Android on a tablet is just about as good as it gets right now - with
every iteration it gets better and more feature-rich, and soon the
delightfully-named Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) will be available too.
If
you're in the market for such a device then you'll be pleased with just
how slick and capable an Android tablet is. There's certainly no need
to be ashamed if you choose one instead of an iPad and it'll likely be a
cheaper purchase.
Typically though, as the Android platform
evolves it also tends to become a little more bloated - something that
will ring a familiar bell with Windows users, at least in the case of
Windows Vista.
While owners of older Android tablets don't have
to worry about this (the increased hardware requirements that Google is
demanding for its OS limit how far older tablets can be upgraded), there
are still improvements to be made with early versions of the operating
system, from 1.6 up to 2.1.
We've come up with a list of
improvements to show you what can be done to enhance the way your
Android tablet performs and make it work the way you want it to, whether
it's an older tablet or one that you've just recently picked up from
the shops.
Get 3G
Not
everyone is lucky enough to have 3G mobile broadband built into their
Android tablet, but that shouldn't stop you from being able to surf the
internet wherever you are. Provided you've got a smartphone with 3G
onboard - which most now do - and as long as your phone and service
provider support it, you can tether it to your Android tablet for
instant, and faster, internet access.
There are two ways you can
do this - you can either turn your phone into a wireless hotspot using
your tablet's Wi-Fi function to connect to the phone, or you can connect
to it via Bluetooth.
The second method is easily available if
you're running a tablet with Android 3.0 Honeycomb or greater. Activate
Bluetooth on your phone, then turn to your tablet and access 'Settings
> Wireless and networks > Bluetooth'. Then go into 'Bluetooth
Settings' and pair the tablet with your phone. Once this is done tap the
spanner icon next to the name of the phone and press 'Tethering'.
Provided it works with your phone, you can now freely surf the internet
wherever you are.
Optimise Wi-Fi usage
Usually, the
obvious way to prolong your tablet's battery charge is to turn off the
Wi-Fi altogether when you're not using it, and, of course, you can do
this on an Android tablet. However, there's a slightly smarter way that
will give you the freedom to surf the internet when you want, without
having to turn things on and off manually all the time.
Android
tablets come with a little-known battery-saving tip that optimises your
use of Wi-Fi so you never actually have to turn it off - it's called
Wi-Fi sleep policy and can be found under Settings > Wireless and
networks > Wi-Fi settings > Wi-Fi sleep policy. Tap this option
and you'll see three further options.
The default status is
'Never', so it will sit there consuming battery power whenever your
tablet is turned on. The two options found above this are better for
your battery life. Tapping 'Never when plugged in' will only activate
Wi-Fi when your device is connected to the mains, while tapping 'When
screen is turned off' will shut off Wi-Fi when your Android tablet goes
into standby mode, either automatically or when you press the standby
button.
Note that tablets using an earlier OS than Android 3.0
(Honeycomb), such as 2.3 (Gingerbread) don't have the same Wi-Fi sleep
policies and lack the 'When screen is turned off' policy, which is
replaced by a less energy saving 'After 15 mins'.
Save space
Provided
you've got a tablet running Android 2.2 or later, there's a
little-known secret that will save you a huge amount of space on your
tiny drive. Google Music beta
enables you to save all your songs to the cloud for free and then play
them back whenever you want. At the time of writing it's only available
in the US, and should be coming to UK shores soon.
Of course, you
need an internet connection so it's probably better suited to those who
spend a lot of their time connected to Wi-Fi or 3G, but even if you
don't have an internet connection you can still listen to music with the
offline mode.
Google Music beta works a little like Spotify -
using the free Music app you select which songs you want to listen to
and they are then synced and made available so that when you're online
you can still access them.
One of the great things about Google
Music beta is that you can simply upload files from a folder on your
computer or even select an entire iTunes library to add.
Desktop makeover
For
those of you running Android 3.0 or greater, you should know about a
great feature that gives your desktop a complete makeover.
Live
wallpapers are animated backgrounds which make your Android screen come
to life, albeit at the expense of a little slice of your battery. You
can find the Live wallpapers in 'Settings > Screen > Screen
display > Home screen wallpaper > Live Wallpaper'. Select
something from the list and tap 'Set wallpaper'.
If you want more of these stunning wallpapers, you can download hundreds of them for free through the Android Market.
Speed up the screen
Conversely,
those who would like to save some much-needed battery life and even
speed up their tablet in the process can turn off all the good looking -
if occasionally impractical - effects that come in Android 3.0 onwards.
For starters, you can get rid of the Live Wallpapers that we talked
about above.
Instead of using moving backgrounds, load a standard
wallpaper or choose something from the photo gallery to achieve a more
personal touch.
You'll also notice an improvement in your
tablet's performance if you get rid of the default animations that occur
when you open and close windows or menus. Remove them by going to
Settings > Animation > No Animations. Now you'll notice that when,
for example, you tap the Home button it will switch straight to the
home screen without displaying an animation.
Use voice control
Tablet
owners of all ages can benefit from using Google Voice to speed up the
way they interact with the device. Instead of having to search around
the interface for the right option, you can use your voice to command
Android to do it instead.
The clear advantage of this is that
it'll speed up most of the tasks you regularly carry out in a day. There
might be bigger benefits to using this facility on the phone version,
but it still works well on a tablet. For example, you can visit a
website in no time at all with 'go to' being the command prompt, you can
open an application by saying its name, or you can send an email to a
specific contact instantly.
In the top of the screen next to the
Google icon is a microphone icon that, once pressed, will bring up the
Google Voice prompt, and you just say the command. A list of common
commands can be found at www.google.com/mobile/voice-actions.
Get directions
You
might not be aware of this, but your Android tablet comes with a
magnificent - and entirely free - satellite navigation application,
which you can use to get from A to B in a car. The beauty of this app is
that, combined with a tablet with a large screen, it makes reading the
maps an absolute breeze, even if you're sat in the back of a car.
The
satellite navigation app can also be used with Android's built-in voice
control, so just say where you want to go and it'll take you there.
Thankfully, all Android users are catered for because it works with
Android 1.6 and upwards. If it's not already present on your device,
just go to the Android Market and search for 'Google Maps With
Navigation Beta'.
Upgrade your tablet
One of the most
useful things you can do with your older Android tablet to give it a new
lease of life is to upgrade the operating system to a later version.
If
you're starting out with Donut 1.6 then you're out of luck unless your
tablet happens to be highly specified in the hardware department. Those
with later versions, such as Eclair 2.1 are starting off with a much
better base for upgrading to a later version.
You can perform the
most minor of updates - going from 2.1 to 2.2, for instance - simply by
checking in your Settings area for system updates that come directly
from the manufacturer of your tablet. Otherwise, if the update isn't
available (your particular carrier might be holding back the update, for
example) or if you want to jump up the evolutionary scale a few more
notches, you can install a custom updated ROM specifically for your
tablet.
We can't tell you which one to go for because it's
impossible to tell you which version of a ROM to download to go with
your manufacturer - you will need a specific firmware update otherwise
it won't work. We published a tutorial on how to install Android on other devices here.
Head on over to androidtablets.net
and look for the exact ROM that goes with your chosen device. Be warned
though - you'll need to follow the installation instructions of a new
ROM right down to the letter because if you don't, there's a chance your
tablet could stop working altogether if the software is incorrectly
installed on your device.
Root your tablet
Upgrading
your tablet OS to a newer one as mentioned above is one example of
rooting, whereby you gain full control over what you want your tablet to
do and how it should look.
You can find out how to root your Android tablet on dozens of websites, but one of the best places to find guides is the XDA Developers forum.
Again,
you'll need to find the guide that applies to your particular tablet.
Once you do find it, rooting can be quite a straightforward process and
it unlocks a whole range of potential upgrades.
From here on
there are pretty much no limits to what you can do with your tablet -
you will be able to install apps not normally available to locked
tablets, such as overclocking the CPU to its full potential with SetCPU; or optimising your tablet's use of memory with AutoKiller Memory Optimiser.
There
are all manner of performance-related improvements, so rooting is
something you should consider if you crave a little bit of modification.
Remember to follow the instructions carefully though - there's a small
chance that something could go wrong if not.
It's also worth bearing in mind that rooting the OS will void your tablet's warranty.
Automatic backup
The
latest version of Apple's iOS allows you to automatically back up your
iPad over Wi-Fi, and Apple is - rightly so - proud of its new feature,
which makes this regular procedure a quick and painless affair. Android
also features a similar backup method, although instead of backing up to
iTunes it uses Google's cloud backup facility.
By default your
tablet should automatically be set to back up all your tablet's settings
whenever you're connected, but if not you will need to go to Settings
> Privacy and tap the tick box next to 'Back up my data'.
If
you want to do a slightly more thorough backup in order to protect the
entire contents of your device you can either manually copy everything
from your tablet to your computer by simply connecting your tablet via
USB cable and dragging and dropping everything to a folder. But that's a
bit archaic isn't it?
A better way is to use an app such as MyBackup Pro
which allows you to schedule automatic online backups so that your
tablet automatically backs up practically everything - photos, apps,
contacts, emails and more - to the cloud.
Video chat
So
your tablet isn't a phone - so what. That doesn't mean you can't call
your friends or family for a nice chat. Provided your tablet has a
front-facing camera, you can use a video-chat app, such as Fring, which is completely free to use.
The
app enables you to call up to three other people at the same time, so
it's good for arranging a global meeting. The quality of the video
adjusts to your connection, so if it's 3G then quality will suffer a
touch but you should still get streaming without any annoying
transmission delays.
