This article is for those who have got their hands on Google’s Nexus 7 and are now confused how to kickstart. With the dearth of online material available on the tablet, here is help for all those who feel stranded.




Tip 1: Google feels that Nexus 7 works best in portrait orientation, so they have fixed the orientation at that. But this may not hold true for all. So, to active the rotation, swipe down the notifications block from the top of the screen. You will see a little tablet with rotation arrows. Tap it and it will rotate the screen to landscape orientations as you turn the tablet around.

However, this rotation will still not work on your homescreen. To deal with that, you can download the Ultimate Rotation app, which will enable you to rotate the screen anytime.

Tip 2: While we are not saying that the typing is not good enough on Nexus 7, but it is advised that you buy the SwiftKey 3 tablet app to make your experience swifter! The keyboard will study you as you write and with time will become smart enough to judge what you are going to write. This app comes at a very cheap price and is totally value for money.

Tip 3: Configuring Gmail on your tablet will be a cakewalk, as simple as downloading the app but for other email accounts, you simply have to run the Email app and follow the instructions as you go along. You can set as many accounts as you want.

Tip 4: You don’t have to keep going to every app to see if it has got updates and do it accordingly; Nexus 7 makes the process simple for you. Just go to the Play Store app that is preinstalled on your tablet and click on the My Apps icon present at the top of the screen. It will show you all the updates available. Simply press the Update All button and within minutes, all your apps will be updated. You can also choose the automatic update option.

Tip 5: What is life without social networks? Well, to sort that out, go to the Settings and then to Accounts section. Now add every network that you are on- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN or Skype.

Tip 6: Next obvious step is to set up the home screen, which can be accessed by swiping left and right on the default screen. It is easy to put icons that you use most by pressing the Apps icon in the center of the dock on the home screen. You can take your time and use all the apps before you decide the ones you like the most and then simply drag them to the home screen. To remove an app, hold on the app and drag it to the Remove X on the top of the screen. This will only remove it from the screen. The home screen has icons in the bottom that are set by default, known as dock. The dock has 5 default icons chosen by Google. You can simply drag and drop to customise the dock for you.

Tip 7: Hitting the Google Play store can be a bit daunting with loads and loads of Android apps available in the list. To find just the ones you want, get the Tablified Market HD app for free. The apps listed there are categorised to help you find the one you like.

Tip 8: If you are a music lover, you don’t have to keep storing music files on your tablet. The music bought from Google Music store or the Amazon MP3 store allows you to stream it from the web. This requires a network connection for playing your music but saves valuable tablet storage space which is limited on the Nexus 7.

Kalpana Sharma, EFYTIMES