Our favourite apps and features
We were thinking about how some features and apps become part of your everyday Android life, while others seem exciting at first but soon fall out of use.
Of course, everyone has their own needs, favourites and usage patterns, but in this article we look at the ones that have withstood the test of time and achieved daily use on our devices.
Spotify - music on demand
Spotify started the music streaming revolution and still dominates, we use it every day – get the app at Google Play Store. The free version of Spotify has ads between songs, but we happily pay $11.99 per month to have virtually unlimited ad-free music anywhere, anytime. There is also a family membership for $17.99 that allows up to six users, and a student membership at $5.99 per month for the first year.
Synchronised Computer and Android calendars
Back in TechLife issue 88 we described how to get cloudsynced Outlook calendars and contacts across all your devices for free. We had been told this was not possible, but it’s actually not that hard and we use our synced calendars every day.
Setting it up is too big a subject for this article and you may need to refer to TechLife 88, but in simple terms:
1 Create an Outlook.com email
account.
2 Install the Outlook app on all your devices using your Outlook. com email address.
3 Add your Outlook email to your computer email client and make it the default Data File location.
4 If you use the Windows 10 default Mail and Calendar apps, simply add your Outlook.com account to the Calendar app (make it the primary account if you have others set up).
5 You now have a Windows calendar that syncs with all your Android device calendars. Any appointments you or anyone else add, change or delete on any device will be synced across all devices when they are online.
Change your Android keyboard
Google’s Gboard is pretty much the default keyboard for Android devices, although Samsung generally uses SwiftKey. We found the SwiftKey autocorrect annoying, so went to the Google Play Store to download and install Gboard. Changing your keyboard is easy.
Identify and manage app notifications
Notifications on your Home Screen from unknown apps? Just long-press on the notification and your device will tell you. To manage the app tap “Details” or the information icon for direct access.
Camera grid lines
Of all the camera options, we have found that grid lines are the single most useful feature to help frame, align and compose photos. Check your camera settings to see if you have this feature available.
Google Photos
Just about every Android device has a camera, and before long thousands of digital photos fill the available memory. You can transfer to a computer or other external storage, or just delete mercilessly, but there is a way to have both your memories and your phone memory. Your device probably already has the Google Photos app installed. Activate it and link to your Google account to access unlimited photo and video storage for free.
Unless you have a big international data allowance, set
Google Photos to upload on Wi-Fi only. Then relax, your photos will be backed up to the cloud as long as you run the app frequently.
You then use “Delete Device Copy” or “Free up Device Storage” on the Google Photos app menu to delete photos on your device but keep them in the cloud. The great thing about this is that all the photos remain accessible on your device – just click to download and view.
Backup
Google Backup and Restore lets you clone your phone settings, contacts etc. to a new phone if required. It’s already installed on your Android smartphone, so just make sure it’s enabled.
Go to Settings > Google > Backup (or search for Backup to find it) and make sure “Back up to Google Drive” is switched on.
Backup Contacts, Call logs, SMS, MMS, System Settings, Applications etc.
We can rely on Google to backup our Android settings and data, plus photos and videos, and all we had to do was switch the options on. But what about SMS/ MMS messages and other contents?
There are numerous apps but our favourite is the basic
“Backup Your Mobile” – downloadable for free from the Google Play Store. Backup Your Mobile copies your data into an archive and uploads it to the cloud. You also have the option of setting a daily, weekly or monthly scheduled backup. Just set and forget!
Speak and read any language
There are a number of translation apps available, but it’s hard to do better than Google Translate, which is also downloadable to work offline. Just get the app from the Play Store, set it up, and download the languages you want available.
Apart from text translations, Google Translate does a good job of voice recognition and lets you have (somewhat stilted) conversations in different languages.
There is also the clever camera translation option, that displays approximately translated versions of signs, menus, parking meter instructions, any text in fact. This can be incredibly useful, and sometimes amusing!
Step Tracker – Pedometer Free & Calorie Tracker
This simple step counter app is very easy to use. Simply install, set your personal profile and preferences, leave your phone in your pocket or bag and it will automatically record your steps, how many kilometres you have covered, how many calories you have burned, and there is an option to track your walks with GPS. It runs in the background and does not need to be active to record.
The Quick Settings screen
Instead of delving through Settings menus, swiping down twice from the top of the screen, or a single two finger swipe, opens the Quick Settings screen. Tap on the item Icon to toggle it on or off, or tap on the item name below the icon to access its settings.
You can customise the Quick Settings screen too. Tap on the menu icon to access customisation, then you can drag icons around to set up the screen just the way it suits you.
Quick Settings really are quick, and let you do things like:
Quick Setting - Do Not Disturb Do not Disturb, or Priority Mode, blocks all interruptions except those you specify in the settings. Just set your preferences and then toggle on and off as required via the Quick Settings screen.
Quick Setting - Change the Power Mode Optimise your battery use.
Quick Setting - Turn NFC on or off If you use NFC (Near Field Communication) for contactless credit or debit payments you can use the Quick Settings screen to instantly turn NFC off when you don’t need it.
Quick Setting - Save mobile data Tap on Mobile Data below the icon and you have direct access to mobile data management and data saving settings.