Getting Started with the Lenovo Tab S8
Arona Jones
Anything iOS can do, Android can do, your way. Since Year 12 have just been issued with Android tablets (Lenovo Tab S8s to be specific), I thought I’d write an article about some tips and tricks for those who are new to Android, and recommend some great apps. While the hardware in the Lenovos is pretty great, I found the default software to be somewhat lacking.
First up, some minor tips:
Now, onto apps. Android is the market leader when it comes to customisability, mostly thanks to everything being switchable in app format - your keyboard, lockscreen and homescreen (what Android calls a Launcher) - which can all be swapped out for versions downloaded from the Play Store like any other app.
As a result, my first app recommendation is ‘Swiftkey’. This is an incredibly powerful and highly customisable keyboard that learns from what you type, and changes its text predictions accordingly. You can import Facebook posts, tweets, and other social media posts to help it learn your writing style. For example, I’ve been using it for a little over a day, and it can already suggest my email and username when I need it. It includes ‘continuous gesture typing’ too - this takes a little while to get used to, but is very good when you do. Try clicking on the first letter of a word you want to type, continuing to hold and then moving to the next letter and so on. You usually don’t have to type the whole word. The word that appears in the predictive typing bar will be automatically inserted when you release. There’s a variety of settings for you to experiment with yourself, such as allowing the number bar to be present above the alphabet keyboard. You can change the theme too.
‘Evernote’, a very competent note taking app, is preinstalled on the Lenovos, but I prefer to organise todo lists with a separate app called ‘Wunderlist’. It performs its main task very well, and has all the bells and whistles like deadlines and launcher widgets too. Not only that, it’s a very pretty app to boot.
If you regularly switch between a computer and tablet or other mobile device as I do, ‘Pushbullet’ is very helpful for integrating the two. It allows you to quickly send links, documents and text snippets between your devices. The app has a variety of extra features too, like universal copy and paste: copy something on one device and paste it on another seamlessly and showing notifications that come through on your tablet on your computer. I use this to show snapchat notifications on my laptop, since snapchat is the only social media still missing a desktop app.
For security, I have an app called ‘Prey’ installed on all of my mobile devices and my laptop. It allows me to remotely track, lock, send messages as well as carrying out a myriad of other useful functions should one of these devices be lost or stolen. It’s all carried out through a very pretty web interface, and tracking up to three devices is totally free.
Lastly for this article, is choosing a Launcher. The Launcher is where the rest of your apps live, and thus is quite important. The default launcher on the Lenovo tablets is designed by Lenovo themselves, and is very similar to iOS. It therefore may suffice for some people.
I personally am almost never satisfied with the defaults, and so installed Google’s own launcher - called ‘Google Now Launcher’ almost immediately. This launcher works very well if you are as deeply integrated into Google’s ecosystem as I am, as the more information Google has about you, the more useful the launcher can make itself. At first glance, it looks like a prettier version of the default launcher. However, if you swipe left from the leftmost app screen, you reach a dedicated screen for Google Now. Google Now is a predictive assistant showing you things like recommended reading links. It also learns the location of your home and work (in this case school) and calculates travel time between them. Third party apps can also add ‘cards’ to this screen. Naturally, the less information you give to Google, the less helpful Google Now can be - so if you value your privacy highly this perhaps isn’t the launcher for you.
Nevertheless, even the Google Now Launcher wasn’t customisable enough for my tastes. I eventually settled on the Total Launcher, which allows total control over pretty much everything, and even allows me to create custom widgets of my own. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone but a power user and customisation freak like myself!
Overall, I hope I’ve demonstrated Android’s major advantages over iOS, and highlighted some useful apps, especially for those that love to tweak and customise like me. I’ve always been an iOS user but Android admirer, and a few days with the Android tablet has turned me into a full Android convert. The only thing I’ve found so far that Android doesn’t do quite as well as iOS is play nicely with my Macbook, but that’s Apple’s fault not Google’s. As my quest to tweak my tablet exactly how I like it continues, I’m likely write at least one more article in the future highlighting the best apps I find along the way. I’m not satisfied until my device and layout is totally unique. With all the options out there, nor should you be!
Warning: customisation can be addictive, and encourage procrastination.
First up, some minor tips:
- To take a screenshot, press and hold power and volume down simultaneously.
- Using apps without ever leaving your home screen is a major advantage of Android over iOS. Try adding some by selecting the widgets button on the app organisation screen.
- Much like ‘Hey Siri’ on iOS, you can use ‘Ok, Google’ to activate a voice search hands free.
Now, onto apps. Android is the market leader when it comes to customisability, mostly thanks to everything being switchable in app format - your keyboard, lockscreen and homescreen (what Android calls a Launcher) - which can all be swapped out for versions downloaded from the Play Store like any other app.
As a result, my first app recommendation is ‘Swiftkey’. This is an incredibly powerful and highly customisable keyboard that learns from what you type, and changes its text predictions accordingly. You can import Facebook posts, tweets, and other social media posts to help it learn your writing style. For example, I’ve been using it for a little over a day, and it can already suggest my email and username when I need it. It includes ‘continuous gesture typing’ too - this takes a little while to get used to, but is very good when you do. Try clicking on the first letter of a word you want to type, continuing to hold and then moving to the next letter and so on. You usually don’t have to type the whole word. The word that appears in the predictive typing bar will be automatically inserted when you release. There’s a variety of settings for you to experiment with yourself, such as allowing the number bar to be present above the alphabet keyboard. You can change the theme too.
‘Evernote’, a very competent note taking app, is preinstalled on the Lenovos, but I prefer to organise todo lists with a separate app called ‘Wunderlist’. It performs its main task very well, and has all the bells and whistles like deadlines and launcher widgets too. Not only that, it’s a very pretty app to boot.
If you regularly switch between a computer and tablet or other mobile device as I do, ‘Pushbullet’ is very helpful for integrating the two. It allows you to quickly send links, documents and text snippets between your devices. The app has a variety of extra features too, like universal copy and paste: copy something on one device and paste it on another seamlessly and showing notifications that come through on your tablet on your computer. I use this to show snapchat notifications on my laptop, since snapchat is the only social media still missing a desktop app.
For security, I have an app called ‘Prey’ installed on all of my mobile devices and my laptop. It allows me to remotely track, lock, send messages as well as carrying out a myriad of other useful functions should one of these devices be lost or stolen. It’s all carried out through a very pretty web interface, and tracking up to three devices is totally free.
Lastly for this article, is choosing a Launcher. The Launcher is where the rest of your apps live, and thus is quite important. The default launcher on the Lenovo tablets is designed by Lenovo themselves, and is very similar to iOS. It therefore may suffice for some people.
I personally am almost never satisfied with the defaults, and so installed Google’s own launcher - called ‘Google Now Launcher’ almost immediately. This launcher works very well if you are as deeply integrated into Google’s ecosystem as I am, as the more information Google has about you, the more useful the launcher can make itself. At first glance, it looks like a prettier version of the default launcher. However, if you swipe left from the leftmost app screen, you reach a dedicated screen for Google Now. Google Now is a predictive assistant showing you things like recommended reading links. It also learns the location of your home and work (in this case school) and calculates travel time between them. Third party apps can also add ‘cards’ to this screen. Naturally, the less information you give to Google, the less helpful Google Now can be - so if you value your privacy highly this perhaps isn’t the launcher for you.
Nevertheless, even the Google Now Launcher wasn’t customisable enough for my tastes. I eventually settled on the Total Launcher, which allows total control over pretty much everything, and even allows me to create custom widgets of my own. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone but a power user and customisation freak like myself!
Overall, I hope I’ve demonstrated Android’s major advantages over iOS, and highlighted some useful apps, especially for those that love to tweak and customise like me. I’ve always been an iOS user but Android admirer, and a few days with the Android tablet has turned me into a full Android convert. The only thing I’ve found so far that Android doesn’t do quite as well as iOS is play nicely with my Macbook, but that’s Apple’s fault not Google’s. As my quest to tweak my tablet exactly how I like it continues, I’m likely write at least one more article in the future highlighting the best apps I find along the way. I’m not satisfied until my device and layout is totally unique. With all the options out there, nor should you be!
Warning: customisation can be addictive, and encourage procrastination.
