You've had your smartphone for a while,
but let's face it: You've never read the
manual. You take great pride that you
know how to use it, and then it happens:
You see someone do something
extraordinary with his or her phone that
you did not know was even possible.
Friends don't let friends have smartphone
skill envy. Here are some of my favorite
secrets buried in your phone settings that
you probably don't know, but will use
now.
1. Take a screenshot
Have you ever wanted to capture
something on your phone's screen?
Maybe it's a hilarious text from a friend,
or an interesting Facebook post, or you
want to send someone an image to show
her how to do something.
On iPhone
Press and hold the Home button along
with the Sleep/Wake button. You should
hear a shutter click. The screenshot will
appear in your Camera Roll or Saved
Photos section.
On Android
Hold the Power and Volume Down buttons
at the same time. The image is saved to
the "Captured Images" folder in your
Gallery app. That only works in Android
4.0 and higher, though. For Android 3.0,
2.3 or earlier, use an app like AirDroid or
Screenshot (Search For Them On Google
Play).
2. Block calls and texts
Have you ever had someone who just
won't stop calling or texting you, even
after you asked nicely? Here's how to
block him.
On iPhone
To block calls on an iPhone with iOS 7 or
later, open the Phone or FaceTime app. If
the person is already a contact, tap his
name, scroll to the bottom of the page
and tap Block This Caller. Then tap Block
Contact.
If the person isn't a contact, tap the Info
button, then scroll to the bottom of the
page and tap Block this Caller. Then tap
Block Contact.
If you want to block texts, open the
Messages app and tap a message from
the person you want to block. Tap Contact
in the upper right and then tap the Info
button. Scroll to the bottom and tap Block
this Caller. Then tap Block Contact.
You can edit your blocked contacts later
at these locations:
* Settings>>Phone>>Blocked
* Settings>>Messages>>Blocked
* Settings>>FaceTime>>Blocked
On Android
On Android, go to Settings>>Call
settings>>Call block. Under "Incoming
calls" tap "Call block list" and then tap
Create. You can enter a number, or tap
the picture icon to find the number in your
Contacts list or in your call logs.
If you don't see these steps or want more
blocking options, check out these call- and
text-blocking apps.
3. Use a real password
iPhone and Android both default to a 4-
digit PIN for unlocking the phone. That's
OK as long as you don't use something
simple like 0000 or 1234. However, I know
some people who want even more
security.
On iPhone
To set a real password on an iPhone, go
to Settings>>Passcode. From there, swipe
off the option that says Simple Passcode.
Here, you can set your passcode with
letters and special characters for better
phone security.
On Android
Go to Settings>>Lock screen and tap
Screen lock. You can set what level of
security you want, from a simple swipe to
a password. Select Password and type in
the password that you want. It should
have a mix of letters, numbers and special
characters to be really safe.
4. See text more easily
Having a hard time reading things on your
phone's small screen? Bump up the font
size to something a bit easier to see.
On iPhone
Go to Settings>>General>>Accessibility
and turn on Bold Text and Larger Text.
You can choose either one or both,
depending on your preferences. You will
need to restart your phone for Bold Text to
take effect.
On Android
Go to Settings>>Accessibility. Under
Vision, tap Font size and set it to Large.
Some phones include an even larger Huge
option.
5. Read things out loud
Want to keep your eyes off your phone for
a bit? Have it read things to you out loud.
On iPhone
Go to Settings>>General>>Accessibility
and turn on VoiceOver. You have the
option to practice with VoiceOver, set the
speaking rate and more.
You will need to do some playing around
to get used to it. For example you can
touch and drag your fingers around the
home screen to have it read what's there.
Double tap to activate an app, while one
tap will give you details about it.
VoiceOver will read directions to you in
Maps, have your camera tell you how
many people are in your shot, and get
spoken photo descriptions.
You can also handwrite notes and letters
on the screen and have VoiceOver
translate your messages into text for Mail
and other apps.
On Android
Go to Settings>>Accessibility and tap
TalkBack. If you don't see it, you can
download it from the Google Play store.
Turn it on and your phone will read
whatever you touch on the screen and
incoming notifications. Hint: To perform a
regular swipe gesture, you have to use two
fingers instead of one.
To adjust your TalkBack settings, go to
Settings>>Accessibility and tap Text-to-
Speech options. You can adjust the voice
engine and speed rate.
Then go to Settings and turn on Hands-
free mode. This will tell you who is calling
or messaging.
6. Customize Alert Vibration Patterns
You've set a custom ringtone for each of
your contacts, but that doesn't help when
you have your phone on vibrate.
Fortunately, you can create custom
vibration patterns as well.
On iPhone
Go to
Settings>>Sounds>>Ringtone>>Vibration.
You can tap out patterns to record. Or,
you can go into your contacts list and hit
Edit and select the Vibration option for
each contact.
On Android
Go to Contacts and tap on a contact
name. Under Vibration Pattern, tap Default
and choose a preset pattern. Or tap the
Create button and tap on the screen to
create your own pattern.
If you don't have this built in, there are
third-party apps like Vybethat can do this
as well.
7. Flash camera LED for notifications
Need a quiet alert about notifications and
don't want to use vibrate? Have
notifications trigger your phone's LED
camera flash instead. Just make sure you
turn this off or keep your phone hidden
when you go to the movies.
On iPhone
Go to Settings>>General>> Accessibility
and turn on "LED Flash for Alerts." Now
every time you get a notification, your
phone's rear camera will flash.
On Android
Go to Settings>>Accessibility and turn on
"Flash notification."
8. Better ways to take pictures
Tapping your phone's screen to take a
picture sounds good in theory, but in
practice it can make shots a little shaky.
Here are some better options.
On iPhone
Point your camera and press the phone’s
Volume Up button.
On Android
Open the camera app and tap the gear to
see the settings. Scroll down to Voice
control and turn it on. Now you can take
pictures with the commands "Capture,"
"Shoot," "Smile" and "Cheese."
9. Take multiple pictures at once
If you're taking pictures of a moving
object, squirming kid or people who tend
to blink, you often want to take a bunch of
pictures at once.
On iPhone 5, 5s, and 5c
Open the Camera app. Tap and hold the
shutter release button on the screen – or
press and hold the Volume Up button –
and the camera will start taking multiple
pictures. Release the button when you
want to stop.
The iPhones can take up to 10 pictures a second. It will group the photos for you automatically so you can quickly find the
best ones.
On Android
Open the Camera app. Tap the gear icon
to open the settings and turn Burst Shot
on. Then tap and hold the shutter release
button and the phone will take multiple
images until you release the button – or it
hits the preset limit for your phone. The
photos will be grouped for you in your
gallery.
10. Turn off music automatically
A lot of people use their phone to listen to
music as they go to sleep, or as they're
doing a project. But you don't want it
running forever and draining your battery.
On iPhone
Go to the Clock app and click on "Timer,"
then "When Timer Ends." From here, scroll
all the way down to the bottom of the
screen and select "Stop Playing."
On Android
Open the music player and go to Settings.
Look for "Music auto off" and set it to
however long you want the music to play.
There are also third-party apps like Sleep
Timer available.
Hope You Find It Interesting!!!
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