Android Magazine Issue 38 - 2014 UK

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Welcome
To issue 38
Welcome
HOW TO
USE THE
QR CODES
Zero-click access to the best

apps in the Google Play store
A QR code is a 2D barcode that can act

as a shortcut for delivering information,
such as weblinks. Youll notice them
throughout the mag scan them on
your phone and you can download apps
and send us messages instantly.
Project Ara, rst unveiled as a concept early last

year, is going to happen, and its going to make
modular phone design a reality
MY HOME SCREEN
On (and off) Andys
phone this month
Deezer
Spotify
APPS
OUT
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to use our QR codes. Handily, you can
scan normal barcodes with it too, to
help you nd bargains on all your
favourite purchases!
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Camera
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This month
Ive been using:
Samsung
Galaxy S5
The Walking
Dead: Season
One
Still impressive yet

a more modest
update than
ever before
Microsoft
Ofce Mobile
scanning
1 Get
Open ShopSavvy, hit the Scan a
Barcode button and then hold your
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in the window.
GET IN TOUCH
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like to see in next issue
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your comments
his month we focus on the old

and the new in Android. The
Galaxy S5 is the latest iteration
of one of the oldest and by some
margin the most popular ranges of
Android device. Its another great
handset, albeit within the limitations
of the increasingly marginal benets
updated hardware brings, and it
seems as though it will sell just as well as its lofty
predecessors did.
But if the importance of traditional phone upgrades is
slowing, innovation on the whole is not. Project Ara, rst
unveiled as a concept early last year, is going to happen,
and its going to make modular phone design a reality.
Instead of moaning that your phone doesnt have enough
storage, or the battery isnt powerful enough, you will
simply be able to buy the exact specication you want and
add it yourself.
Ara should be out by next January. Coming sooner is the
smartwatch powered by Android Wear. These will
integrate tightly with Google Now on your phone and make
notications more useful and more accessible than they
have ever been. The rst watches will be out in the
summer, and it will be fascinating to see how well they are
received in the wider market.
Finally, this is my last issue at the helm of Android
Magazine. Its been a pleasure to have brought you all the
news on the worlds most exciting technology for the last
three years, and Ive enjoyed all your letters and
comments during this time. Enjoy the mag!
qa@littlegreenrobot.co.uk
the link
2 Launch
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Drop us an email and let us know what

youd like to see in the mag
@lgrobot
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your thoughts
Andy Betts Editor
Contents
Inside issue 38
CONTENTS
15 Special offer for USA readers 52 Exclusive subscription offer
Launcher
Previews,
news and
speculation
from the
Android world
06 Build your own
phone
Will Googles Project Ara
enable us to design exactly
what we want from a phone
09 News
The latest stories from the
Android world, including the
Heartbleed bug
10 The ultimate tness

gadget
Get on your bike to get t with
a little help from Android
12 10 things you need

to know about add-ons
The most interesting and
innovative add-ons for Android
ANDROID
WEAR
18
Why the next

generation of
Android
devices will be
on your wrist
32
Replace
your laptop
14 Launcher apps
Give your phone an overhaul with
the latest generation of launcher
apps
16 Messages
We delve into our virtual mailbag
to hear the latest rants on all
things Android
24
Turn your
phone into a
fully edged
computer
Hacker
Zne
Explore the limits of
your Android phone
Contents
Inside issue 38
Visit the Android Magazine online shop at
for back issues and books

54 Hacking tips and tricks
56 Control app permissions and
track their use
58 Use TWRP to master Recovery
60 Recongure your softkeys
Apps
Your complete
guide to
Google Play
Reviews
Tutorials
Essential guides to getting more

from your phone or tablet
The latest apps on test
74 Group test: Mid-range supertest
32 Replace your laptop
Track which apps you use
The four best value phones go head-to-head
Tips and tools to enable you to use Android

as a full computer
72 Game reviews
Cutting-edge tablets and

smartphones on test
82 Reviews
82
84
86
88
90
92
36 Tutorials
Samsung Galaxy S5
Sony Xperia Z2
Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 8.4
Lenovo A10
Huawei Ascend Y530
Nokia X
36
38
39
40
42
43
44
46
94 Accessories
96 Health and tness gadgets
Create shortcuts to app functions

Transcribe text with Google Keep
Work with multiple calendars
Set up an ultra power-saving mode
Transfer les with Android Beam
Create oating widgets
Take full control of notications
Keep Android tidy with CCleaner
48 Droid Support
Readers questions answered, plus

troubleshooting tips and tricks
82 ng
su
S5
Sam
y
x
a
Gatlill thenbde?st
S rou
a
74
Mid-range supertest
The four best value
phones go head-to-head
62 App reviews
70 App usage tools
The latest games reviewed
App review index

64
68
66
73
72
66
69
67
68
73
73
69
62
65
69
64
66
73
69
63
63
69
69
64
63
73
73
69
68
69
72
63
Check our website daily

for even more news
Adobe Revel
App Habits
Aviate Beta
CLARC
Cut the Rope 2
EverClip
Fiverr
Flash Scores
Fleep
Flop Fu
Fly Catbug Fly!
Glimmer
Inspire Launcher
KMPlayer
LastPass Password Mgr
Premium*
Link Bubble
Maps Measure
Mikey Hooks
Minuum Keyboard Free
Notications+
Ofcial F1 App
Race for Life
RAR for Android
Reddit Now
Remember the Umbrella
Swap the Box
Tennis 3D
ThrowBack
uPod light Podcast player
Volume Booster
The Walking Dead: Season
One
Xpensy
All the latest from the world of Android devices
THE
big
STORY
Build your own phone

Were used to being able to customise the Android operating
system but what about creating your own phone?
hen Google sold one of its acquisitions,

Motorola Mobility, to Lenovo, it was canny
enough to retain some of its former
subsidiarys talent. In putting that to good use in the
creation of an open-source smartphone hardware
platform, it is set to do for handsets what it did for the
OS: put the power into the hands of the user.
Project Ara the name currently given to the
development of Googles new piece of kit is a
smartphone that consists of a number of modules.
Each part of the phone can be deliberately chosen by
the user and, in building up your very own phone, you
will be able to dictate the feature set that you want,
not the one that the manufacturer supposes you want.
The possibilities are wide open so if you never use a

phone camera, for example, then you dont need to
buy the camera hardware module. If you love to boom
music out of a handsets speakers, you can make sure
you snap up the best set. And thats the idea: it is a
kind of LEGO approach to mobile phones with the
bonus being that, should any module break, its a
simple case of swapping it out with a new part rather
than binning the entire device.
Project Ara began as a concept in 2012 but work
started properly on 1 April 2013. The group slaving
away on the device is headed up by Paul Eremenko
who says he is planning the most custom massmarket product ever created by mankind. They are
Our view
The modular
concept is one of the
most intriguing
things well see this
year. Being able to design your
phone to your own unique spec
sounds like the gadget enthusiasts
dream. The big question is about
cost: it seems like the base unit will
be pretty cheap, but it must be
doubtful whether the modules can
be produced in an affordable way.
Andy Betts, Editor
twitter
Stay up to date
Catch up with the latest
Android news and gossip
@lgrobot
Follow us on Twitter for

the latest updates
Making your perfect phone

Itll be easy to create a smartphone to your exact specications
Extra long battery life

These days, replacing a phones
battery is no easy task. Unlike in the
past when you could slide a plastic
cover to get at the battery, most
smartphones comes in a sealed case.
There will be various battery modules
available, with longer-life versions
available. And you could always keep a
battery module or two handy.
Optimise the camera

Choose the best camera module
around and link it up with a ash
module. Select the best processor for
handling images and maybe even

select a module with a handy shutter
button on it and you will soon have the
best camera smartphone around.
Camera updated? Just swap it.
Produce a workhorse
If you prefer a keyboard to touchscreen
when tapping out an essay or creating
a report at work, then you could
introduce a keyboard module into your
setup. As long as manufacturers make
the various components you require,
you will be able to create any
conguration of phone you want.
ambitious words for an ambitious idea one that

must be inexpensive, robust and workable all at the
same time. But being able to modify and create your
own phone has the potential to change the face of
smartphones forever.
At its heart will be a metal endoskeleton (or an
endo) and this will act as the main component into
which everything else slots. Each module will slide
into the core and stay in place thanks to
electropermanent magnets. The phone will
recognise the new modules and instantly work with
them, communicating between each module by
means of capacitive interconnects rather than
physical contacts.
The module shells

will be specically
designed to suit a
users taste
Competition
Aside from reducing wear and tear on the endo,
what all of this means is you could choose your own
battery, camera, screen, processor, jack or speaker.
You could even decide whether you actually want
the handset to function as a phone you wouldnt
necessarily have to connect it up to a mobile carrier.
In time, Ara could have wider implications and be at
the heart of tablets, laptops and smartwatches.
Whether or not it will work depends on who you
talk to. Dave Hakkens, who announced a similar
project called Phonebloks in September 2013, says
such
devices will be the future for
smartphones. He had the idea for a
modular phone when he took a broken
camera apart and noticed each of the
parts were in great condition except for
the lens motor and yet the
manufacturer advised him to replace
the lot. These days, it can even be
difcult to replace the battery so
modular phones would solve that
problem. No wonder Project Ara is
designed with a lifespan of up to
six years in mind.
It could open up the
entire phone market and let
consumers decide what is
in their phone, Hakkens
tells us. I think the
Phonebloks campaign
denitely showed their
is an appetite for this
with more than
980,000 people
The idea of Phonebloks
is, like Project Ara, to have lots of
user-selected modules
The issues are

size, cost,
standards,
and reliability
Rob Enderle, Enderle Group
supporting the idea. Google is consulting with
Hakkens, with both working together to make the
concept a reality, which is, as Motorola said when
the project launched, to do for hardware what the
Android platform has done for software: create a
vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the
barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation
and substantially compress development time.
As a designer Hakkens is keen for the phone to
look as good as it functions. The shells of modules
will be 3D printed and users will be able to specify
the design they want it to carry. This completes the
whole ethos of build-your-own-phone. Its not just
about what goes inside but how it looks and feels
for the person who owns it. By allowing for
personalisation, it makes the handset unique and
even more desirable.
But Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle
Group, is still not so sure. The idea of a modular
device like this goes back to IBMs modular PC
concept in the late Nineties, he says. The issues
are size, cost, standards and reliability. You have to
get the modular to critical mass in terms of volume
to get the cost down but that tends to grow the
device larger and limit design exibility. Vendors
dont cooperate well on design standards since they
differentiate on design language.
He believes the interconnects will introduce an
additional area of failure into what is otherwise
mostly a solid-state device and this, he adds, will
reduce reliability. A modular design results in lots of
potential congurations, many of which may not be
Visit us daily for news and more
How it works
Inside your new phone piece by piece
Modules
Wireless
These connect
using electropermanent
magnets with on
and off states that
consume no
power these
keep the modules
on the phone
The modules will communicate with the

other modules via wireless capacitive
interconnects
Bespoke phones
will give users more choice
tested, with the software on the device also

increasing failure rates, he continues. So the idea
of being able to upgrade and customise phones
based on components tends to result in an
expensive unattractive device with lower reliability
and users have never been willing to make that
trade off.
Yet with Google aiming to produce an entry-level
phone for as little as $50, it will undoubtedly turn
heads. The street price when the handset
launches sometime in 2015 will be much more
than that, but the low manufacturing cost should
keep it in check. Module shells would be bought
from a Google store in the same way as you would
buy apps on Google Play, although the modules
Compatibility
Android will be
updated so that
the operating
system recognises
the various
modules plugged
into the endo
It also lets Google and

users rely less on major
manufacturers dictating
the components that go
into their handsets
themselves will be made and sold by various
hardware partners.
Not only will this allow people to keep up with the
latest technology without having to fully replace
their handset, it also lets Google and users rely
less on major manufacturers dictating the
components that go into their handsets. Since
component makers will be able to sell direct to
consumers rather than beg phone manufacturers
to include their parts, it creates a more open
market that puts consumer choice at its heart.
As for how Android will work, Google has plans to
update the OS so that it is capable of handling a
modular system. The Project Ara team has said it is
aware a lot of people who buy the modular phone
will not have used a smartphone and so they want
to make it as user-friendly as possible. Android will,
therefore, be able to congure itself to work with
even the most complicated of setups. After all, if
the stated aim is for the phone to be in the hands
of billions of people, it would have to be. One-sizets-all will not, it seems, be a future option in a
world of individuality.
Core
The basis of the
modular phone is
the endoskeleton
(or endo) into which
modules will slip
Upgrades
If a better camera
becomes available or
a new processor is
released, simply swap
one for another
Customisation
You buy the modules separately to
suit your needs so you can add a
new processor, display, keyboard or
battery, for example
Safeguard your phone

Heartbleed was described as the
biggest ever threat to the internet.
Heres how to survive it
oogle has announced that devices running

Android 4.1.1 are at risk from the
Heartbleed bug and it says some 50
million smartphone users could be exploited.
Although security rm Lookout says such a
number represents fewer than 10 per cent of
Android devices, the dangers posed by Heartbleed
makes it a serious threat for those affected. Any
device or service that is vulnerable to Heartbleed
should be handled with care, Marc Rogers,
principal security researcher at Lookout, told us.
Heartbleed enables an attacker to steal up to
64k of data from the memory belonging to the
program running the cryptographic software
library, OpenSSL. Vital information from log-ins to
passwords could potentially be obtained by
It will alert users if

there are vulnerable
apps on the system
and encourage them
to uninstall
hackers. Putting this in context, if you are browsing
a banking site in one tab and connect to a link
carrying out the Heartbleed attack in another tab,
that second tab could steal up to 64k of data from
your banking session.
To uncover the scale of the problem, Andrew
Waber, market analyst at Chitika, said his company
examined all Android 4.1-based web trafc from US
and Canadian users across its network of about
350,000 websites.
It discovered that users of Android 4.1.1 the
only version vulnerable to Heartbleed
represented 19 per cent of total North American
Android 4.1-based web trafc and that amounted
to four per cent of all Android trafc. The fact that
more than four per cent of Android web usage in
North America is driven by users of the at-risk OS
version is a cause for concern, he tells us.
Christopher Budd, global threat communications
at Trend Micro, agrees. Users of Android 4.1.1 face
the same risks that desktop users face when
interacting with vulnerable sites, he says. Trend
Micro has released a free Heartbleed Detector App
on Google Play, which noties users when apps
As always, applying
some common sense
will keep your device safe
Five ways to stay safe

Top tips for making sure you dont
come unstuck with Heartbleed
Download the Trend Micro Heartbleed
Detector App and Lookouts Heartbleed
Security Scanner to nd out if you are affected.
If there are vulnerable applications on

Android 4.1.1, uninstall them until updated
versions are available.
Be careful not to send sensitive information

over websites and devices that have not
been patched.
If you suspect a site you use is affected by

Heartbleed, ask the company if their
systems are patched, then change passwords.
If your Android is affected and vulnerable,

nd out if there is an Android update
available for your device.
connect to sites
vulnerable to Heartbleed.
It will alert users if there are
vulnerable apps on the system and
encourage them to uninstall those apps
until updated versions are available.
The release followed Lookouts Heartbleed
Security Scanner app, which detects whether or
not an Android device is affected by Heartbleed
and whether the vulnerable behaviour is enabled.
At the time of writing, hackers had not tried to
attack Android devices using Heartbleed. Experts
say that attacks were more likely to take place on
servers since this was easier and more effective,
given the larger numbers of devices involved, than
targeting Android. But that doesnt mean it wont
happen, so it pays to be cautious.
Certainly it seems that only Android 4.1.1 is
affected. Other operating systems do not use the
vulnerable version of OpenSSL and are protected.
So if you are running 4.1.1, follow the steps on this
page to protect yourself.
Stay up to date
twitter
@lgrobot

the latest updates
NEW TECH EXERCISE BIKE

Track your heart rate
and your overall
tness levels
Peloton Cycle
Take your tness to the next level
with the Peloton Cycle
here are some fantastic

tness products on the
market that can be used in
conjunction with your Android
phone or tablet. But none can
compare to what the Peloton Cycle
can offer users. Although it may look
like your standard exercise bike from
a distance, take a closer look and
youll see the integrated 21.5-inch
HD screen that runs a skinned
version of Android. The UI itself acts
as the ultimate companion, enabling
users to manage their routines and
keep track of daily results. On top of
this, the Peloton has a whole host of
additional social features where you
can update your friends of your
At a glance
Product name Peloton Cycle
Available from
www.pelotoncycle.com
Price $1995
The Peloton Cycle is the ultimate
exercise bike, with a fully functional
Android interface enabling you to
manage your exercise routines and
interact with friends and family at
the same time.
The display can be

altered depending on
your size and how you
sit on the bike
activities, or even connect with

other Peloton users and partake in
simultaneous workouts. As far as
blending tness with your phone,
the Peloton Cycle is the best on the
market, if on the expensive side.
Each bike can
be adjusted to
simulate hill
climbs
The magnetic ywheel means

the bike runs almost silently
as you peddle
US users can participate in live classes
Q&A
Yony Feng
CTO,
Peloton Cycle
How long did it take to develop the

Android interface of the Peloton Cycle?
We spent two years designing and
building all aspects of Peloton from the
Android interface to the hardware it runs on and
the beautiful bike it brings to life. It would be hard
to isolate exactly how much of that time was
spent just on Android. It was certainly an
iterative process and we changed the UI
completely at least ve times in two years
because we wanted to make sure it was perfect
before release. We pulled off the last complete
redesign in the 30 days before we ofcially
launched to the public!
10
How do the on-demand cycling

classes work?
Peloton allows riders to participate in live and
on-demand cycling classes taught by our
amazing coaching staff. Our rides are recorded and
streamed daily from the Peloton Studio in New York
City to bikes all around the USA. Were looking to
expand this feature all over the world soon enough,
so keep an eye out on our website.
has ever taken that class (in the case of an

on-demand ride). Finally, Peloton allows riders to
overlay two streaming videos: the Peloton
coaches streaming in HD and an optional video
chat window allowing riders to interact with each
other through the ride. We think its an amazing,
immersive experience that brings the energy of a
group cycling class right to your living room.
Tell us about some of the main features
Can the Android interface be linked

with any apps?
The core of the Peloton experience is the

in-class screen. There is a ton that happens
on that one screen. Riders see their own
performance metrics in real time: Cadence,
Resistance, Output (watts), Calories and more.
Additionally, riders have access to the class
leaderboard showing everyone who is in the class or
At this point, we restrict access to Peloton

apps only. Its certainly possible for
advanced users to install other apps on the
device, but thats not something we support at
this time. Our social media support is fairly basic
as well at the moment, but its one of the main
areas we are looking to expand on over time.
How Android is more

stable than iOS
Did you know Android has proven to

be twice as stable as its main rival?
ans of Apple products will frequently tell you

that iOS is a better operating system than
Android because it is less prone to crashing.
Figures released by Crittercism seemed to suggest
that iOS 7.1 was, indeed, a stable operating system
with a crash rate of just 1.6 per cent down from
the two per cent or more of previous versions.
But now Crittercism has released some new
data for Android and it shows wait for it that any
version of Android 4.x has a crash rate of 0.7 per
cent. This makes Android far more stable than iOS.
The gures go further and suggest that Samsung
has the lowest crash rates of any Android tablets or
smartphones and that phones are, generally, more
stable across the board than tablets.
Although this is a great way to hit back at iOS
owners should you wish to engage in arguments
reminiscent of the playground 8-bit wars of the
80s, it shows something equally stark. Given that
phones running older versions of Android have
much higher crash rates of more than two per cent,
upgrading appears to be a very sensible option if it
is possible for you. Indeed, if you use Gingerbread,
then it would be prudent to move on given that it
has the highest crash rate of all with 1.7 per cent.
The report by Crittercism its rst focused on
the operating system, device type, manufacturer
Crash rate on Android

5
1.7%
4.4%
1.7%
3
0.7%
0.9%
0.4%
1
Samsung
Galaxy
phone
Nexus 7
tablet
KitKat and
Jelly Bean
Gingerbread
eCommerce
apps
Gaming
apps
Source: Crittercism
and cloud services as well as performance in

various territories around the world. In a
statement, Rob Kwok, CTO of Crittercism, said:
There are 100 million factors that affect the
performance of a mobile app. As new mobile
platforms such as wearables grow in adoption, the
challenge to provide a consistent, high-quality
experience to users will be even more difcult and
The iPhone
crashes twice as
often as Android
There are 100

million factors
that affect a
mobile app
Rob Kwok, CTO, Crittercism
mobile teams need purpose-built solutions to
manage the overall app performance.
Of particular interest was the performance of
apps on both Android and iOS. It showed that 47
per cent of apps would crash more than one per
cent of the time and that 32 per cent have a crash
rate that exceeds two per cent. While the numbers
are very small, they are large enough to cause the
gnashing of teeth when it actually happens to you.
Things change signicantly with gaming apps. The
pressure they put on the systems on which they
run mean they are far more vulnerable to crashing
more than four times as likely, it seems, when
compared to non-gaming apps.
With developers aware of issues with their apps
and with better operating systems introduced each
year, it makes sense to ensure your systems are as
up to date as they can be.
11
Visit us daily for news and more
1Amazon Fire TV
With voice-controlled search, gaming

capabilities and predictive content loading,
Amazon Fire TV is a welcome addition to the
Android set-top box market. Expect all the
usual
content
with added
extras to
help make
it stand
out from
the crowd.
2Chromebooks
Chromebooks offer the full functionality of an

Android tablet on a bigger screen with
many laptop-orientated additions. With
access to Google
Drive and
Dropbox, its a
good way of
distributing
les between
devices on a
much bigger
screen.
3Samsung Galaxy Gear 2
Not only do you get a stylish watch, but the

Galaxy Gear 2 also gives users access to their
phones notications. The screens may be
noticeably small, but its also possible to update
your social media
feeds and
switch
tracks on
your
Google
Play Music
account.
10Android TV
4Chromecast
9 Oculus Rift
5Sony SmartBand
This tiny HDMI stick enables

users to seamlessly stream
content from their phone or tablet
directly to their TV. Its easy to
use, remarkably cheap and is a
good way to distribute content
you want to share with others.
Although nothing has

been conrmed, it seems Google
is looking to relaunch its TV
ambitions with the launch
of an Android TV set-top
box. With the added weight of
Google behind it, users can
expect to
see the likes
of Play
Movies and
Play Music
make an
appearance.
3D gaming is coming to
Android in the form of the Oculus
Rift. The headset uses the latest
technology to put the player
actually in the game, and having it
powered by Android means you
can expect to see some of your
favourite titles very soon.
things you need to know about
add-ons
8Nikon Coolpix S810c
Nikon is the rst fully edged camera

manufacturer to provide the rst Androidpowered digital camera. The S810c provides a
pixel-perfect experience, while also
including the photo
editing and
sharing
functions
found on
Android
phones
and tablets.
12
7 Google Glass
Progress with Google Glass is moving at a

remarkable rate. Be
it through navigation
or simple social
media control,
Glass provides
users a new and
exciting way to get
their Android x
without needing to
handle their Android
phone or tablet.
6 OUYA
If keeping t is a massive part

of your life, then the Sony
SmartBand is a great way of
tracking your workout routines
and then accessing the results on
your Android
device. Best
of all its
compatible
with some of
the worlds
biggest
exercising
apps.
Despite a rocky start, support for the OUYA

games console is growing. Being powered by
Android enables the console to be easily hacked
to add various apps. As well as a great selection
of Android games, many
developers have
added
exclusive
titles to
its
library.
Get in touch!
Send us your thoughts
on all things Android
email
Got questions or comments? Drop
us an email and let us know
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
Like us on Facebook to
send your comments
twitter
@lgrobot

all the latest gossip
IFTTT comes to
the Play store
Popular automated task service launches on Android
T
Build IFTTT
recipes to automate
tasks on your Android
he internets most popular automated task

service IFTTT, short for If This Then That,
has nally arrived on Android with its own
native app. IFTTT enables users to build recipes
to automate tasks based mostly on the activity of
their other apps and web services. For example,
you can set your latest Instagram photos to be
used as your phones wallpaper, or get
notications to tell you what the free app of the
day is on the Amazon Appstore. It can also
perform some common system tasks, albeit in a
more limited form than other existing Android
automation apps such as Tasker or AutomateIt.
In fact, IFTTT can integrate with Tasker for even

more complex functions.
Although fairly useful in its current form, IFTTT
hints at perhaps a bigger future role in the
automated home, with support for products like
Philips Wi-Fi lightbulbs. Here it could potentially
also combine with Google Nows speech
recognition software to enable you to control
everything in your home without even touching it.
IFTTT is available now through Google Play.
Theres a huge selection of recipes already
available to get you started. Well take a look at
building your own in the next issue.
Two new books will help

make Android even
easier to master
Samsung Galaxy for Beginners and The
Android Book Vol 4 will show users of all
levels of knowledge how to get the most
from their phone or tablet
hether you own a

Samsung Galaxy phone or
tablet, or any other
Android device, two new
bookazines from Imagine Publishing
will help you master it in no time.
Samsung Galaxy for Beginners,
now revised and updated to include
the Galaxy S5, is packed with
easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorials
on all the basics from setting up
your device, to learning how to use
all the built-in features. Theres also
a guide to the best apps, giving you
the lowdown on which ones you
must download rst.
Samsung Galaxy for Beginners is
perfect for all new Galaxy users,
whether youve splashed out on a
brand-new Galaxy S5 or own a
Galaxy S4, Galaxy Ace or a Galaxy

Tab. The Android Book Vol 4 is the
ultimate independent resource for
Android. It contains comprehensive
guides to using all of Androids main
apps and features, from getting
more from the camera to
discovering how to get the most
from cloud storage services like
Google Drive.
The Android Book Vol 4 has full
coverage of KitKat as well as older
versions of the Android OS, and is
designed for all devices and
manufacturers including Samsung,
Sony, HTC and Motorola.
Both bookazines are available
now from all good newsagents, as
well as online through www.
imagineshop.co.uk.
13
twitter
Stay up to date

the latest updates
14
@lgrobot
Smart
Launcher 2
2 Buzz
Launcher
3 Solo
Launcher
4 Sidebar
Launcher
5 Turbo
Launcher
6 Chameleon
Launcher
This app uses

your home screen as a
hub from which you can
navigate to apps by
category, by tapping the
suitable icon. The app
drawer is then divided
into different categories
so nding installed
apps really is very easy.
Buzz is a
colourful alternative to
standard launchers,
offering users plenty of
choice when it comes
to designing their own
style. One of its best
features is the alternate
icon pack to really make
your screen stand out.
Gestures play a
massive part of Solo
Launcher, so much so
that every interaction
can be shortened to a
simple gesture. If you
dig a little deeper
theres a whole host of
other customisable
options on offer too.
Sidebar is for
those wanting a truly
unique launcher.
Activated by swiping
from the left side of
your screen, all your
app details are stored
here, as well as options
for interacting with your
music and video les.
As its name
suggests, Turbo
Launcher is all about
speed. From the home
screen to the app
drawer, its perfect if
youre looking for apps
in a rush. Its not as
customisable as other
launchers though.
The best thing

about the Chameleon
Launcher is that its
compatible with many
third-party apps,
enabling creative and
ingenious widgets to be
placed throughout, but
it can tend to look a
little cluttered.
Price: Free
Price: Free
Price: Free
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Messages
Inside Android Magazines virtual mailbag
Moto G: more than enough

A
fter my trusty Galaxy S III took a bit of a

tumble recently I decided to buy a Moto G
to tide me over until my next upgrade
was due. I knew it had been very well received
and seemed like excellent value when I was able
to buy it for just 100 on pay as you go then get it
unlocked to work with my SIM.
Its fair to say it has been an eye opening
experience, and is making me completely rethink
my whole approach to smartphones.
I have always tended to buy agship phones,
and because I want to pay as little up front for
them as possible I get them on expensive
contracts that give me more minutes than I need
in six months, let alone one. Im sure Im not
alone in this.
Now I own the Moto G and I am starting to
think that it is more than enough for me. Its not
hugely fast, but is probably no slower than the S
III and is certainly smoother when scrolling. It
also has truly excellent battery life, and the
screen is just lovely. Ive also rather taken to
Motorolas minimalist software, which is a
complete contrast to Samsungs approach.
Its true that the camera is pretty poor and
theres not much storage, but I have been struck
by how little Ive missed the bells and whistles
that come with more expensive phones. Im now
thinking that I might hang on to the G for a bit
longer, downgrade my contract when the time
comes to a cheaper SIM-only deal, and then take
Missing
reception
advice
I am disappointed that in any phone/
tablet review the relative reception is
not listed. As I see it, no reception =
no phone. Currently I have the Galaxy
Nexus and have noted on several
occasions that I am not able to use
my phone when others can use their
phone. Sure it may be the carrier but
I am with Telstra which has the
largest and best coverage in
16
Could the Moto G

change your view on
budget smartphones?
Letter of the
it from there. A agship phone is going to have to

be pretty special to make me shell out such a
large amount of money again. Ray Paul
We say: Were with you on the merits of the Moto
Australia. About 20 years ago there

was a mag called Mobile that listed
the relative reception of phones
tested. It listed Nokia reception as
being very poor, just maybe that was
a major contributing factor for their
demise. So my question to you is:
Just considering signal reception
quality only, please list in order the
top ve best receivers. Why do you
not list this aspect? Re battery life; I
am sure you could have a small app
that was used specically to test
battery life. Sure it may not test
everything, but it would provide a
basis for comparison. Eugene Hobbs
month
G. It is astounding value, and were pleased to

see that the market has responded as well.
Mid-range phones are also proving to be very
attractive. Take a look at our group test on page
74 where we pit the four best against each other.
We say: Doing an objective test of

phone reception is difcult if not
impossible due to the high number
of factors that can affect it that are
not related to the phone itself.
The network youre on will be a far
bigger factor, along with how close
you are to a cell tower, and even the
weather and how youre holding the
phone can have an effect.
Two phones on the same network
in different locations will produce
different results, as would two
phones sat side by side on different
networks. Sorry we cant be more
specic in our reviews!
Music
problems
Help please! I have a Samsung
Galaxy S4 and love the screen and
most things about the phone. It has
just been updated to the new KitKat
OS and all is well.
The problem I have with the phone
is the Music bit. I went over to the
Galaxy after having an iPhone for a
few years and thought I was getting
an open source operating system
based phone that would be more
versatile and adaptable than the
Get in touch!
Send us your thoughts
on all things Android
email
Got questions or comments? Drop
us an email and let us know
We say: Weve always had success

with AirSync whenever weve needed
to sync an Android device with
iTunes. Alternatively you can upload
your entire collection from iTunes to
Google Music in the cloud and then
either stream or download from
there when you need them. That
ought to x the album art issue too.
Missing
KitKat
Wed suggest using AirSync to get your
Android working well with iTunes
iPhone wrong. I cant nd a way of

actually being able to upload music
to my device from the Play store ext.
The music I have downloaded from
my PC via USB to the Galaxy wont
display most of the Album Artwork as
you can see from the image above.
In iTunes, I have no problems with
not only downloaded music but stuff
Ive added from CDs and added my
own album artwork.
My music is a mixture of
purchased AAC audio les, MPEG
audio les and AAC audio les and
there doesnt seem to be a pattern
to the les that will and will not
display the album artwork.
I thought I hated iTunes but now
realise it was brilliant; why oh why is
there no equivalent for Android on a
PC. I incidentally have a Samsung
Note 10.1, which again has no
problem displaying the Album
Artwork. I am amazed that there
seems no way of linking these two
Samsung devices, seamlessly; it
almost seems that Samsung want
everyone to go back to Apple.
David Hackett
In issue 35 you state that the move

to 4.3 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2
should have happened several
months ago and that a possible
move to KitKat would occur within
the next couple of months. I am still
on 4.1.2. Maybe its because it is the
later 4G version. I have contacted
Samsung who say that it is being
rolled out to EE and Vodafone
customers but not as yet Three my
network. I bought this groundbreaking agship phone in July when
it was the latest Note available and
because Samsung had a good
record for updates. This will be my
last Samsung phone as I doubt this
4G version will ever be updated. In
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
send your comments
contrast, my Nexus 4 has been on

KitKat since last July.
Philippe Zawodny
Imagine Publishing Ltd

Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
+44 (0) 1202 586200
Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
www.greatdigitalmags.com
We say: The 3G and 4G versions of

the Note 2 are different models.
The 3G Note 2 is the N7100 and
the LTE version is the N7105, so
its not unreasonable for them to
be updated separately. Were still
waiting to see exactly what
Samsungs plans are, but wed
suggest its too early to give up!
Magazine team
Quick
switch
Advertising
I just updated from S4 to S5 and

have discovered a great little app
to help with the transition! Its
called Smart Switch. You just turn
it on, put the two devices close
together and all your settings,
photos, apps just migrate to the
new device. Easy as! Love the S5
btw, best phone ever! Tim Smith
Editor Andy Betts

andy.betts@imagine-publishing.co.uk
01202 586254
Sub Editor Philip Morris

Art Editor Katie Peat
Photographer James Sheppard
Senior Art Editor Will Shum
Editor in Chief Nick Roberts
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Contributors
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Hannah Kelly, Phil King, Shaun McGill, Paul OBrien,
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Digital or printed media packs are available on request.

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Android Magazine is available for licensing.
Contact the International department to discuss
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Subscriptions
We say: Great tip, Tim! If anyone

else has any apps or tips to share,
do drop us a line at qa@
littlegreenrobot.co.uk.
Make the migration
from S4 to S5 as easy
as possible with
Tims great tip
Head of Subscriptions Gill Lambert

For all subscriptions enquiries
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Disclaimer
TRENDING
Let us know your thoughts on
these hot topics
What is your favourite

Android game?
How many new apps do
you try per month?
Are you planning to buy a
smartwatch?
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material

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Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced
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Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014
ISSN 2047-1580
Get in touch!
17
Feature
Android Wear
THE
FUTURE IS
WEARABLE
How the next generation of Android
devices will be on your wrist
18
Feature
Android Wear
oogle has announced Android Wear,

a version of Android that is designed
specically for wearable devices.
Initially this means that Android will be
making its way to smartwatches, but in the
future, other wearable devices will also run
the new operating system.
The announcement comes as the
wearables market explodes Samsung has
followed up its rst Galaxy Gear with three
new Gear products (Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and
Gear Fit) while the Pebble remains a
runaway success with the beautiful new
Pebble Steel hardware iteration. The
company recently announced that they had
sold over 400,000 devices not bad for a
product born out of a Kickstarter campaign.
At Mobile World Congress earlier this year it
seemed as though virtually every company
was showing a piece of wearable
technology, and predictably Google wants to
be part of that action ideally it wants to be
central to this emerging technology area.
Android Wear
is integrated
with Googles
services,
particularly
Google Now
As youd expect, Android Wear, which is
currently in an early developer preview state,
is tightly integrated with Googles services,
particularly Google Now. Google Now is
becoming more and more intelligent about
using the swathes of information Google
collects about you to determine which
information is relevant to you and when,
providing sports scores, weather, news,
website updates, parcel tracking
information, boarding cards and much more
on your phone. These are also perfect bits
of information for consumption on your
wrist. A signicant challenge for wearable
devices is inputting information rather than
just consuming it, and unlike some previous
devices such as the Motorola MotoACTV,
Google is betting big on voice commands.
The Android Wear introduction videos
show people performing searches and
actions by talking to their watch and this is
likely to be the primary input method
together with swipe and tap actions on the
screen. How the market at large responds to
this remains to be seen, but it is an area
that Google does already have some
experience in courtesy of Google Glass,

which also sports a voice, swipe, tapcontrolled user interface. The real challenge
is how the public feels about talking to their
watch. Is this yet another social norm that
Google is challenging?
Google characterises the Android Wear
experience as "contextually aware and
smart". It is intended that "rather than
requiring attention and input from users,
Android wearables are aware of their
situation and state, and helpfully display the
right information at the right time". Devices
will be "glanceable". Google acknowledges
that "wearable devices are used all
throughout the day, even when they sit in
our peripheral vision. Effective apps provide
the maximum payload of information with a
minimum of fuss, optimised to provide tiny
snippets of relevant information throughout
the day". Unlike using your phone, Android
Wear should be "zero/low interaction". By
"staying true to the strengths afforded by a
smaller form factor, Android Wear focuses
on simple interactions, only requiring input
by the user when absolutely necessary.
Most inputs are based around touch swipes
or voice, and inputs requiring ne-grained
motor skills are avoided". Finally, Android
Wear has to be helpful "like a great personal
assistant: it knows you and your
preferences, it only interrupts you when
absolutely necessary, and its always on
hand to provide a ready answer".
Checking on Android Wear should be as
unobtrusive as checking the time on your
watch technology is often criticised for
creating barriers when used in social
environments this is clearly something
Google is striving to avoid.
THE FIRST
ANDROID WEAR
WATCHES
Moto 360
Est price TBC
Available from Summer
The Moto 360 is
expected to be the rst
Android Wear device with
a round display. That
display and an emphasis
on ne materials and
quality construction is
expected to lead to a
premium price point a cost
of around 300 seems likely.
LG G Watch
Est price 180
Available from July
Ofcially, LG will be one of the rst to release an Android
Wear-powered device, but in reality we expect them to be
the rst. With a square screen it is less
sophisticated in design than the
Moto 360, but beauty is in the
eye of the beholder
Inside the UI
The Android Wear UI is based around two
main concepts Suggest and Demand. The
Suggest mode presents a vertical list of
cards, very much like the normal Google
Now view on an Android phone, each
showing a separate piece of information.
Sweeping up and down on the Android Wear
devices touchscreen display enables you to
scroll between cards. Each card is the size
of the whole screen and has visually
appealing background images that also
provide additional context (such as a photo
of a Hangout user). Cards can be swiped left
in the list to show additional pages, which
can also include buttons to enable the user
to take actions based on the notication
such as starting a reply or opening the
relevant app on your device. Cards can also
be dismissed via swiping right, again in a
way similar to the current Google Now
experience. Although the cards are
designed for a single piece of information,
Android Wear will

launch with two design
choices: round or square
19
Feature
Android Wear
Voice communication
HOW IT
WORKS
The watch is listening!

At the main screen (cue screen)
say "OK Google"
Say voice command from

preinstalled list
If multiple apps are recognising
Receiving,
reading and
dismissing your
notications
phrase, choose appropriate app
Applications can recognise free

text or predened words
Voice functions can also be
Notication listener
actioned on screen with swipes

and taps if required
passes notication to
watch
Notications can be
Checking your Google

Now-style cards
standard or Android
Wear enhanced
At the cue screen, sweep up and
Notications are
down to view cards
displayed on the
bottom half of the
screen
Cards can be swept away to

dismiss
Click notication to
Further detail is available by
view more detail
sweeping across as with

notications
Sweep right to
dismiss
Watch uses context gained from
Sweep left to see
in-built sensors and phone to

provide appropriate cards
more options
Developers will be able to add
Click action buttons
custom pages to their

notications
to perform further
tasks
ANDROID WEAR: THE KEY FEATURES
20
Notify
Respond
Voice command
Contextual info
Central to the Android Wear

experience is notications. When
paired to your device, notications will
automatically be pulled across, but
they will be richer and more useful
when developers add specic Android
Wear enhancements.
Each card in the Android Wear UI can

have a number of associated actions.
For an email it might be archive,
delete or reply but the app can dene
these to be whatever is appropriate.
Googles demo video shows an
example of checking in for a ight.
Android Wear doesnt have a

keyboard your voice is the input
method. This can be in the form of a
voice command, using your voice to
pick from a predened list of items or
dictating a section of text, for
example when replying to a message.
Because it is based on Google Now,

Android Wear knows what information
is important to you based on where
you are and what youre doing. That
means local weather, location-based
reminders, local places of interest
and much more.
Feature
Android Wear
they can also show stacks, indicating more than

one item of the same type. This is ideal for apps
such as Gmail to send notications to the device.
The Demand concept is used when the user
wants to initiate an action on their Android Wear
device tapping the main (cue) cards g icon or
saying "OK Google" starts voice recognition on the
device. Application developers will be able to
register custom voice commands or hook into a
standard list of predened commands. As is
common Android behaviour, if more than one
application is registered for a particular command,
the user will be able to choose their preferred app.
Google Glass has shown that while voice
recognition is improving all the time, voice dictation
still has a long way to go. Try planning a route via
voice to some of the UKs more unusually
pronounced destinations it just doesnt work.
Voice recognition also has varying degrees of
success with regional accents. For this reason,
voice input works best when the user is speaking
from a set list of commands (canned responses)
and the system can determine which item was
spoken rather than trying to do full voice recognition.
One area where wearables have struggled to date
is design smartwatches generally just dont look
like desirable pieces of jewellery. The rst two
Android Wear devices to be announced the LG G

Watch and the Motorola Moto 360 demonstrate
two different design approaches that are available
for rst generation Android Wear devices. The G
Watch is a device with a square screen very
similar to the smartwatches that we have
seen to date while the Moto 360 is
more innovative with a round screen
more like a conventional watch
Android Wear effortlessly
supports both form factors.
Design
In the current preview release,
square devices have a 280 x 280
pixel screen while round devices have
a 320 x 320 resolution. Other hardware
specs are still awaiting conrmation, however,
it is likely that the watches will contain an array of
sensors for movement (giving both Fitbit-style
tracking and enabling Google Play Services to
determine when you are walking, running, dancing
(!) with your watch) as well as a vibration motor,
speaker for notications and microphone for input.
Interestingly theres no mention of additional
hardware such as cameras at this stage. It does
appear as though at least initially the key
Its easy to see that while its

important to make great hardware,
the real power for the platform comes
in software
differentiator between Android Wear products will

be whether they have a round or square face and
their overall design. This is likely to change as the
platform matures.
Strangely, one of the aspects of Android
Wear that weve barely seen to date is
watch faces. Its not clear yet exactly
how easy it will be to tell the time
surely one of the key aspects of
a smartwatch. While its not
known whether Android Wear
devices will be always on, its
likely that this will be dependent
on the screen technology used in
the device. If the watch uses a
Mirasol display as seen in the
Qualcomm Toq then it may be feasible
to keep the screen on constantly, however, if
a conventional colour LCD or OLED screen is used,
then its likely to be off most of the time and woken
by movement of the wrist. If custom watch faces
are to be available in a future release of the Android
Wear developer tools, it will be interesting to see
whether they are deployed via the Play store (and
therefore potentially chargeable).
Unlike Google Glass, Android Wear is largely a
dumb device, offering little or no functionality
without being tethered to your Android phone.
Connectivity is handled via Bluetooth Smart (also
known as Bluetooth LE or Low Energy), which should
help ensure good battery life. There is no mention of
support for iOS and while this could come
eventually (as it did for Google Glass), it denitely
wont be available from launch.
Although LG and Motorola are the rst partners to
announce Android Wear devices, a host of other
Here's a lowdown of Android Wear's biggest selling points
Song recognition
Barcodes
Warn
Fitness
Also in the demonstration video

posted online, Google showed off
tapping on the watch to use Google
Sound Search to look up a song title,
much like Shazam. This likely takes
advantage of the built-in microphone
on Android Wear devices.
Throw away your loyalty cards soon

youll be able to pull up a QR code or
barcode on the screen of your
Android Wear device and save money
on that coffee. How well this will work
will likely depend on the screen
technology in use!
If your watch knows where you are

and what youre doing, then it can
give you contextual warnings. Not just
watch out for the jellysh at the
beach as demoed by Google, but
perhaps accident ahead if youre
driving somewhere.
With a number of sensors set to be

built in to Android Wear devices,
expect to see step counting, activity
tracking (walking, cycling, driving etc)
and use of that data in the
aforementioned contexts. It's going
to be a massive part of Android Wear.
21
Feature
Android Wear
TEST ANDROID
WEAR TODAY
lthough there are no real Android Wear devices available to buy as yet, if
you are a developer or just an interested Android fan looking for a
sneak peak you can download the Android Wear developer preview,
which includes an emulator for both the square and round versions of the
Android Wear OS. As a developer preview it is a very early version and
functionality is limited, but it is interesting nonetheless.
1 Download the
Android SDK
To download the Android Wear developer
preview and emulator, you need to ensure you
have the Android SDK installed, from where you
can download the Android Wear system image.
You must have Android SDK Tools revision
22.6or higher installed too.
4 Set up an Android
Wear AVD
In the Android Virtual Device manager, when you
press New you will now be able to create a
virtual device using either the square or round
image. Ensure you choose API level 19 (Android
4.4.2) with a hardware keyboard (the emulator
doesnt support voice input).
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2 Sign up for the

developer preview
Using a Gmail or Google account, sign up for the
developer preview at developer.android.com/
wear/preview/signup.html. After signing up you
will receive a link where you can download the
Android Wear Preview app for Android. This is
used to connect your device to the emulator.
5 Start the emulator
All thats left to do now is to hit Start on

the emulator to launch the virtual device and
connect your phone to the emulator via ADB
this lets you receive real notications in the
emulator. Use the adb command adb -d forward
tcp:5601 tcp:5601 with your phone attached to
connect. The g icon shows when connected.
3 Access through
browser
The developer preview is installed from the SDK
manager. In the Android 4.4.2 section, look for
Android Wear ARM EABI v7a System Image.
Ensure it is checked and also ensure that you
have the latest version of the Android Support
Library installed. Click the Install button.
6 Try out Android Wear

Thats it youre done! You can use your
mouse to sweep around on the screen as if you
were using your nger and you can input text
using your keyboard in lieu of voice commands.
Real notications from your device should
appear in the emulator, giving you a good feel of
what it will be like to own a watch.
Feature
Android Wear
companies are expected to release products this

year, including Samsung, HTC and Asus. The
Samsung announcement is particularly interesting
as it has moved away from the cut-down Android OS
used on the original Galaxy Gear to a Tizen-based
OS for the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit its not
clear where an Android Wear product would t into
its portfolio, although Samsungs scattergun
approach to product releases means that its
commitment shouldnt be a surprise!
HTC is likely to take a design-led approach to
Android Wear, leveraging its renowned skills in
materials to deliver what could be one of the best
built devices.
Sony has stated that at this time it is sticking with
its own OS for current and future smartwatches,
although if Android Wear is a huge success, this
may well change given the decidedly average sales
of its own watches to date. Pebble is also
committed to its own newly launched ecosystem.
Is this the future?

Where Android Wear could really start to change the
wearables market is if it enables non-technology
brands to quickly and easily produce wearable
devices. Fossilhas already committed to producing
an Android Wear smartwatch, although it does have

a certain amount of history in this area who
remembers the Microsoft SPOT watch from Fossil?
If we see other traditional watch brands getting on
board with Google and Android Wear it will be a very
signicant development.
While no devices are available to buy yet, it is
possible to get a feel for how Android Wear works,
and developers can start testing applications for
the platform. A developer preview with both square
and round emulators can be downloaded from
developer.android.com/wear/preview. After
installation, the emulator can be connected to your
phone to get a real feel for how Android Wear works.
A video demo of Android Wear for developers can be
found at mdc.gd/weardevs.
One of the best things about Android Wear is that
by hooking into the Android notication system, it
will already deliver a good experience straight out of
the box. On top of that, when developers do want to
add enhanced wearable features to its application,
its easy to do so literally just a few lines of code to
add a really great smartwatch experience. We
anticipate a lot of applications supporting Android
Wear devices from day one and lots more being
updated very quickly after release.
Compared to some competing devices on the

market, developing for Android Wear is going to be
easy. Because it uses the same tools, programming
language and APIs, the learning curve is less steep.
Its easy to see that while its important to make
great hardware (and indeed it seems as though
Android Wear has the right partners to do that), the
real power for the platform comes in software.
Google is likely to deliver excellent experiences for
its core products like Now, Gmail, Hangouts etc, but
third-party developers will be vital in enabling
Android Wear to be a success. We all know how
powerful and exible Android is, and also how
innovative the millions of app developers are it's
very feasible that well see some very exciting uses
for Android Wear that we havent even dreamt about
appearing over the next year.
While Googles initial ambitions for Android Wear
are clearly in the smartwatch market, it makes
sense that the platform will spread to other device
types as the wearable space develops. Anything
with a small display and the ability to process voice
input could support the cut-down OS. Google
Glass-type devices could even run Android Wear,
which could bring their cost down considerably. This
is just the beginning
ON TEST: ANDROID WEAR VS THE REST

Android Wear
Pebble Steel
Samsung Galaxy Gear 2
Sony Smartwatch 2
Design
Android Wear will come in a number of

designs to suit every user, with many
manufacturers yet to reveal their
products. The Moto 360 is likely to be
tough to beat!
The Pebble Steel takes the insides of

the original Pebble and wraps them in a
gorgeous metal body. Its a beautiful
thing with both metal and leather
straps included.
The Galaxy Gear 2 doesnt look that

different from its predecessor,
although the camera placement is
much improved. That means its still
not a looker!
Available in two versions with either a

metal or leather strap, the Smartwatch
2 sticks closely to Sonys
design language. Its pretty big and
very square.
Screen
Full colour LCD screens are the order of

the day in both round and
square variants. With multiple
manufacturers, multiple screen types
are likely to be available.
The screen on the Pebble Steel isnt

going to wow you, but it is on all the
time, unlike its peers. Battery life is also
very good as a result.
For eye-popping colours, you cant really

beat the AMOLED screen on the Galaxy
Gear series. Theyre relatively power
efcient too, although not always on.
The screen on the Smartwatch 2

is a conventional square LCD. Its
good, but it brings neither the colour
pop of the Gear nor the power saving of
the Pebble.
Software
Android Wear is going to be big, and out

of the box it already does some
very cool things. Developer support will
be considerable.
The Pebble has its own growing

ecosystem with a wide variety of apps,
but development is more involved than
for Android Wear.
With the move from Android to Tizen,

developers are having to rewrite their
apps. When they do however, it is a very
rich platform.
Sonys Smartwatch OS has

been around for a while now and while
there are a decent number of apps,
quality is variable.
Choice
A whole host of Android Wear-powered

products will be available, with a wide
choice of manufacturers and designs.
The Pebble is available in original

plastic and Steel versions, but if you
can justify the extra cost, the Steel is
the one to have.
The Gear comes in the discontinued

Galaxy Gear version, Gear 2, Gear 2
Neo and Gear Fit. They all share a
common love-it-or-hate-it design.
Sonys single Smartwatch 2 has been

out for a while now and will like be
replaced in the not too distant
future by a product featuring Sonys
Core technology.
Watch brand
VERDICT
a platform rather than a product is how Android got as big as it is today, and in the
Android Wear Releasing
smartwatch space, the same approach looks set to win. Hardware choice with common software!
23
50 BEST
FREE
UPGRADES
Take your device to

the next level without
spending anything
he relentless pace of development in the

Android world means that even the most
cutting-edge device will be surpassed within a
few months. And if you've bought your phone on a
two-year contract the feeling that you're missing out
on the best the platform has to offer can be even
stronger. Fortunately, the openness of Android
means that you're never stuck with what your
phone gave you when you rst bought it. You can
upgrade everything and add whole new features
that you never thought possible, and in most cases
it won't even cost you. So join us as we take a look
at 50 ways you can update your phone, all for free.
24
FREE UPGRADE TIPS

SYNC TO YOUR DESKTOP
Do you need to copy les to and from your Android
device to a PC or a Mac? All you need to do is plug your
Android into a computer using a USB cable and use it
as an external drive. For Macs, the free download
Android File Transfer app is needed. Head over to
android.com/letransfer.
Turn your
Android device
into a fully blown
personal computer
PERFECT VIDEO CHATTING
SEND TEXTS FROM A PC
Hangouts is a brilliant app for video chats and you can

ask multiple people to join in, all for free. But Skype
remains a solid alternative. Tablet users can take
advantage of picture-in-picture calling where video
calls can still be seen even if you switch to another
app. It also offers multi-user chats and it comes with
instant messaging too.
Using the free service AirDroid you can control your Android
device from a computer. It will enable you to send and receive
text messages via a desktop, move items on and off the Android
device and even nd and locate your phone or tablet if it ever
becomes lost. Another brilliant feature is the easy ability to tether
your Android smartphone to a computer, using the device as a
portable hotspot.
USE ANDROID AS A MEDIA

REMOTE
GET MORE FROM

PAID APPS
One of the great uses of an Android

tablet or phone is their ability to be
used as remote controls. Look through
Google Play to see if an app is available
for your TV. You will see gems such as
LG TV Remote that lets you view apps and get straight to services
such as Netix. Peel Smart Remote works with Galaxy Tabs and
hooks up well with Samsung TVs and the Panasonic TV Remote 2
works with Panasonic televisions. If you use XBMC, the Ofcial
XBMC Remote brings library browsing. Want to remote control a
PC or Mac? Then try Splashtop 2 Remote Desktop.
Yes, were
looking at
free
upgrades, but
if you buy an
app from
Google Play
and you hate it, then as long as you act
within 15 minutes, you can go back,
tap Refund and get your money
back to splash out on something else.
GO HANDS-FREE
Delve into the
settings for
Language &
Input on your
device and you
should see Voice
Search under
the category of Speech. Tap on this to call
up some speech settings, one of which is
ofine speech recognition. You are able to
download and manage various languages
and, because they are stored on your
device, it should speed up translation.
Stream video to your TV
Radically change your UI
Multitask on Android
Now that Chromecast is

available in the UK, it
costs just 30 to be
able to stream video
from Android direct to
any television. But thats
not free. So download
Flipps instead and you
will be able to stream
video to any connected
television without the
need for a dongle.
Download GO Launcher
EX and you can replace
your user interface with
a brand-new launcher.
There are a staggering
10,000 themes to
choose from. You have
to pay if you want to
remove ads and have a
security lock but for
beautiful styling, this is
the perfect upgrade.
If you would like to

multitask and keep
items running in the
background while you
go off to perform
another task, you could
try Floating Apps. It lets
you have apps such as a
browser oating on your
device. You can move
them around and have
windows side-by-side.
25
MUSIC UPGRADES
Power up your Android's sound
output without spending
a fortune
Change
Use an
streaming
equaliser
quality
Built in to the
Boost the
It is always
Google Play Music
advisable to use
volume
app is a great
Volume Booster by
Wait What claims
to boost overall
sound by between
15 and 30 per cent
using a
sophisticated
algorithm. We
certainly noticed an
increase in volume
when using the
app. You can even
adjust different
levels for system
and notication
sounds too.
equaliser that
enables for
complex volume
control. You can
alter the frequency
of your music to
enhance the
overall sound
quality. The
Equaliser also
includes settings
for bass boost.
There is surround
sound, too, for
richer quality.
Wi-Fi as the rst

port of call for
streaming music
but if that is not
possible, you can
change the quality
of your streaming
to suit your data
plan in the
Settings of Google
Play Music.
Increasing the
bitrate will use
more data but if
quality is what you
want, this will help.
Explore
root mods
One of the best
audio apps around
is Viper4Android,
which comes with
many custom
ROMS and is
available to
download online.
You need a rooted
phone and the
software doesn't
work with all apps
(it struggles with
the default
Samsung Music
Player) but it
makes music
louder and it
enables for Hass
psychoacoustic
channel
localisation and
reverberation.
Alter the
frequency to
enhance the
overall
sound
quality
Tweak your settings and make apps

like SoundCloud sound better than ever
Speed up via
Developer options
Perform an
online search
to nd out how
to unlock
Developer
options for your
device. Find the
Developer options within your
Settings and change Window
animation scale, Transition
animation scale and Animator
duration scale to 0.5x. Your device
will now be much quicker.
26
Update the OS
Force an update
A great way to
instantly
upgrade is to
update the
operating
system on your
Android device.
The latest version is 4.4 KitKat so
this is what you are aiming for. Go
to Settings>About and then tap
the System Update or Software
Update option. It will let you know
if your Android device is up to date
and if there are available updates.
If you have an
old phone or
tablet that
cannot be
simply updated
over the air,
then use
CyanogenMod, a free operating
system, which is created from the
source code of Android's latest
releases. Try the CyanogenMod
Downloader in Google Play to help
you install it but do remember to
back up rst.
Set up multiple
user proles
To allow more
than one user
on your phone
or device, go to
Settings>
Users>Add
User. The new
user can then be set up, signing in
and conguring the device for their
own use. You can restrict them to
their own apps and content just
set up a passcode of some sort.
UPGRADE YOUR CAMERA
Keep up to date
Take your device's hardware to new levels of power

Camera360
Ultimate
Focal (Beta)
ProCapture
Free
Snapseed
Image quality
With a HDR shooting mode
and support for Sony lenses
that you can mount on your
phone, the possibilities are
wide open.
It takes cool panorama

shots (but it's semi-broken)
and it has HDR shooting
yet the initial results are of a
high standard.
Snapseed is photo editing

software and it takes your
photos and really helps them
to shine. It cannot shoot
photos itself though.
The different shooting modes

timer, reduced noise, burst,
wide shot and panorama
allow for some amazing
images to be captured.
Features
Lots and lots. Over the
years, more and more have
been added so you can enjoy
photo albums, cloud services
and lots of effects.
With self and auto-timers,

the ability on Sony devices to
alter shutter speed and a
review drawer, it has much
going for it.
Auto-correct is the lazy

option and yet it still adds a
professional touch. You can
tune and straighten images
to perfection.
ProCapture has a lightning

fast shutter, image focus
lock and essential elements
such as white balance and
exposure in easy reach.
Post-production editing
Again, it pulls no punches
with free effects including
Effect Cam, Sele Cam,
Funny Cam and more. There
are 100 effects for free.
All the attention of its

developers went into
creating the best camera
possible. Bugs mean it's not
there yet, however.
Here it excels like no other.

By swiping left and right to
adjust enhancements, you
can alter brightness,
ambiance and more.
There are no picture editing

functions which means you
need to go to a different,
tailor-made app for
post-production.
Ease of use
There are so many features
that it will take some time to
get to grips with everything,
so it's perhaps not as simple
as other apps.
It has a smooth interface and

yet there are bugs but the
makers warn you of these.
It's in beta still so
improvements should follow.
And the winner is...

CAMERA
360
ULTIMATE
For a free camera app, you'll struggle to beat the power and
exibility that Camera 360 Ultimate rewards you with. It'll give
you extra shooting modes to snap great images and then
provides over 100 brilliant effects to get the best out of them
Everything works
smoothly with gestures so it
makes for an effortless, neat
and easy way of altering any
image you take.
There are preset modes and

the app concentrates purely
on taking photos. You can
map functions to hardware
buttons to help.
Don't forget that a lot of apps upgrade

themselves, with developers constantly
working on improving their programs. So
make sure that you keep an eye out, not
only for software updates but app
updates too and ensure you install them
so that your device runs as efciently as it
possibly can.
Free up wasted
storage
Slow Android devices can, in many cases,
be sped up by performing a factory reset.
Go to Settings>Backup & Reset and tap
Factory data reset. It sounds harsh but it
will remove junk les and folders following
months and years of installs and
uninstalls. Once done, reinstall your
favourite apps.
It'll give you extra shooting modes

to snap great images and then
provides over 100 brilliant effects
to get the best out of them
It might be dramatic,
but a factory reset will
cure a lot of problems
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GET TODAY'S BEST NEW FEATURES NOW

Like the look of some of the latest Android phones? You can get some
of their best feautures on your current phone today!
Feature
Samsung Galaxy S5
Multi Window
Samsung's Multi Window feature enables apps to be oated in a window, on top of
another app, and it also lets the screen be split between two apps.
My Magazine
This app recommends news feeds, gives personal updates that includes content
created on your device, delivers social updates and has local information.
Fingerprint scanner
The S5 lets you scan your ngerprint to unlock the handset and to pay for various
items through PayPal, following the lead set by Apple with its iPhone 5s.
Smart Switch
Samsung Smart Switch makes it easy to switch from an Apple iPhone to Android
which, as everyone knows, is the smart way to do things.
HTC One (M8)
Motion gestures
With the HTC One M8 comes some useful motion gestures, one of which lets you
tap the screen to turn the phone on.
BlinkFeed
The BlinkFeed home screen feature shows specic RSS feeds and calendar
appointments from a host of sources such as The Guardian and CNET.
Zoe
Zoe is about to evolve into a cloud-based service allowing friends to upload videos,
photos and music and share classic moments and highlights.
Auto-answer calls
Being able to auto-answer a call by placing it next to your ear is much easier than
having to tap at the screen rst and then lift it.
LG G2
Guest mode
Guest mode lets you personalise the user experience of someone borrowing your
phone, controlling which apps they can access and what they can do.
Slide Aside
With Slide Aside, you can use three ngers to swipe away active applications, storing
up to three apps and bringing them in and out of play at will.
Clip Tray
Clip Tray is a clever clipboard that lets you store images,
links and texts on your phone for later use, sliding up from the bottom of the screen.
Capture Plus
Full webpages can be snapped with Capture Plus, which LG
says is good for saving online articles, recipes, receipts and so much more besides.
28
How to get it
Tiny Apps lite (oating) will let you enjoy ve
oating apps that can stay on top of others,
giving you the ability to take notes, record, paint,
list music and calculate sums.
Since My Magazine is powered by Flipboard, all

you need to do is download this app to bring your
news, images and updates straight to your
ngertips, magazine-style.
Disregard the joke ngerprint scanner apps and

get ICE Unlock Fingerprint Secure, which may be
ddly, but takes a biometric photo of your pinky
and lets you use it to unlock.
Migrate contacts and calendar dates from

iPhone to Android via Google Sync, store texts in
the cloud with MySMS and mount your iPhone to
a PC to save media, ready for copying to Android.
Tap Tap App (Screen On-Off) by Pedro Maicas

lets you lock and unlock an Android screen by
double tapping, quickly turning off the screen.
The BlinkFeed content engine is made by Mobiles

Republic, who produce the News Republic app on
Google Play and it is well licensed with lots of
partners.
Google+ is already built in to Android and

provides this kind of service, and it too is free so
all you need to do is make better use of it. There
is also Facebook
There isn't an easy like-for-like solution but Auto

Answer the phone FREE will let you automatically
put your phone into speaker mode when it rings.
Try Kids Place, which is an app launcher that

protects your personal data, prevents downloads
and calls and restricts people to pre-approved
apps.
This is a feature emulated well in the LG G2

emulator, available from Google Play, which goes
further and lets you experience KnockON and
Quick Memo too.
Evernote and Pocket are two brilliant free apps

that enable you to clip items from the internet
and store them in the cloud with the benet of
being able to access from anywhere.
The Websnap-Web capture,Web widget app lets

you do the same: taking a snapshot of an entire
webpage or part of one and letting you manage
or share it.
Power-up Gmail
Better calendar
CloudMagic
SolCalendar
The exibility of
CloudMagic makes it a very
useful free upgrade when
compared to the Gmail app
alone. It is robust, allows for
non-Google email providers
such as Outlook, Yahoo and
Exchange and feels intuitive.
With fast searching and
integration with Evernote, Pocket, MailChimp
and more, it's amazingly good.
Flexible photos
QuickPic
In combining the
Gallery and the Photo app
into one, you can take
advantage of QuickPic's le
management facilities,
animated GIF and video
features and enhanced
scanning that can exclude
certain folders to speed
things up. There are some basic editing
functions too. All in all, it's a tidy package.
Google Calendar
is very functional and we
love using it so nding
something that betters it
even with so much choice
isn't easy. SolCalendar grabs
our attention because it is
similar in many respects to
Google Calendar. It pulls in
your events immediately and pretties them up
with stickers and themes.
UPGRADE
YOUR
BUILT-IN APPS
More eBooks
A very popular
replacement
keyboard, SwiftKey adapts
to the way you hold your
tablet and it also has
fantastic auto-correction
and next-word prediction. By
knowing what you may type,
it takes away much of the
hassle of typing on a screen and it is regarded
as one of the best upgrades you can make.
Before Chrome
came along, Firefox was the
desktop browser of choice
and on Android it is equally
head-turning. It is lightningfast, making mobile
browsing even more
pleasurable and you can
keep your favourite sites to
hand, needing only a quick swipe. With
anti-tracking features, it is also secure.
More messaging
WhatsApp
Bought by
Facebook in a move that
ignited the internet,
WhatsApp Messenger is a
brilliant upgrade to SMS.
With KitKat, Google has
lumped SMS capabilities in
with Hangouts but here it is
pure, quick and easy and
uses none of your data allowance either. It's a
multi-platform system too.
PayPal
The beauty of
Kindle is that it is a
cross-platform device so if
you own a Kindle, a
computer, an iPhone or iPad,
or indeed any device that
connects to the internet, you
can pretty much guarantee
that you'll be able to keep
reading. It's this kind of portability and
future-proong that we enjoy greatly.
SwiftKey
Mozilla Firefox
Digital wallet
Kindle
Easier typing
Faster browsing
PayPal has been

around for a long time and
thanks to eBay, millions of
people have an active
account. With PayPal on
Android, you can take the
payment system with you in
stores and restaurants (as
long as they accept it as
payment, of course). You can also send and
request money.
Prettier alarms
Timely
Of note here is the
Smart Rise feature of Timely
that is based on what it calls
advanced sleep-cycle
theory. It will fade in a
melody very slowly over 30
minutes before your alarm is
due to go off, enabling you to
wake up more gradually
rather than with a jolting start as is common
with many alarms.
Be more productive
Any.do
Google Keep is a
varied package that works
well, letting you search
images and nd printed text
in photos. But Any.do is an
innovative to-do list app that
has a clean user interface
and seamlessly syncs with
the Chrome browser on a
computer via an extension. Easy to use, and
with reminder alarms, it's very productive.
29
Boost your
wellbeing
Sleep aid
Restless
nights?
Place
SleepBot
on your
bed, then
snooze and wake up to
readings telling you how
long you slept for, when you
moved and woke up.
POWER UP THE CLOUD
ou do not have to stick to just one

cloud storage service on your
Android device. As well as being
able to download the various apps, from
OneDrive to Google Drive, Dropbox to
SugarSync, you can also bring them all
together in a single management app.
You can use Cloudii, which makes for
very easy management of various cloud
services or if you are after advanced
control over the cloud, then ES File
Explorer is a great app to consider using.
Upgrade your phone's

functionality via the cloud
Heart rate monitor

It's the latest thing on the
Galaxy S5, but Instant Heart
Rate has been around for
ages. With your nger on
the phone's camera, you
can track colour changes,
check your pulse and give
heart rate readings.
Calories counter
Tapping
into
MyFitness
Pal's huge
database
and
charting how much you eat
will keep you trim.
Toggle count
At the very top of the screen, you will see options

for Local, LAN and Cloud. Select Cloud. The screen will be
blank and it will prompt you to add a server to your Android
device. So tap on New.
Select service
There are a number of services to choose from.

They are Box, SugarSync, Dropbox, OneDrive, Gdrive, S3,
Yandex and Ubuntu. While the latter's service is on its way
out, the others are in existence, so select one.
Cycling tracker
Whether running or cycling,
MapMyRide is the perfect
accompaniment. It tracks
your distance, charts your
route on a map, indicates
the calories burned and
gives updated audio alerts.
Running stats
Run
Keeper is
perfect for
sharing
routes,
stats and
times. The idea is that such
outside interference will
keep you on your toes and
gain you support.
Pocket doctor
Feeling run down? Need an
instant diagnosis? WebMD
is the most comprehensive
and trusted medical
reference app around.
30
Sign in
Simply sign in to your service using the sign-in box

that will appear on the screen. When you have done this,
tap OK. You can now repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times
as you like, each time adding a new cloud server.
Use services
Each of your cloud services will appear on your

tablet. Tap on the one that you want. ES File Explorer will
then enable you to work with the les in any way you wish.
Working this way saves having to open each app.
Improve your battery's life
Free up RAM
If you fear running out

of juice while on the
road, then use a
management app such
as Tasker. You could
use it to automatically
turn off certain
services such as Wi-Fi when you are at work, for
example. You can also toggle the brightness and turn
off Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth manually.
Another battery saving

tip: make sure you
shut down running
apps, otherwise they
will eat into your
device's power. Go to
Settings>Apps and
move along to the Running tab. Tap each one and select
Stop. Or download Close All Apps and use the Close all
applications button to pull the plug on the lot.
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Tutorials
masterclass
Replace your
laptop
A set of apps, tweaks and workarounds that let you replace your
laptop with your phone
martphones and tablets mean

that, essentially, we carry a
powerful mini computer around
with us all day. That can make
returning to your desktop feel like a
cumbersome, unintuitive experience.
But fear not, because turning your
Android device into a brilliant desktop
replacement is within the reach of
pretty much anyone whos got a
Google-powered phone or tablet. It
makes switching from pocket
computing to sit-down computing that
much smoother, and youll be up and
running in no time. In these short
tutorials well show you how to turn
your pocket-sized computer into the
sort of machine youre going to be
happy plugging in to a monitor to do
some work at home. Theres nothing
that complex to it, and by installing a
few apps, changing a few settings,
and a bit of creative thinking, youll
soon have an Android-powered
desktop experience that will have you
chucking your current desktop into
the bin. Well, you probably wont
throw it in the rubbish, but youll
denitely be using it less. Theres
always going to be a space for a larger
computing experience, but these
tutorials are going to show you how to
make that space much smaller.
Ask your own

question online at
littlegreenrobot.co.uk
Are there any

Android
devices out
there that can
replace my
laptop out of
the box?
Your best bet in that
department is the
Asus Transformer,
although its getting a
little long in the tooth.
There are cases for
other tablets that add
keyboards, but
tweaking around a
regular Android is
probably your best bet.
Well show you

how to turn your
Android into the
sort of machine
youre going
to be happy
plugging into
a monitor
buy a powered USB cable
for a couple of quid that
will let you plug USB
peripherals into your
Android device and use
them straight away.
2. A lot of Android
devices have screen
mirroring technology,
meaning you can bring up your
Android desktop on any PC thats
connected to the same network,
essentially turning your phone or
tablet into your PCs operating system.
Five top laptop-replacement tips

1. If you dont want to use a Bluetooth
mouse, or you dont have one, you can
3. Remember when youre using an

external keyboard you can get rid of
the software keyboard that pops up
Some extra tips Simple tricks to make sure you dont need your laptop
32
Customise
multitasking
Lock your
rotation
Mouse
pointer speed
Tapping on the Edit

button at the bottom
of the windowed
multitasking drawer,
you can add different
apps. Its worth
checking out which
ones you can use, and
making sure the ones
you need are within
easy reach.
Pretty simple one this,

but if youre going to
be using your Android
device as a laptop
replacement on the
go, its best to lock the
screen rotation into a
landscape
perspective,
otherwise bumps or
moves might ip it.
If you do decide to use

your Android device as
a mouse pad, its
worth having a look in
the Language and
input menu in your
devices Settings app
to slow down or speed
up the speed of the
pointer depending on
your preference.
You probably dont realise

just how powerful the tiny Android
device in your pocket is
every time you go to a text box either

by tapping back or hitting the button
on the software keyboard that
minimises it.
4. Dont forget you can also turn your
Android device into a keyboard,
mouse and general remote control for
your PC. Its helpful if you want to get
your phone more involved, but arent
ready to abandon your desktop setup
just yet.
5. A lot of the remote connections in
these tutorials need you to be on the
same internet connection as the host
computer. If you want a more
Windows-ied Android phone on the
go, youll need to root your device.
Android 1.6 and up
Use windowed
multitasking on
your device
Get multiple apps running onscreen at the same time
2min
guide
ss
d
cla ur oi
ter yo dr
as ce An
m pla ith
Re p w
to
lap
Works with
Quickly pair a
Bluetooth keyboard
and mouse with your
Android thanks to this
simple tutorial
Pair
external
devices
ne thing youre going to want to get set up if youre looking to replace your desktop is
windowed multitasking. This lets you run a couple of apps at the same time on-screen,
showing you more information and letting you switch effortlessly between the two. The
following method shows you how to set up windowed multitasking on most Samsung devices,
but there are apps that let you do something similar if youre not using one of the South Korean
companys phones or tablets. The best of them is probably Multiscreen Multitasking THD, which
is available from the Google Play store for 2.20/$3.66.
Turn on Bluetooth on your device. You

can do this from the notications bar or
from the Network menu in settings. Make
sure your device is set to visible.
the settings
1 Open
First up open the Settings menu. Youre
the box
2 Check
Check the box. Itll grey out for a moment
looking for the Display menu. Once youve found it

give it a tap, and you should see a list of options,
one of which says Multi window and has a check
box next to it.
while your device works things out, and then a

white arrow should appear on the right-hand side
of your screen. You can also set Multi window from
the Options section of the notication bar.
If the Bluetooth is turned on on your
keyboard or mouse they should just
show up automatically. Tap on one of them to
pair it up with your Android device.
the arrow
3 Follow
Tap on the arrow and a menu should slide
out showing the icons of the apps youve got
installed that use multitasking. Tap on one of
these and it will open on your device as normal.
Now tap the arrow again.
and drop
4 Drag
Choose the other application you want to
use, then drag it either to the top or the bottom of
the screen. Itll snap nicely in place and youll be
left with two apps running on the same screen. Its
that easy.
On your rst pairing youll need to input

a code to ensure that youre pairing
safely, but thats it. Your keyboard and mouse
should now work on your Android device.
33
Tutorials
Get Windows running
on your Android
Works with
Android 2.2 and up
Using Microsoft
Remote Desktop you
can remotely connect
your Android to your
PC to get the full
Windows experience
f youre looking for a familiar computing

experience delivered to a smaller package,
then this is the way to go. With an ofcial
Microsoft app, which is free to download from the
Google Play store, you can get your home
Windows experience up and running on your
Android device. It can be a little ddly, especially
if your PC isnt set up to work as a remote desktop,
but there are some excellent tutorials on the MS
website that walk you through getting your
the app
1 Install
First up youll need to grab the app from
Link your Android
to a PC in a few
simple steps
connected
3 IfGet
everything has gone smoothly then you
should be able to connect straight away and youll
see the complete Windows desktop on your
Android screen. Remember youll need to be
running a compatible version of Windows. Versions
that use Remote Assistance only wont work.
34
machine set up to essentially stream its desktop

to your phone or tablet. This is probably the
toughest of the tutorials were walking you
through here, and it can be frustrating trying to
get your PC and your phone talking to each other
properly. Still, if you persevere youll end up with
a desktop experience on your Android that means
the les and folders you manipulate will be
replicated on your laptop the next time you go to
it, which isnt half bad at all really.
your details
2 Insert
The computer youre connecting with
the Google Play store and get it installed. It doesnt

cost you a penny, but its a good idea to make sure
the version of Windows youre running is
compatible before you do. The compatible
versions of the OS are easily found via a link.
needs to be on the same wireless network as your

phone and youll need the computers name, and
the username and password for the admin
account. If youre unsure what your laptop is
called, check in its settings.
yourself going
4 Get
Some things are a little different from the
Disconnect when done

5 To
pull the plug on the connection, all you
regular Windows experience, mainly because

youre tapping rather than using a mouse, but
everything you can do on your computer you can
now do on your Android. Just make sure the
computer stays powered while you work.
need to do is open up the start menu and hit the

Sign Out option. This will reset your Android back
to a simple Android device, and leave any changes
you made to your desktop as well. Pretty good for
a free app we think.
Get in touch via Facebook

and Twitter
Works with
ss
d
cla ur oi
ter yo dr
as ce An
m pla ith
Re p w
to
lap
facebook
Message us!
twitter
/littlegreenrobot
@lgrobot
Get help from our

Facebook community
Follow us to send your

questions and thoughts
Varies with device
Sync OneDrive
and QuickOffice
Connect your Google-powered ofce app to your
Microsoft cloud storage for ease of sharing
a folder
1 Open
Go to the OneDrive app and tap on the +
sign in the top bar to create a new folder. Give it a
name like QuickOfce, so you know that
everything in there has come from your Android
device. Now open up QuickOfce.
ts a good bet youve got a lot of different cloud

storage accounts, some of which work better with
different devices than others. Microsofts SkyDrive,
or OneDrive as its called now, tends to gel better with
Windows devices, so if youre looking to use your
Android phone or tablet as a laptop replacement, and
pick up that work on a PC, its a good idea to share it
through OneDrive. Dont worry though, getting that
set up is denitely the easiest of the tutorials here. All
you need is the OneDrive app and the QuickOfce
app. Once youve got those installed its time to start
sharing. Trust us, anyone is going to be able to get
this up and running.
your content
2 Create
Just create your content as you would
normally in QuickOfce. When youre ready, save it
to your memory or to your Google Drive. When its
saved, tap on the three-pointed share button in
the bar at the top of the screen.
to the sky
3 Share
Scroll down the list of destinations and you
should see OneDrive. Tap on it, then search
through to nd your QuickOfce folder. Share the
le there and youre done. Now your le will be
accessible from your SkyDrive wherever you are.
2min Use Firefox desktop extensions

guide
An easy way to get the same Firefox experience on your Android that youre used to on PC
Youre going to need to be in

front of a PC with your Firefox
settings stored on it. Pick up your
Android and open the main menu.
From there head down to Settings,
and then tap on Sync to link the two
devices together.
You should get a code. Head to

the desktop version of Firefox,
go to Tools and then Options. Click
on the Sync option and youll be
shown a list of things you can sync,
as well as a button that lets you pair
a device.
Make sure everything you want

to sync to your Android device
is checked, then click pair a device
and input the code from your phone
or your tablet. The sync should start
automatically if youve put the code
in correctly.
The sync will run on both of the

Firefox installations, so all of
your add-ons should be available on
phone and laptop. Bear in mind that
not all add-ons have mobile
equivalents, so you might not get a
full quote on your phone.
35
Tutorials
Create shortcuts to app
functions
Works with
Android 4.0 and up
Use Nova Launcher to create

home screen shortcuts directly
to the parts of apps you use most
ts hard to pick the best thing about

Nova Launcher. It does a whole bunch
of really clever stuff, and the free
version doesnt cost you penny to install.
In this tutorial were going to be looking
at one of the cool little features that you
might have overlooked. Nova Launcher
lets you add shortcuts on your home
screens to specic parts of apps.
So, for example, you could have an app
icon that takes you directly to the part of
your Twitter app that lets you compose a
tweet. Its a great time-saving idea and
you can make as many of them as you
want. Its not the trickiest of tasks, but
were going to walk you through getting
it set up, and give you a few other tips on
how to get the most out of the feature
too. First things rst though, youre
going to need to install Nova Launcher,
otherwise this tutorial really isnt going
to work well. Once youre done, its time
to get started.
Shortcuts
The one were interested in for this

tutorial is Shortcuts. The others are
pretty self-explanatory, but again if
youre new to Nova Launcher its
worth having a tap through to get
used to what everything does and
where it goes in your new launcher
Get familiar
When youve got Nova
Launcher installed, a press
on your home screen will
bring up this menu. Some of
its going to be familiar to
regular Android users, but the
rest is unique to Nova
Launcher. Get familiar with
the app and how it works
Quick launch
Up and running
When youre ready to go, tap on the
Shortcuts button and youll be taken
to the menu you need. Follow the
steps weve listed below carefully
and youll have some specialised
custom-made shortcuts set up on
your shiny new home screen in no
time at all
Tap the menu

1 Once
youve tapped shortcuts youll be
presented with a long list of possibilities. The one
were interested in is at the top though, which is
nice. Its called Activities, and next to it you should
see Nova Launchers icon. Tap on it and youll be
taken to another long list.
36
Nova Launcher lets you

customise much quicker
than the stock launcher,
and makes doing it a lot
easier than the third-party
launchers most devices
ship with nowadays. With
just one long press youve
opened up all these
different options
your app
2 Find
This list shows you all the apps and
processes youve got installed that you can turn
into shortcuts. For this tutorial were going to show
you how to compose an email in the Google Gmail
app, so scroll down to the Gs, and then give the
correct icon a tap.
your action
3 Find
Tapping opens a sub-list that shows the
various features you can create shortcuts to. Have
a look at the names underneath the entries and
youll see one that says ComposeActivityGmail. All
you have to do is tap on that and your shortcut will
be created and added to your home screen.
Some tips to get the most out of your new short-cutting ability
1 Dont make too many
If youre having to root through

shortcuts all the time youre
probably doing it wrong.
2 Box them up
Build folders around shortcuts and

group them for ease. Keep your
most used ones accessible.
3 Have a look rst
Look in the Shortcuts menu to see if

the shortcut you want exists before
building it.
4 Do it with widgets
There are some apps that have

widgets that will let you perform
similar short-cutting tasks.
5 SD save
If youre swapping phones, store

your Nova settings on an SD card to
import them.
Ask your own

question online at
Are there any other

interesting ways
that I can use
shortcuts in Nova
Launcher?
done yet
4 Not
And there you have it, your own personal
shortcut to compose an email. You might notice
that it looks the same as your Gmail icon, and has
the same name, which is going to get a bit
confusing. Were going to have to change that, but
dont worry, its easy.
press
5 Long
To start things off, simply long press on
your new icon. A pop-up with a couple of options
on it should now appear above the shortcut. You
want to tap on the one at the top of the choices,
which is called Edit, in order to change the name of
your shortcut.
Nova Launcher is basically

made up of interesting
shortcuts. Check out the Nova
Actions in the menu a long
press on the homescreen
brings up. Theres lots of quick
ways to get to important
features of your phone,
including recent apps and the
search function. The launcher is
basically built for
experimentation.
Ive just started

using Nova
Launcher, whats
your best tip?
new name
6 A
Enter a new name that will differentiate the
new shortcut from its parent app. In this case,
something like Gmail Compose is a good idea.
Obviously you can give different shortcuts different
names to try and make them stand out more. Tap
the tick when youre happy with the name.
a look
7 Have
Now were basically nished. Youve got
your shortcut up and running with a sensible name
and youre pretty much ready to go. Its probably
best to have a tap on it at this point to make sure
that youve actually attached the process you
wanted to to the new shortcut.
Make sure you set Nova

Launcher as your default,
otherwise your phone or tablet
is going to keep asking you
whether you want to use the
launcher it shipped with or
Nova. As soon as it asks,
choose Nova, and set it not to
ask again.
Need help?
Got a problem with your
Android phone or tablet?
Get in touch with us...
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
Get help from our
Facebook community
presto
8 Hey
If its all worked, one tap should bring you
a play
9 Have
There are lots of other things you can do
to the composition screen of the Gmail app. If it

hasnt, go back and check that youve attached
the right process to the shortcut. There are lots of
similarly named features, so double-check every
time you attach a new one.
with the shortcut. How about setting up a button

on your home screen that opens your video
camera with just one tap? Have a play around with
the feature and pretty soon youll be nipping
through your apps faster than ever before.
twitter
@lgrobot

questions and thoughts
email
Send your questions for our team of
experts to tackle
37
Tutorials
Transcribe
text with
Google Keep
Works with
Android 4.0 and up
Scanning pages
To take advantage of Keeps new
OCR (Optical Character
Recognition) option rst create a
new note, give it a title and then
tap the camera icon and add an
image with text. Once the image
has been added, tap the menu
icon and select Transcribe text
Discover how Keeps OCR feature will help

add large quantities of text automatically
eep is Googles note-taking app

that allows users to add notes
and reminders. If you dont have
Keep installed it is freely available from
the Google Play store. The app is perfect
for creating quick notes and reminders,
but its not always quick notes that are
needed. What happens when you have a
large document you want added to
Google Keep? You dont want to type out
the whole message, so whats the
alternative? One option is to take a
photo of the text, upload the photo and
transcribe the text with Keeps OCR
(Optical Character Recognition) feature.
Users simply select the Transcribe text
option and Keep will automatically scan
the selected photo. It will add the text to
a note and store for future reference.
Switching views
To switch between Notes and
Reminders, users need to tap the
Keep icon in the top-left corner. The
slide menu also offers links to any
archived notes and reminders plus
deleted items. Deleted items are
permanently deleted from the
recycle bin after seven days
Opening notes
An open note or reminder will offer
a number of options. The easel icon
enables users to change the note
colour while the camera icon allows
for the addition of an image or a
photo. The folder icon archives the
note/reminder, while the trash icon
removes the selected item
Manage Google Keep assets

Google Keep is a virtual organiser with a mass of
notes and reminders. Here we reveal a few tips to
keep it clean and tidy
38
Different view
List view
Set a reminder
By default, Google Keep

displays notes and
reminders in two
columns, known as
Multi-column view. To
switch to a single column
for easier viewing, tap the
menu icon and select
Single-column view. Tap
the menu to switch back.
Tap the menu icon on the

top-right corner and
select Show checkboxes.
This splits transcribed
text into individual
sentences. Tap a
checkbox to hide the text,
while using the handle to
reposition the text into
the order you want.
At the bottom of a note is

a selection of reminder
options. Tap the clock
icon to set a time or
location reminder. Tap
Today to select the day of
the reminder. Finally, tap
Morning to select the
time when the reminder
will be displayed.
Notes
By default Google Keep opens at
the Notes screen, which displays all
the previously created notes. To
open a displayed note simply tap
the desired note, which will open
and display any images, text and
reminders that have been set up
Transcribe text
The Transcribe text option
automatically scans the text and
stores it for searching. It will process
the text as an image in a note and
add the text to the note. Add a
keyword to the search facility from
the transcribed text and the note will
make an appearance in the results
Works with
Android 4.0.3 and up
Work with
multiple calendars
Introduce
additional
calendars to the
Calendar app to
get your allimportant events
in one place
he rst time you get a sparkling new Android

smartphone or tablet the setup process
involves adding the details of a Google
account. This means that the device has access to all
the associated tools and options related to that
account including the Calendar app.
To take advantage all a user needs to do is make
sure that the calendar attached to the account is
switched on and synced. This will keep the calendar
related to the selected account up to date.
calendars
1 Sync
The rst step is to head to Settings>
Accounts. Under Accounts tap Google. Tap to view
accounts attached to the device. Now select an
account and make sure that the Calendar
checkbox is ticked. Do this for all accounts.
accounts
4 Check
Check that the Calendar app is synced by
tapping each account. If an account is not synced,,
tap the Accounts & Sync button and sync.
Elements of an account may not be synced, like
contacts, so you can tap the checkbox to include.
If the Calendar is
updated on a desktop, it
Access more than one
calendar from one place
will be updated on all devices.
on your Android device
The beauty of Android is that
users are not restricted to a single
calendar tied to a single account. There is now the
option to work with multiple calendars. Add an
additional account and sync to start enjoying the
benets of getting access to all your must-know dates
wherever you are.
services
2 Sync
To update any accounts head to
Accounts>Google and tap the top-right menu icon.
This will display the Sync now option; tap to sync
Google accounts. Do the same with any other
account you want to sync.
calendars
5 Identify
Calendar events are assigned a default
background colour, which makes it difcult to
distinguish between calendars. Tap the associated
box to reveal a set of calendar colours to change.
Active calendars will display near the bottom.
an account
3 Add
Head to the Calendar app and tap the
top-right menu icon. Select Settings to display all
accounts attached to the device. Tap Add an
account, select the appropriate option and follow
the on-screen instructions.
events
6 Manage
With more than one calendar in action the
screen can become crowded. To display events
from a single calendar, tap the account you want
to hide. Tap again to bring back. To modify an event
simply tap the event of choice and adjust.
39
Tutorials
Set up an ultra powersaving mode
Works with
Android 2.2 and up
Customise how your phone

performs by altering mobile data
and battery functions
Save precious data

and battery through the
GO Power Master app
Change settings
3 Both
the Display and Notication tabs
contain settings that relate solely to them. As well
as being able to save battery life, you can add
some fairly unique ways of monitoring certain
levels within them. Theres also quick links to
certain pages contained in your phones Settings.
40
ne of the issues many Android users

face is distinctly average battery life
on their devices. With powerful apps,
widgets and phone components all draining
the battery, most of the time its necessary to
keep a charger handy. There are a variety of
things users can do to help prevent the
problem getting too much, with one being to
create an ultra power-saving mode. Powersaving modes are a series of toggles and
settings that can be used to minimise the

impact of certain features on your device and
best of all they can be as complex or as
simple as you like.
For this tutorial, weve gone for the GO
Power Master app, which is arguably the best
on the Play store for creating power-saving
modes, as the options available are terric. So
read on as we look to help you keep using
your smartphone for longer.
scan
1 Initial
After downloading the GO Power Master
menu options
2 Side
The side menu is the best way to navigate
app open it up and wait for it to perform an initial

scan. After its nished youll be notied of your
current battery levels, as well as an overview of
various settings listed underneath it. Swipe from
the left side of the app to open up a side menu.
through the Go Power app. The rst few options

listed enable users to tinker with specic options,
which well go into that later. Make sure to check
the Battery Manual tab where you can read some
further ways on how to save battery levels.
a power save
4 Implement
Navigate back to the home screen of the
the Super save

5 Set
The Super save plan covers every aspect
GO Power app and scroll down until you reach the

custom power save options. Theres a range of
pre-determined plans for you to use, which contain
settings already set up for you to use. Take your
time to look through each one of them.
of your phone in great detail, without you needing

to create one from scratch. Youll notice it does
limit certain functions on your phone, but if you
really want an ultra power-saving mode without
any hassle, this is the perfect choice.
Get in touch
Were on Facebook and Twitter, or
just drop us an email
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
twitter
Like us on Facebook and

join our community
@lgrobot

comments and pics
email
Need help? Got a question? Drop us

an email and let us know
Ask your own

question online at
Can I save extra

battery by rooting
my device?
One of the added bonuses of
using the GO Power app
alongside a rooted device is
that you can choose to
optimise your CPU. Although its
denitely an advanced feature,
it enables users to tinker small
changes that can have a
massive impact on battery life.
your own
6 Create
Instead of relying on one of the pre-made
into detail
7 Go
Due to the fact were looking to create an
plans, why not create your own? Select the

Custom plan from the bottom of the home screen
and select which areas of your phone you want to
toggle with. You can choose to implement as many
of the categories shown as you like.
ultra power save plan, make sure to go into each

category in detail. Youll nd a whole set of choices
available and you can make the changes as
extreme as you like. Just note that certain
changes will impact on how your phone functions.
process
8 Optimising
Make sure not to activate your new plan
the results
9 Check
The optimising process can take a while,
more battery life

10 Save
Next to the score youll see a Smart save
currently and instead back out of the menu. Now

navigate back to the home screen and take a look
at the optimise tab listed at the top of the app. To
perform a quick optimisation of your battery, press
on the Optimize Now option.
but once nished, your phone will be given a score

out of 100 on how well its optimised for saving
battery. A lower score can mean your phone is
likely to drain battery quicker, but with the new
power-save plan, the score should increase.
option. This will add a bunch of pre-made settings

to boost how your phone handles battery usage.
Although they can be helpful, they will override the
previously created power-save plan, so make sure
you use them sporadically.
scores
11 Higher
To see if your new plan can help with the
usage
12 App
Apps are another area which constantly
the junk
13 Remove
Also underneath your optimised score is a
power-save process, go back and enable it from

the home menu and press the Optimize button
once more. This time you should nd a higher
score than before as well as a quick run through of
where your battery life is being saved.
drain your battery, so its you vital you keep them

under tabs. Underneath your optimised score
youll see how much battery life you can save by
closing apps. Press the Check button to see the
apps the scan can close automatically for you.
System Trash menu that enables you to see which

extra les that you dont need and can also be
deleted to help save a little extra power. Although
the power saved wont make a massive difference,
its something additional for you to look at.
41
Tutorials
Works with
Android 4.0 and above
Transfer files
with Android
Beam
Share les and photos with

another Android device
using a single tap
haring les and photos is a common

concept on Android devices, and there are
many ways to achieve this goal. Users can
share via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and email, but none
offer the set-up free benets that come with
using Android Beam. There is no need to open an
app, nd the share icon and send.
Android Beam is set up by default on your

Android device and is ready to go. All you need is
another Android device. Select a le or photo on
one, place the device back to back with the other
and wait for them to connect. Tap the screen and
seconds later the selected le is sitting on the
other device. Heres how to do it in more detail
[FIG 1] The Android

Beam feature is
surprisingly well
hidden. Delve into the
Settings screens to
nd it
[FIG 2] The screen
needs to be active and
the device unlocked to
transfer les. Set the
screen sleep time so
that it doesnt go to
sleep in the middle of
a transfer
1. Get ready
To use the Android Beam feature the rst
thing to do is make sure that both devices
are ready for the transfer. Head to Settings
and under Wireless & networks tap More.
The NFC option should be active by
default, but if not, tap the NFC checkbox.
Now select Android Beam; this is again
switched on by default, but the feature can
be switched off, if desired, by simply
tapping the On/Off switch. Tap again to
switch on.
2. Keeping active
Before a le can be transferred both
devices need to be active. If either of the
devices are locked or in an inactive state
you will not be able to transfer les. If the
42
display is set to sleep after a short period,

it is a good idea to change it to a longer
option in the Display settings to ensure
that there is enough time to transfer les.
3. Sharing photos
To share a photo head to your preferred
viewing option. In this example we are
using Gallery. Now tap the image you wish
to transfer to the other device. Turn over
the second device so its back is showing.
Now rmly place the device with the photo
selected on top, screen up, and wait for
the Touch to beam message to appear.
This may take a few attempts. Now tap
Touch to beam to transfer the le. Turn
over the second device to see the
transferred photo appear.
[FIG 4] Sharing
multiple les typically
takes longer than
sharing a single le.
Use the notication
bar to view the
progress of a le
transfer and view
when complete
Ask your own

question online at
Can I transfer
les that are
app specic?
Android Beam is
capable of transferring
any le. However,
whether or not the
transferred le can
then be viewed will
depend on the le. If
the le needs a
specic app to view,
this must be installed
on both devices.
4. Multiple photos
Sending a single photo is not always the
preferred choice. To send multiple photos,
again choose the preferred app and select
multiple les. Follow the previous step to
transfer. Transferring multiple photos will
obviously take longer. Drag down the
notication bar to view progress.
5. Sharing data
Photos are not the only les that can be
transferred. There is the option to transfer
documents, using Quick Ofce, PDFs,
contacts, calendars and more. The
principle for transferring all les is the
same. Select, put the devices together
and touch to beam.
Works with
Android 4.0 and up
Create
floating
widgets
Menu options
The menu icon (top-right) offers
two options: Settings and Kill
Overlays. Settings enables
users to customise the edit
options, change the theme,
modify button sizes and control
the sidebar. Kill Overlays will
remove any currently active
Overlays with a single tap
Float your home screen widgets

anywhere with Overlays
he home screen, or
screens, can become
overcrowded and be in
need of a reshufe or tidy up
at some point. There is often
the need to delete a few
shortcuts to ensure that you
have quick and easy access to
your most-used apps. However,
there is an alternative in the
shape of Overlays. This app
uses oating widgets that are
able to hover over other
running apps, so that, for
instance, you can have a music
controls widget on top of a
satnav map.
Creating the oating widgets
is quick and easy. The process
Edit proles
By default, proles are not
is driven by
selected. To select a
prole tap the associated
proles, which
checkbox. This will
you create and
activate the Edit option.
can consist of
Tap the pencil icon to
rename the prole and
widgets,
edit any overlays.
shortcuts and a
Alternatively, tap the trash
few standard
icon to delete the prole
overlays such as
a clock. The dragand-drop interface adds an
element to the prole and
enables you to customise to
Add proles
suit. Select the orientation to
The Overlay app is built
display, resize the icon (up to
around proles created
by the user. By default
200px), adjust the text size and
there will be no proles,
choose colours. Now its time
so the user will need to
to call into action all, or any, of
build their own. Tap the
+ sign in the circle to
your proles and add the
start the prole creation
widgets to the home screen.
process. Once created
Activate proles
By default, proles are
switched on and ready to go.
To make a prole active, the
blue arrow needs to be
tapped. To make a prole
inactive, move the On button
to the Off position and press
the blue arrow again. Making a
prole active will add a
shortcut/widget to the home
screen or activate an event
Attach events
The Events category enables currently
available proles to be attached to an
event such as Incoming calls or USB
plugged in. To attach an event, rst
select the desired event from the
drop-down. Then choose the prole from
the list and hit the Save icon
they will be added to the

appropriate category
Create an app profile

Create a shortcut to your favourite applications,
customise and add to your home screen with proles
le name
1 Pro
First select
Applications before
tapping the + icon in
the top-right. In the
Create Prole window
type the name of your
new prole. Leave the
Prole state switched
to On and tap Add
Overlays to continue
the creation process.
le
2 Pro
creation
The next screen
provides a selection of
options to add. To create
an Application Shortcut,
tap and hold the icon
and release to view the
application list. Select
an application to add.
This will be placed on
the screen.
Making a prole active

will add a shortcut/widget
to the home screen or
activate an event
Customise
3 The
shortcut will
have a number of related
options. Tap the Settings
style icon in the top-left
corner. Now use the
sliders to adjust the icon
size and text size. You
can also adjust text and
background colours and
visibility. Tap the Save
icon to complete.
43
Tutorials
Take full control
of notications
Works with
Varies with app
Use new apps to make better

use of your notications
he notications bar on your Android phone or

tablet might not look like much, but with the
help of a few additional apps from the Google
Play store it can be opened up to be so much more.
In this tutorial were taking a look at some
apps which add a whole lot more
functionality to the notication menu on
your device. The two apps were focusing on
in the main part of this tutorial are the
Informer and notiShare apps, both of which
are free downloads. Informer gives users a quick look

at the current status of their device, with details from
everything on battery life to RAM usage. The other
app, notiShare, links directly with your various social
media accounts, enabling users to quickly update and
stay in contact with their friends and family. Well
also be taking a look at the Notable app that enables
users to create reminders for events, with every new
addition creating a new tab in the menu and is
customisable at any point.
Informer app
1 Install
After downloading and installing the
Add the toggles

3 You
can now go through and add various
elements to your notication. Although most
choices are free, you can unlock further toggles by
upgrading to the pro version of the app. After
selecting all the toggles, go back to your design
where youll see the nished notication.
44
to include
2 What
The app will now show you the various
Informer app, go through the quick app tutorial

before swiping right on the screen and selecting
the Notication tab. On the screen that now
appears, select the Edit/Create Notication menu
from the centre to continue on to the next step.
ways you can design the notication to suit your

needs. Your rst choice will be to choose the size
of the notication and if you want it to be
expandable when pressed. The app will then begin
to piece your notication together.
rm and check
4 Con
With the nished notication ready, leave
See more detail

5 After
pressing on the notication, the app
the app and head to your notication menu by

dragging down the bar at the top of your device.
You should nd that the notication has changed
to alert you to your phone or tablets current
status. Press on it to get further information.
will re-open providing additional information about

how your device is currently functioning. The
notication is great for getting a quick overview,
but the information here is also useful. To edit the
notication, go back to the apps home screen.
quick Check out these other apps to make your notifications more useful
tips
1 Quickly
Add app icons to your notication

menu to gain quick access to the
apps with a tap of the icon.
2 StatusAgenda
Use StatusAgenda to create a

timetable of daily events that you
can mark off as you complete them.
3 Notication Weather
As its name suggests, Notication

Weather gives you a thorough guide
to the current weather conditions.
4 Notif Pro
This app lets you design and create

notications that can include
images, text and even audio.
5 BeyondPod
Manage the podcast youre listening

to, switch between different
podcasts and adjust volume levels.
Add reminders to
min your notifications
guide
Use the Notable app to add reminders about events and

tasks to your notication bar with ease
the notiShare app

6 Using
Download and install the notiShare app.
When rst opened, the app will ask you to select
the social media accounts you want linked with
the notication as well as how you want the
notication to look. The app will then attempt to
link your device with your social media details.
a reminder
1 Create
Press on the Notable icon after
sign in
7 Manually
You may nd that the app cant initially
downloading and youll be able to create your

rst reminder instantly. Press on a coloured icon
to represent it and then type whatever you
want. Youre given a certain limit on how many
words and letters you can use per reminder, so
keep this in mind when creating one.
your voice
2 Use
Instead of typing, you can also use your
voice to type out the reminder for you. Press on
the microphone icon on the right side of the
menu to bring up the Google voice typing screen
and follow the instructions provided. Once your
reminder has been typed out, press on the
conrm button to add it to your notications.
connect to your account and instead youll need to

follow the instructions provided to manually enter
your details. The app will then run a second
connection test. If it worked, youll be transferred
back to the home screen of the app.
your status
8 Update
With the notication created, close the
app and drag down to view the notication bar.
The notiShare notication will be present, as well
as the icons of connected social media accounts.
Tap one to instantly be taken to the app where you
can update your status or send a tweet.
and edit
3 Check
Go to your notications menu and youll
nd your created reminders listed in order of
when you created them. By pressing on one of
them you can choose to edit it or delete it from
the menu. Choosing the edit button will bring
you back to the same screen as before where
you can simply change the text.
the settings
4 Explore
By venturing into the Settings menu
within Notable, theres several extra additions
available that add extra functionality to it. Users
can add notication sounds to remind them to
tick them off once completed, or add gestures
so that you can swipe them away instead.
Theres plenty of choices, so get exploring!
45
Tutorials
Keep Android
tidy with CCleaner
Works with
Varies with device
Get PC-standard
cleaning tools to
stop trash data
slowing down
your phone
hen your PC starts getting sluggish, le

cleaning apps like Piriforms CCleaner can
help to clear out the unnecessary trash in
just a couple of clicks. The app is so successful at
dealing with cached data on the desktop that the
developers have now released an Android app aimed
at doing the same for your phone or tablet.
Currently in beta, CCleaner for Android can be used
to gauge system information about your phones CPU
Beta program sign up

1 To
join the beta program youll need to sign
in to Google+ on your computer using your Android
sign in and search for CCleaner for Android Beta.
Join the Piriform community and click the Become
a tester link on the right-hand side of the page to
gain access.
Android with
4 Clean
CCleaner
After launching, tap Analyze to prompt a scan of
your phone. The results will display how much
space can be saved. All you need to do is check
the boxes for the data you want to be cleaned up
and tap Clean.
46
and RAM, internal storage and battery

condition, manage uninstalling apps, and
clean your cache, browser history and call logs.
All of this is managed via a straightforward user
interface, and the results are often extremely fast.
To try CCleaner for Android you will need to sign up
to the beta program, a simple process that unlocks
the apps download page. Once done, the app will be
ready to keep your phone fast and clean!
CCleaner for
2 Install
Android beta
Use the download link in the tester registration
page to open Google Play and install CCleaner
beta. This process can be hit and miss if you run
into any problems the best advice is to restart your
phone and try again.
beta software
3 Using
Beta software is labelled as such to let
you know that it isnt quite the nished product.
Piriform have made CCleaner available for testing
on a wide selection of devices, so consider
spending time offering constructive feedback on
the Google Play page.
the App Manager

5 Using
Like many other system utilities, CCleaner
Get real-time system info

6 CCleaner
actively scans your Android
includes an uninstaller. Apps are split into Installed

Applications and System Applications, and any
software you no longer need can be removed by
checking the corresponding box and tapping
Uninstall. Conrm to commence uninstalling.
device when running, displaying information about

CPU use, RAM, internal storage and battery. This
can be accessed via the apps main menu. You
cant yet do anything with this information from
CCleaner, but it makes for interesting reading.
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DroidSupport
troubleshooting advice hints and tips
expert
emailGotan
an Androidrelated problem that
you need solving?
Let us know!
Share your tips & tricks
Join us on Facebook and Twitter
to share and receive some
great tips and advice
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
Like us on Facebook and join

in our Android community
twitter
@lgrobot
Follow us on Twitter to send

your thoughts and questions
Did you know?

Its not immediately obvious, but some
of the icons in the Quick Settings pane
(the ip side of the notications pane,
which can be accessed either by tapping
the icon at the top of the notications
pane or by swiping down with two
ngers) are also toggles. For instance,
tapping the Wi-Fi icon takes you to the
Wi-Fi settings screens; a long press, on
the other hand, will toggle Wi-Fi on or off.
48
What drained my
battery?
The other night I went
to bed with my phone
charged to 100%. In the
morning it had dropped
to 34%. This was the
most drastic example of
a recent problem with
my battery draining
quicker than usual.
Whats going on?
Richard Evans
Its difcult to know
what exactly causes
battery drain like this,
but there are some things you
can do to try and track down
the cause, and to prevent it.
First, check for wakelocks. This
is where the phone is prevented
from going into deep sleep. In
the standard Android battery
stats screen this would be
indicated by blue bars under the
Awake section occurring at a
time when the screen is off.
Sometimes this may have an
innocent cause, such as listening
to music in the background, but
sometimes it may indicate an
app that is misbehaving. You can
get more information on this by
installing the app Wakelock
Detector from the Play store,
which will give you an idea of
which apps are still running;
while the app Better Battery
Stats enables you to drill down
The battery can

drain rapidly
without any
obvious cause
Identify the apps that keep your phone awake
even further,
although depending on
which version of Android
you are using you may need to
be rooted to use it. Other things
to try are the app Greenify,
which hibernates apps that
may cause battery drain without
affecting their functionality it
also now works on non-rooted
phones. You should also take a
look at your location settings. We
nd these can be a common
cause of battery drain, so we set
the Mode to High Accuracy but
turn off Location Reporting and
Location History. This may affect
some features in Google Now, if
you use that, but wont affect
anything else.
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
email
Get help from our

Facebook community
Send your questions for our team of

experts to tackle
Why does Google Music

stop working?
DroidSupport
Ask your questions

Got a problem with your Android phone or tablet?
Send it to us and well nd the solution
Hi guys. Love the magazine. My fave behind Nuts. I have a Note 2

and my Google Music keeps crashing every ve minutes. It comes
up with Sorry Google Music has stopped unexpectedly. I have
cleared the data and cache and have uninstalled the update then
reinstalled, but to no avail. Hope you can help, oh mighty one!
Gary Heppell
Your problem is not
unusual and we have
heard of some people
who have had no success at all
in xing it despite trying
various methods to resolve the
issue. There appears to be many
reasons for this, but one may
actually be your Google account
and this has been known to
cause issues with all sorts of
Google services, not just Music,
for some users. If you uninstall
the Music app and then make
sure you delete all data from the
default music app rst you will
in theory be starting clean. Next

you need to delete your Google
account from the Note 2, which
will obviously have far-reaching
effects on the entire device. Now,
activate your Google account
again and reinstall the Music
app. It should now synchronise
ne and not crash in the future,
but if it does there is one more
step you can try. Go to Settings
in Music and make sure that
there is nothing stuck in the
download queue by tapping
View download queue. Dont
forget that the Help option
Google is available to offer users advanced

support if needed
within Google Music lets you

contact Google directly for more
advanced support and this could
be worth a try if nothing else
works. Sorry that we cannot be
more denite with a solution, but
when a service is involved it
often requires direct
intervention from the company
supplying it, which in this case
is Google. Good luck getting all of
your music working again.
All Google apps need a reliable service

running behind them
hints&tips Get more from your Android phone with our handy hints
Block MMS when

youre roaming
You can block the automatic retrieval of MMS

messages when roaming by going to your
Message app settings and disabling Roaming
auto-retrieve. This could save you a lot of money
because some messages can be quite large.
Customised headphone
sounds
You do not need to accept poor sound quality

from your headphones. Apps like HeadP audio
headphone player let you customise the sounds;
experiment and the audio quality will be much
more suited to your preferences and equipment.
Excessive YouTube
buffering
If you nd that the YouTube app is buffering more

than expected, go to Settings>Applications and
then select YouTube. You should now see an
option to clear the cache. Tap it and with a bit of
luck the buffering will go away.
49
Did you know?
DroidSupport
Auto-spacing
is not
working
for me
Ive noticed that sometimes
when I use handwriting
recognition, the auto spacing
doesnt work. It isnt a problem
when the Samsung keyboard is
the default, but seems to happen
when I use a third-party
keyboard like SwiftKey as the
default. Am I overlooking a
particular setting or will I have
to continue manually adding
spaces as I write?
Guy Johnson
You appear to
understand how the
recognition works if it is
okay when the standard
Samsung keyboard is enabled,
but many people do not. We
would suggest digging into the
keyboard settings and looking
for an option called Complete
We would advise to move any apps you have installed on an SD

card to main memory before upgrading to Android KitKat. It is
possible that data could be lost otherwise as each developer
needs to have added specic changes to allow SD cards to work.
something that Samsung cant

avoid with its own builds, and so
further investigation will likely
be required.
Stuck in a
loop?
Android keyboard settings can be tricky to
manage at times
recognition rather than Stroke.

The stroke setting does not
automatically add a new space
when you start writing a new
word and is expecting a - to
then be translated as a space.
Proper spacing is also important
when writing data the more
exaggerated the better but if
this is only happening when
SwiftKey is enabled we would
suggest talking to the developer
to see if there is a known clash
between the two systems. The
way SwiftKey deals with spacing
suggests to us that they may be
tripping over each other,
My Samsung Galaxy S4-GT 19505

was okay until recently when it
started to go into a loop
unpredictably switches off,
attempts to restart, never gets
past the Galaxy S4 logo, switches
off, and so it goes on. Ignores all
taps, swipes and button presses!
The only solution Ive found is to
remove and replace the battery
and it behaves for a while.
Whats going on?
continuously tap the menu key

until it boots and you should see
Safe Mode on the screen. If it
continues to work, you know that
it is ne without any third-party
apps running. You will then
need to uninstall any recent
apps or updates that you have
undertaken and keep going until
the device is stable. This could
take time, but it will narrow
down the problem and enable
you to remove the offending
software that is causing the
unstable behaviour.
Mike Dalglish
Sadly we have no way to
know what is
happening, but can
suggest some methods you can
use to bring it back to life for
good. The rst step is to boot in
to Safe Mode by turning the
phone off and on again. Now
Uninstalling recent apps and updates can

help get over loops
Disabling the camera

shutter sounds
I have a question regarding my rooted (with Odin 3.07) Note 3 on v.4.4.2. Other than
putting the phone into mute, how else can I turn off the annoying camera shutter sound?
Presumably, it is possible now that my phone is rooted?
Nigel Hastings
The camera shutter sound is enabled
in many jurisdictions for legal
reasons which means that the Note 3
has an option to turn off the sounds in some
countries, but not in others. It would also
seem that with the Note 3 even changing the
system sounds on a rooted device to silent
ones does not work so there are some quite
heavy safeguards in place. You do, however,
have a couple of options open to you. As you
said, when you mute the devices sound,
taking a snap should not result in any audible
sound but even this has been proven to fail
at times so we will jump to a more focused
solution instead. Go to Google Play and
Not all phones let you

turn off the camera
shutter sound
50
download Ultimate Sound Control, which

is designed to let you control many system
sounds with ease and most reviews
suggest that it works well. For those
reading who do not own a rooted device,
there is an app available at http://bit.
ly/1lbick5 that is designed specically for
the camera shutter sound. This is an
unusual restriction for any Android device
and it seems that it has been enforced
rather harshly on the Note 3, but yet again
there are always options and solutions
open to you on Android devices that are
not available on other platforms. Enjoy
your new silent snaps.
Got a great tip, or found a cool

shortcut? Let us know!
/littlegreenrobot
Like us on Facebook and

join our online community
twitter
@lgrobot
email
Follow us on Twitter to
send us your tips & tricks
Discovered anything good about your

Android phone? Let us know!
Sporadic WiFi problems

are not
unusual
On holiday in Lanzarote my
partners Nexus 5 performed
admirably on Wi-Fi updating the
BBC News and weather apps
almost instantly, while my Nexus
4 just sat there looking dumb.
Sometimes it managed to update
Facebook if I left it for 20
minutes? With both phones
having the same Wi-Fi signal
strength, any ideas why my
Nexus 4 wouldnt perform?
James Francis
It used to be common for
some Android devices to
suffer from Wi-Fi
problems, but the later devices
are more reliable now. It is also
unusual in your case because
you are seeing differing
performance from similar
phones and so we are left to
guess what the problem was.
Well presume everything works
ne when youre at home and
wonder if the router you were
using abroad was prioritising the
Nexus 5 and limiting the number
of devices that could connect at
any one time. Maybe your
partners phone was polling data
continually and not giving yours
a chance to connect. Also, look
for the Keep Wi-Fi on during
sleep option in the Wi-Fi settings
and ensure that Always is
chosen as this should help your
phone connect in a more
continuous manner. Besides that,
we admit to being a little
stumped on this one.
Update
60% Complete
update update
Trimming MOV les on Android
can be quite difcult
How to trim MOV les
Could you please advise on how I can trim MOV les on my

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 running Android v 4.2.2 (not rooted). It
came with a built-in video player that does not recognise MOV les
I get round this using MX Player which is okay for playing.
However, every trimmer I have tried fails to work with MOV les.
Ive been told that this is because the trimmers only work with the
default player.
Terry Rigden
You should be able to
make MX Player the
default video player by
clearing the defaults for the
current player and then
launching a new video. You will
now be asked which app you
want to use as your default
player, but crucially with
different video le types you will
need to repeat this for each
format you want to use,

including MOV les. This should
solve the default problem, but
trimming is more difcult. It
makes more sense to trim
elsewhere or to convert the les
rst and then trim them on your
device. We did nd one source
though, which we list alongside
other options to help you get
around the problem.
video clips
1 Convert
in seconds
Apps like Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr) will let
you convert MOV format videos on a desktop or
laptop and they will do so quickly and efciently. It
is almost always worth using a full computer for
video conversion tasks.
multiple video
2 Trim
formats
VidTrim - Video Trimmer (available from Google
Play) is designed to let you trim video clips in a
variety of different formats. Remember that the
process of trimming video is still often quicker on a
desktop or laptop for obvious reasons.
can be done!
3 It
Andromedia Video Editor claims to support
Wi-Fi can be rather temperamental on

some Android phones
DroidSupport
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Share your tips
MOV le editing and in our tests it worked

adequately enough. Stability is an issue here
though and so are the various advertisements
but it is the best app we found that is able to
convert MOV les directly on Android.
We bring you the news and
rumours on the latest Android

updates, and the phones that can
run them
erhaps the last update

to Android 4.4 has
become available.
Android 4.4.3 was intended
initially for Nexus devices and
other Google Play Edition
phones, and its unclear
whether it will make it to
non-vanilla Android devices
as an update although it is
likely that future 4.4.3 phones
will be based on it. The
update deals with various
bugs that have plagued KitKat
users, including the so called
mm-qcamera-daemon glitch
that causes certain apps that
make use of the camera, like
Snapchat and Skype, to drain
the battery very rapidly.
Googles annual developer
event, Google I/O, is taking
place at the end of the June
this year, and is expected to
bring major Android
announcements as always.
This could be called Android
4.5, and may even have a
whole new codename (it
would begin with L, and
many online are already
dubbing it Lollipop). The
update is expected to bring
about a signicant redesign of
the native apps, and also
bring Android and Chrome
closer together. Meanwhile,
Google has also placed its
camera app in the Play store
for all KitKat users to use. It
includes a very cool bokeh
feature similar to that seen on
the HTC One M8, only without
the special hardware.
51
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The only magazine for Android!
Explore the limits of your Android device
Hacker Zne
status update
Tips and tricks
Which devices are best for

the hacking scene?
Reboot to safe mode box will

appear asking you to conrm the
action tap Restart.
When Android reboots, all of the
usual apps will be missing. Instead,
the operating system will be as it is
fresh from a factory restart, with
only the native apps present.
To diagnose any issues, try to
recreate the behaviour causing
problems. You will be able to
uninstall or recongure your
installed apps from Safe Mode,
hopefully solving any issues.
HTC One
(M8)
Rooted? Yes
Active Development:
QQQMedium
Its very early days for
the M8. Wed expect a
good range of ROMs
and mods in the not
too distant future.
LG G Flex
Rooted? Yes
Active Development:
QQQLow
The G Flex has been
rooted but developer
support is currently
low and it seems
unlikely that it will get
very much better.
Sony Xperia
Z1 Compact
Rooted? Yes
Active Development:
QQQLow
It is possible to root
the Z1, with the
benets that brings.
Custom ROMs are thin
on the ground.
Moto X
Rooted? Yes
Active Development:
QQQMedium
Easy to root, and
plenty of ROMs and
mods that can be tried
on this phone. A
popular choice among
the developer crowd.
Reboot into Safe Mode to troubleshoot

issues in Android
Boot Android
into Safe
Mode
Suspect problems with your Android
device? Just as you would with a
Windows desktop computer, you
can boot your phone or tablet into
Safe Mode, where it is possible to
diagnose issues that might be
causing your phone to slow down,
crash or generally act unstable.
To reboot your Android device into
Safe Mode, unlock the device, long
press the power button and when
the Power menu is displayed, long
press the Power Off option. A
Move apps
to SD card
Running out of space on your
modestly specced Android? One
common reason for this is the way in
which apps are installed directly to
the internal storage. If your phone
supports expanded storage with an
SD card, however, you have the
option of moving your apps across
after theyve been installed, thereby
giving you extra space.
Open Settings>Apps and locate
the app that you want to move to
your SD card. Tap Move to SD to
make the change. If the option is
greyed out then the app will not be
suitable to be run from SD card.
Additionally, if the option isnt there in
the rst place, your phone probably
doesnt have SD storage.
Save valuable storage space by installing

apps to SD card
Note that once this is done, you

can move any apps that you install in
future; however it might end up being
quicker to ensure they install direct
to the SD card with an app like Easy
Installer Apps on SD.
Faster
scrolling in
the Chrome
browser
One of the most widely used
browsers for Android is Chrome. A
user friendly, smaller brother to the
desktop version, it occasionally
quickhacks
Get faster
internet
Faster mobile browsing can be

achieved by changing your
phones default DNS settings.
Instead of receiving data via your
mobile internet or the DNS
specied by the ISP when
connected to Wi-Fi, use a faster
optimised address instead.
54
New DNS address

1 Several
websites provide a list
of optimised, fast DNS addresses
that can be used to speed up
browsing. For instance, Google DNS
offers improved speed, while Open
DNS circumvents web ltering.
Similarly, Tunlr provides access to
region-blocked content.
2 Edit Androids DNS

settings
Open Settings>Wi-Fi, long press your
router and select Modify Network.
Next, check Show Advanced
Options, scroll down and change IP
settings from DHCP to Static. Save,
then scroll down to DNS 1 and add
the new DNS IP address.
3 Device-wide DNS
settings
Need to use your new DNS on all
connections? DNS Changer is a
root app designed for just this
purpose. Once installed, enter the
new DNS settings and the
information will be added to all
existing and future connections!
Discovered a great hack or

tweak? Let us know!
facebook
/littlegreenrobot
email
Is there anything youd like to see us

cover in the mag? Drop us a line!
Emergency
factory
reset
Having trouble resetting your
phone? The standard way of
reverting to the factory settings
doesnt always work. Failure here
can lead to problems. For instance,
you might be trying to undo the
effects of a bad app, clear out a
load of apps and data in bulk for
selling your phone on, or simply
trying to refresh things.
If the standard reset function is
unavailable it might have been
disabled by the phone manufacturer
or carrier, or youre using a custom
ROM then the alternative is to
enter a code into the keypad.
Before continuing, be completely

certain that you wish to factory
reset your phone. Be aware that this
method does not ask you for
conrmation! Open the dialer and
type in *2767*3855#.
Your Android will proceed to shut
down, and when it restarts the
device will be completely wiped,
with only the operating system and
native apps available.
Hacking the easy way

GMusicFS
OS
Short for operating system. Often the
Android ROM will be referred to as the
OS this just means the system les
on the Android device that make up
your user experience, similar to
Windows, Mac OS X or Ubuntu on a
desktop computer.
ROM
Stands for read-only memory. In the
context of Android, the ROM refers to
the les that make up the operating
system installed on your device.
Gaining root privileges allows for
replacement of the standard ROM
with a custom one.
Rooting your phone gives apps access

to parts of the OS that are normally
hidden from consumers. This enables
you to run more powerful software and
install custom ROMs on your phone.
Only use this code when all other reset
options fail
Save time
with
lockscreen
widgets
Your Android smartphone is locked,
but you quickly need to check a
football score. Then an email has
arrived, after that a tweet has been
seen. What do you do?
Well most of the time youll
probably unlock your phone open the
relevant app and check. If youre
particularly familiar with the app and
its features, you might have added a
widget to your home screen to grab a
quick glance at the information
youre looking for.
Recent versions of Android (4.2
and 4.3) make this whole process
even simpler, thanks to the arrival
of lockscreen widgets. However, in
Get up to speed on all the

terms you need to know
when hacking your phone
Root
Give Chrome more RAM in order to aid with

smoother scrolling
stumbles when too many tabs are

open and runs into trouble scrolling
through webpages.
Both problems can be easily
resolved. If too many tabs are open,
switch to the tab selector, tap the
menu button and select the Close
option. You should then see
Chromes performance improve.
Scrolling lags can be quickly
resolved by opening the browser and
pointing it to chrome://ags. Youll
notice the warning in this screen
dont make any random changes as
they may spoil your Chrome
experience. Scroll down to
Maximum tiles for interest area and
change this from Default to 512.
At the foot of the screen you
should see the Relaunch Now button
tap this to close and reopen
Chrome. More RAM has been made
available to Chrome, although note
that other apps may have been
closed to make provision for this.
Jargon
Buster
Hacker Zne
Share your tips
ROM Manager
An app available from the Android
Market that enables you to install
a whole new version of your OS with
a single click. It requires a rooted
phone to use and is ideal for those
new on the scene.
Titanium Backup
This app from the Market enables you
to back up everything on your phone
apps, data, settings and all. It means
that you can restore your phone to how
it was, even after youve updated or
changed the ROM.
Unrevoked
Available from www.unrevoked.com,
this is a one-click tool that can be
used for rooting many popular
HTC smartphones.
ADB
Lockscreen widgets display information
when your phone is locked
4.4 KitKat, this option is hidden. You

can enable it in Settings>Security>
Enable widgets.
On your lockscreen you can now
swipe left or right to nd the +
button. Tap this to display a list of
available widgets.
Free
Fing Network
Tools
DiskDigger
undelete
From: XDADevelopers.com
Need root? Yes
Access Play Musics
library from your usual
Android 4.0+ media
player. GMusicFS
enables Poweramp,
Winamp, PlayerPro, and
N7player to stream from
the Play Music cloud.
From: Google Play

Need root? No
Discover how secure
your wireless network
is with Fing, a network
analysis app that nds
Mac addresses, IP,
hardware names and
vendors for devices on
your network.
From: Google Play

Need root? Yes
Accidentally deleted
data? With DiskDigger
you can nd the lost les
on your storage and, if
the data remains,
restore them to working
order. Free version
limited to photos.

for even more tips & tricks
Nandroid
You might come across the phrase
perform a Nandroid backup. This
means using a custom recovery tool
to make a back-up image of everything
currently on your phone: OS, apps,
data, etc. Its very useful should you
wish to restore your phone to its
previous state later.
Radio
Get great new features with no hassle
Free
Stands for Android Debug Bridge. ADB

is mainly used for software
development, but it also has some
uses for hacking your phone. It can be
used to push les onto the system
folder, for instance.
Free
Radio refers to the software on your

Android device that deals with making
phone calls and data connections.
Updating your radio version can bring
better battery life and signal strength
to your device. Some ROMs require the
latest radio.
Flash
The storage in your device comprises
ash memory, a type of solid-state
storage. The terms ash or ashing
mean installing new software onto your
devices storage.
55
Hacker Zne
Works with
Get tips, tricks, help & advice

Send us your comments, tips and questions
through email and social networks
CyanogenMod 11 Difculty Intermediate
Control app
permissions
and track
their use
Prevent sneaky apps from
stealing your personal
information and draining
your battery
rivacy is important, especially

with market snoopers tracking
everything there is to know
about the way you use your device
and interact online. Apps often
include new permissions in updates
that seem unnecessary and could be
abused, yet we allow these updates
because we dont want to stop using
an otherwise great app. So you might
want to stop the problem at the
source, by restricting the permissions
that your apps have and how much
data they are able to gather.
We recently took a look at
AppSettings, one of the Xposed
Framework modules you can install
(http://bit.ly/1d3uVBG) and saw how
it can be used to control app
permissions. Recent builds of
CyanogenMod have introduced a
new Privacy Guard feature thats
baked in, and this acts in much the
same way as AppSettings.
Privacy Guard lets you control
permissions on a per app basis,
and also shows you a
categorised view of these
permissions that enables you
to drill down to specic
problem areas. If you run an
app cleaner, for example, and
have noticed that dozens of
battery-draining apps start up when
you connect to Wi-Fi, you can check
Bootup and disable apps with the
Auto-Start permission. If a map app
is reading your texts, you can stop it.
Got an app in mind? Lets get started.
your ROM
1 Update
Youll need to be running one
of the newer CyanogenMod 11
versions in order to be able to use
Privacy Guard. Its been around in
stable builds for a while on some
devices but older phones like the S3
have taken longer to come out of
nightlies. Update via Settings>About
phone>CyanogenMod Updates.
by
6 Check
permission
Head back to the main list and tap
the Advanced button in the Settings
menu. This next area of Privacy Guard
is a category view, which you can use
to quickly power through groups of
apps with similar issues. Apps listed
here are shown in the order they
requested permissions.
/littlegreenrobot
Privacy
2 Open
Guard
Now open Settings and head to
Privacy>Privacy Guard. Youll see
your apps listed with a small shield
icon beside each one. While you
can tap the shield to enable or
disable the apps, this isnt
recommended because you may
prevent your apps from working.
careful
7 Be
Tap an app under Location to
bring up its App options. Deny the
Location permission, then check all
the rest. If youre unsure about
denying a permission, err on the
safe side and go with Always ask.
Next time the permission is
requested, youll know what the app
is actually trying to do.
twitter
@lgrobot
email
Comments or questions?
Follow us on Twitter
If youve got questions or just want to

say hello, drop us an email
more
3 View
options
You may, however, want to tick the
option at the top of the list. Enabling
by default means you can give new
apps nothing to start with and then
add permissions, rather than give
all then remove. Also check the
Settings menu to nd the option for
revealing native apps.
battery
8 Stop
drain
Work your way through the
categories Personal, Messaging,
Media and Device and pay
attention to Bootup at the end. This
is where youll nd the culprits of
the Auto-Start permission scandal,
and stop them using your battery.
Also keep an eye on Wake up.
Hacker Zne
facebook
usage stats
4 Get
Long press on an app to
bring up its options page. This is a
detailed breakdown of its
permissions, which you can control
individually. Below each permission
in the app options, youll also see
information about when it was last
requested and how many times it
has been used overall.
the
9 Reset
counter
The Settings menu for the category
view gives you options to list native
and installed apps separately as
well as together, which is handy.
You can also hit Reset allow/deny
counters to get a better handle on
how the settings youve made
affect your device going forward.
deny or
5 Allow,
restrict
Most permissions will automatically
be set to Allowed, though you may
see a few Always asks. Find an app
with a known issue, like an app that
you dont think should access your
location, and then set the relevant
permission to Denied. Customise
your app permissions freely.
everything
10 Undo
If you think youve gone a
little too far with your permissions
management and youre not sure
how to go back or you discover
your apps start misbehaving the
best thing to do is to hit the Reset
button at the top, beside the
Settings button. Hit OK to restore
the default settings.
57
Hacker Zne
Works with

Android 3.0 and up Difculty Intermediate
Use TWRP
to master
Recovery
Get to grips with the
latest version of TWRP
recovery
custom recovery is an essential

tool for any Android hacker. You
cannot ash a custom ROM
without one and recovering from any
problems you encounter will also be
made much harder. But what is it?
Recovery is a small partition that
boots independently of the OS on your
device. Booting into recovery gives you
access to all parts of your devices
system, including all the OS system les.
Because these les are not in use as they
would be when you boot directly into
Android, you are able to edit or replace
them as required.
So, when you ash a custom ROM you
will boot into recovery because you will
need to replace the entire Android OS. Or
if a mod has gone wrong you and left
your device unable to boot, you can boot
into recovery in order to x the problem
or to restore a backup that is working.
Every device has a recovery mode, but
the software running on it is not
intended for use by the user, so is
limited in functions. Flashing a custom
recovery adds a whole wealth of
functions that give the user a
tremendous amount of control.
A custom recovery will normally be
installed as part of the rooting process,
and will either be ClockworkMod
Recovery or TWRP. The latter is our
preferred option, and the latest version
is even more powerful than ever, as our
tutorial will demonstrate.
58
TWRP
1 Download
There are two main ways to
download and install TWRP. One is to
go to teamw.in and download the
version for your specic handset then
install it from the desktop using
fastboot. This is a much more
involved method. The preferable
option is to download GooManager
from the Play store.
permissions
6 Fix
If you nd that youre
encountering problems with apps
crashing, you may have a problem
with the permissions. This can be
repaired quite easily by going to
Advanced>Fix Permissions then
swiping to begin the process. Theres
no damage to doing this, though it
may take a few minutes to complete.
/littlegreenrobot
through
2 Install
GooManager
Open GooManager and grant root
permissions when requested. Tap
the menu button and select Install
OpenRecoveryScript. At the rst
prompt tap Yes then at the second,
check the le name corresponds to
your device, before hitting Yes again
to proceed with the installation.
a ROM
7 Flash
TWRP can also be used to
ash a ROM. With your phone
booted into Android, download a
custom ROM and copy it to the
storage on your device. Now reboot
back into TWRP and tap Install.
Locate the folder and le and tap to
continue. You can add more than
one zip to ash in one go.
twitter
@lgrobot
email

into
3 Boot
recovery
Theres no progress bar while the
new recovery le downloads, and it
may take a few minutes. Hit the Boot
into recovery button and your phone
will shut down before restarting in
recovery mode. The interface is touch
optimised, with standard home and
back buttons in place.
8 Selectively
wipe data
If you encounter serious problems
when ashing ROMs it may be
because you needed to wipe your
data rst. Select Wipe to clear
everything (make sure youve got a
backup of your data!) or Advanced
Wipe to clear certain partitions
such as your caches.
Hacker Zne
facebook
a backup
4 Create
Hit the Backup button and
you are able to select exactly which
partitions you would like to back up
as well as whether you want to
encrypt them. System, Data and
Boot are all selected by default and
it is worth adding EFS too, if
available, as this contains your
devices IMEI number.
the
9 Congure
settings
The default TWRP settings are good
for initial use, although you may
wish to go into Settings and enable
both Zip le signature verication
and Enable MD5 verication. These
will both help eliminate problems
that may arise from compatibility,
security or data corruption issues.
a
5 Restore
backup
The Restore option works in a
similar way, selecting Restore from
the home screen then picking the
backup you want to use. Choose a
specic partition to restore, such as
your data (or everything but your
data). Tap Enable MD5 verication
to avoid issues with corruption.
your
10 Reboot
phone
Thats it, youre done! Youll nd that
the more you mod and tweak your
phone the more familiar you will
become with the workings of TWRP.
The nal step is Reboot, where you
can boot into Android (System), the
bootloader, restart TWRP or turn
the phone off altogether.
59
Hacker Zne
Works with

Most Android devices Difculty Intermediate
Reconfigure your
softkeys
Give your notications bar
an overhaul with the
brilliant SoftKeyZ app
here are countless ways in

which you can customise your
Android device. Virtually
nothing is off limits. Weve looked
before at how you can change the
app icons on your phone, and with
SoftKeyz you can go a step further
and make changes to the navigation
bar buttons to something that better
suits your chosen theme.
SoftKeyZ is a popular and well
regarded root app available on the
Play store for a small cost
(1.69/$1.99). It works with most
devices that are not heavily skinned,
so Nexus, Motorola and HTC phones
are perfect, but not so well with
those with fully customised
launchers, such as handsets from
Samsung and LG. In any case most of
the phones from those
manufacturers do not use the
navigation bar, instead sticking with
the rather more old-fashioned
physical buttons. SofyKeyZ can
customise the navigation bar buttons
but it cannot add them where they
did not exist in the rst place.
The app is relatively easy to use,
although the set-up process is a little
involved since it needs your device to
be both rooted and to have BusyBox
installed. The latter can be done via
an app of the same name in the Play
store, and is worth having on hand
due to the number of root apps that
also make use of it.
Once youre set up, be sure to back
up your phone rst since the app will
be making changes to system les
and boot problems, while unlikely,
are not impossible.
60
root and BusyBox

1 Get
Before you can use the SoftKeyZ app you
will need your phone to be rooted and also to have
BusyBox installed. To achieve the latter, download
BusyBox from the Play store, open it, grant root
privileges and then tap the Install button to
complete the process.
a Nandroid backup
2 Create
Because SoftKeyZ will change system les
you need to make sure youve made a full
ashable backup before you use it. To do this,
boot into recovery mode and select the Backup
option. This may take up to 20 minutes to
complete and your phone wont be usable.
your choices
6 Complete
Complete your new combination of icons.
and restart
7 Tick
When your choice is complete, simply tap
The top two rows of icon options are for the glow
effect that occurs when you press them. You can
also tap and hold on the icons to view more
options, such as assigning them to functions that
differ to their default ones.
the tick button. The app should now begin to

process all of your selections and reboot the
phone. You cannot stop this while it is happening,
so make sure that you are happy with your choices
before you decide to proceed.
/littlegreenrobot
Tap and hold

icons to view
more options,
such as
assigning
new
functions
the SoftkeyZ app

3 Grab
Now you can download the SoftKeyz app
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Hacker Zne
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Give your icons a whole

new look
root permissions
4 Grant
Upon launching SoftKeyZ you will be
your icon
5 Pick
The main screen displays the current state
from the Play store. It is a paid app so you will get

fteen minutes to test out its compatibility with
your phone rst. That should be enough time to
test a couple of congurations (though not to
restore a Nandroid if needed).
prompted to give the app root privileges, which

you must do in order for it to work. You will also
need to click through a warning screen, reminding
you that BusyBox needs to be installed. Tap
Continue to start working with the app.
of your navigation bar icons at the top, with your

options for changing them located at the bottom.
Simply tap on an icon in the bottom half of the
screen and it will change at the top. Tap X to
cancel any of your choices.
a pack
8 Download
If the default choices arent to your taste
your conguration
9 Save
If you create a conguration youre happy
your originals
10 Restore
To return to your original icons simply tap
you can download the community-supplied

alternatives with a swipe to the right. Scroll
through the options and press the download icon
to apply it. Use the import option to add your own
icons in the PNG format.
with you can save it for later reference by hitting

the Disk icon. Swiping to the left screen will show
you all of your saved settings. You can reapply
these easily in future. As always, the phone will
reboot when you change your icons.
on the Backup button and select Apply Backup.

You can create backups as you go within the app,
but applying one without will revert your phone
back to its original state should you wish to undo
all of the changes you made.
61
Apps
Inspire Launcher
Playmarkers
Scan these QR codes for direct

links to the Google Play Store
15min wonder
Inspire
Launcher
Want your money back?

Youve got 15 mins to decide!
! 5
15 10
! 5
15 10
! 5
15 10
0-5 minutes
It doesnt look all that

interesting at rst
5-10 minutes
A mind-boggling array of
settings to play with
10-15 minutes
You can create some crazy

custom home screens
keep
Redesign your home screens exactly how you want
refund
EDITORS
CHOICE
You can alter the grid

size to pack in more
apps and folders Download a theme to change the icons and overall look
While this replacement

launcher doesnt look
too different from the
standard KitKat one at
rst glance, bar its colourful and
at design, it brings together some
of the best features seen in other
Android launchers, iOS and
Windows Phone. Billed as the most
customisable launcher ever, Inspire
offers a cornucopia of settings to
alter virtually any aspect of the way
it looks and works.
Long-pressing the background
brings up a Google Now Launcherstyle screen with thumbnails of your
home screens, which can then be
rearranged. In addition, you can set
the default one for when you press
the Home button. Standard options
let you change the wallpaper (image
or at colour) and add widgets, but
the Settings section is where things
get interesting. While a few of the
settings are only unlocked by
upgrading to the Prime version
like this!
try this?
62
A universal search bar lets you look in different places
Billed as the most customisable

launcher ever, Inspire offers a
cornucopia of settings to alter
(2.99/$4.99), most are available in
the standard free one.
Under the Home Screen category,
among other things, you can change
the grid size, set the padding
between icons and their size, alter
text size and colour, choose the
scroll effect between home screens,
and either slim or remove the Google
search bar. With such freedom, of
course, its possible to make your
home screen look a mess and so
crammed with icons that you cant
even read their titles, so a little care
is needed to get it right. Once happy
with your conguration, though, you
can back it up and restore it again
later. So you can experiment without
worrying too much.
Usefully, you can also alter the
number of dock icons, plus its
background and opacity. Similarly,
NOVA Tons of customisation options and a scrollable dock in one

of our favourite launcher apps.
you can change the icons and

aesthetics for folders and their size;
choose themes and icons packs
(including those designed for Nova
and Apex); and select app launch/
close animations (in Prime). You can
even determine what various
gestures do on the home screen. For
the apps drawer, options include
hiding and password-protecting
certain apps and sorting them by
title, launch count or install time.
Theres also an optional slide-out
panel where you can create custom
app categories to lter those shown.
One unique feature is the Genius
Center, found at the far left of the
home screens. It looks rather basic
at rst, offering standard quick
settings for Wi-Fi etc, time and date,
plus a simple weather widget. Start
typing in the search bar, however,
and you are presented with options
to search via Google, Google Images,
YouTube, Play Store, Applications,
specification
Price Free
Designed for: Phone and tablet
Requires Android: 4.1
verdict
Performance
Design
Value
Ideal for customising the
way your phones home
screen looks and works
Contacts, Music, plus (in Prime)

Maps and Wikipedia. This is a really
handy feature for nding things.
Another feature of note is the Intel
UI option (Prime only), which will alter
your background with different at
colours depending on the time of
day. It can also send you a
congurable good morning
notication with date and weather
info. This feature seems a bit of a
work in progress so far, but it will be
interesting to see how it develops.
Official F1
App
Xpensy
Remember
the
Umbrella
Notifications+
Official F1 App
Live race stats and track positions for F1 fans
This app is a bit like an
F1 car: its impressive in
full ight, but uses quite
a lot of juice (ie battery)
and has a few reliability issues. Just
as the cars have changed for the
2014 season, this version features a
brand-new interface rather
unorthodox, with some screens
closed by a Windows-style X icon.
The free app lets you browse driver
and team details, plus some news,
but youll need to shell out
7.49/$11.49 for a season pass to
unlock most features. Considering
the previous seasons 24 price tag,
however, this is a comparative steal.
The main attraction is the Timing
& Tracker screen, divided into live
race stats for the drivers at the top
and their positions on the track
Like this?
Try this!
Zoom into a featured corner

to compare entry, apex and exit speeds
ESPN F1 Lots of F1 news and information, plus live commentary

during every race on the calendar.
Xpensy
A way to track your spending in style
Expenditure-tracking apps seem to be ten a penny, but at least this
one looks good. Before you start, you need to register via email so
that you can sync your expenses should you upgrade to another
phone. Youre then presented with seven colour-coded categories and icons,
although some of the latter arent
obvious a cog for Utilities, for example.
Select one, then type in the name of the
item/service bought and the price.
At the moment, you can only enter
expenditure for today, but the developer
plans to add an option for past
payments. You can then view a bar chart
and swipe down to see each colourful
category with the total amount and
percentage of overall spending for
today, the month or a custom period. Its
a simple, funky-looking app, but could do
with a few more features.
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Requires Android 3.2
A colourful bar chart shows the proportion of
spending by category
Like this?
Try this!
SPENDEE A more sophisticated spending tracker with some

attractive graphs and charts.
below complete with speed and

gear info. With live stats for lap
times, gaps, tyres and DRS, its just
like being in the pits. There is some
track position glitching at times, but
on the whole it works well and you
can tap on any driver to focus on
them. Naturally, the track is best
viewed on the larger screen of a
tablet, which also affords some extra
stats. On the other hand, the tablet
version was mysteriously missing the
text commentary screen of the
phone app. Both versions offer an
audio commentary from Radio 5 Live,
so its a decent substitute if you
cant catch the race live on TV, or to
enhance your viewing if you can.
The biggest problem we had was
getting started. It seems that if
youre already on the live timing
screen before a race session, it
continues to show the rolling demo
when it actually starts! And upon
Remember
the Umbrella
Never get caught in the
rain again
Race stats are shown

at the top, with live track positions below
returning to the menu, we were told

the session had nished, so we had
to resort to restarting the app.
specification
Price Free
verdict
Impressive when it works,
but needs some major xes
Notifications+
Send notications to
Chrome on your computer
Weve all been there: got

soaking wet in the rain
because we forgot to take
an umbrella or waterproof coat. This
app aims to prevent it happening
again. Just set alarms upgrade to
the Pro app (0.50/$0.99) for more
than one for the times you want to
go out (repeatable on selected days)
and when the time comes, the app
will analyse the
chances of rain
and, if it looks
likely, alert you by
vibration, ringtone,
spoken message
and/or onscreen
notication. Its
simple, but handy.
Dont want to keep looking

at your phone for
notications while working
on your computer? This app sends
them to the latters Chrome browser.
It guides you through the simple
setup process: just register the
same Google account, install a
Chrome extension on the computer
and set a password to use on both
devices. Sent via Google Cloud
Messaging, notications will then
appear in a pop-up
on the browser
and disappear
after a selected
time. It works well,
although some
options are only
unlocked in the
Pro version.
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Price Free
Designed for Phone
63
Apps
Playmarkers

Adobe
Revel
Store and share photos
with family and friends
While most cloud services
charge for set amounts of
storage, an Adobe Revel
Premium subscription ($5.99 per
month) permits you to upload
unlimited photos and videos and
also during the initial 30-day trial
(after which youre limited to 50
uploads per month). So it may well
appeal to avid photographers. Revel
supports multiple formats: Mac,
Windows 8, iOS and now Android.
After signing up for an Adobe ID
(which took a while to verify), or
linking up with Google+ or Facebook,
you can start uploading photos and
managing your online libraries and
the albums in them. You can caption
and edit photos (via basic options)
and share libraries with selected
family and friends, enabling them to
not only view your photos but add
their own, so its a good way of
sharing memories and events. One
major downside is that when
uploading, the app can only browse
photos and videos stored locally on
your device, so not Google+/Drive
albums etc. However, you are able to
take a new photo or video and have it
immediately uploaded.
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Reddit Now
Ingenious weblink loader that will save you time

Whether we realise it or
not, it seems we waste
a lot of time waiting for
in-app weblinks to redirect and
load and then switching to and
from the browser. Link Bubble
aims to save you time by loading
links from apps such as Twitter or
Facebook in the background
within a small oating bubble
while you carry on using the
current app as normal. Once the
Drag a bubble to the X to delete, or to

one of two custom share/store options
This updated app features

a new card-based
interface and also lets you
swipe left and right to switch
between subreddits (subcommunities for a wide variety of
topics), which can also be easily
found by dragging the top menubar
left and right. A context-sensitive
menu at the top-right of the screen
also comes in handy for sorting
subreddits and comments.
Both subreddits and multireddits
(user-selected combinations of
subreddits) can be managed from
the Subscriptions option in the left
like this?
try this!
64
Link Bubble
Pro
Link Bubble
Reddit Now
Photos within
the shareable
libraries
can be edited
and placed
into albums
Adobe Revel
page has loaded, just tap the bubble

to send it to the top of the screen
and reveal the webpage below, which
you can navigate as normal within
Link Bubbles own browser.
Long-press a bubble and you can
drag it onto the X to remove it, or
onto two customisable options by
default, Facebook and Share picker.
Its a simple idea, but works well
and really does save time: on
average, we were saving 14 seconds
per link. However, the free version of
Link Bubble is seriously limited in its
functionality, only permitting one
weblink at a time and only from a
single selected app. Its barely
useable even as a demo.
Upgrading to the Pro version
(2.99/$4.99) permits you to
intercept links from any app and have
unlimited bubble tabs. Well, in theory
at least, since loading multiple links
can use up a fair amount of RAM,
depending on the webpages
contained we were up to around
200MB with eight links, causing
some lag on an original Nexus 7
from 2012. Another drawback is that
email links arent supported, but you
can set a fallback browser for any
content it cant handle.
Swipe between bubble tabs (in Pro

version) to view each webpage below
Fortunately, it will recognise links

like maps and YouTube videos and
open them within the relevant native
app on your device rather than the
browser. Launching the Link Bubble
app itself enables you to access
settings (including an auto-expand
loaded bubbles option) and view your
history to access previous links so
long as you have not turned on
Incognito Mode.
Revamped Reddit app

with card-based interface
menu, enabling you to refresh and
rearrange your favourites and add
new ones a Browse option is useful
for discovering them. In landscape
mode, the list of subreddit posts is
shown on the left with the currently
selected one and comments on the
right. At the time of writing, the
developer is planning to add support
for multiple accounts shortly, making
it an attractive proposition.
Price Free
Designed for Phone and tablet
Requires Android Varies with device
BACONREADER FOR REDDIT An easy-to-use app offering a

choice of simple list view or slideshow mode.
Swipe between various subreddits in the

new card-based interface
KMPlayer
quickhits
like this? try this!
top apps for...
READING
COMICS
HoverChat
Read and reply to text messages via
oating Hover Heads and chat windows.
specification
Price Free
verdict
Performance
Design
Value
There are some limitations,
but a very useful tool for
loading in-app links
Comics Free
Carry on using the
current app while the
weblink loads in a
oating bubble
! 5
15 10
! 5
15 10
! 5
15 10
0-5 minutes
Its all a bit perplexing

whats the point?
5-10 minutes
It does save us time when

loading in-app links
10-15 minutes
Upgrading to Pro reveals its

true usefulness
keep
Marvel fans will be like a kid in

a comic shop with this
dedicated app. As with the
Comics app, its interface
offers a choice between full-screen and
panel-to-panel reading. Excelsior!
Perfect Viewer Free

While not as slick or easy to
use as the Comics or Marvel
apps, and lacking an online
store, it can display DRM-free
comics in various formats, including CBZ
and CBR.
While theres no search bar, a

simple but effective UI enables you
to browse the various folders and
areas of your device, including an
external memory card, to nd videos.
Then just tap on one to play it. You
can swipe left/right on the video to
play back, while a speed control lets
you play it at anything from half
speed to 4x. The app also supports a
range of subtitle encoding types.
Manga Rock Free

Offering a library of over
100,000 downloadable
Manga titles, from over 20
sources, this is an ideal app
for fans of Japanese comics, which come
fully localised in seven languages.
Price Free
VLC FOR ANDROID BETA Still in beta, itll play most local video
and audio les, plus network streams.
Marvel Comics Free
refund
Play virtually any

video on your device
Quite why there are so

many video le formats
and codecs in existence,
we dont know. What we do know is
that it can be a right pain having to
convert videos to enable them to
play on Android devices most of
which only support a handful of
formats. KMPlayer aims to eliminate
that by simply offering the ability to
play virtually any video le format and
codec. At the last count, it supports
56 le types including 3GP, AVI, FLV,
MKV, MOV, MXF and WebM plus an
equally impressive list of codecs,
such as DivX, XviD and WMV.
like this?
try this!
Want your money back?

Youve got 15 mins to decide!
Its a simple
idea, but on
average, we
were saving 14
seconds per link
Link Bubble will talk you through the

whole process step by step
KMPlayer
15min wonder
ComiXologys app should be

the rst port of call for fans of
digital comics, offering over
45,000 downloadable titles
including a few free ones and an
excellent reading interface.
Komik Reader Free

A thumbnails view for your
comic collection, and the
pages within them, enables
fast browsing. The premium
version (1.23/$1.99) removes an
unobtrusive ad at the bottom.
Browse your devices folders and storage
for videos to play

for even more app reviews
65
Apps
Playmarkers

Maps Measure
Find out the distance between points on a map
Were not sure why Google removed the handy distance-measuring
feature from its Maps app, but Maps Measure effectively brings it
back, albeit within a separate application. Simply tap on the map for
the starting point, then on an end point and it instantly shows you the
distance (as the crow ies) between them. You can add further points to plot a
route useful for planning a
relaxing walk in the
countryside, for instance
to be shown the total
distance covered. In
landscape mode, a menu
of options includes a
satellite view, choice of
metric or imperial units,
plus the ability to measure
the area between a set of
points you could even
As well as measuring distances, it can calculate the area
use it on your own garden.
between points
On the downside, you cant
Price Free
reposition points once set
(just delete them), nor
automatically set your GPS
location as one.
Like this?
try this!
SMALL MEASURE Using the camera, it measures the distance to

and height/width of objects.
EverClip
Store web clippings and send to Evernote
This unofcial app replicates the functionality of the Evernote Web
Clipper extension available for desktop browsers. It proves a simple
but handy utility, enabling you to easily save anything you nd online
text, links and images and then sync it with your Evernote account. Anything
you copy to the clipboard will
automatically be stored in EverClip and
easily accessed via its omnipresent
Clipboard Monitor in the notications
panel. It even offers a Text Expander
feature that lets you store custom
abbreviations for commonly typed
phrases. A major restriction is that youre
limited to ve clipboard items at a time
although subsequently saved ones will
appear there once others are deleted. To
store more, and save to specic Evernote
notebooks, you need to upgrade to the
ad-free Premium version (1.99/$2.99).
Price Free
Youll need to upgrade to the Premium
version to store more than ve items
Like this?
try this!
66
POCKET This free app lets you save web articles and videos for
later viewing, even ofine.
Maps
Measure
EverClip
Aviate Beta
Aviate Beta
An intelligent home screen that
changes to suit your needs
While this replacement
launcher is still in beta
(accessible via the code
HONEYBADGER), it is very polished
and usable. The concept is to
simplify your home screen,
arranging it into selectable spaces
for Home, Work, Going Somewhere
(travel/dining), Listening and
Settings. It can automatically
switch between these depending
on your activity and location. For
instance, plug in headphones and
itll go to Listening. While it
recommends apps for each space,
you can drag in your own choices

from the A-Z list, as well as add
widgets and photos to the main
Aviate screen although space is
very limited. Apps are also
automatically organised into
collections such as social, work,
games and news. The latest
version of Aviate supports
notication badges for missed
calls and texts etc, but not yet for
Google Hangouts. Its a simple,
attractive launcher, but not
suitable for big widget fans or
heavy customisers.
The concept is to simplify your

home screen, arranging it into
selectable spaces
Favourites bar
Access favourite apps easily from this area. It comes with default ones,
but can be customised with your own by dragging them from the A-Z list
(reached by swiping left twice)
Get to know
Aviate automatically switches between spaces to
suit the current activity, time or location
Home
Work
Listening
The Home space offers

handy buttons to set an
alarm and silence the
smartphone (do not
disturb), plus
home-related apps and
basic weather info.
When you reach your work

location, this space lists
calendar events and lets
you quickly create new
ones and send emails.
Theres also a selection of
work-related apps.
Plug in your headphones

to automatically activate
the Listening space, which
offers handy playback
controls, a selection of
music apps, plus artist
information and tweets.
Flash Scores
Spaces menu
This icon shows the currently active
space (here, Home). Tap the top bar to
access it, or swipe right to show the
Spaces menu so you can switch to an
alternative, such as Work or Listening
Flash Scores
Live sports scores from around the world

The FlashScores.co.uk
website is one of the
best live scores
services around,
covering a wide selection of popular
and obscure sports, from Aussie
rules to water polo. While its new
Android app oddly omits golf, 26
sports are offered in the left menu
which, frustratingly, isnt
immediately accessible from every
screen, so a lot of backtracking is
required. For many users, the main
draw here will be football (or soccer,
if you prefer), which features a vast
number of leagues from around the
world. But sadly its not that easy to
nd the one you want, since the
websites My Leagues option (for
favourites) and Countries list are
both absent.
This is strange considering that
the app does let you browse league
standings by country and add
individual matches to the My Games
tab. A search facility would also be
welcome. Still, the Live tab is handy
for seeing all games currently in

Simple layout
The main Aviate screen
(accessible by tapping the top
bar from any of your spaces)
has a very simple layout, with
the time and date shown at the
top. You can switch the theme
to dark if you prefer
Widgets and
photos
While the default layout has just
a large picture in this area, it
can be replaced with your own
choice of widgets and/or
photos. Space is seriously
limited, however
theScore
Good US-centric scores app, although
the soccer section is limited.
progress, enabling you to keep track

of the scores and view line-ups and
various statistics too. You can also
select different calendar days to
view earlier results or upcoming
scheduled matches.
With a bit more polish, and a few
tweaks to the UI it could be a winner,
but in its present form it is rmly
stuck in mid-table mediocrity.
specification
Price Free
Designed for: Phone
verdict
specification
Price Free
Performance
Design
Value

Wiser
Another simplied launcher, it has a
clean design and is very easy to use.
Depending on the sport, you get

options such as statistics and play-by-play
Designed for: Phone

verdict
A simplied home screen

that intelligently matches
your activity
The service is good, but the

app still needs some work
Select from 26 sports the numbers
indicate live and scheduled matches
67
Apps
Fleep
Playmarkers

EDITORS
CHOICE
Price Free
Designed for Phone
The bar charts show each apps usage
during different parts of the day
like this?
try this!
Tap the + button to add a photo, le,
voice message or emoticons
messages can be pinned to the

pinboard. So no more swiping
through long conversations trying
to nd that document or message
youre after. Tags in the
conversation thread also show
who has viewed les.
Designed for: Phone

verdict
Performance
Design
Value
An easy and effective way
to chat with colleagues
and exchange les
The le drawer lists all the les featured
in the conversation thread
68
App Habits
Want to know which apps you use the most at various times of the
day? App Habits analyses your activity and shows you the most used
apps for the selected day and overall, with stats on colour-coded
graphs for morning, afternoon and night. Since we were using a replacement
launcher, this showed up at the top;
fortunately, you can opt to hide certain
apps. Theres also an option to only track
app usage if the screen is turned on. The
standout feature of App Habits is the
Launchpad, which shows the apps youre
most likely to use for the current time of
day. While theres no widget for this,
there is a home screen shortcut and its
also shown in the notications, offering
easy access to the top four apps. In
practice, App Habits didnt always get it
right so may need some ne-tuning, but
the concept has potential.
specification
Price Free
like this?
try this!
App Habits
Find and launch your most used apps
Is this the
best app for
instant messaging
and email?
Created by a team
including four former
Skype engineers, Fleep
aims to ll the gap between chat
and email non-Fleep using
members of a conversation can
even take part via the latter,
although the relaying of
messages via email is pretty
sluggish. So its best to use Fleep
via its web portal or the apps for
Mac, Windows, iPhone and now
Android. The Android version is a
major improvement over the
rather limited and crash-prone
iPhone app. In typical IM style, you
can start a conversation, add
members to it, then start chatting
via the conversation thread.
Tapping the + button enables you
to send a new or existing photo, a
le or voice message (unlike the
iOS app), as well as adding
emoticons. Handily, all les sent
during a conversation are viewable
in a le drawer, while important
Fleep
uPod light
Podcast
player
BASE CAMP OFFICIAL APP Manage your projects on the

move, accessing les and chatting to workmates.
MENTHAL A rather strange mixture of app usage tracking and

mood logging.
uPod light Podcast

player
An uncluttered Android
podcast player
This well-featured podcast player has an uncluttered, clean design

that makes it easy to navigate, discover and manage podcasts. You
can browse various categories, search or add an RSS/Atom feed
manually. The left menu includes New podcasts, My Episodes (plus starred and
nished ones), Play List and Download Queue. Theres no facility to lter
podcasts by audio or video, however, which is a shame. One plus is that you are
able to sync your podcast
library between devices,
including iOS ones. Another
is that the currently playing
podcast is shown with
playback controls in a
mini-window on the right,
offering easy access while
you continue browsing. The
A mini playback window on the right offers easy access
free version enables you to
while browsing
listen to just two hours per
month, so youll need to pay
Price Free
2.78/$4.49 to remove this
restriction. However, the
excellent Pocket Casts app
is only 2.49/$3.99.
like this?
try this!
POCKET CASTS The Android podcast player to beat, it has a

great UI and is packed with features.
quickhits
Volume
Booster
Pump up the volume
Fiverr
Buy and sell a wide range
of creative services
There are numerous apps

claiming to boost Android
devices often weedy
maximum audio volume.
This one by Lagra Soft says it gives
extra bass for music via speaker and
headphones. Trouble is, we tried it
out on a few devices phones and
tablets and couldnt detect any
noticeable boost to the standard top
volume on either.
Nor any bass
boost. Still, it could
be used to simply
alter the individual
volumes of the ve
sound streams:
music, voice, ring,
alarm and alert.
Fiverr is the worlds largest

marketplace for services
from creative freelancers,
with over three million gigs in 120
categories. Prices range from $5 up
to around $8,000 and you can also
offer your own services. Sign in via
Facebook or Google+ to view a long
list of gigs. Fortunately, the handy
search bar features category lters
to help you nd exactly what you
want. Tap on a gig
for more details
and swipe through
its photos. The left
menu lets you
access your inbox,
notications,
shopping and
much more.
Price Free
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Requires Android 4.0.3
RAR for
Android
Archive and unpack les
with ease
Glimmer
A much gentler way to
wake up
The developer has taken

its powerful WinRAR
archiver for Windows and
converted it to Android with excellent
results. Sure, its very basic
le-browsing interface doesnt look
too pretty, but it does the job. This
powerful all-in-one utility can create
RAR and ZIP archives from selected
les and unpack
RAR, ZIP, TAR, GZ,
BZ2, XZ, 7z, ISO
and ARJ archives.
A new feature in
the latest version
lets you send
archives directly to
other apps.
This alarm clock aims to

wake you gently, changing
the screen from a faint
glimmer to a bright scene the
default theme is animated with stars
and clouds. If the brightness doesnt
wake you, the screen then ashes
while a standard alarm plays;
fortunately, this can be deactivated
in the settings, of which there are
many to tweak. Strangely, you select
your bedtime
rather than the
wake-up time: it
works out the
latter from your
sleep cycles. So
far there are only
three selectable
themes.
Price Free
Price Free
Designed for Phone
LastPass
Race for Life Minuum
Password Mgr Helping you to track your Keyboard Free
The little keyboard for
fundraising activities
Premium*
those with big ngers
ThrowBack
Send a photo and
message to your future self
Not everyones
comfortable with storing all
their passwords in the
cloud, but it does make your online
life a lot easier. LastPass is a popular
service but the downside is that
after a 14-day trial, it requires a
Premium subscription ($12 per year)
to use. Everythings stored behind a
single master
password,
including site
log-ins, secure
notes and form
lls. You can also
get it to autoll
log-in passwords
for other apps.
People are raising money

for Cancer Research UK via
its Race for Life series of
events which, as well as running,
can involve walking or even dancing.
This ofcial app should help you
boost your event fundraising while
staying in touch with friends by
sharing messages and photos. Find
the event that youve signed up for
and you can also access your
JustGiving page
so long as you
created it from the
Race for Life
website to see
how much youve
raised so far. Its a
useful pocket
motivator.
Minuum gives you the best

of both worlds. The
standard full-size keyboard
is fully featured, but can be shrunk
down to a single row. The apps
ability to predict is so good that you
can be a sloppy typer and still get
accurate results. Gesture shortcuts
are used to type spaces and delete,
while you can slide up from a key to
access numbers
and symbols. Its
all highly
customisable, too.
You get a 30-day
free trial before
having to buy the
pro version
(2.49/$3.99).
Have you ever discovered a

long-forgotten family photo
in a dusty drawer? It can be
thrilling to see how we looked years
ago, particularly if we havent seen
the image since. Well, thats the idea
behind the ThrowBack app: take a
photo of yourself (or select an
existing one), add a message and
propel it into the future by choosing a
set date or a range of time for a
random date
anything from
one month to ve
years. When the
time comes, the
photo and
message is sent
to you and optional
others via email.
Price Free
Requires Android Varies
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Price Free
Price Free
Designed for Phone
Securely log in
69
Which of these app-tracking apps is

best for monitoring your usage?
APTRAX
vs
FREQUENCY
If youve ever wondered which apps youre
using the most on your device, then an
app tracker can be of some help. Both
Aptrax and Frequency have their fans,
but which one of
them is the best for
keeping an eye on
your app usage?
specification
Price Free
Aptrax
The options for how often
Aptrax can actually track your
usage are fairly basic. Users
are able to choose from low,
medium and high options
through a single menu.
As well as seeing how long
youve used the app for,
theres also a small icon
representing how many times
youve accessed it since
setting the tracker.
By long pressing on an app
listing, users can choose to
uninstall the app or load it up
through Aptrax. The uninstall
process tends to take longer
through the app, however.
The only added data that is
included in Aptrax enables
you to pinpoint times of
exactly when you accessed
certain apps on a daily basis
not great for comparison.
The direct uninstall option is
denitely the best feature for
those worried about how
often they use certain apps.
You can also set notications
to remind you of app usage.
And the
winner is...
FREQUENCY
70
specification
Price Free
Frequency
TRACKING
FREQUENCY
OVERALL STATS
MANAGE APPS
The tracking menu within

Frequency offers plenty of
choice for users. The highest
settings can drain your
devices battery
considerably, however.
Frequency is fairly basic when
it comes to showing details
about app usage. The coloured
line represents how long
youve used each app in
question for.
As well as providing an
uninstall option, Frequency
also has options available to
remove the app from your
tracking usage, or go to the
apps information page.
DETAILED APP
USAGE
You can switch between

different times and days to
view different usage stats, as
well as being able to compare
week-on-week stats to see
how they differ.
EXTRA OPTIONS
Through Frequency, the NoShow list can be used to

separate apps that you dont
want to track any longer, or
that have been uninstalled
from your device.
The Frequency app offers everything you need in terms of tracking your
devices app usage. Its easy to set up and monitor the tracker and
theres a whole host of extra features for users to explore and make
use of. Aptrax is still a great solution, but Frequency edges it with the
various additional quality features it offers users.
We dont keep
secrets
TM
Learn the truth about iPhone, iPad, Android, Photoshop and

more with the Tips & Tricks series expert advice and tutorials
BUY YOUR COPY TODAY

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Games
Cut the
Rope 2
Playmarkers

Cut the
Rope 2
The Walking
Dead:
Season One
Om Nom makes a
successful return
Despite making its debut
on iOS a few months back,
Cut the Rope 2 has only
just made it across to Android, but
the wait has certainly been worth it.
Our hero Om Nom is still looking to
be fed his beloved pieces of candy,
but theres plenty of additions this
time around to help keep the game
feeling fresh. For a start, Om Nom is
now a movable character, enabling
users to ing him about the screen
at will, even though the aim is still to
get the candy in his mouth. Being
able to control both Om Nom and the
movement of the candy means
theres numerous ways to nish
each level. On certain occasions, to
gain every star each level, youll need
to explore the various ways of
nishing each level. It keeps the
game interesting and adds a good
amount of longevity to it.
The other big addition this time
around are the helper characters
that help Om Nom in each of the
different ve worlds. Each character
has their own set of

skills, but there really
isnt much to
differentiate them,
and on certain
occasions they can
be more of a
hindrance than
actual help. Gaining
three stars on each
level remains the
main aim of Cut the
EDITORS
CHOICE
Rope 2, but as well
as simply collecting
pieces of candy to
gain stars, players
will also need to
accrue high scores
There are different strategies to getting all three stars
and avoid enemy
contact. If youre a completionist
few novel ideas that make it a great
then the task of getting every star
update. Om Nom is still at his best,
each level will keep you going for a
so you should denitely check it out.
while, but even those looking for a
Price Free
quick playthrough will nd over 100
levels to complete. Despite being
largely the same game as its
predecessor, Cut the Rope 2 has a
what weve
been playing
The Walking Dead:

Season One
Modern Combat
4: Zero Hour
0.69/$0.99
The multiplayer aspect of this game has
kept us going for months now, with lots
of modes and customisation options.
Machinarium
3.99/$4.99
Machinarium still remains one
of the premier adventure games
available on Android. If you mix in the
occasional puzzle, youve got a game
with plenty of depth.
Recommend a game
72
twitter
@lgrobot
Time cuts to get all the stars on each level
All-new missions, characters and locations
EDITORS
CHOICE
Take on the zombie hordes

Based on the comic book
and TV show of the same
name, The Walking Dead
pits you right into the middle of the
zombie apocalypse. You play as Lee,
a man with a chequered past who
nds himself looking after a small
girl, as he seeks to nd somewhere
safe from the undead. You dont get
much control over his actions this
isnt a zombie killing game but you
do control how he interacts with
other characters. And though this
wont change the overall outcome of
the game, the relationships you

create with the people you meet
along the way make it a truly
absorbing experience. Season One
consists of ve episodes. The rst is
free and the others through IAPs.
Theyre well worth buying, as the
game is as shocking and gripping as
weve seen.
Your choices impact how the story unfolds
Price Free
Set in the same universe as the TV show
CLARC
Fly Catbug
Fly!
Flop Fu
quickhits
CLARC
Action puzzle adventure with drunk robots!
To put CLARC into one
genre is fairly difcult, as
it uses an ingenious mix
of puzzle and adventure aspects
to create a truly fresh concept for
a game. You play as CLARC, a
forklift robot who sets out on a
quest to repair the production
facility he was created at while
also attempting to save his friends
who are being held captive. Each
level contains a variety of puzzles
that players must complete to
progress. Puzzles range from
piecing together machines, to
simply matching colours together.
Unfortunately the puzzles arent
random, meaning once youve
cracked them once, theres little
in terms of replay level. One of the
games strongest points lies with
Swap the Box

Free
Simply use your nger to swipe
away at boxes and match the colours
and designs together. Not much in terms
of variety, but pretty fun while it lasts.
Avoid lasers and other obstacles at all costs
its graphics. CLARC is a beautifully

animated game and despite the
amount of detail included, we
experienced no slowdown or a drop
in frame rate, which is a common
problem in graphically demanding
titles. Theres a lot to love in CLARC
and denitely worth a playthrough if
you can look past the lack of replay

value and take your time with the 20
or so levels on offer.
Price 2.99/$4.99
Flop Fu
Flop and ail to victory
Create alliances with your friends
Fly Catbug Fly!

Take ight with Catbug and his friends
A ying cat might not be the ideal premise for a
classic mobile game, but Fly Catbug Fly! might
just surprise you. Players guide Catbug through
nine themed levels, attempting to avoid obstacles and
enemies. Through the responsive touchscreen controls,
players can direct Catbugs movements and his special
talents that involve several weapons. If that isnt mad
enough for you then players can also call in Catbugs
sidekicks, again each of them has their own special skill
that can make it easier to get through a tough level. It
wont take you too long to get through the main story of
the game, so check out the aptly named hyper mode,
which is essentially a vastly sped up version, but is
denitely where the games hidden charm can be found.
Flop Fu is one of the rst ghting games weve

seen using ragdoll physics on Android. The game
itself is an endless ghter, where you face waves
of enemies and must ail around the screen doing
whatever damage you can. If youve any experience with
ragdoll physics games, controls are difcult to master and
Flop Fu is no different. With enough practice players can
become adept at putting together ghting combos, but for
the most part youll be bashing around all over the place.
Flop Fus main strength is simply just how fun it is; youll
certainly be laughing throughout. Theres also the ability to
take your ghter online, although the connection can be
unreliable. If you want a solid pick-up-and-play title that
doesnt take itself too seriously, then Flop Fu is for you.
Price Free
Tennis 3D Free
This is tennis at its most basic,
with the 3D elements being a
nice addition. Theres plenty of
tournaments and cups to play for to keep
things interesting, however.
Mikey Hooks 0.54/$0.99

Swing for as long as possible
collecting coins and avoiding
enemies and spikes along the
way. There are 36 levels and 220 fun
disguises. Some of the later levels take a
good while to complete as the difculty
is very hard.
Mr Flap Free
This beautifully designed game
puts you in control of little
square bird, Mr Flaps, as you
guide him through holes in walls and
other obstacles. Its a really simple
concept, but can be difcult to master,
and it is extremely addictive.
Impossible Road 1.49/$1.99

Guide the ball down the
impossible road a
rollercoaster-like track using
the simple controls to navigate bends
and jumps. The additional leaderboards
will keep you competing for the top spot
for some time.
Shivah
1.20/$1.99
Playing as a Jewish Rabbi,
Shivah is a point-and-click adventure
where you must nd out the source of a
mysterious donation to your Synagogue.
Price Free
Use the two toggles to control movement and ailing
Check our website for

even more game reviews
73
Reviews
Group test
Mid-range
phones
T
We pit the four best

phones you can buy in
the 350 range
against each other.
Which will win?
he mid-range is becoming more and more competitive with every passing month.
No longer do you have to spend big on a agship device if you want style, power
and functionality in your smartphone. The four devices in our test come from four
of Androids biggest brands, and they combine great design, build and performance to
make them arguably the best devices you can buy. All four are available SIM-free in the
UK for around 350 or less, signicantly less than youd pay for something like an S5 or
One M8, but they make very few compromises. Where should your money go?
Sony
Xperia Z1
Compact
The Z1 Compact has
nearly identical specs
to Sonys previous
agship, the full-size Z1.
Only the screen is
smaller, making the
overall package more
pocket friendly, not to
mention rather more
affordable.
74
HTC One Mini

The One Mini shares the same
high-end styling as the popular
HTC One from 2013. This includes
the ranges signature BoomSound
speakers on the front which pump
out music louder and with greater
clarity than any other smartphone
on the market.
Moto X
The Moto X was the rst step in
Motorolas comeback, although it
didnt get a release outside of the
US until earlier this year. It has, on
paper, some fairly modest specs,
but is a highly optimised device
whose aim is to deliver great
performance ahead of gimmicks.
The four devices in our test come from

four of Androids biggest brands, and they
combine great design, build and
performance to make them arguably the
best devices you can buy
Nexus 5
The latest device in the
Nexus range combines
Googles software with
LGs hardware. It has the
best specs in the test but
squeezes into our
mid-range bracket
courtesy of a low price
that puts it in direct
competition with smaller
devices.
75
Reviews
Sony Xperia Z1
Compact
information
Price 358
More information www.sonymobile.com

Supplied by www.clove.co.uk
Good screen
Water
resistant
The Z1 Compact is water
resistant thanks to seals
over the various ports.
They t quite tightly and
are a bit ddly to
remove, but they do
protect the phone well
technical specs
The screen is better than

on other Sony devices,
but is still not as good as
those from other
manufacturers
Camera
button
We like the fact
that the phone
has a dedicated
camera button,
although it is
stiffer than we
would like
Operating system........Android 4.3

Processor...........................Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz
quad-core
Memory ..............................2GB RAM, 16GB storage

Dimensions......................127 x 64.9 x 9.5mm
Weight..................................137g
Display size ......................4.3 inch
Display resolution.......720 x 1280 pixels
head-to-head
Screen
The screen is 4.3 inches with 720p
resolution, a pixel density of 342ppi.
Its a superb IPS display with wide
viewing angles and very vibrant colours.
Brightness levels are not as high as those
on the HTC One Mini.
Performance
With the specs of a agship device,
performance was inevitably outstanding,
no matter what tasks you wish to perform
with it. Battery life was also impressive,
getting us through a solid day of use and
beyond on a charge.
Features
You can shoot photos in the rain on the
Z1 Compacts camera thanks to its water
resistance. You can also augment the
memory with a micro SD card it is the
only phone in our test to offer support
for that.
Value
With the specs of a high-end phone, the
mid-range price of the Compact makes it
great value, especially with the promise of
future OS updates. Its a no compromise
solution for those who prefer a smaller
screened package.
ProofVerdict
that Android can deliver
high-end specs in a smaller
form factor. The phone excels
in most areas, though the
camera is a disappointment
76
A good t
The phone sits in the
hand more comfortably
than the larger Xperias
tend to thanks to its
smaller size
Sony Xperia Z1
Compact
The Compact has the same specs as the Z1 agship, but
with a smaller screen and much lower mid-range price
he Z1 Compact is remarkable for being the rst

Android phone to bring full agship specs to a
device with a 4.3-inch display. So where on
phones like the HTC One Mini you are asked to
compromise on features to get something more
pocketable, here no such problems exist.
The phone shares the black monolithic appearance
of all Sony phones. It looks classy and feels great in
the hand, though the hefty bezels all around the
screen do seem to make it larger than it need be. The
phone is also fully dust and water resistant. Most of
the ports are closed with aps which can be quite
ddly. The single speaker is located along the bottom
edge of the device and produces reasonable quality
output at average volumes.
The phone runs Android 4.3, but an update to 4.4
will be available in due course. It is skinned to t with
Sonys style, and most of the additional apps
installed are designed to integrate with Sonys
ecosystem. They cannot be uninstalled if you dont

need them, though they are unintrusive enough.
Otherwise the software is fairly faithful to the overall
look of Android.
The screen is a marked upgrade over what weve
seen on older Sony devices, including the Z1 itself.
The one on the Compact is outstanding, with bright
colours, deep blacks and full viewing angles.
The camera is a mixed bag. Its a 20-megapixel
sensor that shoots oversampled eight-megapixel
images by default. We found it to be terribly
inconsistent, capable of producing lovely images at
times, and horrible ones at others. And while we liked
the presence of the dedicated shutter button in
theory, we found it too stiff to be able to use without
risking adding motion blur to our shots.
With the high-end specs on the Compact, the
device was every bit as fast and smooth as youd
expect, with every kind of app.
Group test
HTC One Mini
Boom!
HTCs BoomSound
speakers are
awesome and they
have not been
compromised in
bringing them to a
smaller device
Bright
display
The 720p display
looks great and
helps make the
phone a real
pleasure to use.
Its one of our
favourite things
about the One Mini
information
Price 286.80
More information www.htc.com

Supplied by www.vodafone.com
technical specs
Operating system........Android 4.4.2

dual-core

Dimensions......................132 x 63.2 x 9.25mm
Weight..................................122g
Display size ......................4.3-inch
head-to-head
Short memory
Large bezels
Theres a lot of unused
space below the screen
that makes the device
seem a lot larger than it
should be
Theres a lack of internal

storage and no ability to
add a memory card. This
could be limiting for the
more heavy user
Screen
For a while now HTCs screens have been
as good as any on the market and the
One Mini is no different. 720p, 4.3 inches
and a high pixel density of 341ppi deliver
fantastic looking images and crisp text.
Its a delight to use.
Performance
HTC One Mini

The Mini takes the formula of the popular One and
shrinks it down to a more pocket-friendly size
he One Mini is a version of the original HTC One

but reduced in virtually every way. Its not only
smaller but the specs have also been reduced
to pull it rmly into the mid-range bracket. Its still a
lovely looking phone and very well made, albeit with
somewhat more plastic than we saw on the agship.
The Mini sits in the hand nicely thanks to its
reduced width. It seems a lot taller than it needs to
be, though. Theres a full 20mm from the bottom
edge of the screen to the bottom of the phone, and
15mm from the top. A large chunk of this space
incorporates HTCs front-facing BoomSound
speakers, and they are as good here as they are on
the larger One models. As a media device the One
Mini sits in a class of its own in this test.
The phone runs Android 4.4, having been updated
since its launch. It has been heavily augmented with
the HTC Sense software that includes the BlinkFeed
newsfeed as the main home screen panel. Its
reasonably useful, if not essential, and you can easily
relegate it to a secondary panel if you prefer. A few
other tweaks are needed to get the software usable,
such as changing the grid size in the Apps pane. The
default of 4x3 is too sparse. We also needed to add a

third-party keyboard. HTCs keyboard is poor.
Theres no memory card slot in the Mini, and this
could leave you light on storage. Of the 16GB onboard
only around 11GB is available.
The KitKat update has improved performance
levels. Although the phone is fast and smooth, the
1GB of RAM is not ideal. The lower system
requirements of Android 4.4 improved this, so youve
now typically got around 400MB to play with. Its still
less than whats on offer elsewhere, and it does
show from time to time when running particularly
intensive apps, or even having a large number of
browser tabs open. We also noted that the phone got
very warm under heavy graphic or data usage.
The Mini has HTCs UltraPixel camera, with larger
but fewer pixels than the norm. This is quite effective
in low-light conditions but less so in brighter light.
Here the reduced resolution is more of an issue,
producing images with less detail than high-res ones.
In all the One Mini is an impressive phone that
feels more mid-range than some of its counterparts;
a stripped-down version of a agship.
With the slowest clock speed and least

RAM of the four devices in our test you
might expect the Mini to have the worst
performance. It does, especially when
youve got multiple big apps running, but
the difference is not great.
Features
The design and front-facing speakers of
the One Mini are the standouts of the
device. The software is also generally
impressive. We like the Zoe feature that
automatically edits your photos and
videos into a mini movie.
Value
The One Mini is clearly a notch down in
virtually every respect when compared to
the ve-inch One. Were also not sure how
long HTC will support it for OS updates.
The company has tended to abandon midrange phones quite quickly.
Verdict
A good
phone with great
design. It feels likes a HTC
One-lite, giving you a taster of
the best of HTC rather than
the full experience
77
Reviews
Good
camera
Motorola
Moto X
The 10MP camera on

board shoots good
quality images and
has a powerful yet
easy to use app
along with it
information
Price 270
More information www.motorola.com
Highly
optimised
technical specs
The specs are

unimpressive on
paper, but irrelevant
on the actual
device. The phone
runs very smoothly
for any task

Processor...........................Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.7GHz
dual-core

Dimensions......................129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4mm
Weight..................................130g
Display size ......................4.7-inch
head-to-head
Screen
Smart
software
The software is
mostly stock
Android with a few
tweaks that are
genuinely useful.
It might be the
best Android
software around
The display is 720p over 4.7 inches, which

amounts to a pixel density of a healthy
312ppi. The low power AMOLED screen
looks great, with high contrast and vibrant
colours. The phones curved edges also
make swiping very smooth.
Performance
Any reservations about the lower spec
disappear instantly. The phone is arguably
the closest weve seen in the Android
world to Apples it just works ethos. No
matter what youre using your phone for,
the Moto X can handle it.
Features
The Moto X doesnt have many additional
features, and it doesnt have some
common features that you might want,
like a memory card slot. It fully supports
Googles speech recognition service, so
hands-free is a real possibility.
Value
The Moto X is great value. Smooth
performance makes it feel like a
high-end device, while a solid update
policy coupled with the lower memory
requirements of KitKat should give it an
extended life.
An Verdict
exercise in simplicity. Its
not for you if you like your bells
and whistles, but if you just
want a phone you can use
and enjoy, this is it
78
Motorola
Moto X
Black and
white
You cannot get the full
range of customisations
of the Moto X in Europe
that you can in the US.
Black and white are
your choices
The Moto X marries mid-range specs with highly optimised

software to bring superior performance
he Moto X perfectly illustrates the reality that

most smartphones are way overcomplicated.
On paper it does very little that is better than its
rivals. It has a previous generation dual-core
processor, it has basically no frills in the software,
and is built entirely from plastic and is a positively
chunky 10.4mm thick.
And yet it is thoroughly enjoyable to use, no doubt
as a direct consequence of the lack of gimmicks. The
design is understated. The patterned backplate is
nice, and its curved so it ts in the hand comfortably.
The device is also light yet feels robust. Theres
nothing striking about the design in the way there is
with the One Mini, but it really works.
The power button is positioned beneath your right
thumb, but you dont need to use it all that often. The
Moto X makes use of the battery-friendly AMOLED
display to show a clock and your recent notications
automatically whenever you pick up the phone. A
simple screen swipe then unlocks it either to the

home screen or into one of your apps. This is a great
example of how the few software tweaks Motorola
has made are genuinely useful.
Despite the lower spec the phone feels very well
optimised, and lag was essentially nonexistent. It felt
every bit as smooth and responsive as you would
expect from a higher end device, with fast task
switching thanks to the ample 2GB of RAM.
The screen is excellent, as is the camera. Again
the 10-MP spec is not cutting edge, but its denitely
above average for an Android camera. The camera
app is also well thought out, intuitive with good
features. A small amount of shutter lag is evident, but
it never hindered us too much.
The X runs KitKat in a virtually unskinned form, and
wed have high hopes that it will continue to get OS
updates for a while yet, something that is made
easier thanks to the phones simple approach.
Group test
Nexus 5
Puny speakers
The speaker (on the
bottom) and earpiece are
not the best. Sound
quality from the speaker
especially is mediocre and
not very loud
information
Price from 299
More information play.google.com
technical specs

Googles
Android
quad-core
Memory ..............................2GB RAM, from 16GB storage

Dimensions......................137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59mm
Weight..................................130g
Display size ......................Five-inch
The phone runs

stock Android in a
more Googlecentric version than
weve seen before
head-to-head
Screen
1080p
The Nexus 5 has the only
1080p resolution display in
our test. Its fantastic
Camera getting
better
Nexus 5
The recent update to Googles

camera app has given the
Nexus 5 a considerable boost.
It is now much better, able to
compete with anything else on
the market
The Nexus 5 has high-end specs and a mid-range price.

Is this the perfect combination, or is there a catch?
he latest Nexus phone had a startling

combination of high-end specs and mid-range
price when it launched, and the impact has not
diminished a few months later. The specs are still
cutting edge: full HD display, Snapdragon 800
processor and unskinned Android with immediate
updates to new versions. This is still the dream
phone for Android purists.
Yet it isnt perfect. Updates have improved the
camera since the phone was launched, yet it remains
underwhelming. It can still be slow to focus, and the
camera app itself is by far the worst weve seen.
Google has indicated that it is working to improve
both, but until that happens this is not a phone for
the serious camera enthusiast.
The other main issue were not too happy with is
the rather weedy speaker located on the bottom of
the device. Not only does it not sound loud enough
but it is also easily obscured by your hand, especially
when holding the phone to play a game or watch a
video. This renders it almost inaudible.
Everything else about the Nexus 5 is fantastic. Its
thin and light and very solidly built, the screen is
fabulous and the software is exactly what Google

feels Android should be.
This actually makes it a very Google-centric phone,
with Google Now located on its very own home
screen panel one swipe to the left. This will eat into
the battery somewhat and we had massive benets
from turning it off, along with the associated location
settings. With not too much tweaking we were able
to get a solid days use from the battery.
With a fast processor and plenty of RAM onboard,
the smartphone was entirely lag-free and a joy to use.
It also beneted from a high level of compatibility
with third-party apps and games.
The more minimalist approach to the software
means there are some gaps that you need to ll to
get the full smartphone experience. The Play Movies
app, for instance, is very limited in its support for
locally stored videos, and the only built-in social
functions are those relating to Google+. As a result it
can seem light on features for new users, but there is
something to be said for being able to mould the
smartphone experience to your needs rather than
having one foisted on you from the start.
The display is the only full HD screen in

our test, and has a massive pixel density
of 445ppi. Its only noticeably better than
720p if you put them side by side, but
theres no doubt that 1080p is a nice
feature to have.
Performance
With essentially the same specs as on
the Xperia Z1 Compact, performance was
equally impressive. Theres no apps or 3D
games that this phone wont be able to
deal with, both now and for some time
to come.
Features
The Nexus series is by denition light
on added features, though the Nexus 5
is much more of a Google phone than
previous ones have been. This includes
Google Now and the ability to search
direct from the phone dialer.
Value
The Nexus 5 is unrivalled in the value
stakes. Not only are you getting a highend 1080p phone for a mid-range price,
but you also get the promise of it getting
new OS updates for at least the next
couple of versions of Android.
Verdict
A fantastic
phone in almost
every respect. Should
Google further improve the
camera then it will be just
about perfect
79
Reviews
It is a really likeable
phone, one that
does not veer too far
away from the stock
Android experience
The winner
Motorola Moto X
T
he mid-range sector for Android devices is
arguably the most competitive. While most of
the excitement in the industry naturally
revolves around the agships, it is here that youll
nd the devices that are fully useable right out of
the box. There are no gimmicks and no bloat. Its
also where you will nd phones that are smaller in
size, and even the Moto X, with its 4.7-inch display
feels much less of a handful than something like a

Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8.
You could make a case for any of these devices
to be the best, but in our view the Moto X just about
edges it. It is a really likeable phone, one that does
not veer too far away from the stock Android
experience. And where Motorola has made
changes they are genuinely useful the active
notications screen, for example, is something we

wouldnt be surprised to see adopted elsewhere.
With improvements to the camera the Z1
Compact would be even better, the One Minis
speakers truly shine, while the Nexus 5 is
undoubtedly the best choice for anyone that wants
a ve-inch screen. In truth, you couldnt go wrong
with any of these phones.
Sony Xperia
Z1 Compact
HTC One Mini
Motorola
Moto X
Nexus 5
OS
Android 4.3
Android 4.4.2
Android 4.4.2
Android 4.4.2
Processor
Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz quad-core
Snapdragon 400 1.4GHz dual-core
Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.7GHz dual-core
Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz quad-core
Memory
2GB RAM, 16GB storage
1GB RAM, 16GB storage
2GB RAM, from 16GB storage
2GB RAM, from 16GB storage
Dimensions
127 x 64.9 x 9.5mm
132 x 63.2 x 9.25mm
125 x 63.7 x 12.5mm
137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59mm
Weight
137g
122g
130g
130g
Display Size
4.3-inch
4.3-inch
4.7-inch
Five-inch
Display Resolution
720 x 1280 pixels
720 x 1280 pixels
720 x 1280 pixels
1080 x 1920 pixels
Overall score
80
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Reviews
Samsung
Galaxy S5
Can Samsungs latest agship keep the

Galaxy at the top of Androids
bestsellers list?
EDITORS
CHOICE
One-hand mode
The S5 has a clever
one-hand mode that
shrinks the display into a
corner of the screen so it is
accessible to your thumb
Better camera
The 16-MP camera has a
large sensor and plenty of
software gimmicks. It is
ultra responsive and takes
great photos
No Menu
button
Samsung has nally
removed the Menu button!
It disappeared from
Android a couple of years
ago, and this should see it
phased out once and for all
ust as HTC and Sonys recent agships have

been only incremental improvements over
their predecessors, with updated specs and
slightly rened designs, the S5 is also a modest
step up from the S4.
The changes in design are a mixed success. Its
plastic as always, and we cannot say were fans of
the larger bezel around the display. The much
maligned glossy backplate has made way for a
new textured one. Its an improvement of sorts,
though less appealing than the faux leather on the
Note 3, and still not the kind of thing youd expect
to see on something that costs over 500. Of
course the major benet is that the back cover
can be removed, so you can swap in an extra
battery should you need to.
The big design change is that the S5 is now
water and dust proof. This protection has been
added very subtly apart from a large ap that
covers the USB port on the bottom. When you
close this ap a warning pops up reminding you to
check that it is sealed properly. This is no doubt
necessary but not entirely reassuring.
The rest of the phone is much the same as the
previous two generations. It is curved, large yet
slim and feels okay in the hand. The big home
button remains below the screen, anked by two
capacitive buttons. The left of these is now the
task switcher rather than the menu (a long press
will still serve as a menu button), and the right is
the back button.
The screen is as stunning as weve come to
expect from Samsungs high-end phones. Its still
1080p, as was the S4. The other specs include a
Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz,
with 2GB RAM and a choice of either 16 or 32GB of
storage. Samsung always used to go out of its way
to out-spec its rivals, but in the current generation
theres very little to choose between them. Not to
say that this is a problem theres more than
enough power here to deliver smooth and
responsive performance.
The phone runs Android 4.4.2 with Samsungs
TouchWiz UI on top. This has received its own
polish, with a new at design that feels fresher
and more modern. It still presents an inconsistent
experience, however, such as when you nd a
screen with tabs and assume youll be able to
swipe between them as you can throughout the
rest of Android (and most of its apps), only to nd
you cant. Its also still way too cluttered. We dont
mind the mass of options that Samsung packs
good
for...
82
Video watching
Plenty of storage and a beautiful screen make
the S5 a fantastic video device
Review
Samsung
Galaxy S5
Perhaps the biggest upgrade on the
Galaxy S5 is to battery life
into its software, its the lack of hierarchy that
makes it complicated to use. The most important
options should be up front and centre and the
more niche only there should you ever need them.
In TouchWiz everything is given equal weighting.
The Quick Settings panel has 22 options, including
icons for things like Smart Pause and Touch
Sensitivity that were certain no-one will ever tap.
Similarly the camera settings presents you with a
grid of 16 icons. Finding the one you want is far
more difcult than it should be.
The camera otherwise is one area that is much
improved. With a 16-megapixel sensor (and a
larger sensor than youll get in the HTC One (M8)),
it takes great shots in good light and good ones in
poor light. It focuses fast and has minimal
shutter lag, and is probably Androids best camera
right now.
The other brand-new features in the S5 are a
ngerprint sensor that not only unlocks the device
but also ties into PayPal for online payments. It
requires a swipe of the home button rather than a
press as seen on the iPhone 5s, and doesnt work
very well. It is difcult to use one-handed, and we
information
Price 520
were rarely able to get it to work rst time. Theres

also enhanced health and tness features,
including a heart rate monitor. This is a small
sensor beneath the S5s camera lens that will give
you a heart rate reading when you hold your nger
on it. It seemed to work when we tested it, but is a
very niche function.
Perhaps the biggest upgrade on the S5 is to
battery life. It will get you through a day of heavy
use, and potentially pushing into a third day with
light use. The ultra power-saving mode effectively
turns the device into a feature phone and ensures
that even when the charge drops below 10 per
cent youll still have enough juice to make or
receive an important call.
Its fair to say the S5 is not the most exciting
upgrade weve ever seen, but it still ranks among
the best Android phones on the market. It is less
gimmicky than the S4 was, and has been rened
and polished in important areas.
If youre half way through a contract with the S4
theres no urgent need to upgrade, but if youre a
Samsung fan coming from an outdated S III then
buying the S5 is a no brainer.
More information
www.samsung.com
Battery life
Battery life is fantastic.
You should get a good
couple of days from it,
and ultra power-saving
mode is a bonus
technical specs
Operating system ..............Android 4.4.2

Processor..................................Snapdragon 801
2.5GHz quad-core
Memory.......................................2GB RAM, 16-32GB storage

Dimensions..............................142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm
Weight..........................................145g
Display size ..............................5.1-inch
Display resolution ..............1080 x 1920 pixels
Expansion slot.......................micro SD
Samsung Galaxy S5
Flat UI
TouchWiz has been attened to give it a
more modern look. Theres still too many
inconsistencies and too much clutter,
though. It lags well behind what HTC and
Sony have done with their skins
Samsung
Galaxy S4
issue 0??
better than
None
issue 003
worse than
Water resistant
The S5 is water resistant, meaning
you can drop it in a puddle or use it
in the rain without any worries
Performance
Very fast and lag free with outstanding
battery life
Design
It is what it is. No comparison to HTC,
but water resistance is a nice touch
Features
A good range of features, with fewer
gimmicks than weve seen in the past
Value for money

A very expensive phone priced in line
with other flagship handsets
Bigger bezels
The bezels around the
edges of the screen are
larger than they were on
the S4. Its a strange
design choice at a time
when edge-to-edge
screens are desired
Watching your health

The S Health app along with a range of sensors
will help you track your health and tness
Verdict
A relatively
modest update,
Use on the road
With the best battery life weve seen, the S5
will keep you going and going
Photography
the S5 is nonetheless
as capable as any other
smartphone on the market
The S5 has perhaps the best camera on any

Android device. Fast focusing makes it a joy
83
Reviews
Sony Xperia Z2
The Xperia Z2 is a solidly made handset with some
great features that will particularly appeal to Sony fans
Water
resistant
Hinged covers for the
ports help ensure this
handset is water
resistant. They have
been implemented
more elegantly than on
the Samsung Galaxy S5
Two speakers
Look closely at the top
and bottom edges of the
phone and you can just
pick out the speaker
grilles. Its nice that Sony
is giving this feature
more attention but they
still dont come close to
what HTC has done
Micro SD
You can expand on the
installed memory with a
micro SD card
ony has recently started updating its agship

handset every six months, so that the
predecessor to the new Xperia Z2, the Xperia
Z1 seems hardly to have been around for long
enough to warrant a refresh. Yet that is what we
have here a familiar-looking Xperia phone, with
some tweaks and changes under the hood that
should help it compete with the other notable top
range phones of 2014.
Like its predecessors the Xperia Z2 is water
resistant. You can take photos with it underwater
for up to half an hour, and even dive to 1.5
meters with it. Of course, you will need to ensure
that the edges of the covers are rmly in place if
you want to do that. The handset reminds you
when they are uncovered with an on-screen alert
just in case you need to be told.
Those covers protect the micro SD card slot
on the right edge, and the micro SIM and USB
connectors on the left edge. It has to be said
that we found that uncovering the power slot to
charge the phone was a bit of a nuisance, but it
is the price you pay for that water protection.
The overall design of the Sony Xperia Z2 will
be very familiar to anyone who has previously
used a recent higher-end Xperia phone. The
blocky, monolith-like chassis will not be to
everyones taste. Certainly we think that the
squared-off design makes this phone a little
more difcult to hold than more curved designs
such as the HTC One (M8) and the Samsung
Galaxy S5. It doesnt help that there is a lip all
the way around the back of this phone, made
because the edging wraps around the backplate.
The lip is very small, but you notice it when you
are holding the phone.
good
for...
84
Video
Warm, bright, sharp colours make video
viewing very pleasant
Review
Sony Xperia Z2
information
Price 599
Gets warm
More information
www.sonymobile.com
The handset back got

quite warm at times
during our testing
period, especially with
graphics-intensive tasks
Battery life
The Z2 battery
produces long
life with some
good powersaving tools
technical specs
20.7 megapixels
The camera has lots of shooting
modes, and will take stills at up to
20.7 megapixels. The software and
performance can be hit and miss,
as weve found in the past with
Sony devices
Operating system...............Android 4.4

Processor...................................2.3GHz quad core Qualcomm
Snapdragon 801
Memory.......................................3GB RAM, 16GB storage

Dimensions..............................146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm
Weight ..........................................163g
Display size...............................5.2-inch
Display resolution...............1920 x 1080 pixels
We found running the camera for more

than about ten minutes caused the back of
the phone to get hot
The very latest 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon
801 chipset is given 3GB of RAM to expand into.
That ensures apps run smoothly. 10.7GB of the
16GB installed is accessible. At 5.2 inches the
screen is ever so slightly larger than that of the
Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8), but not
enough to make any real practical difference,
and the resolution is the same in all three
phones. Sony adds a range of technologies to
enhance the screens vibrancy Triluminos and
X-Reality weve seen before while Live Colour LED
is new. These do make a difference, and things
like movie viewing are a delight.
The sound accompanying the movie youre
watching is not great, though. Twin speakers sit
top and bottom of the screen, but they are
barely visible. Look closely and you will see small
indents, in which you can just discern grilles. The
sound is not especially full, and doesnt even
begin to compare to the standard set by HTC
with its own front-facing speakers. It is
disappointing from a company for which
multimedia is such a key feature. Indeed the
Sony Xperia Z2 is peppered with apps that
remind you of the fact, with video, music and
other apps all taking their spot in the limelight. A
new Whats New app brings Sonys offerings
together in one place too.
Gaming
The processor can handle anything you care to
throw at it
The camera benets from some nice tweaks.

A maximum resolution of 20.7 megapixels is
possible, though you can only go up to eight
megapixels if you stick to Superior Auto mode
that applies settings for you. There are lots of
shooting modes, fun lters and options, and you
can shoot 4K video too. We found running the
camera for more than about ten minutes caused
the back of the phone to get hot, and the
camera app to deliver a short warning then
automatically shut itself down. Hot running was
an issue with the previous Xperia X1, and Sony
may still be having problems in this respect.
Battery life is good and there are some
power management tools that give you quite
ne control of particular apps if you need to eke
the time out until you get to mains power. All
three of the seasons agships have vastly
improved battery life over last years models, and
its great to see.
Its probably fair to say that the Z2 is the
phone that the Z1 should have been. It has been
nicely updated in most key areas, including a
better screen and extended battery life. It
compares well with the other top handsets
around right now, though its blocky design and
issues with the device running hot mean we are
not totally bowled over by it.
Photography
There are some fun lters and shooting
modes, and a decent 20.7 megapixels
Sony Xperia Z2
Sony
Xperia Z1
issue 031
better than
HTC One
(M8)
issue 037
worse than
Performance
One of the fastest handsets around,
with specs to match the very best
Design
Blocky and quite large in the hand, with
a ridge around the back that irritates
Features
Lots going on here, and waterproofing is
a particularly welcome feature
Value for money

Expensive and will presumably be
superseded by the Z3 in the autumn
AnVerdict
excellent phone in many
respects, though not quite the
cream of the high-end crop
Long life
Battery life is good, and there are some neat
tweaks to help you extend it
85
Reviews
Samsung Galaxy
TabPRO 8.4 Wi-Fi
The Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 is a delightful tablet
that proves good things do come in small packages
Back camera
Super screen
The eight-megapixel camera

takes passable shots, and the
compact size of the device
makes it more useable
The high-resolution screen

is sharp and clear great
for reading text and
watching movies
amsung has a huge range of tablets in its

current list, at a variety of sizes, and this year
the company has launched two tablet ranges
NotePRO and TabPRO. The Galaxy TabPRO 8.4
has, as its name suggests, an 8.4-inch screen and
it is the smallest of three in this range, with
10.1-inch and 12.2-inch larger options also
available. In fact, this is the smallest of Samsungs
tablets, though there is an eight-inch Galaxy Note
that supports pen-based input.
The Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 is a relatively
small tablet to carry around and to hold. Many of us
will be able to cope with it one-handed, and it is
light enough, at 331g, to hold for a relatively long
time, so this sized tablet has the potential to
double up as an ebook reader. That will make you
happy if you look at the price, into which you can
factor the cost of the ereader you fancy but have
never been able to justify buying.
When it comes to looks theres no doubting for a
moment that this is a Samsung device. The
giveaways are the physical home button beneath
the screen (when held upright this is
predominantly a portrait-oriented device), the white
plastic chassis with silver plastic edging, and the
white faux leather backplate which is grippy but
does look odd thanks to its fake stitching running
all around the edges. Its classic Samsung, and by
now youve probably already made up your mind as
to whether youll like it or loathe it.
Twin speakers sit on the bottom short edge.
They are one of the few disappointments of this
tablet, delivering plenty of volume but only average
sound quality. Considering tablets are natural video
players wed want a lot more in this department.
There is an awful lot of good stuff here, though.
The screen, for example, is simply stunning. Its
2,560 x 1,600 pixels equate to a pixel density of
359ppi above anything that Apple can offer in its
iPad range and they make it extremely sharp and
clear. Videos, images and text all look great.
good
for...
86
Multitasking
Floating apps and split screen make
multitasking easier than on other devices
Review
Samsung Galaxy
TabPRO 8.4 Wi-Fi
information
Price 349
More information
www.samsung.com/uk
Micro SD
It is good to see micro SD
here to support the
built-in memory
Battery life
Floating apps
You can oat a range of
apps on top of whatever
you are currently doing,
for example, to check a
website while you are
writing an email
Stereo so-so
The stereo speakers on
the bottom edge
disappoint in terms of the
quality of their sound
Heavier users
may push the
battery hard
and need to
recharge every
day or two
technical specs

Processor...................................Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3
GHz quad-core
Smart controls
All of Samsungs smart
controls will ensure that the
tablet intuitively responds
to your needs
You can use the tablet as a remote control

for your home entertainment kit
Android 4.4 means the Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 is
bang up to date, and the Wi-Fi specication
includes 802.11ac as well as b/g/n, so you should
get a cracking signal so long as your router is up to
speed. GPS is built in, and infrared too so you can
use the tablet as a remote control for your home
entertainment kit.
The processor is top notch. With 2GB of RAM in
support, the 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
absolutely ies. Theres a reasonable amount of
built-in memory with 16GB on board (there was
11.49GB free on our review sample) and theres a
micro SD card slot for adding more memory. An
eight-megapixel back-facing camera with ash is
not that normal for a tablet, and it means you can
take reasonable photos.
There are plenty of features here to make
working with the Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 efcient. Multi
Window lets you pop up a range of different apps
on top of whatever else you are doing, or drag them
onto the screen for a two-app split-screen view.
Meanwhile Smart Stay (keeping the screen on
while you are looking at it), Smart Rotation (rotating
Movies
The high-resolution screen is great for movies,
though wed prefer higher quality speakers
the screen according to the orientation of your

face) and Smart Pause (pauses video when you
look away) are all here too.
The Magazine UX brings news and social
updates to a home screen. You can congure this
to capture and present just the information you
want, but if you arent a fan it is worth noting that
you cant remove it completely; just minimise it
down to one feed.
The bundled apps include a le manager,
Remote PC, which lets you access your computer,
Dropbox and Flipboard. Samsungs super S Planner
is here too, but the bloatware of previous Samsung
devices has been tempered somewhat.
The only real problem with the Samsung Galaxy
TabPRO 8.4 is battery life. The 4800mAh battery
should keep the device going for around 12 hours
of video playback according to Samsung, and this
is quite healthy. Light users should manage a
couple of days without too much trouble. But there
is so much on offer here that you may well not be a
light user. A couple of movies, for example, will eat
into that 12 hours considerably.
News
The Magazine UX puts news feeds onto a home
screen so youre always up to date with things
Ebooks

Dimensions..............................219 x 128.5 x 7.2mm
Weight ..........................................331g
Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 Wi-Fi
Samsung
Galaxy Tab 3
Nexus 7
issue 029
better than
worse than
Performance
Blisteringly fast for all tasks. Battery life
could be better
Design
The faux leather plastic back is not the
most appealing design choice
Features
Brimming with features, including remote
control and stunning high-res display
Value for money

Quite expensive compared to the other
products with similar screen size
Verdict
A splendid
small format tablet
with a fantastic screen, but it
is a touch pricey
The tablet is just the right size to double up as

your ebook reader
87
Reviews
Lenovo A10
Is it a netbook, a tablet or both?

We put the A10 to the test to
nd out once and for all
Low-res
display
The screen resolution
is lower than weve
come to expect from
many tablets and
phones, but is on a
par with netbooks
and cheap laptops
Full-size
keyboard
The keyboard is
almost full size.
However it isnt
wholly comfortable
to type on
because the small
overall size of the
device means
theres nowhere to
rest your wrists
ith its diminutive size and familiar style,

the Lenovo A10 is instantly recognisable
as a netbook, the class of mini-laptop that
briey sold in huge numbers a few years ago before
being killed almost overnight by the tablet. With the
A10, Lenovo has reckoned on their still being a
market for compact devices with physical
keyboards, but it has hedged its bets by equipping
the device with a touchscreen. The result is a hybrid
device that aims to offer the best of both worlds.
The A10 is small and lightweight. Its built
almost entirely from plastic but does not feel
overly cheap and is solidly built where it most
matters. The lid does not ex and the hinge feels
88
Trackpad
tricks
You can replicate
some touchscreen
moves using the
trackpad. In most
cases it is just
easier to lift your
nger to swipe the
screen instead
very robust. The form factor is classic netbook,

with everything shrunken down from full laptop
size. So, the screen is 10.1 inches and theres a
full keyboard (complete with rows for number and
function keys), which is virtually the size of a
normal one. The keyboard section has small
rubberised feet in the corners, which hints at the
designs secret trick: stand mode. The hinge can
be opened to 300 degrees, and you can rest the
keyboard face down (those feet protecting it from
damage) so the screen is facing toward you. Its
great for watching videos, or if you want to run a
secondary app on it while working at your desktop
computer. But it isnt hand-holdable so it never
achieves full tablet status. Using touch-based

apps on an upright display is every bit as
awkward as you would expect.
The specs are middling. Theres a good
selection of ports including a couple of USB ports
plus a micro SD slot. The stereo speakers are
loud and of decent quality. And the battery life
surpasses any laptop youd nd at an equivalent
price. Less good are the Rockchip processor, 1GB
good
for...
Work on the go
With a proper physical keyboard you can get to
work wherever you are
Review
Lenovo A10
Lack of
bloat
The software is
mostly unskinned,
apart from a few
usability tweaks
to t the OS with
this particular
form factor. The
lack of extra apps
is welcome, if a
little unusual
information
Price 199
More information
www.lenovo.com
Battery life
The battery
will get you
through a full
day of use. It
even charges
over USB
technical specs
Stand mode
Tilt the screen right back and you can
use the device in Stand mode. Its
nothing fancy, you just sit the keyboard
face down, with the screen upright for
watching videos
Ports
Two full-sized USB ports,
plus micro HDMI are
among the assorted
ports on the A10
Operating system...............Android 4.2.2

Processor...................................Rockchip Cortex-A9 quad-core
Dimensions..............................269 x 185 x 17.3mm
Weight ..........................................1kg
Expansion slot.......................2 x USB, 1 x micro SD
The A10s strengths come from the fact that

it keeps its ambitions in check
Lenovo A10
n/a
of RAM and 1366 x 768 pixel display, which

combine to give the tablet a low end feel. Its
never fast, although in reality this form factor
lends itself more to spreadsheets and email than
the more heavyweight tasks that you might
perform on a traditional tablet. The screen also
has disappointingly limited viewing angles and
lacks vibrancy in either brightness or colours.
The A10 runs a lightly skinned version of
Android 4.2.2. It functions for the most part like
Android does on a tablet, although the navigation
bar at the bottom of the screen has been
replaced with a more PC-like status bar. We were
surprised to see that the screen rotates into
portrait orientation when you tilt the device onto
its side; it is hard to see when you would use
that, however.
As with all devices with touchscreens and
keyboards you navigate the interface through a
combination of both. The keyboard includes
dedicated keys for standard Android functions like
Home, Back and Settings, and you can swipe
through screens by swiping the trackpad while
holding down the right-click button. For the most
part touching the screen was simpler than all
these workarounds.
Watching movies
Fold the keyboard back and the screen props
up for easy video viewing
The full suite of Google apps is installed, along

with the Play store, and you get copies of (the
already free) Kingsoft Ofce and File Manager to
add some laptop-style functionality, but very little
else. Youd struggle to nd a real laptop with so
little bloat.
There is a front camera for video chat, and it is
okay for that even with its low resolution and
slightly soft appearance. The speakers are
located on the bottom of the chassis, and
depending where you are using the device, can
easily become mufed. The quality is not
outstanding anyway.
On the whole wed say that the Lenovo A10 is a
reasonable success. Unlike larger PC or laptopstyle devices we have seen in the past where
Android ended up as the biggest limitation, the
A10s strengths come from the fact that it keeps
its ambitions in check. This is a netbook,
designed to do the things you do on a netbook,
and the choice of OS in this instance is almost
irrelevant. Which is not to say wed recommend
this ahead of a proper Android tablet, or a proper
laptop, or probably even a Chromebook. But if you
need a cheap and affordable computer with a
keyboard, then the A10 is at least worth a look.
Continued use
The battery life is better than youll get in a
laptop and will get you through a day of use
Video chat
Sony Tablet Z
issue 027
better than
worse than
Performance
Fine for basic tasks but steer clear of
anything more demanding
Design
Standard netbook design with plastic,
but fairly solid, build
Features
Nothing in the way of extras. Without the
keyboard this would be a low-end tablet
Value for money

Cheap as chips. Better value might still
be had from buying a tablet
NotVerdict
a great Android device,
but fine as a netbook, with all
the outdated connotations
that brings
The front camera isnt the best but is well

positioned for comfortable video chatting
89
Reviews
Huawei Ascend
Y530
The Ascend Y530 is a budget handset
with a dual-screen system designed to
appeal to smartphone newbies
Low-res
The screen is quite low
resolution, and text can
look a little fuzzy at times
t isnt easy to make a good budget smartphone.

There are compromises to be made throughout a
device. Probably the three key ones are chassis
design, core technical specications and screen
quality. Even if you do well here, it can be important
to have something special to help sell your handset.
For Huawei that special thing incorporated into
the 150 Ascend Y530 is a secondary user
interface or skin for Android that it calls simple.
What this boils down to is three screens that you
can ick between, each offering a number of extra
large shortcuts to apps, to weather or the
calendar, or even to your favourite contacts.
Simply hit one of these shortcuts and you are into
the full application.
The look has clearly been inuenced by
Windows Phone, albeit without the polish of
Microsofts mobile OS. And while the idea of
being able to ease yourself into a smartphone
sounds appealing, theres no relief here from
the complexity of the apps themselves. Go
past the home screen and youre right into
regular Android.
The screen is not the best quality either.
With 854 x 480 pixels in the 4.5-inch panel
Slow runner
The processor and RAM
combination make things
run a little bit slow at times
Micro SD
Theres not much internal
storage, but you can use
micro SD (beneath the
back cover) to store your
music and other data
good
for...
90
Newcomers
The simple mode is easy to use if youve never
owned a smartphone before
Review
there is clear fuzziness to text at times. You may be
able to live with it, but something like the Motorola
Moto G, which is the same price as the Huawei
Ascend Y530 and has a 1,280 x 720 pixel screen,
puts the Huawei well and truly in the shade. That
may be more a reection on the quality of the Moto
G though, since the Y530 is somewhat in line with
other entry-level devices.
With Android 4.3 on board plus an overlay (in
standard mode too), the look is clean and sharp. As
usual with Huawei devices theres no app drawer.
Instead apps are ranged across home screens.
You can put them into folders if you like, to reduce
clutter and be a bit more organised. If youre used
to Android and how it works, this new style layout
can take time to get used to.
In design terms the Huawei Ascend Y530 is
unproblematic. There is a grippy back. The
connectors are well positioned (micro USB on the
bottom, headset on the top), as are the buttons
(power and volume both on the left). There is a
status light on the front, and grey bands on the
top and bottom edges that break up the black
chassis expanse.
The processor is a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm
Snapdragon 200. Thats pretty much the entry level
these days, and the 512MB of RAM sitting behind it
is barely acceptable. Dont expect a great deal in
terms of speed. We found everything just a tad too
slow, from webpage rendering to apps starting up.
Switching between apps is also problematic, and
with a few running at once youll nd some close in
the background because it needs to free up RAM.
Yet again we are reminded of the Moto G with its

quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip and 1GB of RAM.
Huawei has been very mean with the storage in
the Ascend Y530. Theres just 4GB installed, and
Huawei eats into this in various ways. Android 4.3 is
here, of course. There are various additions
including Huaweis skin, that simple interface and
some extras to bolster Android. Among the extras
youll nd a notepad app and FM radio. The result is
that you are left with just 1.8GB for your own use.
Should we mention at this point that the Moto G
has 8GB installed? If we do, then we should also
note that the Huawei Ascend Y530 has a micro SD
card slot, which the Moto does not. If you want to
dump your entire iTunes collection onto your
handset then the Y530, with a large enough card,
will work just ne in that respect.
You might not get a huge amount of pleasure from
using the VGA front-facing camera, but the back
camera shoots to ve megapixels and is OK for
snaps to upload to your favourite sharing sites, but
probably not for shots you want to keep longer term.
Huawei has compromised on the battery as
another way to keep costs down, and the 1700mAh
battery here may not get you through the day if you
like a bit of music in your life.
Huawei has got some things right here. We like
the Android skin, the build is solid, and we can
even live without the app drawer. But there are
plenty of cut corners and if you set this handset
up against the leading phone that matches it for
price, the Moto G, it is obvious which is the better
value for money.
With Android 4.3 on board plus an overlay,

the look is clean and sharp
Huawei Ascend
Y530
information
Price 149
More information
www.huaweidevice.co.uk
Battery life
The battery capacity is
quite small you may
struggle to get through
a day with more than
around three hours of
screen time
technical specs

Processor...................................Qualcomm Snapdragon 200
1.2GHz dual-core
Memory.......................................512M RAM, 4GB storage

Dimensions..............................132.5 x 67 x 9.3mm
Weight ..........................................145g
Huawei Ascend Y530
N/A
Motorola
Moto G
issue 033
better than
worse than
Performance
Slow at times and the lack of RAM makes
running multiple apps a real challenge
Design
Solidly made but nothing special. Very
much a budget phone in design and feel
Simple
interface
Features
You can switch into a

simple interface with large
icons while you get used to
this phone
Music
A micro SD card slot lets you store as much
music as you need
Status light
Theres a status light on
the front of the phone
that will tell you when
the handset is charged
or is charging
Radio
Theres an FM radio, a feature becoming less
common with each generation of devices
Quick snaps
Needs a bit more excitement. Low-end spec

offers nothing in the way of surprises
Value for money

At full price it doesnt compare well to
the competition
Verdict
Would
have been a very
competitive budget phone a
year ago, but expectations
have changed for that sector
of the market
The main camera can be used to take quick

shots for sharing on social sites
91
Reviews
Nokia X
Great build
Low-res cam
Great for calls
Nokias famed
polycarbonate construction
gets another outing here
and once again, it looks and
feels great. In the
potentially more challenging
conditions of emerging
markets, the X feels like it is
built for the job
A 3.1-megapixel xed focus

camera means youre not
going to be taking fantastic
shots, but its just about
adequate. Theres no front
camera for seles!
The Nokia X is a great

phone for calls. Plastic
bodied devices always
seem to have particularly
good reception and the X
is no exception. The
speaker is loud and clear
and speakerphone mode
works well
Enthusiasts have wished for

an Android-powered Nokia
device for a long time, and
now its nally here. But a
agship product it isnt
n the extended period between Microsoft

announcing it was going to buy Nokias handset
business and the deal actually completing Nokia
had plenty of time to plough its own path with
products without the oversight of its new parent.
Although Microsoft might wax lyrical about how
much it is behind the Nokia X, the reality is that it
feels like a strange t with the existing product line
and very odd indeed for a soon-to-be-Microsoft
company to produce a device running the
operating system of its arch rival, Google.
First of all, lets talk about what the Nokia X isnt.
It isnt a agship device. It isnt even a powerful
device. And it doesnt run Googles feature-packed
version of Android with the Play store and Google
apps. So what is it?
The Nokia X is an entry-level device targeting
emerging markets with its 89 price tag.
Specication wise it packs a lowly Qualcomm S4
Play processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal
storage, dual-SIM slots and a xed focus
3.1-megapixel camera. The OS is based on version
4.1 of AOSP (the Android Open Source Project) with
Nokia additions such as the Nokia Store and Here
Maps on board.
To understand the motivation for releasing the
device, its important to understand Nokias product
line. At the lowest end come the devices that are
just regular phones. These are the ones you can buy
in Tesco for 10. Next come the budget Asha line,
the almost Smartphones. Above that sits the new X
range with the Windows Phone powered Lumia
smartphones sitting at the top of the Nokia tree. The
thinking is that users will buy the value Nokia X range
devices (a X+ device with slightly boosted specs is
available as is a XL with a larger screen) and when it
comes to upgrade time, they will naturally move up
into the Lumia range. Its a sound idea, but were not
so sure it will play out in reality.
Although the Nokia X has decidedly mediocre
specs, one area where you cant fault it is build
quality. Available in a variety of bright colours
(including the signature green which almost
glows!), the device is made of the familiar plastic
that Nokia uses on a number of its products. From
that perspective the X looks similar to Asha devices
and, as on those phones, the build construction is
fantastic. Yes, the materials are ultimately cheap
good
for...
92
Navigation
The X is great value if youre looking for a
cheap satnav device thanks to Here Maps
Review
Nokia X
information
Price 89
Dual-SIM
While not popular in the UK,
in other markets the
provision of dual SIM slots
is important. Dual standby
means both are active at
once, although only one is
3G and the other is 2G
Short memory
Although only 4GB of
storage is provided as
standard, the memory is
expandable via micro SD up
to a very capacious 64GB
Battery so so
The Nokia X has a
1500mAh removable
battery but the ageing
technology means battery
life is far from impressive
More information
www.nokia.com
Supplied by
www.mobicity.co.uk
Battery life
Standby battery life
is adequate but
drops quickly when
the device is in use.
The battery is
removable though
technical specs
Operating system...............Android AOSP 4.1

Processor...................................Qualcomm S4 Play 1GHz dual-core
Memory.......................................512MB RAM, 4GB storage
Dimensions..............................115.5 x 63 x 10.4mm
Weight ..........................................128.7g
Display size...............................Four-inch
Nokia X
Its built-to-last construction and quirky

character do their best to win you over
but they dont feel second-class theres no creak
or ex in the device at all and it feels built to last.
When you start using the device, the rst thing
youll notice is that the screen, while responsive to
touches, isnt particularly bright. Its a regular TFT
rather than an IPS unit, which doesnt compare well
to most of todays handsets. In terms of use too,
performance of the X is average at best, with the
aging processor often struggling to keep up with
the user interface. On the positive side, the
software is well thought out, with a home screen
similar in style to Windows Phone but with the fast
lane history page also seen on Asha phones just a
swipe away. The Nokia Store is surprisingly well
populated given how new the device is and the
inclusion here of maps (which includes ofine
maps for one country) makes the phone something
of a bargain as a personal navigation device.
We mentioned previously that the strategy of
leading X users into Lumia might not work but
why is that? First of all, the UI experience, while
Your own radio station

Nokia Mixradio is preloaded on the device,
providing free music streaming
similar in some places to Windows Phone, is on the

whole pretty different and users trading up might
nd this confusing.
More worryingly though, as the Nokia Store gets
populated more and more by Android developers
who can add support with virtually no effort, its
possible that before long the Nokia Store will have
far more apps than the Windows Phone Store,
making switching to that effectively a downgrade
from the ecosystem perspective. This is an issue
Microsoft will need to deal with if it encourages the
upgrade path.
Overall, despite its modest specs and at times
sluggish performance, the Nokia X is a strangely
charming phone. Its built-to-last construction and
quirky character do their best to win you over, and
in emerging markets it is easy to see the X doing
well. What about here in the UK? There are better
phones available for a similar price, and if you can
stretch to the cost of, say, a Moto G, you will get a
massively superior device. Just not in bright green.
Chat
With all the usual IM clients available for the
Nokia X, it makes a great messaging device
Hacking
N/A
Motorola
Moto G
issue 033
better than
worse than
Performance
Varies between sluggish and just
acceptable. A third-party launcher helps
Design
Only Nokia can make plastic this
desirable. And in a range of colours too.
Features
Within the limitations of AOSP Android,
Nokia has done a decent job
Value for money

The price is dangerously close to more
desirable Lumia Phones such as the 520
Verdict
The X is a fascinating test that

is likely to do very well in the
targeted emerging markets,
but may struggle in the UK
The X is easily rooted if you want to add Google

apps such as Play store, Gmail and Hangouts
93
Accessories
Bose
SoundLink lll
Price 259.95/$299.99
More information www.bose.co.uk
The SoundLink III is beautiful. It is
compact and lightweight and has an
understated, gently retro style. Its
small enough to take with you when
you travel, and smart enough to be
the centrepiece of your home audio
system. The SoundLink connects to
your device via Bluetooth, and will
remember up to six without the need
for any additional app. The battery is
rated at up to an impressive 14 hours
use, and we would not dispute that.
The sound is loud and warm, with
fantastic bass that does not
overpower. We found it to be a great
all-rounder, at home with all styles of
music, so even though it is pricey the
splendid performance just about
makes it worth it.
EDITORS
CHOICE
94
Accessories
Harman Kardon Onyx
Price 429.99/$499.95 More information www.harmankardon.co.uk
With its striking space age design and eye-watering price tag, Onyx is every bit the
premium product. This speaker system is wireless and portable, with the hefty steel
ring doubling as a carry handle, though its weight probably means youll only use it
within the home, and youll want to stay within reach of a mains supply too, as the
battery only promises up to six hours use (and somewhat less with wireless use at
loud volumes). The sound quality is rich and loud and impresses, and theres plenty for
audiophiles to appreciate. However, it did not quite deliver the mind-blowing
experience wed hope to get from such an expensive product.
95
Accessories
Health
and fitness
gadgets
Use these fantastic accessories to
supercharge your tness regime
Withings Pulse
Activity Tracker
Misfit Shine
Price 89.95/$99.95
More information www.withings.com
This activity tracker comes with a clip so you can

attach it to a pocket or shirt for day-to-day use; it
measures your steps and other activity
automatically, as well as your heart rate when you
press your nger over the sensor on the rear. At
night you can slip it into the supplied wristband
and it will analyse how well you sleep. All the
information is synced to your phone and the
Withings Health Mate app. Most handily, the
tracker has a battery that lasts two weeks and
also charges over micro USB, unlike most other
devices that use proprietary chargers.
Withings Smart
Body Analyzer
EDITORS
CHOICE
Price 129.99/$149.95
More information www.withings.com
So much more than a set of bathroom scales, the

Smart Body Analyzer will record not only your
weight, but your BMI, your heart rate and even the
quality of the air in your room. Its clever stuff,
working over Wi-Fi and supporting multiple users.
It looks sleek and modern too, with a clean glass
design. The scales are powered by four AAA
batteries, and Withings promises up to eight
months from a set.
96
Price 79/$119.95
More information www.mistwearables.com
The Mist Shine is a small coin-sized device that xes into a plastic wrist
strap, although you can keep it in your pocket or wear it round your neck
if you prefer. It tracks your motion including while youre in bed to
determine the quality of your sleep and syncs the data to the Shine
app on your phone. Although it looks very attractive, the design seemed
to hinder usability a touch. You need to tap the Shine to activate certain
functions and we didnt always get it right rst time. We also
encountered a few sync issues with the app, so overall it was not quite
as rened as some of the rival products.
Aquapac
Waterproof
Armband Case
Price 30/$45
More information www.aquapac.net
To make sure youre using your phone to its

full potential in your health and tness
regime, youll need a case that is both
portable and offers protection. The
Armband Case provides both of these
things, strapping to your arm and being
waterproof. Its available in multiple sizes,
depending on how large your phone is.
Accessories
Discreet and
comfortable, youll
forget youre even
wearing it
Jaybird
Sportsband
Price 89/$98.99
More information www.jaybirdsport.com
The Sportsband is a set of headphones designed

for the tness user in mind. They feature a rigid
plastic band that ensures they stay on your head
when in motion. While effective, theyre not entirely
comfortable and dont look great for general use.
The sound quality is also fairly average compared
to other products in this price range.
EDITORS
CHOICE
Fitbit Flex
Price 79.99/$99.95
More information www.tbit.com
Fitbit is arguably the most well known of the tness

gadget manufacturers and with the Flex you can see
why. The tiny unit slips into a plastic wriststrap (two
different sizes are supplied) and the device sets
about measuring your activity and your sleep. Theres
also a cool silent alarm feature that causes the Flex
to vibrate to gently wake you, replacing the need for a
loud alarm clock. It syncs to the Fitbit app quickly and
seamlessly over Bluetooth. The Flex is so discreet and
comfortable that youll forget youre
even wearing it, which should be the aim of all
wearable technology.
97
NEXT
MONTH
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TOOLKIT
Everything you need to
hack, tweak and mod your
Android phone
From Robin Horan

Used HTC One S
Hot Shots
Your amazing Android snaps
20 HIDDEN
FEATURES
YOU NEVER
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but really should start!
Taken a great shot with your Android

phone or camera? Send it to us at:
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Essential guide to using

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The hottest new Android
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