When a friend buys a new Android phone, I get way more excited than she does. The other day, a friend called me to brag about her new LG G4. While she was telling me about how amazing it was, all I could think was, Grrr… I had to see it. So we did lunch. Before meeting her for lunch, I had to take a look at it online. I looked at all of the cool tricks you can do with it. I was pretty impressed! She was too when I stole her phone during lunch and started to play with it trying out all of the cool things I read. She was so intrigued with everything I knew that she wanted me to teach her. We ended up spending three hours at lunch, and she walked away with a big smile on her face. I, on the other hand, walked away with the sadness of knowing I can’t possibly buy and use every Android phone made… …or can I? In any case, I’m not going to let all of my research go to waste. I’m going to share everything I learned and tested out on her phone. That way you too can walk away from this article with a smile on your face.
1. WiFi Hotspot Capability
We all know how difficult it is to get Wi-Fi in some places. People don’t want to give you passwords, or they just don’t allow access. But, until everyone realizes they should share, there’s an alternative—LG G4 WiFi Hotspot. When you turn this feature on, you will be able to use your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot for your laptop or tablet. As you probably guessed, you will use more data doing this. But hey, it’s worth it to have a private internet connection whenever you need it. Just beware of your usage if you’re watching videos. To turn your hotspot on Follow these steps:
Go to –>Settings Look for and click on –>Tethering Turn on –>Wi-Fi hotspot
You will have to set a username and password to secure your hotspot. You can be selfish with your Wi-Fi since others in the establishment are; choose a strong password no one will guess.
2. Change the Text Message App
Default is boring. Well, at least I think so. I have rather exquisite tastes though. That’s why I would prefer to use one of the other testing apps such as Texta and Chomp, which you can find in Google Play. Once you have the text message app you want to use, just follow these steps to make it default:
Go to –>Settings Look for and click on –>Device Scroll to and click on –>Default message app Choose the app you want to use.
You should also be prompted to select a default when you open the texting app for the first time. If it doesn’t, just follow the steps.
3. Disable the Notification LED
If you’ve tried to sleep with a notification LED blinking when you miss a call, text, or whatever other news you have set your phone to alert you about, you know it’s annoying. Luckily, LG G4 allows you to turn the notification LED off completely. All you have to do is tap on:
Go to –>Settings Scroll to and select –>Sound & notifications Find –>Notification LED Turn it off
To turn it back on at some point, follow these same steps.
4. Multitask with Dual Window
My friend doesn’t run a business, but I do. I know the value of being able to have more than one window open to compare and contrast information. LG G4 succeeds at giving people that capability. What’s awesome about this phone is that it’s remarkably easy to bring up Dual Windows.
Tap square to open a list of all your open and running apps Look at the bottom of the screen and click on Dual Window
This will bring up two windows with the apps you need. That is it!
5. Snap a Photo in a Second
Are you like me and hate it when you want to take a picture of something, but it takes forever to get the phone app to open? By the time you do get the app up, whatever you wanted to take a photo is long gone. It stinks. The great thing about LG G4 is that you can bring up the phone app in under a second—0.07 seconds actually. All you have to do is double tap the volume down button when your phone is locked, and it will wake it up and bring up the camera.
6. Hide Lockscreen Notifications
On the LG G4, you can quickly read messages, emails, and other notifications. If you’re standing next to someone with wandering eyes, you can turn off the option for notifications to be displayed on the lock screen. This option is hidden in the PIN setup. When you set up a PIN for your phone, it will ask you what you want displayed on the lock screen. You can choose what you want, or just disable all of them.
7. Turn on Smart Lock
Do you ever wonder if you need to have your phone locked at all times? No one besides you is going to unlock and use your phone. Why go through the extra steps to get to your phone’s functions? Well, LG G4 allows you to set up your Smart Lock to only lock your phone when you are away from certain secure places such as your home, car, etc. It uses your location to determine whether it should lock your phone. It can also detect secure places using a Bluetooth device. Whenever it is connected to your smartwatch, stereo, etc. it will not lock because it knows you don’t need it to be. Now, isn’t it so smart? To do this follow these steps:
Go to –>Settings Look for and click on –>Lock screen Tap –>Smart lock Select your trust level.
8. Use Power Saving Mode
We all get a little nervous when the battery level starts to dwindle; especially when it hits the red. Part of the reason we switched to Android is because we didn’t want to deal with the battery loss like the phones with the other operating system have. Their users suffer through this inconvenience day in and day out. Like other Androids, the LG G4 includes a power saving mode to help keep you out of the red most of the day. This mode will turn off functions that you do not need when your battery gets low. This will slow down the battery use so you may be able to use it when you really need it. To make sure this is turned on:
Go to –>Settings Scroll to and click on –>Battery & power saving Look for and turn on –>Battery saver
With the saver turned on, your Android will shut down unnecessary apps and functions when your battery hits 15%.
9. Set Up the LG G4 Finder
Where’s my phone?! Does anyone know where my phone is?? Ugh!!! Where did I leave it now?!? Does this sound familiar? If it does, you should use the Android Device Manager application. It will allow you to set up your phone to be located, as well as use other functions such as lock it and wipe it clean if you think someone stole it.
Once you have the app, go to www.google.com/android/devicemanager to track your phone. Of course, using the location function will work better when you leave it at your friend’s house rather. It won’t be able to specifically tell you your phone is under your couch; just a general location. It’s still a worthy download!!!
10. The Super Charger
This isn’t a setting you have to turn on, but it’s worth mentioning because we’ve all been in a situation where we need a quick charge. They designers thought of this when they made the LG G4. It has the ability to turbocharge until 50%. After it reaches 50% it will slow down to preserve the life of your battery. That means you can look at your phone, see that it’s dead or almost dead, and charge to half just minutes before you have to head out the door.
11. Remove Location Information
No one needs to know where you’ve been. Before LG G4, it was not easy to erase this kind of data. You had to go into the data of the phone to manually delete. LG G4 decided that there was no reason to make it so difficult to remove location information, which is why they have allowed everyone to do it themselves following these steps:
View photo in the photo Gallery app Tap the 3-dot overflow menu Tap “Remove location” Confirm you want to remove the location information
That’s it. The information will be gone forever for that image.
12. Customize the Homescreen
Your phone is one of your most prized possessions. Okay, it’s one of mine. Anyway, you should customize the homescreen to fit your needs and personality. With LG G4, this is easy to do. You can remove apps from your homescreen by holding your finger on the icon. This will bring up options at the top of the screen to remove it from the homescreen or uninstall. It’s your call which one you want to do. If I know I am not going to use it again, I go ahead and uninstall it, otherwise I just remove it from the homescreen. To add another screen, you can just switch and click on the plus sign. You will then have a nice blank screen to do whatever you like with it. You have options when it comes to what you put on your screens. You can do a combination of widgets and apps and change the wallpaper every single day if you would like. It’s up to you. When you’re ready to add something to your G4 homescreen, just long press on the screen. Click on widgets or wallpapers and choose what you like. To place apps on the new screen, long press on it and drag it to the screen you want it on.
13. Turn Off Weather Animation
The weather animation is pretty cool, but I bet it can be annoying. That is especially true if it’s raining and you don’t really want to see that dreary weather on your phone. You can turn the weather animation off by going to:
Go to –>Settings Scroll to and click on –>Device Select –>Lock screen
In the Customize tab, you will see the toggle for weather animation; slide it to off.
14. Change LG G4 Settings to List View
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to scroll and scroll. I want to go to a screen and see what I need right there. You can accomplish this by changing the view of the settings to list view. It’s quick to do:
Tap –>Settings Tap –>the 3 dot menu Choose –>List view
15. Change the Back, Home, and Recent Buttons
Many phones don’t allow you to change the buttons that help you get to popular areas of your phone. LG is different. It wants users to customize their phone in any way that they need and want. With that being said, you can change the Back, Home and Recent buttons. You can do this by:
Going to –>Settings Scroll to and select –>Device Choose the tab marked –>Display Click –>Basic settings Tap –>Home touch button settings
In the home touch button settings, you’ll be able to change home screen buttons to whatever you would like. It’s really nice that you can do this because it tailors the phone to you and how you use it.
16. Use the Smart Bulletin
The Smart Bulletin separates the phone information you need from the rest that’s less important . It’s on the left side of your screen. Swiping will open the left screen and everything you need will be right there. You can choose to receive information from:
LG Health Music Smart Settings QRemote Calendar Smart Tips
It’s on your phone by default, no download required. To try it out, head over and customize it with the information from the apps that are important to you.
17. Secure It with KnockCode
This hasn’t been seen before, so that’s why it’s cool! You can set a knock sequence to unlock your phone. If you’re visualizing yourself knocking on your phone like you do on a door, you’re a bit off. You will be tapping your phone. To get it set up, just:
Go to –>Settings Find and click on –>Lock screen Select –>Screen lock Tap the square –>between 3 to 8 times in a pattern. (Make sure you can remember it easily) When you’re ready, just tap on continue and confirm the pattern
If you end up forgetting the knocking pattern, you’ll be asked to set a PIN as a backup.
18. Change the Lock Screen Animation
You don’t have to stick with the default lock screen animation. You can make it more welcoming by choosing from the Hula hoop, Circle mosaic, Light particle, Vector circle, or Soda settings. I would change these all of the time. I love animation!
Tap on –>Settings Tap on –>Lock screen Select the Screen swipe effect you want
19. Create Folders in your App Drawer
You probably already know you can create folders on homescreens, but did you know you can do the same thing in the App Drawer? The App Drawer is where all of your apps are stored. Creating folders here will help you get to your favorite apps much quicker than scrolling through all of them.
Tap –>the App Drawer icon Tap –>the 3 dot menu icon (upper right-hand corner) Select –>View apps by Choose –>Custom Tap –>the 3 dot menu icon again Select –>Edit/Uninstall apps
At this step, drag apps on top of each other to create a folder. Add more apps to the folder by dragging them onto the folder. You can tap on the folder to change its name and color.
20. Customize the Keyboard
Another great thing about this phone is the highly customizable keyboard . Who doesn’t love to change the keyboard style over and over again? You can change everything from the size, theme, and word suggestions. To change your keyboard:
Go to –>Settings Look for and select –>Language & input Click on –>LG Keyboard
If you get bored of the default keyboard, you can always download a new one from Google Play. There are tons of free and paid keyboard replacements. Use them for a day or so to get a good feel for them and you’ll likely find one that you’ll like.
21. Use Guidelines to Take Awesome Pictures
Most people don’t have the photography skills they wish they had, so they need some help. LG G4 provides that help with guidelines. When you bring up the camera to take a picture, you will see vertical and horizontal lines to guide you on the screen. Be sure to center your subject in between those lines and you’ll have a nice, centered shot. You can turn this feature on by:
Tapping the gear icon in Auto mode Tap the grid icon from in the menu
22. Take a Selfie with Just a Gesture
I’m always about to drop my phone when I try to take the perfect selfie. I hate to tap the screen to snap the pic because it always shakes it up or moves my selfie off center. My selfies have to be good or I can’t share them on social media. We all know how disappointing that is, right? With LG G4, you get to take selfies with just a gesture. Yes! No more having to tap the screen. Here’s how to take a selfie with a gesture:
Hold up your hand when you want to take a selfie. Keep it there until you see the brackets come up. Make a fist to take a single picture. A three-second timer will begin to count down. Now you have enough time to get yourself ready before it snaps your selfie.
If you want your camera to take four bursts, make two fists consecutively. Now, get ready to smile for four takes. In addition to the hand gesture, you can set it up to take a selfie when you say “Cheeeeeeese!”. It’s called the voice shutter.
In Auto mode, go to the gear icon. Tap the face icon and you will see the option to set that up.
LG G4 wants you to take awesome selfies, so they have given you everything you need. Now, go have fun!
23. Reclaim Space on the LG G4
As you download apps, documents, and more, you will get to the point where you will need to clean out the clutter. This is probably when you can’t fit anything else on it, which can be annoying. Luckily, the Smart Cleaning function makes it easy to free up space.
Go to –>Settings Tap on –>Smart cleaning Select the files you want to get rid of. Tap on –>Clean
24. Add a User
For those of you who like to share your phone (sorry…I’m not one of those), you can set up user accounts. That way when someone uses it, he/she will have all of their personal settings. When you get it back, all of your settings will be back. To set this up:
Swipe down on your homescreen. Tap –>the profile icon Tap on –>Add user
This allows you to switch to the new account and have the other person customize it in any way that he/she wishes.
25. Control Your TV with LG G4
Who needs remote controls anymore? Everything your remote control can do, your phone can do too. Since you’re using your Android for everything else, you might as well use it for your television. To do this:
Open the QRemote app Tap –>the “+” icon Choose the device you’d like to control.
If you have trouble getting your LG G4 to recognize the device, you can tap on the 3 dot menu icon to select Learn remote. It should be able to sync that way letting you use it with no more issues.
26. Use QSlide for Quick Info
Out of all the cool tricks I taught my friend, she thought this was the most fun. With LG G4, you have QSlide. It enables you to bring a floating window onto the screen. For example, let’s say you are writing an email and need to calculate something really quick. You can just use QSlide to bring up the calculator and then go back to your email. To customize which apps you can use with QSlide, follow these steps:
Swipe down to show your quick settings Tap –>the QSlide toggle Scroll –>right Tap –>edit
Now you can choose which app you want to open by tapping it. You will be free to drag and resize the window to meet your needs. Give it a try, it’s really awesome!
27. Easy Mode for Those Who Want Simple
If you’re not into all of the tech tricks and features that you get with LG G4, you can still have this extraordinary phone. Just use Easy Mode! Easy Mode has bigger text, bigger icons, and there aren’t so many apps cluttering the screens. It just makes using the phone easier. To switch on Easy Mode :
Go to –>Settings Select –>Home screen Choose –>Home Change to –>EasyHome
Have Fun with Your New LG G4
There you have it! Now you should be able to use your LG G4 like a pro. Did I miss anything? If you have any other tips not covered here, leave a comment below. Featured Image Credit
