Chapter 10
IN THIS CHAPTER
Browsing the web on your Android
Adding a bookmark
Working with tabs
Searching for text on a web page
Sharing web pages
Downloading images and files
Configuring the web browser app
When Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web back in 1990, he had no idea that people would one day use it on a mobile device with a tiny screen. Nope, the web was designed to be viewed on a computer. Back then, cell phones had teensy LED screens. Browsing the web on a cell phone would have been like viewing the Great Wall of China through a keyhole.
The good news is that the web has adapted itself to mobile viewing. Whether you have a phone or a tablet, the web presents itself in a comfortable viewing size. You won’t miss any information, especially after you’ve read the tips and suggestions in this chapter.
If possible, activate the phone’s or LTE tablet’s Wi-Fi connection before you venture out on the web. Though you can use the mobile data connection, a Wi-Fi connection incurs no data usage charges.
All Androids feature a web browsing app. The stock Android app is Google’s own Chrome web browser. Your gizmo may use another web browser app, and it may be given a simple name such as Web, Browser, or Internet. Each of these apps works in a similar way and offers comparable features.
It’s difficult these days to find someone who has no experience with the World Wide Web. More common is someone who has used the web on a computer but has yet to sample the Internet waters on a phone or tablet. If that’s you, consider this section your quick mobile web orientation.
When you first open the Chrome app, you see the last web page you viewed. In Figure 10-1, I was just on Wikipedia, so when I fired up Chrome, it returned to that page.
Figure 10-1 shows the Chrome app on an Android phone. It looks different on a tablet, as shown in Figure 10-2.
You can orient the Android to read a web page in portrait or landscape orientation. One view may look better than the other. For example, portrait (vertical) orientation makes long lines of text shorter and easier to read.
To visit a web page, heed these directions in the web browser app:
Tap the address box.
Refer to Figures 10-1 and 10-2 for the address box’s location. If you don’t see the address box, swipe your finger from the top of the screen downward.
Use the onscreen keyboard to type the address.
You can also type a search word or phrase if you don’t know the exact web page address.
To “click” links on a page, tap them with your finger. If you have trouble stabbing the correct link, zoom in on the page and try again. You can also long-press the screen to see a magnification window to make tapping links easier.
Long-press the .com key to see other top-level domains, such as .org, .net, and so on.
To return to a previous web page, tap the Back navigation icon. On an Android tablet, the Back icon also appears next to the address bar.
Tap the Forward icon to go forward or to return to a page you were visiting before you tapped the Back icon. On an Android phone, this icon is found on the Action Overflow, as illustrated in Figure 10-1.
To review web pages you’ve visited in the long term, visit the web browser’s history page. Follow these steps:
You’ll notice that the History list is adorned with Delete (trash) icons. See the later section “Clearing your web history” for information on purging items from the History list.
You might call them bookmarks, but in the mobile world, your Android calls your bookmarks favorites. To mark a web page as a favorite, tap the Favorite (star) icon for that site. The icon appears on the Action Overflow on an Android phone, or on the address bar on an Android tablet. Refer to Figures 10-1 and 10-2, respectively.
To add more details or help organize your favorites, tap the Favorites star icon again. You see the Edit Bookmark card, which makes you wonder why it’s not called Edit Favorite. See? Consistency is a thing that’s lacking in the Android universe. Anyway, use the Edit Bookmark card to change the bookmark’s name, organize it into a specific folder, or edit the address or URL.
Making a favorite web page isn’t the same as saving the page. See the later section “Saving a web page.”
To view bookmarks in the Chrome app, tap the Action Overflow icon and choose Bookmarks. You see the Bookmarks card. It’s organized by folder, similar to the Bookmarks bar on the computer version of Chrome.
Tap a folder to browse bookmarks stored in that folder.
Tap the Back icon on the screen (not the Back navigation icon) to go up a folder.
Tap a bookmark to visit that page.
The Chrome app, as well as other Android web browsers, uses a tabbed interface to help you access more than one web page at a time. This feature is useful, but be aware that tabs in the Chrome app work differently between an Android phone and an Android tablet.
In Figure 10-1, you see the TABS button on the phone version of the Chrome app. The number in the button indicates how many tabs are open.
In Figure 10-2, you see the tabs appear atop the app window, marching left-to-right. This is how the tabs look in the computer version of Chrome.
To close a tab on a phone, tap the TABS button and tap the close (X) icon by the tab thumbnail (refer to Figure 10-3). On a tablet, tap a tab’s Close (X) icon.
After you close the last tab, you see a blank screen in the Chrome app. Tap the Add (plus) icon to summon a new tab.
When you go incognito, the web browser doesn’t track your history, leave cookies, or provide other evidence of which web pages you’ve visited. For example, if you go shopping in an incognito window, advertiser tracking cookies don’t record your actions. That way, you aren’t bombarded by targeted advertising later.
The incognito tab is about privacy, not security. Going incognito doesn’t prevent viruses or thwart sophisticated web-snooping software.
The best way to find things on the web is to use the Google widget, found floating on the Home screen. Type your search item into that box, or utter “OK, Google” and speak the search text.
While you're using the web browser app, type search text into the Address bar. Or you can visit any number of search engines, though Google would most enjoy your use of google.com
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To locate text on a web page, tap the Action Overflow and choose Find in Page. Use the onscreen keyboard to type search text. As you type, matching text on the page is highlighted. Use the up and down chevrons to page through found matches.
Tap the Back navigation icon when you've finished searching.
There it is! That web page you just have to talk about to everyone you know. The gauche way to share the page is to copy and paste it. Because you’re reading this book, however, you know better. Heed these steps:
Visit the web page you desire to share.
Actually, you’re sharing a link to the page, but don’t let my obsession with specificity deter you.
Tap the Action Overflow icon and choose Share.
The command might be called Share Via or Share Page. Either way, you see an array of apps displayed. The variety and number of apps depends on what’s installed on the device.
Choose an app.
For example, select Gmail to send the web page’s link by email, or Facebook to share the link with your friends.
Do whatever happens next.
Whatever happens next depends on how you’re sharing the link: Compose the email, write a comment in Facebook, or do whatever. Refer to various chapters in this book for specific directions.
You cannot share a page you’re viewing on an incognito tab.
Another way to share a page is to print it. See Chapter 19 for details.
The most important thing you need to know about downloading is that it’s a transfer of information from another source to your gizmo. For your mobile device, the other source is the Internet. The information transferred is accessed on a web page. It can be a picture, a file, or something else that I can’t think of right now.
The opposite of downloading is uploading. That’s the process of sending information from your gizmo to another to another source, such as the Internet.
The simplest thing to download is an image from a web page:
Long-press the image.
You see an action card appear.
Choose Download Image or Save Image.
You may be prompted to allow Chrome to access the device’s media. If so, tap the ALLOW button.
See the later section “Reviewing your downloads,” for details on how to access the image.
The web is full of links that don’t open in a web browser window. For example, some links automatically download, such as links to Microsoft Word documents or other types of files that a web browser is too frightened to display.
To save other types of links that aren’t automatically downloaded, long-press the link and choose the Save Link action. If this action doesn’t appear, your Android is unable to save the link, because either the file is of an unrecognized type or it presents a security issue.
To save the entire web page you’re viewing, tap the Download icon, shown in the margin.
One reason for downloading an entire page is to read it later, especially when the Internet isn’t available. This tip is one of my Android travel suggestions. More travel tips are found in Chapter 23.
To access any image, file, or web page you’ve downloaded or saved on your Android, follow these steps in the Chrome web browser app:
Choose Downloads.
A list of cards appears on the Downloads screen, each one representing something you’ve downloaded.
Photos can also be viewed in the Photos app, which is covered specifically in Chapter 14. In that app, tap the Side Menu icon and choose Devices Folders on the navigation drawer. You’ll find all downloaded images saved in the Download folder or album.
You can choose the Download notification to quickly review any single downloaded item.
Some web pages load dynamic information. If you open a saved web page and find some of the artwork absent or other features disabled, it’s that missing dynamic information that’s making the page look odd.
More options and settings and controls exist for web browser apps than for just about any other Android app I’ve used. Rather than bore you with every dang-doodle detail, I thought I’d present just a few of the options worthy of your attention.
When you don’t want the entire Internet to know what you’re looking at on the web, open an incognito tab, as described in the earlier section “Going incognito.” When you forget to do that, follow these steps to purge one or more web pages from the browser history:
Tap the X icon next to the web page entry you want to remove.
It’s gone.
If you want to remove all your web browsing history, after Step 1 tap the button CLEAR BROWSING DATA. You see the Clear Browsing Data screen. The prechecked items are what you need, so tap the CLEAR DATA button to rid your Android of your sordid past.
As I ranted at the start of this chapter, the web on a mobile device never looks as good as the web on a computer. You do have a few options for making it look better.
First and foremost, remember that you can orient the device horizontally and vertically, which rearranges the way a web page is displayed:
Choose Accessibility.
This item might be titled Screen and Text in some web browser apps.
Use the Text Scaling slider to adjust the text size.
The preview text below the slider helps you gauge which size works best.
The Chrome web browser app presets optimum security settings. The only issue you should consider is how information is retained and automatically recalled. You may want to disable some of those features. Obey these steps:
Set the master control by Autofill Forms to the Off position.
This setting disables Chrome’s capability of filling in forms with your personal information: name, address, account numbers, and so on.
Remove the check mark by the Auto Sign-in item.
Both settings on the Save Passwords screen prevent your device from filling in passwords and automatically logging in to various websites.
With regard to general online security, my advice is always to be smart and think before doing anything questionable on the web. Use common sense. One of the most effective ways that the Bad Guys win is by using human engineering to try to trick you into doing something you normally wouldn't do, such as click a link to see a cute animation or a racy picture of a celebrity or politician. As long as you use your noggin, you should be safe.
Also see Chapter 22 for information on applying a secure screen lock, which I highly recommend.
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