Accessing Home screen actions

To start your Home screen decoration project, long-press a blank part of the Home screen. Don’t long-press an icon or a widget. Upon success, you see Home screen management icons, as shown in Figure 21-1.

The icons or options presented for Home screen management include some or all of the following:

• Wallpaper: Change the background image on the Home screen.
• Widgets: Add widgets to the Home screen.
• Settings: Open the Settings app.
• Folder: Create a Home screen folder.
• Page: Add, remove, or manage Home screen pages.

These items might appear as icons (refer to Figure 21-1), or you may see a menu of options presented as a list. The most common items are the first three, illustrated in Figure 21-1.

Hanging new wallpaper

The Home screen background can be draped with two types of wallpaper: traditional and live. Traditional wallpaper can be any image, such as a picture you’ve taken or an image provided by the device’s manufacturer. Live wallpaper is animated or interactive.

To set a new wallpaper for the Home screen, obey these steps:

1. Long-press the Home screen.

2. Choose Wallpapers.

   The item might be titled Set Wallpapers.

3. Tap a wallpaper to see a preview.

   Swipe the list left or right to peruse your options. You see the previous wallpaper images plus those provided by the manufacturer. On the far right, you’ll find the live wallpapers.

   To choose your own images, tap the MY PHOTOS button.

   Some Androids may first prompt you to select a category: Wallpapers, Life Wallpapers, My Photos, and so on.

4. Tap the SET WALLPAPER button to confirm your choice.

5. Choose to set the wallpaper for the Home screen, lock screen, or both.

   The new wallpaper takes over.

On some Androids, you might be given the opportunity to crop the image before setting the wallpaper. Unlike cropping a photo (covered in Chapter 14), you may see two rectangles for cropping in both landscape and portrait orientations.

• Live wallpapers can be obtained from Google Play. See Chapter 17.
• Some live wallpapers may interfere with certain features. If so, you see a warning, which lets you choose between using the live wallpaper or the specific feature.
• Yes, some wallpapers come with advertising. You’re not required to use them.
• The Zedge app is an über-repository of wallpaper images, collected from Android users all over the world. Zedge is a free app.
• Google also offers a wallpapers app, called Google Wallpapers.

• Another way to set wallpaper is to view an image in the Photos app. Select the image and tap Action Overflow. Choose the Use As action and then Wallpaper.

Managing Home screen pages

The number of pages on the Home screen isn’t fixed. You can add pages. You can remove pages. You can even rearrange pages. This feature might not be available to all Androids and, sadly, it isn’t implemented in exactly the same way.

The stock Android method of adding a Home screen page is to drag an icon left or right, just as though you were positioning that icon on another Home screen page. When a page to the left or right doesn’t exist, a new page is added automatically.

Some Androids may be more specific in how pages are added. For example, you can choose a Page command from the Home screen menu.

Samsung devices present a Home page overview, as shown in Figure 21-2. To edit Home screen pages, pinch the Home screen: Touch the screen with two fingers and drag them together. You can then manage Home screen pages as illustrated in the figure.

To move a page, long-press and drag it to a new spot. When you’re done, tap the Back or Home navigation icon.

• The maximum number of Home screen pages may be three, five, seven, or nine, depending on your device. The minimum is one.
• On some Androids, the far left Home screen page is the Google Assistant app.
• Samsung places its Bixby assistant on the far left Home screen page.
• Some devices let you reset the primary Home screen page, which doesn’t necessarily have to be the center Home screen page. I’ve seen different ways to accomplish this task. The most common one is to tap the Home icon in a thumbnail’s preview, which is illustrated in Figure 21-2.

Adding lock screen launchers

Most Androids feature a Camera launcher in the lower right corner of the lock screen. Swipe that icon to run the Camera app without fully unlocking the device. It’s a quick way to take a picture.

To see whether your Android lets you customize or add lock screen launchers, heed these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose Lock Screen or Lock Screen and Security.

   If you can’t find a Lock Screen item, your Android lacks the capability to modify lock screen launchers.

3. Choose Apps Shortcuts.

   This item might be titled Info and Apps Shortcuts. If so, choose Apps Shortcuts on the next screen.

4. Select the apps to place on the lock screen.

You may see one or more app screen shortcuts for launchers along with the Camera app. I’ve seen devices that let you line up five launchers at the bottom of the lock screen. Because this feature isn’t a part of stock Android, it can vary.

• When you use a lock screen launcher (shortcut) to start an app, the device isn’t fully unlocked. To access other features, you must work the screen lock.

• The lock screen shortcuts might not be available if you’ve not set a screen lock for your Android.
• See Chapter 22 for details on screen locks and lock screen notifications.

Setting orientation

Many apps, and perhaps the Home screen itself, can change their presentation as you switch the Android between portrait and horizontal orientations. You can lock that presentation, if you like. Heed the directions:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Display.

3. Choose Device Rotation.

   If necessary, tap the chevron by the Advanced item to locate the Device Rotation item.

4. Select an option.

The options might include two or more of the following:

• Rotate the contents of the screen. The device orients the screen to match whichever direction is “up.”
• Stay in Portrait view. The device stays in Portrait view, the standard presentation on an Android phone.
• Stay in Landscape view. The device holds to landscape presentation, which is standard for an Android tablet.
• Stay in current orientation. The device remains in its current orientation.

If you don’t see any of these options, look to the Quick Settings drawer. A Rotation icon is found there, which lets you switch between freely rotating the touchscreen and locking it into one position or the other.

The Play Books app offers its own screen orientation controls, which make it easier (and more predictable) to read an eBook. See Chapter 16.

Adjusting display brightness

The touchscreen can be too bright, too dim, or just right. Which setting is best? That’s up to you. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Display.

3. Choose Brightness Level.

   This item might not appear in some Settings apps. Instead, you immediately see the Brightness slider.

4. Adjust the slider to set the touchscreen’s intensity.

If you’d rather have the Android’s brain and secret eyeball adjust the brightness for you, set the master control by the Adaptive Brightness item to the On position, or tap to place a check mark in the Auto box.

• The Adaptive Brightness setting might be called Auto Brightness or Automatic Brightness.

• You also find a Brightness setting in the Quick Settings drawer. See Chapter 3.

Setting the screen lock time-out

You can press the Power/Lock key lock your phone or tablet anytime. When you don’t, the touchscreen automatically locks itself after a given period of inactivity. To adjust that period, obey these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Display.

3. Choose Sleep.

   This item might be titled Screen Timeout.

4. Select a time-out value from the list.

   The standard value is 1 minute.

The sleep timer measures inactivity; when you don’t touch the screen, the timer starts ticking. About 5 seconds before the touchscreen locks, the screen dims. Then the touchscreen turns off and the device locks. If you tap the screen before then, the timer is reset.

The lock screen has its own time-out. If you unlock the Android but don’t work the screen lock, the device locks itself automatically after about ten seconds. This time-out is not adjustable.

Configuring the always-on touchscreen

Many Androids feature an always-on or wake-up display. This feature shows the current time and perhaps a few notifications, even when the device is locked. This convenience doesn’t affect battery life, but the settings can be disabled, if you prefer. Obey these steps:

1. In the Settings app, choose Display.

2. Set the master control by Ambient Display.

   The On setting keeps the screen on or wakes it up; the Off option keeps the touchscreen dark while the device is locked.

For Samsung devices, work through these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Lock Screen and Security.
3. Set the master control by Always On Display.

Generating keyboard feedback

The onscreen keyboard can assist your typing by generating haptic feedback. This feedback is in the form of either a pleasing click sound or the vibrating of the device. To check these settings, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose System and then choose Language & Input.

   On some Androids, the Language & Input item is on the main Settings app screen.

3. Choose Virtual Keyboard.
4. Choose Gboard.
5. Choose Preferences.

6. Set the master controls by the items Sound on Keypress and Vibrate on Keypress.

   Some Android tablets lack a vibration feature, so that setting is missing.

Samsung galactic gizmos may follow a different set of steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose General Management and then choose Language and Input.

   The Language and Input item might be located on the main Settings app screen.

3. Choose Onscreen keyboard and then choose Samsung Keyboard.
4. Choose Key-Tap Feedback.
5. Set the master control by the Sound and Vibration items.

Not every Android tablet features vibration.

Ensuring that predictive text is active

Predictive text is on all the time when you use the Gboard. To ensure that the feature is active, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose System and then choose Language & Input.

   The Language & Input item might appear on the main Settings app screen.

3. Choose Virtual Keyboard and then choose Gboard.

   The Gboard Keyboard Settings screen appears.

4. Choose Text Correction.
5. Ensure that all the master controls are set to the On position.

Some of these items you might consider disabling. For example, Auto-Correction is the bane of folks who enjoy texting. If so, disable that option; slide the master control to the Off position.

On a Samsung device, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose General Management and then choose Language and Input.

   You might find the Language and Input item on the main Settings app screen.

3. Choose Onscreen Keyboard and then choose Samsung Keyboard.
4. Ensure that the master control by Predictive Text is on.

Refer to Chapter 4 for details on using the predictive text feature.

Activating glide typing

Once known as gesture typing, glide typing allows you to swipe your finger over the onscreen keyboard to create text. Chapter 4 explains the details, although this feature may not be active on your phone or tablet. To ensure that it is, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose System and then choose Language & Input.
3. Choose Virtual Keyboard and then choose Gboard.
4. Choose Google Keyboard and then choose Glide Typing.

5. Ensure that the item Enable Glide Typing is active.

   Set its master control to the On position.

Only the Enable Glide Typing item needs to be enabled, although activating the other items does enhance the experience.

For some Samsung gizmos, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose General Management and then choose Language and Input.

   The Language and Input item might be located on the main Settings app screen.

3. Choose Onscreen keyboard and then choose Samsung Keyboard.
4. Choose Keyboard Swipe Controls.
5. Ensure that the option Swipe to Type is chosen.

Setting the volume

The Volume key on the side of your Android sets the volume as sound is generated. To preset the sound levels, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose Sound or Sound & Notification.

   Samsung devices may label this category Sounds and Vibration. Also, on your Samsung gizmo, choose Volume to see the sound sliders mentioned in the next step.

3. Adjust the sliders to set the volume for various noise sources.

   The common volume sliders are:

   • Media volume controls the sound for movies, videos, audio in the web browser, and so on.
   • Alarm volume sets the intensity used for the Clock app’s alarm.
   • Ring volume sets an Android phone’s ringtone volume. This category includes incoming calls and notifications, although some phones may feature a separate slider for notifications.
   • Notification volume sets an Android tablet’s volume for notifications.

   Other sliders may appear, such as System to adjust any volume not covered by the other categories.

4. Slide the gizmo to the left to make a sound quieter; slide to the right to make a sound louder.

   When you lift your finger, you hear a sound preview.

If you’d like your phone to vibrate on an incoming call, enable the Also Vibrate for Calls setting. This item might be titled Vibrate When Ringing, and it may be found on a separate Vibrations item on the Sound & Notification screen.

Selecting a ringtone

The term ringtone applies to any sound an Android uses for certain activities. Yes, on an Android phone, the ringtone sounds for an incoming call. The device also features a notification ringtone. The Clock app also uses a ringtone for various alarms.

To review and set the various ringtones, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Choose Sound or Sound & Notification.

   The item may be titled Sounds and Vibration.

3. Choose Phone Ringtone or Ringtone.

   You may be confronted with a Complete Action Using card. Choose an app, such as Media Storage. Also refer to Chapter 20 for details on “open by default” apps.

4. Select a ringtone from the list.

   You hear the ringtone’s preview.

5. Tap OK to set the new ringtone, or tap CANCEL or the Back navigation icon to retain the current ringtone.

Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for the Default Notification Sound and Default Alarm Sound items. You may need to tap the Advanced item (tap the chevron) to view these two items. On Samsung devices, choose Notification Sounds instead.

• Various apps may set their own ringtones, such as text messaging ringtones and alert sounds for Facebook. These ringtones are set within the given app: Look for a Settings action in the app, either found on the navigation drawer or accessed by tapping the Action Overflow icon. The ringtones might also be set from the Settings app, as covered in Chapter 20.

• To disable a ringtone, choose None in Step 4. Do keep in mind that it’s possible to temporarily disable sound on your Android. Refer to Chapter 3.