Huawei Mate 8 Tips and Tricks

If you have forgotten your custom unlock pattern or PIN, then don’t panic.

After 5 unsuccessful tries a button should appear saying Forgot pattern or PIN. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password.

The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern or PIN.

If it isn’t accepting your Google ID or password, then try the following options:

1) First, go to the following URL: https://accounts.google.com/IssuedAuthSubTokens

Then when you see your device, select Revoke Access.

Then at the bottom of the page, you should see Generate New Application-Specific Password.

Enter a name and click on Generate Password.

A 16-digit pass code should be generated.

Enter this new password in your Android device, along with the correct Google ID.

2) If that doesn’t work, then go to: https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery

Choose one of the recovery options. Then enter the email you used when you set up your device.

Follow the options depending on your situation and you should be guided through an option to get back into your phone.

If none of the above works, then you may have to hard reset / factory reset your device.

Before you do this, it’s recommended that you plug it in to a computer and copy across any files (particularly your photos in the DCIM folder). However it may not be possible to do this on some devices as it will be locked.

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.

To change the backlight screen timeout, drag down your notifications screen and press Settings.

Then select Display.

Then under Screen timeout you can set the screen time out duration.

You can also tell the phone screen to always stay lit when it is plugged in via USB:

Go to Settings – System – Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.

Note: Developer Options is not always enabled by default. To enable, go to:

Settings – System – About Device – Software info . Then tap on Build number 7 times to enable this secret option.

WARNING: Making your volume or music louder can damage your hearing.

Most phones have their volumes limited by local laws to protect your hearing. There is a way to boost your volume however.

Go to the Play Store and download an App called Volume Booster or Volume+ FREE or Ultimate Volume Booster

You may need to Root your phone for this App to work, but read the instructions in the App’s description.

By default, your phone will recognise swear words, but insert x’s instead of the word.

To change this, pull down your menu, press the Settings icon, select System – Language and input.

Then you may need to select your voice input system.

Then toggle the Block offensive words option.

If you are not happy with your notification light, then you can change and tweak it. Go to the Play Store and download an App called Light Flow.

You might need to enable the notification light before the App works. Go to Settings – Device – Sounds and notifications – LED Indicator.

No one likes nuisance phone calls, so here’s how to deal with these on your phone.

The first option is to block all anonymous calls, although this may block some calls from people or companies that you do want to allow, so use this carefully.

To enable this, go to your Dial App press More in the top right.

Then choose Settings. Under Call settings, choose Call blocking and then Block list. Then select Block anonymous calls.

Secondly, if you’d like to block calls on a case-by-case basis, then follow these instructions:

First, wait until you’ve been called by a nusiance number. You can either answer and verify who they are, or when the phone is ringing, do a quick Google search for the number (ideally on a PC, otherwise you may need to switch between apps on your phone).

Often the number will come up on Page 1 of Google and be reported as a nusiance call number. You can often tell pretty quickly because the number will have many negative review.

Then once the phone has stopped ringing, go to your Dial App and then select Log to find the number on your recent call list.

Find the number that called you and press on it. Then in the top right, select More and select Block/unblock number.

To manage this list, then go back to the first screen of your Dial App and press More in the top right.

Then choose Settings. Under Call settings, choose Call blocking and then Block list. From here you can see which ones to block or unblock.

From now on you will see that you received a missed call, however the phone will not ring and you won’t be bothered by the caller.

There is no need to be stuck with the standard Android keyboard, which isn’t always great for typing quickly.

Go to the Play Store and search for ‘Keyboard’ to see some great alternatives, many of which are more accurate and make typing much easier.

One of the very best is SwiftKey. They provide a free trial, but once the trial is over it is well worth the small amount of money they charge. It can increase your typing rates massively.

Another good one is GoKeyboard.

If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.

If you call someone regularly this can be useful as you will have a shortcut to them usefully placed on your home screen.

To bookmark a Contact on your Home Screen, then first go into your Contacts App.

Find the Contact you want to add to the Home Screen and press on them.

Then press More or the Menu key and select Add shortcut to home.

Then go to your Home Screen, find the Contact you’ve just added. Press, hold and drag to another position.

If this doesn’t work, then try this alternative method:
Go to one of your home screens.

Find a blank space, long press and hold.

Select Widgets, then scroll until you see the Contacts Widget. From here there are various options to add contacts to your home screen as bookmarks.

There are a number of ways, as below. The first two of these may be disabled on some networks/carriers or Android versions however.

1) Go to Settings – Device – Applications – Application Manager. Then scroll down to Contacts Storage – Clear Data. This option may not be available on all models.

2) Go to Contacts. Then hold and press on a contact. Then choose the All option at the top of the screen and select Delete. .

3) Go to Settings – Personal – Accounts and sync. Then press More at the top and choose Disable auto sync. Then go to Gmail (or an account that your phone syncs with) and delete all of your Contacts from there. Then re-sync your phone.

4) Download an App called ‘Delete All Contacts’ and use that as a last resort.

The methods above will delete contacts from the Phone only, not the SIM card.