https://www.electronicgurudev.in/technology/google-android-23-gingerbread-shortcuts/
The Nexus S, which was co-developed with Samsung, was the first device to ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread last December. Today, it’s still the only shipping device that runs on the latest version of the Google mobile operating system. If you’ve scored yourself an unlocked Nexus S from the US or UK, here are some cool tips and tricks that can help you make better use of your smartphone.
The list below was compiled by Google and many of them are specific to Android 2.3. Note that Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc running on Gingerbread will be available later this quarter and a number of existing Android handsets are due to receive the update as well.
Tips
| How to | Shortcut |
| Know when you’re at the end of a list | An orange hue shows up when you reach the end of a scrollable list. This tells you that you can’t scroll any further. |
| Know when you have an active wireless connection | The notification bar icons turn green when you have an active connection, otherwise they’ll appear as white. For example, if you’re in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won’t turn green until you launch the browser and log-in via the Web browser. |
| Use voice actions | You can tell your phone what to do by pressing the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass. You can tell it to send an email or text message, call someone, navigate somewhere or listen to music. |
| Find downloads from the Web browser | You can find things you’ve downloaded from your Web browser in the Downloads manager. |
| Turn Gallery stack into a slideshow | When you are looking at a stack of pictures in Gallery, you can put two fingers on the stack and spread them. The stack would then spread out and photos flow from one finger to the other. |
| Get walking directions | Click on the walking person icon to get walking directions in Google Maps. |
| Copy-and-paste text from a Web page | To copy/paste, long press some text, drag the handles around to select the text you want to copy, and press somewhere in the highlighted region. To paste, simply long press a text entry box and select paste. In Gmail, however, you need to go to Menu -> More -> Select Text. |
| Activate Wi-Fi hotspot | Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Tethering & Portable Hotspot. Certain service providers charge for this feature. |
| Activate 3D map | Tilt the map by sliding two fingers vertically up/down the screen. Rotate it by placing two fingers on the map and sliding in a circular motion. |
| See the fancy shutdown effect | When you put the phone to sleep, you’ll see an animation that resembles an old cathode tube TV turning off. |
Keyboard tricks
| How to | Shortcut |
| Capitalize a word | In Gingerbread (and supported hardware), you can press Shift + Key to capitalize a letter instead of going to a separate all caps keyboard. |
| Use auto-complete | The spacebar lights up when auto-complete can finish a word. |
| Replace a word | Tap on any previously typed word, then tap on a suggestion to automatically replace it with the suggested word. |
| Access special characters | Press and hold any key to go to the special character keyboard. You can also press and hold the "," key for an extensive punctuation keyboard. |
