Modern lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries which are used in smartphones and tablets are longer lasting than their nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) counterparts, but still require some care. Everyone would want to prolong the battery life of their device as long as possible. In this article, I would like to share some lesser known tips to help you prolong the battery life of your mobile devices on a single recharge as well as extend the overall life of the batteries.
Category: Android
Winaero’s essential Android apps – 2014 edition
These days, our digital life has shifted from the traditional desktop PC to mobile devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets. Many people just do not need the classic PC because all they do is some web browsing, gaming and social networks. While Windows dominates in the desktop OS market, Android is the leader in mobile devices. I have 4 different devices running some version of Android - from 4.0.4 to 4.3. Today I would like to share with you the best Android apps I use which I consider essential.
How to enable Lock screen rotation in Android 4.3 and 4.4
If you own a phone or tablet with Android 4.3 or 4.4, you might be facing the issue that your lock screen does not support rotation. I noticed this when I upgraded my Nook HD+ to the latest CyanogenMod based on Android 4.4. The lock screen was always in portrait mode. While phone users might not consider this behavior problematic because phones are mostly used by holding them vertically, tablet owners might prefer landscape mode most of the time. If you have rooted your device, you can perform a simple trick described below to enable lock screen rotation.
Upd: according to our reader Tapatio, this trick also works on CyanogenMod 12.1 android version 5.1.1.
Fix: Android ringtones are listed twice
Recently I played with my Android phone and added back some OEM ringtones which were removed from the custom firmware I use. After doing that, all my ringtones were listed twice in the sound profile. This was strange, because I had not added duplicates of existing files. Every file had a single copy on my Android phone. Thankfully, I found out the solution and would like to share it with you.
How to download APK files of Android apps directly from Google Play without Google account
Google Play is a common way to install apps on Android devices. Almost all Android phones and tablets are shipping with Google Play preinstalled. The content in the Google Play store is not limited to software. It also includes books, music and other goodies which vary from country to country. If you own an Android phone, probably you have it preinstalled. One limitation of the Google Play store is that you cannot download APK files of the desired app directly. In this article I will show you how you can directly get the APK file which installs the app from Google Play.
Unlock external SD Card writing for all apps in Android 4.4 KitKat
As you might be knowing, in the recent version of Android 4.4, 'KitKat', Google has slightly modified the default permissions for the external SD Card. Now it is accessible for writing only by a special user group of members called media_rw. In this article, I would like to share a trick which will allow to enable write access to all the lucky owners of rooted devices with Android 4.4.
Access Android running (recent) apps list via notification area and home screen
If you have an Android device such as one from Samsung that requires you to press a hardware button to access recently opened apps, you might want to know if there is an alternative way to access this list. In this article, we will see how you can access Android's recent apps list in an alternative way so you can quickly close the background processes of these apps or switch between running apps faster.
Get a customizable brightness control for your Android home screen
Like many people, I have several Android devices for daily use, including a smartphone and two tablets. All of them have Android's auto-brightness feature, which allows changing the display brightness automatically when the light around you changes its intensity. However, I am not a big fan of this feature. Instead, I prefer setting the brightness level manually. For that purpose, I use a free open source widget for the home screen.
How to disable Google Now swipe gesture from the Home button in Android
Recently I bought a new Android tablet (it's a Lenovo A3000) with Android 4.2 installed. Right from the first day of its use, I was very annoyed by Google Now, which is accessible via the swipe gesture from the Home button. I launched it several times accidentally and decided to get rid of this feature from my tablet. Here is how I got it disabled.
