Windows Phone 8.1 Tips and Tricks

To get directions to a location, you need to begin from the home screen. Then go to Apps – Maps and select Directions.

Then enter an address or place of interest, like a shop or restaurant and press Go.

Then choose either Walking or Driving. The phone will then calculate a route.

To show real-time traffic information select the More button and select Show Traffic.

The phone’s Browser is designed to use as much of the phone’s screen as possible, however this means the status bar is usually hidden.

To quickly view the status bar with Time, Battery Indicator and Signal Strength, quickly press More (ƒ?Ý) or the Address Bar. This will show the bar. Alternatively you can press and hold the More button and drag it up slightly to reveal the status bar. Drag it down again to discard it.

To save or share pictures on websites, then find a picture you want to share/save.

Then press and hold on the image.

An option to share or save will appear.

A handy feature with Mango is the ability to update your Facebook status with your voice.

If you haven’t already done so, you will need to Register a Phone and Activate Text Messaging. To set this up, log in to your Facebook account and go to Account Settings. Then on the left side, click Mobile, then click Add a Phone. You will be asked to enter your password and your phone settings. You will then be asked to send a text to Facebook to confirm your phone. Facebook will then send you a confirmation code to your phone, which you will then need to type into Facebook to complete the setup.

Next you will need to set Facebook up as a Contact on your phone. Go to the People Hub, press the Plus (+) icon, then press New Contact, then enter Facebook for the Contact’s name. Then enter the phone number as 32665. (you may need to check this here http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=217343558285214 if you don’t live in the UK, US or other common countries)

Once that is setup, you just say Text Facebook on your phone. Then speak your message and say Send. This will then send the message to Facebook which will update your status.

Press and hold on various keyboard keys and you will find hidden options. A couple of examples are the Period (full stop) key which will present you with other punctuation marks. Or the open bracket ( which will also give you the <, { and [ symbols.

If you’re abroad and want to translate text or street signs with your camera, then Window Phone provides this great feature.

Be warned that it does require a data connection, so if you’re roaming then make sure you check how much the costs will be.

First, press the search button at the bottom of your phone (three dots) Then press button that looks like an eye to open the Camera. Next, press Scan Text to take a picture of the text and then press Translate.

If it doesn’t work the first time, then try taking the photo straight on, or from a slightly different angle. Once the phone has recognised the text, select a language to translate to and Windows Phone will translate it for you.

To change the screen lock timeout, go to Settings – Lock & wallpaper. Then choose the duration before the screen locks.

This is handy so you don’t accidentally bump the keys when the phone is in your pocket. It will also improve your battery life.

If a URL is wrong, then it will often be cut off the screen. To see the whole thing, simply swipe left or right on the text to view the whole address.

If you want to change the text (or font) on your phone, then go to Settings – Ease of Access.

From here you can move a horizontal bar to change the font size. You will also see some other accessibility options like high contrast and TTY/TDD.

If you would like your phone to announce who is calling you, then from the homescreen, scroll to the right and choose Settings. Then Easy of access. Then press Speech for phone accessibility.