Sony Xperia M Tips and Tricks

It is best to avoid task killers such as Advanced Task Killer. Android is designed to automatically pre-load certain applications, even if you don’t load them yourself. If it starts to run low on memory, it will smartly unload the oldest running apps automatically.

Manually killing tasks will only mean they get loaded in memory again. Task killers can make the phone slow, laggy, or drain battery life more quickly.

To soft reset your phone press and hold the Power/Lock button for around 8 to 10 seconds. The phone will restart automatically.

If that doesn’t work, then remove the battery (if it has one). Wait 30 seconds and put the battery back in. Then press the Power/Lock button to turn the phone on.

When taking photos or videos, tap the screen where you want to focus on. The phone will automatically adjust the settings to improve the image or video

If you use the Face Unlock feature but you’re in a dark room or wearing a hat and scarf, you can bypass the unlock just once.

Simply press the Lock icon on your screen and you can then enter your PIN instead.

There is a hidden Easter egg on the phone. If you go to your Homescreen, then press Menu – Settings – About device, then tap on the Android version option 5 times you will be surprised.

Once you see something on the screen, you can then rub the screen with your finger to produce another surprise.

By the way don’t expect to see an actual Easter Egg. That is just the name given to things hidden inside software or operating systems.

If you want to type non-English letters (e.g. those with an accent), long-press on the relevant letter. A list of options will appear for you to select. For example, to insert an acute á, then press and hold the a key, then drag your finger to the accented character.

To store a phone number that you have received in an email, hold down on the number and you will be given the option to call, send an SMS or add the number to your contacts

The phone has the ability to send quick response text messages if your phone is ringing but you can’t answer it.

To change these, go to your Dialler App – Call Settings – Set up call reject messages. You can then add or edit your reject messages.

If you are browsing and have zoomed in or out and the column you’re reading doesn’t fit the screen properly, you can pinch to zoom in. Then double tap on the column. The column will then be reformatted to fit the screen width.

If you want to have quick access to some websites on your homescreen, then there are a couple of ways to do this.

First, browse to a site you want a shortcut created for. Then press the Menu button – Add shortcut. The shortcut will then be placed on your homescreen for you to move where you want.

Another way is to create a bookmark first. So go to the website, then press the Menu button – Add bookmark. Then press the Bookmarks icon (in the top right) and find the bookmark you have just created. Long press on it and select Add shortcut.