HTC Desire 530 Tips and Tricks

Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Phone: HTC Desire 530
Factory OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)

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Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie) & Android 8 (Oreo)
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To remove numbers from the call log that you don’t want anyone seeing, then open your Call Log.

This will normally be found on your Apps list or you can also go to your Dialler and find Logs or Call Logs.

Then press and hold on the contact you want to remove. When the Menu appears, press Delete.

Android has a way to display your owner info (i.e. name, phone, email or a personalised message) on your lock screen. Perfect if you have lost or misplaced your device.

To enable this go to Settings – Personal – Lock screen and security – Info and app shortcuts – Owner information.

Here you can enter any information you want, such as your name or email address.

Hopefully if your phone is lost, then the finder can use this information to get in contact with you.

Instead of the simple swipe gesture to unlock your phone, you can set a custom one which can be extremely difficult for a thief to guess.

From your home screen, go to Settings – Personal – Lock screen and security – Screen lock type and choose Pattern.

It is also a good idea to untick Use visible pattern. Then if someone is watching over your shoulder while you entering your pattern, it will be harder for them to remember the pattern.

If you have forgotten your unlock pattern, then after 5 unsuccessful tries a button will appear saying ‘Forgot pattern’.

Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password. The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern.

If you don’t have a Gmail account, then you will have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.

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.

If you find the vibration of your phone a little too much, this can easily be reduced.

Go to Settings. Then select System – Language and input.

Then select the keyboard you’re using.

From here you can change the vibration settings.

Smartphones that are always connected to the internet are great, but if you have a data plan that is capped each month, then you will want to keep an eye on how much data you are downloading. Fortunately there is a built in feature to monitor this.

Go to Settings – Connections – Data usage. From here you can set a limit and set the usage cycle (e.g. a from and to date).

If you press the Menu key or More at the top of the screen you will also see a number of features such as restrict background data usage (although this will prevent some Apps from working).

With the recent versions of Android you can now take photos while recording video by simply pressing the screen.

This will save that particular frame to the gallery while continuing to record video.

To set different notifications for each contact on your Android Device, you can use apps like Contact Alert (Free) or Custom SMS Tones (paid).

These apps work alongside the default/stock messenger app.

Make sure to disable the notification tone in your stock messenger app to avoid hearing two alerts.

If you want to check how much RAM you have available, drag down your notifications screen and select Settings.

Then under Device, select Applications and then Application Manager.

Then swipe from right to left so you see the Running Apps.

At the bottom it should say how much is used and how much is free.

If the above doesn’t work, then go back to Settings and select Smart Manager. This should show your Battery, Storage, RAM and Security Options.

To add an email or phone number to your contacts from a text message, you can long-press on the email / phone number. Then select Copy text.

Once that has been copied to your clipboard, go to your Contacts App and select the Create New Icon.

Enter the contact details, then select either email or phone and long press on the field. Then select Paste to paste the info from the original text message.