Welcome, newcomers to Android! After reading this guide, you will go from being a complete newbie to an old pro! Well, not really… But it will give you a big step in that direction. This guide is intended for absolute beginners, but it will definitely offer great insight to those who have been playing around with Android devices for a while. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email. Enjoy!
TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Home, Back, Menu, and Search – These are the 4 buttons included on almost every Android device. The home button sends you to your home screen when you press it. The back button will exit applications, menus or web pages. The menu button usually opens the settings menus and the search button searches. There are some cool tricks with these buttons, but they’ll be covered in different articles. Home screen – This is the screen you see when you turn on your device or tap the home button. It’s where you put apps and widgets and is basically the hub for your device to operate from.
Long press: Long press is the act of pressing and holding an area of the screen for more than 2 seconds. Allows you to move apps on the home screen and view additional menus on the home screen or within other apps. Think of it as a “right click” for your Android device.
App Drawer – The App Drawer is the location for all your apps. It is accessible from the home screen and is usually found in the bottom row of icons.
Notification bar: The notification bar is the bar at the top of the screen that lists notifications. It also shows other information like time, cell reception and data, etc.
Settings: For the purposes of this article, settings refer to your device settings, which can be accessed by pressing the menu button while on the home screen or by using the “Settings” system app located on the app drawer.
Drag and Drop – This is the process of long-pressing on an app icon or widget, then moving the object around and placing it where you want it to be.
Market: The Market is where you download apps, games, and media for your device. You access the market through a system app located in your app drawer.
Android OS: Android OS is the operating system loaded on your device that controls all operations. It is software, not hardware or a particular device. Most people refer to it simply as “Android”, meaning “What version of Android are you running?”
Widget: A widget is a “mini” application that you place on your home screen. They usually have fewer functions than the full app but they work immediately. They are very useful for commonly used tasks, however, they consume a lot of system resources and can slow down your device.
Launcher – The launcher is the part of your operating system that you interact with. Think of it as the tip of the Android iceberg. Control the home screen, app drawer, and launch apps. The action launcher does an amazing job, however it lacks some customizable options. There are launcher replacement apps available in the market if you want to further customize your device.
BASIC FUNCTIONS AND TASKS
Navigating through your device: The best way to learn to navigate through your device is to explore on your own. Access the notification bar by touching the top of the screen and sliding your finger down. Jump in and out of your app drawer – try out the preloaded apps and see if there’s anything you like. You don’t have to worry about deleting anything important as Google made it impossible to delete apps and system files. Check your device settings by pressing the menu button while on your home screen. I wouldn’t recommend changing any settings unless you’re sure you know what you’re changing.
Organize your home screen: With Android you can customize almost every aspect of your device, and the home screen is the best place to start. Android allows between 1 and 7 home screens depending on the device or launcher you are using. This allows you to organize your most used apps by placing similar apps on the same screen. To drop an app, open the app drawer, press and hold the app you want to drop, and drop it where you want on your home screen. You can then move apps the same way, long press the icon, drop it where you want it.
The next way to customize your home screen is to add widgets. To add a widget, touch and hold an open area of your home screen. A new menu will appear. Select “Widgets” and scroll through the list, then select the widget you want to place. A new menu will appear asking you what size you want your widget to be, once you select the size you’re done. You can move your widgets just like app icons by pressing and holding them.
As you probably saw when adding your widget, you can also add shortcuts, folders, and change your wallpaper by long pressing an open area on your home screen. Folders are great for keeping your home screen organized and uncluttered. To add apps or shortcuts to a folder, simply drag and drop them into the folder. You can add shortcuts like direct dial and direct messaging for people you communicate with frequently. Changing your wallpaper is another great way to personalize your device.
Removing App Icons and Widgets – Now that you’ve become a pro at adding stuff to your home screen, you might feel the need to remove some stuff. Removing app icons and widgets from the home screen is simple. Just long press on what you want to delete. When you do, a small trash can icon will appear. Drag and drop the item and it will be removed from your home screen. Be careful though, if you hold the item over the bin for more than 2 seconds, it will be uninstalled.
Downloading Apps: There are over 200,000 apps in the Android market (at the time of writing). Getting new apps is incredibly simple on Android. Enter the system app labeled “Market” in your app drawer. Once you make a plethora of apps, games and media will be at your fingertips. Download until your heart is content, but be careful. Although extremely rare, there have been cases of malware being uploaded onto the market. Please read the permissions before downloading an app. Make sure an app doesn’t ask for a permission it shouldn’t (such as a calculator app wanting to access your contact information).
Uninstall apps: If you have too many apps and want to get rid of some, you have several ways to do it. The first way is to long press the app icon, then drag and hold the icon over the trash can on the home screen, wait 2 seconds and drop the app to the trash can; it will now be uninstalled. The next way to uninstall an app is to go to; Device settings > Apps > Manage apps > scroll through the list of apps and select the ones you want to uninstall. Follow the prompts to uninstall the app. Another way to uninstall is to do it through the market. While the Market app is open, press the menu button. Select “My Apps” and scroll through your apps to find the one you want to uninstall. Select the app and follow the on-screen prompts to remove it.
You now know many common Android terms, how to customize your device, and how to install/uninstall apps. You are on your way to becoming an Android pro! Remember to keep exploring your device, you never know what new and cool stuff you’ll find. Thank you for reading this guide, I hope it has helped you. Be sure to tell your friends!