Sony Xperia L1 Tips and Tricks
Factory OS: Android 7 (Nougat)
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
To stop the Photo App or the Music player from indexing your files, place a blank text file called .nomedia in the folder containing your photos or music.
The best way to do this is to connect your device to a PC and then navigate to the relevant folder via your PC.
Android manages Apps very well and some Apps do not have the option to close them specifically. Normally the App will stay running in the background and only close when many other Apps have been opened.
If you do want to close or terminate an App, then press and hold the Multitasking key on your phone. On some devices you may need to long press the Home key.
Then you can swipe the Apps off the screen to close them.
If you find that apps are slowing down your device or consuming unnecessary memory or batter life, then try downloading an App called DU Battery Saver or DU Speed Boost which are great for optimising the Apps that are running.
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 and under System, choose About Device or About Phone.
This should list your Device name and model Number.
Select Software info to show more information such as your Android Version, Kernel Version, Build Number and other technical information.
When taking photos or videos, tap the screen where you want to focus on.
The phone will automatically adjust the settings to improve the image or video
Android now comes with some great battery management built into the OS.
Pull down your notifications screen and select Settings – Device maintenance.
Then go to Battery and you will see some useful stats such as the time remaining.
There are also options to set up various Power Saving modes.
Select one of these to really make your phone last the distance.
Be warned that these can limit your device quite considerably as certain features will be disabled in order to conserve battery life.
When using your Calendar App, you will normally be in Month view. To quickly switch to Year view, you can pinch the screen to zoom out.
This is useful if you want to quickly jump backwards or forwards through a few months at a time.
To go from Year to Month, you can do a reverse pinch.
To find out information about Signal Strength, Network Information, Remaining Battery Time and Battery Usage (by Application), drag down your notifications screen and select Settings.
Select Device Maintenance – Battery.
From this screen you can see which Apps are using the most battery power and select Power Saving Mode.
If you then click the Battery Usage button you can see a wealth of valuable technical information about your phone which may help with diagnostics and network troubleshooting.
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 – Apps. 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 – Cloud and accounts – Accounts.
Then scroll down and select Google.
Next, change the slider so that Sync Contacts is disabled.
Then go to Gmail 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.
Most Android devices come with an alternative way of entering text called Swype. Many prefer this method and believe it is quicker.
When any text entry box appears, press and hold the box. Then select Input method: SWYPE. Once enabled, you simply drag your finger around the keyboard moving over the letters in the correct order to spell a word.
First open your Contacts App and select a contact. Then press Edit at the top of the screen.
Then should then see a photo icon. Press that and you will then see some options to either take a photo or select a photo from your Gallery.
Select the icon depending on your requirements.