Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) Tips and Tricks

If you have just purchased an Android device, then you may want to copy your contacts from your old tablet. The easiest way to do this is to Export your old contacts to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and save this to your PC. You may need to install the correct software for your tablet first in order to do the export.

Then, if you don’t have a Gmail account, sign up for one.

Once that’s done, open Gmail. Go to Contacts, then press More – Import. Then import the CSV to your Gmail contacts.

Then on your tablet, open the Contacts App. Press Menu and then Sync Contacts. This will pull the contacts from Gmail to your tablet.

While typing emails or notes, you can simply tap the space key twice and the tablet will insert a full stop / period

In Contacts press Menu – More – Display options – Display contacts by.

Then select either First name first or Surname first.

If you are running low on tablet memory, you can look for your largest applications to uninstall. Go to Settings – Applications – Manage Applications and press Menu. This will then filter your apps by memory use

To change the homescreen or lock screen wallpaper, press on a blank part of the homescreen. Then press the plus icon in the top-right corner and choose Wallpapers. Then choose Live (animated / moving wallpapers) or standard wallpapers (images) and choose whether you want the wallpaper on the homescreen or the lock screen. Then crop the wallpaper and press Ok in the top-right corner.

You can also use images Gallery images taken with the tablet’s camera for your wallpaper.

If you want to type non-English letters (eg 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.

Google Books is a great App allowing you to read many titles on your tablet, however you do require an internet connection. Fortunately there is a way to read these books offline.

Open the Google Books app and find the Book that you would like to read offline. Then simply press and hold on the book’s cover. Then choose ‘Make available offline’. You can then choose other books to make available offline by press the thumbtacks beneath each book. Then press Done in the bottom-right corner.

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.

If you want to browse websites, but not leave sign of cookies, search history or cached items, then you can use Incognito mode. Open the Browser and press the + (Action Bar) icon in the top-right. Then press New Incognito Tab.

To save an image in an email or in the browser, long press on the image and a menu will appear allowing you to save it.

For images inside text messages, you might have to press and hold on the message itself, rather than the image.