May 28, 2021

Managing widgets on Android

By Paolo Amoroso • Issue #69 • View online

Hello,

How do you organize your home screen on Android?

On my devices I arrange the icons as a grid on the main home screen and the next two to the right, with the built-in Discover taking up the one at left. This works well because it minimizes access time to a specific icon, but spreading too many across more screens adds some friction. That’s why I’m grouping a few related icons into folders to fit more on a screen. If grouping frees up enough screen space, I may add one or two widgets.

What about you? Do you have any widgets? If you want to try them, see the article below on managing widgets.

— Paolo Amoroso

Android

How to add and remove widgets on your Android phone's home screen

Once upon a time the Android app drawer listed widgets in a separate section but now they’re a little more buried. If you’re new to widgets, read how to install and remove them.

www.androidcentral.com • Share

Chrome and Chrome OS

4 new hidden Chrome features you should really be using

Do you want to link to a specific portion of text within a web page? Preview pages without downloading? Search tabs? Name windows? This article explains how to do all this.

www.computerworld.com • Share

How to block out distractions and boost productivity on your Chromebook this year

If you’re into distraction-free tools, you may have a look at some native Chrome OS features for blocking out distractions and improving productivity. Here are some suggestions to control audio playback, make notifications less noticeable, and use virtual desks to organize your work.

chromeunboxed.com • Share

YouTube, Gmail

How to search for YouTube videos by hashtag

You’re familiar with hashtags on Twitter where they are mainstream. But did you know YouTube has hashtags too? This tutorial covers how to use them to search for topic-specific videos.

www.howtogeek.com • Share

How did this email reach my Gmail address?

If you configure Gmail to access other mailboxes via POP3 from other accounts or you forward to Gmail, you end up with many messages and no clear idea of what accounts they were supposed to be delivered to. This guide explains how to analyze mails to tell how they ended up there.

blogs-on-gmail.blogspot.com • Share

Android apps

Mockup

Mockup is a design app for creating mockups with application screenshots and device frames. You can pick many Android and iOS device frames, use templates, and customize the background. The resulting images are ready as visual assets for Play Store app listings or other promotional material.

This is one of the best mockup apps I’ve seen, with a variety of up-to-date device frames.

play.google.com • Share

Web apps

Tally

Google Forms is nice but, if you want to try a completely fresh approach, give Tally forms a try. It’s a form and survey design tool that works like a document editor. You create beautiful forms by typing text and inserting other elements such as entry fields or multiple choices.

tally.so • Share

Thank you

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By Paolo Amoroso

Weekly practical resources on Google products and related tech. Tips, tutorials, and apps that will expand your Google toolbox and help you do more.

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Paolo Amoroso, C.P. 343, Via Cordusio 4, 20123 Milano, ITALY