How do I operate the smartphone with the touchscreen?
The screen of your smartphone is a touchscreen, which means it responds when you touch it with your fingers or a special pen called a stylus. You therefore "work" directly on the screen of your smartphone.
Using the Buttons
Although a smartphone is operated using a touch-sensitive screen, the touchscreen, it does have a few physical buttons as well!
On/Off buttons (1)
Every device of course needs an on/off button and, in this case, it is the short button on the side of the phone. This button has two functions:
- Press and hold: If you press and hold the button down for longer than 2 seconds, the device will turn on or off completely.
- Brief press: If you press the button briefly when the phone is on, the touchscreen will be deactivated and therefore go black. This doesn't mean the phone has been switched off, however; it is just in sleep mode. To wake the device, press the on/off button again briefly. The touchscreen is now sensitive to input again and will respond when you touch it.
Volume button (2)
The long button on the side of the phone enables you to control the volume. Press the top half to make it sound louder and the bottom half to make it quieter.
Tip: If the phone is ringing and you want to turn off the ringtone quickly, simply press the volume button. The ringing will stop, but the call will not be interrupted. You can now take all the time you need to decide whether to accept or reject the call. You can also mute the alarm in the same way.
Navigation buttons
There is another physical button at the bottom of the screen, which is called Home button (3). This button will take you back to the home screen any time if you press it briefly. Pressing and holding it for a few seconds will open Google Assistant, however.
To the right and left of the home button, there are two other buttons, which are recognised by the symbols printed on them.
Back button (4): Tapping on the will take you back one step and undo
your last action.
Menu button (5): Tapping on the will display all the functions currently active on the phone in overlapping windows. You can scroll through the functions and close them one by one – or all at once!
Emergency button
The emergency button is positioned on the back of the phone. It can be very
helpful in an emergency, but it needs to be enabled and set up first. The
button has been preset to be off, as this function will only work efficiently
if it is adapted to your needs. Instructions on how to set up the emergency
button are provided here: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Sleep mode
If you don't use your phone for a certain period of time, the screen will automatically switch to sleep mode and go black. This is needed in order to prevent electricity from being used unnecessarily and to avoid any unintentional input on the screen. You can reactivate the screen by pressing the on/off button briefly.
The phone is normally set to go black after 30 seconds without input on the touchscreen. You can change the length of this period in "Settings - Display - Sleep".
Tapping
There is one important difference between the way conventional buttons work and the way a touchscreen works.
Conventional buttons are like switches. They respond as soon as they're pressed hard enough.
In contrast, a touchscreen does not respond to pressure, but detects the capacitive voltage of your skin when you touch it with your finger. When you move your finger away from the screen again, this flow of voltage is interrupted – and this is what the screen responds to.
So it's not about how hard you press! Put your finger on the screen without pressing, so that a clear area of contact is created between your finger and the glass. When you take your finger away again, the screen will respond and perform your desired action.
Tip: It is best to use your index finger to operate the touchscreen,
because this finger has better developed fine motor skills than your other fingers.
Tapping and holding
A picture element will often respond differently when it's pressed and held for several seconds instead of just being tapped briefly. This action of pressing for longer is known as tapping and holding. Sometimes, a double-tap, i.e. two taps on the same spot in quick succession, can also bring about a reaction that's different to that of a simple tap.
swiping
Do you want to expose hidden text on the screen to read more? Would you like to flick through screens like you do with a photo album? If you want to do either of these, you have to swipe.
To do it, touch the screen of your smartphone with a finger and drag your finger in the direction you want the screen's content to move. The content will follow your finger. Be aware that your finger must remain in constant contact with the screen as you drag it.
So place your index finger on the screen, applying even light pressure. You don't need to press hard, but if you're hesitant as you move your finger, your swiping could be interpreted as tapping. It is also not advisable to give
the content a "shove" with one fast swipe so that it continues to move by itself. You'll lose control of the content if you do that! It is better to continue moving the content yourself with several controlled swipes.
Tip: The directions in which you can swipe content vary depending on the content. Just give it a go!
Zooming
Maybe you'd like to look at a photo more closely or are having problems making out exactly what a piece of text says. Your smartphone offers you the ability to enlarge or shrink displayed content.
Touch the screen with your thumb and index finger at the same time.
- To enlarge the area you're looking at, push your finger and thumb further away from each other.
- To shrink the area you're looking at, push your finger and thumb closer to each other.
Your finger and thumb must remain in contact with the screen whilst you're moving them.
Tip: If you don't yet feel confident about using finger movements on the screen, use the Touch Trainer, an app provided by emporia, for some step-by-step practice. You'll be a master at tapping, swiping and zooming in no time!