Homepage, accounts and settings

But first, what are operating systems and why do you need them?

The internet

Simply by reading this screen you are using the internet, but what is it and how does it work.  You can refer to the James May video in the previous post for a very good explanation.

This video goes into more detail as to how messages and data travel to and fro:

Accounts

Signing in with a Google Android account gives you access to loads of great features and services. You can buy and download games, movies and music from the Google Play Store, access Gmail, sign in to YouTube, backup files to Google Drive and much more.

If you’ve just bought a new Android smartphone or tablet and don’t have a Google account you may find it useful to do.  Each of our tablets has a seperate user account.  Having a Google account (email address) is the same as having an Android account.

Using the Homescreen

The number of pages on the Home screen isn’t fixed. You can add pages to your Android tablet. You can remove pages. You can even rearrange pages. This feature might not be available to all Android tablets and often it’s not implemented in exactly the same way.

The stock Android method of adding a Home screen page is to drag an icon left or right, just as though you were positioning that icon on another Home screen page. When a page to the left or right doesn’t exist, the tablet automatically adds a new, blank page.

Samsung tablets feature a Home screen page overview. To edit Home screen pages, pinch the Home screen: Touch the screen with two fingers and drag them together. You can then manage Home screen pages, including deleting them. You can create a number of pages which may vary according to the tablet and android version you are using.

Settings

There are a variety of different options which control how your tablet performs that you can adjust in settings.  We will look at a couple of them in the exercises.

Exercises

Using your finger part 2

1. open the Google Play Store
2. In the search area at the top of the screen type in the name of the app to be installed: Finger touchscreen training
3. Read the information on it
4. Install in on your tablet
5. try it out and give your comments
6. make sure your friends try it as well!

How to change the name of your android tablet

Your tablet broadcasts its presence under a number of circumstances.  It is useful to know what it is without just being a long string of numbers.

Settings, about device, device name.

Cleaning the tablet part 2

Today we are going to re-organise the home screen and the additional pages which appear on the tablet.

1. get rid of any extra and unwanted pages get rid of any unwanted apps
   1. pinch your homescreen and drag to the bin
2. delete any unwanted apps from the pages
   1. press and hold the app and then move it to the wastebin
3. create a settings folder
   1. press and hold on a blank part of the screen
   2. add one of the settings options to the to the page: widget list, settings widget, press and hold and place on page, choose which setting to display on page
   3. drag the setting to the settings folder.

Setting up OK Google

Under “OK Google” detection, you can choose whether the command can be activated only from the Google app or from anywhere on screen. You can also teach your phone to recognize your voice, so that it unlocks by voice alone.

Settings, Google account, search, voice, turn on OK Google detection everywhere.

and then train your tablet…

now look at Now cards

Some apps to look at

Freecycle: https://www.facebook.com/freecycle/videos/10151440525467993/

BBC iPlayer: you can watch live or provided you have a tv licence you can download programmes and watch them at your leisure for 30 days.  Downlaoding programmes takes up memory (storage) but means you can then watch them offline:

High Quality (encoded at 1500kbps):
30-minute programme – 315MB
60-minute programme – 630MB

Standard Quality (encoded at 800kbps)
30-minute programme – 160MB
60-minute programme – 320MB

You can delete the download…

ITV Hub: but you do not appear to be able to download for later viewing.

All 4: You can download shows up to 30 days old, but after downloading, you only have up to seven days to watch a show.

My 5: You cannot download shows from channel 5.