Category: How To

A few weeks ago, Google released an update to the Google Search apps for Android.  The updates brought the ability to rotate your Android phone into landscape mode for viewing of your home screen.  Users, of course, have been able to use various apps in landscape mode with no problem but if you turned your device into landscape in an app then tapped the Home key to go back home, you went to a portrait mode.  That has changed now with the update to these apps but by default, it is disabled.  I’ll show you how to enable it in this How To so you can try it out and see if it is right for you.

Whether you are using Chrome the browser or Chrome OS, there is a wealth of helpful information that can be found using chrome:// commands. Much like a http:// address, the chrome:// doesn’t go out to the web but searching your PC, Mac or Chrome OS computer to find information about about Chrome itself, system information, extensions and other useful info. While Chrome settings are reasonably easy to navigate, using the chrome:// commands makes it faster and you can bookmark them for easy access later.

In Chrome or on your Chrome OS device, navigate to chrome://about and you will see a laundry list of commands that you can use.  Some of these are going to be device specific meaning that some will give you information about your Chromebook or PC that is running on it.  Other commands will let you quickly and easily navigate to different settings within Chrome to check or modify.

After the break I am going to outline some of the most useful of these commands but I would encourage you to use the //about page to investigate all of them for yourself.  You can’t break anything by checking each of them so have at it.

Chrome OS, by many, is viewed as a simple, web-only platform that the masses can use without having to know about the underpinnings of how things work.  To a large extent that is a correct and fair assumption.  However, to assume there are not more advanced controls or the ability to do deep level troubleshooting and testing in Chrome OS would be an incorrect assumption.  Like OS X for Mac and Windows for PC, Chrome OS also has a shell app that allows you to get deep into the platform and run tests, gather information and logs and even revert to a previous build of the OS.  It is called the Chrome OS Developer Shell and it is built into every device running the platform.

For the vast majority of users – I mean like 98% of users – the Developer Shell will never be needed.  The platform as users know is remarkably stable and the releases that Google makes each month to the platform are equally as stable.  But there are Chrome OS users who want the ability to tinker or there may be the need to do a bit of troubleshooting on your Chromebook.  That is where the developer shell comes in handy.

In this How To I’ll show you the key command that you need to use to gain access to the shell and will point out some of the basics.  This is not a full blown tutorial on using it but rather an overview so you can check it out for yourself.

One of the things that I love about Android Marshmallow is Doze, the battery saving feature of the OS that I believe is one of the killer features of the release.  But for some users, Doze and App Sleep have proven to be a little bit to sleepy, especially when it comes to Gmail.  Multiple users have reported in various forums, websites and communities that they are having notifications for Gmail not happen if their device is in Doze.  The reason behind this is pretty straight forward.  Google has enabled battery optimization for Gmail so when your phone is in Doze it does not listen for email and thus, you don’t get notified.

There is a way however for you to prevent this from happening which is to turn off the optimization for the app on your Android Marshmallow powered device.  In fact, the How To I’m going to outline can be applied to any app that you have installed on your phone or tablet, not just Gmail.  But, and you probably figured this out already, by disabling battery optimization, you lose some of the battery saving benefits of Doze on your device.  Essentially this How To is going to show you how to bypass Doze so proceed with caution.  If you override to many apps, you will still see a lot of battery drain while your device is sitting idle, unplugged on your desk.

From time-to-time as with your PC, Mac or any other mobile platform, you will have an app that misbehaves.  It doesn’t load or it crashes or, worst case, it loads and runs but consumes a huge amount of memory on your device.  This is often referred to as a memory leak and it can cause other apps to misbehave and for your device to run sluggishly.  In Android Marshmallow there is a way to see not only the amount of memory you have available on your device but also the ability to see individual apps and the amount of memory they are consuming.  If you have an app that is consuming all your available memory, you can even force it to stop so you can regain the memory.

The world that is Google is expansive.  With dozens of services and solutions, getting your hands (and head) around all that they have to offer and use those services and solutions can be daunting.  Even the most powerful of power users can get lost in the maze so the company has launched Google Tips.  Google Tips is a website that has over 150 tips, tricks and how to’s to make your experience and use of their services and solutions easier.  The tips range from doing like using an app to order groceries to finding your Android phone if you left it somewhere.  There are tips that cover using Google Sheets, privacy settings and how to text hands free.  It’s a pretty impressive start and something that I applaud Google for developing as more people turn to their services and solutions every day.