HTC Desire 825 Tips and Tricks
Factory OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Have you updated your Operating System?
Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie) & Android 8 (Oreo)
Or view tips for all Android versions
If you want to access certain features of your device that are only available to developers, then you want the Developer options setting.
On most devices, this feature is hidden so you will need to pull down your notifications screen go into Settings. Then scroll down to About device.
Then select Software info you should see Build Number.
Press on this option a total of seven times. You should get a message at the fourth press. On the seventh, you’ll get another message saying that Developer Options are unlocked.
You can speed up the page load speed on your browser by disabling JavaScript.
To do this, open your Browser, then press the Menu or More button and then Settings.
Then select Advanced and change the Enable JavaScript
option.
Please note that this may affect the functionality of some sites.
Android manages Apps very well and some Apps do not have the option to close them specifically. Normally the App will stay running in the background and only close when many other Apps have been opened.
If you do want to close or terminate an App, then press and hold the Multitasking key on your phone. On some devices you may need to long press the Home key.
Then you can swipe the Apps off the screen to close them.
If you find that apps are slowing down your device or consuming unecessary memory or batter life, then try downloading an App called DU Battery Saver or DU Speed Boost which are great for optimising the Apps that are running.
Predictive text is a great feature on modern smartphones, but sometimes you’ll prefer to correct your own mistkes.
To disable this feature, then go to Settings – System – Language and input.
Then select the keyboard you are using and press the Settings icon again.
You should be able to find a predictive text option on this screen.
Your phone comes with a handy widget which lets you kill all running tasks. This is great if you want to quickly free up some memory.
To use the widget, press and hold for 2 seconds on a blank part of any home screen. Then find the Active Apps Manager widget and install it.
Once that is done, press the widget and it will show you all currently running Apps. Press End all to close all running Apps.
Depending on how your phone is set up, sometimes you will see lag when swiping between home screens or when generally using your phone. There are a number of things you can try to fix this, as follows:
First, try restarting your phone. This will fix many problems.
If that doesn’t work, then remove any Widgets that pull data to the phone, such as Twitter, Weather widgets etc.
If you have Live wallpapers turned on, then try turning them off by going to Settings – Wallpaper, then changing to a different Wallpaper.
Sometimes the problem can be with the phone or operators skin or launcher, so try going to the Play Store and downloading a third party launcher such as Nova launcher or Go LauncherEx. Note: you will need to re-create your home screen shortcuts, but they are both great launchers.
Another tip is to always press the Back key instead of the Home key when leaving Apps. The Back key will often close the App properly, while the Home key can leave it running in the background.
Lastly, there is a great app called DU Speed Booster which can help close Apps that are running in the background and optimise your phone’s memory.
If you prefer a different voice when listening to the Google Maps voice navigation, you can select another language or accent.
To change this, go to Settings. Then select System – Language and input – Text-to-speech options. Then under the Preferred text-to-speech engine, press the gear icon.
From there, select Language and you will be able to choose from different languages or language variations.
Warning: This will remove ALL data on the phone (but not the MicroSD card).
To perform a hard reset, or factory reset, then there are a number of methods to try:
1) Go to Settings – Personal – Backup and reset – Factory data reset – Reset device. It may ask for a password. Then select Erase everything.
If the phone is totally unresponsive, even after a reboot, then try the following methods.
2) While the phone is turned off, press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons together. Then, while holding these, press and release the Power button (keep holding the volume buttons). The phone should turn on and a menu will appear. Press the Volume down button to navigate to the Recovery option. Press the Volume Up to select (if that doesn’t work, use the Power button to select). A yellow triangle and an Android logo will appear. Press the Volume Down and Volume Up button together and a recovery menu should appear. Use the Volume buttons to move to the Wipe data/Factory reset option and then press Power to select. Again, use the Volume Down key to choose Yes and press the Power button again to select.
3) While the phone is turned off, press and hold the Volume Down button. Then, while holding, press and release the Power button. A menu should appear. Use the Volume down key to go to Clear Storage. Use the Power button to select the option. Then when asked to confirm, press Volume Up for Yes.
4) While the phone is off, press and hold down Volume Up + Home + Power buttons at the same time. Then release the buttons when you see the Logo. Use the Volume Down button to go down and the Home or Power key to select. Choose the Wipe data/Factory reset option. Then Select Yes to delete all user data. Then choose to reboot the phone.
5) A final method is to enter the code into your phone’s dialler: *2767*3855# This method will not give you an option to reverse the process, so be careful! This method will only work if you can boot into your phone.
Having notifications come through on the lock screen can be handy because you don’t have to unlock your phone to see what the notification is about.
The problem with this is that someone may see the content of a notification (a text message for example) which you would like to keep private.
To change this setting to only display that the notification has arrived (rather than the actual content), then go to Settings – Lock screen and security.
Then select Notifications on lock screen
From here you can enable or disable which apps you can show notifications from or at the top, select to Show or Hide notifications.
To copy photos to your computer, plug the device in via a USB cable. (you might have to install your device’s software or drivers first).
Then locate the new drive on your PC. Go to the /DCIM/Camera/ folder Your photos will be stored there.
This may vary slightly between devices, however once you have opened the device’s drive, you can do a quick search for .jpg files which will show you where your photos are located.