Discover quick and easy ways to personalize your phone
So you've just got a new Android device, right? Then you
will have probably just spent the last hour or so pressing the various buttons ,
exploring the various features and finding out exactly how it works. Well, the next
stage is personalizing your device and making it your own!
Android devices are very flexible in terms of what you can
add and how you make them look. For example, you can change the ringtone to
something that reflects your personality - it could be a tone from the existing
database of pre-installed tones or you can look into creating your own from your
favourite song.
You will probably then want to start altering the appearance
of your device, which is where the possibilities really start to come thick and
fast. The most obvious way to customise the appearance of your phone s through
your wallpaper. Again, your device will come with a wide-range of pre-installed
backdrops that include static images and dynamic, animated themes. If none of
those float your boat then you can use an image that you have captured using
your phone's camera - all that is required is the selection of the image and a minor
amount of resizing to ensure that it fits within the screen constraints of your
device.
Then we move on to app launchers and widgets. An app
launcher is a kind of mini operating system that determines how our apps are
displayed and where they are laced for easy access. There are numerous app
launchers available to download for free through the Google Play store, and
they provide quick and easy access to the apps hat you use the most while
allowing you to organise and arrange the rest of your apps any way you see fit.
Widgets are a different bag altogether. Basically, a widget
is a cool feature that you an assign to your home screen - kind of like an app
that is running constantly, such as a clock ,weather report or stock checker so
you can fill your various home screens with information that is important to
you.
Widgets require varying amounts of space on your home
screen, so a slight amount of organisation may be required. In this section we
will guide you through the process of utilising all of these features and also
provide further insight into additional ways to personalise your phone, such as
keyboard shortcuts and adding on your phone's vocabulary with your own
most-used words which, judging by modern phone-speak, may or may not be in the
English dictionary!
Changing your ringtone. How to set new ringtones and adjust
the volume
Go to Settings. On your device, locate the Settings app and
then tap on it. Listed in the extensive list of options will be one called 'Sound'.
Just tap on this to start exploring the audio options for your device.
Change the tone. Sounds can be applied to ringtones, notifications
and more. Tap on the 'Phone ringtone' option under the 'Incoming Calls’,
section, and then choose a new ringtone from the listed of installed tones.
Change the volume. Now tap the "Volume' control option,
and here you will be able to adjust the volume for each and every tone that you
have set to a specific function. Move the sliders and then tap on 'OK’ to
finish up.
How can I add a bookmark shortcut to my Home screen?
Simply tap on your home screen, select the 'Shortcuts’ menu
and then choose 'Bookmarks'. Now select the page you wish to add.