10 Helpful Things you can do with your Smartphone
Pretty much everyone nowadays carries around a smartphone. I mean, why not have one? They're great for texting, checking email, browsing the web, playing games, making calls, listening to music, and countless other functions. In fact, smartphones can do so much that there are probably several "hidden" features you've never even heard of.
So, without further adieu--
10. Change the signal strength reader from bars to a numerical figure (iphone)
Dial *3001#12345#* and then hold the lock button until the "slide to power off screen" appears. Once on that screen, hold the home button until you reach your main page again. Now your signal strength will be viewed as a numerical figure, which you can change back and forth from the original bar format by simply tapping. The closer the number is to 0, the stronger signal you have.
Voila. You now have a much more accurate smartphone.
9. Enable direct power-off (android)
Dial *#*#7594#*#* to enable this. You will no longer have to select between airplane mode, silent mode, and power off when trying to turn off your phone.
8. Make your own vibration patterns (iphone)
Go to settings > general > accessibility and enable custom vibrations. Then go to settings > sounds > vibration patterns and make one to your own preference. (Changing the duration is a great prank...just putting that out there)
7. Create backup files (android)
Dial *#*#273283*255*663282*#*#* to open up a screen where you can backup-save image, video, and sound files.
6. Add words to your phone's dictionary, as well as shortcuts for those words (iphone)
Go to settings > general > keyboard > add new shortcut. At this page, type the word you wish to add in the "phrase" section. Once added the iphone will recognize this as a legitimate word, and even insert it as a suggestion if you type something similar. By adding a shortcut, you can type the shortcut and it will auto-correct into its respective phrase. For example, if I put "hello" as the phrase and "h" as the shortcut, typing "h" in a text would auto-change to "hello."
Great for making typing more efficient and pulling pranks on your friends.
5. Fix broken buttons...kinda (iphone)
If your volume control, home, or lock buttons jam and stop working, you can go to settings > general > accessibility > assistive touch. Turn this option on and a circle will appear that can be used to lock the phone and perform various other tasks.
4. Delete cookies (blackberry)
Not sure why you would have still have this phone halfway into 2012, but hold alt and type "lglg." From there you can delete any cookies you might have installed, making your phone run faster and more smoothly.
3. Perform a factory data reset (android)
Dial *#*#7780#*#* and select "Reset phone." This will clear applications, google account settings, and system data/settings. The SD card files and system software will remain untouched. Useful if you're giving your phone away.
2. Silence or reject an incoming call (iphone)
If you're getting called in an inappropriate situation and want to quickly stop the noise without actually answering and quickly hanging up, you can tap the sleep button once to silence the call or tap twice to completely reject it.
1. Get help during emergencies (any phone really)
Dial 911 and speak with the operator. Help will be on the way, completely free of charge!
Hopefully these tips have made your phone experience just that much better. For information and updates on the tech world, alikeapp blog is the place to go!
