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All hail the smartphone
Smartphones are great; they're basically a computer in your pocket packed full of features to make your life easier. But some of these features are less obvious than others, so to help you get the most out of your phone, here are 10 things you might not have known you could do with it.
1. Change the launcher on Android
Almost every smartphone maker overlays Android with its own interface, be it Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense. They spend enormous amounts of time making sure they get it just right, trying to improve on stock Android while standing out from the crowd.
Thankfully there's a solution. Smartphone makers aren't the only ones who can develop an interface (or launcher) for Android and many third parties have unleashed their own creations onto Google Play, allowing you to download new launchers and replace whatever one your phone came with.
A quick search for 'launcher' will turn up many, but some are better than others. Nova Launcher is among the best. It closely resembles stock Android, but gives you a number of powerful tools to further customise it, and there are free and paid versions.
Another option, particularly if you want a launcher you can show off, is Next Launcher 3D. As the name suggests, it uses a 3D effect to make icons pop out of the screen.
Fancy effects aside, it's also got a robust feature set, including the ability to create custom themes and app icons. At £11.49 it's not cheap, but can you really put a price on the sense of satisfaction you'll get from having the showiest launcher around?
2. Control other devices with infrared
More and more Android phones are being released with infrared blasters, particularly high-end handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9.
But even if your phone doesn't have a built-in infrared control, or you just don't get on with the one that is included, you'll find that Google Play has a few available to download, such as the Peel Smart Remote, which is often just re-skinned by manufacturers anyway.
4. Turn your Android into a games console
There are some tremendously powerful Android phones around, but raw power isn't all that's required for a good gaming experience. Sometimes you need a big screen and a proper controller too.
Not all phones support MHL, but handsets by Samsung and Sony do. Assuming your phone supports it, you can pick up an MHL cable from around £10 and then you'll be able to experience media from your smartphone on a big screen.
That's great for video, but for games you're still stuck with a touchscreen interface. However, there are a number of Bluetooth smartphone controllers available and with one of those in hand you can take smartphone gaming to a level that approaches home consoles.
If you've got a Sony Xperia Z3+, Sony Xperia Z3, Sony Xperia Z3 Compact or Sony Xperia Z2, another idea is to make use of PS4 Remote Play and play your console games on your phone.
5. Use your smartphone as a level
Most smartphones include an accelerometer, which is used to identify your phone's orientation, so that the screen will know when to auto rotate and means your phone can be used as a spirit level.
Having said that, it can be hard to find it, as you have to launch the compass app and then swipe across to a second screen. It's not the most obvious location, but now you know where it is you can get to work checking your bed/table/sofa/TV/house/cat is level.
6. Automate your life with IF
IF (previously IFTTT or If That Then This) is an app available on Android and iOS, which creates simple connections between apps and functions. You could, for example, set mobile data to turn off when you're connected to Wi-Fi or automatically upload new photos to your cloud storage service of choice.
8. Use volume buttons to skip songs
Using a phone as an MP3 player is great, but when the screen's off and the phone's in your pocket it can be a chore to skip that Haddaway song you drunkenly added to your playlist. However, with a little bit of alteration you can make your volume buttons double as a way to skip tracks.
On Android, something similar can be achieved with the help of a third party app, such as 'Pocket Skip Track' or 'Change Track', which allow you to skip a song with a tap of the volume buttons.
Unfortunately this is only possible on iOS with a jailbreak and Windows Phone 8 has no way of doing it without first turning the screen on.
9. Restore deleted photos on iOS 8
If you get a bit too tap happy it's possible to accidentally delete one of your many treasured cat or food photos, but if you have an iPhone all is not lost.
On the other hand, if you really don't want someone to see that photo of you passed out in a sea of fast food, it's worth heading into the Recently Deleted album and double deleting it.
10. Block annoying numbers
No longer do you have to suffer PPI claims lines and other nuisance callers, as most smartphones offer the ability to block numbers.
On Android, things can be a bit more convoluted and depends in part on what phone you have. It may be that you can do it in a similar way to iOS 8; on the HTC One M9 you can simply tap and hold a number in your call history and then tap 'Block contact'.
Other smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, feature an auto reject list, which is generally found in the phone settings menu and allows you to manually add numbers to a list of rejected callers. However, if all else fails, there are apps to do the job, such as 'Truecaller' and 'Mr. Number'.
On Windows Phone 8.1 you can enable a 'blocked numbers' option in the 'Call + SMS filter' section of the settings menu. Once enabled you'll find the option to block a number when you long press it in your recent calls list.
Sadly it's not currently possible to natively block a number on BlackBerry 10, but there are apps available from BlackBerry World that do the job.
- Looking for a fancy new phone to go with your newly found knowledge? Check out our top list.