Sony Xperia Z Tips and Tricks
Factory OS: Android 4.1.1 (Jellybean)
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
General
Search for
Who invented
Show me the stocks for
Author of
How old is
How tall is
Time & Date
What time is it in
When is the
When is the sunset in
What is the time zone of
Time at home
Weather
Show me the weather
Is it going to rain tomorrow?
Do I need an umbrella?
Do I need a jacket
What is the weather in
How is the weather on
Maps / Location
Map of
Show me the nearby
Where is
Navigate to
I am hungry (shows all nearby food points on map)
How far is
Calculations / Conversions
How much is
What is
Square root of
What is the numerical value of Pi
Convert
Temperature of the sun
Sports
Who won the last match between
Schedule of
Websites
Go to
Open
Show me
Browse to
Entertainment
Listen toPlay
YouTube
Notes / Reminders
Remind me to
Contacts / Communcation
Call
Send
Call
Send a text to
Email to
Flights
Flight Status of
Has
When will
Other
Do a barrel roll
While your notification bar can be handy to inform you of updates, downloads and other useful information, sometimes it can get cluttered.
There is now a way to turn this off for each application.
Go to Settings – Applications – Manage Applications. Then find Info and un-tick the box labelled Show Notifications.
To bookmark a contact on your homescreen, long press on the home screen background and select Shortcuts. Then select Direct dial.
If you call someone regularly this can be useful as you will have a shortcut to them handily placed on your homescreen.
Go to the Android Market and search for an App called Spare Parts. Download and then open the App. Go to the Compatibility Mode and Uncheck it. Then re-check it (so the tick appears again). Then turn your phone off by pressing Home and then turn it on again.
Once that’s done, go back to the Spare Parts App and Uncheck the compatibility box again. This time DON’T re-check it though. Then turn your phone off and on again once more.
Once re-booted, go to Spare Parts again. If it opens in full-screen mode, then the process has worked and any other Apps that run in non-full screen mode should work.
Normally when Apps are installed, an icon is automatically placed on your homescreens.
This can be annoying for users who want to keep their homescreens clutter-free.
To stop then, go to Google Play – Settings. Then untick Auto-add Shortcuts.
To remove numbers from the call log that you don’t want anyone seeing, then open your Call Log.
This will normally be found on your Apps list or you can also go to your Dialer and find Logs or Call Logs.
Then press and hold on the contact you want to remove. When the Menu appears, press Delete.
If you have decided to ditch your iPhone in favour of Android, then there is a simple way to take your iTunes music, playlists and album art with you.
Simply go the Android Marketplace and download a Free App called Easy Phone Tunes. You will also need the computer version of the software, so go to http://easyphonetunes.com and download it from there.
Then, when that is done, turn your phone into a USB storage device (this will vary from device to device, but instructions are on the website).
Once your tablet is connected to your computer, open the computer version of the software and select your device from the Easy Phone Tunes list. Then follow the instructions to Sync your media.
There is no need to be stuck with the standard Android keyboard.
Go to the Android Market and search for ‘Keyboard’ to see some great alternatives, many of which are more accurate and make typing much easier.
A good one is GoKeyboard.
If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.
There are two ways to bring up Bookmarks while browsing:
1) The quickest way is to simple long press the Back key to bring up your bookmarks
2) Alternatively you can enable the Quick Control panel. Go to Settings – Labs. Then check the option for Full screen. Then when you are browsing slide your finger in from the left or right of the screen. A semi-circular Quick Control panel will appear. Slide your finger to the top icon to see your bookmarks. This also means your browser runs in full screen mode so you maximise your website viewing area.
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 default browser and press the Menu icon on the top-right corner. Then Settings – Privacy and security. Then select Clear history. You can also clear the Cache, but that will mean previously visited websites will have to load again, making your browsing slightly slower.