Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Android Phone, Customize It

By Eric Vykin


The best selling point of the Android tablet and phone is its almost infinite customization options when compared to the likes of the iPhone, iPad and Blackberries. When there's anything that you don't like about an app, a feature or function then feel comfortable knowing that you will find a multitude of alternatives available.

Starting with the basic personalization options the initial thing you might like to do is change the normal wallpaper to something that resonates better along with your persona. To change the wallpaper you have to touch the 'menu' button and select 'Wallpaper' from the list of options. Then you're able to choose any image on the phone and select it as the wallpaper. You can even touch and drag to highlight a distinct part of a graphic for the wallpaper. Don't forget with all the connectivity options you can even copy images from your computer to your smartphone. If you still can't find the right wallpaper there is a free application on the market called Backgrounds will give you access to a huge number of wallpaper images.

Your next basic customization option is select a ringtone to something a little bit more 'You' than the standard tone. To set the ringtone hit the 'menu' button, go to 'Settings' and then go to the 'Sound and display' option. If you haven't already done so, it is possible to transfer an MP3 file to your smartphone and set it as your ringtone. To achieve this you need to create a folder on the memory card named 'ringtones'. Copy the song you want to use and Android will do the rest. If you want even more control over the ringtone you can download a free app known as RingDroid. This app will enable you to modify an MP3 and save just that awesome chorus as your ringtone.

Should your Android phone comes with a color LED you have probably observed that it flashes when you have a missed call or message. You can control the color of the LED to show a certain color for specific events. As an example you could set it to flash red if you missed a call from your manager and blue if you missed a call from your colleague. To pimp out the LED color, download a free application named Missed Call.

Once the essential customization is finished, you can begin diving a bit deeper and personalize your Android phone to your exact needs. One complaint some folk have is that the default messaging system. It is somewhat awkward and clunky. Nevertheless, various developers have developed alternative messaging apps which are more user-friendly and incorporate more features. Handcent has established itself as the number 1 substitute for the default messaging system. Folks who use it, swear they'd never go back.

Yet another bit of customization you may want to look at is swapping the default virtual keyboard. While it is relatively functional it's lacking a certain finesse, which is where the BetterKeyboard application enters the picture. You can include and remove custom buttons, change the look and use a number pad if you wish. For anyone who is sending a considerable amount of emails or texts then BetterKeyboard is a recommended customization for the Android phone.

Lastly you could customize the home screen to show the info you truly want. The LauncherPro application does a fantastic job of this letting you to have as many as 7 screens. This is extremely useful should you use your phone to juggle business and personal work.




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