I keep hearing about the various
security problems associated with Android. I carry a lot of information on my
phone, both personal and work-related and I'm concerned that this is going to
be put at risk if I happen to install the wrong app, or if I stumble upon the
wrong website. Is the risk overstated, or are there things I should be doing to
make sure that my data remains as safe as possible?
A It is true
that there have been some malware issues with certain apps in Google Play,
albeit ones that have been dealt with very quickly, but there are no security
issues on Android that common sense cannot overcome. First up, you need to
consider how you look after the phone and what you do to make sure your
information doesn't fall into the wrong hands. You should try to use the
pattern lock for the best protection and ensure that you are using a screen
protector so not to leave the pattern showing on the screen. Make sure that you
use hard-to-crack passwords on all your important accounts and use different
passwords for each. In short, these are the exact same principles you should be
using on all your computing devices. If you want to take things further, go to
Settings>Security and look for the encryption option. This feature will let
you fully encrypt each of your accounts and requires a PIN to be inputted when
you need access, but it is very secure and should offer great peace of mind.
Don’t
forget obvious security methods
You should also be careful when installing
new apps; only install the ones you need and make sure that you carefully read
the permissions required before installation, especially if you are choosing
more obscure apps from unknown developers. It's also worth noting that the
overwhelming majority of malware incidences occur with pirated versions of apps
rather than those downloaded from official stores, so don't put your phone and
data at risk in this way. There are few problems on Android and you should not
worry too much. But taking some precautions will quickly build your confidence
in the platform and how it works and should enable you to get much more out if
I spend forever converting movies... help!
I seem to spend forever converting
movies for my LG Android phone. I have a long train journey to and from work
and can go through a whole movie each day. What's the quickest way to convert
movies and TV series for watching on my phone?"
A It is
admittedly a weak area on Android and a lot of manufacturers are taking it upon
themselves to install video players on their devices that support a full range
of video formats. If yours is lacking, there are some very useful solutions
that could make your life a lot easier. If you are converting video files from
various formats, you may want to avoid that altogether by looking at the way
you are playing the films. MX Player is a good example which offers
compatibility with SubRip(.srt), MicroDVD(.sub/.txt),
SubViewer2.o(.sub), MPL2(.mpl/. txt) and
PowerDivX(.psb/.txt) among others, and in our tests we were able to play every
format we threw at it. Also built in are advanced features such as subtitle
scrolling, CPU optimisation and other small tweaks designed to make the most of
your mobile video watching. Although do note that if your phone has a slower
processor it might struggle to keep up with files optimised for TV-sized
displays (especially if they are HD), with stuttering video or audio sync
issues. On the conversion side, we would strongly recommend Handbrake
(http://handbrake.fr) which will convert long videos extremely quickly. With a
good amount of RAM and a fast processor, a full-length film can be converted in
minutes and the clever queuing feature means that you could convert multiple
episodes of the same TV series and have them all ready for your commute. Also,
it will naturally output the conversions in a format that should work on all
Android devices with no problems. With these solutions, you can dramatically
cut down your conversion times.
Handbrake
is extremely quick at converting movies for mobile devices
Hints and tips
Get more from your Android phone with
our handy hints
1. A better fix
Most Android phones come with the GPS
satellite option set to off. Go to Settings>Location services to turn it on
and achieve much better location fixes. This feature uses more battery, but the
benefits are clear.
2. One button saves money
If you use a limited mobile data plan, go
to Settings>Data usage and tick Set mobile data limit. You can then move the
red bar on the graph to where you need and ensure that you do not bust your
plan and fall foul of usage charges.
3. Don't kill your battery
Live wallpapers look great and add lots of
personality, but they can eat up the battery more than any other app. Take a
look at Settings>Battery to see if yours is worth keeping in comparison to
the battery life used.
