Android productiveness suggestions: Simple-to-follow knowledgeable recommendation

From {hardware} variety to customization potential, Android provides no scarcity of engaging advantages for enterprise customers. Out of the field, although, a typical Android cellphone is something however optimized for productiveness.

Energy up hottest telephones, and you will find ineffective residence screens, mediocre keyboards and all types of untapped potential. However all it takes is a little bit tweaking to go from unrefined gizmo to finely tuned work companion.

Comply with these eight steps, and your Android cellphone will likely be primed for productiveness and prepared for enterprise.

1. Optimize your own home display

One of many easiest and most impactful methods to enhance your cellphone's effectiveness is to concentrate on its basis: the house display. Your private home display is the very first thing you see whenever you unlock your system, and it is the launching level for virtually every part you do. But for most individuals, it is a cluttered and inefficient mess — and that, suffice it to say, is counterproductive.

It helps to consider your own home display as a toolbox. Should you had been making ready to carry out a house restore job, you'd need to have the ability to discover the instruments you utilize probably the most with a minimal quantity of thought and energy. Had been your toolbox a disorganized mess, you'd waste priceless time digging round each time you opened it.

Your private home display isn't any totally different. And in contrast to iOS, Android does not restrict you to a static grid of sq. icons. You may lay issues out in any approach that works greatest for you, using a mixture of app shortcuts, widgets and — critically — clean area.

Begin by considering rigorously about what apps you truly open on a near-daily foundation. Ideally, your most important residence display panel ought to include these things and solely these things — issues just like the Cellphone app, any related messaging apps, your e mail app, your calendar app and your net browser. (Some if not all of these would most likely make sense within the dock on the backside of the display.)

JR Raphael / IDG

A correctly optimized residence display makes it sooner and simpler to seek out the stuff you want.

You may also need to embody any note-taking apps, music apps, residence management apps or photograph apps you open commonly. As for every part else, make this your mantra: Should you do not open it nearly every single day, get it out of your approach. Having a ton of app shortcuts on your own home display truly makes it tougher to seek out what you need; you may be significantly better served by narrowing it all the way down to a small handful of icons (10 to 15 at most) after which relying in your cellphone's alphabetically organized and simply scrollable app drawer whenever you want the rest.

That'll preserve the instruments you utilize probably the most at your fingertips and make them straightforward to find with none visible scanning. You will possible even develop muscle reminiscence and begin touching the suitable areas of the display for various features with out considering.

For kinds of data which are helpful to see at a look — like climate, for example — think about a well-placed widget that'll make that information at all times obtainable with out the necessity for any further faucets. Simply bear in mind: Much less is extra. If your own home display reaches the purpose of being jam-packed with superfluous data, it finally ends up being an ineffective toolbox on your cell productiveness wants.

2. Let Gboard velocity up your typing

It is exhausting to really feel productive in your cellphone when each sentence you kind takes 10 minutes and requires an expert gibberish-translator to decipher. Smartphone typing does not should be a supply of frustration, although — in case you discover and set up the precise keyboard and discover ways to make the most of its strengths.

For most individuals, I would advocate putting in Google's personal Gboard app. (It comes preinstalled as the default keyboard on some devices, but many manufacturers — including Samsung — opt to provide their own inferior alternatives instead.) There are certainly other commendable keyboards out there, but Gboard has grown into the most polished, well-rounded and easy-to-use option, and it comes with some pretty compelling perks.

First are the keyboard's time-saving shortcuts. For instance, you can quickly type a number or special character by holding your finger on the ?123 key in Gboard's bottom-left corner and then sliding it upward; that'll cause a selection of symbols to appear, and you can then simply move your finger to whichever one you want.

When you need to reposition your cursor, meanwhile, slide your finger along the spacebar — or, for even finer control, tap the menu symbol (>) or the Google "G" in Gboard's upper-left corner and then tap the "I" that appears within the keyboard's top bar. (If you don't see the "I" there, tap the three-dot menu icon within that top bar, then touch and hold the "Text Editing" option and drag it into the main bar area.) That'll bring up a control panel with buttons for precisely positioning the cursor as well as for selecting text.

JR Raphael / IDG

Gboard lets you quickly access special characters as well as conduct advanced searches right from your keyboard.

And speaking of that top-bar menu, that's where you'll find some of Gboard's more advanced features: a search command, which allows you to search Google right from the keyboard and then share items like news, weather and location info directly to any text field; a Google Translate icon, which lets you translate into another language on the fly; and a settings icon, which lets you customize numerous facets of the keyboard — including its height, its visual style and the presence of a dedicated number row.

Gboard can also make it less awkward to type on a large-screened device: Just press and hold the comma key and then select the icon that looks like a hand holding a phone. That'll put the keyboard into a sized-down single-handed mode; you can then position it toward the left or right of the screen or float it manually to any area you like.

3. Remember to use reminders

Your Android device has impressive memory, and I'm not talking about its RAM. Google maintains a spectacular cross-platform reminder system that's integrated directly into your phone, and it can be an invaluable productivity tool — if, that is, you remember to use it.

Anytime you need to remember something, no matter how trivial, tell your phone — by either typing or speaking into any search box or Google Assistant prompt. Whichever path you take, simply use the format: "Remind me to " — followed by the time or place at which you want to be reminded.

Location-based reminders are especially useful. You could instruct your phone to remind you to file a report when you get back to the office, for instance, or to remind you to email your boss when you get to the Chicago airport. As soon as you arrive at the location in question — whether it's later that day or weeks into the future — your phone will deliver the alert. (Google should automatically know any businesses or public locations, and you can set your own custom locations like "home" and "work" by labeling them in Google Maps.)

JR Raphael / IDG

Google's cross-platform reminder system lets you set and receive location- and time-based reminders.

And here's the really powerful part: Since the reminder system is connected to your Google account and automatically synced everywhere, you can also set and view reminders from a desktop computer (provided you're signed into the same Google account there, of course). Just type your reminder into the Google search box or directly into the address bar of Chrome, or type "show me my reminders" to see a list of upcoming and past items.

The same system is also present across all platforms in Google Keep, where you can create reminders for notes and lists, and Google Inbox, where you can create reminders for emails and tasks as well as manage all existing reminders.

4. Take control of notifications

Let's face it: Smartphone notifications aren't always so smart. Our phones have devolved into constant sources of interruption — and that isn't exactly conducive to productivity.

Take a few minutes to take control of your notifications, however, and they can become genuinely helpful instead of annoying. The first step is to perform a personal notification audit: Over the next few days, carefully consider every notification that shows up on your phone and whether it's telling you something you need to know immediately — something, in other words, that actually warrants a notification. Odds are, most alerts from social media apps, news apps, shopping apps and other non-essential sources are more distracting than useful, and turning them off will turn your phone into a better business tool.

One by one, look in each overly eager app to see if there's an obvious way to disable or at least scale back its notifications. If you can't find such an option, let Android help: Press and hold the next notification the app sends you. That'll give you options to block some or all of the app's notifications or allow them to come through only silently, without any accompanying sounds or vibrations. (Depending on what version of Android your device is running, you may first have to tap an "Info" icon or "All Categories" option to find the full series of choices.)

JR Raphael / IDG

Android provides a system-level option for silencing or blocking alerts from any app.

Think, too, about basic notifications like email. Do you really need to be notified about every single message that comes into your inbox? If you use Gmail or Inbox, you can configure the apps to notify you only for specific types of high-priority messages, which can go a long way in cutting down on noise and letting you focus on what matters.

Last but not least, learn to fully utilize Android's Do Not Disturb feature. Look in the Sound section of your system settings to set up the parameters for how it'll work, paying close attention to the customizable exceptions. Those allow you to whitelist specific types of alerts — such as phone calls, for example, and perhaps messages from high-priority contacts — and allow those to notify you while all other alerts remain silent. You may also want to set up rules to automatically activate Do Not Disturb during specific times or circumstances (a feature available on Android 6.0 and higher).

5. Snap between apps

On the desktop front, power users have long relied on Windows' Alt-Tab hotkey to toggle between apps without wasting time. As of Android 7.0, Android has a similar option: Double-tap your device's Overview key (the typically square-shaped icon next to Back and Home), and you'll snap back and forth between your two most recent processes — no additional action required.

If you're using the new gesture navigation system introduced with Android P, you can flick the Home button to the right to achieve a similar effect.

6. Split your screen

Sometimes, it's easier to get things accomplished when you can see a pair of complementary items on your screen together — whether it's a chat window and a browser, a document and a web page or any other work-assisting combination.

On devices running Android 7.0 or higher, a native split-screen mode makes this level of multitasking possible: With one app actively open, press and hold the Overview key and then select the second app you want from the list. When you're finished, press and hold the Overview key again to end the split-screen session.

On devices using Android P's new gesture nav setup, the option has moved into the Overview screen: Simply swipe up on the Home button to get there, then tap the icon above any app preview and select "Split screen" from the menu that appears.

JR Raphael / IDG

Android's split-screen function allows you to view two apps at the same time, such as Docs on top and Calendar on the bottom, no matter what size phone you're using.

(Note that some manufacturers, including Samsung, have offered a similar feature for some time and continue to provide their own alternate implementations.)

7. Harness Chrome's cross-platform power

Google's Chrome browser can save you serious time by making your mobile work a natural extension of your in-office efforts. The Android app automatically syncs with its desktop equivalent, so all of your bookmarks are always available — and every page you've opened from your desktop is easily discoverable in Chrome's History section on your phone (so long as you're signed into both places).

You can also see what pages are actively open in Chrome on other devices — if, say, you left something open on your desktop and now want to pull it up on your phone — by tapping the "Recent tabs" function in the Android app's menu. On the desktop side, you can find that same info in the sidebar of the History page.

Chrome for Android has some hidden settings that can make it even more efficient, too. Be sure to take a few minutes to find and activate them.

8. Make Android itself more efficient

Android is unlike other mobile operating systems in that it allows a huge amount of interface customization via third-party apps — and with the right tools, that can create all sorts of opportunities for enhanced productivity.

You can install an app that lets you create your own custom gesture shortcuts, for instance, or snag a utility that adds valuable functions into your phone's fingerprint sensor.

I've put together a collection of such efficiency-enhancing options. Take a peek — and, in conjunction with the tips above, watch your mobile productivity soar.

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