Using Android- The Desktop

Due to the large number of questions and doubts that reach both the Twitter account (@androidsis) as well as the contact email (webmaster@androidsis.com) about how to configure something or where this option is located or what one thing or another is for, today we start a series of posts through which we will try to review all the options and all the parts that the system incorporates. Android system from a user's point of view. The desktop, the widgets, configure the wifi networks, bluetooth, install and uninstall applications, GPS, etc ... in short it aims to be a user manual of Android "By fascicles". It is intended for newcomers to this system as well as users already initiated who want to delve a little deeper into the different options that the system presents.

We will use as reference the Android 2.2 system version since it is the most recent and the one that is most widespread. Most of the things are common between different versions. Being the first we will start with the desktop, the screen that is most used and on which we will put our application icons, folders, widgets etc ...

The first time we light a android phone and we finish configuring the initial data we will arrive at a screen called desktop where a series of application icons and some widgets will appear on it. This desk is in turn composed of five screens equal to the first, which we will access by sliding them horizontally.

The desktop in Android is divided into three parts, the upper notification bar, the desktop itself and the lower bar for access to installed applications.

La Notification bar It is where we will be shown the different notifications that we receive from the operating system such as missed calls, SMS, available updates from an application, or the different notifications that the different applications that make use of it send us. In another chapter we will devote ourselves to this bar in more depth. If we click on this bar and slide down, it will list all available notifications.

The desktop is the part that remains between the notification bar and the bottom bar that gives us access to the list of installed applications. On this desktop we can put shortcuts to the applications that we use the most or contacts, show a widget that we have installed, or put a container folder within which we can have applications, documents or contacts.

As we said, the desktop is made up of five screens and we can move through them by moving any of them horizontally with our finger. To know which screen we are on, we will look at the points on both of the screen at the bottom, when we are in the central screen at five o'clock, two points will appear on each side. If we move one screen to the left or right we will see how the dots will mark how many screens we have more to the left or right. To get back to the central screen we can press on the key that has a house drawing and it will take us directly to this screen.

If we click continuously on the aforementioned points we will see that the five desks appear in small and if we click on any of them we will move to it.

The bottom bar where we have two icons and a square formed by 16 smaller squares gives us access to the list of all the applications that we have installed by clicking on the central square. In this list we will move by scrolling it vertically, to return to the desktop we click on the house-shaped icon that we have in the lower central part of the screen. The two icons that this bar presents us cannot be modified and it allows us to directly access the web browser by pressing the icon in the shape of a globe and the contact and call manager if we click on the icon in the form of a telephone.

If we press for a few seconds on any screen on the desktop, a dialog box will appear through which we can choose whether to add a shortcut, a widget, a folder or change the animated background of the terminal. To do this, we only choose the desired option and it will appear on the desktop.