What is Android, How to use it, and what's it good for?

Or what I what I love about my smart phones and tablets, and discovered while playing with them. http://www.slideshare.net/msz/ Mark S. ZinzowDecember, 2013

What is Android?

"Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel, and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005" ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29

What is Android?

A versatile operating environment to do more stuff for free, or at lower cost, than most any other computing environment with low cost hardware.

Best Android AppsThe Guide for Discriminating DownloadersBy Mike Hendrickson, Brian Sawyer

What kinds of devices run Android?

Smartphones, TV Media Streamers, Tablets, Ebook Readers, Netbooks, Smart Watch, Car Computers, Game Consoles

http://www.android.com/devices/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Android_devices

What flavors does it come in?

Release No. - NameAndroid 1.5 - CupcakeAndroid 1.6 - DonutAndroid 2.0-1 - EclairAndroid 2.2 - FroyoAndroid 2.3 - GingerbreadAndroid 3.x - HoneycombAndroid 4.0 - Ice Cream SandwichAndroid 4.1-3 - Jelly BeanAndroid 4.4 - Kit-katAndroid 5.0 - Key Lime Pie

http://hubpages.com/hub/Cupcake-Donut-Eclair-Froyo-Gingerbread-Honeycomb-Android-OS-Version-Codenames-and-Whyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_in_Androidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history

Stock Android systems are more likely to be updated than customized Android.

How do I use it? (The Basic UI)

Touch Controls - Tap, Long Press, & swipe (like single click, double or right-click, and scroll)

Home screen(s) (like Windows Desktop)

Adding & Removing shortcuts

Voice search

Common buttons: Home, Menu, Back & SearchRecent Apps button replaced Menu and Search in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Virtual Keyboards & Text Editing

Notification Area or Status Bar

Settings e.g. Sync & AutoSync

Touch Controls

Tap: Used to select a button or icon, e.g. launch app, select a menu item or paste button

Long Press, or Touch & Hold: Select object for drag (e.g. to trash), or cut, copy, or paste

Double Tab: Used to toggle zoom in/out

Pinch: Used to zoom in or out with fine control

Swipe or Slide: Scroll through home screens, pages of a document or web site, etc.

Two finger scroll or drag

http://androidadvices.com/touchscreen-on-android-phone/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch

Touch Control Pinch Example

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/windowsviews/conceptual/UIScrollView_pg/ZoomZoom/ZoomZoom.html

Example Home ScreensNotice the notification area at the top, and the standard control buttons are the same on each of these three screens

How to customize an Android home screen, part 1: Launcher basicshttp://www.pocketables.com/2012/07/how-to-customize-an-android-home-screen-part-1-launcher-basics.htmlhttp://tinyurl.com/launcher-basics

Adding & Removing shortcutsLong Press on an empty area to pop up add menu, or an icon or shortcut to select it to drag to trash icon which will pop up after you select something.

http://www.onlineandroidtips.com/os/shortcuts.html

Voice Search

Voice Search gives you Google searches and a lot more with out having to type anything!

Everything You Didn't Know You Could Do with Google's Voice Commandshttp://lifehacker.com/everything-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-with-google-voi-512727229

How to Create a Custom Voice Command for Anything on Androidhttp://lifehacker.com/how-to-create-custom-voice-commands-with-tasker-and-aut-1282209195

Voice Commands

Call [name or number] Define [word]Map [place] Note to Self [message to email]Navigate to [place or address] Go To [website]Send Text to [name or number, message]Email [name, message] Play [group or song title]

Android Voice Commandshttp://www.usemydroid.com/android-voice-commands/ Android 4.4 KitKat lets you say 'OK Google' to activate touchless searchhttp://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/android-kitkat-nexus-5-google-now-search/

Common Android Buttons
Pre 3.0 vs. 3.0 & Above

Menu, Home, Back & Search (in 1 & 2) vs. Back, Home, Recent Apps (in 3.x & 4.x + ) Android Fragmentation Truth or FUD? Hardware or Software?http://www.plomonet.com/2011/11/06/android-fragmentation/

More Buttons & Icons

Share Icons

Three Square Dots = new Menu Icon

Android Keyboards: Hardware & Virtual

Standard default Keyboards

Hacker's Keyboard - Adds Fn/Tab/Ctrl/Esc keys, and esp. useful arrow keys!

Text Editing: Move, Copy & Paste

How to Copy and Paste on an Androidhttp://www.wikihow.com/Copy-and-Paste-on-an-Android

Guide: Using the OnScreen Keyboard on your Android Phonehttp://androidadvices.com/guide-onscreen-keyboard-android-phone/

TIP: Buy at least one extra stylus

Most fingers are larger than keyboard buttons or letters on a screen. There are usually hundreds of auctions on eBay where you can get 8 or 10 Styli for under a dollar shipped. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?clk_rvr_id=551741736265&_nkw=stylus&_sop=15

Just drop a half dozen auctions or so into Gixen, or similar snipe service, and place them in the same group to easily get one at your target price! http://www.gixen.com/

Notification Area or Status Bar

Settings: Look Through Them!

http://wiki.witopia.net/wiki/Google_Android_DNS_Settings

Settings to Save Battery or $

http://www.techshout.com/guide/2012/12/how-to-save-battery-on-android/

http://www.androidcentral.com/android-101-keep-your-picasa-account-synced-your-android-device

Haptic Feedback settings

How to enable/disable haptic feedback on Android phone

Android A to Z: Haptic feedback

Auto Haptic Widget

Haptic Effect Preview

What can I run on Android?

Software programs are called apps (short for applications) and distributed through Markets, Stores or web sites.

Google Play (formerly Android Market)http://play.google.com

(Tip: Count stars, read reviews, check screen shots, and similar apps before installing.)

Amazon Appstore for Android (Free paid app every day)http://www.amazon.com/getappstore

Getjar (limited app market often found on cheap tablets)http://www.getjar.com

Google Play Hits One Million Android Apps - July 24, 2013http://readwrite.com/2013/07/24/google-play-hits-one-million-android-apps

35+ Best Websites for Free Android Appshttp://www.designrazzi.com/2013/free-android-apps/

Sideloading

How do I bootstrap a Market that didn't come with my device? APK Downloader Chrome Browser Extension Downloads apps to your PChttp://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/ Sideload. (Side-load). To move files / content from one local device (such as a computer) to another local device (such as a phone.) http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=485 TIP: Keep your .apk (Application PacKage File) install files with version numbers, so you can revert to an old version, uninstall apps that run in the background when not using them, or reinstall a hung app even when offline (much faster than rebooting on many devices). How to Sideload Android Appshttp://lifehacker.com/5943562/how-to-sideload-android-apps http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2012/01/16/pandigital-supernova-how-to-install-android-market-and-google-apps-video/

http://www.androidcentral.com/swm

Websites for APK archives
or direct downloads

Android Vending - Download android apps without access to Google Play. http://androidvnd.com/

AndroidDrawer.com simple download of new and older versions of Android Apps. Don't like the latest app release? Go back to a perfectly working previous one!

Warning: There is greater risk of getting APS containing malware when bypassing an approved market such as Google Play.

http://www.apkfiles.com/ Neat Android themed web list.http://www.tucows.com/mobile/android Well establishedhttp://en.uptodown.com/android Nice search and rankhttp://www.freewarelovers.com/android User submitted...https://m.app.box.com/view_shared/93t5vc7np8http://www.androlib.com/http://slideme.org/ I'm not sure I'd trust these:http://www.apkarchive.com/ Annoying pop-up windows.http://www.apkdownloads.com/ Same as above.

Android FileHost is a free file hosting solution for developers.

(Updated) How to Download Android Apps APK to PC from Google Play(Real APK Leecher exe - May be worth knowing about should APK Downloader stop working. http://www.hacktabs.com/download-android-apps-apk-to-your-pc-from-android-market-or-google-play/

This App needs Root, what's Root?

Basically a way to take full control over your device.

Downside: apps that require DRM like Netflix may refuse to run, or worse...

See:http://www.clockworkmod.com/

Hack your Android like a pro: Rooting and ROMs explainedhttp://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57578709-251/hack-your-android-like-a-pro-rooting-and-roms-explained/

https://www.google.com/search?&q=android+root+roms7,250,000 results

Games

https://www.google.com/search?&q=android+game1,040,000,000 results - over a Billion!

Angry Birds, Arcade Classics like Bejeweled, ...,too many to review, this could be a presentation in itself.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rovio.angrybirdshttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ezjoynetwork.jewelsmaze

TIP: Find a game partner online anytime night or day for Scrabble, Chess, Bridge, etc.Search Google play for "online game"

? Audience Favorites ?

Some Useful Apps

https://www.google.com/search?&q=android+most+useful+apps41,300,000 results There will be a lot more that I will have time to highlight, or even know about myself! e.g. Shush! When you turn your ringer off for a meeting or movie, this app turns it back on afterwards. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.publicobject.shush

Web Browsers

Puffin, Dolphin, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Maxthon, Baidu, Boat, Orweb... Browser Wars: the best 10 Android browsers go toe-to-toe

Mobile vs. Desktop Web Pages

http://m.gasbuddy.com/touch/ http://www.gasbuddy.com

See also an early attempt to get around Gasbuddy map navigation limits on Android devices: http://www.zguru.us/gas.html

Browser User Agent Setting

8 Reasons Android Owners Should Try Dolphin Browser

Custom User-Agent String Android Firefox Add-ON

Gecko user agent string reference

Puffin Web Browser Free Settings, Mobile browser mode

Puffin Virtual Track Pad Two Finger Drag

http://www.puffinbrowser.com/help/#drag_and_drop_with_trackpad

QR Code Reader

Use your camera to read and load a URL, add a contact entry to your address book, add an event to your calendar, or login to a password protected WiFi network, purchase something in a printed ad, etc. See also: http://www.qrstuff.com/for one of the best QR Code generators and list of uses.

Barcode Scanner

TIP: When scanning a barcode from a computer screen, point the camera at the screen before tapping the camera button for better automatic brightness and contrast adjustment.

Utilities

Super aTool Box-cache batteryhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.lepeng.superboxss

TIP: Move as many apps as possible to your SD or MicroSD card!

X-plore File Managerhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore

File Transfer

AirDroid, Bump, ES File Explorer File Manager, etc. AirDroid TIP: Point camera at display before tapping the scan button. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bumptech.bumpga

Music/Media players/streamers

Winamphttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nullsoft.winamp

Stitcher Radio - News & Talkhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stitcher.apphttp://www.stitcher.com/

Public Radio & Podcasthttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nprpodcastplayer.app

VLC for Android Betahttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc.betav7neon

HBO Go, TWC TV, Xfinity player, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Netflix, TuneIn Radio, etc.

eBook & PDF viewers

Cool Readerhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.coolreader

EBookDroid - PDF & DJVU Readerhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ebookdroid Kindle, B&N Nook, etc. See also for your desktop:http://www.calibre-ebook.com/ Apprentice Alf's Blog: http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/ Free ebooks - Project Gutenberghttp://www.gutenberg.org/ Baen Ebooks - Free Libraryhttp://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx

Free Voip
(Voice over Internet Protocol) Free calls & Free Video Chat

GrooVe IP - Free Calls + Texthttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gvoip

OBiON Androidhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paad.hellohttp://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html

Skype, Google Hangouts, & many more!

Free Smartphone Cellular Services
Pay $106 to $269 for the phone, and skip thousands of dollars in service contracts
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

http://www.freedompop.com/phone/https://www.facebook.com/FreedomPopNO Monthly Fee Basic Plan, low monthly fees for more talk time and data!

$9.99 Upgrade from 500Mb to 1Gb/month of DataBeware default Automated Top-Up setting charges $10 when you have 100 Mb of data left.Premium plans: 2Gb@$19.99 or 4Gb@$34.99/month. Catch: NO ROAMING.

http://www.scratchwireless.com/Scratch service gives you free unlimited calling, texting, and data anytime youre connected to Wi-Fi and free texting even when youre away from Wi-Fi. Great emergency phone as 911 calls are free and always use cellular networks to help pinpoint your location. Daily & Monthly passes can be purchased over the cellular network for use off Wi-Fi.

Monthly CostVoice MinutesTextsData

$0200500500Mb

$7.99200Unlimited500Mb

$10.99UnlimitedUnlimited500Mb

Over Limits2 cents ea.Unavailable2 cents/Mb

Bring your own phone to FreedomPop

NOTE: Apple forbids this type of app on their devices (Iphone, Ipad etc.)

Wi-Fi Analyzer - Measure wireless router signal strength around your home and detect overlapping channel interference to optimize wireless network performance. (-70 dBm threshold)

Health & Fitness apps

Cardiograph,SleepStats,Sleep as Android,Pedometer, diet apps,and many others See also:http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/ A $10 million competition to bring healthcare to the palm of your hand.http://www.xprize.org/ How a Decision Tree Revolutionized Heart Attack Diagnosis

http://gladwell.com/blink/blink-q-and-a-with-malcolm/

"One of the stories I tell in Blink is about the Emergency Roomdoctors at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. That's the big publichospital in Chicago, and a few years ago they changed the way theydiagnosed heart attacks. They instructed their doctors to gather lessinformation on their patients: they encouraged them to zero in on justa few critical pieces of information about patients suffering fromchest pain-like blood pressure and the ECG-while ignoring everythingelse, like the patient's age and weight and medical history. And whathappened? Cook County is now one of the best places in the UnitedStates at diagnosing chest pain.

http://www.e-reading.mobi/chapter.php/85953/25/Gladwell_-_Blink__The_Power_of_Thinking_Without_Thinking.html

GPS, Maps & Navigation

Google Maps, Sky Map, Google Earth, OsmAnd, navFree, Route66, etc.

More!

Candle, language translators and tutors, flashlights, musical instruments, stopwatch/timers, sound/dictation recorder, text to speech, DLNA Server, Remote control and Remote Desktop, Hacker's Keyboard, Google Currents

Duolingo Gives A Fillip To Free Language Learning With Crowdsourced Lessonshttp://www.makeuseof.com/tag/duolingo-gives-a-fillip-to-free-language-learning-with-crowdsourced-lessons/

Any easy way to make my own App?
http://livecode.com/

If youve never tried programming before then LiveCode is the perfect tool to get you started. Unlike traditional coding languages it uses simple English language that is intuitive and easy to learn. Create an iPad app in 3 minutes with LiveCode (18:46)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwI66ag24E How Does LiveCode Work? (0:45)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HF_FcHOP-s

More Programming Tools

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/

100 Tools to Develop the Next Killer iOS or Android App | DailyTekk

Build a Simple Android App - Java language, Eclipse, & basic Android SDK

IDEdroid Free

Terminal IDE

AIDE - Android IDE - Java, C++

Pp le compiler

*IDE = Integrated development environment

What happens when you go App happy?
Or too much of good things...

ERROR: Low on space - Internal phone storage is getting low Clear Storage Space on Your Phone Without Rootinghttp://android.appstorm.net/how-to/hardware/clear-space-without-rooting/ How To Free Storage Space On Your Android Device (suggests DiskUsage app - VERY GOOD!)http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-storage-space-android-device/

How to increase internal memory of android phones (suggests History Eraser app among others) http://www.buddinggeek.com/2011/08/increase-internal-memory-htc-android.html

Consider carefully how you want to manage your apps given the space on your device!https://www.google.com/search?&q=android+++%22Internal+phone+storage+is+getting+low22

SD Maid - System Cleaning Tool

Virtual Android for Windows

5 Best FREE Android Emulators For Windows 8,7,XPhttp://www.techbate.com/5-best-android-emulator-for-windows-87xp/

Android SDK mobile device emulator a virtual mobile device that runs on your computerhttp://developer.android.com/tools/help/emulator.html Windroy: A Better Android Emulator for Windowshttp://thefluffyheads.com/nerdy-nathan/windroy-android-emulator

Install Jelly Bean Android 4.3 on Windows 8 With VirtualBox

Virtual Android

Windows, Linux, Unix Emulator

Genymotion Finally Gives us a Good Jelly Bean Desktop Emulatorhttp://androidspin.com/2013/07/08/genymotion-finally-gives-us-a-good-jellybean-desktop-emulator/http://www.genymotion.com/

http://linuxonandroid.org/ How to Install Android in VirtualBoxhttp://www.howtogeek.com/164570/how-to-install-android-in-virtualbox/http://www.android-x86.org/documents/installhowto Run Android 4 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) on a Mac or PC with VirtualBoxhttp://osxdaily.com/2012/02/23/android-4-ics-virtualbox/ How to install and run Android VM on VMware Playerhttp://xmodulo.com/2013/02/how-to-install-and-run-android-vm-on-vmware-player.html http://androvm.org/blog/http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntuguidehttp://schier.co/post/install-genymotion-2.0-in-ubuntuhttp://www.infinum.co/the-capsized-eight/articles/is-your-android-emulator-just-too-slow

Q & A, Demos, More?

Thank you for your attention. I hope this inspires fun.Questions? Demonstration Requests? Encore slides? ? Audience Favorite Apps ?

My presentation slides are available online at:http://www.slideshare.net/msz/

Encore Apps

Sketch Guru Transform pictures to black-white/color sketch with 13 effects including: Gouache, PencilSketch, ColorPencil, WaterColor, HalfTone, SimpleSketch, ComicB&W, BlackBoard, BlackBoardColor, Print, B&W, PencilSketch2 and No sketch

Plasma Sound fully-featured, 100% free music instrument inspired by the Theremin, Continuum, Keyboard and Sequencer.

Gmote Remote control for your computer, allowing you to start and control movies and music at a distance, Control PowerPoint, WiFi touchpad/keyboard. (One of the first.)

Torque Pro OBD fault codes, car performance, sensor data and more!

Encore Apps

Security Tool: KeePassDroid password database with sync to PC.

FormFiller is a useful tool that helps you to save time on filling web data (such as names, cell number, and mailing address).

Sound Recorder& Voice Recorder Sound Recorder is a high quality (voice) recorder/player,it designed for simplicity and able to record voice notes/voice memos/audio

Digital Inspiration - Protect your Android Phone with these Security Apps

Lookout Security & Antivirus

Google Android Device Manager The Android Device Manager shows a list of all Android phones and tablets that are connected to your Google Account and helps you locate them on a Google Map. You can ring your phone (in case it is hiding beneath the pillow) from the browser, lock the device with a custom PIN or perform a factory reset which permanently deletes all the data on your phone.

Prey Anti Theft

Wheres My Droid

See More in the DI article!

Root Apps

Greenify *ROOT: Renew my Phone - Helps you identify & hibernate misbehaving apps when not in use to stop them from lagging your device and leeching the battery.

[root] Ntfs Mounter - Automatically mount and dismount NTFS/FAT/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 formatted USB Sticks, USB HDD, SD Cards

Paragon exFAT, NTFS & HFS+ - Mount Windows NTFS or Mac OS X HFS+

Hide my Root - On some roms (usually rooted stock roms), Hide my Root will allow you to use Google Videos and similar apps on a rooted phone. On custom roms such as CyanogenMod, it will not allow you to use Google Videos and similar apps on a rooted phone.

Wifi Password Recovery [ROOT]

Safe Backup Root - Complete data backup and recovery on Android devices

After android Root?

ZDbox ( Root Task Killer ) - system optimize toolbox

Low vs. High end Tablets

Feature\TabletCoby Kyros MID7034-4Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16GBToshiba Excite Pro AT15LE-A32

Display pixels800 x 4801920x12002560 x 1600

Display size7"8.9"10.1" 178 wide-viewing angle

Touch sensorResistive (No multi-touch)10 point capacitive touchCapacitive 10-finger multi-touch

ProcessorARM Cortex-A8 1.00GHzDual-core TI OMAP 4470 1.5Ghz1.6 GHz Tegra 4.0 quad-core

RAM Memory0.5 GB (512MB)1 GB2 GB DIMM

Battery Life~5 hours~10 hours 6000mAh 22.2Wh~9.5 - 11 hours

Storage/Slot4GB / microSD up to 32GB16GB / NONE32GB / Micro SD

Wi-Fi Network802.11b/g n?dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n MIMODual-band 802.11ac/a/b/g/n

Camera(s)NONE?Front only1.2MP HD Front/ 8MP F2.2 back

SensorsorientationAmbient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscopeAmbient Light Sensor, Gyroscope, 3-axis Accelerometer

GPS ReceiverNoNoYes & Digital Compass

Speakersone2 StereoHarman Kardon stereo

Ports1 USB 2.0USB 2.0 (micro-B) Micro-HDMI (micro-D)Micro HDMI, Micro-USB 2.0

Android Ver.4.0 (ICS) (No Google Play)Based on 4.0.3, API level 15Stock 4.2, Jelly Bean

Sale linkBen's BargainsBen's BargainsWarranty90 days1 year1 year

Best Price$34$169.00$489.99

List Price$89$284.00$499.99

Vendor Link(s)Newegg, AmazonAmazon, SpecsB&H, Specs