Sony Xperia ZL Tips and Tricks

There is a hidden easter egg on the phone. If you go to your Homescreen, then press Menu – Settings – About phone, then tap on the Android version option 5 times you will be surprised.

Sometimes it doesn’t work, so try a couple of times. By the way don’t expect to see an actual Easter Egg. That is just the name given to things hidden inside software or operating systems.

While the stock standard keyboard is fine, there are much better keyboards available. First, you need to go to the Android Market and download one. Try searching for the word ‘keyboard’ and you will see a number of options.

Download your chosen keyboard and go through any install steps that you are presented with.

Then, go to the App you want to type in. You should now see a little Keyboard icon on the row at the bottom of your screen, towards the bottom-right corner. Press that icon and you can switch between all of the keyboards you have installed.

If you have just purchased an Android device, then you may want to copy your contacts from your old phone. The easiest way to do this is to Export your old contacts to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and save this to your 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 – Import. Then import the CSV to your Gmail contacts.

Then on your phone, open the Contacts App. Press Menu and then Sync Contacts. This will pull the contacts from Gmail to your phone.

WARNING: Making your volume or music louder can damage your hearing.

Most phones have their volumes limited by local laws to protect our hearing. There is a way to boost your volume however. Go to the Android Market and download an App called Volume+ (Sound Boost). There is also a free version called Volume+ Free.

You will need to root your phone for this App to work.

From the Contact list or the Messaging list, swipe from Left to Right to call a Contact.

This might not work on all models.

If you want to conserve battery life, you can turn off the WiFi while the phone is asleep.

Go to Settings – WiFi – Advanced – Keep WiFi on during sleep.

From the Homescreen press Menu – Settings – Sound.

Then under Feedback you can adjust certain features like Audible touch tones, Haptic feedback and so on.

If you want to remove the Google Search bar, then go to Settings – Apps – All – Google search bar – Disable.

To take a screen shot, hold down the Volume Down and Power Buttons together. This will save the current screen to your phone’s memory card.

If you want to type non-English letters (eg those with an accent), long-press on the relevant letter. A list of options will appear for you to select. For example, to insert an acute á, then press and hold the a key, then drag your finger to the accented character.