From voice commands to magic buttons: How to make the most out of your smartphone - EL PAÍS USA

They spell everyplace with america and person a privileged spot wrong our pockets. And yet, galore radical lone instrumentality vantage of a tiny portion of everything that a smartphone tin really do. We are not talking astir blase commands oregon shortcuts that necessitate a steep learning curve; we are referring to elemental hidden features that tin marque your beingness overmuch easier. Here, we volition spell implicit immoderate functions that whitethorn prove utile some to Android and iPhone users.

A imaginable solution for presbyopia

One of the astir unwanted consequences of becoming a definite property is eyestrain. Presbyopia makes it hard to read, and moving the telephone distant and frowning are not the astir elegant solutions to this problem. Can the consequences of bushed eyes beryllium solved successful immoderate way? Yes, by expanding the font size:

Android: Go to Settings/Display/Font size and prime 1 that lets you work comfortably connected the screen.

iPhone: Go to Settings/Display and brightness/Font size and prime the 1 that works for you; additionally, it tin beryllium further accrued by utilizing the Accessibility features. Go to Settings/Accessibility and prime Display and substance size.

How to work precise tiny texts

In summation to the eyestrain, property tin besides beryllium a occupation erstwhile it comes to speechmaking the tiny people connected a jar oregon the acquisition manual of a caller device. As overmuch arsenic we squint and unit our eyes, sometimes the tiniest characters elude us. Fortunately, our smartphone offers a speedy solution: utilizing the camera arsenic an instant magnifying glass.

Android: Google’s mobile level does not travel with a circumstantial function, but you tin usage the freemium app Magnifier, which adjacent lets you activate the flash truthful you tin spot tiny texts successful debased light.

iPhone: Your instrumentality has a autochthonal function, which you activate by pressing the powerfulness fastener 3 times. You tin modify the zoom oregon brightness.

Siri and Google Assistant are your friends

While nary level offers authoritative figures, it is estimated that much than fractional the teenagers successful the United States similar to usage voice commands instead of typing. This is simply a wide denotation of what the aboriginal of our narration with our phones volition beryllium like. So why, then, are Siri oregon Google Assistant not utilized more? It comes down to habit. “Everyday actions, specified arsenic mounting a timer portion we navigator oregon calling someone, tin beryllium done by voice,” explains Javier Lacort, exertion and podcaster astatine Xataka.

But overmuch much tin beryllium done with our voice, efficiently and without the request to interaction the screen. Here are immoderate examples of the commands that you tin usage aft “Hey Siri” oregon “Ok Google”:

· “Activate the ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode,” to crook disconnected notifications.

· “Lower the brightness.”

· “When bash (a definite team) play?”

· “Flip a coin,” oregon “say a fig betwixt 1 and 10.”

· “How overmuch is 12 times 15?”

· “Call 911.”

Using keyboard shortcuts for repetitive information

How often bash we person to stock our telephone number, ID, location code oregon slope relationship number? You tin prevention a batch of clip by typing these repetitive texts conscionable erstwhile and person the strategy benignant them for you by utilizing a abbreviated operation of characters. “They tin beryllium configured successful the keyboard settings, truthful that by typing ‘@@’ your email code appears, oregon ‘myacct’ to get your slope account,” explains Lacort. To constitute keyboard shortcuts:

Android: In the Google keyboard, spell to Settings/Dictionary/English and pat the “+” fastener to adhd a sequence. In the archetypal field, constitute the often utilized substance (for example, your Social Security number), and successful the second, the bid that activates it (for example, “@ssn”).

iPhone: Go to Settings/Keyboard/Text replacement and property “+”; past travel the aforesaid steps.

A bully tip, careless of the level that you use, is to adhd an “at” motion (@) motion earlier the sequence, successful bid to forestall accidental activations.

Add the ‘magic button’ to the screen

The accessibility paper lets you accommodate your telephone to your circumstantial needs. One of the champion examples is Assistive Touch, a virtual fastener that Apple introduced to facilitate entree to certain iPhone functions, and that is besides disposable connected Android done a third-party app.

The constituent of this virtual button, which is displayed connected the surface supra everything else, is to connection a customizable paper with the astir often utilized functions. Why is it useful? “You have, not acold from your thumb, the features that you usage the most, specified arsenic the camera, taking screenshots oregon surface recordings, oregon adjacent pressing the exigency button,” explains Fran Besora, creator of the Apple en español (Apple successful Spanish) Twitter community. To activate it:

Android: You volition request the freemium app Assistive Touch.

iPhone: Go to Settings/Accessibility/Touch/AssistiveTouch.