More LG G2 tips and tricks

Thanks to its super compact body of 5.2 inches and a strong battery, the LG G2 has become an unsuspecting star under the high-end smartphone radar. I’ve used this device for a few weeks now and have accumulated a few useful tips and tricks that other G2 owners might find helpful.

 © AndroidPIT

Customize the on-screen buttons

The G2 lacks any physical buttons on the front-facing side. Instead LG adopted on-screen software buttons, typical of Android, for the back, home and context menu options. LG also lets the user arrange the buttons the way they see fit as well as add a fourth button, either Quick Memo and the status bar. Lastly, the design can also be changed.

Go into the settings menu, where you will be able to find 'Front buttons' under the 'Display' section. © AndroidPIT

Disable QSlide

QSlide is what LG calls the apps that you can have ‘floating’ in the form of a popup window above the home screen. But why would one even need these pop ups on a 5.2-inch display? Though this makes sense on a desktop screen, it is sometimes more cumbersome than helpful on a smartphone, taking up much needed space.

Unfortunately, LG also wasted a significant portion of the notifications bar (Notification drawer) with a wide bar with shortcuts to QSlide apps. This precious space could have been better used for emails and other types of notifications. LG doesn’t make it easy for the user to get rid of the QSlide bar from the notifications bar. But when there is a will, there is a way!

The QSlide quick settings take up a lot of room in the status bar, by tapping on the settings button you can get rid of these. © AndroidPIT

First you’ll need to activate the QSlide button so that it will show in the Quick settings menu on the top right corner of the status bar. Simply swipe the bar to the right and tap on ‘edit’. This will open the settings menu and show a checkmark next to QSlide, disable this by tapping on it.

Set up folders on the homescreen

Though you may not like the bright user interface that LG laid over top of the stock Android system, the fact of the matter is, only very few manufacturers offer so many customization possibilities. For example, the size of folders can be augmented or decreased on the homescreen by pulling out the edges. The bigger it is, the more shortcuts will be able to fit in. Shortcuts which aren’t visible can also be quickly reached because these folder ‘windows’ have a scroll function.

You are able to make folders bigger or smaller by pulling on the edges. © AndroidPIT

Edit icons on the home screen

Lg has added the option of customizing individual icons on your home screen and there is a lot to this function. By long pressing on an icon, a small purple paintbrush will appear for a few seconds and when pressed, will open an editing menu. Here you are able to switch out icons, change the size and even create your own. Whether the ones you are able to make are any better than the originals depends on the eye of the beholder. What I can really appreciate here though, is the fact that you can scale the size.

Instead of boring icons, you can even set them as pictures from your gallery, which really gives your home screen a fresh look. Don't forget which shortcut is which though! © AndroidPIT

Multitasking, OS X-style

This feature reminds me a lot of the MultiTouch trackpad used on Mac computers. When you swipe your three fingers from the right side to the left on the screen, this will display saved apps. Use the same gesture to bring them to the foreground again. You can have three apps in total here, each of which can easily be swiped to the back. The animation reminds me a lot of the Mac OS, though Apple has you use four fingers instead of three.

In the settings menu, you can activate Q Slide by switching on the toggle. The respective apps will show in the three tabs that you can swipe out from the left. © AndroidPIT

Uninstall apps directly from the home screen

Again, very reminiscent of Apple, you are able to uninstall apps right from the home screen. On the G2, you simply need to tap on the settings icon (cogwheel) in the upper right corner, which will prompt an ‘x’ to show next to all apps. Just tap on them to get the app completely off your device. Most Android smartphones or tablets only allow this from the settings menu.

Just like Apple, apps can be uninstalled right form the app drawer. © AndroidPIT

These were my favorite tips that I wanted to share with you. There are of course other great ones with the LG G2, which you can discover in our previous tips and tricks for LG G2 article. If you know of more, let us know in the comments below!