Tips and Tricks to get the most of your Android Kit-Kat!
Kit-Kat might have been replaced with Marshmallow and whatever else might come out and be the cool new Android system, but there are still loads of devices that are rocking the Kit-Kat software. That’s not a bad thing as this post is all about some handy little tips and tricks that you probably didn’t think you could do with your device.
Take a look at the tips below and if you have some other tips we might have missed out then make sure to post them in the comments so everyone can enjoy the fun.
1.Unlock your phone with your face
There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when you point your device at your face and it unlocks in front of all of your friends. It’s not entirely reliable and it’s not the most used feature in the handbook but it’s a lot of fun and everyone should try it at least once. Go into your ‘Settings’ –> ‘Security’ –> ‘Screen Lock’ and then navigate to ‘enable Face Unlock’. From there your camera will want to scan your face a few times so it can create a model of what you look like and how to recognize you. From this point forward when you scan your face, you’ll be able to unlock your device and look cool when you’re out and about.
2. Remotely wipe your stolen phone
Opposite to the’ cool’ feeling you might get after you unlock your phone with your face, having your device stolen can be absolutely gutting. Most people have their lives stored on their device; tools for their banking, photos of family and friends, passwords and usernames that automatically get entered, all sorts of information that you wouldn’t want in the wrong hands.
The good news is you can remotely wipe your device so you can worry less and focus on getting an even better device. The bad news is that you need to switch this feature on before you lose your device. Go into ‘Settings’ –> Android Device Manager and then enable ‘Remotely Locate This Device’ and ‘Allow Remote Lock and Factory Reset’. That way, if you can’t find your device despite the locate setting being on, you can at least reset everything on it to keep your details safe.
3. Switch to ART for smoother app performance
So you enjoy playing games but you find your apps aren’t performing as smooth as they could be. The solution is pretty simple, enable ART by default to allow your apps to run smoother. You’ll need to go into ‘Developer Options’ –> ‘Settings’ –> ‘Select Runtime’ to specify the ART setting. Your apps will reboot and recompile and it does take a while but you’ll be glad once it’s finished. The results speak for themselves. (If you are searching and are thinking, ‘Developer Options’ doesn’t exist then don’t worry.) To find the option you’ll need to go to ‘Settings’ –> ‘About Phone’ and then tap on ‘Build Number’ seven times.
4. Encrypt your phone for high-level security
Sometimes you’ll need more than a ‘face’ unlock or a nifty password to keep your device secure. If you go to ‘Settings’ –> ‘Security’ and discover an option to encrypt your Android device. If you’re wondering what this fancy term means, it’s simply a method to make all of your data secure. It’ll all need decoding before anyone can use it, which means unless a complex hacker is stealing your data, you’ll be safe. It’s a long process to set up and you can’t use it with a face unlock so make sure you set up a memorable password that won’t be guessed. Lose the password though and you lose everything.
5. Use screen casting to view your phone screen on Chromecast
Chromecast, Google’s answer to Apple TV, is a great addition for Android users. You can plug it into your TV’s HDMI port and then stream whatever you want from your Android device to your big screen. It’s really simple to set up, simply go to ‘Settings’ –> ‘Display’ and you can enable it from there. Of course you’ll need to have Chromecast to plug into your television first.
