Sony Xperia C3 Tips and Tricks

Smartphones that are always connected to the internet are great, but if you have a data plan that is capped each month, then you will want to keep an eye on how much data you are downloading. Fortunately there is a built in feature to monitor this.

Go to Settings – Connections – Data usage. From here you can set a limit and set the usage cycle (e.g. a from and to date).

If you press the Menu button on this screen you will also see a number of features such as restrict background data usage (although this will prevent some Apps from working).

Jelly Bean has improved the facial unlock feature by creating a setting whereby you must blink when unlocking your phone. This prevents fraudsters using a photo of yourself and holding it up to the phone.

To activate this feature go to Settings – Lock screen – Screen lock – Face unlock. Then setup your facial unlocking.

Then once that is done, go to Face unlock again and tick Presence check.

To see which firmware version of Android you are using, use the pull-down menu by dragging your finger from the top of the phone. Select Settings – More – About Device.

This should list your Android version, Build number and Model Number.

If you have been browsing websites that you would prefer other people to not know about, then it’s relatively simply to clear your browsing history.

Open the browser and press the Menu button. Then Settings – Privacy – Delete personal data.

From here you can select whether to clear the cache, cookies, passwords and more.

It can be very useful to see your battery life in percentage terms instead of just the icon.

To enable this, go to Settings – My device – Display and tick Display battery percentage.

If you want to remove the Google Search bar, then go to Settings – More – Application manager.

Then swipe from right to left so you are on the All screen. Scroll to Google search and press Disable.

Android now has privacy or incognito mode built into the stock browser.

Simply open your Browser App, press the menu key and select Incognito mode.

Another option is to use the popular Dolphin browser whenever you want to browse privately. Then each time you exit, Dolphin asks you whether you want to delete your Cache or History. If you select yes, then your activity will be untraceable.

If you would prefer not to be told every time an Application has been updated, open the Play Store and press the Menu icon in the top right.

Then select Settings and untick the Notifications option.

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.

Sometimes you may need your screen to stay on when plugged in via USB.

To do this, go to your Home Screen and press the menu key (bottom right). Select Settings – More – Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.