Dan Gookin - Android For Dummies

41 41

42 42

43 43

44 44

45 45

46 46

47 47

48 48

49 49

50 50

51 51

52 52

53 53

54 54

55 55

56 56

57 57

58 58

59 59

60 60

61 61

62 62

63 63

64 65

65 66

66 67

67 68

68 69

69 70

70 71

71 72

72 73

73 74

74 75

75 76

76 77

77 79

78 80

79 81

80 82

81 83

82 84

83 85

84 87

85 88

86 89

87 90

88 91

89 92

90 93

91 94

92 95

93 96

94 97

95 99

96 100

97 101

98 102

99 103

100 104

101 105

102 106

103 107

104 108

105 109

106 110

107 111

108 112

109 113

110 114

111 115

112 116

113 117

114 118

115 119

116 120

117 121

118 122

119 123

120 124

121 125

122 126

123 127

124 129

125 130

126 131

127 132

128 133

129 134

130 135

131 136

132 137

133 138

134 139

135 140

136 141

137 142

138 143

139 144

140 145

141 146

142 147

143 148

144 149

145 150

146 151

147 152

148 153

149 154

150 155

151 156

152 157

153 158

154 159

155 161

156 162

157 163

158 164

159 165

160 166

161 167

162 168

163 169

164 170

165 171

166 172

167 173

168 174

169 175

170 176

171 177

172 178

173 179

174 180

175 181

176 182

177 183

178 184

179 185

180 186

181 187

182 188

183 189

184 190

185 191

186 192

187 193

188 194

189 195

190 196

191 197

192 198

193 199

194 200

195 201

196 202

197 203

198 204

199 205

200 206

201 207

202 208

203 209

204 210

205 211

206 212

207 213

208 214

209 215

210 216

211 217

212 218

213 219

214 221

215 222

216 223

217 224

218 225

219 226

220 227

221 228

222 229

223 230

224 231

225 232

226 233

227 234

228 235

229 236

230 237

231 238

232 239

233 241

234 242

235 243

236 244

237 245

238 246

239 247

240 248

241 249

242 250

243 251

244 252

245 253

246 254

247 255

248 256

249 257

250 258

251 259

252 260

253 261

254 262

255 263

256 264

257 265

258 266

259 267

260 268

261 269

262 270

263 271

264 272

265 273

266 274

267 275

268 276

269 277

270 278

271 279

272 280

273 281

274 282

275 283

276 284

277 285

278 286

279 287

280 288

281 289

282 290

283 291

284 293

285 294

286 295

287 296

288 297

289 298

290 299

291 300

292 301

293 302

294 303

295 304

296 305

297 306

298 307

299 308

300 309

301 310

302 311

303 312

304 313

305 314

306 315

307 316

308 317

309 319

310 320

311 321

312 322

313 323

314 324

315 325

316 326

317 327

318 328

319 329

320 330

321 331

322 332

323 333

324 334

325 335

326 336

327 337

328 338

329 339

330 340

331 341

332 342

333 343

334 344

335 345

336 346

337 347

338 348

339 349

You know it’s intimidating when they call it a “smartphone.” Worse, the supersize smartphone, the tablet, supposedly does everything your computer does but without a keyboard — or very many knobs or switches. Still, if you own one of these devices, don’t you want to get all the features you paid for?

This book makes the complex subject of Android phones and tablets understandable. It’s done with avuncular care and gentle handholding. The information is friendly and informative, without frightening you. And yes, ample humor is sprinkled throughout the text to keep the mood light. New technology can be frustrating enough without a touch of levity.

Please don’t read this book from cover to cover. This book is a reference. It’s designed to be used as you need it. Look up a topic in the table of contents or the index. Find something about your Android mobile gizmo that vexes you or you’re curious about. Look up the answer, and get on with your life.

Every chapter is written as its own, self-contained unit, covering a specific Android topic. The chapters are further divided into sections representing tasks you perform with the device or explaining how to get something done. Sample sections in this book include

Typing without lifting your finger

Making a conference call

Blocking calls

Sending email to a contact

Surfing the web on a mobile device

Helping others find your location

Recording video

Creating a mobile hotspot

Flying with an Android

Extending battery life

You have nothing to memorize, no sacred utterances or animal sacrifices, and definitely no PowerPoint presentations. Instead, every section explains a topic as though it’s the first thing you’ve read in this book. Nothing is assumed, and everything is cross-referenced. Technical terms and topics, when they come up, are neatly shoved to the side, where they’re easily avoided. The idea here isn’t to learn anything. This book’s philosophy is to help you look it up, figure it out, and move on.

This book follows a few conventions for using your Android phone or tablet, so pay attention!

First of all, no matter what name your phone or tablet has, whether it's a manufacturer’s name or a pet name you’ve devised on your own, this book refers to it as an Android. Sometimes the term phone or tablet is used, and sometimes device or, rarely, gizmo .

Because Samsung modifies the Android operating system, and because the company’s gizmos sell more than other phones and tablets, its devices are often called out in the text — specifically, when a Samsung galactic gizmo does something different from a typical Android gizmo.

The main way to interact with an Android mobile device is to use its touchscreen, which is the glassy part of the device as it’s facing you. The physical buttons on the device are called keys. These items are discussed and explained in Part 1of this book.

The various ways to touch the screen are explained and named in Chapter 3.

Chapter 4covers text input, which involves using an onscreen keyboard. When you tire of typing, you can dictate your text. It’s all explained in Chapter 4.

This book directs you to do things by following numbered steps. Each step involves a specific activity, such as touching something on the screen; for example:

1 Tap the Apps icon.

This step directs you to tap or touch the graphical Apps icon on the screen. When a button is shown as text, the command reads:

1 Tap the Download button.

You might also be directed to choose an item, which means to tap it on the screen.

Various settings can be turned off or on, as indicated by a master control, which looks like the on–off toggle, as shown in the margin. Tap the master control to enable or disable the feature, or slide its button to the right or left. When the feature is enabled, the Master Control icon appears in color.