Guest access on Android devices. Use the search bar

Owners of Android smartphones sometimes give their gadgets to other people to use. They may borrow your phone to make calls, check emails, or send SMS.

When handing over the phone to strangers, its owner is usually worried that the guest will not see his personal information: Internet banking data; balance in applications used for online purchases; information contained in the account used in the application for playing cards or other personal information.

Many of us trust our electronic devices with personal information: private correspondence, photographs, financial secrets, and so on. No one wants to share such information with strangers.

However, you are also unlikely to like standing over your friends and relatives looking at your smartphone and not taking your eyes off them. Today there are already more convenient and effective methods from prying eyes, you can limit access to data on your smartphone or tablet.

The “Guest Access” feature will allow you to safely lend your smartphone to other people, preventing them from accessing your personal data, SMS messages and settings.

Guest mode on an Android smartphone will block access to your e-mail and applications, and will also prevent you from viewing those materials associated with your account (for example, downloaded files and photos). Only the owner of the smartphone can add a new user in Guest mode.

Guest Mode Features

Guest mode on Android works with version 5.0 and higher. This mode allows the device owner to configure the list of operations that a guest can perform on his phone.

For example, if you give a mobile device to your child and only allow him to play certain games, you can completely block access to other applications, as well as SMS messages and contacts. This application can serve as an analogue of the children's regime.

Each user can install a specific list of applications that he can use.

The mode is activated as follows:

Open the notification panel and click on your avatar located in the upper right corner.
3 icons will appear in front of you: “Your Google Account”, “Add User” and “Add Guest”. Click on the “Add Guest” icon.
Now you need to choose which guest will use your smartphone - a permanent one or a new one. If you indicate that the guest is new, then after changing the mode, all data saved in it will be automatically deleted. If you select a permanent guest, the data will be saved.
To close guest mode, you can simply remove the guest from the list of users (the “Delete Guest” key). After this, yours will be activated (before activating the main account, the system will ask you to confirm access rights by entering a password, fingerprint or other information).

How to easily set up guest mode on Android?

The owner of the smartphone has the opportunity to configure for each guest a list of actions that the user can perform in guest mode, as well as create a list of applications that the guest can use. It's similar in functionality to parental control apps.

For example, to allow a guest to send SMS messages and make calls, go to “Settings”, then select “Users”, click on the guest’s name, activate the settings button and check the box next to “Allow SMS and calls”. Other functions that the guest can perform are also configured.

There is also software configuration. The above features are supported only in mobile devices running on the Android 5.0 operating system or higher.

On devices that run on earlier versions of the OS, guest mode can be configured using applications.

The principle of operation of such applications is the ability to use a password for all actions. Using such applications, you can block both the activation of certain applications and various actions, for example, purchasing content in the Play Store.

These programs support the ability to create profiles, which allows you to configure each profile with its own list of actions allowed by the smartphone owner. These applications are installed on Android starting from version 2.1, so they will work on almost all devices.

On October 15, 2014, a new 5th version of the Android system called Lollipop, which translated means “lollipop,” was released. The number of devices that are already available for the update includes: popular models like Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and Nexus 7, HTC One, Samsung GALAXY S4, LG G Pad 8.3, SONY Xperia Z, Motorola Moto G and many others. Some new products have built-in Android system Lollipop, for example, Nexus 6 and Nexus 9. In general, for six months the percentage of users new version Android OS has exceeded 12%, which is a significant indicator on the market.

/ 3dnews.ru

For this reason, we decided to take a closer look at all the useful innovations that version 5 of the Android OS - Lollipop - gave users.

Material Design

The main feature of the new system interface is animation, in relation to which the developers themselves use the term “choreography”. If previously the animation of each element was separately configured at the discretion of the developers, now its basic principles have been formed. The main principle was the following: “nothing appears out of nowhere, the windows smoothly flow into each other.” This means that from now on, if something appears on the screen, this appearance will be gradual, and the element will “move out” from somewhere. For example, when you click on someone's contact, the name will move up, thus becoming the title of the subscriber's card. The windows will smoothly overlap each other.

In addition to animation, the interface structure has changed slightly in Android 5 Lollipop, new light-shadow effects, new colors and shades have been added.

Notification system

Despite the fact that before this the system had a full-fledged notification panel, the developers of Android 5.0 are convinced that there is no limit to perfection, and therefore were not too lazy to improve it. If previously the notification and settings panels were located in separate windows, now all this is on one screen. Also, two auxiliary elements appeared next to the icons to enable/disable this or that function. The first opens the full settings screen, and the second brings up an additional panel with advanced settings, which “slides out” right on top of the current one.

However, the “automatic brightness” function disappeared, since operating system will now always adjust to the lighting automatically, changing the brightness level, in relation to which further further work will be carried out manual setting brightness

/firstpost.com

The principles for sorting notifications have also changed, which will greatly simplify the search for the reason why the device beeped. Previously, the system used so-called notification priorities: minimum (weather and other educational information), low (new updates, etc.), standard, high (new letters in the mail) and maximum (various alarms, important reminders and missed calls). Now, in addition to priorities, the system will also sort notifications by time, and sometimes automatically determine their importance. For example, a message from a subscriber from your favorite contacts will be higher than the usual one.

/geek.com

Also, notifications with maximum priority no longer pop up on the entire screen, which allows you to complete what you are doing in this moment case, and only after that – respond to the notification.

The new 5th Android OS has a setting for modes in which sound and light alerts are turned on according to the selected one.

There are only three modes: all notifications, only important ones, do not disturb at all. The list of these notifications in the corresponding panel will contain all of them, including notifications that did not cause any visual alerts.

Lock screen

The main innovation in the lock screen design is the ability to enable a list of notifications, which will be displayed in the center of the screen. And if you swipe your finger from top to bottom, it will seem full list notifications. Each type of notification can be assigned the attributes “public”, “private” or “secret” - in the latter case they are not displayed on the lock screen. The device is unlocked by swiping in any other direction.

/andevice.ru

An interesting innovation was the “Smart Look”, that is, the so-called “smart lock”. Specific ways to protect your phone include a feature such as facial recognition. True, you shouldn’t use it seriously, since a person with a similar appearance will be able to access your device, so for now this function rather exists for entertainment purposes. Other unlocking methods include Bluetooth on your smart watch, or on the dashboard of your car.

Multiplayer mode

Android 5 Lollipop initially comes with two built-in user accounts: one for the owner and one for the guest. In the second case, you can transfer the phone to someone at limited time use, being confident in the safety of your data stored on the device.

Also, thanks to the multi-user mode, you can access your device, which, for example, is left at home, using any other one - just log into your account. The only condition is that this second device has a Lollipop system.

loftog.com

Google Search

Now in new system built-in full-fledged Google Search program with big amount functions. It is noteworthy that a voice search starting with the phrase “OK Google” can now be performed even if you are working in another program, or are not using the phone at all, and it is locked. To execute a command, it is enough that the device’s screen is simply turned on. The exception will be running games or a video being watched, during which, if voice search works, the requested information is usually displayed in text form in the top panel of the screen.

/alwawee.com

Application Manager and Performance

The new design of the open application manager has a slightly different look. If previously these were screenshots from programs that were evenly spaced horizontally with pictures, now we have several sheets with specific applications that are displayed on top of each other. In this case, several tabs of the same program are displayed as separate applications. In addition to the new design, the manager now has the ability to lock and set the device to work with this one application, which allows you to direct all the processor power to it.

Speaking of performance, we cannot fail to mention the new virtual machine Java - Android RunTime (ART). Thanks to its superiority over the previous Dalvik, the device's power consumption is reduced and its performance is increased, in the case of some applications - four times.

Other innovations in Android 5.0

The new operating system reduces the delay when playing video and has a multi-channel playback function. Using the OpenGL ES 3.1 specification, Lollipop can compete with computers and game consoles.

The interface has also changed Google Calendar, while most of its functions were cut. Changed appearance system settings, in the section of which it is now possible to search for a particular parameter.

/droid-life.com

To summarize, it should be said that Google developers really tried to do everything as best as possible, down to minor details - all for the sake of user convenience. You may not like some of the innovations, but the vast majority of them make working with the device much easier. Also, version 5 of the Android OS optimizes the work with applications, minimizing energy consumption and increasing performance.

The ability to update the system is already available to most mobile devices, and soon many new gadgets that already use Lollipop will hit the market.

Photo on the main page: / xakep.ru

In four years, Android has transformed from a small but ambitious project into perhaps the most complex and feature-packed mobile OS of our time. Android supports a huge number of technologies and functions, many of which are hidden from the user or hidden in places you wouldn't even think to look at. This article is a collection of tips and tricks that can be applied to any Android device without the need to root.

01. DISABLE THE AUTOMATIC CREATION OF ICONS ON THE DESKTOP

I think I’m not the only one who is annoyed by the way the market behaves when installing an application. For some reason he thinks that for any more or less software or the next game I definitely need an icon on the desktop, and he successfully creates it. And I have to delete it. And then another one. And so every time.

Fortunately, this behavior is easy to disable - just open the settings Google Play(in the left panel) and uncheck the “Add icons” checkbox. There you can also disable the forced password request every 30 minutes when purchasing applications, as well as the hated auto-update of applications.

02. DISABLE GOOGLE SEARCH AND OTHER USELESS SOFTWARE

The standard firmware of Android smartphones includes a huge amount of useless software, ranging from a bunch Google applications(do you know that Google requires manufacturing companies to include almost all the software it develops in the firmware of their devices?) and ending with all sorts of junk from the smartphone manufacturer. All of this (or at least most) can be disabled.

Go to “Settings → Applications → All”, tap on the desired software and click “Disable” (of course, you will be warned how “dangerous” this is). By the way, when disconnecting Google search Google Now will also disappear, as well as the search bar from the desktop (after a reboot), instead of which there will be an empty area.

03. RESET TO SAFE MODE

Few people know, but Android, like many other operating systems, has a so-called Safe mode. This is a mode in which the operating system boots with disabled third party applications. Malware that is not very skillfully written (one that is not registered in the system partition) then falls off, like any software that interferes with normal operation systems. Safe mode can be used to bypass screen blockers, applications that cause the smartphone to freeze, or, alternatively, to identify who is actually eating up the battery - the next firmware or software update.

The mode is turned on in a rather simple, but not at all obvious way: by holding down the power button and then holding your finger on the “Turn off power” item. After rebooting, the culprit of the problem can be removed through “Settings → Applications”.

04. GET RID OF INSTRUCTIVE NOTIFICATIONS

“The construction of the castle is finished!” - how did you get these notifications? Everyone who is not too lazy is trying to notify me about all possible and impossible events: “Vasya Dzhubga replied to you on Twitter,” “You have 100,500 new messages,” “You won surgery to enlarge your right leg.” You swipe away one notification, and three new ones appear in its place.

How to get rid of all this slag: hold your finger on the notification for a long time and uncheck the “Stop” button. This is the recipe for KitKat. In Lollipop, everything is a little different, but the essence is the same: hold down, then the i button, in the window that opens, put a checkmark on “Block”. There you can also force the notification to be a priority so that it is always at the very top.

05. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SERVICE MENU

Another not at all obvious function is the service menu. It can be opened by dialing *#*#4636#*#*. Basically there are different Technical information such as IMEI number, signal strength, current location or network type. But there is also a very useful function for some situations to force the smartphone to switch to the desired type of network (2G, 3G, LTE).

In conditions of poor 3G/LTE signal levels, the device tends to reset to 2G in order to save battery power and ensure subscriber availability. This behavior can be disabled. Open the service menu and in the “Set up preferred network type” item, select WCDMA only or LTE only. In the same way, you can switch your smartphone to 2G - GSM only. It will help if you need to save battery power and the Internet is rarely used. By the way, you can also disable the radio module there altogether (until the next reboot, of course).

Smartphones based on Chinese MTK chips have their own and much more sophisticated service menu. His number is *#*#3646633#*#*. There is various system information and a huge number of tests, among which you can find several useful settings, such as adjusting the volume level during a call or, for example, changing GPS/AGPS settings. The menu itself is terribly illogical and contains so much varied information that I don’t even dare to describe it, but simply send the reader to three letters - XDA.

06. USE A STANDARD BROWSER

I don't know why users don't like the built-in one so much Android browser. In my opinion, he is wonderful. Lightweight, fast, based on the Chromium engine, can synchronize with Google account(that is, it immediately includes all bookmarks and passwords from Chrome), but most importantly, it has a very convenient and almost ingenious navigation method. This is the so-called radial menu, which can be activated in the settings (only in Android 4.0–4.4).

07. MANAGE YOUR CONTACTS FROM YOUR COMPUTER

Google has web services not only for remotely installing software, blocking and searching for a smartphone, but also for managing contacts. All people's contacts ever saved and synchronized when connecting a new smartphone can always be found on the page google.com/contacts. They can be viewed, edited, added and deleted. Moreover, oddly enough, it is essentially part of Gmail.

08. MONITOR YOUR PROCESSOR LOAD

Android has a built-in feature that displays the current CPU load and currently active processes on top of the screen. In theory, it is intended for application and firmware developers and is hidden from ordinary users, but no one is stopping us from activating it. But first you will have to reach the “For Developers” settings section, which by default does not exist at all.

Go to settings, then “About phone”, find the line “Build number” and tap on it seven times in a row. The message “You have become a developer!” should appear on the screen. This means that the “For Developers” item is now open, and we go to it. We rewind almost to the very bottom of the screen and in the “Monitoring” section we find the “Show CPU load” switch.

Turn it on and see a list in the upper right part of the screen. The first line is the so-called loadavg, which shows the number of processes that had to run or wait their turn to run in the last minute, five and ten minutes. To put it very roughly: if these values, divided by the number of processor cores, are above one, this means 100% processor load in the last minute, five or ten minutes, respectively. Below is a list of the most power-hungry processes (essentially, an analogue of the top command from Linux).

09. USE ADB TO BACKUP SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER

We have already written more than once about a wonderful tool called ADB, which can significantly simplify managing a device from a computer for a person who is familiar with the console (here we are mainly talking about Linux, of course). In addition to the ability to install software, transfer files to a smartphone, view logs and other useful things, ADB has recently made it possible to backup all smartphone settings and applications.

To use this functionality, install the universal ADB driver (goo.gl/AzZrjR), then download ADB itself (goo.gl/3P7klM), install the driver, then expand the archive with ADB, connect the smartphone to the computer with a USB cable, launch command line and execute the command

A message will appear on the smartphone screen asking you to specify the encryption password for the backup - you can safely press “Next”. The application backup process will begin, which will affect both the APK packages themselves (the -apk flag in the command) and their settings. All applications from the memory card will also be included in the backup. You can restore a backup using the following command:

$ adb restore backup . ab

10. DISABLE BACKGROUND DATA TRANSFER IN APPLICATIONS

Working in the background, applications can actively use the Internet for a variety of purposes, from updating their content to leaking information about your location. In addition, such activity in any case leads to increased battery consumption.

Android has the ability to selectively restrict applications from transferring data in the background, but it is located in a place where most users would hardly ever look. To prevent any application from using the Internet in the background, you need to go to settings, then “Data transfer”, scroll down the screen to the list of applications actively using the network (for some it will be a surprise that it is there at all) and tap on the desired software. At the bottom there will be an option “Limit background mode" It is worth keeping in mind that the option will disable data transfer only via mobile network, so data will continue to flow over Wi-Fi.

11. USE THE SEARCH BAR

Often, smartphone owners Android based neglect the search bar at the top of the main screen. This is really logical, given the ability to search by typing a query into address bar any mobile browser.

Meanwhile, the desktop search bar does much more than just redirect your request to google.com. It allows you to search contacts, applications, calendar events, bookmarks and web browser history in automatic mode. For normal smartphone use, it may not be as useful, but when connecting an external keyboard, it is an indispensable tool. Just click and enter the name of the application, contact or anything else, and it immediately appears on the screen.

12. USE SMART LOCK

Smart Lock- one of those functions that you don’t think about, but once you try it, you can’t live without it. This is one of the most notable new products Android Lollipop and one of the most useful features added to Android recently. The idea of Smart Lock is extremely simple - it disables the PIN code or other lock screen protection if there is a specific Bluetooth device or map location nearby.

By default, Smart Lock is “sort of” disabled. That is, it does not light up anywhere, but after pairing with a new Bluetooth device (of any type), it will definitely offer to add it to its white list. After this you will forget about her again. But only until you enable lock screen protection in the “Security” section of the settings. Now it will work as it should.

Sami Smart settings Lock are in the same section, and, in addition to adding new Bluetooth devices, you can specify “safe places” there, and immediately with a list of options based on Google Now “observations”. By the way, if you disable it, as described in the first tip, then this functionality will also be lost.

13. SAVE ENERGY RIGHT

Another notable innovation from Lollipop is its power saving mode. IN standard Android it migrated from the firmware of smartphone manufacturers, who previously sold it independently. Now the function is available in pure Android - you use your smartphone to the fullest, and when the battery charge reaches 15%, the system suggests turning on the power saving mode, which turns off background data transfer, reduces the brightness to a minimum, turns off some sensors and reduces the screen rendering FPS to a couple of dozen frames per hour. give me a sec. For clarity, the status bar and on-screen buttons at the bottom of the screen turn red - so you don’t forget.

To save battery life on a smartphone with an AMOLED screen, you can set black wallpapers and use apps with black backgrounds.

The energy saving mode is customizable. Go to “Settings → Battery → menu → Power saving mode.” Here you can specify a condition automatic switching on mode (though the choice is meager: 5%, 15% or never) and, most importantly, turn on the mode right now. Very convenient if you have a long trip ahead without the possibility of recharging.

14. MONITOR TRAFFIC

Most likely, smartphone manufacturers, as usual, will shovel standard interface Android 5.0 and everything will change (hello Samsung - the biggest fan of breaking interfaces), but in the standard Lollipop curtain, or rather, in the “second curtain” with
There is one highlight to the quick settings options. The data transfer button in the center does not switch data transfer at all, but expands into an interface that allows you not only to view the current traffic consumption, but also to disable data transfer using the switch on top.

15. SHARE NOT YOUR PHONE, BUT THE APPLICATION

Especially for those who like to give their phone to other people, Lollipop has a Screen pinning feature that allows you to lock your smartphone on one application without the ability to close it or switch to another. Like many other useful features, it is completely invisible and hidden quite deep in the settings. To activate, go to “Settings → Security”, scroll almost to the very end and turn on the “Block in application” option.

Now if you click the view button running applications(“Browse”), an pushbutton will appear at the bottom of the current application’s thumbnail. Once you tap the icon, the screen will be locked on the selected app and you will need to hold the Back and Overview buttons simultaneously to go back. In this case, you will have to enter a PIN code if it is set for the lock screen.

XX. USE ACITIVITY LAUNCHER

Any graphical Android application includes one or more so-called “activities”. Each of them is an application window (screen), for example main screen or a settings screen, maybe even a file selection window. By default, you can open directly (from the desktop) only those activities that the application developer marks as main; the rest are accessible only through the application itself and only if the developer himself allows this.

However, having at hand the right tool, you can reach any other activity of any application and even create a shortcut for it on the desktop. Activity Launcher does just that. Just install the application, select “All actions” in the menu at the top and find the software you need. All of her activities will appear on the screen, and any of them can be opened with a simple tap or placed on the desktop by holding your finger for a long time.

An example of useful “internal” activities is the Chrome bookmarks window (Chrome →Bookmark), access to the hidden AppOps mechanism in Android< 4.4.2 (Настройки → AppOps), запуск поиска в TuneIn Radio (tunein.ui.activities.TuneInSearchActivity). Очень много активностей имеет в себе ES Проводник, включая редактор, музыкальный плеер, просмотрщик изображений и многое другое. Любую из них можно запустить напрямую с рабочего стола. Таким же образом можно открыть любой раздел настроек и получить доступ к некоторым функциям ОС, достучаться до которых проблематично. Это абсолютно легальная функцио нальность, и она не требует root.

Android has a large set of hotkeys for connected keyboards. You can use Arrow, Tab, and Enter to navigate the desktop and various menus. In addition, the following key combinations are available:

Esc - “Back” button;
Win + Esc - Home button;
Ctrl + Esc - “Menu” button;
Alt + Tab - switch between applications;
Ctrl + Space - switch layout;
Ctrl + P - open settings;
Ctrl + M - control installed applications;
Ctrl + W - change wallpaper;
Win + E - write a letter;
Win + P - music player;
Win + A - calculator;
Win + S - write SMS;
Win + L - calendar;
Win + C - contacts;
Win + B - browser;
Win + M - google maps;
Win + Space - search;
To find out your MAC and IP address, go to “Settings → Wi-Fi → menu → Advanced
new functions". MAC and IP will be at the very bottom.

Lollipop has a built-in Flappy Bird style game. Go to “Settings → About phone”,
Tap on the “Android Version” item several times, then hold your finger on the “Lollipop” that appears. Let's play.

Google Now supports a large number of Russian-language voice commands. All of them can be divided into two groups: voice search and the voice commands themselves. Voice search allows you to perform an intelligent search on Google, when the system displays a specific answer on the screen instead of a list of links, and voice commands allow you to perform certain actions, for example, send an SMS or set an alarm. The list of commands is shown in the image “Voice Google Teams Now." Voice search includes more than a dozen various types questions:
Weather. What will the weather be like tomorrow morning?
Addresses. Where is the nearest pharmacy?
Flight information. When does Aeroflot flight number 2336 depart?
Time. What time is it in London?
Events. When is sunset today?
Computing. What is the square root of 2209?
Translation. How do you say "cucumber" in Spanish?
Sport. When does Spartak play?
Finance. What is the S&P 500 index today?
Data. What is the height of the tallest building in the world?
Exchange Rates. Convert 2600 rupees to US dollars.
Images. Show photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Interestingly, Google Now understands a large number of much less obvious questions in English. As an example we can give:
Should I wear a jacket today?
How much tip for 420 rubles?
Where is my parcel?

This, of course, is not all that could be talked about, but it will not be possible to lengthen the article, and many of the other possibilities are already known. Don't forget about these tricks, and your smartphone will become
a little more convenient.

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We have already talked about the pros and cons of receiving. If you have disregarded all the dangers and still decided the question “root or not root” in favor of the first option, tablet owners do not have a logical question: what to do with the presence of several users in the system? This opportunity has become both a privilege and a problem for owners of gadgets with the latest one today Android version. How will it affect root on Android 4.2?

A good option for obtaining root rights would be, for example, Framaroot - obtaining root rights in one click. If you are worried about whether a child (husband/wife, brother/sister, etc.) will delete innocent games instead system files with your root rights, don't worry: Google did a good job of separating accounts. Everything you do in your “master” part of the system remains only here. All applications, settings, data and even Root on Android 4.2 with multi-user mode only concern you. Other users will not receive any new features.

It's another matter if you just need to provide root rights for the second user. With this possibility, things are more complicated. On the one hand, this is understandable - there will be few cases when the owner of the device wants to take such risks. On the other hand, the heroes of these rare cases still feel left out.

The developer is going to offer an attempt to solve this problem SuperSu applications. This application is installed on Android with root rights and allows you to conveniently manage these features. You can allow or deny applications access to such rights, temporarily remove root and make a bunch of useful settings.

Unfortunately, in order to speed up the release of the application, the author postponed the multi-user function for the simple reason that the prevalence of Android 4.2 is still very low, and support for multiple users is only possible on tablets, which further narrows the circle of those who need such a function. However, he did not abandon this idea, and those who follow the updates will probably one day notice such an opportunity in the list of changes.

Anyway, SuperSu may well be useful to you - even without the ability to work with multi-user, so we are posting its latest version for download - SuperSu 1.04. Application e (pro version can be found on Google Play).