No matter how much you love your Android gadget, chances are there's
one thing you either don't completely know how to use - or if you do use
them, they really bug you. If you have not guessed by now, I'm talking
about buttons!Now that almost every phone uses an edge-to-edge touch screen as its main user interface, buttons have taken a backseat to swiping and tapping as the way we interact with our gadgets. But your phone or tablet still has a few buttons left.
We may never go back to the days of the BlackBerry, with full-on QWERTY keyboards, but buttons will always be a part of your life. And that's a good thing! Buttons are your friends. If you have an Android phone or tablet, your buttons are capable of so much cool stuff. Not only that, but you have more buttons than you probably realize.
These days, most Android phones and tablets have a power button and a two volume buttons. Those you can see. But there are also (typically) three hidden buttons on the bottom of your screen that you don't see all the time. These are called "capacitive" buttons. They're always there even if you can't see them. They don't use the same technology as the rest of your touch screen. Some Android gadgets have ditched capacitive buttons, but most still have them.
Anyway, together, these six buttons unlock the hidden potential you never knew your Android phone or tablet had. You have to see the top five secret Android tricks, now with buttons!
1. Take a screenshot
It's fast and easy to capture whatever you see on your screen without using a third-party app. A two-button combo will capture your screen and save it to your gallery.- Press the Power and the Volume Down button at the same time and hold them for about one or two seconds.
2. Force a reboot
Be careful you don't hold down too long when taking a screenshot. The only difference between that and forcing your phone to reboot is time. It's the same button combination to force reboot, you just have to hold down for 10 seconds or so.- Press the Power and the Volume Down button at the same time and hold them for about 10 seconds.
3. Hang up using the power button
You can end a call just by pressing the power button once. This is way more useful than you might think: Your phone's in your pocket and it starts to ring in the middle of a meeting or conversation or movie. You can end the call and send it to voicemail without taking it out of your pocket. But first you have to quickly check an accessibility setting.- Go to Settings>Accessibility and check the box next to "Power button ends call."
4. Fast access to Google Now
Do you use Google Now? You should! It's one of the coolest things about having an Android phone. It's basically Google's smarter, more functional version of Siri. It can instantly give you Google search results by voice, traffic reports, sports scores, event reminders and more. Since it's so useful, it helps to have a super-fast way to get to it. This time, we're using the capacitive buttons.- Press and hold the Home button, then swipe up to the white circle that says Google.
5. Double tap the Home button to open your camera, phone browser and more
You've heard the phrase "home away from home?" Your home screen might not be the first thing you want to see when you press the Home button. Maybe you use your phone mainly as a phone (go figure!), or maybe you want to instantly go to your Web browser with just two quick taps. You can set your home button to launch any of eight main functions when you double tap it.- Go to Settings>Accessibility>Double tap home launch. Then select what you would like to launch when you double-tap the Home button.
