My love for my Nexus is growing each day. This is one zippy little tablet and it has definitely taken my household by storm. On a long international flight it was the Kindle replacement as we had forgotten to charge the latter’s battery, and at home it is our TV replacement as we wait for that to be repaired.
Thanks to all the hard work I’ve put into using the Nexus 7 – and yes, surfing through Google Play to find the perfect movie, app or book is hard work – I’ve drawn up a list of five things you need to do to really get the most out of your ASUS Nexus 7.
The first thing may sound obvious but it’s amazing how many people don’t realise what a difference it makes – set up a Google account. Google have so many cloud services that are all interwoven and interlinked that not having an account is actually doing yourself a disservice. Just visit gmail.com and follow the simple procedures to register and you can then use the name and password you just created to access a world of cloud services including Google Wallet, Google Drive and Google Play.
One tip – make your username memorable and your password secure.
Your second tweak is security. Your tablet is now going to give anyone unsavoury free access to all of your accounts and details unless you make sure you lock it securely. I plan on doing a piece on how to set up face unlock tomorrow so check in for that! Other options include the Android pattern lock/unlock and standard PIN unlock. Set these up no matter how tedious logging in becomes.
Three is tap the top of the screen. There’s this strange little icon that sits on the top of the tablet screen that has little arrows around it and you need to tap this to unleash your screen rotation. Most of the work in the Nexus 7 is set to vertical so if you have apps that need that horizontal flip, this is how to get it going.
Maps are spot number four. Cache your maps that you regularly use by making them available offline so if your signal dies, your trip doesn’t. Simple and effective, and, honestly, very useful for the geographically challenged.
Finally the last tweak that I love because I am as scatterbrained as they come is to add in your personal details on the lock screen so that people can return your Nexus 7 to you if it gets lost. Go to the security menu, tap on Owner Info and add in the details you want. Make sure the box that says Show owner info on lock screen is checked.
Tamsin