LG G3 tips: 12 to master your LG smartphone

Here's a more in-depth look into the LG G3 and its innovative software features. Get the most out of the latest smartphone from LG with the help of our LG G3 tips and tricks.

Knock, knock, knock

Relatively well known, the LG G3 sports some tools that rely on your tapping skills to enable them: if you double tap on the screen, you can turn the display on and off (however, this only works on an empty spot on the home screen if the display is active), you can use a knock code to lock and unlock your device instead of a conventional pattern lock, and you can even wake the display of your device simply by doing a single tap.

Guest Mode: restricted access

In guest mode, the owner of the LG G3 can specify a limited number of apps that are available to third party users. This is convenient as you can now lend your phone to a friend or family member for an extended amount of time and not have to worry that they’ll snoop through your own personal stuff. As well, the App Drawer and Notification bar are disabled when in guest mode. You can also set up a knock code that allows you to disable guest mode on the fly.

Adjust navigation buttons

As we revealed in the Optimus UI comparison, you can adjust the navigation buttons to whatever you see fit. Do you want the home button on the left? How about the back button on the right? No problem, you can personalize this and change the arrangement of these capacitive buttons. In addition, these can be hidden when not in use.

Notes and Camera: quick access to volume buttons

Through a long press on the volume buttons, you can start two apps directly from stanbdy: if you long press the volume down button, you’ll fire up the camera app. If you long press the volume up button, the note app will fire up. Unfortunately, these assignments are set in stone and cannot be modified. These features are also constrained by whether or not you’ve got your G3 protected by a knock code, pin code, or pattern code. If so, you’ll have to unlock the device prior to either the camera or notes firing up.

Dual Window: use two apps at the same time

A long press on the back button will open the dual-window function: a variety of system apps can be displayed at the same time on the screen (browser, maps, news, e-mail, etc). Just drag and drop the two apps that you want to use to either the upper and lower half of the screen. The size ratio between the two displayed apps can also be adjusted by dragging the middle bar.

QuickMemo+ : screenshots with handwritten notes

While you can take screenshots with just about every Android device out there, LG’s QuickMemo+ function (or QMemo+) allows the user to directly add handwritten notes to the screenshot after the fact. There are a bunch of ways to get QuickMemo+ fired up: you can either access it from the icon in the Quick Settings, add in its own navigation button (as per your ability to customize this bar that we mentioned above) or by swiping to the top and then to the right on your home screen.

Customize the keyboard size

If the keyboard is taking up too much space or you need it just a teeny bit bigger due, you can customize the size of the keyboard on the LG G3 as long as it’s being held in portrait mode. In the Settings menu, head to Language and Input and then select LG Keyboard. From there, you can make the desired changes to the keyboard height and layout. You can also choose to have the keyboard split apart when you hold the phone in landscape mode as well as enabling a one-handed operation mode.

Intelligent Screen: display stays on as long as you look at it

LG has taken a page out of the Samsung playbook with this feature: if enabled, your display will stay lit up as long as you’re looking at your device. Of course, this sucks the battery a little bit more than if it was off, but it is a handy feature if you’re spending a long time looking at something in particular.

Color adjustment: control your app icons and backgrounds

In the Settings, under the Accessibility portion, you can find the option for Color Matching. With this, you can change the look and contrast of the entire surface, including app icons. Once activated, you can simply drag your finger across the screen and depending on whatever color you choose, the entire user interface will be changed to reflect that.

Universal Touch: floating access button

Key functions such as volume control, on / off, home screen, settings, and back can be reached via an extra button that can be placed anywhere on your screen and accessed across all screens. In order to enable this, head to Accessibility > Universal Touch. The button will now appear on your screen and by tapping on it, it will bring up a menu with a bunch of the basic functions available.

Different themes for chat history

If you’re not a big fan of the default theme of the messaging app, you can change that in the settings on your device. By heading to the settings of the messaging app, you can choose View Conversation Topic and change the background and the look of the speech bubbles. As well, an image can even be used as a background if you so choose.

Change app icons

If you don’t like a particular app icon, you can do a long press on it and then let go of it. You’ll see on the top right of icon a small paintbrush icon that when tapped, brings up an overview of different icons you can pick and choose to replace it.

This is just a glimpse into some of the customization possibilities with your LG G3. While not every feature is exclusive to this device, the G3 still has a ton of options that make it unique compared to the competition.Once you’re able to get your hands on the device and had a chance to play around with it, definitely let us know what your favorite feature of the LG G3 is in our comments!