Sony Xperia Z3 Tips and Tricks

Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)
Phone: Sony Xperia Z3
Factory OS: Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)

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Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie) & Android 8 (Oreo)
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To enable / disable your notification light, go to Settings – My device – LED indicator.

From here you can choose various options.

This may not be available on all models. An alternative however is to download NoLED from the Play Store, which has many options for incoming notifications.

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

An almost essential setting is the ability to lock your screen by pressing the power key once. It will save plenty of time in the long run.

If this isn’t enabled, then go to Settings – My Device – Lock Screen. Then select Lock instantly with power key.

To save an image in an email or in the browser, long press on the image and a menu will appear allowing you to save it.

For images inside text messages, you might have to press and hold on the message itself, rather than the image.

To quickly close Apps, press the Home key

This will display your currently running Apps. From here you can simply swipe the Apps off the screen by dragging your finger left or right. This is a very quick way to free up some memory.

If you find the vibration of your phone a little too much, this can easily be reduced.

From the homescreen press Menu – Settings – My Device – Language and input. Then under Keyboards and input methods, press the little Gear icon.

You can also turn off Haptic feedback if you really don’t want any feedback.

If you want to access certain features of your device that are only available to developers, then you want the Developer options setting.

Go to your Settings – More – Developer options and you will see the available features.

On some devices, the developer options have been hidden. To enable these, go to Settings – More – About device.

Then go to the bottom and you should see Build Number. This needs to be pressed a total of seven times. You should get a message at the fourth press. On the seventh, you’ll get another message saying that Developer Options are unlocked.

To access the scientific calculator, rotate the phone to landscape mode.

The calculator will change to a scientific one.

If you are not happy with your notification light, then you can change and tweak it. Go to the Play Store and download an App called Lightflow.

You might need to enable the notification light before the App works. Go to Settings – My device – LED Indicator and tick Notifications.

To adjust your screen brightness, there are two options:

1) Simply drag your finger from the top of the phone down to pull down your quick settings screen. Then at the top there will be a brightness bar. Drag this left or right or press Auto.

2) From the Homescreen press Menu – Settings – My Device – Display – Brightness. Then choose the desired brightness setting. You can also select Automatic brightness to let the phone decide for you.