In this article, I give you my quick Android OS guide for new users. Congratulations on the purchase of your first Android device. You will soon see that you have stepped into a whole new dimension of mobile telephony use, and in this text we will try to bring you closer, so to speak, to demystify the use of such a device, with an emphasis on how to set up your new device.
The possibilities of Android devices are almost endless, and if you take a little time to read this text, you will gain a solid foundation for easy handling of your device.
The best feature of the Android device is its ability to adapt it to yourself, which at first glance sometimes rejects the user in terms of the complexity of understanding the settings of the device itself. While the Android OS is available on many devices, this text will focus on Android on mobile phones since the mentioned devices are the most common carriers of this OS.
Introduction
Every Android phone is more or less different from each other but some basic elements are the same as everyone. The main features are 4 mostly physical keys (they can also be touch-sensitive keys) that are used to access the Android device. These are MENU, HOME, SEARCH, and BACK.
However, the main way to interact with an Android device is the Touch screen. Most Android phones today are equipped with a capacitive touch screen that provides a simple interface and requires little pressure.
Your new mobile device is equipped with the Android operating system for the purpose of making it easier for users to make phone calls, listen to music, surf the Internet, and, of course, access a number of supported applications.
Home screen
The first time you turn on your device, you will see the so-called HOME SCREEN, which almost every device has. Each part of the Home screen can be edited by the user with icons (applications) or links that the user uses most often.
This home page design of course depends on each user of the device individually and in time you will see and gain experience in terms of the most useful applications for you.
For example, The home page may contain a section where you will place icons for connecting to social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, another section for accessing the camera and sending text messages, and the third section for calculators, browsers, etc.
Whichever homepage setting you chose, the point is quick and easy access to applications or options that you would otherwise have to access via the Menu, and you will agree that this is a harder and more time-consuming way.
For all Android versions, removing icons from the home screen is done by long-pressing the desired icon until you feel a short vibration, and then holding your finger on the display, drag the icon to the bottom of the display, which removes it from the home page.
This method applies to any folder, application, or widget you want to remove from the home page. To replace or add an application to your home screen, press and hold a blank space on the display and this will open the Add Content menu.
You can perform the same task by pressing the Menu button while on the home screen and then selecting the add option. The same method is used to add a new Wallpaper (the background image standing on the home screen) by holding your finger on an empty spot on the display/menu/add/wallpaper.
Applications
To access a specific application, simply click with your finger on the applications on the home page or open the Application tray (the place where all the applications are located) by pressing the mentioned tray or dragging the entire tray towards the top of the display.
To put a shortcut (a term that literally translates to a shortcut, and refers to the links you would like to have on the home screen). Like YouTube, Gmail or Browser, you must first open the application tray with your finger to hold the desired application until you feel the vibration, then a home screen will appear on which you simply place (drag your finger) the selected application to the desired position.
The second way is again from the menu/add to home/shortcut/ and the desired application.
General use
When using your appliance if you get lost or you can’t find the action you want to perform either in the main Android or in one of the many applications, press the Menu key. The context of the Menu button function changes depending on the action you are doing on the phone and this is one very important thing (and perhaps the most frustrating).
For example: if you are in the phonebook of your device by pressing the Menu button, options related to searching for contacts such as adding a contact, searching for contacts, deleting contacts, etc. open.
MENU and BACK
I would like to point out that this is another key area that can confuse new Android users. At any time while using an application, you can return to the home page by pressing HOME.
What users need to understand is that pressing the HOME option does not shut down or interrupt the application in use like other smartphones. When you return home, the application you used will continue to run in the background. Pressing again to activate that application will open the page of the application where you were before pressing the HOME option.
For example: Suppose you have reviewed the results of matches on a site and wanted to change the music you play at the same time. Pressing HOME exits that page, adjusts the music on the player, and pressing your browser again returns you to the same page and you will see the same results you viewed before changing the music. Think of it as a Minimize option on your desktop computer.
The BACK option works differently. By setting this option, you can achieve that it executes various things, but in principle, the back option is used to exit or shut down the application. This option is useful if you have finished what you did on the Internet, for example, and by pressing the BACK option you turn off the application and thus save battery and memory consumption of your device.
This is important to mention for the reason that if your device has a large number of applications open at the same time, the battery drains faster and your device functions more slowly (multiple applications running on your device at the same time “choke” the device and significantly slow it down).
For Android 2.0+, Google has introduced a new section in System settings called Running Services. This option allows you to quickly view applications that are active and from which you can shut down any unnecessary applications in the event of a slow operation of your device.
These would be some basics and we hope you find them useful when using your Android device. As we have already mentioned, the possibilities of using Android devices are almost endless, which you will see for yourself with longer use of your device. One thing is for sure, and that is the fact that today, every 2nd device in the world is Android, which clearly speaks of the credibility of these devices.