Android Tablets Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-16-2022

An Android tablet is a complex piece of electronics that is both delightful and intimidating. Obviously, that qualifies it as the next great thing. It also means that if you want to get the most from the device, you need some gentle hand-holding and careful explanation. Read on for plenty of tips, tricks, and other useful information that help make your Android tablet experience a pleasant and productive one.

Article / Updated 02-18-2020

The Home screen on your Android tablet is more than what you see. It’s actually an entire street of Home screens, with only one Home screen panel displayed at a time. To switch from one panel to another, swipe the Home screen left or right. There are pages to the left of the main Home screen page, and pages to the right. The number of panels depends on the tablet. Many tablets let you add or remove panels. Here, you can see the Home screen index, used on some tablets to help you determine which Home screen is displayed. You can swipe the index or tap one of the dots to zoom to a specific Home screen panel. The Home screen panel index. When you tap the Home navigation icon, you return to the last Home screen page you viewed. To return to the main Home screen panel, tap the Home icon a second time. Some tablets reserve the far left Home screen panel for the Google Now app. The main Home screen is often the center Home screen panel, though some Android tablets let you choose any page as the main one.

Article / Updated 02-09-2017

A screen shot, also called a screen cap (for capture), is a picture of your Android tablet's touchscreen. So if you see something interesting on the screen or you just want to take a quick pic of your tablet life, you take a screen shot. The stock Android method of shooting the screen is to press and hold both the Volume Down and Power/Lock keys at the same time. Upon success, the touchscreen image reduces in size, you may hear a shutter sound, and the screen shot is saved. Screen shots are accessed through the Photos app. If your tablet uses the old Gallery app, you’ll find screen shots in their own album. Some Samsung tablets use the Motion command to capture the screen: Hold your hand perpendicular to the tablet, like you’re giving it a karate chop. Swipe the edge of your palm over the screen, right-to-left or left-to-right. Upon success, you hear a shutter sound. Internally, screen shots are stored in the Pictures/Screenshots folder. They’re created in the PNG graphics file format.

Article / Updated 02-09-2017

Your Android tablet gives you all kinds of options for connecting to the web. Not every Wi-Fi network provides free, unlimited access. Some connections are metered. That means the provider may charge you per minute or per megabyte for accessing the Internet, similar to the limitations placed on the mobile data network. To configure the Wi-Fi connection as metered, and to ensure that you don’t exceed your data quota, follow these steps: Connect to the network as you normally would. Open the Settings app and choose Data Usage. This item is located in the Wireless & Networks area, or on the Connections tab on some Samsung tablets. Tap the Action Overflow icon or MORE button. Choose Network Restrictions. This action might be titled Restrict Networks. Locate the current connection in the list and set its master control to the On position. When a Wi-Fi connection is set as metered, your tablet monitors and restricts data access. You are warned when a large download or upload is attempted.

Article / Updated 02-09-2017

Some locations follow good computer security and change their Wi-Fi passwords. When you revisit that one charming café and find that your Android tablet doesn’t reconnect to the network, follow these steps: Obtain the new password. Demand the new password from someone in charge, like the confused young woman who keeps asking whether you want “room” in your black coffee. Open the Settings app and choose Wi-Fi. If the given network doesn’t appear in the list, tap the Action Overflow or MORE button and choose Saved Networks. The list of saved network appears — if any networks have been saved. Choose the Wi-Fi network from the list. For example, Café Wambooli has changed its Wi-Fi password. Choose the Wambooli network from the list. Tap the FORGET button. Tap the Back navigation icon, and then establish a new connection to the network. If these steps don’t work, and you’re certain that you typed the proper password, disable the tablet’s Wi-Fi radio (turn off the master control), and then enable it again (turn on the master control).

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Organize the Home screen on your Android tablet by building app folders to contain icons for your favorite apps. You save room on your Android Home screen by putting multiple apps into one folder. The folders appear differently in Android Jelly Bean than in Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). Here's how to create a folder in each version: In Android Jelly Bean, create a folder by following these steps: On the Home screen, drag one icon atop another. As you lift your finger, both icons are combined into a pile. The pile has a wee circle around it, which is your visual clue that the icons have not collided into a virtual car wreck but instead have created a folder. Drag additional icons onto the folder icon to add those apps to the folder. As you drag icons, space clears up on the Home screen, enabling you to create even more folders for even more icons. Touch a folder icon to view its contents. Touch an icon inside the folder to open that app. To manage the folder, long-press an app icon and then move it elsewhere inside the folder. Or you can drag the icon back out of the folder. You can touch the text Unnamed Folder to rename the folder. Folders can be deleted just like any other icon on the Home screen. Doing so does remove the icons in the folder, so if you'd rather bust up the folder (as opposed to deleting it), simply drag the app icons out of the folder back to the Home screen. When you drag out the second-to-last icon, the folder dissolves and only the sole remaining icon appears. For Android Ice Cream Sandwich, folders look like folder icons, similar to those used to manage files on a computer. You must manually create a folder, and then drop app icons into the folder. Heed these steps: Long-press a blank part of the Home screen. From the Home screen menu, choose the Folder or New Folder command. The folder icon appears on the Home screen, but it's empty. Drag an icon to the folder icon; lift your finger to add that icon to the folder. Repeat this step to populate the folder with app icons. To open the folder, touch its icon. You can then touch an app icon in the folder to start that app. Rename the folder by touching the folder's name; all new folders are initially given the boring name Unnamed Folder. Use the onscreen keyboard to type a new, better name. You can drag apps into and out of a folder just as you move apps on the Home screen. Unlike the Android Jelly Bean folders, removing the last icon from an ICS folder doesn't remove the folder from the Home screen. To kill off a folder, long-press its icon and drag it to the Trash or Delete icon on the Home screen. Deleting a folder removes all icons stored within the folder, so ensure that it's empty before you delete it.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Here’s a great way to give yourself a headache: Use the Bluetooth to copy a file between your Android tablet and a Bluetooth-enabled computer. It’s slow, it’s painful, and it might even work. Get started by pairing your tablet with the computer. When your tablet and computer are paired and connected, how the file transfer works depends on whether you’re using a PC or a Macintosh. Although a Bluetooth transfer can work, it’s not the most reliable method. It’s definitely not the easiest way to transfer files. How to send a file from the PC to an Android tablet On a PC, follow these steps to copy a file to the Android tablet: Right-click the Bluetooth icon in the Notification Area on the desktop. The icon looks like the Bluetooth logo, shown in the margin. The Notification Area dwells on the far-right end of the taskbar. Choose Send a File from the pop-up menu. Choose your Android tablet from the list of Bluetooth devices. If you don’t see the tablet listed, ensure that the Bluetooth radio is on for both devices and that they’re paired. Click the Next button. Click the Browse button to locate files to send to the tablet. Use the Browse dialog box to locate and select one or more files. Click the Open button to choose the file(s). Click the Next button. The tablet may signal a notification alert, which lets you know that a file transfer is taking place. Touch the Accept button. If you don’t see the Accept button, choose the Bluetooth Share: Incoming File notification. On the PC, touch the Finish button. The transfer is complete. On your Android tablet, you can pull down the notifications and choose the Bluetooth Share: Received Files notification. You’ll see the Inbound Transfers screen, which lists the file(s) downloaded. Choose a file from the list to examine it using the appropriate app. Images sent to the Android tablet from a PC can be found in the Gallery app, in the Bluetooth album. Not all PCs are equipped with Bluetooth. To add Bluetooth to a PC, you need a Bluetooth adapter. Inexpensive USB Bluetooth adapters are available at most computer and office supply stores. How to send a file from an Android tablet to a PC To send a file from the tablet to a PC, you need to use the Bluetooth item found on the Share menu in various apps. Follow these steps: On the Android tablet, locate and select the media or file you want to send to the PC. Choose the Share command. From the Share or Share Via menu, choose Bluetooth. If you see a Bluetooth icon in the app, just touch it to summon a list of Bluetooth devices. Choose the PC from the list. On the PC, click the Notification Area icon that appears, indicating that a Bluetooth file transfer request is pending. On the PC, click the OK button in the Access Authorization dialog box. The file is sent to the PC. On many PCs, the received files are stored in the Bluetooth Exchange Folder, found in the Documents or My Documents folder. Send a file from a Macintosh to the tablet To copy a file to the Android tablet by using Bluetooth on a Macintosh, follow these steps: Use the Bluetooth menu on the Mac to choose the Android tablet and then choose Send File. You can find the Bluetooth menu at the far-right end of the menu bar. Use the Select File to Send dialog box to browse for and select the file on your Mac that you want to send to the Android tablet; click the Send button. On the Android tablet, choose the Bluetooth notification. In the File Transfer window on the tablet, touch the Accept button. The file is sent from your Mac to the Android tablet. It appears in a list of Bluetooth Inbound Transfers. You can touch the file in the Inbound Transfers window to open it and do whatever interesting thing that the tablet wants to do with that file. Sadly, some people cannot get the Mac to accept a file sent to it from any Android tablet by using Bluetooth. You might have more success, but keep in mind that the USB file transfer, coupled with the Android File Transfer program, works like a charm.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

More options and settings and controls exist for web browser apps than just about any other app made for the Android tablet. Some of the key options include the home page and the look and feel of your browser How to set a home page on your Android tablet The home page is the first page you see when you start a web browser app. That rule holds true for just about every web browser app but Chrome; no option exists for setting a home page in that browser. But for other browsers, set a home page by heeding these directions: Browse to the page you want to set as the home page. Touch the Menu icon. Choose Settings. The Settings screen appears. Choose the General category. Choose Set Home Page. The Set Home Page menu appears. Touch the Current Page button. The home page is set. If you want your home page to be blank (not set to any particular web page), choose the Blank Page item from the Set Home Page menu. A blank home page is the fastest web page to load. It’s also the web page with the most accurate information. Rather than have a home page, the Chrome app either opens to the last web page you’ve viewed or displays a list of web pages you frequent. How to change the way the web looks on your Android tablet You can do a few things to improve the way the web looks on your Android tablet. First and foremost, don’t forget that you can orient the device horizontally or vertically, which rearranges the way a web page is displayed. From the Settings screen, you can also adjust the zoom setting used to display a web page. Heed these steps: Touch the Menu icon. Choose Settings. Choose Accessibility or Advanced Choose Default Zoom or, if that option isn’t available, use the Text Scaling bar to enlarge or reduce the text size. You can enlarge or reduce text on any web page by pinching or spreading your fingers on the touchscreen.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

A widget works like a tiny interactive or informative window, often providing a gateway to another app on the Android tablet. Just as you can add apps to the Home screen, you can also add widgets. Android tablets come with a smattering of widgets preaffixed to the Home screen, possibly just to show you the variety. You can place even more widgets on the Home screen by following these steps: Touch the Apps icon on the Home screen. Touch the Widgets category atop the Apps screen. Or you can just scroll the list of apps to the left until Widgets is displayed. The widgets appear on the Apps screen in little preview windows. Scroll the list to find the widget you want to add. Some widgets, such as the Contact widgets, are icon-sized. Others are quite large. That’s okay because you can resize widgets. Long-press the widget and drag it to a Home screen panel. Position the widget on the Home screen, dragging it left or right to another page if necessary. Release your finger to plop down the widget. (Optional) Resize the widget by dragging one of its edges in or out. Some widgets can change their size, some cannot. To find out which, long-press the widget. If the widget can be resized, you’ll see four dots on its edges. (Lift your finger after long-pressing the widget.) The dots are handles, which you can drag using your finger to resize the widget. Touch anywhere on the Home screen when you’re done resizing a widget. The variety of available widgets depends on the applications you have installed. Some applications come with widgets; some don’t. Some widgets come independently of any application. There must be room for the widget or the tablet won’t let you plop it down. Choose another page or remove icons or widgets to make room. More widgets are available at the Google Play Store. Icons and widgets are fastened to the Home screen by something akin to the same glue they use on sticky notes. You can easily pick up an icon or a widget, move it around, and then restick it. Unlike sticky notes, the icons and widgets never just fall off. To move an icon or a widget, long-press it. Eventually, the icon seems to lift and break free. You can drag a free icon to another position on the Home screen or to another Home screen panel, or you can drag it to the Trash icon that appears on the Home screen. That icon may look like a trash can or may simply be a large X. Widgets can be moved around or deleted in the same manner as icons. Dragging a Home screen icon or widget to the trash ousts that icon or widget from the Home screen. It doesn’t uninstall the app or widget, which is still found on the Apps screen. In fact, you can always add the icon or widget to the Home screen again. When an icon, a widget, or a folder hovers over the Trash icon, ready to be deleted, its color changes to red. Your clue that an icon or a widget is free and clear to navigate is that the Trash icon appears.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Wallpaper is the background on the Home and lock screens on your Android tablet. You can change and set the image on all Android tablets. Just choose between traditional or live (animated) types. Traditional wallpaper can be any image, such as a picture you’ve taken and stored in the Gallery app or an image provided by the manufacturer for wallpaper use. To set new wallpaper for the Home or lock screen, follow these steps. Long-press any empty part of the Home screen. The empty part is any place you don’t see a shortcut icon or widget. For a long-press, touch the screen and keep your finger down. A Wallpaper menu will appear. You might be able to set wallpaper from the Settings app. Choose Display, then choose Wallpaper. If prompted, choose the Home screen or the lock screen. Setting the lock screen wallpaper is not possible on some tablets. You may also find an option to set both wallpapers with the same image. Choose a wallpaper type. Three options are available. Gallery: A still image from the Gallery app. Live: An animated or interactive wallpaper from a list. (This option may be available only for the Home screen wallpaper. Wallpaper: Choose an image from the wide range preinstalled on the tablet. Choose the wallpaper you want from the list. For the Gallery option, browse the albums to choose an image. Crop the image to select the portion you want to put on the Home screen Live wallpaper features some form of animation which can often be interactive. Otherwise, the wallpaper image scrolls slightly as you swipe from one Home screen page to another. For certain live wallpapers, a Settings icon may appear so you can customize certain aspects of the interactive wallpaper. The Zedge app provides an über-repository of wallpaper images collected from Android users all over the world. Check out Zedge at the Google Play Store. Touch the OK or Set Wallpaper button to confirm your selection. You’re done! The new wallpaper takes over the screen.