Android Phones For Dummies. Gookin Dan

p>Dan Gookin

      Android® Phones For Dummies®

      Android® Phones For Dummies®, 4th Edition

      Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

      Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

      Published simultaneously in Canada

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      Library of Congress Control Number: 2016952319

      ISBN: 978-1-119-31068-6; 978-1-119-31071-6 ebk); 978-1-119-31072-3 (ebk)

      Introduction

      It may be a smartphone, but it makes you feel dumb. Don’t worry: You aren’t alone. As technology leaps ahead, it often leaves mortal humans behind. You paid good money for your phone – why not use all of its features?

      This book makes the complex subject of Android phones 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.

About This Book

      I implore you: Do not 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 phone that vexes you or something you’re curious about. After getting the answer, get on with your life.

      Every chapter in this book is written as its own self-contained unit, covering a specific Android phone topic. The chapters are further divided into sections representing tasks you perform with the phone or explaining how to get something done. Sample sections in this book include

      ❯❯ Typing without lifting a finger

      ❯❯ Making a conference call

      ❯❯ Dealing with a missed call

      ❯❯ Uploading a picture to Facebook

      ❯❯ Recording video

      ❯❯ Creating a mobile hotspot

      ❯❯ Flying with your phone

      ❯❯ Extending battery life

      Every section explains a topic as though it’s the first one you read in this book. Nothing is assumed, and everything is cross-referenced. Technical terms and topics, when they come up, are safely 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 phone, so pay attention!

      The main way to interact with an Android phone is by using its touchscreen, which is the glassy part of the phone as it’s facing you. The physical buttons on the phone are called keys. These items are discussed and explained in Part I of this book.

      Various ways are available to touch the screen, which are described in Chapter 3.

      Chapter 4 covers typing text on an Android phone, which involves using something called the 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 on your phone by following numbered steps. Every step involves a specific activity, such as touching something on the screen; for example:

      1. Choose Downloads.

      This step directs you to tap the text or item on the screen labeled Downloads. You might also be told to do this:

      1. Tap Downloads.

      Because this book covers a variety of phones, alternative commands may be listed. One of them is bound to match something on your phone, or at least be close to what you see:

      1. Tap the My Downloads action or the Downloads action.

      

Various phone settings can be enabled or disabled, as indicated by a master control, which looks like the On/Off toggle shown in the margin. Slide the button to the right to activate the switch, turning on a phone feature. Slide the button to the left to turn off the feature.

Foolish Assumptions

      Even though this book is written with the gentle handholding required by anyone who is just starting out or is easily intimidated, I have 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 an Android phone. It 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