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 being intimidating. 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.

About This Book

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 something 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
• Dealing with a missed call
• Adding more email accounts
• Uploading a picture or video to Facebook
• 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.

How to Use This Book

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 phone or Android tablet. Sometimes the terms phone or tablet are used, and also device or, rarely, gizmo.

Because Samsung modifies the Android operating system, and 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 than 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 1 of this book.

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

Chapter 4 covers 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:

3. 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:

3. 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. 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, as shown in the margin.

Foolish Assumptions

Though this book is written with the gentle handholding required by anyone who is just starting out, or who is easily intimidated, I’ve made a few assumptions.

I’m assuming that you’re still reading the introduction. That’s great. It’s much better than getting a snack right now or checking to ensure that the cat isn’t chewing through the TV cable again.

My biggest assumption: You have or desire to own a phone or tablet that uses Google’s Android operating system.

Your phone can be any Android phone from any manufacturer supported by any popular cellular service provider in the United States. Because Android is an operating system, the methods of doing things on one Android phone are similar, if not identical, to doing things on another Android phone. Therefore, one book can pretty much cover the gamut of Android phones.

If you have an Android tablet instead, it could be a Wi-Fi-only tablet or an LTE tablet that uses the same mobile data network as an Android phone. This book covers both models.

Any differences between an Android phone and tablet are noted in the text. For the most part, the devices work similarly because they run the same Android operating system.

The Android operating system itself comes in versions, or flavors. This book covers all current Android versions 5.0 through 8.0. These versions are known by the flavors Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, and Oreo. To confirm which Android version your gizmo uses, follow these steps:

1. At the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.

   Refer to Chapter 3 for a description of the Apps icon. On some devices without an Apps icon, swipe up the Home screen from bottom-to-top.

2. Tap to open the Settings app.

3. Choose System and then About Phone or About Tablet.

   If you see the About Phone or About Tablet item on the main Settings app screen, choose it. This item might be named About Device.

4. Look at the item titled Android Version.

   The number that’s shown indicates the Android operating system version.

Don’t fret if these steps confuse you: Review Part 1 of this book, and then come back here. (I’ll wait.)

More assumptions:

You don’t need to own a computer to use your Android mobile thingy. If you have a computer, great. Your phone or tablet works well with both PC and Mac. When directions are specific to a PC or Mac, the book says so.

Programs that run on your Android are apps, which is short for applications. A single program is an app.

Finally, this book assumes that you have a Google account, but if you don’t, Chapter 2 explains how to configure one. Do so. Having a Google account opens up a slew of useful features, information, and programs that make using your Android more productive.

Icons Used in This Book

This icon flags useful, helpful tips or shortcuts.

This icon marks a friendly reminder to do something.

This icon marks a friendly reminder not to do something.

This icon alerts you to overly nerdy information and technical discussions of the topic at hand. Reading the information is optional, though it may win you the Daily Double on Jeopardy!

Contacting the Author

My email address is [email protected]. Yes, that’s my real address. I reply to every email I receive, and more quickly when you keep your question short and specific to this book. Although I enjoy saying Hi, I cannot answer technical support questions, resolve billing issues, or help you troubleshoot your phone or tablet. Thanks for understanding.

My website is wambooli.com. This book has its own page on that site, which you can check for updates, new information, and all sorts of fun stuff. Visit often:

wambooli.com/help/android

Beyond the Book

Thank you for reading the introduction. Few people do, and it would save a lot of time and bother if they did. Consider yourself fortunate. No, consider yourself handsome, well-read, and worthy of praise, though you probably knew that.

Beyond my own website (see the preceding section), my beloved publisher also offers its own helpful site, which contains official updates and bonus information I’m forbidden by law to offer to you. Visit the publisher’s official support page at www.dummies.com, though that’s not the right page. You must search for Android Phones & Tablets For Dummies — the whole thing! After you find the proper search result, click it and then open the Download tab on this book’s dedicated page. I’d offer more specific information, but I don’t have it. The publisher told me that the actual address of the online material is held in one of 20 briefcases and that if I choose the right one, I get paid — something like that.

Your task now: Start reading the rest of the book — but not the whole thing, and especially not with the chapters in order. Observe the table of contents and find something that interests you. Or look up your puzzle in the index. When these suggestions don’t cut it, just start reading Chapter 1.

Enjoy this book and your Android mobile gizmo!