Bunch o' "noob" questions about using Nexus 4

**exqcme** · 01-25-2013, 09:41 AM

I searched everywhere,
but how do i change how often GMAIL updates the inbox?

How do i multi-window/multi task?
I persume it's the button on the bottom right...
But It seems to shows 'recent apps' and windows of program still running.
is there a way to only show the apps running?
It boggles me how to manage to view that.

**Ravynmagi** · 01-25-2013, 09:52 AM

I'm not all sure how account syncing works with Android. I just know it works well and I've never found a need to change any settings for it. My Gmail always seems to arrive promptly when Sync is turned on. You can toggle syncing off if you are worried about battery life.

You can't run multiple windows on a Nexus. It's a 4.7 inch screen, so personally don't see much need here. There are some video players that will run as an overlay ontop of another window.

I usually multitask by just going back to my home screen and tapping the icon for the other application I want to use. There is the Recent Apps button too.

I haven't found that I really need to care about what is actually running most of the time. Android handles itself well and apps launch quickly, so whether something is already running or not is mostly irrelevant on Android. I kinda understand what you are feeling though, as a PC user it kinda seemed odd at first coming to Android and not knowing what's running. But it really doesn't matter.

But if you really need to know what's running, maybe some app isn't behaving right, go to Settings, Apps, and slide over to the Running tab.

**exqcme** · 01-25-2013, 10:40 AM

i'm just afraid of all these apps being openned chewing my battery like crazy. ;(

**still1** · 01-25-2013, 10:45 AM

go to settings-->Apps-->Running(swipe left once)

to see all running apps. on top there is a button called "Show cached process"

click on it which will show all app which are running but in deep sleep and wont use battery or processor.

**wunderbar** · 01-25-2013, 10:53 AM

yea, don't touch the gmail sync settings in the effort of getting more battery life. Push email is actually better on battery than changing it to manually poll every 15 minutes or so.

As for the recent apps eating battery, again don't worry about that too terribly much. Android does a good job of managing running tasks itself.

**minnemike** · 01-25-2013, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by wunderbar

yea, don't touch the gmail sync settings in the effort of getting more battery life. Push email is actually better on battery than changing it to manually poll every 15 minutes or so.

As for the recent apps eating battery, again don't worry about that too terribly much. Android does a good job of managing running tasks itself.

This is my feeling too. I have a theory developing that doing all these "battery saving" techniques actually hurts your battery performance more than anything. I did some from the start and had terrible battery life and weird stuff happen (like discharges in deep sleep). Since then, I have enabled all the default sync settings and everything else and battery life is now great. At some point, you have to trust the developers a little bit in that they test these things with all the basics enabled and not so much with a bunch of functions crippled.

**Hubertsng** · 01-25-2013, 11:06 AM

I searched everywhere,
but how do i change how often GMAIL updates the inbox? account settings and you can check how often it checks, minimum is 15 minutes I think.

How do i multi-window/multi task?
I persume it's the button on the bottom right... Yup you are right
But It seems to shows 'recent apps' and windows of program still running.
is there a way to only show the apps running? I don't think there is a way to do that unless you get a rom.
It boggles me how to manage to view that.

**exqcme** · 01-25-2013, 12:08 PM

so i should use the Email app instead of Gmail? to conserve battery?

**wunderbar** · 01-25-2013, 01:01 PM

No what we're saying is that just leave the default setting.

**exqcme** · 01-25-2013, 03:21 PM

disregard, i figured it out

sound issue

**jweimn** · 01-25-2013, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by exqcme

so i should use the Email app instead of Gmail? to conserve battery?

No the gmail spp I great for gmail.

Only use the email app for yahoo, hotmail, etc....

Dont worry to much on whats eating up your battery as android does a good job of managing it on its own.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

**greydarrah** · 01-25-2013, 07:22 PM

The sad truth is, there is no managing your battery on a smart phone. You can try all kinds of crap as well as some of the magical battery saving apps, but you're going to get between 3 to 5 hours of on screen time. Unless you plan on streaming movies or playing games all day, your phone should get you through a day, possibly with a bump charge in your car on the way to or from work. If you don't get this, then you've downloaded some poorly written piece of crap free app that's eating up you juice. There's no need to turn your brightness down to 10%, or turn your wifi/gps or anything else on and off all day long...just use/enjoy your phone and don't obsess over how drained your battery is.

EDIT: I forgot to actually answer your questions: As someone stated earlier, I would leave the Gmail updating alone. It's not going to have any noticeable effect on your battery and it works great as is. Regarding the multi tasking issue, what is it that you are wanting to do? The bottom right button shows recent apps. If you want to bring one to the screen, touch it. If you want to make some go away, swipe them to the right. If you're trying to use that button to manage your battery (thinking that you're closing unnecessary apps) you're probably wasting more battery (via the screen time) trying to keep stuff off the list, than you accomplish by getting rid of them.

**exqcme** · 01-26-2013, 12:53 AM

thanks!!, i will leave it as is...

Another question...
the middle button...
i notice it kicks me to the main screen and also has a shortcut for google? how do i customize that?

**greydarrah** · 01-26-2013, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by exqcme

thanks!!, i will leave it as is...

Another question...
the middle button...
i notice it kicks me to the main screen and also has a shortcut for google? how do i customize that?

When you say "how do I customize that," what is you want a customization to do? To customize most buttons, you'll like need to unlock and root the phone (easy to do, takes 15 minutes, follow these instructions: [GUIDE] Nexus 4 - Unlock & Root). After unlocking/rooting, custom ROMs let you change all kinds of stuff. Outside of that, you might find a theme that will give you some flexibility.

**Hubertsng** · 01-26-2013, 01:45 PM

you can get a launcher that can change what it does.

**exqcme** · 01-27-2013, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by greydarrah

When you say "how do I customize that," what is you want a customization to do? To customize most buttons, you'll like need to unlock and root the phone (easy to do, takes 15 minutes, follow these instructions: [GUIDE] Nexus 4 - Unlock & Root). After unlocking/rooting, custom ROMs let you change all kinds of stuff. Outside of that, you might find a theme that will give you some flexibility.

i'll have to look into that.
is there any disadvantage to unroot?

Another quirky question.
Is there a way to actually let the screen turn off, but you can wake it up solely by touching the screen? (kinda like how when your phone is daydreaming, and you can tap the screen to wake it up without the need to hit the power button?)

i only want it to lock the screen/turn off screen only when i push the button to lock.
Is my only option is to set Sleep to the longest time, leaving the screen on all the time?
is there anyway to accomplish this? ( i am very doubtful...?)

tl;dr: is there a way to sleep just the screen, which permit you to wake it up via touching the screen

edit: nm, i found something similar to my need

i feel really bad for jamming my finger into the power button everytime i wanna wake it.

**Gilly00Bean** · 03-04-2013, 11:10 AM

Hi,
Just setup the hotmail app with my Nexus 4.
Seems to be working fine ... but ... e-mails stored in the sent folder display my e-mail address and not the recipients e-mail address.
Can this be changed or fixed ? Thanks.

**xstinkyx** · 03-04-2013, 02:29 PM

I guess this can be considered a noob question...

When an app gets auto updated (which I find out via the notifications), if there a quick way to jump to the Play store to see what has changed with the app?
Or does one have to manually go into Play, do a search for that app, and read the What's New section?

Ideally when there is an update I could longpress on the Notification and jump to the What's New section.

**wunderbar** · 03-04-2013, 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by xstinkyx

I guess this can be considered a noob question...

When an app gets auto updated (which I find out via the notifications), if there a quick way to jump to the Play store to see what has changed with the app?
Or does one have to manually go into Play, do a search for that app, and read the What's New section?

Ideally when there is an update I could longpress on the Notification and jump to the What's New section.

No way to tell unless you go to the app specifically. That's why I keep auto update off.