unlock code on an iPhone, except way more drastic. Usually it takes about an hour for your device to encrypt, and it can only be undone through a factory reset. Only do this if you have sensitive information, or want your phone to be as secure as possible.
4. Make sure you get your device back if you lose it.
There’s no way to guarantee you’ll get back your phone if you leave it in public place by accident or it got stolen. That being said, you can increase the chances of getting it back by enabling your security settings. Go to settings > security > then owner info. There you’ll get an option to enter your contact information that will always show up on lockscreen. This will make it easier for a good gentleman to return a lost device to its rightful owner.
5. Access the hidden developer options.
To get a taste of how customizable Android is, you can activate the “hidden” developer mode. To activate developer mode Go to settings > about phone, and then click on “build number” seven times. You'll see a toast message something like “you’re now a developer!” Once that’s done, return to system settings, and you’ll now see a new option “developer options.” One of the best things you can do in developer mode is reduce the system animations time it takes for to execute, making your phone feel more snappy and quick. Do this adjust the “animation scale” options and lower the value (you can make them slow too, but I don’t see why anyone would want that). There are plenty of other customization options you can do under this setting, but don’t go too crazy unless you know what you’re doing.
Do you know any Android tips and tricks? Of course you do! Comment below with some of the cooler ones you know!
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