Read on for four more things that’ll fit in the Android or iOS app dock, starting with…

1. App folders [iOS and Android]

Creating an app folder on your iOS or Android home screen is easy: just tap and hold one icon and drag it on top of another.

Nice, but here’s an even better trick: you can, if you wish, put folders in the app dock.

Wish you could add your favorite website to the app dock? No problem.

The folder should slide smoothly into place, perfect for accessing your favorite collection of apps from any of your swipable home screen.

2. Web site shortcuts [iOS and Android]

Both iOS and Android devices let you save shortcuts to oft-visited web sites to your home screen. For iPhone and iPad, you just open a web site, tap the Action button (the square one with the upward arrow), then tap Add to Home Screen. For Android, open a site in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu button, then tap “Add to Home screen.”

When you do, the shortcut will look just like a regular home-screen icon—and it’ll even act like one, too.

Want proof? Go ahead and drag that web site shortcut into the app dock. It should settle in quite nicely.

Adding a favorite contact to the app dock is easy—if you have an Android phone, that is.

3. Contact shortcuts [Android only]

Bad news, iPhone and iPad users: iOS still won’t let you create home-screen shortcuts for your contacts. One day, perhaps, Apple will see the light of day when it comes to this particular missing feature. Until then, this particular tip is just for lucky Android users.

Anyway, got a shortcut for a favorite contact sitting on your Android home screen?

You guessed it: drag it into the app dock for one-tap calling and texting to your bestie, no matter which of your various home screens you’re viewing.

You can add home screen widgets (like this “Directions” one for Google Maps) to your Android phone’s app dock.

4. Widgets [Android only]

In addition to contact shortcuts, Android users can also add app widgets—such as the “new document” widget for Google Docs, or “directions” for Google Maps—to their home screens, and if the widgets are small enough, they can be tucked into the app dock.

To add a widget to the app dock, tap and hold an empty spot on the home screen until the Widgets button appears. Tap the button, then find a small (“1 x 1”) widget and drag it directly into the dock.

Have more clever uses for your iOS or Android app dock? Post ’em below!

Note: This updated and expanded tip was first published in August 2014.

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Luckily, there’s a much easier way to sign in to your Google account than plugging in your password each time, and all you’ll need is your phone.

Once you’ve got it set up, Google’s “phone sign-in” feature lets you log into your Google account using a simple phone prompt.

You can set up Google’s phone sign-in feature on your iPhone, so long as you have the Google app for iOS installed.

Typically, you’ll only need to unlock your iOS or Android phone to sign in, or perhaps match a couple of on-screen numbers.

Only when you’re doing something sensitive with your account, such as changing your password or security settings, will you need to type in your full Google password.

Setting up phone sign-in for Google is easy—and yes, you can do it on your phone.

First, you’ll need to access your Google sign-in settings. For iOS, you’ll need the free Google app; just launch the app, tap your profile picture in the top-left corner of the screen, tap My Account, then tap Sign-in & Security.

Got Android? If so, tap Settings, then Google, and then Sign-in & Security.

Next, tap Use your phone to sign in. At this point, you’ll need to type in your full Google password; once that’s done, you’ll need to specify which of your Google-connected devices you’d like to use for Google phone sign-in. The handset you’re using will be automatically selected by default.

Google may occasionally ask you to match some on-screen numbers as an extra layer of sign-in security.

Note: Your iOS or Android device must be protected by a screen lock (or Touch ID, in the case of iOS) before turning on Google’s phone sign-in feature. And if you’re not already using a screen lock, it’s high time you got started).

Once that’s done, Google will step you through the process of signing yourself in with your phone. Follow the prompts, and after a few swipes and taps, you’ll be signed into your account. Finally, tap the blue Turn On button to confirm.

Now, the next time you’re prompted to sign into Google—be it from a mobile app, the web, or anywhere else—you’ll get a “Trying to sign in?” notification on your phone. Follow the simple prompts, and you’ll be logged in, no password needed.

Bonus tips

• If you need to sign in to your Google account but don’t have access to your phone, you can always click the “Try another way to sign in” link to sign in with your password.
• You can use more than one phone to sign in to your Google account. Just go back to your Google phone sign-in preferences and click the “Add a Phone” link.

Click here for more Google tips!

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All that’s changed thanks to Netflix’s offline playback feature. This lets you download Netflix videos and TV shows to your iPhone, iPad or Android handset, perfect for watching on your phone without an Internet connection.

Just tap the title of a downloaded Netflix video to start watching, or tap Edit to delete a video from your device’s storage.

The new “Download & Go” feature comes in the latest version of the Netflix app, so make sure to install the update before trying to download any shows.

Once you fire up the updated Netflix app, you’ll be greeted by a “Download & Go” splash screen. Tap “Find something to download” to see a list of Netflix videos available for download.

When you find a TV show or movie you want to save for offline viewing, just tap the Download button (the one that looks like a downward arrow) on its title page or next to the episode title. Keep in mind that not all Netflix titles are available for download yet, so make sure to browse the “Available for Download” category if you’re looking for videos to watch offline.

To find all the Netflix videos you’ve downloaded, tap the main menu button in the top-left corner of the Netflix interface (you may have to tap the “Back” button a few times to get there), then tap My Downloads. Go ahead and tap a title to start watching, or tap the Edit button to delete a video from your device.

Selecting the “Higher” setting for Netflix downloads will make your offline shows look a bit sharper, but they’ll also consume more storage.

So, how much storage do Netflix videos gobble up? That depends on the length of the title and the video quality—and as usual, the sharper the picture, the more storage space you’ll need.

Using the “Standard” setting for video quality (which you can adjust by tapping the main menu button, followed by App Settings and then Video Quality), a 21-minute episode of “The Office” used a reasonable 88 megabytes of storage on my iPhone, with the same episode swelling to about 114 MB when I switched to “Higher” quality.

The storage difference between “Standard” and “Higher” video quality was more dramatic with the 107-minute movie “Adventureland,” which took up 487 MB at the Standard setting and a whopping 1.8 GB at the Higher setting.

And here’s an odd thing: you can’t assume a shorter video will automatically take up less storage space than a longer one. For example, the two-hour movie “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” used about 192 MB of storage at “Standard” quality, while the 95-minute “Burn After Reading” gobbled up 392 MB at the same video-quality setting. Go figure.

Bonus tip

To delete all your downloaded Netflix videos at one, tap the main menu button, tap App Settings, then tap the Trash button next to “Delete All Downloads.”

Click here for more Netflix tips!

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Well, turns out there’s an easy (and gratifying) way to permanently delete a specific word from Android’s list of word suggestions.

Just drag and drop the suggested word you want to delete into the “Remove suggestion” trash can.

Just tap, hold, and drag the word out of the suggestions bar. When you do, you’ll see a trash can marked “Remove Suggestion” appear.

Drag and drop the word into the trash can, and whoosh—the word will disappear, never to be seen in the suggestions bar again.

Note: I tested this tip on a 2013 Nexus 7 tablet running Android version 6.0.1, using the “stock” Android Keyboard app.

Bonus tip

You can turn off word suggestions completely by tapping Settings, Language & input, Google Keyboard, Text correction, and then toggling off the “Show suggestions” setting.

Click here for more Android tips!

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Typically, you’d be in for a mad scramble to the Android camera—a tap on the Home or Back button, a swipe or two to get to the right home screen, and finally a tap on the Android camera app itself. By the time you get to the viewfinder, that gorgeous butterfly you wanted to snap for Instagram will probably have fluttered away.

If the Android camera shortcut isn’t working, make sure the “Press power button twice for camera” setting is enabled.

If you’re using an Android phone or tablet with the latest “Marshmallow” update, though, you can jump to the Android camera in a flash, even if you’re deep inside another Android app.

Instead of tapping the Home button and swiping your way to the camera, try this: just double-tap the power button.

When you do, you’ll instantly arrive at the Android camera viewfinder, ready to start snapping.

No luck double-tapping the power button to get to the camera? Here are a couple things to try:

• First, make sure your Android device has the “Marshmallow” update. Tap Settings, About, then check the version number; Marshmallow is version 6 or higher. If you device is running on an earlier version of Android, do a Google search on your model to see if an update is available.
• Next, tap Settings, Display, then make sure the “Press power button twice for camera” setting is enabled.

Click here for more Android tips!

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You can also dial up—or down—how much bandwidth you use when you stream Netflix over your phone’s cellular connection, change the font and color of subtitles, and even get creative with your searches.

Take control of your List

Remember the old Netflix Queue? It’s still around, although you may have to dig around for you queue—or rather, “Your List,” as it’s now called—on your Netflix home screen depending on how often you use it.

Once you change the Order in My List setting, Netflix will stop messing with the order of your List titles.

Once you find your list in your Netflix account, you may notice that it’s not quite in the state you left it—that is, Netflix may have shuffled the titles on your list according to its secret recommendation sauce.

If you want your list to appear in the order you left it, try this:

• From your desktop browser, hover your mouse over your username in the top-right corner of the screen, click Your Account, then click Order in My List (in the My Profile section).
• Click the Manual Ordering option, then click the blue Save button.

To reorder your list, you’ll have to visit Netflix in a desktop browser. Once you do, click the My List heading, then drag and drop videos to reorder them.

Change your video quality

It’s pretty amazing that you can watch HD Netflix videos over your Android or iOS device—and it’s also incredibly easy to blow through your monthly cellular data allowance in the process.

You can change Netflix’s cellular bandwidth setting directly from your iOS or Android device.

That’s why on-the-go Netflix watchers would be well advised to adjust a setting that’ll let you limit how much cellular bandwidth you use while streaming videos.

First, open the Netflix app on your iOS or Android handset, tap the three-line “hamburger” button in the top corner of the screen, then tap App Settings. On Android devices, tap Cellular Data Usage; for iOS devices, the Cellular Data Usage setting is the one and only options.

The default setting for Cellular Data Usage is Automatic, which means Netflix will determine the right amount of cellular data based on the quality of your cellular signal, the location of your device, and various other arcane factors. To take control yourself, uncheck the Automatic setting and pick an option.

If you don’t mind a picture that’s a little softer than DVD quality, go ahead and pick the Low setting, which will consume about 1GB of data every four hours—relatively conservative as far as video streaming goes.

If you simply must have a razor-sharp image for your Netflix account, you can merge into the fast lane with the High setting, which burns through a gig of data every hour. And if you’re one of those lucky souls who still has an unlimited data plan, you can go full throttle with the aptly named Unlimited setting.

Change the way subtitles look

Having a hard time reading the default yellow subtitles on certain Netflix videos, or just want to jazz up the way subtitles look? There’s a Netflix setting that’ll let you change the color, font, size, and even styling of subtitles.

Want the subtitles in your Netflix videos to be purple? No problem.

On a desktop browser, go to the Netflix home page, hover your mouse over your username, click Your Account, then click Subtitle Appearance in the My Profile section.

Now, go ahead and tweak. There are seven fonts and eight colors to choose from, and you can also boost or shrink the font size as well as pick a “shadow” setting for the subtitles. When you’re done, click the blue Save button.

A couple of caveats about the Subtitle Appearance setting: in my most recent tests, custom subtitle settings only seemed to work in desktop browsers and on the Android version of the Netflix app.

Also, some Netflix videos have “burned in” subtitles that can’t be changed.

Get creative with your Netflix searches

Not all that long ago, Netflix’s search feature would only let you search for movie and TV show titles. If you typed in, say, “Clint Eastwood,” you might get a couple of Biography channel shows on the “Dirty Harry” star, but no hits like “Unforgiven” or “Mystic River.”

You can now search Netflix for actor names and even genres.

The good news is that Netflix’s search box has gotten a lot more clever in recent months. Search on “Clint Eastwood” now and you’ll see all the movies he’s acted in and directed. You can even search on a genre, like “Romantic Comedies” or “Zombie Horror Movies.”

Keep in mind, though, that the Netflix search engine still isn’t Google-smart. If you type in “Clint Eatwood” instead of “Clint Eastwood,” you’ll get a “Your search did not have any matches” error.

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Both Android and iOS devices will give you a privacy warning before installing a third-party keyboard like SwiftKey or Swype.

Hi Geraline! I completely understand your hesitation to install any Android or iOS app that warns that it can access everything you type, including email addresses, credit card numbers, and even passwords. But should you let that stop you from using third-party keyboards or “gesture typing” apps like Swype and SwiftKey?

The makers of Swype, SwiftKey, Flesky and other third-party keyboard apps swear that they’re only interested in scanning your typed words so they can better predict your next words. The better they know your typing habits, they say, the more precise their predictions will be.

Oftentimes, apps like Swype and SwiftKey will ask if they can send your “usage data” (encrypted and anonymized) to their servers and add your data to a giant pool of data from other users, all in the interest of boosting the accuracy of their predictions.

Even if you opt-out of such “share my usage data” options, your Android or iOS device will still dutifully warn you that you’re essentially letting a third-party app take a peek at everything you type.

If you’re paranoid about trusting a third-party keyboard with your personal data, you can always opt out of any “share my data usage” options.

So, should you be worried? The answer: it depends on who you trust.

Swype, Swifty and most reputable third-party keyboard makers promise that they’re not reading your texts nor otherwise watching your keystrokes.

This TechCrunch post does a nice job of summarizing the privacy policies of the biggest third-party keyboard developers, with most of them noting that their keyboards are specifically designed to ignore sensitive data like passwords and credit card numbers.

If you’re feeling paranoid, you can always scour the settings of any third-party keyboard you install and make sure to “opt-out” of “share my usage data” or cloud-connectivity options.

Just disable to “Allow Full Access” setting to keep a third-party keyboard for iOS from phoning home.

iOS users can also disable the “Allow Full Access” setting for any keyboard, which effectively blocks the keyboard’s ability to connect to the Internet. (Just tap Settings, General, Keyboards, tap a keyboard, then disable the Allow Full Access option.)

OK, but where does that leave us? Well, that’s up to you. Personally, I’ve decided to go ahead and trust that Skype, SwiftKey and the like will protect my usage data and look away when I type my passwords. But in the end, you’ll need to make your own decision. If you’re in doubt, don’t tap the “Install” button.

Hope that helps, Geraline. Still have questions? Let me know!

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If so, good news. Both iOS and Android devices will let you create your own, custom keyboard shortcuts for … well, just about anything.

Once you’ve tweaked the right settings, you can ask “you there?” in a text message by simply tapping, say, “yt”. You could also conjure your street address, your official title, or a phone number in just a few keystrokes.

Here’s how to do it…

Just type your new keyboard shortcut on your iPhone and the full phrase will appear just above the keypad.

On an iPhone (or iPad):

• Tap Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement, then tap the “+” button in the top-right corner of the screen.
• In the blank next to “Phrase,” type in (for example) “You there?” Then, in the Shortcut section, tap in the letters “u” and “t.”
• Tap the “Save” button. All done!

Let’s give our new shortcut a try. Go to Messages, compose a new message, and tap “ut.” Your new “You there?” shortcut should appear in the strip of auto-correct suggestions along the top of the keypad. Press the space bar or a punctuation mark to accept.

You can add custom keyboard shortcuts to your Android device’s Personal Dictionary.

On an Android device:

• Tap Settings, Language & Input, “Personal dictionary,” then pick a language or choose the “For all languages” option. (Note: the exact settings may differ depending on the make and model of your Android phone.)
• Tap the “+” sign in the top-right corner of the screen, then enter the word or phrase (like “on my way”) you’d like to make a shortcut for.
• Next, type a brief, easy-to-remember shortcut into the “Shortcut” field; for example, “omw” for “on my way.”
• Tap the Back key, and you’ll see an entry for the shortcut you just added. Want to add more shortcuts? Tap the “+” sign again.

Now, go to, say, the Gmail app, compose a new message, and tap one of your new shortcuts—and when you do, the phrase you entered will appear in the row of auto-correct options just above the keyboard. Tap the phrase to add it to your message.

Click here for more Android tips, or click here for more help with your iPhone or iPad!

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The only problem is that such “battery saver” modes (which conserve power by cutting down on background activity, dimming the screen, and halting automatic email fetching) won’t do you much good if your battery runs out of juice before you remember to switch on the setting.

Unfortunately, iPhone and iPad users must turn on iOS 9’s new “Low Power Mode” manually (you’ll be prompted to turn on the setting once your battery falls below a certain level).

But if you’re an Android user, good news: Android’s “battery saver” mode boasts a crucial auto-on setting.

In just a few taps, you can set Android’s “Battery saver” feature to turn on automatically.

Here’s what you do…

• On your Android device (it’ll need to be running on Android version Lollipop or better), tap Settings, Battery, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap “Battery saver.”
• Leave the main “Battery saver” setting in the “Off” position, tap the “Turn on automatically” setting, then pick an option: Never, at 5% battery, or at 15% battery. I recommend picking the 15 percent setting.

Now, just go back to using your Android device—and whenever its battery level falls below 15 percent (or 5 percent, depending on the setting you picked), “Battery saver” mode will turn on automatically.

Bonus tip

You can find iOS’s “Low Power Mode” feature by tapping Setting. Battery. but the only setting that’s available is an “on/off” switch. Hopefully, Apple will see the light and add its own “Turn on automatically” setting.

Click here for more Android tips!

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A little gentle ribbing ensued, with various amused and/or annoyed journalists teasing the sender of the email for his mistake. Pretty soon, though, there were dozens of replies, some of them from people begging for the message thread to stop.

Here’s the perfect scenario for Gmail’s “mute” feature, which lets you silence an email message thread that keeps going, and going … and going.

You can mute endless email threads directly from the Gmail app for Android and iOS.

Once you’ve muted a conversation, new messages in the thread will skip your inbox and head straight to your All Mail archive.

Of course, there’s a downside to muting a conversation: namely, that you’ll miss a direct question from someone—like, say, your boss—in the message thread.

That’s why it’s probably best to only mute conversations along the lines of “What a cute baby!” or “Congrats on the new gig!,” and not those of the “Mission-critical project” variety.

That said, keep in mind that Gmail will automatically send a muted thread back into your inbox if you’re the only person in the “To:” line of the conversation.

So, ready for some peace and quiet?

Let’s get started…

• To mute a conversation, select it in your Gmail inbox, click the More button near the top of the page, then select Mute. If you have Gmail keyboard shortcuts enabled, you can also check the box next to a conversation and tap the “m” key.
• You can also mute a conversation using the Gmail app for Android or iOS. Just tap the thread you want to silence, tap the three-dot button (Android) or the down arrow (iOS) in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap Mute.
• Want to “unmute” a conversation? Type “is:mute” into the Gmail search box to see a list of all your muted conversations, select the muted message you want to unmute, then move it back to your inbox. Once that’s done, the message should be automatically unmuted, but you can double-check by opening the thread and making sure there’s no “Muted” label near the top of the latest message.

Click here for more Gmail tips!

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