China bans news sites from using social media as a source

The Cyberspace Administration of China put national news outlets on notice this weekend, warning them not to base reports on social media sources without strict verification of the facts. The statement came less than a week after the appointment of a new head of the regulatory body, and cites various, apparently bogus stories published off the back of chatter on popular services like Weibo and WeChat. “It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts,” a translation of the warning reads.

The general sentiment isn’t particularly oppressive: Ensure news is true, objective, written in context, appropriately sourced and referenced. There is a threatening undertone to the notice, however. It states that media outlets should have robust internal mechanisms in place to keep false reports from seeing the light of day. Failing those, the Cyberspace Administration will punish offending publications, aided by a growing force of internet inspectors.

China’s penchant for censorship is nothing new, of course. When the powers that be aren’t blacklisting new sites to be blocked by the Great Firewall, they’re sanitizing the content published on approved apps and services. The government is also working on new laws that would ban foreign media from publishing without the state’s blessing first, all the while asking more liberal corners of the world to respect its censorship regime.

Via: The Guardian, South China Morning Post

Source: Cyberspace Administration of China

‘Walmart Pay’ Expands to 19 More States as Apple Pay Holdout Continues

Walmart has announced that its mobile payments solution Walmart Pay is now available in 19 more U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Last month, Walmart Pay widely expanded to Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Washington D.C. capital area. The service initially launched in Arkansas and Texas in May.

Walmart Pay is built into the Walmart app [Direct Link] for iOS and Android and works at any checkout lane with any major credit, debit, pre-paid, or Walmart gift card.

The payments solution is based upon a QR code checkout process that involves opening the Walmart app, selecting Walmart Pay, activating the camera, scanning the code displayed at the register, and waiting for the cashier to finish bagging your items. An electronic receipt is automatically sent to the app.

Walmart Pay is now available at nearly 5,000 stores in 37 states, and a nationwide rollout is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

Walmart is among a handful of retailers that have refused to support Apple Pay since its American launch in October 2014. The retailer was originally committed to the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium and its now indefinitely postponed payments service CurrentC before launching Walmart Pay.

In late 2015, Walmart senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert said that Walmart Pay allows “for integration of other mobile wallets in the future,” providing at least some hope that the retailer may eventually accept rival payment services such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay at its stores.

Walmart Pay’s resistance to Apple Pay continues despite some other large U.S. retailers including Best Buy and Rite Aid reversing course and accepting the iPhone-based payments service at their stores. Walmart rival Target, meanwhile, is developing a QR code-based mobile wallet solution of its own.

The Walmart app [Direct Link] is free on the App Store for iPhone and Apple Watch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: Walmart Pay, Walmart
Discuss this article in our forums

Best casual games for Android

You don’t have to play 24/7 to enjoy games on your phone. Be a casual gamer and join in the fun!

Not everyone wants to commit hours of their day to playing games on their phone. That’s why casual games exist! You can drop in and play whenever you want to at your own pace and be as laid back or as competitive as you want. Most casual games are free, offering in-app purchases and some ads, while a few will cost you a dollar or two, but they’re totally worth it. We had some fun playing around with the very best casual games for Android, and here are some of our favorites.

• Fast like a Fox
• Smash Hit
• Blek
• Piano Tiles 2
• Candy Crush Saga
• Fruit Ninja Free
• Angry Birds
• Ridiculous Fishing
• Dumb Ways to Die 2
• Words With Friends
• My Talking Tom
• Mandala Coloring Pages

Fast like a Fox

Search for stolen coins, emeralds, and diamonds as you race through multiple worlds in Fast like a Fox. The retro-style geometric design of your little hero fox and the landscapes he runs through are fun to watch, and the soundtrack is zippy and catchy.

The game claims it’s “easy to play, hard to master” and that’s just what you want in a casual game; it will keep you coming back until your fox has claimed all of the treasure he can. In-app purchases can be made to help you advance, but the more you play and the better you get, the less likely you’ll be to need those extras.

Download: Fast like a Fox (free with in-app purchases)

Smash Hit

Unwind in your downtime by breaking virtual glass in Smash Hit. No consequences, only loads of points when you shatter the glass obstacles in your path in beautifully designed game levels.

The music and audio effects change as you progress through the game’s stages, over 50 of which are available with the free download. An optional in-app purchase gives you premium perks such as the ability to save and access checkpoints, new game modes, and cloud save access across all of your devices.

Download:Smash Hit (free with in-app purchases)

Blek

If you often find yourself mindlessly doodling, Blek is a game designed with you in mind. The multiple award winning game takes doodles to an artistic level as you find patterns and draw your way to more challenging levels.

The concept is simple and hooks you in right away. Use your doodling skills to draw a continuous line that collects all of the colored balls in a pattern. Succeed and your doodle becomes its own piece of art; make a mistake and you try again. Blek is easy enough to play on your downtime, yet challenging enough to busy your mind. With full support for the S-pen, this is a must-own for Samsung Galaxy Note owners.

Download:Blek ($2.99)

Piano Tiles 2

Building on the popularity of the original Piano Tiles game, Piano Tiles 2 lets you play along with the band to classical music and modern pop songs. Use your fingertips to tap the black keys as they scroll down your screen to the music.

Play in friendly battle of bands-style competitions against your Facebook friends or against other music lovers from around the world. In-app purchases unlock additional songs. A tremendously popular game with a beautiful built-in soundtrack? That’s an absolute must have.

Download:Piano Tiles 2 (free with in-app purchases)

Candy Crush Saga

The Candy Crush franchise is the most popular casual puzzler for phones. In the latest twist on the Candy Crush game, you match three of the same candy on the game board to create, spread, or clear away jelly. Your nemesis is the Jelly Queen and you can battle her alone or test your skills against your friends.

The game has added new candies you’ll wish you could buy and eat in real life. If you’re connected to Facebook you’ll have access to a leaderboard that shows you how well you’re doing and who your biggest competition is. There are over 100 levels of sweet, silly fun to be had, and the games are as short or as in-depth as you want them to be.

Download:Candy Crush Saga (free with in-app purchases)

Fruit Ninja Free

Enter the world of Fruitasia, where your Sensei is waiting for you with fruit fight missions. All you need to know to get started is that Fruit Ninjas slice fruit, not bombs; once you master that, you’ll be slicing and dicing like an old pro in no time.

As your game improves, you can upgrade your blade and join new Dojos. Learn how to handle bananas and multi-slice pomegranates, not to mention the rare 10 fruit Great Wave. It all sounds funny and a little on the ridiculous side, but it’s also all for fun and distraction; that’s the perfect casual game.

Download:Fruit Ninja Free (free with in-app purchases)

Angry Birds

You’d be an Angry Bird, too, if a bunch of pesky pigs swiped all of your eggs. That’s the premise of the mobile game so popular they based a movie on it. This free game will keep you entertained in short spurts while you’re in line at the grocery store, or for longer rounds on that long bus ride home.

Every bird comes with a unique skill, designed to ruin the evil pigs and restore order. Fling the birds at obstacles, power up their skills with features like a Birdquake (hint: it’s exactly what it sounds like), or make a one-time purchase of the Mighty Eagle and show those pigs who the real bosses are. It’s loads of addictive fun for gamers of any age or skill level.

Download:Angry Birds (free with in-app purchases)

Ridiculous Fishing

The key character in this slightly absurd, absolutely fun game is a mysterious man named Billy, who’s out on the water in his trusty boat, trying to catch fish. The real catch? After he catches the fish, Billy flings them into the air and shoots them. Wait…what?

The goal is to get Billy’s fishing lure as deep into the water as you can without touching any fish on the way down; on the way up, grab everything! Because you’re paying for the game outright, there are no additional in-app purchases to make, so when Billy needs to buy his chainsaw and toaster (which are actually very helpful fishing appliances, as it turns out) you won’t be out of pocket. And just wait until you get to Billy’s hats…those silly, ridiculous hats.

Download:Ridiculous Fishing ($2.99)

Dumb Ways to Die 2

This casual game is based on the cute, animated Australian public service announcement that went viral. All you have to do is stay alive, and that would be easy if your character wasn’t so dumb. Dumb Ways to Die 2 is actually a series of mini games, perfect for those little moments when you want to play a game but can’t invest loads of time.

In the Dumb universe, you don’t throw the javelin, you catch it. Have you always wanted to swim with dolphins? Try your hand at the Dolphin Rodeo and try not to break your neck. Don’t forget to join the local curling team and play with dynamite rocks. Invite your friends in the multiplayer mode and see who can jump the ever-rising electric fence.

Download:Dumb Ways to Die 2 (free with in-app purchases)

Words With Friends

Fancy yourself a wordsmith? If so, get on board with Words With Friends, the Scrabble-based game you play at your own pace, whether it’s one word an hour or one word per day. Just check your gameboard whenever you have a few free moments and play tiles to earn points and climb the real-time leaderboard.

The in-app chat feature lets you converse with your friends as you play, so you can send them an innocent taunt or gentle reminder that you’re waiting for them to take a turn, or you can congratulate them on a complex play. You’ll also be able to access your game from your desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone, so your game can just keep on going.

Download:Words With Friends (free with in-app purchases)

My Talking Tom

Adopt and raise an adorable kitten when you download My Talking Tom (think tomcat). It’s up to you to feed him, play games, and teach him how to be a grown cat by checking in with him regularly and keeping him happy.

If you talk to your Tom, he’ll repeat what you say. Tickle him on your screen and watch him giggle and purr. You can customize your Tom by choosing what his fur looks like, what kind of apartment he’ll live in, and the clothes (yes, clothes!) he’ll wear. The two of you can play in-app mini-games like Bubble Shooter and Planet Hop before Tom needs to be tucked in for the night.

Download:My Talking Tom (free with in-app purchases)

Mandala Coloring Pages

The popular trend of adult coloring books is on your phone, too. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s time to download the Mandala Coloring Pages and remember how much fun coloring was when you were a kid.

With hundreds of mandala designs to choose from, and a virtually endless colour selection, you can create beautiful images in your moments of spare time. Unlike real coloring pages, you can tap Undo to use a different color if you change your mind. You can also save your finished pieces and share them to your social media account or even print them. How lovely is that?

Download:Mandala Coloring Pages (free with in-app purchases)

Keep it casual

We want to know what are some of your favorite go-to casual games? Tell us all about them in the comments!

What is Project Fi, how does it work and why do I want it?

Google’s own carrier offering definitely has some appeal.

If you’re an Android enthusiast, you’ve likely already heard of Project Fi. But that doesn’t mean you necessarily know everything about it, so we’re here to give you the high-level look at the carrier option that comes directly from Google. Namely, just what the heck it is, how it works compared to other carriers and maybe a few reasons why you’d want to try it.

If you’re interested in checking out phone service from Google, be sure to follow along with some of the high points below and get acquainted with Project Fi.

What is Project Fi?

At the highest level, Project Fi is a phone carrier offering from Google. It works by giving you mobile data service on three mobile networks, which your phone will intelligently switch between — it also uses Wi-Fi to make calls and send texts whenever available. Project Fi is a “prepaid” carrier, meaning you pay upfront for your service in the trailing month, which is the opposite of a traditional carrier (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) that bills you after you use the service.

Project Fi is focused on simplified billing. You pay $20 per month for unlimited talk and texting, and a flat rate of $10 per gigabyte of data used. At the start of each month you simply estimate how much data you’ll use and pay for that amount — at the end of the month you’ll receive either a refund for data you didn’t use, or pay a little extra on the next bill for data overages. You’ll always pay at the same $10 per gigabyte rate, though, no matter what.

How does it work?

Project Fi works with a special SIM card — and a little software on your phone — that can authenticate you on T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular, and switch between them on the fly based on a variety of factors. Because it can also use Wi-Fi for calls and texts, you can keep using your phone in places where mobile data isn’t that great. Extra software called a “Wi-Fi Assistant” will automatically connect your phone to open Wi-Fi access points when you’re out of the house, reducing your data usage without any intervention on your part.

You get the power of three mobile networks, plus Wi-Fi, in a single SIM

When you use Project Fi, you also get some of the same features that have made Google Voice popular over the years. You can forward phone calls to your Fi number to any phone you want, as well as view voicemail, make calls and send texts with that number from any device using the Hangouts app.

Project Fi also works internationally in 120 countries around the world with no additional cost for data use or texting. You can call at a flat rate to any number while on the cellular networks abroad, or pay much lower rates when calling on Wi-Fi. You can also call back home to the U.S. on Wi-Fi for free. Data used internationally just comes out of your standard $10 per gigabyte bucket, but speeds are limited to 256kbps (double what T-Mobile offers outside of North America).

Why do I want it?

Well, this is really a personal question of whether you actually want to try Project Fi. Chances are if you’re reading Android Central you’re at least one step closer to being the target audience for the Google-powered carrier, but there are a few other boxes to check that make it the right choice for you.

Simplicity in the service and billing are paramount to the experience.

The first limitation is phone choice. Google lets you choose from one of its latest three Nexus phones — the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X or Nexus 6 — but those are the only three phones you can use with the service right now. You can sign up for Project Fi, and you’ll have either a SIM card for your existing Nexus shipped out or you can buy a new phone right from Google, including with interest-free 24 month financing. You can use it for as long or short as you like, and there’s no activation fee or service commitment.

There are lots of cool features that make Project Fi a good choice, like the simplified billing, included international features and improved network coverage through the use of three carriers and Wi-Fi networks. Each one will have a different amount of draw for different people, though.

Project Fi’s pricing isn’t dramatically lower than other carriers out there, and whether it makes a good choice financially for you depends on your data usage and which features you want. We encourage you to do your pricing research before choosing which carrier is the best.

And whether you’re still on the fence or just curious about it, be sure to follow all of our Project Fi coverage here at Android Central.

Google Project Fi

• What is Project Fi?
• Get the latest Project Fi news
• How to move back to Google Voice
• Discuss Project Fi in our forums
• Compatible phones: Nexus 6P | Nexus 5X | Nexus 6
• Sign up for Project Fi

How to turn off Facebook Live notifications

We’ve all seen what fireworks look like. This Fourth of July, do yourself a favor and disable Facebook Live notifications.

Good news, everyone! Facebook has made it easier than ever to broadcast what you’re doing, live. Bad news, everyone! Facebook has made it easier than ever to broadcast what you’re doing, live. And the thing about live video is that it’s pointless if nobody’s watching. So Facebook makes sure that you get a notification every damn time one of your friends (or a page that you follow) goes live.

Sometimes that’s great! Especially when it’s the Android Central Facebook page that’s doing the streaming, right?

Other times, it’s downright awful. Holidays such as the Fourth of July here in the U.S. are one of those times. We’ve all seen fireworks before. Many of us will be out watching them, live. (Like, in-person.) So the last thing we need is 200 notifications of other people broadcasting their own fireworks experiences over relatively low resolution.

(Note that this only works from the full Facebook site, not m.facebook.com (which your phone will try to send you to), or from within the Facebook app.)

Here’s how to to turn off Facebook Live notifications:

Go to your Facebook settings. Drill down to Settings>Notifications>On Facebook.
Now choose “Edit.” (Note: This link should take you directly.)
Toggle “Live Videos” to OFF.

Note that this only works from the full Facebook site, not m.facebook.com (which your phone will try to send you to), or from within the Facebook app.

Alternatively, if you just want to kill Facebook Live notifications from a single person or page, you can do so from within the notifications themselves. Just long-press on the person you want to squelch, and then choose whether to dismiss that single notification, or to turn off all notifications of live videos from that person.

Unless you absolutely hate any use of Facebook Live, we might suggest not turning off these notifications permanently. While they might get annoying when you’ve got groups of friends all showing the same thing (and the same thing that you yourself might be doing), you might well miss something interesting other times.

How to back up your Android

Losing your stuff is no fun. Neither is trying to get it all back on a new phone. Here are some tips to make it easier to keep everything important backed up.

We keep a lot of things on our phones. We have pictures and videos, details about the people we know, schedules and important dates and more. Many of us depend on our phones to help keep track of a good part of our daily lives. With all this stuff stored in one portable place, it can be a disaster if we lose it all. Some of us have been there — our phones were lost or stolen or broken. It’s not fun to try and sort it all out on a new phone, Not fun at all. That’s why it’s important to try and copy everything in another place and keep a backup of your important data.

Android is a cloud-based operating system. It was designed to be connected and keep everything synchronized with a computer in a cold building somewhere electricity is cheap. Seriously, data centers are huge banks of machines that mostly exist to store things and have them ready when someone wants to see them. And Google knows all about setting up and maintaining data centers. It makes sense for Google to support and develop a cloud-based system because they are the cloud.

Android was designed from the ground up to be a cloud-based OS.

Google has built-in synchronization for your email, your contacts, your notes and just about every other service they offer. If you move to another phone, just sign in with your Google account and all your stuff is there — except not really.

We don’t just use Google’s app on our phones, and that’s where things get a bit funky. Any app published on Google Play has the ability to store your data (whether its recipes or game progress or anything else) for free inside your Google account. The problem is that many developers don’t bother to use it. I’ve heard from some app devs that it’s a trivial thing to include, while others say it’s a big mess. I’ll assume it depends on just what you;re trying to back up. For whatever reason, one thing to look for when choosing which apps you want to install is if they keep your data safe in case you have to move to another phone — either through Google or their own method. We covered how to set up backup through Google, so be sure to have a look if you have any questions.

How to back up through Android settings

For a lot of us, though, the shift from keeping the second copy of all our stuff on a remote computer instead of the computer in our home isn’t easy. If you’re coming from an iPhone or a BlackBerry you’re used to plugging your phone in and copying stuff to your computer, with a piece of software installed that makes it fairly simple. That makes sense, too, because Apple and BlackBerry aren’t cloud-first companies (though they are moving in that direction.) Some of the companies who make our Androids recognize this and offer a program suite you can install and connect your phone to copy your stuff locally. It’s important to them to try and offer what we want and what we’re used to doing. We’ve covered LG Bridge and Samsung Smart Switch to get you started if this is how you would rather do things.

How to use Samsung Smart Switch to back up your Galaxy phone

How to use LG Bridge with your LG phone

When it comes to our media — the things we like to see and hear, like pictures or video and music — most of us want to keep it safe somewhere in a cloud or on our own storage system as well as be able to enjoy it on all our things with a screen or speakers. It makes sense to have these types of files in multiple places, one where it stays safe and others where we can use them. A lot of companies realize this, and there are plenty of ways to store your media files and share them easily with any connected device.

Two of the easiest solutions are from Google and Dropbox. Google Drive — the free storage you get from Google when you sign up for an account — and Dropbox make it easy to sync across devices and platforms and also have built-in media playing capabilities. With Google Drive, the Google Photos app ties in and offers editing and other fun tools for working with pictures and video. Dropbox is a little less feature-packed, but both ways can automatically back up the memories you create with your camera. We had a look at how easy it is, so check it out if you need help getting started.

How to back up your music files to your computer or online storage

How to back up photos and video to your computer or the cloud

There is no one-click solution

As you can tell, there is no do-it-all program you can install on your computer to make a 1:1 copy of everything on your Android. There never will be because Google is all about the cloud. Their business model depends on users being connected — Google doesn’t make money from selling phones. Android is a cloud ecosystem, and that means it’s not right for everyone. And that’s OK. And app developers not using Google’s way of backing up data for their apps can be frustrating, but with an open system, there’s not much that can be done about it. Google doesn’t force developers to use cloud saves to publish an app. Support developers who make it easy on you by delivering a way to keep your data, and know that Google is working on ways to back things up without developers doing anything differently. It’s getting better and will continue to improve.

But it’s not difficult to keep all of your stuff in place, and get it all back when you move to a new phone. It just requires a bit of know-how and a few settings.

OnePlus 3 tips and tricks: Master your 2016 flagship killer

OnePlus’ latest phone is is comfortably the best phone in its class. And while its hardware is admirable for a £300 phone, the software does its bit to ensure the experience of using it is both smooth and unique. While it looks very much like standard Android OS, it does have a number of customisation options, the kind you don’t normally get unless you download a third party launcher from the Play Store. 

This is our in-depth guide on all the options you can play with, and how to get the most from your OnePlus 3. 

OnePlus 3 home screen tips

Add widgets to Shelf: Shelf is a custom screen that sits the the left of your main home screen. By default it has your weather, most-used apps and contacts, but you can add practically any other widget you want to it by tapping the floating action button in the bottom right corner, then choosing your desired widget.

Customise Shelf widgets: The Shelf screen has its own settings menu which you access by tapping the sidebar menu button in the top left corner. Here you can disable the default weather information card, or choose to have Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Disable Shelf: For whatever reason, you might just decide you don’t want the Shelf. To disable it, head to your regular home screen, then tap and hold the wallpaper. Choose “customise” then switch the “Enable Shelf” toggle to the off position.

Swipe up for search: In the same customise screen – underneath the Enable Shelf option – is a toggle for Quick Search. If enabled, this will let you swipe up from anywhere on the home screen and go straight to the Google search app.

Swipe down for notifications: In the same gesture options list is a toggle which enables quick notifications. When enabled, you can access your drop down notifications by swiping downwards anywhere on the home screen, you don’t have to swipe from the top.

Customise Google search bar: In the same customisation screen, if you swipe from right to left you’ll get to the next customisation card. This screen lets you choose what kind of search bar you want on the top of your home screen. You can have the modern white bar with a colourful Google logo, or have a transparent grey one with white logo, or just have none at all.

Change app icon size: The next customisation card lets you choose between three app icon sizes. Choose between small, standard or large to alter how much space your app icons take up on the home screen.

Change battery icon: With OxygenOS you can choose what battery information you want to see in the status bar. Swipe down from your home screen to reveal the quick settings/notification panel and then tap the battery icon. This takes you to the main battery settings menu.

From here, tap the battery icon in between the refresh and three dots/settings button. The drop down menu allows you to choose between the standard battery bar icon, a circle icon, no icon at all and whether you want the percentage showing or not.

Pocket-lint

OnePlus 3 buttons tips

Capacitive or virtual buttons: As has been the case with every OnePlus phone since the beginning, you can choose whether or not you want to use onscreen software buttons, or use the built-in capacitive buttons. By default, the capacitive buttons are in use, but if you want software buttons simply head to Settings, then Buttons and toggle “on-screen navigation bar”. 

Custom actions: In Oxygen OS you can assign secondary functions to all three of the capacitive keys on the OnePlus 3. Each button can have two secondary functions, launched by either a long-press or quick double-tap. There are seven options in total, which include opening recent apps, launching search assistant, turning off the screen, opening the camera, voice search, opening the last used app and opening Shelf. You’ll find the options in the same settings menu under the Buttons category.

Backlight on/off: Both the capacitive buttons have a backlight, which light up when any of the buttons (including the home key) are touched. You can switch this off if you don’t want it on just by tapping the Backlight toggle in Settings>Buttons.

Swap recent/back order: By default, the left capacitive button is the back button, and the right button is the recent apps button. If you’re more accustomed to having them the other way around, you can switch those. Just toggle the “Swap buttons” option in the same settings Buttons menu.

Alert slider: The one other button on the OnePlus 3 is the three-position alert slider on the left edge. Sliding down is regular, show me all the notifications mode. In the middle is priority mode which restricts most apps from sending you notifications. The top position is total silence, which practically silences everything. 

You can customise these Do Not Disturb options to only allow specific apps to notify you in each mode. In Priority mode, you can chose to enable or disable alarms, media, reminders and events. You can even choose between being alerted of phone calls or SMS messages from only starred contacts, from any contacts, anyone or no alerts at all. There’s also an option to let calls through if the same person tries to call you twice within 15 minutes. 

OnePlus 3 display tips

Adjust colour temperature: How good the colours on screen look to an individual can often be a point of debate. A perfect balance to some is too cool (blue) or too warm (yellow) for others. Thankfully, OnePlus includes the option to manually adjust the colour temperature. Head to Settings>Display and you’ll find a colour balance slider. Sliding right makes the screen warmer, sliding left makes it cooler.

Proximity wake: With the OnePlus 3 you can have the screen wake up just by waving your hand over it. To activate this feature, simply tap the toggle in the display settings.

Ambient display: You can set your OnePlus to wake up whenever you receive a notification. Activating it is very simple. Like the proximity wake option, just switch on the toggle in the settings menu. Rather than have a fully active screen, Ambient display mode is a black screen with white text/notifications.

Night mode: As with most phones with the feature, night mode strips the blue tint from the screen, making it warmer, more yellow and easier on your eyes at night time. Just like the colour balance option, there’s a slider to adjust how deep you want the yellow tint to be.

Change font size: Near the bottom of the main display settings screen is the option to change the font size. Here you can choose between small, medium, large and huge.

OnePlus 3 camera tips

Double tap power button to launch: By default, the OnePlus 3 camera can be launched by quickly double-tapping the power button on the right edge. If yours doesn’t have the feature switched on, or you want to switch it off, head to Settings>Display and then hit the toggle next to “Press power button twice for camera”.

HD Mode: When you launch the camera you’ll notice HD and HDR in the top right corner. HD Mode is a new technology from OnePlus 3 which sharpens details. Switch it on by simply taping the HD. In practice, however, we haven’t found that it makes too much difference to the image quality. Plus, it disables the ability to shoot with HDR, which is a big negative. So maybe leave that one alone.  

Manual controls: In the top left corner is three lines, tapping them gives access to a sidebar menu/list of all the different camera modes. Manual model is in that list and selecting it enables you to manually control a number of important settings. Tapping on ISO will then let you change the brightness/gain, the next one along lets you set the white balance to counteract any artificial (or natural) lighting. You can also manually set the shutter speed to take long exposures up to 30 seconds, and manually focus.

Adjusting each of these settings is pretty easy. Once the manual mode has been selected, you just need to press on whichever setting you’d like to change, then you get a semicircle control on-screen. Adjust the ISO, shutter speed, or focus by rotating this onscreen “wheel” clockwise or anticlockwise.

Save RAW photos: In the same sidebar menu mentioned above, in the right corner is a settings cog. Tap on this and you’ll see a toggle switch which enables RAW format images to be saved. This basically means you’ll get the highest quality image possible, rather than JPEG which isn’t full quality.

OnePlus 3 other tips

Dual SIM options: Just like the OnePlus 2, there’s a dual SIM tray which means you can have two SIM cards in the phone at once. If you have a work and personal line, or have a SIM for two different carriers, it can be an invaluable especially if you know one network in your area is better for data speeds than another.

Heading into Settings then SIM cards, you can choose which SIM is the preferred option for mobile data, calls or text messages. So if one SIM has a higher data allowance, you could set that as your main data SIM.

Reorder quick tiles: In Android N, Google is introducing the ability to move around quick settings tiles in the drop down settings panel, but OnePlus already has that feature in Oxygen OS. Drop down the panel as usual, then tap the little pencil in the top right corner. Then you can reorder the tiles on the screen to suit your preferences.

OnePlus 3 gestures: Like many modern Android phones, you can enable a number of gestures for launching apps or functions from the lock screen. Head to Settings>Gestures and then you can enable each gesture individually.

With each enabled, you can launch the camera by drawing an “O”, switch on the flashlight by drawing a “V”, pause music with a two-finger swipe, skip track backwards or forwards by drawing < or > and – as usual – double tap the screen to wake up the phone.