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Android KitKat Tips and Tricks {{2}}

11) Record your phone's screen

Taking a screenshot in Android used to be like pulling teeth - you had to connect your phone to your PC in order to grab any kind of on-screen image. Since Android 4.0, we've had the trusty "Volume down and Power button" combo, but 4.4 goes to the next level - it features the ability to record video from your screen as well.

As it is primarily aimed at developers who want to add video to their app listings, taking advantage of this native feature is quite tricky - you'll need to follow these incredibly detailed instructions - but it's a smart bonus nonetheless.

10) Remotely wipe your phone if you lose it

Losing your phone is a painful experience - especially if it provides your daily Flappy Bird fix - but the amount of data contained on our handsets means that having it fall into the wrong hands can have all kinds of negative ramifications.

Google has your back, however, and provides the means to remotely locate and wipe your phone should it go walkabout. You'll need to enable it from the device before you lose it, though - go to the Google Settings application in your app drawer and select Android Device Manager, then turn on "Remotely Locate This Device" and "Allow Remote Lock And Factory Reset".

The latter option also allows you to remotely change the lockscreen password, should you be too scared to wipe the entire device. In the event of your phone going missing, visit the Android Device Manager page online and you can choose to ring (even if the phone is set to silent), lock or wipe the phone.

9) Get the stock Google UI on your non-Nexus handset

Don't have a Nexus device but crave that uncluttered stock experience? Fear not, you don't have to rush out and invest in a brand new blower - you can get the same result by installing KK Launcher from the Google Play market.

Alternatively, you can download the APK file of the Google Experience interface yourself. It’s available from Android Police. Before you install, make sure third-party apps are switched on in the Settings menu. Android blocks third-party installs as standard.

8) Switch launchers quickly

One of Android's big advantages over its rivals is the ability to change your launcher, which essentially means you can drastically alter the way your homescreen looks and behaves.

Previously, switching between launchers was something of a pain, but Google has now added a quick and easy toggle in the settings menu - so now there's no excuse not to try the many amazing launcher alternatives available on the Google Play market.

When you have more than one launcher installed on your phone, the Settings menu will show a new "Home" option - tapping this will bring up all of the available launchers on your device, allowing you to toggle between them quickly and easily.

7) Enable lock screen widgets

Lockscreen widgets are one of Android's more recent innovations, but in Android 4.4 they're not enabled by default. To turn them on, you'll need to drop into Settings > Security and tick the "Enable Widgets" box. To add widgets, simply swipe from left to right on your lockscreen and tap the "plus" icon. You can choose from Gmail, Calendar and Google Keep, amongst other things.

6) Print wirelessly

Regardless of how much we now rely on paperless documents, there comes a time in everyone's life when a digitally signed PDF just isn't enough and a hard copy is required.

Android 4.4 thankfully has wireless printing baked-in, with HP's Cloud Printing application doing the heavy lifting. You'll need a compatible printer of course, and only certain apps support the feature at present, but it's unquestionably quite handy to be able to send a document through the air and transform it into a physical sheet of paper with nothing but your phone.

5) Gain an easy speed boost by disabling animations

The animations that occur as you move between applications and screens might look pretty, but they can slow you down - especially as they essentially force you another page or loading an application.

Thankfully, it's possible to reduce the time they run for or disable them completely, both of which will make your handset feel faster. Go to Settings > Developer Options and scroll down to the Drawing section. Find the options which refer to animation scale (Window, Transition and Animator) and toggle them all to "Animation Off". Your UI might not be as pretty in motion, but it will be so fast you may even struggle to keep up.

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