When it comes to parents and high technology- most young people will grit their teeth, remembering remote consultations on setting up Skype, registering their mother on social networks and the abundance of unwanted programs that ended up on their home computer due to an unnoticed checkbox when installing some utility. In most cases, everything ends in conflict: we, young and attached to gadgets like smokers to cigarettes, do not understand how one can experience difficulties with the simplest software and devices, and the other side is perplexed: is it really so difficult to help - so what if the child lives separately and have to figure out how to solve the problem over the phone?

Some people will brag about their progressive parents, telling how they mastered iMessage and like their offspring on Instagram, but these are exceptions. Most often, people around 50 years of age are happy with push-button telephone and have no idea how a smartphone can change their life.

“I don’t need this smartphone!” - Mom.

If you ask the average parent or grandparent whether they would like a new touchscreen smartphone as a gift, you shouldn’t expect a positive answer. Elderly relatives will rush to come up with excuses, but it is easy to object to them.

- I have poor eyesight, I don’t see these buttons.

- A smartphone is very expensive.

Of course, an impressionable mother doesn’t have to talk about the cost of an iPhone 6 Plus with 128 GB internal memory, if she is not used to spending such sums on phones, but it is unlikely that she will need the capabilities of Apple's flagship. The market for budget devices is full of inexpensive models, and in 2015 some of them can even be used comfortably! Unfortunately, there are not many worthy ones. So that your loved one doesn’t waste money on outright feces on Android and doesn’t leave the store with unnecessary insurance and other services from some store where consultants, like sharks for meat, attack those who know nothing about smartphones - it’s better to buy and set up a gadget on one's own.

Setting up a smartphone for parents

The most affordable devices on the market today run on Android and Windows Phone, which means, most likely, you will have to accustom your parent to tiles and green robots. Let's consider both of these cases.

Account creation

The parent will need their own Google or Microsoft account. The iGuides reader knows perfectly well how to create it, but may forget to write down/print out the login and password on paper for the owner of the new device. And be sure, absolutely, absolutely, save this information somewhere in the depths of your notes, because the day will come when a parent needs this password and he will ask you about it.

So, the smartphone is turned on and configured. Now we need to make it usable for the parent, starting with the desktop.

Almost all manufacturers of Android devices pre-install a package of useless programs on their products, dumping them on the desktop along with widgets. Usually they cannot be deleted without Root rights, but shortcuts, player control panels and other garbage can be easily removed from the main screen - and this is what an elderly relative will use most often.

Software that does not want to “die” is disabled in application settings. With Lumia, everything is simpler: MSN services can be easily removed directly from the list of programs.

Now a loving son or daughter is required to think about why the future owner of a smartphone will need it new Lenovo, Microsoft or ASUS. The plan of action is obvious: download it, put it on your desktop, show how it works.

Most likely scenarios:

For communication. Everything is simple here. Many parents have a strange attachment to social network My World or Odnoklassniki and have an impressive list of contacts on Skype. The main thing is not to forget about the messenger you prefer.

It’s better to place useful little things like a flashlight and the settings section on the desktop - then there’s no need to master the notification shades. The most intrepid iGuides readers can try to open up the world of mobile banking to parents and explain how.

Changing the font size

On Windows Phone and Android, the item is hidden in the Accessibility settings section. In the interface of the tiled platform, there is also a checkbox for changing the font size in the browser and third-party applications. In Google's operating system, page scaling is enabled directly in the program configurations.

Since it is impossible to make a parent an experienced Android/WP user using instructions for a smartphone - modern devices most often come with a booklet with a couple of pages, the task of the “child” is to think through all the important nuances like choosing a loud ringtone that the mother will hear on public transport, and tariff plan with an Internet traffic package of optimal size.

Transfer contacts

This is a painful topic for almost every entry-level phone without Bluetooth and a microSD slot - importing from a SIM card will save long names in the phone book, and memory is limited. A long list of numbers in memory will require several visits.

Good luck!

Done: the contacts have successfully migrated to the gadget, and that’s all required applications lined up with icons or tiles on the desktop. All that remains is to provide instructions: explain the purpose of the three buttons under the display, demonstrate interaction with the touch interface, drawing a parallel between navigation with a computer mouse and fingers. Mastering the Pinch to Zoom gesture will be your initiation into the club of honorary smartphone users. After that, with a sense of accomplishment, hand the smartphone to your parent, giving them the opportunity to fill their own bumps, because you can’t learn to swim without plunging into water.

Android for beginners users of a smartphone or tablet may find it confusing or difficult. The instructions for Android devices contain very little information on the basics of use.

In this article we will look at what Google Android OS is, as well as how a novice user can quickly set up and use all the advantages of Android.

What is the secret of the popularity of Android OS?

The majority of smartphones and tablets in the world run on the Android operating system. According to the leading analytical company in the field of information technology IDC (International Data Corporation), at the end of 2013, Android OS set a new record - 80% of the global mobile market operating systems. Moreover, a lot of other equipment is already based on Google’s OS: watches, cameras, players, and even systems such as Smart Home.

Android is an open operating system, so it can be easily adapted to any device and needs, but the principle of use remains the same, familiar to each of us. It is enough to understand it once and you will be able to control any device, regardless of the manufacturer. And thanks to the “cloud” storage of all data on the Internet, you can quickly and easily access your contacts, records, music, programs from another smartphone, knowing the password for your account. With proper configuration and installation of the necessary applications, your smartphone or tablet can become a truly indispensable assistant in almost any field of activity: business, work, household, sports and, of course, entertainment.

More advice: It is best to do the initial setup on a Wi-Fi network, since almost all other actions need to be done using the Internet, as well as installed applications(or even the Android version) may want to update. And this process with a low data transfer speed can drag on for a long time. Where to find free Wi-Fi hotspots nearby and how to set it up is written in the article:.

The most “scary” way of surveillance is listening to your conversations, sometimes even shooting video: to protect against this you need special programs.

So, in this article we looked at appearance and Android settings for beginners.

If you think that some very important setting was missed or everything is not clear to you, be sure to write in the comments below.

Key Difference modern warfare from those that took place some 50–70 years ago - in stock mobile communications among the civilian population. A smartphone will not save you from a stray bullet or shrapnel, they will not send you an SMS 5 minutes before shelling with the address of the nearest bomb shelter, and when you find yourself next to a wounded person, the last thing you decide to do is launch an application with first aid instructions. But your family and friends will be the first to know about all the new destruction and aggravation before the journalists, and you, in turn, will become a regular visitor to news sites.

1. Earrings for all sisters

Get SIM cards from all existing operators in your region. The situation when the base stations of one operator are broken or without power for a week or a month - ordinary story. And it’s much easier to simply change your SIM card at the right time than to try to buy a new one in an empty city.

Top up your balance and choose a package without a mandatory subscription fee. It's your backup channel communication, nothing more.

2. An old friend is better than two new ones

Old Nokia phone or a push-button Samsung as a backup handset is needed for a number of reasons.

Firstly, such phones hold a charge much longer, and if you turn them on a couple of times a day (there is no electricity in some combat areas for months, in very severe cases - for years), then you will have enough charge for 1-2 weeks.

The main thing is to buy a fresh battery if your phone has been collecting dust on the mezzanine for a long time.

Secondly, it’s easier to arrange leapfrogs with SIM cards on old phones than on smartphones. Just don’t forget to duplicate your contacts by copying the key numbers both into the address book of the spare handset and onto the SIM cards.

Thirdly, using a push-button phone in the rain, in dust and dirt is much more convenient and practical than crawling across the screen with a finger black from soot.

3. I sit high, I look far away

The lack of electricity in the city means serious communication problems. And cities on the front line are without electricity very often and for a very long time. In these cases, operators do not send special mobile base stations, do not connect gasoline generators, but simply wait for the power supply to be restored, blaming everything on the war.

All that the common population (and the difficult ones too) can rely on during such periods is a signal from the nearest living BS. The easiest way to catch it is on the roofs of houses, attics, or simply by climbing a tree. But don’t be too zealous: snipers are not a fiction from games and movies, so you shouldn’t once again disturb people with weapons in their hands by walking on the roof with a phone.

In addition to high points, there are also places on the ground where the signal is just as well received. Experiment, search, or just wait a week: word of mouth will spread information about such places.

4. Our love has run out of batteries

No matter how much you save battery, your phone will eventually run out of charge. You will face an urgent need alternative sources energy. We have already mentioned a spare tube; it would also be useful, which, in addition to charging, can also serve as a flashlight.

Solar panels during periods of active hostilities are a rather dubious solution. One close arrival of the 82nd mine is enough (close means that plaster fell from the walls, windows and doors slammed or opened, glass cracked or flew out), and the fruits of the labors of Chinese engineers can be scrapped.

Don't rush to buy your own generator. Fuel, especially at first, will be worth its weight in gold. But charging your phone for a nominal fee or completely free of charge from a generator in the nearest store is a very real story.

5. Chatterbox - a godsend for the basement

The sooner you understand the seriousness of what is happening around you, the better for you.

You shouldn’t tell your family and friends over the phone everything you see and hear, no matter how wild, crazy and scary this “movie” may be.

Save these stories for a personal meeting. All the same, neither relatives nor friends will be able to help you, and you can only get problems with the authorities from telephone reports from a hot spot.

There is no need to tell who shoots, where and when, and what flies where. Try to limit yourself only to specific (verified, that is, that which you can personally confirm) and as neutral information as possible during phone calls.

6. Photo for memory

Forget selfies and vlogs. Use your brain (both your brain and your back) before you take a photo or video of anything.

Never take pictures of people in uniform, positions, checkpoints or nearby areas. Even if your journalistic efforts are not immediately noticed, it may backfire when your phone is checked. It will be extremely problematic to explain to people with weapons in their hands, whose comrades regularly die for real (living people are different from game characters, this is not a Call of Duty partner) that you filmed the road to the positions simply because of the beautiful landscape.

When filming videos with comments or other people, think about what and why you are saying.

A bad joke, a harsh assessment or comment - all this can lead to extremely disastrous consequences.

If you see YouTube bloggers on the front line, it means the war is over.

7. Stock up on content

Take advantage of the moments when you have good internet and electricity to stock up on content. Download your favorite podcasts, upload books and audiobooks, download maps of the region where you are. All this, ordinary in peaceful life, takes on a different taste and weight during war. At the same time, depreciating to the state of road dust, and filling with bright tastes and colors.

You can easily live without a new season of your favorite TV series, games and holivars on social networks, but in winter, when it gets dark early, a good audiobook will help you take your mind off the alarming situation outside the window. And lying in a hot bath and listening to a podcast with a bottle of beer and chips at hand after a month without water, electricity or normal communication is the tangible quintessence of civilization.

8. Accessories

Your phone will fall. Just come to terms with this thought. No matter how brave and dexterous you are in peaceful life, sooner or later the phone will fall to the floor, at best. You will have to quickly fall to the ground when projectiles start landing nearby. You will drop it or brush it off the table, get caught in the rain and get wet for hours on the roads and in queues.

Therefore, be sure to stick on the protective glass and put on at least a simple case.

Good headphones, a charger and a carrying case - it’s best to purchase all this in advance. When will they start fighting, prices for popular accessories will soar tenfold, with a noticeably sagging variety of assortment.

9. Don't use SMS

Perhaps experts will appear in the comments who will angrily prove the opposite thesis, justifying their opinion technically. But the reality is that with an unstable connection, SMS is the most useless method of communication. Your messages may arrive with a delay of 2-3 weeks or completely disappear into the bowels of the operator’s entrails. Use voice communication only.

10. Communication sessions

During periods of especially unstable communication, agree with your loved ones about the time to call, so that they don’t needlessly dial you around the clock trying to call you when the handset is switched off, and you don’t call in vain while balancing on a tree branch or the ridge of a roof, listening to the short beeps of a busy line.

Call on the phone at a certain time, experimentally selecting the least busy hours. Usually the hardest time to get through is in the morning and evening, when people are trying to contact loved ones after work. Be prepared to dial the number 30-40 times before you can get through.

11. Lies and rumors

The media is late, they lie and confuse the facts. Take it for granted. In the span of a couple of hours, you can observe in real time how the facts about an event are deformed, wandering from site to site, acquiring sick fantasies of journalists, rumors and tails of facts of completely different events. As a result, a grenade explosion in area A turns into a “hail fire” attack on city B, whose residents are frantically buzzing on social networks, trying to find out from each other when the mythical shelling took place, which no one heard.

The main source of information is groups on social networks, for reading which GPRS Internet is sufficient. They are the fastest and most reliable.

Avoid aggregator bloggers. Twitterers are especially guilty of such things, spamming an endless stream of reposts from groups and news sites, each deforming the information in their own way.

Do not use groups that are oversaturated with entertainment content - “Our city is a hero! Like him if you love him!” - and overly politicized. All you need is information about your city and what is happening around it. The rest is information garbage, which is better to get from news sites or ignore it altogether.

When the truce comes, you will find out about it yourself, without journalists. It will just become quiet in the city: guns will stop firing, shells will stop exploding, and bullets will stop whistling. And the silence will become incredibly, deafeningly loud. So loud that you won’t immediately hear the laughter of children, the barking of dogs and the rustle of tires.

In the end, I would like to express two banal thoughts, which are even somehow awkward to call life hacks.

First: don’t cling to civilization if it doesn’t exist. You shouldn’t sadly stare out the window when your mobile phone, laptop or tablet is dead and there is no Internet. Return to old proven leisure formats: books, football (on a football field, not a screen), fishing, board games and hobbies from childhood.

Second: help the elderly. Top up your account, change your SIM card, call your children or grandchildren via Skype, charge your phone and find relatives on social networks who are ready to take them home. Perhaps tomorrow someone will help your parents in the same way.

It seems that in our digital age there is no need to explain how to use a smartphone. However, it is not. The age at which these gadgets fall into hands is greatly reduced. It is up to adults to explain to children how to use them, but sometimes they themselves do not fully master these devices.

Initial setup

How to use a smartphone? The answer should start with the basics, gradually moving further in order.

So, first you will be asked to set a password, PIN code or pattern. It is better for a beginner not to start experimenting with this function, but to postpone it until later. You can simply forget the code or try to enter one thing and get something completely different, as a result of which the smartphone may stop working already at the first stage of setup.

Before this setup, you will be prompted to select a language and then attempt to connect to wireless networks. In most cases, this step can be skipped. You will then be prompted to create a Google account.

As advice for beginners (how to use a smartphone), we can say this: for users of Android phones, it is better to immediately set up this account. This is due to the fact that applications are installed through a special store; in addition, smartphones based on this operating system are usually tied to the services of this company.

Modern smartphones based on Android version 5.1 and higher are linked to a Google account, and if the gadget is suddenly stolen or lost, the data from the linked account will be requested to unlock it.

If it is necessary to transfer contacts from an old phone to a newly purchased smartphone, Android users must again use Google services. In addition, when using an account from a previous gadget with the same OS on a new smartphone, you will be prompted to download applications that were used on the previous device.

Installing applications

How to use a smartphone? Users, as a rule, do not buy a device for the sole purpose of making calls, since a simple phone will do for this. Smartphone buyers want to use this device like a mini computer. This makes it possible to install applications on it.

We will explain how to use a smartphone (for dummies) when installing applications.

The most popular smartphone models come with iOS and Android OS. Both of these systems have their own application stores. In Google's Play Market, many applications are free, but there are also paid analogues. Since the beginning of computerization, domestic buyers have become accustomed to buying programs only for a nominal fee on the market, and after the Internet became available almost everywhere, these programs are downloaded in various ways from the Global Network.

Initially, Google does not allow the user to install a third-party application. However, the user can remove this restriction, but in this case all responsibility for damage to the smartphone falls on him. Therefore, you need to think about what is better: paying money for the desired program or potentially damage your gadget.

Installing antivirus

Although iOS is an OS developed by Apple and Android is an OS developed by Google, they do not have the same security levels as a desktop Mac or GNU/Linux OS. The Android kernel is the kernel of the Linux operating system, but the system itself is not GNU, so it is susceptible to viruses.

Let's look at how to use a smartphone for beginners so as not to catch a virus.

The most popular antiviruses common in the Windows environment have been adapted for Android. In the Play Market you can find a variety of anti-virus programs, including such popular ones as DrWeb, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, and Avast. Using latest smartphone You can also protect against theft. You can also block the device and determine its location using Google.

Smartphone optimization

Let's give one more tip for dummies (how to use a smartphone). The user can completely change the design, as a result of which the gadget begins to perform more processes, and the more processes it performs, the more resources it needs, since with the available resources it begins to slow down. Therefore, you need to select applications that improve the energy efficiency of your smartphone. Train yourself to periodically clean your gadget using special programs that find temporary files created during installation, as well as those that were not automatically deleted and gradually take up more and more space.

Reboot

Another tip for beginners (how to use a smartphone) would be to study the instructions in order to reboot the device using the keys on the phone. Like any computer, a smartphone can freeze. As a rule, they do not have a Reset button, and a reboot can be accomplished by a combination of sequentially pressed keys.

Gestures in Android OS

How to use a smartphone for beginners? It is also necessary to pay attention to the gestures that are used to control the OS installed on this gadget. One of the most popular operating systems used on smartphones is Android OS. Let's look at the gestures used here:

• tap - a short-term single click with a finger on any element;
• double tap - short-term double-click with your finger on any element (analogous to double-clicking the mouse in Windows);
• long tap - involves holding your finger on a certain element for 1-2 seconds;
• pinch - the display is covered with two fingers, diverging in different directions or brought together (spreading apart is usually done to zoom in, and pinching to zoom out);
• swipe - moving your finger across the display, one of the main actions.

Setting up Samsung smartphones

Let's look at how to use Samsung smartphones, using the Galaxy S7 as an example.

They can create a Samsung account, which is needed for using Samsung Pay, which allows you to pay for in-store purchases from your smartphone.

Samsung gadgets are equipped with a fingerprint scanner, with which you can unlock your smartphone, log in to the network and use the Samsung Pay service.

In the Theme Store, Samsung uses a variety of themes for smartphones, some of which are available for free, and some for money.

How to use a smartphone for a beginner who has not yet mastered installing applications? The manufacturer periodically adds new applications to new smartphones and removes old ones. With experience, each user will be able to install new applications from the Play Market, and you can remove those pre-installed by Samsung using the “-” button in the application menu.

The smartphone in question allows you to save battery power by changing the colors on the screen to black and white, as well as turning off applications running in the background.

Like most other smartphones, this gadget allows you to use a micro SD card.

We use Xiaomi smartphones

These smartphones have their own characteristics. How to use Xiaomi smartphones? Here, SIM cards are inserted not from the back, but from the side; there is a special slot for them. In the box that this smartphone came with, there is a special device for opening this slot (similar to a paper clip). If the connection does not appear, then take it out, turn the SIM card over and insert it again.

Some analogue of the Samsung account in smartphones in Xiaomi gadgets is the Mi account, with which you can update firmware, lock the phone if necessary, make backups, and use the cloud.

The smartphones of the brand in question have the “Merry Carousel” application, which gives it a dynamic look with various images. Turn on: settings - wallpaper - carousel.

These smartphones, for example, the Xiaomi Redmi 3s model, also have the ability to add a fingerprint.

If the smartphone has the Miui shell, then a second space is used there, which essentially represents a new work session. From the first space, the second can be removed if necessary.

Applications in this smartphone can be closed using the “Menu” button on the gadget itself, selecting the unnecessary one and clicking on the trash can (it will not be deleted, but closed).

There are many more different options for smartphone data that cannot be covered in one article.

Finally

How to use a smartphone? One can argue endlessly. The article provides basic recommendations for beginners so that they can immediately start using the gadget after purchasing it. Some capabilities of individual smartphone models, for example, Samunga or Xiaomi, are also considered. With experience, users will be able to independently discover new capabilities of their gadgets.

Let's say that you are lucky and Santa Claus placed a newfangled gadget under the tree. Very popular in Lately use smartphones, e-readers and tablets. The Vestey.Hitek guide will help novice owners of smart devices to unlock the potential of such a gift.

What is this? Android is the program with which you control your device. Its history began in 2005, when Google bought the development company of the same name and began developing the platform. In September 2008, the first stable version of Android was released - 1.0 (under code name Apple Pie). Over the next four years, 14 “editions” of the OS were released. The release of the latest version to date - 4.1/4.2 (Jelly Bean) - took place in June 2012.

Backed by the world's largest search engine, Android has quickly become the most popular mobile OS in the world. Its success was largely due to the open source code and Google's policy of allowing manufacturers to install Android on their products for free. "Robot" prefer these large companies like HTC, Samsung, Sony and Motorola.

— If you urgently need to top up your phone or Internet balance, pay for housing and communal services, buy a ticket, or simply transfer money. Dozens of applications from major payment systems and banks are at your service. IN Google Play, for example, there is Yandex.Money, Webmoney, QIWI, Alfa-Bank, Russian Standard, TKS Bank or Home Credit Bank.

— They will help you find your way around the area or build a route for a trip by car