Android phones, apps and tablets

Just store the backups on Dropbox or your hard drive or something then never look at them again from there instead of your phone.

Having recently moved from iOS to android, I'm still pretty clueless and haven't had the time to investigate ways to take advantage of the platform. Can anyone point me in the direction of apps/widgets and general web links that'll give me some insight because at the moment my home screen pretty much looks like my iPhone did but with the google bar at the top.

What do you want to do is the question I guess, what works for me may not work for you, etc

I guess I'm being a bit lazy, but to tell you the truth I don't really know what I want to do, as you can't really customise an iPhone I've never really thought about in any great detail. I just want to hear about interesting things you can do I suppose.

Just ordered one for mrs_com. Should arrive on Sat

So should I get one? Someone tell me what to do!

Well I've been confident enough to spend £100 on one but won't really know until sat

I have yahoo weather and a calendar on my main screen, then on the next screen right I have a widget with most used contacts which has contact pictures and shortcuts to email/sms/hangouts/maps depending on what contact info you have. On the left I have more weather stuff to check rain for commuting, basically, and a task list

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.weather&hl=en_GB
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=am.sunrise.android.calendar
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sonyericsson.zwooshi
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.veierland.aix

Gotcha

Well I have 5 homescreens

Main screen has a Flipboard (news aggregation app) widget that shows teaser pages for articles, set to refresh once an hour, it also has controls to manually refersh as well as to scroll through stories 1 by 1

Left 1 has my most used apps, guitar tuner, tfl planner, banking and google maps

Left 2 has a Gmail widget for quickly checking emails (any email address can be added not just gmail)

Right 1 has a bbc weather widget with the days forecast and then a 5 day underneath

Right 2 has a whole page google Keep widget for note taking, list making, taking photos that I need quick access to that also syncs with my desktop version of keep

Underneath all of this I have the WP clock live wallpaper that displays time/date/battery status so I can see them at all times

Currently trialling Lastpass as a password manager, am liking it so far

Oh yeah, am very impressed with the moto x play battery, left the house at 10am, used the phone relatively intensely, browsed flipboard, browsed the web, read a few comics whilst listening to music. Then used Navigation for a 3 hour round trip to Crowborough, just got back at 1.30am and I'm on 38%. Usually I wouldn't dare to use Navigation without a charger plugged in.

I can't seem to find anywhere online on how to add widgets on Marshmallow, can someone help?

Long push on the home screen? Then icon down bottom.

Cheers, I'd forgotten long push on home screen was a thing!

Ah yes, I like the idea of multiple home screens configured for different needs. How does performance change when you have 5 (or more) home screens with lots of widgets, I've got a oneplus 2 which has pretty high specs processor and ram wise but I don't really know how these specs translate in to real world use.

One app I find very useful is Tasker. It's a little complicated but lets you set up a whole variety of automated tasks. For example I have:

Turn off wifi when I leave my flat
Turn on silent when I get to work
Launch music app when I connect BT headphones
Flash the Hue lights in my flat when I receive a message/call
Voice control for my lights
Download a new wallpaper each day
Turn off bluetooth after a certain amount of time
Turn off my screen lock when I'm in my flat

Since I've had Androids I have never, ever noticed any difference in performance whether I've had 1 homescreen or 7, lot's of widgets or none. I have always gone for the upper end of the spectrum re specs when purchasing phones though so I guess results may be different on budget handsets, which a 1+2 most definitely isn't so I'd imagine you can go as crazy as you want

One app I find very useful is Tasker. It's a little complicated but lets you set up a whole variety of automated tasks. For example I have:

Turn off wifi when I leave my flat
Turn on silent when I get to work
Launch music app when I connect BT headphones
Flash the Hue lights in my flat when I receive a message/call
Voice control for my lights
Download a new wallpaper each day
Turn off bluetooth after a certain amount of time
Turn off my screen lock when I'm in my flat

All of this can be done with Marshmallow if profiles are supported.

I think the location and some of the bluetooth ones can generally be done easier. The integration with things like the Hue lights or downloading a different wallpaper each day (I have the astronomy pic of the day as my wallpaper http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html) can only be done via Tasker though.

Word.

Does anyone have the 3rd gen Moto G? I have a 2nd gen one, but can't use the dual-sim option, since my two SIM cards both run 3G. Used to work with a 2G supported SIM in one slot, but I changed provider, without realising this would be a problem. Will the 4G support of the 3rd gen solve this?

Anyone looking to sell an older Android phone? I'm looking to collect in London ASAP. Condition not super important but must have original screen & digitiser and no cracks. Must be unlocked or on Three. Would like to spend around £75. Please PM me and I'll respond promptly, thanks.

Anyone know why they got rid of the Power button options? Used to be able to go into Airplane mode after a power button push, now you can't do that and have to use the notification settings area.

I thought the power button options were only on custom ROMs.

On a similar note, any idea how to get the power control widget back.
Motorola seem to have removed it for some reason.

I'm enjoying the battery life on this Moto Play X. Getting to the end of the day with 40-50% left makes a pleasant change.

Nope. Stock 4.x used to have Aeroplane mode from the Power button. I upgraded through 5 and to 6 quickly so I don't know when they removed it from stock but it's annoying. I still find their stupid autocorrect not showing the word I've typed above the keyboard annoying. Don't they understand how much faster that was?! You just had to look in one place to see everything you type rather than moving your eyes to whichever field the text is going in. Shit move Google, shit move.

Might be called something else. Moto might have their own tweaked widget?