![\"androids\"](\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/androids.png\" "\\"androids\\"")
<\/p>\nHere are some essential Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tips you need to know. \u00a0As Android has progressed through various iterations, the world\u2019s number one phone operating system has improved and matured. Today we look at the many secrets lurking under the hood as a result of these improvements.<\/p>\n
Since version 1.0 in 2008, Android has made great use of hardware advances to the screen, camera, WiFi, magnetometer, accelerometer, GPS, gyro and much more. All in all, the OS has done a pretty fine job of creating an interface between man and machine.\u00a0The problem is that there have been so many changes to the core operating system; so many improvements; so many enhancements, that most users don\u2019t have a clue how powerful and useful the OS can be.<\/p>\n
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This guest post covers a few things that the average user might not know about Android. If you received a manual with your phone, now is the time to burn it while we explore the hidden side of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.<\/p>\n
The first on the list is the lowly screenshot feature. Incredibly for an OS at the cutting edge, and particularly an OS from the mighty Google, a screenshot feature was left out of every version of Android from 2.3 down. In order to take a screenshot of your screen, you were forced to root your device and install a dedicate App to perform the rather bog-standard screenshot feature.<\/p>\n
Most Android 4.0 users will have figured it out by now, but if you haven\u2019t then go ahead and hold down the Volume Down and Power Buttons<\/strong> to take that screenshot. The images should appear in your gallery.<\/p>\n The next one is quite obvious, but some users will never have stumbled across it. It has been active for the last few versions of Android and will save you the odd second here and there, or a couple of key presses.<\/p>\n While viewing your text message threads or your contacts or your phone log or your contact favorites, simply swipe your finger left across the contact to send a text message to that contact. <\/strong>You can also swipe your finger right to call the contact. Nice and simple. Nice and effective.<\/p>\n One new feature that Android 4.0 comes with is the Facial Unlocking Feature. Initially, this feature did generate some negative feedback because Android didn\u2019t always recognise your face accurately or quickly enough. To their credit, Google was quick to address these issues, however. Providing you have updated your firmware (it only works in later releases of Android 4.0), then there is a way to \u2018Improve\u2019 the facial unlock feature.<\/p>\n Go to Settings – Security – Improve face matching<\/strong>. You might have to do this a few times to improve the speed and accuracy of recognition. It is also a good idea to position the phone at different angles to your head to improve the accuracy<\/p>\n Speaking of unlocking your phone: this tip is important if you use the pattern unlock feature, although it\u2019s not strictly an Android 4.0 tip. Pattern unlocking can be very useful and is quicker than enter in a PIN number. The trouble begins if you forget your unlock pattern and you can\u2019t get into your phone.<\/p>\n They say prevention is better than the cure and in this case, you need to sign up with a Google Gmail account (or any Google account for that matter) to apply the prevention. Chances are that most users will have one anyway, but it\u2019s worth stating here. Then, if you do forget your unlock pattern, simply try any pattern 5 times. A button will then appear on the screen saying \u2018forgot pattern?\u2019. Press that and then enter your Google username\/email and password and you\u2019ll be back into your phone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n While Android has seen a stream of steady improvements, they don\u2019t always know what\u2019s best for us. One annoying feature is that when you download an App, the Android Market will put the shortcut to the App on your home screen. This can get somewhat annoying, so here is the solution. First, open the Market Application. Then go to Settings and uncheck the option for Auto-add Shortcuts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as a new and intuitive way of closing apps that are running. To find those currently running, press the multi-task button on your phone. You should then see a list of your currently running Apps. You will see x\u2019s next to each App so that you can close it, but there is a more fun way.<\/p>\n Just throw the Apps off the screen by swiping your finger left or right.<\/strong> You\u2019ll find the process can be quite gratifying as a matter of fact, and it frees up memory at the same time.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a neat trick that is designed for Accessibility users, but should really be enabled by default. After a phone call, you would generally look at your screen, then hunt and peck for the hang-up button to ensure the call is ended (before you embarrass yourself by talking about the caller!).<\/p>\n A better way of hanging up is to go to Settings – Accessibility – Power button ends call<\/strong>. Then when you\u2019ve finished your call, simply press the Power button to hang up<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The last useful Tip is for those with battery issues. Unfortunately, these mini-computers that we carry in our pockets have a tendency to run out of juice quite quickly. Some of the biggest culprits include features such as Bluetooth, GPS and of WiFi.<\/p>\n Android 4.0 has a handy feature for turning off the latter when the phone is sleeping. To enable this power-saving feature head over to Settings \u2013 WiFi \u2013 Advanced<\/strong>. Then select Keep WiFi on during sleep<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We hope you have found these tips useful. If you\u2019re feeling adventurous, then feel free to have a poke around your OS and discover a few for yourself. You won\u2019t break anything we can assure you.<\/p>\n This is a guest post by Bryan Hunter, the founder of PhoneTips andTricks.com\u00a0which provides the world\u2019s largest database of tips and tricks for smartphones and tablets. Bryan is based in London, UK and regularly writes about the mobile phone industry.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are some essential Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tips you need to know. \u00a0As Android has progressed through various…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-23376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google","tag-guest-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Swipe to Call and Text<\/h2>\n
3. Improve Facial Unlock<\/h2>\n
4. Prevent Being Locked Out of Your Phone<\/h2>\n
5. Disable Auto App Shortcuts on Homescreen<\/h2>\n
6. Swipe to Close Apps<\/h2>\n
7. Use Power to Hang Up<\/h2>\n
8. Auto WiFi to Save Battery<\/h2>\n