- Accessing the Widgets Screen
- Taking a Tour of Available Widgets
- Adding a Widget to a Home Screen
- Creating a New Home Screen
- Removing a Widget
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Taking a Tour of Available Widgets
Each widget on the page contains the name of the widget, the size of the widget (width by height in number of grid spaces), and a thumbnail-sized graphic that shows you how the widget will appear on the Home screen. Note that if you want to see how big a 1 × 1 icon is, the Books widget icon that belongs with step 4 in the next task is sized at 1 grid space wide by 1 grid space high.
All the widgets listed in this section are available on all Galaxy Tab 3 models. On the Galaxy Tab 3 8", which is used for the screenshots in this section (and throughout most of this book), six widgets appear on each of the eight pages within the Widgets screen.
Examine the Page 1 Widgets
- Active Apps Manager: Opens the Task Manager screen so you can see all active applications, view downloaded apps, and manage memory and storage.
- Adapt Sound: Opens the Adapt Sound app so you can test and fine-tune the sound level of the earphones you plug into the Galaxy Tab 3.
- Alarm: Enables you to create an alarm in the Alarm app and display the alarm on the Home screen. You find out more about setting an alarm using the widget in Chapter 8, “Using Galaxy Tab 3 Widgets.”
- Book: Opens the Google Play Books app and shows you a list of all books you’ve downloaded.
Bookmark: Opens the Internet app so you can select a bookmarked website on the Choose a Bookmark screen. After you select the bookmark in the appropriate folder, the bookmarked website appears as an icon on the Home screen. View the website in the Internet app by tapping on the bookmark icon.
Bookmarks: Places a larger widget on the screen so you can select a bookmark from directly within the widget. Swipe up and down within the widget to view folders and then tap a folder name; after you find the bookmark you want within the folder you tap it. The website appears in the Internet or Chrome app. When you return to the Home screen, you can navigate to and open a bookmark from within the widget.
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Examine the Page 2 Widgets
- Briefing: Displays your upcoming events and top news stories from Yahoo! News so you can get your information and news stories at a glance from your Home screen.
- Calendar: Displays a small calendar for the current day that shows a brief list of your appointments that day.
- Clock (Digital): Opens a digital clock that shows the current time and date.
- Clock (Modern): Shows a modern-looking analog clock that displays the current time.
- Contact: Opens the Contacts window app so you can select the contact to display in the widget. After you select the contact, the picture of the contact appears on the Home screen. Tap the contact picture to open the contact window.
Directions & Navigation: Opens the Directions & Navigation app so you can enter your destination address from your current location to get turn-by-turn directions.
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Examine the Page 3 Widgets
- Dropbox Folder: Places a Dropbox folder link on your Home screen. You have to open the Dropbox app and log in before you can add this widget. After you log in, you can select the folder to which you want to link in the Create Shortcut window.
- Dual Clock (Analog): Shows times in two separate cities as analog clocks.
- Dual Clock (Digital): Shows times in two different cities as digital clocks. The current date appears below the time for each city.
- Email: Shows the most recent five email messages that are aggregated from all your inboxes. After you add the app to a Home screen, set up the Samsung Email widget app by tapping the widget.
- Flipboard (Medium): Enables you to access your Flipboard social aggregation website data when you tap the widget. This widget takes up half the Home screen, which explains the Medium designation. The full screen widget appears by default on a Home screen. Read Chapter 8 for more information about the Flipboard widget.
Flipboard (Small): Places a small version of the Flipboard widget on the Home screen so you can open the Flipboard app by tapping the widget.
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Examine the Page 4 Widgets
- Game Hub: Opens the Game Hub app. This widget appears on one of the Home screens by default.
- Gmail: Shows the most recent three messages you received in your Gmail inbox. When you add the app to a Home screen, the Choose Folder window appears so you can select the folder that contains messages you want to read. After you tap the folder name, the most recent messages within that folder appear on the Home screen.
- Gmail Label: Adds a Gmail Label, which acts as a shortcut that opens a Gmail folder. When you add the app to your Home screen, the Choose Folder window appears and asks you to select a Gmail folder. The Name Label Shortcut window appears so you can accept the folder name as the shortcut name or type a new name. Tap Done in the window to view the Gmail Label widget on the Home screen.
- Google Now: Displays basic Google Now app information such as a brief weather forecast and information about your next appointment. Open the Google Now app and get more information by tapping on the widget on the Home screen.
- Google Play Books: Opens the most recent book you read in the Google Play Books app. The cover of the most recent book you read appears in the widget icon.
Google Play Music: Plays the next song in your Google Play Music playlist when you tap the Play button in the Google Play Music widget. Open the Play Music app by tapping the thumbnail-sized image on the left side of the widget.
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Examine the Page 5 Widgets
- Google Search: Adds a transparent Google Search box to the home page; this widget box appears on the main Home screen by default.
- Google Search (smaller version): Adds a smaller, white Google Search box to the Home screen.
- Google+ Posts: Displays your latest Google+ posts within the widget. Open the Google+ app and view the most recent post by tapping the widget in the Home screen.
- Memo: Enables you to write a new memo that will be easily accessible on your Home screen. When you add the memo to the Home screen, the Memo window displays so you can type your memo. After you save the memo, the memo icon appears on the Home screen so you can open it quickly.
- Music Hub: Shows the latest music within several categories in the Music Hub app. Tap the widget to open the Music Hub app and shop for songs.
Music Player: Displays the Samsung Music Player app that enables you to play songs stored on your Galaxy Tab 2 within the widget itself. For example, you can tap the Play button within the widget to play the song at the top of the list.
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Examine the Page 6 Widgets
- Music Playlist: Opens the Play Music app window so you can select a playlist that contains the songs you like. After you tap the playlist you want, the playlist icon and name appear on the Home screen. Tap the playlist icon to start playing songs within that playlist.
- Picture Frame: Displays one or more of your selected pictures stored on your Tab 2 within an area on the Home screen.
- Play—My Library: Shows contents of one or all of the Google Play apps. For example, the My Books library shows covers of the most recent books you read. Read the book in the Play Books app by tapping the book cover.
- Play Recommendations: Displays Google Play Store recommendations in one category (for example, Apps) or in all categories. View the recommended app or multimedia file by tapping the widget.
- Play Store: Displays a slideshow of new and interesting apps in the Google Play Store. Open the Play Store app by tapping the widget.
S Bookmarks: Displays your website bookmark folders. Open the list of bookmarks by tapping the bookmark folder and then tap on the bookmark tile to open the website in the Browser app.
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Examine the Page 7 Widgets
- S Planner (Mini Today): Displays a list of all your events for the day stored in the S Planner app. Tap the arrows to the left and right of the date to move backward or forward one day, respectively. You can also tap the widget to add a new event in the S Planner app screen; you can read more about this in Chapter 8.
- S Planner (Month): Displays events for the entire month on an entire Home screen. You can also view different months from within the widget and add an event. Read more about how to use this app in Chapter 8.
- Settings Shortcut: Opens the Settings screen from the Home screen. This shortcut is available on every Home screen by default.
- Software Update: Opens the Software Update screen from the Home screen.
- Story Album: Enables you to create digital picture albums of various events to share. You can also publish those albums as hard copy books. Read more about using Story Album in Chapter 8.
Travel: This widget displays travel recommendations in case you’re looking to get away. Read more about how to use this widget in Chapter 8.
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Examine the Page 8 Widgets
- User Manual: View the user manual within the Internet app by tapping the User Manual widget. After you select the language in which you want to view the manual, you see the manual on the screen so you can view information from learning the basics to troubleshooting your Galaxy Tab 3. You can also search for user manual topics based on one or more keyword(s).
- Video Player: Places a link to a selected video on the Home screen; the title appears in the widget. Play the video in the Video Player app by tapping on the widget.
- Weather: Displays the current weather for your location on the Home screen. This widget appears on the main Home screen by default.
- Yahoo! Finance: Displays your latest stock quotes on your Home screen from Yahoo! Finance. You can get more information within the Yahoo! Finance app by tapping the widget in the Home screen.
- Yahoo! News: Shows the top news stories from Yahoo! News on your Home screen. You can read the entire story in the Yahoo! News app by tapping the widget in the Home screen.
YouTube: Displays a slideshow of the most recent YouTube videos within various categories such as Most Popular. View the featured video in the slideshow within the YouTube app by tapping the image of the video in the widget.
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