Living Well Network Computer Lounge Class: How to use your Smart Phone- Android 2/26/14

This class will review: 1. What is a Smart Phone? 2. When did the Smart Phone and Android first appear? 3. What are the basic features of the Android? 4. 13 Questions Answered 5. Download apps ----------------------------------------------------------

1. What is a Smart Phone? • • • • • •

pocket-sized computer mobile phone built on a mobile operating system- different from home computer first smartphones combined email ability with a mobile phone (PDA) later models added portable media players (MP3 Players), digital cameras, video cameras, and GPS navigation. todayʼs smartphones include high-resolution touchscreens and web browsers (display web pages), Wi-Fi high-speed data access, mobile broadband and Bluetooth. the rapid development of mobile app markets and of mobile commerce have been drivers of smartphone technology. (Source: Wikipedia)

2. When did the Smart Phone and iPhone first appear? a. 1992 The first smartphone was invented by IBM in 1992. It was nicknamed, “Simon,” and had many features including a calendar, address book, calculator, email service, and even a touch screen. It cost $899. b. 2000 Ericsson developed the R380, a touch screen smartphone that used the Symbian operating system and had a foldable keyboard. It was the first all-in-one device to actually be called a smartphone. c. 2008 Manufacturer of Android (operating system) phones backed by Google. 3. What are the basic features of the Android phone? • • • • • • •

Phone: add contacts, check voice messages, and make calls via a host of networks Mail: send and receive e-mail with mail app. (Gmail and others). Text Messaging: send/receive SMS and MMS Web browser: comes with all Android phones. Social Media: use Twitter and Facebook (and others) Voice actions: calling, texting, navigation, etc. Multitasking of applications: have more then one application running at the same time.

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Screen capture: capturing a screenshot by pressing the power and volume-down buttons at the same time. Video calling: through Google Talk is available in Android 2.3.4 and later. Media: play audio and video content added via apps. Calendar: Google calendar is the default Android calendar app., but can download a host of other calendar apps to fit your needs. Try CalWidget. FaceTime: video chat (like Skype). This uses both the main camera and an additional one located above the screen, allowing users to talk face-to-face or show what they're looking at. Camera: Yes, but the quality depends on the phone you have (i.e. Samsung Galaxy S4 has a many of features you won't find on even the most advanced stand-alone cameras.) Touch Screen: when you place your finger or a stylus on the screen, it changes the state (eclectic current) that the device is monitoring. Maps: GPS capability that allows you to find directions and bring up maps while you are traveling. Google makes app specifically for Android. Google Play Store: new apps, free or paid, can be downloaded directly to the phone.

4. 13 Questions Answered 1. What is Android? Android is an operating system, like Windows for computers or iOS for iPhones and iPads 2. Who makes Android? Google makes Android, and a lot of manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC and Motorola put it on their phones, tablets and now even cameras. 3. Why does everyone keep talking about desserts? Every time Google makes a significant update to Android, it names the update after a dessert. The desserts run alphabetically, so you can keep track of different Android versions. In the past few years, devices have upgraded from Eclair, to Froyo, to Gingerbread, to Honeycomb, to Ice Cream Sandwich. The latest devices to be released are currently running Jelly Bean. 4. Does Android have apps? Yes. Android has a huge app market called Google Play, where you can download books, music and movies as well as apps, all from one place. Amazon also has its own app store for Android phones, giving you even more choice. 5. Can I use Twitter and Facebook on Android phones? Yes. Pretty much every phone released nowadays is a smartphone with Internet capabilities. Whether you choose a BlackBerry, an iPhone, a Windows phone or a phone running Android, you'll be able to use Facebook and Twitter. 6. What if I want to put some pictures or a movie on my phone? There are a couple of super-simple ways to move your personal files on and off an Android device. First, you can use a Dropbox account plus the Dropbox app. Upload everything to Dropbox via your computer, log into Dropbox on your phone or tablet, and they'll all be there waiting for you. Even easier, connect your phone to your computer and treat it like a fancy USB stick — just drag and drop the files, and Android will know how to organize them. 7. I have lots of music in iTunes. Can I listen to it on my Android phone? Yes. There's a piece of software called doubleTwist that works just like iTunes, letting you install your iTunes music collection on your Android phone or tablet. If you store your music

collection outside of iTunes, then the drag-and-drop method of file transfer should work just fine. 8. There's a game called Angry Birds that I keep hearing about. Can I play it on Android? Yes. It's one of the top free games on Android. Download Angry Birds from Google Play. 9. My friend has an Android phone from Samsung, and my Android phone is from HTC. Why does Android look a bit different on our phones? Google makes the Android software and then lets hardware manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung install it on their phones and tablets. Device manufacturers usually add their own design tweaks to the standard Android operating system. These design tweaks are known as skins, and manufacturers use them to help Android devices stand out from the competition. 10. What's the difference between home screens and the app drawer? The app drawer is where you can find all of the apps installed on your device. On Apple devices, all of your apps are live on your home screens. But Android devices have (up to) seven home screens that you can fill with your favorite apps and widgets for quick access — any apps you don't choose to keep on your home screen will still be in your app drawer. The app drawer is at the bottom of your screen. Tap it, and behold the icons for every app on your phone. You have a desktop you can organize and customize, and you have an app drawer where you can see everything. 11. What are widgets? Useful at both displaying information and saving power, they are a little like snapshots of apps that live on your home screens. Widgets come in all different sizes. They can display simple things like how much data you've used this month or show more complex things like your Facebook news feed. Because they're designed for basic interactions like posting updates to Facebook or Twitter, widgets can help you save battery power because you don't need to open up the full app every time you want to make a simple update or reply to comments. In the Play Store app on your phone, hit Menu (the three dots) > Settings, and scroll down to "Auto-add widgets." You want to UNcheck that, otherwise your pristine desktop is going to get mighty cluttered. 12. Do I need a Google account to use Android? Yes. Just like you need an Apple ID to use an iDevice, you need a Google account to use Android. You don't have to use any of the specific Google services like Gmail on a daily basis if you don't want to, and Google lets you add other email accounts to your Android phone or tablet. But if you really don't want a Google account, Android might not be right for you. Google's software and cloud services are really slickly integrated into the Android experience, and you'll miss out on some of the best features of Android if you don't want to use them. 13. What's the easiest way to move all my contacts onto my phone? You can enter them as contacts into Gmail, and they'll be automatically synced to your phone, or you can transfer saved numbers off your SIM card. 5. How do I download apps to my Android device? 2 Ways: 1) use the Google Play app that you'll find on your device when you power it up the first time. No need to be connected to a computer; Android devices can install apps all by themselves.

2) Second, the Google Play website on your computer. Log in with the Google Account you used on your Android device, Google Play will give you the option to install straight to your device. This can be handy when you want a big screen to browse through lots of apps. 3) I don't have to tether my phone to my computer to install new apps? Nope! You can do it via cellular data or Wi-Fi directly to your phone or tablet. No cables. 4) Keyboards. In most cases you're going to want to install a replacement keyboard app. There are tons of options, and there's probably a perfect one for you, depending on what you like. If you're coming from iOS (or have iPhone envy) check out iTap (paid/free). Sliding keyboards (like Swype) are a super popular, where you drag your finger between letters. If you don't have Swype pre-installed on your phone, try SlideIT. 5) •Other stuff . Dropbox, Evernote, Kindle, Yelp, Google Reader, Spotify, Netflix, and so on. If you've heard of an app, it's very likely in the Play Store. Just browse around, pay attention to ratings, and experiment. 6) Get Organized: Once you've installed a bunch of stuff, organize your homescreen. Think of it as your actual desk. If you just pile everything on there randomly, it's going to be messy and it will only cause you frustration. But if you place things deliberately, so you know where everything lives, you can get to what you want without even thinking about it. You only have to do this once (and you can always tweak at will). To move apps to the desktop, just open the app drawer, long-press the app, and then drag it to the home screen. Dragging one app onto another creates a folder (which you can then label, if you want). In stock Android 4.0, widgets are installed through the app drawer—just click on the widgets tab and drag the one you want to the desktop. In Android 2.3, and some skinned versions (like HTC Sense 4.0) add widgets by long-pressing on the homescreen.

Sources: How To Use Android: http://gizmodo.com/474384464 First-Time Android User Should Know http://mashable.com/2012/09/14/android-phone-tips/ Smartphone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone The history of smartphones: timeline http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/24/smartphones-timeline List of features in Android http://www.ask.com/wiki/List_of_features_in_Android Basic Android Tutorial https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.basicandrotutorial Android Quick Start Guide http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/help/hc/images/android/android_ug _42/Android-Quick-Start-Guide.pdf

http://www.android.com/ http://www.howtogeek.com/163624/welcome-to-android-a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-withandroid/ Best Android Phones http://reviews.cnet.com/best-android-phones/ Making Your Androidʼs Battery Last Longer http://androinica.com/2010/08/a-guide-to-making-your-androidʼs-battery-last-a-little-longer/

Colin Barr Living Well Network Coordinator Agassiz Baldwin Community www.agassiz.org/ [email protected] 617-349-6287 x21