Customizing the Home screen

Android basics

Customizing the Home screen

Add an item to the Home screen

Move an item on the Home screen

Remove an item from the Home screen

Change the Home screen wallpaper

Rename a folder

You can add application icons, shortcuts, widgets, and other items to any part of any Home screen where there’s free space. You can also change the wallpaper.

For an introduction to the Home screen, see Getting to know the Home screen.

Add an item to the Home screen

1	Open the Home screen where you want to add the item.

For an introduction to working with the Home screen, including how to switch Home screens, see Getting to know the Home screen.

2	Press Menu and touch Add.

Or just touch & hold an empty location on the Home screen.

If there are no empty spots on the Home screen, Add is dimmed; you must delete or move an item before you can add another item, or switch to another Home screen.

3	In the menu that opens, touch the type of item to add.

You can add the following types of items to the Home screen.

Shortcuts

Add shortcuts to applications, a bookmarked webpage, a favorite contact, a destination in Maps, a Gmail label, a music playlist, and many other items. The shortcuts available depend on the applications you have installed.

Widgets

Add any of a variety of miniature applications (widgets) to your Home screen, including a clock, a music player, a picture frame, the Google search bar, a power manager, a calendar that shows upcoming appointments, and a News & Weather widget. You can also download widgets on Google Play.

Folders

Add a folder where you can organize Home screen items, or folders that contain all your contacts, contacts with phone numbers, or starred contacts. Your folders’ contents are kept up to date automatically.

Move an item on the Home screen

1	Touch & hold the item you want to move, until it vibrates. Don’t lift your finger.

2	Drag the item to a new location on the screen.

Pause at the edge of the screen to drag the item onto another Home screen pane.

3	When the item is where you want it, lift your finger.

Remove an item from the Home screen

1	Touch & hold the item you want to remove, until it vibrates. Don’t lift your finger.

The Launcher icon changes to a Trash Can icon .

2	Drag the item to the Trash Can icon.

3	When the icon turns red, lift your finger.

Change the Home screen wallpaper

1	Press Menu and touch Wallpapers.

You can also touch & hold an empty area of the Home screen and in the menu that opens, touch Wallpapers.

2	Touch Gallery, Live wallpapers, or Wallpapers.

Touch Gallery to use a picture that you have captured using the camera or copied to your phone. You can crop the picture before setting it as a wallpaper. Working with pictures is described in Gallery.

Touch Live wallpapers to open a scrolling list of animated wallpapers installed on your phone. Some live wallpapers change according to the time of day, in response to touching the screen, tell the time, or offer other information. Some live wallpapers have a Settings button.

Touch Wallpapers to open a screen where you can sample the wallpaper images that come with the phone. Slide the miniature images left and right to view the samples. Touch a sample to view a larger version.

3	Touch Save or Set wallpaper.

Rename a folder

1	Touch the folder to open it.

2	Touch & hold the folder window’s title bar.

3	Enter a new name in the dialog that appears.

Touch OK.

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