IN THIS CHAPTER

Exploring Facebook

Sharing pictures on Instagram

Checking in on Twitter

Using Duo for video chat

Making calls with Skype

Long ago, social networking eclipsed email as the number-one reason for using the Internet. It has now nearly replaced email, has definitely replaced having a personalized website, and has become an obsession for millions across the globe. Your Android is ready to meet your social networking desires.

• This chapter covers a handful of popular social networking apps. Others are available, including LinkedIn, MeWe, and more. All apps mentioned in this chapter, if not installed on your Android, can be obtained from the Google Play Store, as covered in Chapter 17.

• Social networking apps generally come with companion widgets that you can affix to the Home screen. Use the widgets to peruse updates and otherwise interact with the service. Refer to Chapter 20 for information on affixing widgets to the Home screen.

• The apps shown in this chapter will change over time. The figures, descriptions, and directions may change subtly.
• It’s better to use the social networking app on your Android than the web browser app to access the service.
• Use the Share icon to access your favorite social networking app. It’s the quick way to post pictures, share web links, or forward YouTube videos: Tap the Share icon and then choose your favorite social networking app.

Expose Your Life on Facebook

Of all the social networking sites, Facebook is the king. It’s the online place to go to catch up with friends, send messages, express your thoughts, share pictures and video, play games, and waste more time than you ever thought you had.

The Facebook app screen is illustrated in Figure 11-1. The News Feed tab is shown, which displays the latest social networking “news” for you to ogle.

The primary thing you live for on Facebook, besides having more friends than anyone else, is to update your status. Follow these steps in the Facebook app:

1. Switch to the News Feed.

   Tap the News Feed icon (refer to Figure 11-1).

2. Tap the text box labeled What’s On Your Mind.

   Upon success, you see the Create Post screen, where you can type your musings as well as perform other activities, as illustrated in Figure 11-2.

   

3. Choose a sharing audience.

   Tap the Sharing Audience button (refer to Figure 11-2). Choose Public so that everyone can see the message, or Friends so that only people you’re friends with can see it.

4. Type the post.
5. Tap the POST button to share your thoughts.

To cancel the post, use the Back gesture or tap the Back navigation icon. Tap the Discard Post button to confirm.

Other popular Facebook duties include:

Uploading a picture: After starting a new post, tap the Photo/Video icon (refer to Figure 11-2). Choose a photo or video from your phone’s storage or tap the Camera icon to take a shot for immediate uploading to Facebook.

Sharing a live video: To broadcast yourself immediately to Facebookland, tap the Go Live button after starting a new post. (The button appears before you start typing, so tap the button first.) The video is presented live to anyone who’s on Facebook at the time. It’s recorded for playback later.

Several other options are available, including checking in at a given location, tagging friends, asking for recommendations, and more. Icons for these options are presented on the Create Post screen, available before you start typing text.

• If you’ve added the Facebook widget to the Home screen, you can use that widget to share a quick post.

• I find it easier to use the Camera app to take a bunch of images or record video and then choose that item later to upload it to Facebook.
• Use the Like, Comment, or Share icons below a News Feed item to like, comment, or share something, respectively. Existing comments appear only when you choose the Comment item.
• The Facebook app generates notifications for news items, mentions, chat, and so on. This notification icon looks similar to the one shown in the margin.

Instagram Me

The social networking service Instagram was purchased by Facebook, so if you have a Facebook account, you also have an Instagram account. It’s similar to Facebook, but used primarily to share images such as those pictures you take with your Android mobile device. You can take the picture first or use the Instagram app to launch the Camera app for instant photo gratification.

To share a photo on Instagram, tap the Add Photo icon, as shown in the margin. Choose GALLERY to select an image from the device’s storage, PHOTO to take a picture, or VIDEO to shoot video. Continue with the steps presented to share the media.

You need not share a photo or video to use Instagram. It’s also entertaining to view what others share, from celebrities to ordinary people who enjoy documenting the most intimate aspects of their lives. Use the Search icon in the app to locate people, places, or topics of interest. Tap the Follow button to continue to receive Instagram updates from the people you deem worthy to follow.

Let’s All Tweet

Twitter is a social networking site that lets you share short bursts of text, or tweets. You can create your own or just choose to follow others, including news organizations, businesses, governments, celebrities, and robots from alien planets.

Figure 11-3 illustrates the Twitter app’s main screen, which shows the current tweet feed. Tap the Twitter Home icon (illustrated in the figure) to read tweets, swiping the screen bottom-up as you go. Tug the list downward to update the tweets: Swipe from just below the status bar to center screen.

To tweet, tap the New Tweet icon, shown in Figure 11-3. The “What’s happening?” screen appears, where you can compose your musings.

A tweet has a limited number of characters. An indicator on the New Tweet screen informs you of how many characters remain.

Tap the Tweet button to share your thoughts with the twitterverse.

• A message posted on Twitter is a tweet.
• To access the Twitter app’s navigation drawer, tap your account image in the upper left part of the touchscreen.

Video Calling with Duo

The Duo app provides a way to make video calls with other Android users. If the person’s Android has the Duo app (and most do), the connection is made just like a normal phone call but over the Internet. Start the app. Tap a contact and choose Video Call. After the connection is established, you see a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 11-4.

When a Duo video call comes in, swipe to answer per the directions onscreen, just like a regular phone call. In mere moments, you’re communicating visually — plus a few visual effects you can add, as shown in Figure 11-4.

Tap the Hang Up icon (refer to Figure 11-4) to end the call.

• The Phone app may feature the Video Call button. Tap it to use Duo for connecting a video call.
• You can activate the Effects filter before you make a call: Swipe down the screen and tap the Effects button to view the variety.

Skype the World

Skype is a popular Internet communications tool, allowing you to chat by text, voice, or video with other Skype users. But the big enchilada is Skype’s capability to place honest-to-goodness phone calls, including international calls. This feature works on both Android phones and tablets.

Calls to real phones can be made only when you have Skype Credit on your account. To ensure that you have Skype Credit, tap your account icon atop the main Skype screen. If you see $0.00 for the Skype to Phone item, tap it to either make a one-time Skype Credit purchase or get a subscription. You don’t need a lot of Skype Credit to make calls — the rates are quite cheap.

After you’ve confirmed your Skype Credit, you can use an Android phone or tablet to make a “real” phone call, which is a call to any phone number on the planet (Planet Earth). Heed these steps:

1. Tap the Calls icon on the Skype app’s main screen.
2. Tap the Dialpad icon.

   The Dialpad icon is shown in the margin. After you tap this icon, you see the Skype dial screen.

3. Use the keypad to punch in the phone number.

   The +1 prefix is required for dialing to the United States, even when the number is local. Don’t erase it!

   For international dialing, the number begins with a plus sign (+) followed by the country code and then the phone number.

4. Tap the Phone button at the bottom of the screen to place the call.

5. Talk.

   As you talk, the cost of the call is displayed on the screen. That way, you can keep tabs on the toll.

6. To end the call, tap the End Call button.

Lamentably, you can’t use Skype to receive a phone call on an Android tablet. The only way to make this happen is to pay for a Skype online number. In that case, you can use Skype to both send and receive regular phone calls.

• In addition to the per-minute cost, you may be charged a connection fee for making the call.
• You can check the Skype website at skype.com for a current list of call rates, for both domestic and international calls.

• Unless you’ve paid Skype to let you use a specific number, the phone number shown on the recipient’s Caller ID screen is something unexpected — often the text Unknown. Because of that, you might want to inform the person ahead of time that you’re placing a Skype call. That way, the call won’t be skipped because the Caller ID isn’t recognized.

• If you plan to use Skype a lot, get a good headset.

• Text, voice, and video chat on Skype over the Internet are free. When you use a Wi-Fi connection, you can chat without consuming your cellular plan’s data minutes.