First things to do with your new Android phone or tablet

Joe Fedewa
10 years ago

So you just unwrapped a brand new Android phone or tablet. You’ve set it all up, downloaded Facebook, and now you’re thinking “what else can I do with this thing?” Android is wonderfully personal, fun, different, and powerful. Here are the first things you should do with your new toy.

We don’t know what device you just unwrapped, but there is a good chance we’ve covered it already. Below we have a list of first things you should do with specific phones. If you have those devices it’s a great place to start.

Download Apps

One of the most obvious things to do with a phone is download some of those apps you’ve been hearing everyone talk about. You know about Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and all those common apps. We’ve got a list of some apps you may not know about. Check it out.

	Inbox Inbox is a new email app from the folks at Gmail. It automatically organizes everything and only notifies you of the important emails. It’s great if you’re just a casual email user.
	Flipboard If you’re looking to do some casual reading, Flipboard is the app for you. It curates stories from across the web to match your interests. The animations are beautiful, and it’s easy to use.
	Pocket Casts Podcasts made a big comeback in 2014. The best podcasts app you can find on any platform is Pocketcasts. It can sync progress across devices, play to a Chromecast, auto download new episodes, and so much more. cough Mobile Roar Podcast.
	Swiftkey One of the great features of Android is the ability to download keyboards. SwiftKey is an awesome alternative to whatever keyboard your device came with. The more you use it the more it learns about the way you type, which makes typing even easier.
	VSCO Cam There are thousands of apps that can edit photos, but our favorite is VSCO Cam. It does much more than simply slap a filter on top of your photo. This is a powerful photo editor, but the interface makes it easy for anyone to use.
	reddit sync If you’re a Redditor you will be looking for a great Reddit app. You can’t go wrong with reddit sync. The Material Design is beautiful, and it comes with many different views for reading subreddits.
	Messenger by Google The SMS apps that come with most Android phones leave a lot to be desired. Like keyboards, you can swap out SMS apps. If you’re looking for something quick and simple you can’t go wrong with Google’s elegant Messenger app.
	Timehop If you’ve been using social media sites for years you have a time capsule full of stuff just waiting to be seen. Timehop displays your old tweets, status updates, Instagram photos, and more every day. It’s like a time machine for your life.
	AccuWeather Checking the weather is an important part of most people’s days. Most Android devices can check the weather by simply doing a Google search. If you’re interested in more in-depth forecasts and information you should check out AccuWeather.
	Wunderlist A to-do list can play an important part in making your life more productive. Wunderlist is one of the best list apps out there. It can sync across tons of different devices, and it’s great for collaborating with others.
	Waze Google Maps is great on Android devices, but if you travel a lot you may want to take it up a notch. Waze is crowd-sourced traffic information at your fingertips. Get alerts when cops are ahead or if traffic is slowing down.
	Google Wallet Some Android phone have the ability to do mobile payments. Apple Pay has made this feature much more mainstream, which benefits us too. Google Wallet is one of the best mobile payments apps for Android. Give it a shot and pay for things with your phone!
	Pushbullet Arguably the best app from 2014 is Pushbullet. With this app you can easily push things to other devices, but so, so much more. It can show your phone notifications on your PC, allow you to reply to SMS from your PC, and even sync your clipboard across devices.
	IFTTT IFTTT (if this then that) will automate your life. With this app you can create “recipes” that will do things for you. Get an alert when it’s going to rain. When you’re tagged in a Facebook photo save it to Dropbox. Automatically mute your device at work. And much more.
	Phandroid Now that you have an Android device you’ll want to be in the know about all things Android. With the Phandroid news app you can read everything we post. We’ll tell you about new phones, new apps, great games, and much more.

For a more expansive list of apps for new users keep reading here. We’ve also got a bunch of more specific app lists for many different things. Here are you few you might be interested in:

Download Games

Sometimes you just want to have fun. Good news: the Google Play Store is chock full of games from every genre. You won’t be missing out on any popular games with an Android device. Here are a few of our favorites that you should check out first.

	TwoDots TwoDots is the addictive sequel to last year’s “Dots.” All you have to do is connect dots, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it will be easy.
	Threes! 1+2=3. 3+3=6. 6+6=12. 12+12=24. Got it? You’ve mastered the basic concept of Threes! Slide numbers together to stay alive as long as possible.
	Super Hexagon This timeless classic is still super fun, super hard, and super addictive. If you’ve never played Super Hexagon you really need to download it.
	Angry Birds GO! One of Rovio’s more recent Angry Bird games is “GO!” Think of it like Mario Kart meets the Angry Bird universe. It’s surprisingly fun.
	Monument Valley You’ll be hard pressed to find a more beautiful game for Android. The puzzles are tough, but you’ll be blown away by the visuals.
	Minecraft PE Everyone loves Minecraft. With the Pocket Edition you can play on your phone or tablet from anywhere. Never miss a block.
	Star Wars: Commander We couldn’t make a list without a Star Wars game. This is a combat strategy game that takes place in the original trilogy.
	Heads Up HeadsUp is the perfect game for Holiday parties. You simply hold the phone above your head and friends act out the word.
	Wordbase Think of Wordbase like aggressive scrabble. The goal is to connect words to make it to the other side of the board before your opponent.
	Trivia Crack Everybody loves trivia, and trivia Crack is trivia in its most addictive state. You can play against friends or random people from around the globe.

Here some more specific app lists for your gaming needs:

Continue to: Guides for every phone and Android Forums

How To Do Everything

Now that your phone is full of great apps and games we can move on to other things that you might not know about. Don’t worry, none of it is difficult, and when you’re done you will be a knowledgeable Android user.

How to find a lost or stolen Android phone

In this guide we cover one of the most important things to know: finding your lost phone. As important as smartphones have become in our everyday lives, misplacing them is one of the most scary things that can happen. We discuss some things you can do to get it back, even if you weren’t prepared to have it happen!

How to setup a lock-screen pattern, PIN or password

Your phone has a lot of sensitive and important data on it. One of the most important things you can do is set up some kind of security to protect it. In this guide we walk you through the easy steps of setting up a lock screen pattern, pin, or password.

How to find your parked car with Google Now

Did you know the Google Search app has a built-in Car Locator for helping you remember where you parked? It can help you find your parked car with no extra effort on your part. This guide tells you hot to set it up.

7 cool tricks every Android user should know

Since there are so many different things you can do with an Android phone it’s inevitable that even seasoned veterans will be unaware of some basic tricks. We compiled this list of seven cool tricks that every Android user should know. Check it out for some pointers.

How to use Android’s built-in voice commands

One of the best things about owning an Android device is Google Now voice commands. They’re extremely handy and powerful if you know how to use them. In this guide we show you how to use over 40 voice commands.

How to turn off iMessage when switching from iPhone to Android

Are you switching to Android from an iOS device? If you haven’t turned off iMessage you could be a victim of lost messages and other bugs. In this guide we take you through the process of disabling iMessage. You might also want to know how to transfer contacts from iOS to Android.

Sign Up for Android Forums

If you still can’t figure out how to do something we have a giant community of Android users who are dying to help you. We recently remodeled our forums to make them easier to navigate. Here are 12 important tips for using the new Android Forums.

For a more direct route to getting your questions answered we have a dedicated section of the forum. In here you can ask whatever you want and our community will do their best to get you an answer. Make sure to download the official Android Forums app so you can ask questions or browse from anywhere.

Here are some popular forums to get you started:

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Phew. We know that was a lot of info to throw at you, but now you should be up to speed with Android. It’s a fun and powerful platform to use. We hope you enjoy your new Android device, and stop by Phandroid frequently to stay current on everything happening!