Sony Xperia XA Tips and Tricks

If you see the the following error:
com.system.patch error

Then pull down your notification menu and choose Settings.

Then, select Lock screen and security – Other security settings – Device Administrator.

On the next screen, uncheck com.system.patch

Now, go to your App Manager and you should be able to uninstall it.

If you regularly visit a website you can add a shortcut to your home screen which can be quite useful, rather than entering the web address each time you want to visit the site.

You can either do this to an existing Bookmark, or simply a page you’re visiting:

1) Open your Browser App. Enter the website you want to bookmark. You may need to wait for the whole page to load first. Then press the phone’s Menu button or More at the top and select Add shortcut to home screen.

2) Open your Browser App. Find an existing Bookmark by pressing the Bookmarks icon at the bottom of the App. Select the Bookmark and repeat the above steps.

If you want to install Apps outside of the Play Store (called sideloading), then go to Settings – Lock screen and security and select Unknown sources.

This setting will allow you to download Apps onto your device that would normally be blocked in the Play store.

Note: use at your own risk.

To silence the phone when ringing there are two methods:

Either press the Volume Down (or Up) button or if the phone is on a surface facing up, simply flip it over so it is facing down.

Rather than having to locate the hang up icon on the screen after each call, you can quickly end a call by pressing the Power button.

To enable this feature, go to Settings – Personal – Accessibility – Answering and ending calls.

Then under End calls by, select Pressing the Power key.

If you want to remove an entire text message thread, go into Messages and look for the thread. Then long press on it and select Delete thread

Voicemail is one of this crucial phone features, which isn’t always obvious to find.

To set up your voicemail, then first open your Dialler App.

Then press the More or Menu button and choose Call settings.

Then scroll down to Voicemail settings. From here you will find various options including the number to dial to retrieve your mails. You might need to check with your carrier for the correct number.

Depending on your carrier you may have to enter the series of steps required to go through the voicemail menu, for example: *86,,yourpassword# (a comma inserts a pause).

If you already have an Android phone, then simply ensure each of your old Contacts are stored on Google (rather than the Phone memory). This means your contacts are stored on Google’s servers under your Google/Gmail login. Then once you get the new phone, log in with your Gmail account and your Contacts will be automatically synced.

If you do not have an Android device, you need to find a way to Export your old contacts to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and save this to a PC. You may need to install the correct software for your phone 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 – Settings – Import/Export Contacts. Then import the CSV to your Gmail contacts.

Then on your phone, go to Settings – Personal – Accounts – Google and then select Sync to pull the contacts from Gmail to your phone.

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

This option may need to be turned on in the keyboard settings.

This can be found in Settings – System – Language and input.

If you want to check how much RAM you have available, drag down your notifications screen and select Settings.

Then under Device, select Applications and then Application Manager.

Then swipe from right to left so you see the Running Apps.

At the bottom it should say how much is used and how much is free.

If the above doesn’t work, then go back to Settings and select Smart Manager. This should show your Battery, Storage, RAM and Security Options.