How to make the most of your Android OS?

If you own an Android device then good on you for making the right choice and for coming to the light side and avoiding going with Apple. The thing is that while Apple products are no doubt very good, they also lack customizability to a large extent – so much so that really there are very few ways you can make your phone look like it’s actually yours. In fact to look at an Android homescreen you wouldn’t know that it had been customized at all and it could well be a display item.

With your Android though it’s completely different story and in fact the operating system is more customizable even than something like Windows. When it comes to Android you can change everything that you have running on there and you can get it to work faster and more impressively as well as giving it a uniquely personal flare. If you’re not going this then right now you’re not making the most of the very thing that makes Android so special and you’re probably about to be pretty surprised by what you can do with it.

Your UI

The UI is your user interface, and this means the home screen where you keep all of your icons and widgets. This is pretty nice in Android and already it’s very customizable as you can add and remove any widgets and as well as choosing various backgrounds including live animated backgrounds that often look frankly beautiful.

But how about a background with more exciting screen transitions? Or how about a horizontal homescreen? Or choosing to include the maximum number of widgets on your screen? How about a Windows 7 style contacts list? It’s all possible, you just need to know which apps to download – so head on over to the ADWLauncher X for true customization of your homescreen, and then WP7 Contacts for those Windows 7 style contacts. Next I you like the idea of having funkier looking widgets try Colorize Widgets, or if you want to have those multiple backgrounds then try MultiPicture Live Wallpaper. Most of these apps are all free too!

Performance

Did you know you can increase the performance of your phone with a free app? Just look for ‘Speed Boost’ on the market and enjoy a faster running phone. Meanwhile if you find the keyboard fiddly to use then you can change this too with one of the hundreds of different keyboard apps – any of which will greatly help you to improve typing speed. My recommendations include Writers Touch Type Keyboard, Swype (I’m not a fan but many seem to like it) or Better Keyboard.

For browsing the web you might be tired of having to flit between your web browser and whatever it is you’re doing. That’s where OverSkreen comes in – which is a fantastic app that allows you to browse in a Window as though you were on a computer – thus letting you switch quickly between your main screen and your browser in order to use it as a reference or to copy and paste.

And if you are looking to use this for word processing or just viewing documents then you will need a productivity suit. I’ve got you covered: just look for QuickOffice Pro or DocumentsToGo which are feature rich Word Processors that put desktop computing to shame.

Games and Media

If you want to use your Android device for true gaming then look no further than the TegraZone app which features only games that require super-fast processing. Otherwise look online for the ‘Oid’ series of Emulators (N64Oid, GamebOid, GensOid etc.). These will let you play your old Roms for N64, PSOne and Megadrive on the move meaning you have access to 3D gaming on the go.