Major 9 Tips to Manage your Android Device

Android's open nature may be lauded by many but it also leaves your device vulnerable to malware, freezes & slowdowns. Here we show you how to keep your devices running like new with little effort.

Manage your applications

Most if not all android devices have a built in task manager which shows you all the background apps (running apps) and lets you selectively remove them from memory.Keeping them running will pull them up faster when you need them, but beyond a point, too many apps will slow the device down. the app manager is usually pulled up with a long press on the home or options button.If you need to install a third-party app to do the same thing, you can get advanced task manager (by infolife) or android app manager (by smartwho).

The advantage that either of these apps can offer is a home screen widget which allows you to close running apps with just one tap.

Guard against malware & bad apps

If you download a lot of apps from unknown sources (places other than google's play store), chances are that your phone is already infected with malware.Trend micro reports that there are over 500 sources that host malicious apps. While most malware will send texts to premium numbers without your knowledge, some could also be mining data (and consequently slowing down your device)If you must get apps from unknown sources, you should get an anti-virus app. some of the best free options include avast, avg, lookout, norton, eset & zoner.Note that you shouldn't install more than one of these at one time and having one isn't a guarantee against bad apps — but it helps.

Manage RAM for smooth multitasking

One of the biggest reasons why your device runs out of steam is limited available RAM. This is more true of devices with 512MB and to a certain extent, 1GB of total RAM

Depending on the number of applications you have installed (and how many of them are running in the background), the amount of free RAM your device has may not be enough to smoothly switch between apps.To solve this problem, get a free app called Clean Master by KS Mobile. Not only does it have a task killer (to free up RAM), but it can also delete history (web browser data & history), clean the cache, properly uninstall apps and remove residual files (remnants of previously deleted apps) to free up space on the device memory.

Get your settings straight

Take a look at your device's settings page. are you signed in to any accounts that you are not using? remove them. you can also check for sync intervals (how often these accounts check for updates).Are additional functions like bluetooth, nfc and wifi on when you don't need them? some of these might keep hunting for a connection and slow down other services. if you are using a third-party launcher, set it as the default.

If you use more than one launcher at a time, resources are usually shared between them, making everything slower. it also helps if you remove any widgets that you aren't using (because they keep updating in the background) and remove any extra homescreen pages.

Get a fresh start

Sometimes, whatever you do may not be enough. If your phone or tablet still keeps freezing or drags its feet with even the simplest of tasks, it may be time for a factory reset. A factory reset restores your device to original settings — like the way it was when you first got it

Luckily, every Android device has a factory reset option built in.

Initialising the factory reset is a simple, one-step process — just head to settings and 'privacy' or 'backup & reset'. Keep in mind that doing a factory reset erases everything on the device: all installed apps, contacts, calendar entries, photos, texts, videos & any accounts that you're signed in to will be removed. So before you reset, use an app called inDefend to backup your contacts & messages, use App Backup & Restore (by Infolife) to backup apps, SMS Backup & Restore for SMS & Dropbox to save your photos & videos to the cloud.

Periodically clean out messages and gallery

If you've owned your phone for a while, chances are you have thousands of texts, photos & videos stored. You can take a backup of all essential data and clean out stuff — starting from the oldest first. Since these apps won't have to cache as much data, they'll load much faster.

Moving data to external memory card

Even if you have 16GB storage, some of that is taken up by the operating system and essential apps. You should keep at least 2GB of that free. Move all non-essential data and apps to the external memory card using the file manager and a free app called App2SD.

Nova Launcher

Phone makers have a tendency to use heavy interfaces with animations & features that you may never use. Download Nova Launcher from the app store to give your device an instant speed boost. It's also way more customisable than the stock interface that you get.

Switch off live wallpapers

Using a live (animated) wallpaper on your device uses up a fair bit of processing power — power that could easily be put to use by making apps load up faster and making the interface smoother. While this is more true of budget devices, switch off your live wallpaper and you'll also see better battery life.

New 10 most beautiful apps on Android

Apps that offer functionality on a simple and easy-to-use interface are not only a pleasure to use but also soothe the eyes. Google has released its list of most beautiful apps on the Android marketplace.

The Beautiful Design Summer 2013 Collection has a few familiar faces, along with some new entrants, each with simple and elegant interfaces. Check out the 10 most beautiful Android apps…

Pattrn

Developed by Lucas Rocha, Pattrn is a free wallpaper app with access to a huge repository of colourful patterns for each day of the week. Users can download and share these patterns, depending on colour and keyword.

Eye In The Sky

Eye In The Sky is a weather app with features like four widgets, expandable notifications and DashClock extension. The app is ad-supported, though users can opt for the paid version in order to get rid of the advertisements.

Pocket

Pocket is a content aggregation app by Read It Later, which allows users to save articles, videos, web pages etc to view them later. This free app syncs the content across laptops, tablets and phones.

Timer

Timer by Opoloo is a paid timer app that depicts the interface in Holo aesthetics. Users can save unlimited number of timers, with customized labels, and back them up with their Google accounts.

Grand St

Grand St is an app that showcases well-designed hardware products that its team has picked out and tested, with one new device listed each day. The app describes the design, functionality, user experience and price of the products it lists.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media app that allows users to pin pictures of things they like on a virtual board. They can collect and share these photos under various labels, including music, travel etc and also follow others via social networking logins.

Press Reader (RSS)

Press is a simple RSS feed collection app that curates data from sources like Feedly, Feed Wrangler, Feedbin etc. This app does not have ads and boasts of features like vertical and horizontal swiping, background syncing, offline reading, image zooming and DashClock extension.

Expedia

Expedia Hotels and Flights, the app version of the popular travel booking website, brings all the features that it is famous for on the mobile screen. It allows users to find and book hotels as well as flights, along with deals and discounts.

Flipboard

Social news aggregation app Flipboard boasts of a magazine-style layout that enables users to flip through news and articles on the mobile screen.

Debut of the First Firefox OS Smartphone in Spain

Earlier last few days Sony has said that it will launch its Firefox OS version of Xperia E Smartphone in India, but there is no timeline available right now on which time it will be launch.

Telephonica will be the first which offers the first commercial Firefox OS smartphone. This Firefox Os based devices namely, the ZTC Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire, have hit the store shelves in Spain, and other countries like Poland, Columbia and Brazil on Tuesday for $90 with a prepared subscription.

Firefox OS is built around applications that will be written using a HTML%. It is being pitched as a better alternative for a low-end smartphones and will complete all head-to head with cheap android phones and others.

The Open, announced in February at Mobile World Congress said that, these phones are very basic, and have a 3.5 inch screen display, and are powered by a 1GHz processor from Qualcomm.  This Smartphone also has a 3.2-megapixel camera and support for Wi-Fi and A-GPS. There is a 512MB of integrated storage memory and 256MB RAM with micro SD card slot and 2GB card in the package.

On the software side, Firefox OS integrated Facebook, and Twitter, Nokia’s Here Maps - with features such as offline access - - and, of course, the Firefox browser, according to Mozilla. The organization also pitches the platform’s search features:  by swiping to the right users can search for their favorite music artists and get results to buy songs, concert tickets or start listening to songs instantly, Mozilla said.

That Telefónica is the first to offer smartphones based Firefox OS shouldn't come as surprise. The operator has been the platform's staunchest supporter, and helped create and distribute two phones for developers, the Peak and Keon, earlier this year. The Open is the first of a number of Firefox OS devices that will be launched by Telefónica this year, the operator said. Telefónica expects LG Electronics, Huawei Technologies and Sony will also offer smartphones based on the platform.

For €69, Spanish users will get the device as well as a €30 balance and a 4GB microSD card. Telefónica will also offer Firefox OS phones in Colombia and Venezuela, it said.

Firefox OS devices have to be able to compete with Android on price, said Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight.

[The €69 price] is probably more competitive that I had anticipated, and it is a strong statement of intent. But the challenge is that Android is well below that price point," he said.

Deutsche Telekom isn't announcing any details on its Firefox OS launch, but the operator is planning to host an event in Poland on July 11 where it will provide more details, a spokesperson said via email. Norwegian operator Telenor will launch its first Firefox OS phones in Central and Eastern Europe this year, according to Mozilla.

To succeed Firefox OS needs strong backing from mobile operators.

"We are seeing that from Telefónica and Deutsche Telekom, but the question is if we are going to see other carriers embrace the platform at a strategic level," Blaber said.

Mozilla also has to convince users that betting on an unproven platform is a step worth taking, and part of that is both the quantity and quality of apps, he said. It has to show HTML5 can deliver the richness today's smartphone buyers expect, and for the vast majority of apps Blaber suspects it can, he said.

But for that to happen Mozilla will have to attract developers. A recent survey conducted by IDC and cross-platform tool vendor Appcelerator suggests that the platform is off to a good start. About 25 percent of the respondents said they were very interested in Mozilla's platform, compared to 19 percent for Ubuntu and only 9 percent for Tizen, two smartphone OSes that will start competing with Firefox OS later this year.

However, that is still a long way behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android. About 87 percent of respondents said they were very interested in iOS and 78 percent showed the same level of interest for Android, so Mozilla and the other backers of Firefox OS still have a lot of work to do.