Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Your Phone in the Android Universe 5
Chapter 1: Why Android? What’s the Deal? 7
A Little Android History 8
The Many Flavors (Versions) of Android 9
Reasons That People Choose Android 10
Why You Need a Google Account 11
Accessing apps and settings 12
Bequeathing your account 12
So Many Choices! 14
Tech support options 15
5G? LTE? 4G? VoLTE? Whaaat? 16
A Word about Privacy and Security 17
Free usually isn’t 17
The terms of service can be tricky 17
Marsha’s sage advice about privacy 18
Chapter 2: Buying Your Android Smartphone and Accessories 21
Investigate First — Then Make a Buying Decision 22
Looking at a phone’s physical features 22
Reviewing before making a decision 26
Considering an older model 27
Choosing where to buy your phone 28
Consider Your Carrier Choice 29
Checking out the carrier’s coverage area 30
Finding senior discounts on carrier service 31
You Need a Few Accessories, Too 32
Power charging blocks — volts and watts matter 32
MicroSD card 33
Phone case 34
Phone Sanitizer 35
Chapter 3: Activating and Connecting Your Phone 37
Unbox Your New Phone 38
Insert a SIM Card 40
Turn On Your Phone for the First Time 41
Connecting to a network 42
Setting up a Google account 42
Setting up a secure lock 44
Restoring data from an older phone 44
Learn Android Smartphone Symbols and Gestures 45
Recognizing common Android icons 45
Meeting the top status bar 47
Exploiting screen navigation and gestures 48
Part 2: Getting Started with Your Android Smartphone 51
Chapter 4: Safety First: Making Your New Phone Private 53
Set Up a Screen Lock 54
Checking out the screen locking options 54
Following the lock screen setup process 56
Establish Data Backup 58
Place Owner Information On the Lock Screen 59
Add Emergency Info 62
Designating Emergency or ICE contacts 62
Providing medical information 63
Chapter 5: Personalizing Your Handset 67
Hardware Buttons and What They Do 68
Power buttons 70
Volume buttons 73
Find and Sort Your Apps 75
Move App Shortcuts to the Home Screen 77
Group Apps into Folders 78
Deal with Preinstalled Applications (or Bloatware) 81
Get the News (and Other Media) You Can Use 82
Customize the Home Screen with Widgets 84
Chapter 6: Android Typing Tricks with Google’s Gboard 87
Make the Keyboard Decision 88
Selecting a keyboard to use 88
Noting keyboard features 89
Exploring keyboards you have (or can have) 93
Check Out Keyboard Contenders 94
Gboard, the official Google keyboard 95
Samsung Keyboard 97
Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard 99
Speak Words with Voice Typing 99
Spell-Check as You Type 100
Extended Keyboard and Special Characters 101
Learn the Emoji Language 102
Delete, Copy, and Paste Text 104
Print Messages, Documents, and Web Pages 105
Chapter 7: Handling Notifications and Google Assistant 109
Meet the Android Notifications Window Shade 110
Recognizing notification types and settings 110
Disabling notifications (or not) 111
Controlling notifications via settings 114
Having fun with notifications, or not 115
Taming Google Discover news feed 117
Manage Your Phone with the Window Shade Quick Settings 119
The first-up Quick Settings 120
The full cast of Quick Settings 121
Get the 411 from Google Assistant 122
Knowing what you can do with Google Assistant 123
Installing or deactivating Google Assistant 124
Part 3: Let’s Start Communicating 127
Chapter 8: Chatting via Voice or Video 129
Make a Voice Call 130
Making international calls from your phone 131
Calling internationally with no contract 132
Check Voicemail 133
Get Voicemail Transcriptions 135
Reply to an Incoming Call by Sending a Text 138
Set a New Ringtone 141
Using a built-in ringtone 141
Downloading a custom ringtone 141
Activating a downloaded ringtone 144
Spend Face Time with Family and Friends 146
Google Duo 146
Google Meet 148
Chapter 9: Keeping Track of Friends and Appointments 149
Establish Your Phone’s Contacts 150
Starting out right with Google Contacts 151
Importing old address books 151
Save Contacts from Email 154
Add a Contact in Other Ways 156
Importing contacts from texts 157
Adding a contact from the call log 158
Type In a Full Contact in the Contacts App 158
Merge Duplicate Contacts 161
Customize, Delete, and Update Contacts 162
Energize Your Calendar App 164
Add Calendar Events from Gmail 166
Chapter 10: Texting with Poise and Character 167
Compare Types of Text Messaging 168
Turning on RCS chat features 170
Using third-party chat apps 172
Dress Up Texts in Google Messages 173
The Text Message Bar and Emoji 176
Find Even More Texting Options 177
Share Photos and Videos in Texts 179
Voice-Type (Dictate) 180
Manipulate the Text in Your Message 181
Schedule a Text Message for Later Delivery 183
Act on Text Messages You Receive 184
Share and Print Documents, Email Messages, and Web Pages 185
Printing from Gmail 186
Printing from a web page 186
Chapter 11: Managing Email with the Gmail App 189
Discover Gmail Features 190
Revealing the Gmail app’s main menu 190
Tending to mailbox organization 191
Scoping out the main mailbox 192
Send a Gmail Email 193
Adding an email signature 196
Creating a Vacation Responder email 196
Perform Basic Gmail tasks 198
A table of common email tasks 199
Printing an email from Gmail 200
Link to Other Apps and Gmail Settings 201
Chapter 12: Choosing and Using a Smartphone Camera 203
Examine Smartphone Cameras and Brands 204
Paying the right amount of attention to reviews 204
Phones with camera brand collaborations 205
Take a Camera-Spec Safari 205
Enough megapixel, but not too much 206
Home in on subjects with zoom 207
Exercise Your Android Camera’s Capabilities 209
Just point-and-shoot either stills or video 210
Add interest with your camera’s tools 210
Expand your reach with Google Lens 212
Access camera features on the scrolling menu 214
Go Pro with Pro Mode 215
Discovering the Pro settings 216
Applying the Pro settings 217
Edit Your Photos 218
Finding editing options 219
Applying the photo editor’s tools 220
Playing with filters, colors, and more 222
Part 4: Exploring Android Apps 225
Chapter 13: Preinstalled Tools You Want to Use 227
Take a Shortcut to Features with Android Quick Settings 228
Customizing the Quick Settings 228
Meeting popular Quick Settings 231
Quick Settings That Offer Valuable Options 234
Opting for Dark mode 234
Maximizing eye comfort 235
Avoiding interruptions 236
Sharing with “close” friends 239
Phone-Resident Android Apps 240
Recording your voice 240
Taking a screen shot 242
Staying on task with Google Calendar 244
Frequenting the Google Play Store 245
Chapter 14: Google Mobile Services Apps for Android 247
Find Popular Google Apps 248
Google Photos 249
Storing and retrieving 250
Syncing and deleting 251
Sharing 251
Searching 252
Google Maps 255
Finding your way to an appointment 255
Employing the Directions screen options 256
Find My Device 258
Take Note(s) with Google Keep 260
Chapter 15: Apps You Might Like in Google Play Store 261
Establish App Privacy Permissions 262
Connect to Radio (Yes, Radio), Podcasts, and Music 264
Configuring your speakers’ volume 264
Making a wired connection 265
Using a Bluetooth connection 266
Find Favorite and Fun Apps — a Consensus 267
Radio, podcasts, and music 268
Video apps 269
Travel 270
Games 270
News 273
Books 274
Engage Social Media 275
Try Out the Android Accessibility Suite 276
Part 5: Android Today and Tomorrow 279
Chapter 16: Marsha’s MUST-DO Things for Your Phone 281
Make the Orientation Decision 282
Configure Do Not Disturb 283
Use Your Home Wi-Fi for Calls and Browsing 284
Practice Safety When Using Public Connections 285
Use a VPN to secure public Wi-Fi connections 285
Beware of charging a phone from a public port 287
Secure Your Power Cables 289
Set Up Emergency Call and SOS 289
Establishing SOS messaging 290
Activating Emergency mode 291
Managing Emergency mode 294
Manage Home Screen App Shortcuts 295
Make Folders of Apps 299
Chapter 17: Android 12 and Beyond: The OS Evolution 301
Find Helpful New Features in Android 12 302
Make purchasing faster with GPay 302
Poke around in Android 12 303
Meet the Soothing Android 12 User Experience 304
Be Ready for the Future 306
Index 307
