Toucher - Managing Android: easier, faster, more convenient. How to automatically launch an app when Android TV turns on or wakes up

Currently, the Android operating system is the most popular. It is installed on more than 1.2 billion devices worldwide. But few people know that this OS contains hidden features. The Internet project “Be Mobile” has studied “secret functions” and prepared a list of the most interesting of them.

1. Hidden mini-game

Starting with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Google will place so-called “Easter eggs” on all Android smartphones - hidden secrets that can be seen by performing a series of non-obvious actions. Like the names of the OS versions, Easter eggs in it are also usually associated with sweets: in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean there were flying jelly beans, in Android 4.4 KitKat there was an OS logo in the style of the Nestle sweet of the same name, and in Android 5.0 Lollipop there was a hidden Flappy Bird style game. Android 6.0 Marshmallow has not been left out either.

To access the mini-game, open Settings. Go to “About phone” or “About tablet”. Quickly click on “Android Version” several times. A marshmallow stylized as an android's head will appear on the screen. If you quickly click on it a few more times, a mini-game will open.

Like Android 5.0, the mini-game in Android 6.0 is in the style of Flappy Bird, but the lollipops are replaced with marshmallows in the shape of a robot head. The game has funny graphics and, although it looks simple, it is quite difficult to score at least 10 points in it. I got a maximum of 4 points. I couldn't do it anymore.

2. Remote control of a smartphone

Lost Android mobile devices can be found and blocked, but Google hid this option quite deeply. It is activated in the menu “Settings -> Security -> Device Administrators” in the "Android Remote Control" section.

Check the box next to “Remote device search” and “Remote blocking”.

Activate extended rights for the device manager upon request. Now you can manage your device from google.com/android/devicemanager in your Google account or through the Android Remote Control application

People who are familiar with Android will easily recover deleted files if you do not encrypt your mobile device. To activate this option, open “Settings -> Security -> Device encryption”. Set up encryption.

3. Safe Mode

Another security feature of Android is “safe mode”. It deactivates all third party applications. Moreover, in “safe mode” you can delete them if for some reason they are incompatible with your mobile device, ended up in the boot loop by accident, or are Trojans or viruses.

To start “safe mode”, hold down the power button. When the menu for turning off the smartphone and activating airplane mode opens, hold your finger on the “Power off” item for a long time. Then confirm to boot into safe mode.

The smartphone will boot into “safe mode”. The icons of all third-party applications will be gray. If something happens, you can safely remove them.

4. Synchronization and push notification settings

When installing certain applications, you don’t think about permissions to send push notifications or any others. Over time, these applications begin to spam you with unnecessary information. Games especially suffer from this, but quite ordinary applications can also suffer from this. Luckily, notifications can be turned off.

To do this, open “Settings -> Applications -> All”, find the culprit and select “Notifications”. Here you can either disable all notifications at once (“Block All”), or allow only “swipe” notifications (“Short Notifications”), etc.

5. Advanced WLAN settings

On Android there is a settings section with additional Wi-Fi options that is completely invisible to most users. To get to it, you need to go to “Settings -> Wi-Fi”, then press the menu key and select “Advanced features”. Here you can turn off notifications about detected networks, turn off Wi-Fi in sleep mode, prohibit using Wi-Fi networks with a poor signal, and set up Wi-Fi Direct (direct pairing of devices without using an access point).

6. Setting up mobile Internet traffic control

On Android, you can monitor Internet traffic without third-party programs. For example, now many mobile operators provide a limited package of free traffic for a month. To control this traffic and not exceed the quota, or to understand how much traffic is left, you can set limits.

For this purpose, there is a separate “Data transfer” item in the settings. There you can set a traffic limit, upon reaching which a notification will appear, as well as a limit, after which data transfer will be automatically turned off. For each application, separate statistics are kept on data in the background and active modes, and a graph is built. Starting from Android 5.0, this interface is also available in quick settings by touching the mobile network icon.

7. Block calls from specific numbers

It happens that you need to block calls from a specific number. There are no special blacklists in Android, and applications available on Google Play implement blocking of numbers using dirty hacks and not always correctly.

However, you can block individual numbers in the basic version of Android by simply sending unwanted callers to voicemail. To do this, click on the desired contact, then click the edit icon, then the menu and select “Voice only.” mail". There, by the way, you can set a separate ringtone for the unfortunate subscriber.

8. Disabling pre-installed applications

It happens that the manufacturer preinstalls many incomprehensible programs and applications that you do not use. They occupy a certain memory, and you dream of getting rid of them.

On Android, you can disable many pre-installed applications. To do this, go to “Settings -> Applications” and open the “All” tab. Now you can view the list of available utilities. Select the required application, and then click “Disable”. Now you can click on “Erase data”. For “frozen applications” that cannot be simply deleted, there is a separate “Disabled” tab. Unfortunately, not all applications can be frozen. Which ones depend on the manufacturer.

9. Expanding internal memory

Android has always had a problem with expanding the internal memory of a smartphone. The connected SD card did not allow this, remaining external storage. The function of transferring applications to a memory card, which appeared in Android 2.2, also did not really save the situation. Finally, with Android 6.0, Google finally decided to correct the situation. Now, after connecting a flash drive or SD card, the system offers two options. The first is to use it as removable storage. The second is to make it an internal drive.

In the second case, the smartphone will format the flash drive in the ext4 file system using 128-bit AES encryption and mount it as a system partition. Next, a test for reading and writing speed will be carried out. Now, unfortunately, all memory cards are significantly inferior in speed to built-in memory, which in theory can lead to slow operation of the device. Fortunately, only the time it takes to open a specific application or load part of it depends on the performance of the disk subsystem. And all calculations are carried out outside the disk.

10. Quickly change letter case

It happens that the text has already been written and you need to change the case of individual letters or entire words. Android has its own secret about this. To change the case of letters or make words or sentences in an already entered message begin with capital letters, just select the message and press the Shift button one or more times until you get the desired result.

11. Quick access to settings

In Android 5 and Android 6, you can access quick settings by pulling out the curtain with two fingers. Of course, you can access Quick Settings the old fashioned way: by swiping down the screen twice from top to bottom. But this is not a secret at all.

12. Quickly switch to silent mode

You can quickly turn on vibration mode in Android 5 and Android 6 by pressing the volume key and then clicking on the icon on the left side of the slider that appears. In practice, this option turns out to be much faster than repeatedly pressing the volume down key on the end of the smartphone.

13. Calling Magnifier

Android has a screen magnifier. To enable it, you need to sequentially go to “Settings -> Special”. options -> Gestures to zoom in.” Now you can enlarge any part of the screen by clicking on it three times. This feature may be especially useful among people with low vision and the elderly.

14. Disable adding shortcuts to the desktop

To disable automatic creation of desktop icons, launch the Play Store. Then go to settings and uncheck the “Add icons” option. Now, by default, program icons will appear only in the general list.

15. Hidden game in the Chrome browser

We conclude our selection with another hidden game, this time in the Chrome mobile browser. Try turning off Wi-Fi and mobile Internet on your smartphone (tablet). Next, open Chrome.

When you try to exit to any address, the browser will display an error with its code. A dinosaur will appear above the text. If you click on the dinosaur at this moment, the character will come to life and begin to move across the screen. It's like an old PlayStation: you can tap the screen to control a dinosaur as it jumps over cacti, and like any game like this, your goal is to survive and score as many points as possible. Of course, the game is quite primitive, but it hooks you for a long time. Tested for yourself!

By the way, this game has now become available for download on the Google Play Store and it’s called Dino Run - Dinosty.

At first glance, Android may seem like an extremely simple operating system, but it (especially in the latest versions) has many hidden features and settings that can make your life much easier. So before you run to root and install tons of software on your smartphone, it would be better to familiarize yourself with this functionality.

Safe Mode

Android has something called safe mode. Working in this mode, the operating system disables all applications installed by the user, so it can save you if you suddenly infected your smartphone with a screen lock. To activate, just press the power button until the “Power off” button appears, and then hold your finger on it. The smartphone will reboot.

Blacklist

Blacklisting of numbers has always been a stumbling block for Android users. The system itself does not provide such capabilities, and the applications available on the market implement blocking of numbers through dirty hacks and not always correctly (most of these applications simply pretend to be a third-party dialer who picks up the phone and immediately hangs up).

However, you can also get blocked in stock Android; to do this, you just need to send unwanted callers to voicemail. To do this, tap on the desired contact, then click the edit icon (“pencil”), then the menu and select the “Voice only” item. mail". There, by the way, you can set a separate ringtone for the subscriber.

Quick answers

So-called quick replies are a feature that allows you to quickly send SMS in response to a call. By default, four responses are available: “I can’t talk”, “I’ll call you back”. But it's pretty boring and ordinary. If you want something more creative, the response templates can be edited: “Phone -> menu -> Settings -> Quick replies.”

Little tricks

• To change the case of letters or make words or sentences in an already entered message begin with capital letters, just select the message and press the Shift button until you get the desired result.
• In Android 5/6, you can access quick settings by pulling out the curtain with two fingers.
• You can quickly enable vibration mode in Android 5/6 by pressing the volume key and then tapping the icon on the left side of the slider that appears.
• Android has a screen magnifier. To enable it, go to “Settings -> Special”. options -> Gestures to zoom in.” Now any part of the screen can be enlarged by tapping on it three times.
• To disable the automatic creation of icons on the desktop, launch the Play Store, go to settings and uncheck the “Add icons” box.

Android has a completely invisible and unknown to most users settings section with additional Wi-Fi options. To get to it, you need to go to “Settings -> Wi-Fi”, then press the menu key and select “Advanced features”. Here you can disable notifications about detected networks, disable Wi-Fi in sleep mode (I don’t recommend it: working in passive mode, the Wi-Fi module consumes less battery than when turned on/off), prohibit the use of Wi-Fi networks with a poor signal, and configure Wi-Fi Direct (direct pairing of devices without using an access point).

Disable synchronization

By default, Android enables auto-sync (push notifications) with all services added to the “Settings -> Accounts” section. First of all, this is a Google account, as well as Skype and other services. You may not need most types of synchronization (for example, Google+ synchronization), so it’s better to disable them, you can do it all at once by clicking on the three dots at the top and unchecking the “Auto-sync data” option. But only certain types of data are possible: click on one of the accounts, select the account and remove (or check) the checkboxes.

Disabling stock apps

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Everyone is accustomed to the fact that a smartphone is not the most suitable photographic equipment for shooting something “quick.” As long as you turn on the display, while you unlock the screen, find the “Camera” icon and click on it, there will be nothing to photograph. In fact, in almost all modern smartphones the camera can be turned on instantly - with two presses of the volume down key (Huawei/Honor, LG), the Home key (Samsung) or two turns of the wrist (Motorola, Google Nexus). In some smartphones from other brands, the camera can be activated by double pressing the volume up key or a separate “special key” (for example, the Boom key in the Alcatel Idol 4/4S).

Don't neglect tricks to quickly launch the camera (source: androidcentral.com)

Neither the password on the lock screen nor the number of background tasks will prevent you from turning on the camera directly from standby mode as quickly as possible. You'll have to get used to weird key combinations or gestures, but it's worth it so you don't get confused every time you need the camera “here and now.”

Sign in to apps using your fingerprint

Unlocking using a fingerprint scanner is a useful feature, although not everyone needs it. Because many people have no need to hide information on their mobile phone under a password, and attackers will find a way to reset/reflash their smartphone after theft.

Using a fingerprint scanner, you can log into applications without a password and pay for purchases online

But even in this case, the fingerprint scanner comes in handy - not in order to set a password for every application, but in order not to enter a password where it is impossible without it. For example, it is much nicer and faster to touch a fingerprint scanner than to type numbers and letters when logging into a bank application or when paying for a game/program/music/video from your phone. However, those who like to “hide, be embarrassed and conceal” information on a mobile phone can put a request to “show your fingers” for every sneeze in Android - proprietary shells from Huawei and ZTE in new models, for example, provide this opportunity.

Don’t be shy to ask your smartphone - it will understand

But programmers at Google/Yandex and other software-writing corporations eat their bread and butter and caviar for good reason, so voice search is becoming more and more savvy. This means that in an unfamiliar city you can easily ask your mobile phone for “the nearest Sberbank ATM” or “Pyaterochka supermarket nearby” and get what you are looking for without going to the Google search bar.

Google will always help. Well, or at least he'll try

Google Now's suggestions are still less impressive and are associated only with weather information stuck to the notification bar, but Google remembers your movements using GPS, tastes and preferences according to search queries and sites visited, information in your contact list, after which Now becomes smarter over time, automatically reminds you about the birthdays of loved ones, the results of matches of your favorite teams, traffic jams on the way to work and changes in the weather in the morning. This is far from ideal in its intelligence, but it is already a useful artificial intelligence system in many ways - why not use it, since it’s free and not for the needs of the special services?

There is an infrared port - there is a remote control

Once upon a time, you could share ringtones, funny videos and pictures using the infrared port. Those wonderful times are in the past, but the IR port is still installed in new models. Budget Xiaomi Redmi Note 3/Redmi 4, LeEco, mid-range models like Honor 8, ASUS ZenFone 3, Meizu Pro 6, and even flagships, Huawei Mate 9, HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6, for example.

For what? To control household appliances - TVs, VCRs (what other kind of tape recorders in 2017?), air conditioners, microwaves, and anything else very smart. It’s not a vital function, but turning down the volume when the doorbell rings, and your TV is screaming throughout the entire apartment, and the remote control is lost in an unknown place, will always come in handy.

Controlling equipment from a smartphone is not always necessary, but very often useful

As a rule, applications included with smartphones are designed to control equipment of a similar brand to the smartphone - Xiaomi, LeEco or Samsung, for example. But nothing prevents you from going to Google Play and using the words “IR remote control” or “IrDA” to find an alternative suitable for your household appliances. For gourmets, there are even applications that organize the transfer and reception of files via the infrared port - useful for those whose Siemens CX65 or Sony Ericsson K500i has not yet died, but the cable for connecting to the PC has already been irretrievably lost.

Transfer files via Wi-Fi

By the way, about exchanging files between mobile phones - Bluetooth, which we are all used to using for such needs, is also a rather poor and archaic option for exchanging videos and current-sized applications. It is much wiser to use Wi-Fi for this, which is about 5 times faster than Bluetooth of the same degree of relevance.

The problem is that there is no single standard for transmitting and receiving files using Wi-Fi for Android - Google is either promoting storing files in the “Disk” cloud storage, or advocating for a hybrid version of data transfer “Android Beam” - when smartphones need lean against each other, they will establish a connection via NFC, and then continue to transfer files using Bluetooth.

Instead of slow Bluetooth, you can transfer files between smartphones using Wi-Fi

Therefore, for our undertaking we will need auxiliary means. For example, ES Explorer, known to every ES enthusiast. One smartphone, two smartphones, each with an installed application. Both actors select the “sender” item, one selects “receive”, the second “send”, selecting files - and transferring at a speed of 30-50 Mbit/s (depending on smartphones). All! As a last resort, download this same ES Explorer from the official website and transfer it to a friend via Bluetooth - 10 MB “will not make a difference”, especially since posting a file of several hundred MB in the cloud instead of direct transfer to a smartphone is a much stupider idea, especially after the death of unlimited mobile tariffs in Russia.

We connect flash drives and hard drives to a smartphone/smartphone to a TV

“I’m far from the computer right now, I won’t be able to transfer the file to you” is a nice excuse if you want to relax, but in other cases you should keep in mind such a smartphone function as USB OTG (On-The-Go). This is when a connector, which, as we are used to, is only suitable for recharging a phone or connecting it to a computer, turns out to be able to work with flash drives, hard drives, card readers, keyboards and mice, game controllers and even printers! Through an adapter to a full-size USB connector, of course.

No drivers or other dances with tambourines are required - you connect it, and everything works. Thus, for example, you can immediately send photos from your camera to your family/employer “in the field”, download a pack of movies from the HDD to your smartphone to watch them on a long journey, or vice versa, urgently free up the memory card on your mobile phone so that there is enough space for hours of video recording .

Almost all new smartphones support connection via USB OTG, but we won’t say “for the whole of Odessa,” so make sure that your model is able to handle this type of connection by searching with the words “smartphone_name OTG,” or just buy a cable for 50-300 rubles and experiment !

USB OTG allows you to connect devices to your smartphone like a computer

When connecting smartphones to a TV, things are more complicated. In ancient times, mobile phones were equipped with a separate micro-HDMI output, which worked predictably, and the cable for it was relatively easy to get. Then, when smartphones began to get rid of “extra” connectors, it was replaced by the MHL standard. You connect one side of the cable to micro-USB/USB-C, and the other to HDMI - the smartphone displays the image on the TV and even recharges at the same time (if the connector on the TV also complies with the MHL standard. If it does not, it does not charge). For some time it was popular among smartphone manufacturers - the Sony Xperia Guard stands out among the list of smartphones that support this standard.

But then MHL “deflated” due to licensing proceedings and was replaced by SlimPort - the same principles of connecting devices to TV, only free of patent royalties. Found in most new LG, BlackBerry smartphones, some HTC and ASUS models.

In most cases, Google and Company recommend using Miracast to cast your screen wirelessly. You connect the receiver to your TV, select “screen broadcast” (or something similar) on your smartphone - and with a delay of a second or two, the image begins to appear on the big screen. What-not, but “video recorder”.

Guest mode - when you can’t refuse to let someone use your smartphone

Supporters of radical methods of solving problems will not understand this, but there are situations in life when you need to give a smartphone to your spouse/child for calls, games or something else, but to show off the list of applications, photos, correspondence in instant messengers or bank accounts in the client I don’t really want software. Requesting a fingerprint saves you from prying eyes, but in most smartphones you cannot additionally “cover” sensitive information with a fingerprint. Once you unlock your smartphone, it is at the complete disposal of your child/significant other/Petya, who came to visit your child.

Smartphones have long supported separate accounts for the owner and strangers

But there is also a compromise option - to create a second smartphone user, just for cases when “I just need to call/play.” We discussed in detail the scheme of these (and many other) “sanctions” for curious mobile phone users in the corresponding article, so today we will not dwell on the instructions. Just know that in any modern mobile phone you can build an “empty” part of the system from which it will not be possible to access your personal data.

NFC - pass, bank card and travel card replenishment from a mobile phone

In addition to all sorts of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 4G modules, many modern smartphones support NFC technology. It is with its help that owners of the new iPhone and Samsung pay for goods in stores using a smartphone instead of a bank card. Technically, such tricks can be implemented in a huge army of smartphones with NFC support, but only Apple and Samsung bothered with bureaucracy and contracts with banks, so in all other devices the technology will be “marinated” for payment until better times.

But here and now NFC can be used as a short-range connection for short-range communication sessions. For Moscow residents, a smartphone with NFC can already replace a travel card (it is applied to the turnstile instead of transport cards), and can work as a terminal for reading the validity period and the number of remaining trips (you need an application, NFC enabled and touch the card once to the back panel of the smartphone).

If you're an Android TV user, then you have to ask yourself one question: how much time do you actually spend on the home screen? How often do you launch the same application? Fortunately, an application has appeared that will allow you to do this automatically.

Let's say you only watch Netflix on your Android TV. Why not make Netflix automatically launch when you turn on Android TV?

For this we will use an application called Launch on Boot. This app allows you to launch one or more apps when you turn on or wake up your Android TV. It's very simple and straightforward, and it works.

So, if you haven't already, now is the time to download it on your Android TV. Once you install the application, a quick tutorial will appear. You can read it, or press the back button on the remote control to skip it.

On the main loading screen, go ahead and activate the first switch to enable the app.

Here you can choose to launch TV on boot by turning on the following switch - the application will automatically launch the TV channels application. If you want to launch another application, skip this switch.

You'll probably want the app you like to be able to launch not only when your device boots, but also when you wake up from sleep mode.

Click on the "SELECT APP" button to select an application. In this article I am using Netflix. You can choose what you like.

Finally, press the "TEST" button to check that everything is working as it should. The system will go into sleep mode and your application should start. And of course, if you want to get to the home screen, just press the Home button on your remote control.

These hidden Android features will help you use your gadgets with ease and make your daily life much easier. Bet you didn't guess many of them? These instructions are suitable for smartphones running Android 7. Menu items and settings may vary slightly depending on the model of your gadget and system version.

1 Use two apps at once

Turn off the sound by turning the gadget

2 Mute without pressing

3 Activate panic mode for harmful apps