Sony Xperia ZL 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
If you have forgotten your custom unlock pattern, then don’t panic.
After 5 unsuccessful tries a button should appear saying ‘Forgot pattern’. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password.
The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern. If you don’t have a Gmail account, then you might have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.
If you have word prediction enabled while you are typing, you can long press the middle word that is suggested. This will bring up a menu allowing you to select various other suggested words.
You can speed up the page load speed on your browser by disabling JavaScript.
To do this, open your Browser, then Menu – More – Settings. Scroll down and untick JavaScript
Please note that this may affect the functionality of some sites.
Unlike older versions of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich does not go into USB mode automatically when you connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable.
To enable USB / Mass Storage mode, first go to Settings. Then under Wireless and network, press the More… button.
Then connect your phone to your PC using a USB cable and press USB utilities.
Then click the button that says Turn on USB Storage.
Your phone will now appear as another drive letter on your PC.
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
If you want to find your phone’s WiFi MAC address (for improved WiFi security), then from the Home screen, go to Menu – Settings – About Phone – Status.
Then scroll down until you see WiFi MAC Address. The address should be a series of Hex numbers and letters.
If you want to browse in full screen mode, without the URL bar at the top of the browser, then you can enable this..
Open the standard browser and press Menu – Settings – Labs. Then put a check mark under Full Screen .
To get access to the browser options (that are now invisible), there is now a neat hidden menu. Slide your finger in from the left or right of the screen. A circular menu will appear with various options.
Go to Menu – Settings – Display – Screen Time Out.
Then chose the screen time out duration.
Instead of finding your Settings App icon, a quicker way is to drag down your notification bar (from the top) and press the Settings icon. It should be next to the date.
To change the backlight screen timeout, go to Settings – Display – Sleep. Then choose the screen time out duration.
You can also tell the phone screen to always stay lit when it is plugged in via USB. Go to Settings – Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.