These are instructions specifically for using Android devices to play GraphoLearn, based on the training done in the GraphoLearn diploma seminar in Lusaka on October 2012.

You can find more general Android instructions by Google for different Android versions at
http://support.google.com/android/?hl=en.

For instruction on how to use GraphoLearn on Android, see GraphoLearn Android Instructions.

Android devices

There are lots of different Android devices on the market, ranging from from small screen phones to 10 inch tablets. These instructions are mostly general to Android devices, though there are variations depending on the version of Android used on the device and possible customizations done by the manufacturer.

Where applicable, instructions are made specifically for Samsung Galaxy Mini phones, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablets and the A13-MID tablets, since all of these are used with the GraphoLearn research projects. When referring to PC computers, the instructions assume a Windows operating system.

Accessories

Included with any Android device should be a charger for the device.

Phones usually use a regular Micro USB cable as both the charger cable and the connection cable. Sometimes the USB cable can be detached from the charger to use it as a regular USB cable. The devices can also be charged from a USB port on a computer.

Tablets often have different kinds of cables. The Samsung tablets use a wide, flat 30-pin USB cable and the A13-MID tablets have a separate power cord.

Samsung Galaxy Mini

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

A13-MID tablet

Android basics

This chapter deals with the basic usage of Android devices and the various buttons, gestures and apps you need to use with the device.

Screen

The most prominent feature and the main interaction method with the device is the touch screen. The screen is usually protected during storage with a plastic film, that should be removed. The screens are quite resistant to scratches when using them, but you should not store them for example in a pocket with keys.

The screen can be cleaned using a dry or slightly damp cloth, preferably a microfiber cloth like one would use to clean a laptop’s screen or eyeglasses. Avoid dirty or rough cloths and do not use detergents.

Physical buttons

On every device there’s at least two physical buttons, the power button and the volume button.

Physical buttons of Samsung Galaxy Mini smartphone

Physical buttons of Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0″ Tablet

Physical buttons of the A13-MID tablet

Power button

The power button is used to turn the device on/off and to turn the screen on/off.

To start the device, hold down the power button until the screen turns on.

When the device is on, a long press of the power button brings up the close menu, from which you can choose to shut the device down.

Shutdown menu on A13-MID tablet

On the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablets there are also additional options to turn on airplane mode, restart the device or mute/unmute the device through the shutdown menu.

Shutdown menu on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

When the device and screen is on, a short press of the power button turns off the screen.

When the device is on and the screen is off, a short press of the power button turns on the screen and brings up the lock screen.

In the lock screen you usually have to do a swipe gesture to unlock the device.

Lock screen on A13-MID

Lock screen opened on A13-MID

Lock screen on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Lock screen opened on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Touch gestures

The touch screen is the primary interaction method with devices and there are several types of gestures that can be used.

You can watch clarifying videos about the various touch gestures in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch#Multi-touch_gestures

Here’s a short list of the possible gestures, that may be referred to in this document.

• Tap / Touch / Press
  • A short touch and release to the screen with your finger.
• Drag
  • Touch an object on the screen and move your finger while touching the screen, then release.
• Scroll
  • Touch anywhere on the view and drag you finger vertically or horizontally, depending on which way you want to scroll
• Flick / Swipe
  • Touch anywhere on the view and quickly swipe your finger horizontally and release
• Long press
  • Touch an object on the screen and hold your finger down until something happens
• Pinch
  • Hold two fingers apart and touch the screen with them, then move them next to each other
• Spread
  • Hold two fingers together and touch the screen with them, then move them away from each other

NOTE: You should always use the skin of your fingertip to touch the screen, fingernails do not work with capacitative touch screen.

Menu buttons

The home button may be a software button on the bottom of the screen or a physical button, usually located at the bottom center of the device. Pressing the home button takes you back to the home screen. Long pressing the home button brings up the task manager, where you see a list of active applications and can switch between them or close them.

The back button may be a software button on the bottom of the screen or a physical button on the device. Pressing it is used to return to previous screen or exit applications.

The menu button may be a software button on the bottom of the screen or a physical button on the device. Pressing the menu button brings up an application specific settings menu. The menu button may not be visible if there are no available menu options for the current app.

The active apps button can be used to switch between currently running apps. On devices with physical menu button it is accessed by long pressing the menu button.

Software buttons on A13-MID

Software buttons on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Home screen

The home screen is the default view on Android devices. You can create shortcuts to the home screen to easily start your favourite apps. You can also add widgets to the home screen, for example weather or calendar widgets. You can swipe left or right to switch between several home screens, each with their own shortcuts.

On phones you have shortcuts to the caller app, contacts, messages and the app drawer on the bottom of the home screen.

Empty home screen on Samsung Galaxy Mini phone

Empty home screen on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablet

Empty home screen on A13-MID tablet

App Drawer

The app drawer icon takes you to the list of available applications. The icon is located on the top right corner on tablets and the on the bottom on phones. You can swipe left or right to change pages in the app drawer. Tapping an app’s icon starts the app.

On Android 4.0 and newer you also change to the Widgets tab to see the list of available widgets that you can add to the home screen.

App drawer icon on Samsung Galaxy Mini phone

App drawer icon on A13-MID tablet

App drawer on Samsung Galaxy Mini phone

App drawer on A13-MID tablet

Creating shortcuts

To create a shortcut for an application, locate the app in the App Drawer, then hold your finger down on the app icon. After a moment, you will see the home screen, where you can drag the icon to a free position to create the shortcut. Drag the icon on either side of the screen to switch to the next or previous home screen.

Shortcut being created on A13-MID tablet

Notifications

The notification area is located on the bottom right corner on tablets and on the top left corner on phones. In this area, you may see various notification regarding the device status, for example the USB connection icon or unread email. Touching the notification area on tablets opens the notification menu, from where you can clear notifications or tap them to interact with the app that gave the notification. On phones the notification menu is opened by dragging down the top of the screen.

Notification area on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Opened notification menu on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablet

Notification area on Samsung Galaxy Mini phone

Opened notification menu on Samsung Galaxy Mini phone

Settings

Settings app on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Settings app icon on A13-mid

Internet connection

Depending on the device, there may be several different methods for internet connection.

WiFi

WiFi connection is supported by all Android devices. You can toggle WiFi connection on/off from the notification menu or from the Wireless & Networks menu in settings. In the Wireless & Settings menu you can access the WiFi sub-menu to see a list of available WiFi networks. Connect to a wireless network by touching it.

A13-MID WiFi menu

Mobile internet

Using a mobile internet connection requires SIM card support from the device and a SIM card with a data plan from the operator. You can enable or disable mobile data usage from the notification menu or the Wireless & Networks menu in settings.

WiFi tethering

If you have a device with WiFi and a mobile data connection, it is often possible to share the mobile connection through WiFi, effectively changing the device into a mobile WiFi hotspot. This may help in situations, where you need internet access on a tablet that only has WiFi support but there’s no WiFi hotspot available. Look for settings called WiFi tethering or WiFi hotspot to enable this.

Copying files between devices

There are various ways to copy files either between an Android device and a PC or between Android devices. This chapter deals with the most common methods.

Connecting to PC with USB cable

Perhaps the easiest way to connect an Android device with a PC computer is via a USB cable. If the device is not automatically detected by the PC, you may need to download drivers from Windows Update or from the device manufacturer’s site.

With Samsung devices you will need at least Windows XP SP2 and possibly an internet connection so that the PC can fetch drivers from Windows Update. If the PC fails to recognize the Samsung device, you may need to download and install the Samsung Kies software from the Samsung web site at http://www.samsung.com/kies/ .

Connecting Samsung Galaxy Mini to PC with USB

Connect the device to a PC with a USB cable and you should see a USB connected notification on the device.

USB notification on Samsung Galaxy Mini

Notification menu with the USB connected notification on Samsung Galaxy Mini

USB connection screen on Samsung Galaxy Mini

AutoPlay prompt for Samsung Galaxy Mini

Samsung Galaxy Mini as an external storage on a Windows PC

Select Turn off USB storage from the device to end the connection securely, if you copied files to the device.

USB storage screen after connecting the Galaxy Mini

Connecting Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 to PC with USB

To connect a Samsung tablet with a PC, first make sure that the USB connection mode set to MTP in Settings -> Storage.

USB connection mode on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Connect the device to a PC with a USB cable and you should see a USB connected notification on the device. Touching the notification opens the notification menu, where you should see a Connected as a media device notification.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 connected as a media device

The device should appear as GT-P3110 under Portable Devices in My Computer and you may also get an AutoPlay prompt to browse the device. You can now copy files between the tablet and the PC.

AutoPlay prompt for Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 as an external storage on a Windows PC

Connecting A13-MID to PC with USB

There are no specific drivers to install for the A13-MID tablet. If the Windows version is not too old, the tablet should be recognized automatically in the USB storage mode.

Connect the device to a PC with a USB cable and you should see a USB connected notification on the device.

USB notification on A13-MID

Open the notification menu by tapping the notification area. You should see USB connected notification in the list, with a description saying Select to copy files to/from your computer. If you do not see the option and there is a notification saying Connected as media device or Connected as camera and a description saying Touch for other options, select the notification to open a menu, where you can change to connection type to USB large storage, then detach and reconnect the USB cable.

Notification menu with Connect USB option on A13-MID

The USB connection type menu on A13-MID

USB storage screen on A13-MID

The device is now mounted as a USB storage and you should see it under My Computer as a removable storage called A13-MID. You may also get an AutoPlay prompt to browse the device. You can now copy files between the tablet and the PC.

AutoPlay prompt on Windows PC

A13-MID as an external storage on a Windows PC

USB storage screen after connecting the A13-MID

In case of problems, please see the USB troubleshooting section.

USB troubleshooting

In case the device isn’t recognized by the PC, some of the following tips may help.

• Make sure the USB debugging option is off in Settings -> Developer options
• Try restarting both the device and the PC, then reconnect.
• Try a different USB port
• Try a different USB cable
• If nothing helps, try some other method to transfer files

File Browser on device

To access files on an Android device, you need to use a file browser app. Depending on the device, there may be a pre-installed app available. Samsung devices have an app called My Files, while the A13-MID tablets have an app called File Manager. It is also possible to install a file browser app from the Play Market, such as the free ES File Explorer.

File browser app on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

File Manager app on A13-MID

Device memory, USB stick and file operations tabs on the A13-MID File Manager app

External microSD card

Most Android devices support microSD memory cards. You can also use SD cards with a PC with a a card reader. To use a memory card with an Android device, insert the card in the slot on the device and the device should automatically recognize it. Be sure to go to Settings -> Storage and unmount the card before removing it if you copied file to the memory card, or you might risk losing or corrupting files.

External USB memory

Most new Android devices support USB On The Go (OTG), where you can connect a USB device straight to the Android device with a special USB OTG adapter. This allows you to use a USB memory stick to copy files to and from the device, just like with a microSD memory card.

Bluetooth

If the device has Bluetooth capability, it is also possible to pair the device with another device (PC, phone, tablet etc.) using Bluetooth. Instructions can be found at http://support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1650159.

Once a Bluetooth connection is established, you can send files by navigating to the with a file browser, long pressing on the file and selecting Send -> Bluetooth. Received files will be found in a folder called /bluetooth/.

WiFi

If you have WiFi access on the device and the PC has an internet connection, you can also transfer files by internet using for example Dropbox. When connected through a WiFi, you can also access shared folders on local networks using a file browser that supports it, for example ES File Explorer.

Installing third party apps

NOTE: You need go to the settings and turn on Unknown sources before trying to install GraphoLearn or any other app outside the Play Market. This enables installation of software from outside the Play Market and is necessary to install GraphoLearn. You can find the setting in Settings -> Security -> Unknown Sources.

Unknown sources setting on A13-MID

First you need to copy the application package file (APK) to the device. You can either download it directly to the device using the internet browser or copy it from a PC or another device using any method.

Once you have the APK on the device, you need to locate it with a file browser. Touch the APK file to start the installation. If there is already a previous version off the application, you get a prompt asking you if you want to overwrite it. Choose OK and then again OK in the next prompt to accept the program’s permissions and install the app.

APK file located with My Files on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Replace previous version confirmation on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

App installation confirmation on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Google account and Play Store

To get the most out of an Android device, it should be used with a Google account. This allows access to the Play Store, where you can get free and paid apps for your device. Note that GraphoLearn is not currently distributed through the Play Store and a Google account is not necessary to play GraphoLearn.

If you already have a Google account, you can use it with any Android device. To add an account, go to Settings -> Accounts & sync and choose Add account in the top right corner and choose the type of account from the list. With a Google account you can then choose to create a new account or use an existing one.

NOTE: If the device is not restricted to personal use, you should not use your personal Google account, since that gives anyone using the tablet access to your Gmail account. If the device is shared and for example used by kids in a school, you can opt not to use a Google account on the device at all or create a new account that does not contain any personal data.

Once you have a Google account connected with the device, you can use the Play Store. There are lots of free apps that you can download and use for free. There are also paid apps that you need to purchase before using. For purchasing apps you need a credit card and a Google Wallet account.