Hot Nexus 7 Posts
How To: Boost the Stock Volume Levels on Your Nexus 7 for Louder Sounds All Around
The volume is maxed out, but that doesn't stop me from hitting the volume key on my Nexus 7 in hopes that it will magically get louder. This happens to me everyday as I watch videos or play music. The simple fact is that a Nexus 7 tablet just doesn't get very loud. At least, not loud enough for me.
Quick Tip: Access App Info Pages from Lollipop's Recent Apps Menu
On earlier Android versions, you were able to hold down on an app's icon in the recent apps menu (aka app switcher) and jump straight to the app's info page. From there, you could easily uninstall the app, force-stop its activity, or clear its cache and data.
How To: Create Your Own Custom, Polygon-Shaped Wallpapers for Android
While the new Lollipop wallpapers are great, they'll eventually get stale like all of the others. I've covered a bunch of cool Android wallpaper apps previously, including ones that give you psychedelic and shake-to-change options, but this time I was on the hunt for some geometrical-based ones.
How To: Get Android 5.0 Lollipop on Your Nexus Today
Google has already started to roll out the over-the-air update of Android 5.0 Lollipop to older Nexus series phones and tablets, but chances are it will take a long time for the OTA to hit your device.
How To: The Easiest Way to Record Your Screen in Android Lollipop
Native screen recording was initially introduced on Android 4.4 KitKat and, although useful, was primarily utilized by developers to showcase their apps. It required either a rooted device and an app or a non-rooted device with some ADB commands, which, while totally doable, wasn't necessarily ideal.
How To: Use the Much-Improved Face Unlock Feature in Android Lollipop
I think it's safe to assume that most of us appreciate a little privacy and security when it comes to our mobile devices, which is exactly why we have lock screens that require unique passwords, patterns, or PINs. Although someone can discretely peer over your shoulder to see what your password is, it's much more difficult for them to duplicate your face to unlock the device.
How To: Access Widgets from Anywhere on Android
Placing widgets on your device's home screen is a quick way to gain instant access to shortcuts or to specific aspects of an app, like music controls or weather forecasts. As more and more developers create various types of app drawers and shortcuts, many overlook widgets and what they have to offer.
How To: Enable Kids Mode on Any Android
Whether if it's to play games or watch Netflix or YouTube, children love using our smartphones and tablets. As an uncle of many, I don't mind my nieces and nephews using my gear, but I do mind them opening apps they have no business being in, like my photo gallery or messaging app.
How To: Get Quick Access to Media Apps When You Plug in Headphones
As soon as you plug a set of headphones into a Samsung Galaxy series device, a bar pops up in the notification tray that lets you select from a list of "recommended apps" for earphones. It's a convenient little feature that shows the apps you're most likely to use based on previous activity.
How To: Boot Your Nexus 7 into Safe Mode to Disable All Third-Party Apps at Once
Battery drain. App crashes. Random reboots. All of these issues can be attributed to an uncooperative third-party app on your Nexus device. To be sure that's the problem, rebooting into "Safe Mode" is the way to go.
How To: View Google Maps & Street View in Split-Screen Mode on Android
On a recent trip to Palm Springs, I found myself navigating with Google Maps and virtually exploring my destiniation using its built-in Street View feature. The thing is, using Street View can make keeping track of your exact location difficult as you zoom in, out, and about. It's a little discombobulating.
How To: The Definitive Guide to Android Malware
Android enthusiasts have their own opinion as to whether you need antivirus software on an Android device. This debate will never end, provided that Android malware is in existence. This guide is not here to say, "Yes, you need antivirus," or "No, you don't." It's to give you all the facts, so that you can make a decision as to whether or not you need antivirus on your Nexus.
How To: Kick People Off Your Wi-Fi Network Using Your Nexus 7
One thing I absolutely cannot stand is lag when I'm gaming. Every time I'm about to beat my killstreak record on Call of Duty, my internet connection drops and I'm a goner. It never fails. This usually happens because someone else on my Wi-Fi is streaming a movie or downloading a huge file.
Space-Saving Tip: Stream Your Music Collection from Dropbox or Google Drive on Your Nexus 7
There is no SD card support on the Nexus 7, so managing internal storage can be tricky. There are ways to free up space, but the biggest space hog on my tablet is music, and that's not something I'm willing to delete just yet.
How To: Exploring Stock Recovery
It is really quite easy to flash a custom recovery to your Nexus, and there are many excellent tutorials on how to do so (see the How-To below): The Easiest Way to Install a Custom Recovery on Your Nexus 7 Tablet « Nexus 7.
How To: Stay Anonymous on Your Nexus 7
When browsing the web, you may not be quite as anonymous as you think, especially if you are using public WiFi. The easiest way to stay as anonymous and safe as you are going to get, is to use a VPN (there are a number of great free ones). In this tutorial, we will show you how to set up a VPN on Android, and how this protects you.
How To: Unlock Android Lollipop's Hidden Battery Percentage Icon in the Status Bar
When a big company (Google) concentrates on big things (Auto, TV, Wear), some of the smaller aspects of their design can be overlooked. Just as we saw in Android KitKat, battery percentage information is absent from the status bar. While we were able to enable a hidden setting to show that all-important number in KitKat, you could see why it was never enabled—the white text on the white battery icon made it nearly impossible to read.
How To: Turn Your Nexus 7's Home Screen into an Ambient Audio Visualizer
Remember the good old days of Winamp? It was one of the first mainstream media players to support music visualizations, graphics with intricate designs that react to the tempo and pitch of the audio playing.
How To: 3 Quick & Easy Ways to Close All Recent Apps at Once on Your Nexus 7
Unlike the Galaxy S4 and other Samsung devices, the Nexus 7 doesn't have a Clear All option in the recent apps menu. It's a highly requested feature, as it cuts down the time required to go one-by-one swiping each individual app (you can't swipe away multiple ones at the same time).
Boredom Killer: How to Play a Game of Pool Directly on Your Android Home Screen
We don't typically cover games here on softModder, unless they have some special feature to offer like unlocking your device, but sometimes you've just gotta game. When you've only got a few minutes to do so, you've gotta choose the right game, and I've got just the thing for you.
How To: Add Menu & Search Soft Keys to the Navigation Bar on Your Nexus 7
Many of our everyday apps include a menu tab or search bar, like Chrome and Twitter. In fact, a lot of times those are the first things we go for, as search is universal in most apps, and app settings are just about always accessible through the menu.
How To: Selectively Enable Immersive Mode for Certain Apps on Your Nexus 7
If you've followed our guide on unlocking KitKat's real full screen capability using the immersive mode mod, then your status and navigation bars will be hidden when not in use, giving you a more expansive full screen experience.
How To: Add Color to Your Nexus 7's Navigation Bar
When I first used the Google Now Launcher, I appreciated the transparency that came with it, and how it made the real look larger than it did before. But now that I'm used to it, that transparent navigation bar is beginning to look a little stale.
How To: Theme the Pattern Unlock Screen on Your Nexus 7 with Custom Icons
There are a lot of mods for your Nexus 7 when it comes to improving and streamlining its overall functionality. You could add custom swipe gestures, conserve battery power, and even run multiple apps at the same time.
How To: Add Custom Swipe Gestures to Your Nexus 7 for Better Control & Easier Navigation
You can do many things on your Nexus 7 to make life easier, like auto-categorize photos and perform on-the-fly calculations, but one thing that you should really have is more swipe gestures. By adding custom swipe gestures, you'll be able to navigate your device better, skip music tracks, and get instant access to designated apps, all with the flick of a few fingers.
How To: Trick Out Your Nexus 7's Lock Screen with a Custom Lockring Icon
If you're as bad at locking your Nexus up as I am, you have the "slide" option set for your screen lock. It may not be the most secure option, but it's definitely the easiest way to unlock your device while being able to utilize lock screen widgets.
How To: Categorize Old & New Photos Automatically by Topic on Your Nexus 7 for a Tidier Gallery
It can be a pretty exasperating ordeal to hunt for one image on your tablet when you have hundreds and hundreds of photos in your gallery. Luckily, there are ways to make this a pain-free process on your Nexus 7, as well as make sure it's never a problem in the future.
How To: Put Your Nexus 7 in Deep Sleep Mode to Conserve Battery Power Throughout the Day
Battery life is precious to all mobile device users, and nothing is worse than running out of it. The only thing that can save a device from the dreaded low battery warning is the charger, but who carries those around?
How To: Perform Quick Calculations & Google Searches on the Fly
Numbers are everywhere in life, and some are better at doing the math than others. Unless you're Gert Mittring, it's safe to say you use the calculator app on your tablet just as much as I do, and it's often disrupting your other tasks.
Warning: These 5 Psychedelic Wallpapers for Your Nexus 7 Will Trip You Out
It's time to trip out with your tablet. If you're not looking to drain that precious battery life with a fancy-looking live wallpaper, then apply an optical illusion that appears to be moving on your Nexus 7 (or any other Android device) instead.
How To: Quick Launch Apps from Anywhere on Your Nexus 7 with an Easy Access Side Dock
I don't like a lot of app icons on my home screen. It makes everything on my Nexus 7 feel dense and congested. As a minimalist, I like a simple and well-organized home screen, which is why I regularly utilize my app drawer to launch apps.
How To: Keep Better Track of Your Battery Life on the Nexus 7
There were some pretty amazing things included in the Android 4.4 KitKat update, but unfortunately, most of them were left inactive on our Nexus 7 tablets. Some, like full-screen immersive mode and the hidden battery percentage status bar icon, could be enabled on rooted devices, but not everyone wants to root.
How To: Install Adobe Flash Player on Your Nexus 7 Running Android 4.4 KitKat
When our Nexus 7s upgraded to KitKat, one key piece of functionality was lost in the mix—Flash support. Of course, even before that we never had official support on the Nexus 7, but hacks seemed to do the job just fine. As it stands now, Google remains on the warpath against Flash, opting instead for HTML5 use, specifically in Chrome (where Flash never worked anyway), and of course Adobe stopped supporting Android long ago.
How To: Add Thumb-Friendly Quick Settings to Your Nexus 7 Tablet
There are two types of tablet users in the world—those who like their quick settings up top, and those who want them on the bottom. I fall into the latter category, and there are a couple of reasons for it.
How To: Draw Your Own Personal Clock Widget for the Nexus 7
I never really cared much for the clock widget on my Nexus 7, mainly because it only gave me two styles—analog and digital. There are many different styles of clock widgets available on Google Play, but the majority of them just don't look good enough for me.
How To: Turn Your Favorite Pics into Photo Mosaics on Your Nexus 7
Photo mosaics have interested me since I was a kid. I could never understand how someone took the time and effort to make one large masterpiece out of hundreds of smaller images. Maybe I'm too daft to grasp the concept, but it seems extremely difficult. I certainly don't have the necessary skills to make my own work of art, but luckily my Nexus 7 does.
How To: Wake Up to Spoken Calendar Events & Weather Forecasts for the Day on Your Nexus 7
I regularly use my Nexus 7 to wake up in the mornings (well, sometimes afternoons), but it's pretty minimal in what it does. I shouldn't have to open multiple apps when I wake up to figure out my schedule for the day or what the weather is going to be like.
How To: The Easiest Way to Access Recent Files & Photos on Your Nexus 7
If you use your Nexus 7 like me, then you're constantly downloading APKs, installing new games from Google Play, taking a million photos, and using multiple apps at the same time.
How To: The Easiest Way to Find a Halfway Spot Between You & Someone You're Meeting Using Your Nexus 7
Back in college, there were many instances where I'd have to meet up with a partner that I was randomly paired with in order to work on a project or to study for an exam. Besides the awkward interactions, the most difficult part was always figuring out where we would meet off-campus. I live here and they live there, so what's reasonably halfway?
How To: Create Restricted Profiles on Your Nexus 7 for Guest Users
Whenever I hand my tablet over to someone, my heart always races for a second at the thought that they may stumble across my private pictures, texts, and videos. I trust them, and they may not be the snooping type, but it can be easy enough to come across private stuff by accidentally opening a gallery or messaging app.