Some things you can do on a smartphone, like making a phone call, adding a contact or sending a text message, are pretty straightforward. But there is so much more that you can do with your smartphone. In reality, it is actually more of a computer in your hand, which you and your mum can use to help out with many of the week’s activities, for work and fun. Here are a few of them.
Monday: App basics
Have your mum tried doing some of the things she already does with her personal computer or she has not even tried yet. It only takes a little encouragement to get her exploring.
- Creating an email account and emailing: she can try using the Gmail app on her phone or log into another email account through her phone’s browser. It is a great way to stay in touch with her family and friends around the world.
- YouTube: Your mum can watch a video of her favorite high-life or gospel musician by simply clicking on and opening the YouTube app.
- Searching the web: next time your mum cannot remember the name of the lead actor in a movie or the capital of Botswana, she should search right on her phone. Even better, she can use the Google Voice Search to speak (instead of type) what she wants to know.
- For a busy mum, the calendar app is perfect. With the calendar app she can get reminders for school runs, shopping and other important meetings.
Tuesday: Personalise her phone, just for her.
Android devices have multiple ‘home screens’ that your mum can personalise with the apps she uses most, different backgrounds, and widgets (small ‘windows’ that can show things like the current temperature or a friend’s status update right on screen without opening an app).
Show her how to set up her smartphone just for herself:
- Put the applications that she uses most on one of her home screens. When she is looking at the full list of apps, she can press and hold the one she wants to add, then drag it to where she wants it. She can press and hold it again and drag it to the trash at the bottom to remove it.
- Change her phone’s background – long press an empty space on a home screen, and select ‘Wallpapers.’ She can choose a wall-paper that is pre-installed on your phone, or a photo she’s taken.
- Add a widget: if she long presses an open space on a home screen and selects ‘Widgets’, she can choose a widget from an app that’s installed on her phone. Mum can create a widget with her favorite people, so she has easy access to all the important people. Also, try the Power Control widget (to turn on and off your WiFi, Bluetooth, and other functions really easily) or News widget.
Wednesday: Much more than a phone
Now for the more advanced stuff. Your mum’s smartphone comes with lots of extra goodies that her computer doesn’t have: like a microphone, a camera, a video camera, a magnetometer, an accelerometer…and because it’s connected to the internet, she can share everything she creates with her family and friends.
Today, help her turn her phone into:
- A camera: take pictures, and then share them with all her friends
- Radio: If she has an Android phone, she can tune in to local radio stations and take them with her with an app like TuneIn Radio.
- Video camera: Many smartphones come with video cameras. She can upload video directly to YouTube right from her phone or broadcast live, using Ustream, which turns a phone into the mobile equivalent of a news van.
- A metal detector: If she has an Android phone, she can download Metal Detector, an application which uses your smartphone’s sensors to let you find metal buried underground. Just in case your mum likes to look for treasure along the beach.
- If she likes watching Nigerian and Ghanaian movies, she can get Afrinolly applications to keep an update of all her favourite stars.
Thursday: Learn about what’s near
Now your mum can venture out into the real world – using only her phone to guide her!
- Google will let her search her surroundings for businesses, attractions, restaurants, banks…anything she wants.
- Google maps can tell her how to get there, by car or on foot.
- She can also use Google Latitude to check where her children are on Thursday.
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