Chapter 16
Various and Sundry Apps
IN THIS CHAPTER
Waking up to your Android
Making Android calculations
Keeping your appointments
Reading digital books
Playing games
Watching junk on YouTube
Buying or renting films and TV shows
Even given the variety of things your Android can do, you will find some limitations. For example, you cannot use an Android phone as a yoga block. An Android tablet makes a poor kitchen cutting board. And despite efforts by European physicists, an Android mobile device simply cannot compete with the Large Hadron Collider. Still, for more everyday purposes, I believe you’ll find your device more than up to the task.
Clock
The Clock app is your Android’s chronometric app, featuring a timer, a stopwatch, an alarm, and world clock functions. Of these activities, setting an alarm is quite useful: In that mode, your gizmo becomes a nightstand companion — and, potentially, your early morning nemesis.
To set an alarm in the Clock app, follow these steps:
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Tap the Alarm icon or tab atop the Clock app’s screen.
The four tabs in the stock Android Clock app are Alarms, World Clock, Timer, and Stopwatch.
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Tap the Add icon.A card appears, which you use to set the alarm time, days, name, and so on.
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Fill in details about the alarm.
Set the alarm’s time. Determine whether it repeats daily or only on certain days. Choose a ringtone. Ponder over any other settings, as shown on the card. The alarm name appears when the alarm triggers.
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Set the alarm.
Slide the alarm card’s master control to the On position to ensure that the alarm signals at the appropriate time and schedule.
You can confirm that an alarm is set when you see the Alarm Set status icon atop the touchscreen, as shown in the margin.
When the alarm triggers, slide the Dismiss icon or press the volume key. Some alarms may feature a Snooze icon. Tap it to be annoyed again after a few minutes.
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Alarms must be set to activate. - Of all the apps that come with an Android phone or tablet, the Clock app is the one that manufacturers customize the most. Your device’s Clock app, which might be called Alarm, has standard features, but may do things differently from what’s described in this section.
- Your Android keeps its clock accurate by accessing an Internet time server. You never have to set the time.
- Information about a set alarm appears on the Clock app’s screen and on the lock screen.
- Unsetting an alarm doesn’t delete the alarm. To remove an alarm, tap the alarm to select it and then tap the Delete (trash) icon.
- To make the alarm sound on specific days of the week, use the Repeat option or check box. Choose the days of the week when you want the alarm to sound. Otherwise, the alarm sounds only when you set it.
- The alarm doesn’t work when you turn off the Android. The alarm may not sound when Do Not Disturb mode is active. The alarm does trigger when the touchscreen is locked.
- For a larger time display, you can add the Clock widget to the Home screen. Refer to Chapter 20 for more information about widgets on the Home screen.
- So tell me: Do alarms go off, or do they go on?
Calculator
The Calculator is perhaps the oldest of all traditional cell phone apps. It’s probably also the least confusing and frustrating app to use.
The stock Android calculator app appears in Figure 16-1. The version you see on your device may look different, although the basic operation remains the same.
FIGURE 16-1: The Calculator app.
Tap various buttons on the Calculator app screen to input your equations. Parentheses buttons can help you determine which part of a long equation gets calculated first.
- Also, consider changing the device’s orientation to see more or fewer buttons; the image in Figure 16-1 uses horizontal orientation, which shows the calculator’s more terrifying buttons.
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Long-press the calculator’s text (or results) to copy the results. This trick may not work in every Calculator app. - When a CLEAR ALL button isn’t available, long press the DEL, CLR, or C button.
Calendar
Once upon a time, people toted around a bulky notebook thing called a datebook. It assisted primitive humans with keeping a schedule, reviewing appointments, and knowing where they needed to be and when. Such archaic technology is no longer necessary because your Android mobile gizmo comes with a Calendar app.
- The Calendar app works with your Google account to keep track of your schedule and appointments. You can visit Google Calendar on the web at
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Before you throw away your datebook, copy into the Calendar app some future appointments and info, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
Browsing your schedule
To check your schedule and browse events, open the Calendar app. You’ll see upcoming dates shown in one of several views; Figure 16-2 shows the Calendar app’s Month, Week, and Day views. Not shown are the 3 Day view or the Schedule view, which simply lists upcoming events.
FIGURE 16-2: The Calendar app.
To change views, tap the Side Menu icon and choose a view type from the navigation drawer.
Swipe the screen left or right to browse events. If you need to return to today’s date, tap the Go to Today icon, illustrated in Figure 16-2. It may appear as a TODAY button in some calendar apps.
- Schedule view might be called Agenda or Tasks in some versions of the Calendar app.
- The 3 Day view is unavailable for Android tablets.
- Some Calendar apps feature 4 Day view as well.
- Use Month view to see an overview of what’s going on, and use Week view or Day view to see your appointments.
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I check Week view at the start of the week to remind me of what’s coming up.
- Swipe the screen left or right to change the view from month to month, week to week, or day to day.
- Different colors flag your events, as shown in Figure 16-2. The colors can be assigned directly to events, or they represent a calendar category to which events are assigned. See the later section “Creating an event” for information on calendar categories.
Reviewing appointments
To see more detail about an event, tap it. When you’re using Month view, tap the date to see a card displaying events for that day. Tap a specific event to see its details card, as shown in Figure 16-3.
FIGURE 16-3: Event details.
The details you see depend on how much information was recorded when the event was created. Some events have only a minimum of information; others may have details, such as a location for the event, the time, and with whom you’re meeting.
Tap the Close icon to dismiss the event’s details, or tap the Back navigation icon.
- Birthdays and a few other events on the calendar may be pulled in from the Android’s address book or from social networking apps. That probably explains why some events are listed twice — they’re pulled in from two sources.
- When the event’s location is listed, you can tap that item to open the Maps app. See where the event is being held and get directions, as covered in Chapter 12.
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The best way to review upcoming appointments is to choose Schedule view from the navigation drawer.
- The Calendar widget also provides a useful way to see upcoming events directly on the Home screen. See Chapter 20 for information on applying widgets to the Home screen.
- The Google app lists any immediate appointments or events. See the later section “Your Pal, Google.”
Creating an event
The key to making the calendar work is to add events: appointments, things to do, meetings, or full-day events such as birthdays or root canal work. To create an event, follow these steps in the Calendar app:
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Go to the event’s day, and tap the approximate time when the event starts.
It’s easier to work in Week view when you want to tap a specific time on a specific day.
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Tap the square that appears on the calendar.
When you tap a specific time, a square appears with a teensy plus sign (+) in the center. That’s secretly a NEW EVENT button.
If you tap instead the Add icon at the bottom-right of the Calendar app screen (refer to Figure 16-2), choose Event to create a new event. -
Add information about the event.
The more information you supply, the more detailed the event, and the more you can do with it on your Android and on Google Calendar on the Internet. Here are some of the many items you can set when creating an event: - Title: The name of the event, person you’re meeting, or a destination.
- Calendar Category: Choose a specific calendar to help organize and color-code your events. The Calendar app, by default, chooses the Events calendar.
- Time/Duration: If you followed Step 1 in this section, you don’t have to set a starting time. Otherwise, specify the time the event starts and stops, or choose to set an all-day event such as a birthday or your mother-in-law’s visit that was supposed to last for an hour.
- Location: Type the location just as though you’re searching for a location in the Maps app.
- Repeat: Tap the MORE OPTIONS button if you don’t see this item. Use the Repeat setting to configure events on a recurring schedule.
- Notification/Reminder: Set an email, text message, or Calendar notification to signal an upcoming event.
- Tap the SAVE button to create the new event.
The new event appears on the calendar, reminding you that you need to do something on such-and-such a day with what’s-his-face.
When an event’s date-and-time arrives, an event reminder notification appears, as shown in the margin. You might also receive a Gmail notification or text message, depending on how you chose to be reminded when the event was created. If your Android is handy, the event reminder appears on the lock screen.
- Tap an existing event to modify it. Tap the Edit icon (refer to Figure 16-3) to make any changes.
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For events that repeat twice a week or twice a month, create two repeating events. For example, when you have meetings on the first and third Mondays, you create two separate events: one for the first Monday and another for the third. Then have each event repeat monthly.
- To remove an event, tap the event to bring up its card. Look for a DELETE button or icon. If you don’t find it, tap the Action Overflow icon on the card and choose Delete. Tap OK to confirm. For a repeating event, choose whether to delete only the current event or all future events.
- Setting an event’s time zone is necessary only when the event takes place in another time zone or spans time zones, such as an airline flight. In that case, the Calendar app automatically adjusts the starting and stopping times for events depending on where you are.
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If you forget to set the time zone and you end up hopping around the world, your events are set according to the time zone in which they were created, not the local time. - Avoid using the Phone and Device categories for your events. Events in those categories appear on your Android, but aren’t shared with your Google account.
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Calendar categories are handy because they let you organize and color-code your events. They can be confusing because Google calls them calendars. I think of them more as categories: I have different calendars (categories) for my personal and work schedules, government duties, clubs, and so on. - New calendar categories are created on the web at
calendar.google.com. You cannot create them from within the Calendar app.
eBook Reader
To sate your electronic-book-reading desires, your Android comes with Google’s eBook reader app, Play Books. It offers you access to your eBook library, plus the multitudinous tomes available from the Google Play Store.
Open the Play Books app. You might find it in the Google folder on the Home screen or it might be in its own Play folder. The app is also located on the Apps drawer.
The first screen you see might instead be Google Play, trying to sell you books. If so, tap the Library button, shown in the margin (look at the bottom of the screen), to view your digital bookshelf.
Swipe the screen to browse and scroll through the library.
Tap a book’s cover to open it. If you've opened the book previously, you're returned to the page you last read. Otherwise, you see the book’s first page.
Figure 16-4 illustrates the basic book-reading operation in the Play Books app. You swipe the screen right-to-left to turn pages. You can also tap either the far left or right side of the screen to turn pages.
FIGURE 16-4: eBook controls in the Play Books app.
The Play Books app works in both vertical and horizontal orientations. To lock the screen orientation, choose Settings from the navigation drawer and choose the Auto-Rotate Screen item. Select how you want the screen to present itself while you use the Play Books app.
- If you don't see a book in the library, tap the Action Overflow icon and choose Refresh.
- Books in your Play Books library are stored on the Internet and available to read only when an Internet connection is active. It’s possible to keep a book on your Android by downloading it to the device. Refer to Chapter 17 for details on downloading books.
- To remove a book from the library, tap the Action Overflow icon on the book's cover and then choose the Delete from Library command. Tap the DELETE button to confirm.
- If the onscreen controls (refer to Figure 16-4) disappear to make the text easier to read, tap the screen to see the controls again.
- Tap the Aa icon to display a menu of options for adjusting the text on the screen and the brightness.
eBooks lack indexes. That’s because the text layout on digital pages changes based on the book’s presentation. Therefore, use the Search command (refer to Figure 16-4) to look for items in the text.- A copy of your eBook library is available on the Play Books website:
- Refer to Chapter 17 for information on obtaining books from Google Play.
- If you have a Kindle device, you can obtain the Amazon Kindle app for your Android. Use the app to access books you’ve purchased for the Kindle, or as a supplement to Google Play Books.
Game Machine
For all its seriousness and technology, one of the best uses of an Android mobile device is to play games. I’m not talking about silly arcade games (though I admit that they’re fun). No, I’m talking about some serious portable gaming.
To whet your appetite, your Android may have come with a small taste of what the device can do regarding gaming; look for preinstalled game apps on the Apps drawer. If you don’t find any, choose from among the hordes available from Google Play, covered in Chapter 17.
- Game apps use the device’s features, such as the touchscreen or the accelerometer, to control the action. It takes some getting used to, especially if you regularly play using a game console or PC, but it can be fun — and addicting.
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Look for the “lite” versions of games, which are free. If you like the game, you can fork over the pocket change that the full version costs.
Your Pal, Google
Your Android isn’t out to control your life, but it’s willing to help. Don’t freak out! The device harbors no insidious intelligence, and the Robot Uprising is still years away. What I’m referring to is Google Assistant. It’s an upgrade to the old Google Now app, which offers 2-way conversation and helpful information as you go about your daily routine.
The Google Assistant app is titled Google. You might also see a Google widget affixed to the Home screen. Tap that widget, open the Google app, or utter “Okay, Google” to access your Google Assistant. You may need to work through some setup, but eventually the assistant is ready to assist you.
Figure 16-5 illustrates a typical Google Assistant screen. The search box accepts onscreen keyboard input as well as voice input. You can also configure the app (it asks you) to use “Okay, Google” as the voice activation feature. Then you just speak your comments. See the nearby sidebar, “Barking orders to your Google Assistant,” for suggestions.
FIGURE 16-5: Google Now is ready for business. Or play.
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Use your Google Assistant to search the Internet, just as you would use Google’s main web page. In fact, don’t even bother going to the web page on your Android; just say, “Okay, Google!”
- On some devices, the Google Assistant app dwells on the far left Home screen page.
- An update to the Google Assistant allows you to change the activation words to “Hey, Google.”
- Samsung also offers its own personal assistant app, Bixby. On Samsung devices, Bixby occupies the far left Home screen page.
Video Entertainment
Someday, it may be possible to watch “real” TV on your Android mobile device, but why bother? You’ll find plenty of video apps available to sate your video watching desires. Two of the most common are YouTube and Play Movies. And when you tire of these apps, you can use the Camera app with the front-facing camera to pretend that you’re the star of your own reality TV show.
- Other video entertainment apps include the popular Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Now, and the list is pretty long. Many broadcast channels feature their own apps.
- Also see Chapter 19 for information on screencasting video entertainment from your Android’s diminutive screen to your humongous HDTV or monitor.
Watching YouTube
YouTube is the Internet phenomenon that proves that real life is indeed too boring and random for television. Or is it the other way around? Regardless, you can view the latest videos on YouTube — or contribute your own — by using the YouTube app.
Tap the Search icon to find the video you want. Type the video’s name, a topic, or any search terms to locate videos. Zillions of videos are available.
The YouTube app displays suggestions for any channels you’re subscribed to, which allows you to follow favorite topics or YouTube content providers.
To view a video, touch its name or icon in the list.
- Orient the device horizontally to view the video in a larger size.
- Because you have a Google account, you also have a YouTube account. I recommend that you sign in to your YouTube account when using YouTube on your Android: Tap the Action Overflow icon and choose Sign In.
- Refer to Chapter 14 for information on uploading a video you’ve recorded on your Android to your account on YouTube.
To view the video in a larger size, rotate the phone or tablet to its horizontal orientation. You can also tap the Expand icon, shown in the margin, to view a video full-screen.-
Use the YouTube app to view YouTube videos, rather than use the web browser app to visit the YouTube website.
- Not all YouTube videos are available for viewing on mobile devices.
Buying and renting movies
You can use the Play Movies & TV app to watch videos you’ve rented or purchased from Google Play. Open the app and choose the video from the main screen. Items you’ve purchased show up in the app’s library.
The actual renting or purchasing is done in the Google Play Store app. Check that app often for freebies and discounts. More details for renting and purchasing movies and shows are found in Chapter 17.
- Movies and shows rented from Google Play are available for viewing for up to 30 days after you pay the rental fee. After you start the movie, you can pause and watch it again and again during a 48-hour period.
- Not every film or TV show is available for purchase. Some are rentals only.
- Any videos you’ve purchased from Google Play are available on the Internet for anytime viewing. Visit: