This course is designed to give you a basic introduction to the ins and outs of using tablet and smartphone technology. By and large, you will learn the most about your device through familiarizing yourself with it by using it. We hope to provide you with the basic tools needed for getting started. We expect that the bulk of this session will be used in a question and answer format; please don’t be shy about asking us questions… we don’t always know the answer, but we’re pretty good at finding out.

An operating system is the platform on which a computing device runs. Without an operating system we could not interact with our devices.  iOS (Apple products)  Android  Windows

 Smart devices usually have multiple screens on which you can see your icons, Apps and widgets. › To change screens, slide your finger across the unlocked device’s display and it will navigate to another screen.

 The home screen is the default display your device will go to when you start and unlock your device. › With some devices this home screen can be changed to another default screen. › Many devices have a dedicated button for navigating to your home screen.

 A mobile application (“app” for short) is a software application designed to run on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices such as iPods.  They are usually available through application distribution platforms, which are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play.  Some apps are free, while others must be purchased.

 Google Play for Android  Apple App Store for iOS

 Tap on the Google Play store icon on your device.  Once Google play opens, tap on “Apps” in the left top corner.* *You can also search for specific apps by tapping the magnifying glass icon and entering the app’s name into the search field.

 Select the app you wish to install or review and tap on it.  Tap on “Install.” Once it is done installing, it will show options to “open” and “uninstall.”

 Tap on Apple App store Icon.  Select the app you wish to install and tap on the “Install” button. Once the app is installed, the button will be changed to an ‘OPEN’ button.

 App management is the manipulation of apps by: › Arranging them on screens. › Organizing them in folders. › Deleting/uninstalling them.

 To move an app from its original position, tap on the icon and hold. › iOS: icons will start wiggling. › Android: the icon will fade.  After this occurs, drag and drop the app icon to the desired position.  If you want to put your app in another screen, drag the icon and take it right or left, depending on which screen you wish, to place it and it will switch the screen allowing you to drop the icon in the desired position.

 Navigate to the screen on which you desire a folder.  Tap and hold on the screen until the option menu appears.  Tap on “Folder.”

 Once you select “Folder,” you will be asked to name the new folder.  After naming, tap “OK” and your file will display on the screen.  You can now organize by tapping and holding on apps, and files then dragging them into your file.

 After including your apps, tap on the folder and a separate screen will be shown with the content as shown below.

 Tap and hold on the icon until the icons start wiggling.  Drag the app over another app you want in the folder and release. This will create a folder containing both apps.  Name your folder and it will be ready in the screen you were currently working on.

A task manager is a utility program that is used to review which applications and background services are running, as well as enables the user to stop an app for troubleshooting or battery/processing efficiency.  Apps can be closed on your device’s task manager.

 Applications don’t stop running if you click on the home button on your device, they keep running in the background. › This robs you of both:  RAM  Processing memory (speed performance), and  Battery-life  The time your phone can go before needing a charge.

 Tap on the windows screens button (two rectangles) next to the home button.  Small square screens will appear showing each app that is running on your device. Slide left or right on the app you want to close. *This process may vary by device or android version.

 Another way of closing running apps is to tap on the actual task manager button.  After Task Manager is opened, tap on active applications and “end” on the desired apps.

 Press twice on the home button or slide up using 4 fingers on screen. All apps that are running will be displayed at the bottom of the screen.  Tap and hold on one of the icons. A red minus sign will appear at the left top corner, tap on it to close the app.

 Apple and Android devices have default browsers pre-installed. Apple includes “Safari” while android has “Internet,” in some devices it is called “Browser.”

 Google Chrome  Firefox  Photon Browser  Dolphin  Opera  UC browser  ONE browser *Internet browsers are apps and can be downloaded at app stores.

 To connect to a Wi-Fi network, tap on the settings icon on your device.  From the options, tap on “Wi-Fi.”  Slide right on the Wi-Fi button to turn it on.  Select the network to which you wish to connect. › You may need further information about the specific network in order to connect.

You may notice that the size isn’t the only difference when you view a website on your phone or tablet rather than a traditional computing device.  Mobile websites are specialized for the smaller screens of mobile devices.  A huge amount of material must often be eliminated to accommodate small screens. These changes are made to optimize the experience of using the website.

 If you are on a mobile website, tap on the list options menu on the browser and then tap on “View desktop site.”* › *This concept may be expressed using different terminology, depending on the browser you use.

 To create a website shortcut, open Browser or Internet in some devices.  Go to the website you want to create a shortcut for and then tap on the list option menu.  From the option tap on “Add Shortcut” to home screen and a shortcut will be created.

 Website shortcut icons can also be created on your device if you have bookmarked the websites.  There are different ways to bookmark webpages and it varies according to which browser you are using. Some browsers have bookmark button to tap while others you need to go to the list options.

 Once you have bookmarked the website go to the Apps icon on your device.  At the top of the screen it will show you an option for Apps and to the right from it Widgets.  Tap on Widgets.  Tap and hold on Bookmark widget and place on the screen position you want to place it.  After being placed it will ask you to select which bookmarked page you want.

 Website shortcut icons can be created on your Apple device through Safari only. This means that shortcuts will open only with safari.  Go to the page you want to create a shortcut for and tap on the third icon in the browser and then tap on ‘Add to home screen’.

 Tap and hold until text is highlighted. To change selection move the blue boxes.  For Android devices, copy option appears at the top of the screen.

 Tap on the cursor and hold, the Paste option will show up along with clipboard.  If you tap paste it will paste the copied text.  If you tap Clipboard, you will be able to paste previously copied items or text to paste.

 Tap and hold until text is highlighted.  Once it is highlighted, a copy option will appear above the highlighted text.  To change selection move the blue circles and then tap on copy.

 Tap and hold on the cursor.  A paste option will appear, tap on it and the copied text will be pasted.

 Depending on your device, this might be done differently: 1. Press the Power Button and then Volume down button at the same time. 2. Press Power Button and Home button at the same time.  Once the screenshot is captured you will hear and see a flash in your screen.  The screenshot will be saved by default in Gallery.

 To take screenshots, Press the power button and the home button at the same time.  You will hear a capture and see the screen flash.  The screenshot will be save by default in Photos.

 Tap on the camera icon in your device.  Slide from photo captures to video recorder, in some devices you will have to tap on the photo camera to change to recorder.  Once you are on the recorder tap the red circle button to start recording.  When it starts recording it will give you 2 options, one for pausing and one to stop recording.  Video will be saved in Gallery.

 Tap on the camera icon in your device.  At the bottom right corner, slide right with your finger to switch from photos to videos.  Once you are on the recorder, tap the red circle button to start recording. When you are done recording tap on it again to stop recording.

 There are applications you can use to create new word documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations.  Some of these can be installed from your App store for free while other might have to be purchased.

 Most Android devices come with Polaris office installed on them.  Polaris Office is an office suite that runs on mobile platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows Mobile. The suite is divided into a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, and file viewer. It is capable of editing Microsoft Office file formats, viewing PDF and decompressing ZIP files.

There are numerous peripheral devices available for your smartphone or tablet including: › keyboards › health/fitness monitors › external lenses for your camera › game controllers › smart watches  These peripherals may be connected to your device through several means, and it is generally best to check the manual that came with the peripheral to see how to get it to properly interface with your phone or tablet.