Huawei Ascend G7 Tips and Tricks

Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)
Phone: Huawei Ascend G7
Factory OS: Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)

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 go to settings, then normally you would go to your home screen, then press the Menu key and select Settings.

There is however a quicker way. Simply position your finger right at the of the screen and drag it down. Your notification bar will appear and you can then press the small Gear icon at the top of the screen to go to the Settings.

To change keyboards (if you have additional keyboards installed), you can switch between them by pressing the small keyboard symbol in the top left of your screen. You will need to be in keyboard input mode (i.e. typing something) for this to work.

Note: you need to have more than one keyboard installed for this to work.

If you would to see a preview of text messages appear on your homescreen or lock screen as they come in, then open your Messaging App.

Then press the menu button and select Settings. Then scroll right to the bottom and under Notification settings, untick Preview message

While viewing your list of Contacts you can swipe from Right to Left to send a text message to the selected contact.

This might not work on all models.

Having GPS on your device is great, but it does slowly chew through your battery life.

Fortunately there is a way to improve this in recent version of Android. Pull down your notifications screen from the top of the phone. Then press and hold on GPS. Then select Mode – Power Saving.

In Contacts press Menu – Settings – Sort list by. Then choose Given name or Family name.

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 use your phone as a WiFi hotspot, tether it via USB or via Bluetooth, then go to Settings – Connections – More networks – Tethering And Portable Hotspot.

You can then choose from three options:

1) USB – connect your phone via a USB cable. The phone should automatically configure the correct settings.

2) WiFi Hotspot – To turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot, press Configure WiFi hotspot. You will then be asked to enter a Network SSID (this is your own name for the WiFi hotspot). Then choose Security and lastly, choose a password (this is password for your WiFi hotspot which you will enter on your computer).

3) Bluetooth – With this option, you will need to pair a Bluetooth device with your phone. On the other device, ensure you search for Bluetooth devices and your phone should show up.

To share or upload a video to services like Facebook or YouTube, simply go to your Video App and long press on a video.

Then select Share via. From here you will be given options to share the video with various services.

To take a screen shot, hold down the Volume Down and Power Buttons together (i.e. exactly the same time).

This will save the current screen to your phone’s memory card. They will be stored in the folder /Device Storage/Pictures/Screenshots. You can get to this folder by going to your My Files App.