Android: Gingerbread Shortcuts

Soon we will be rolling out Android 2.3 (gingerbread) software updates for the Motorola Milestone X, HTC Merge, and the Samsung i500 Showcase.

Here are some tips for the new software from google:

 

Tips

How to	Shortcut
Know when you’re at the end of a list	An orange hue shows up when you reach the end of a scrollable list. This tells you that you can’t scroll any further.
Know when you have an active wireless connection	The notification bar icons turn green when you have an active connection, otherwise they’ll appear as white. For example, if you’re in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won’t turn green until you launch the browser and log-in via the Web browser.
Use voice actions	You can tell your phone what to do by pressing the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass. You can tell it to send an email or text message, call someone, navigate somewhere or listen to music.
Find downloads from the Web browser	You can find things you’ve downloaded from your Web browser in the Downloads manager.
Turn Gallery stack into a slideshow	When you are looking at a stack of pictures in Gallery, you can put two fingers on the stack and spread them. The stack would then spread out and photos flow from one finger to the other.
Get walking directions	Click on the walking person icon to get walking directions in Google Maps.
Copy-and-paste text from a Web page	To copy/paste, long press some text, drag the handles around to select the text you want to copy, and press somewhere in the highlighted region. To paste, simply long press a text entry box and select paste. In Gmail, however, you need to go to Menu -> More -> Select Text.
Activate Wi-Fi hotspot	Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Tethering & Portable Hotspot. Certain service providers charge for this feature.
Activate 3D map	Tilt the map by sliding two fingers vertically up/down the screen. Rotate it by placing two fingers on the map and sliding in a circular motion.
Call up recently accessed apps	Do a long press of the home button and a menu will pop up with apps that you’ve recently used.

Keyboard tricks

How to	Shortcut
Capitalize a word	In Gingerbread (and supported hardware), you can press Shift + Key to capitalize a letter instead of going to a separate all caps keyboard.
Use auto-complete	The spacebar lights up when auto-complete can finish a word.
Replace a word	Tap on any previously typed word, then tap on a suggestion to automatically replace it with the suggested word.
Access special characters	Press and hold any key to go to the special character keyboard. You can also press and hold the “,” key for an extensive punctuation keyboard.

HTC Sense UI tricks

How to	Shortcut
Change the lockscreen shortcuts	You can easily change the links on the lockscreen by hitting Menu > Personalize > Lock screen and hitting the Settings button. This calls up a menu which lets you assign the apps of your choice to the lockscreen.
Flip to silence	Did you forget to put your phone on silent mode and received a call during an important meeting? Flip the phone over and it will automatically cut the ringer. You can still answer the phone or hang up.
View all your home screens	Tapping the Home button once while you’re in main home screen will call up all available panels at once. You can then easily switch to the desired section with another tap.
Quick settings	The notification bar features more options compared with the default Gingerbread ROM. You can tap on the quick settings button to access your connectivity options, including turning on Wi-Fi or creating a Wi-Fi Hotspot without having to go through two layers of menus.

Samsung TouchWiz UX tricks

How to	Shortcut
Taking screenshots	As any Android user will know, taking screenshots from your unrooted Android smartphone can be quite a painful affair. Depending on your version of TouchWiz you can press the BACK button while quickly tapping the power button to take a screenshot.
Swipe to call	In the Contacts menu, you can swipe to the left or right of a contact to either quickly call or SMS someone.
Resizable widgets	Samsung has also added new widgets that can be resized to your preference. Unfortunately, it’s quite hard to tell which apps can be resized, and it’s only limited to certain widgets from Samsung.
Quick panel	The notification bar has also been tweaked to let you quickly toggle your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and Silent mode settings as well as the rotation lock. While it’s not as comprehensive as HTC Sense, it’s still pretty handy and saves you some widget space on the home screen.

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