How do you use Android Jelly Bean version 4.2?

Last month, Google released Android version 4.2... an upgrade on the July-released Jelly Bean. It's pretty sweet.

You know how you dismiss the upgrade iTunes reminders dozens of times before eventually upgrading, and more often than not you don't see a change? (Ok, to be fair iTunes is a solid program, which I do use.) Well, not so with Android upgrades. Upgrades always seem zippier, smoother, and just cool feature-filled. The camera in 4.2, in addition to changes in the notifications bar capabilities are probably the biggest changes. Feature-by-feature, this is what's new in Android Jelly Bean, version 4.2:

• Any HDMI-enabled TV can display what's on your Android, wirelessly. All you need is a wireless display adapter, and your phone can beam to the TV.
• A feature that I thought pretty whatever until I thought about it more is the phone's screensaver mode. Like a computer, instead of just going black, your screen can default to a screensaver-style display. This could be slideshows of your gallery pics, your news feeds, etc. It's pretty neat. Think about it.
• Before Jelly Bean, notifications were simply info and a port to open the app where you take action; now you can actually choose some options from notifications. For example, if you have a reminder pop up, you could choose to email the participants or dismiss the reminder right from the drag-down notifications bar.
• Battery life is improved in this Android version, through a brilliant feature in which your fingers on the screen increase CPU usage, which goes semi-standby when not in use. Touchscreen and speed improvements are noticeable... zippy is my word of choice.
• Now we've all seen the spectacular Samsung Galaxy S3 commercials, in which device owners share content just by touching the phones. Did you know the S3 isn't the only phone that can do this? Android Beam is a new program that uses a tap to wirelessly beam just about anything on the screen between two phones with the program.
• Widgets (my number one reason to prefer Android over iPhone) have taken a big step in this version. Now when you drop a widget on your screen, instead of that irritating message that it doesn't fit, which causes you to lose the widget you were holding and have to dig it up again, now other widgets will resize to make room for the new one. That's very friendly of them, don't you think? 
• Google Now makes your phone into even more of a personal assistant. You get weather every morning, location-based info such as train schedules, etc. Google searching has also improved, as well as capability to browse the web with your voice.
• The Photo Sphere camera is a huge improvement in Jelly Bean 4.2. Basically, the camera shoots in all directions, and joins the photos together, rather like a very intelligent, vertical and horizontal panorama software.
• Last, and probably least, Google is now excited about gesture typing. But I already knew about gesture typing, and I already like Swype (see this article about the Swype keyboard) muchly, so I'm not excited about this. Sorry, Google.

This Android 4.2 upgrade of Jelly Bean is pretty impressive. I love software developers that understand the importance of upgrades upgrading something.

How Do You Know Android? (Best Apps of 2012)

Between Christmas and New Year's is a funny time; we're done with the carols and the cranberry sauce, but we're not ready for 40 hours. Those among us on a schedule have it easy: no decision -- days off and work days. It's the self-employed who have that intense decision regarding the proper amount to work during the holidays. Well, 15 hours it is. I always say why work 40 hours a week and earn a steady income, when you could work 90+ hours a week and just pray the money follows the effort?  Ah, yes... self-employment is the life. By which I mean you have to be out of your mind to dive head first into self-employment. Thankfully, I am. Deeply. And what does this have to do with Androids, you may ask. Little... very little.

Google just released its best apps of 2012 list, which usually attracts a bit of attention. Everyone has best of lists, but Google's seems more authoritative to me. In no particular order, let's welcome the Google's choice BEST APPS OF 2012 TO HowDoYouAndroid.com!
 *WHISTLES AND APPLAUDING*

TED:
A brilliant way to redeem time spent in lines or waiting rooms, the TED app gathers those talks and conferences that would have been life-altering to attend. Now you can alter your life via your Android. From the Google Play Store description: "TED's official Android app presents talks from some of the world's most fascinating people: education radicals, tech geniuses, medical mavericks, business gurus, and music legends."
Get TED for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Pixlr Express:
This beautiful little app has a gorgeous UI, making it easy to add any effect you'd like to a picture, or to edit and refine. There are a lot of picture editing apps, so it's nice to know this is the one Google itself considers the best.
Get Pixlr Express for Android from the Google Play Store here.

SeriesGuide Show Manager:
The Show Manager app is just a streamlined way to keep track of what's playing when. In addition to finding the next showing of an episode you missed, you can also share episodes with friends. A convenient feature is the offline mode.
Get SeriesGuide Show Manager for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Mint.com Personal Finance:
Mint.com's financial planning service is widely used from computers, but now there's a beautiful edition for tabs and smartphones... and for some crazy reason, it's free. From the Google Play Store description, "Mint pulls in all your personal finance accounts into one place, so you can manage your money form anywhere. Track your spending, create a budget, and save more."
Get Mint.com Personal Finance for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Fancy:
I don't know what the Fancy app icon is. A popsicle? A wig on a stand? A sagging umbrella? Help me out, people... what is that? I refuse to write a description of an app with an unidentifiable icon; here's the Google Play Store description: "Discover amazing stuff, collect the things you love, unlock crazy good deals. Fancy is the place to discover, collect and buy from a crowd-curated catalog of amazing goods, wonderful places and great stores. Part store, magazine and wishlist, Fancy is the best place to buy great things. Use Fancy to find a gift for any occasion and share your favorite discoveries with all your friends."
Get Fancy for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Ancestry:
Everyone knows about ancestry.com... figure out the cool or crazy people from whom you've descended. Actually an interesting study. This app does the same and more, with capability to grow your own family tree, adding members and inserting pictures.
Get Ancestry for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Expedia:
A mobile version of Expedia seems particularly useful to me... if one needs Expedia, one is most likely traveling; therefore, portability is essential. You can book your flights and hotel rooms, and even use provided discount codes and offers.
Get Expedia for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Pocket:
Pocket is a mobile e-reader, but not like Kindle or Nook... this one is for news articles, videos, etc. The purpose of this app is to save, in your "pocket", documents or media you encounter, to take out and read later. Pretty cool.
Get Pocket for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Grimm's Snow White:
This app is an interactive pop-up fairy tale book, for children. The award-winner app developer has created an Android app version of the classic brothers Grimm fairy tale.
Get Grimm's Snow White for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Pinterest:
You knew it would be on the list... here's Pinterest. Does it need an explanation? Ok, ok... it's social networking with pictures. Create galleries to share what you like with friends, even posting captions.
Get Pinterest for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Evernote:
I like this icon. It's an elephant; I can tell because it looks like an elephant. Fancy, please take note. Evernote is like those little memo apps that usually come pre-installed on your phone, but it also has to-do lists, picture capability, record voice reminders, etc. I say ditch the little memo app, and use Evernote, which does everything in one convenient place.
Get Evernote for Android from the Google Play Store here.

Zappos:
Buying online is convenient, but paying shipping is lousy, and the inconvenience/expense of returns makes it a bother. That's why my favorite aspect of Zappos is the free shipping and returns. Zappos carries about any item in any brand you can think of, making it a great go-to business for any shopper. The portability brought with this Android apps improves the experience that much more.
Get Zappos for Android from the Google Play Store here.

And that's Google's best of 2012 list. I can't say that my list would be quite identical, but until I make Forbes 500, I'll be just one more; I'm waiting until I have credibility to blow the world wide web away with my best of's.

How do you track Starbucks cards and rewards on an Android?

I don't know why we pay $6 for a cup of coffee, but we do. If someone would just organize us all so Starbucks doesn't make a single sale for a week, that might encourage them to bring their prices down near the price of coffee in the rest of the country. I would, but I'm busy that day.

Since I can't help by organizing a boycott, instead I'll help by making it easier to spend money at Starbucks. If you can't beat 'em...

There is, of course, a Starbucks app in the Google Play Store. Download the app here, and sign into your account to see all cards on your account, review your stars, see if you have any rewards ready, locate nearby Starbucks locations, pay and even reload your cards, etc. I find it convenient to walk into Starbucks carrying just my phone, and to skip digging my wallet out of my purse, which slid under the back seat, in the drive thru.

Best of all, the Starbucks app has a super-convenient widget (but of course not for sad, in-the-box iPhone users... for your own sakes, my friends, be free!). The widget sits happily on my second homescreen, showing me my card balance, number of stars, and the option to find a nearby location. Unfortunately my balance is rather lacking at the moment...but actually that's a good thing, because it reminded me of a piece of Starbucks advice that might help you forgive my lack of motivation in the boycott department: rather than buying a "peppermint mocha", try a dark roast coffee with a shot or two of peppermint and a shot or two of mocha, and add some cream and sugar. I think it's better, because I prefer coffee a tad less sweet than most of Starbucks' holiday offerings, and it's about half the price. There you go... that's my frugal advice. And this is what the widget looks like (See how my cup is gold? That's because I'm a gold member. With all the rights and privileges... and you expected me to boycott?):

How do you get movie theater information on an Android?

My favorite new movies always seem to be released in the month of December; summer action flicks can be fun, but I find that pre-Christmas releases more often catch my attention... such as the nostalgic continuation of the Peter Jackson/J.R.R. Tolkien collaboration, in the form of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which made its appearance just yesterday.

Until recently, you had to reserve tickets either by calling the theater or by pulling up the website on a computer or tab. Fandango's app has now added ticket-purchasing capability for over 20,000 movie theaters, which means you can see what's playing, watch trailers, check showtimes, and buy your tickets all in this one app.

The Fandango app, which has won three Webby awards, uses GPS to show you movies playing around your location in the next hour, lists most tweeted movies, allows you to sign up for alerts indicating when a movie hits your theater, and can operate in tandem with your Android's Voice Actions function, in addition to all the other features you expect in a movie app.

Click here to get the Fandango App from the Google Play Store

How do you manage Christmas gift-giving on an Android?

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year; we know because Johnny Mathis has been reminding us since October. A particularly special aspect of this season is the mad rush to find a decent Christmas present for all of them. This year, I discovered an Android app that is actually quite helpful. The app, called Gift Buddy, helps you keep track of who you've already purchased presents for and who's left... but that's nothing special; tons of apps do that. The aspect of this app that I found interesting is its gift suggestions.

From the Google Play Store description of the app: "Your trusted partner for gift recommendations! Results powered by gifts.com. Gift buddy is a gift recommendations application offering recommendations on various dimensions - recipient type, personality type, occasions, by product category. Users can mix and match search criteria for targeted recommendations." 

I hope this suggestion will ease your Christmas stress a tad. Click here to download the app from the Google Play Store.

Oh, and don't get me wrong; joking aside, Christmas is a special time of year for me... beyond the festive atmosphere and the wonderful time with family and friends, it is a reminder of Jesus' astounding sacrifice in becoming human so He could take our punishment and provide a way to Heaven.

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities: upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53: 4-5 (ESV)

How do you get Adobe Flash Player on an Android?

On August 15, 2012, Adobe pulled its Flash Player from the Google Play Store. What a way to celebrate the birthday of my friend in Vermont, I'm sure you're thinking. No? Just me? .... Oh, ok.

Until recently, if a website had media-rich interactive content, it needed add-on's like the Adobe Flash Player and JavaScript to make the content display and function properly. Now HTML5 (HTML, hypertext markup language, is the language websites are written in) has that function built into it, rendering an add-on redundant. Clearly this is much more streamlined, but RIP, mobile Adobe Flash Player. Actually, Adobe is behind HTML5 as well, so they replaced their own product... much less solemn.

The question, then, is why would you want the Flash Player on your phone, if it's been replaced by HTML5 so smoothly that developers expect few to notice the change? Because many websites are not yet on HTML5, and still have Flash content that is hidden or malfunctioning on our mobiles, without Flash.

This is not one of those complicated delve into your command prompt scenarios; it's really easy. Go to this page of archived Flash Player versions, and page down about 5 times, until you reach the Android versions. Find your correct version of Android (as always, let me know in a comment if you need help) and click to download that Flash Player version. Your computer will probably pop up a message saying it doesn't know what program to use in opening the file, after the download is complete. Dismiss the message, and navigate to this site. Click Browse Files, and in the box that pops up click Downloads, in the top left corner. Make sure this page is sorted by most-recent first, so the file you downloaded will be the first. Click that top file, which ends in .apk. The website will then convert your file into a format that can be installed on your phone. Use your phone's code scanner to scan the QR that the website will produce after a few minutes of processing. At this point, the Flash Player is downloading on your phone.

How do you choose an Android-related Christmas present?

I'm currently in web design mode, so I wanted to post on a mobile web design topic, but 'tis the season, so web design will have to wait. See picture for more information:

Instead, we shall discuss how to use Android to come up with more Christmas present options for those impossible people you know. These are my top suggestions, with details below:

• Portable speakers
• A portable power pack (see this post for details about why it's an important purchase)
• A unique case
• A Google Play Store gift card
• Subscription to music streaming program, such as Rhapsody

For portable speakers, I like the X-Mini II, which comes in black, pink, or red, and is very well-rated:

          

If you have a few more dollars to spend, try the exciting new product of the season: Beats by Dr. Dre Pill. This one comes in white, black or red:

          

This Power Pack from Motorola is sleek and convenient:

A case is only a good present if you (1) know what case the person wants, such as an Otterbox  or an Incipio, or (2) make it a unique case that shows you know the recipient's taste. For example, were I to purchase this gift for my dog-loving sister, I would look for a case with paw prints; or, for my friend in Missouri, I might try an m&m's-themed case. I came across this product and got distracted from my case search, so instead of a link to a paw prints case, I will not help you at all, by providing:

Next, consider a Google Play Store credit, so your friend can choose some paid apps to purchase. While an easy gift, it's more unique than, say, an Olive Garden gift card:

          

Lastly, I think a year-long subscription to Rhapsody, Spotify, or another paid music streaming app would be a really fun present... one that any music-lover would particularly enjoy (and aren't we all music-lovers, really?), and obviously one that is customized to preference, since Frank Sinatra, Taio Cruz, and Lecrae are all found in this same place. The apps are free to install, but then at either an upgrade or the expiration of the free trial, payment is required.

How do you compete with Siri, on an Android?

Do you think it's logical that Siri, the alternative to the earlier-released Android voice command program, is considered, by popular opinion, to dominate the voice command aspect of smartphones? Odd, considering that Android's came out first and, in unbiased tests, typically is declared the winner by a small margin. Do you know why, against all odds, Siri is more widely popular than Android's Voice Actions? Because of her name -- Siri; it's fun to say. Well, allow me to explain why this, once again, backs up Android-lovers' claim that the Android smartphone is customizable to be my perfect smartphone, not Steve Job's perfect smartphone. iPhone users must call their robotic assistant Siri; that is her name. It just so happens that I would prefer to name my own voice command program. Her name is Layla. What is yours named?

Now let us compare Siri and Layla. I don't hide that I am biased toward Android (but my bias is founded in fact... I decided Android was better, and then became biased), but I do try to be fair in my comparisons. Siri is, in most points, comparable to Layla. Both can, with few errors, transcribe texts and emails, play music, call contacts, search the web, transcribe notes, open webpages, give navigation directions... and much more. When asked to navigate to a website, Layla is superior; she will pull up the site homepage, while Siri will usually pull up a search engine page with the site's links, adding an extra step. Siri also has what I would call an inferior navigation system. iPhone ironically now has access to Google Maps, but this is not what Siri uses when asked to navigate to an address, meaning no turn-by-turn directions directly from her. The navigate feature on my Android is one I've used extensively (it's especially convenient if I'm wearing non-touchscreen compatible gloves, and Layla can do the work for me), and have actually encountered no problems. Compared side-by-side with my Siri-toting friends, Layla was faster, more accurate, and found my destination without fail. Layla can also be asked to call a business that is not in my contacts, and she will track down the number, then dial it. Siri requires extra steps to get to the point of placing the call.

Get Voice Actions for Android here, if it is not yet installed on your smartphone. And don't forget to give him or her the name you think your personal assistant should have.

How do you get rid of the voicemail notification on an Android?

Quite a few times, I have listened to a voicemail (that's the notification shown in the far left of the bar above), pressed 7 to delete it, and exited, only to discover the voicemail notification was still peering up at me from my notifications bar. I find this insignificant problem maddening. And it took me quite a few tries of redialing my voicemail inbox, knowing I didn't actually have an unheard voicemail, but attempting again to remove that icon, before I discovered the solution.

One time, early in my smartphone experience, the ridiculous malfunction my brilliant Android displayed had me irate. I held my number 1 key and mashed in my password, with the intention of letting the message play the whole way through, to see if that would fix it. I was engaging in un-American sentiment, holding my phone guilty until proven innocent; I did in fact have an unheard message. That is why I caution you to verify your phone's guilt before attempting my solution.

Now the solution: if your phone displays a new voicemail notification, but you are confident you do not have a new voicemail, simply call your Android from another phone, and leave a voicemail. Now when you dial into your inbox from your Android, your phone should return to normal function, which would be to remove the (now accurate) notification that you have a new voicemail, once you have listened and deleted it.

How do you play (and what is) Ingress for Android?

Mid-November, Google itself released a beta of an augmented reality mobile game called Ingress. As always, Google is starting trends and blowing away expectations; this social game has revolutionized mobile gaming... and it's not even out of beta. Because it is location-based and highly social, Ingress isn't the game for those of us who value our privacy; but let's be honest -- we're the minority. For those who hold to the view that the all-powerful they know whether we intend to reveal it or not (which point is probably valid), this is one intriguing game. I am not going to be joining the gamers, but this game has caught my attention... primarily because of the brilliant marketing that accompanied its release.

The premise of Ingress is the discovery of a new energy, by a team of scientists in Europe, that appears to be influencing people's minds. You can play as "The Enlightened," who embrace the power, or "The Resistance," who oppose the power. This game has surpassed all other games that use the real world as the setting, making the universe of the game part of reality. As Ingress' description on the Play Store puts it:

"The World is the Game
Move through the real world using your Android device and the Ingress app to discover and tap sources of this mysterious energy. Acquire objects to aid in your quest, deploy tech to capture territory, and ally with other players to advance the cause of the Enlightened or the Resistance."

Download the game here.

Ingress has already caught the smartphone world by storm, and I expect growth of the Ingress trend to continue a while longer. Do you think Android-owner Google will release an iPhone version of this incredible game? Neither do I. Where does that leave iPhone-owners? In line to buy an Android.

Come to the dark side; we have cookies.