How to use an android phone for dummies download

Arduino Project Handbook Volume 1. Picture of the book: Arduino Pro…. Advanced Electrical Installation Work. Picture of the book : Advan….

About The Book: Getting a smartphone or tablet can be scary for anyone, but this easy-to-use guide is there to help you get the most out of everything your new gadget has to offer!

Whether you are upgrading from an old or a completely new model to a wonderful world of Androids, this book makes it absolutely easy to work with the latest technology. Language : English.

Size : Pages : Format : Pdf. Year : Edition : 1. Author : Dan Gookin. Chapter 2: The On-Off Chapter.

Chapter 3: Android Tour. Chapter 4: Type to Type, Text to Edit. Chapter 5: Telephone Stuff. Chapter 7: The Address Book. Chapter 8: Text Me. Chapter Web Browsing. If not, see Chapter 20 for directions. It allows you to type words by swiping your finger over the onscreen keyboard, like mad scribbling but with a positive result. To use gesture typing, drag a finger over letters on the onscreen keyboard. Figure illustrates how the word hello would be typed in this manner.

See Chapter 20 if you need to activate gesture typing. Google Voice Typing Your Android phone has the amazing capability to interpret your utterances as text. The dictation is available whenever you see the Microphone icon. This icon appears on the keyboard as well as other locations, such as search boxes. On some keyboards, the Microphone icon appears on a multifunction key. Long- press that key to choose its dictation function. See Chapter 20 for information on enabling dictation, should you have trouble with this feature.

Dictating text Talking to your phone really works, and works quite well, providing that you tap the Dictation key on the onscreen keyboard and properly dictate your text. After you tap the Dictation key, a special card appears at the bottom of the screen, similar to the one shown in Figure When the text Tap to Speak or Speak Now appears, dictate your text; speak directly at the phone.

As you speak, the microphone icon on the screen flashes. No, the flashing merely indicates that your words are being digested. The text you utter appears as you speak. To pause, touch the Tap to Pause text on the screen.

To use the keyboard, tap the Keyboard icon, as shown earlier, in Figure The first time you try voice input, you might see a description. Tap the OK button to continue. You see a pop-up list of alternatives from which to choose.

Speak the punctuation in your text. Common punctuation you can dictate includes the comma, period, exclamation point, question mark, colon, and new line. You cannot dictate capital letters.

Dictation may not work without an Internet connection. Your Android phone features a voice censor. Yeah, I know: silly. See Chapter 24 if you really want the phone to take naughty dictation. Well, no major editing, such as for a term paper or ransom note. From time to time, however, you may find yourself wanting to fix a word. Moving the cursor The first part of editing text is to move the cursor to the right spot. The cursor is that blinking, vertical line where text appears. Then you can type, edit, or paste or simply marvel that you were able to move the cursor hither and thither.

On a computer, you move the cursor by using a pointing device. If your Android phone features a pointing device, such as a thumb ball or arrow keys on a physical keyboard, you can use that device to move the cursor while you edit text. Otherwise, your finger performs the cursor-moving task. Tap the spot on the text where you want the cursor to appear.

To help your accuracy, a cursor tab appears below the text, similar to the one shown in the margin. You can move that tab with your finger to precisely locate the cursor in your text. After you move the cursor, you can continue to type, use the Delete key to back up and erase, or paste text copied from elsewhere. You may see a pop-up button by the cursor tab containing a Paste action. Selecting text Selecting text on an Android phone works just like selecting text in a word processor: You mark the start and end of a block.

That chunk of text appears highlighted on the screen. How you get there, however, can be a mystery —until now! To select text, long-press a word. Upon success, you see a chunk of text selected, as shown in Figure Figure Text is selected. Drag the start and end markers around the touchscreen to define the block of selected text. While text is selected, a contextual action bar appears atop the screen, similar to the one shown in Figure Your phone may sport a custom action bar with a different look.

Either way, you use the action bar to deal with the selected text. To delete a selected block of text, tap the Delete key on the onscreen keyboard. To replace the text, type something new. To cancel text selection, tap the Done icon on the action bar, or just tap anywhere in the text outside the selected block. Selecting text on a web page works the same as selecting text in any other app, although I recommend long-pressing and not double-tapping. The difference is that text can only be copied from the web page, not cut or deleted.

Seeing the onscreen keyboard is a good indication that you can edit and select text. Cutting, copying, and pasting text Selected text is primed for cutting or copying, which works just like it does in your favorite word processor. After you select the text, choose the proper command from the contextual action bar. To copy the text, choose the Copy command. To cut the text, choose Cut.

Just like on your computer, cut or copied text on your phone is stored in a clipboard. To paste any previously cut or copied text, move the cursor to the spot where you want the text pasted.

Tap the Paste button. A quick way to paste text is to look for the Paste button above the cursor tab. To see that button, tap anywhere in the text. Tap the Paste command button to paste in the text. Some phones feature a Clipboard app, which lets you peruse, review, and select previously cut or copied text or images. You might even find the Clipboard icon on the action bar or onscreen keyboard. You can paste text only into locations where text is allowed. Odds are good that if you see the onscreen keyboard, you can paste text.

Dealing with speling errors Similar to a word processor, your Android phone may highlight misspelled words, presenting them with an intimidating red underline. To remedy the situation, tap the red-underlined word. You see a pop-up list of alternatives, similar to the one shown in Figure Tap a replacement or, if the word is correctly spelled but unknown to the phone, choose to add the word to a personal dictionary.

Figure Fixing a misspelled word. Words may be autocorrected as you type them. To undo an auto-correction, tap the word again. Choose a replacement word from the predictive-text list, or tap the Replace button to see more options. Your phone has a personal dictionary. See Chapter 24 for details. Explore additional social networking opportunities by visiting www. In this part … Understand how to make phone calls.

Explore voicemail and Google Voice. Use the address book. Try text messaging. Send and receive email. Discover the web on a cell phone. Connect with social networking. The patent for the telephone was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in Telephone-like devices existed before then, and a host of 19th century scientists worked on the concept. Bell beat them all to the patent office, so he gets the credit. And it took many more years for people to patent other, ancillary inventions, including the busy signal , the notion of a second line for teenage girls , and the extension cord, which allowed for simultaneously talking and pacing Features such as call waiting, speed dial, call forwarding, and multiple calls are also possible.

These features and more are presented in this chapter. Reach Out and Touch Someone Until they perfect teleportation, making a phone call is truly the next best thing to being there. The dialing operation on an Android phone is handled by an app, typically named Phone, although Dialer is also popular.

If necessary, display the dialpad. To display the dialpad, either tap the Dialpad icon, as shown in the margin, or a dialpad tab in the Phone app. A typical Dialpad screen is shown in Figure Type a phone number. Use the keypad to type the number. You may hear the traditional touch-tone sounds as you punch in the number. If you make a mistake, tap the Delete icon, labeled in Figure , to back up and erase.

The phone displays matching contacts as you type. On some phones, choosing a contact dials the number immediately.

Tap the Phone handset Dial icon to place the call. While a call is active, the screen changes to show contact information, or a contact image when one is available, similar to Figure Place the phone to your ear and wait. When the person answers the phone, talk. Tap the End Call icon to end the call. The phone disconnects. To return to a call after doing something else, choose the Call in Progress notification icon, similar to the one shown in the margin.

For hands-free operation, use earbuds with a microphone doodle. See Chapter 1 for details on obtaining and using this accessory.

You can connect or remove the earphones at any time during a call. You can also go hands-free by using a Bluetooth headset. See Chapter 17 for information on Bluetooth. To mute a call, tap the Mute icon, shown earlier in Figure A Mute status icon, similar to the one shown in the margin, appears atop the touchscreen. Tap the Speaker icon and hold the phone at a distance to listen and talk, which allows you to let others listen and share in the conversation.

The Speaker status icon appears when the speaker is active. See Chapter 22 for more information. You hear an audio alert whenever the call is dropped or the other party hangs up. The disconnection can be confirmed by looking at the phone, which shows that the call has ended. You cannot place a phone call when the phone has no service; check the signal strength refer to Figure See Chapter 22 for information.

It appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, next to the Battery status icon and the time. The Signal Strength icon features the familiar bars, rising from left to right. The more bars, the better the signal. An extremely low signal is indicated by zero bars. When no signal is available, you may see a red circle with a line through it the International No symbol over the bars. When the phone is out of its service area but still receiving a signal, you see the Roaming icon, which typically includes an R near or over the bars.

See Chapter 22 for more information on roaming. Also see Chapter 17 for information on the mobile data network status icon. Browse the list for someone to call; tap their entry and then tap their phone number or Phone icon to place the call.

You can also dial a contact by first opening the Contacts or People app. The list of contacts in that app is identical to the list accessed by using the Phone app.

To quickly access your favorites, tap the Favorites tab in the Phone app. Some variations on the Phone app place the favorite contacts on the main screen or on the Speed Dial screen.

For example, if your bookie is on speed dial 2, long-press the 2 key to instantly dial his number. To assign a speed dial number, or just review the current settings, heed these steps when using the Phone app:. Tap the Action Overflow icon. The remaining numbers, 2 through 9, are available to program.

Tap an item on the list, or tap the Add icon. Choose a contact. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to assign more speed dial contacts. To remove a speed dial entry, long-press it and choose the Delete or Remove action.

Or, in some cases, tap the Minus Remove icon to the right of the speed dial entry. Adding pauses when dialing a number When you tap the Phone icon to dial a number, the number is instantly spewed into the phone system, like water out of a hose. Two are available:. Type the number to dial. At the point that the pause or wait character is needed, tap the Action Overflow icon. On some phones, tap the More button. Continue composing the rest of the phone number. When the number is dialed and the comma , is encountered, the phone pauses two seconds and then dials the rest of the number.

When the semicolon ; is encountered, the phone prompts you to continue. Tap the Yes or OK button to continue dialing the rest of the number. See Chapter 7. Alas, you cannot program an interactive phone number, such as one that pauses and lets you provide input and then continues to dial. You have to perform that task manually on an Android phone. The point is that someone cares enough to call.

Truly, your Android phone ringing can be good news, bad news, or mediocre news, but it always provides a little drama to spice up an otherwise mundane day. Receiving a call Several things can happen when you receive a phone call on your Android phone:. The phone rings or makes a noise signaling you to an incoming call. The phone vibrates. The touchscreen reveals information about the call, as shown at the top of Figure 5- 3.

The car in front of you explodes in a loud fireball as your passenger screams something inappropriately funny. That last item happens only in Bruce Willis movies.

Work the touchscreen to answer the call. The stock Android method is shown in Figure Swipe the Answer icon to the left to answer. Other methods for answering a call are shown in Figure Generally, you swipe the Answer icon in a specific direction. When you choose to answer the call, place the phone to your ear. If the other party hangs up first, the call ends automatically.

See Chapter 21 for information on screen locks. Otherwise, a generic contact image shows up refer to the far right side of Figure 5- 4. The sound you hear when the phone rings is known as the ringtone. Ringtones are covered in Chapter Dismiss the call: Slide the Answer icon to the Dismiss icon, or just swipe the Decline icon, as illustrated earlier, in Figure See Chapter 6 for information on voicemail.

Chapter 6 also covers the call log, which shows a list of recent calls, incoming, missed, and rejected. Rejecting a call with a text message Rather than just dismiss a call, you can reply to the call with a text message.

Choose the Text Message icon or drawer when dismissing a call, shown in Figures and Figure , respectively. Some phones may not display the text message rejection option until after you dismiss the call. After choosing the text message rejection option, select a text message. Figure shows how such a screen may look. Figure Text message rejection selection. After you choose a text message, the incoming call is dismissed. In a few cellular seconds, the person who called receives the message.

Not every phone offers the text message rejection feature. The method for adding, removing, or editing the call rejection messages differs from phone to phone. Generally, tap the Action Overflow icon or More button while using the Phone app. Choose Settings. Look for a Quick Responses or Call Rejection item. See Chapter 8 for more information on text messages. Multiple Call Mania As a human being, your brain limits your ability to hold more than one conversation at a time.

Simply tap the Hold icon, shown in the margin. Refer to Figure for the Hold icon's location on the call-in-progress screen. To take the call out of hold, tap the Hold icon again. The icon may change its look, for example, from a Pause symbol to a Play symbol. Rather than hold the call, mute it: Tap the Mute icon. That way, you can sneeze, scream at the wall, or flush the toilet and the other person will never know. Suddenly, someone else calls you.

What happens next? Your phone alerts you to the new call, perhaps by vibrating or making a sound. You have three options:. Answer the call.

Slide the Answer icon just as you would answer any incoming call. Send the call directly to voicemail. Dismiss the call as you would any incoming phone call. Do nothing. The call eventually goes into voicemail. When you select to answer the second call, additional options become available to manage both calls. Use special icons on the call-in-progress screen to perform special, multi-call tricks:. Each time you tap this icon, the conversation switches to the other caller, and the current person is put on hold.

Merge Calls: To combine all calls so that everyone is talking three people total , tap the Merge Calls icon. This icon may not be available if the merge feature is suppressed by your cellular provider. End Call: To end a call, tap the End Call icon, just as you normally do. To end the final call, tap the End Call or Hang Up icon, just as you normally would.

The number of different calls your phone can handle depends on your carrier. For most subscribers in the United States, your phone can handle only two calls at a time.

In that case, a third person who calls you either hears a busy signal or is sent directly into voicemail. If the person on hold hangs up, you may hear a sound or feel the phone vibrate when the call is dropped. When you end a second call on the Verizon network, both calls may appear to have been disconnected. No one is calling you back, though: The phone is simply returning you to that ongoing conversation. Start by connecting with the first person and then add a second call.

Soon, everyone is talking. Phone the first person. After the call connects and you complete a few pleasantries, tap the Add Call icon. The Add Call icon may appear as shown in the margin. After you tap that icon, the first person is placed on hold. Dial the second person. Say your pleasantries and inform the party that the call is about to be merged.

Tap the Merge or Merge Calls icon. Tap the End Call icon to end the conference call. All calls are disconnected. When several people are in a room and want to participate in a call, you can always put the phone in Speaker mode: Tap the Speaker icon on the ongoing call screen.

Tap this icon to list the various calls, to mute one, or to select a call to disconnect. Forward Calls Elsewhere You have a choice for dealing with incoming calls. You can ignore them, silence the ringer, banish them to email, or admit defeat and answer.

You can also choose to automate the process by forwarding one call, some calls, or all incoming calls. Forwarding phone calls Call forwarding is the process by which you reroute an incoming call. Then you have the luxury of having your cell phone and still making calls but freely ignoring anyone who calls you. The options for call forwarding on your phone can be set by using either the Android operating system itself or the controls set up by your cellular provider.

To confirm that call-forwarding options can be set by using the Android operating system, follow these steps:. Open the Phone app. Choose Settings or Call Settings. Choose Call Forwarding. This item might be found by first choosing the Calls item. Choose a call forwarding option. Sometimes only one option is available: a phone number to use for all incoming calls. This option overrides all other forwarding options. This option normally sends a missed call to voicemail.

When Unanswered: Calls are forwarded when you choose not to answer the phone. Normally, the call is forwarded to voicemail.

When Unreached: Calls are forwarded when the phone is turned off, out of range, or in Airplane mode. As with the two previous settings, this option normally forwards calls to voicemail. Set the forwarding number. Or you can edit the number that already appears. To disable the option, tap the Turn Off button. If your phone lacks Call Forwarding settings, you must rely upon the cellular carrier to set up and forward your calls.

For example, Verizon in the United States uses the call forwarding options described in Table You hear only a brief tone after dialing, and then the call ends. After that, any call coming into your phone rings at the other number. See Chapter 6 for details. Follow these steps:.

The app is called Contacts. See Chapter 7 for details. Edit the contact: Tap the Edit icon. On some phones, instead of editing the contact, tap the More button. The command might instead be titled Add to Reject List.

This feature is one reason you might want to retain contact information for someone with whom you never want to have contact. The genius behind the mobile phone is that you can receive a call anywhere. That happens a lot. As a type of a computer, your Android phone dutifully keeps track of all calls, not only missed, but those you place and answer as well.

Who Called Who When? All phone calls made on your Android phone are noted: To whom, date, time, duration, and whether the call was incoming, outgoing, missed, or dismissed. I call this feature the call log, although on your phone it may be referenced as Recent Calls or Call History. The place to look is in the Phone app. Dealing with a missed call When you miss a call, a Missed Call notification icon appears atop the touchscreen.

To deal with the notification, display the notification drawer. Tap the Call Back button to immediately return the call. When several calls have been missed, the missed-call notification shows a list of contacts or phone numbers.

Tap that notification to view the call history, where you can return missed calls. Not every Android phone shows the missed-call notification as it appears in Figure Refer to Chapter 3 for specifics on accessing the notification drawer. Reviewing the call log Your Android phone tracks all calls in a location I refer to as the call log. Figure shows what a call log might look like.

Swipe through the list to examine recent calls. The list is sorted so that the most recent calls appear at the top. Information appears associated with each call, such as the date and time, call duration, and whether the call was incoming, outgoing, missed, or ignored.

To see more details about the call, choose its item in the list. Using the call log is a quick way to add a recent caller as a contact: Tap an item in the list, and choose a Create Contact or Add to Contacts item.

See Chapter 7 for more information about contacts. Remove an item from the call log by long-pressing its entry.

Tap the Delete Trash icon atop the screen. To clear the call log, tap the Action Overflow icon and choose the Clear Call History or similar action. Some phones may require you to long-press an entry and then select all entries to clear the call log. Boring Carrier Voicemail The most basic, and most stupid, form of voicemail is the free voicemail service provided by your cell phone company. This standard feature has few frills and nothing that stands out differently for your nifty Android phone.

Carrier voicemail picks up missed calls as well as calls you thrust into voicemail. A notification icon, looking similar to the one shown in the margin, appears whenever someone leaves you a voicemail message.

I recommend doing so even if you plan on using another voicemail service, such as Google Voice. Even if you believe your voicemail to be set up and configured, consider churning through these steps, just to be sure:. Choose Call Settings. On some phones, this item is titled Calls. Some phones may skip this step, showing a Voicemail item on the main Settings screen.

Choose Voicemail or Voicemail Service. Choose Service to determine which voicemail service the phone uses. The options are either Carrier or Your Carrier and Google Voice, although only one option might be available. You can confirm that number by choosing the Setup or Voicemail Settings item on the Voicemail screen. After performing the steps in this section, call the carrier voicemail service to finish the setup: Long-press the 1 key in the Phone app to dial voicemail.

Some versions of the Phone app feature a Voicemail icon on the dialpad. Your phone may also feature a Voicemail app, which you can use to collect and review your messages.

Complete the voicemail setup by creating a customized greeting. Retrieving your messages When you have a voicemail message looming, a notification icon appears on the status bar, similar to the one shown in the margin. What happens next depends on how your carrier has configured its voicemail service. Typically, you have to input your PIN or password, and then new messages play or you hear a menu of options. My advice: Look at the phone so that you can see the dialpad, and tap the Speaker icon so that you can hear the prompts.

In this section, I extol the virtues of using Google Voice as the voicemail system on your Android phone. Even when you choose to use Google Voice, I still recommend setting up and configuring the boring carrier voicemail, as covered earlier in this chapter. Better than reading a Gmail message is receiving a Google Voice message by using the Google Voice app. See Chapter 5 for more information on call forwarding. I recommend using a computer to complete these steps. Follow the directions on the screen.

Log in to your Google account, if necessary, and agree to the terms of service. See Chapter 7 for information on creating new contacts. Although this step configures a Google Voice account, you still need to program your phone to use Google Voice as its voicemail service.

Using the Google Voice app Google Voice transcribes your voicemail messages, turning the audio from the voicemail into a text message you can read. The messages all show up eventually in your Gmail inbox, just as though someone sent you an e-mail rather than left you voicemail. See Chapter 16 for details on obtaining apps at the Google Play Store. Like other mobile payment services, it allows you to store physical gift cards, use loyalty cards, pay for items in-store, and more.

Android is a diverse platform. Android is also supported by Windows 10, allowing users to pair their Android phones to make calls, send text messages, retrieve their photos, and see their notifications right on a Windows PC. However, Google is the foundation. Google bridges the Chrome browser installed on multiple devices.

Google bridges Android phones to smart devices like Chromecast and Google Home. Google navigates when you connect an Android phone to a car with Android Auto.

No OS is perfect, and there are a few notable issues with Android devices. Despite all the convenience and the modular features, Android is an open platform, and there are inevitable inconsistencies given the plethora of manufacturers making Android devices. A budget Android phone running an older version of the platform offers a radically different experience than the latest Samsung flagship.

Thankfully, most problems have pretty easy solutions. Another issue can be sideloading. The problem is, installing these unsecured apps can be risky, as they could have potential malware that can steal your information, like credit card numbers and account passwords. Always be careful when sideloading Android apps. Most recent devices come with power-saving modes and charge using a simple USB-C cable — the kind you can find nearly anywhere.

Many of the best Android phones support wireless charging too. Unfortunately, every user is at the mercy of Android phone manufacturers when it comes to getting the latest updates. Major hacks like Stagefright and Heartbleed have prompted Google to act with monthly security patches for devices, but many manufacturers and carriers stall those updates, resulting in millions of vulnerable Android phones. Though it may be difficult for someone who owns a fleet of Mac products at home to make the switch, it can be done with a little patience and perseverance.

We have a comprehensive tutorial on switching from iPhone to Android for you, complete with instructions for moving your music, photos, and contacts. Setting up your new phone Before you can do anything on Android, you need to switch the phone on and set it up. Step 1: Select a language and then tap Start. Step 8: Set the date and time. Step 9: Agree to Google Services and the legal terms. Step Set up Google Assistant.

Step 2: Tap System. Step 3: Tap Advanced. Step 4: Tap System Update. Step 5: Tap Check for Update. Step 3: Tap Backup. However, you can toggle on the old-school three-button navigation system. Step 3: Tap Gestures. Step 4: Tap System Navigation. Step 5: Tap the circle next to 3-Button Navigation. More on Quick Settings.

AirPods 3 down to lowest-ever price at Amazon for Black Friday Beats Studio Buds just got a rare price cut for Black Friday. Best Black Friday deals What to buy today.