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 Directions widget icon 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 A models. On the Galaxy Tab A 9.7", which is used for the screenshots in this section (and throughout most of this book), up to nine widgets appear on each of the four pages within the Widgets screen. Widgets are divided into three rows on each page. Note that some widgets, such as Google Drive, are widget groups that contain several widgets within each group.

Examine the Page 1 Widgets

There are 13 widgets on the first page. Seven of those widgets are contained within the Calendar, Chrome, and Drive groups.

1. Alarm—Tap the widget icon to open the Alarm screen so you can change the settings associated with the current alarm, such as the alarm tone. If you haven’t created an alarm yet, tap Tap Here to Create an Alarm within the widget to open the Clock app and set your alarm date and time. After you save the alarm, the alarm date and time you added appear within the widget.

2. Calendar—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Chrome app widgets you can add: Calendar and Today’s Schedule. (If you want to close the pop-up window, tap anywhere on the screen that’s outside the window.)

Calendar—Tap the widget icon to display a small calendar for the current month that shows a brief list of your appointments every day during the month.

Today’s Schedule—Tap the widget icon to display the first three appointments for the current day. As each appointment expires, the next appointment appears at the bottom of the widget.

3. Chrome—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Chrome app widgets you can add: Bookmark and Bookmarks. (If you want to close the pop-up window, tap anywhere on the screen that’s outside the window.)

Bookmark—Tap the widget icon to open 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 the bookmark icon.

Bookmarks—Tap the widget icon to place 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.

1. Clock—Tap the widget icon to display the current time and date. The date appears underneath the time.

2. Contact—Tap the widget icon to open 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 view the contact’s information in the Contacts window.

3. Directions—Tap the widget icon to open the Directions app so you can enter your destination address from your current location to get turn-by-turn directions.

1. Drive—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains three Google Drive app widgets you can add: Drive, Drive Scan, and Drive Shortcut. (If you want to close the pop-up window, tap anywhere on the screen that’s outside the window.)

Drive—Tap the widget icon to display a small Drive bar so you can open files and folders on your Drive account.

Drive Scan—Tap the widget icon to open the Upload Scans To window so you can have the Tab A upload screenshots to a selected folder on Google Drive.

Drive Shortcut—Tap the widget icon to open the Create Shortcut To window so you can have the shortcut widget on the Home screen take you directly to a file or folder stored on Google Drive.

2. Dual Clock (Digital)—Tap the widget icon to show times in two different cities as digital clocks. The current date appears above the time for each city.

3. Email—Tap the widget icon to show 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.

1. Galaxy Apps—Tap the widget icon to show tiles that link to the Galaxy Essentials screen with a list of Samsung-recommended apps for your Tab A as well as a list of complimentary apps you can download from the Galaxy Gifts page for the Tab A. Note this widget is already on the second of your two Home screens; from the main Home screen, view the second Home screen by swiping from right to left on the screen.

2. Gmail—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Gmail app widgets you can add: Gmail and Gmail Label.

Gmail—Tap the widget icon to show 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—Tap the widget icon to add a Gmail label, which acts as a shortcut that opens a Gmail folder. When you add the widget 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.

3. Google App—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Google search app widgets you can add: Google App and Google Now.

Google App—Tap the widget icon to add a Google Search box to the home page; this widget box appears on the main Home screen by default.

Google Now—Tap the widget icon to display 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 the widget on the Home screen.

1. Google Play Books—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Google Play Books app widgets you can add: Book and Google Play Books.

Book—Tap the widget icon to open the Google Play Books app and show you a list of all books you’ve downloaded. After you tap a downloaded book, the cover of that downloaded book appears as a widget icon on the Home screen; the name of the book appears below the icon.

Google Play Books—Tap the widget icon to open the most recent book you’ve read in the Google Play Books app. The covers of the four most recent books you’ve read appear within the widget icon. Swipe up and down to view all the books in the list; the book at the top of the list appears at the bottom left of the widget. Read the book at the top of the list within the Google Play Books app by tapping the cover.

2. Google Play Music—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains three Google Play Music app widgets you can add: Google Play Music (3 × 1), Google Play Music (1 × 1), and Music Playlist.

Google Play Music (3 × 1)—Tap the Play button in the Google Play Music widget to play the next song in your Google Play Music playlist. Open the Play Music app by tapping the thumbnail-sized image on the left side of the widget.

Google Play Music (1 × 1)—Tap the widget icon to start playing a random song in your Google Play Music playlist. Tap the widget icon again to play another random song in your playlist.

Music Playlist—Tap the widget icon to open the 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.

3. Google Play Newsstand—Tap the widget icon to display a slideshow of the latest news stories available in the Google Play Newsstand app. Move to the next slide in the slideshow by tapping the down arrow button in the lower-right corner of the widget. Open the Play Newsstand app by tapping the thumbnail-sized image within the widget.

1. Google Play Store—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains three Google Play Store app widgets you can add: Play – My Library, Play Recommendations, and Play Store.

Play – My Library—Tap the widget icon to show the contents of one or all of the Google Play apps. For example, the My Books library shows covers of the most recent books you’ve read. Read the book in the Play Books app by tapping the book cover.

Play Recommendations—Tap the widget icon to display 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—Tap the widget icon to display a slideshow of new and interesting apps in the Google Play Store. Open the Play Store app by tapping the widget.

2. Google+—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two Google+ widgets you can add: Google+ Posts and Google+ User Locations.

Google+ Posts—Tap the widget icon to display 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.

Google+ User Locations—Tap the widget icon so Google can tell you where your Google+ friends are currently located when you’re signed in to Google+.

3. Hangouts—Tap the widget icon to show you the Google Hangouts conversation within the widget without requiring you to be within the Hangouts app itself. Therefore, you can keep track of the conversation while performing other tasks on your Tab A.

1. Milk Music—Tap the widget icon to listen to the last song you played in the Samsung Milk Music streaming app, which was preinstalled on the Tab A. You can pause the song while it’s playing by tapping the Pause button within the widget. If you want to go to the next song in the playlist, tap the Fast Forward button to the right of the Play (or Pause) button.

2. Music—Tap the widget icon to display the Samsung Music Player app that enables you to play songs stored on your Galaxy Tab A 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.

3. OneDrive—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two OneDrive app widgets you can add: OneDrive (1 × 1) and OneDrive (3 × 1). OneDrive is a cloud storage service operated by Microsoft and preinstalled on the Tab A. (Chapter 8, “Connecting to the Cloud,” in My Samsung Galaxy Tab A explains more about OneDrive.)

OneDrive (1 × 1)—Tap the widget icon to place the small OneDrive widget on the Home screen; tap the widget icon to open the OneDrive app and view your files. If you haven’t signed in to your OneDrive account, you see an error message window that says the OneDrive service has stopped. Tap OK in the window to open the OneDrive app screen and either sign in to your account or sign up for a OneDrive account.

One Drive (3 × 1)—Tap the widget icon to place a OneDrive taskbar on the Home screen with several common task icons, such as one that enables you to search for a file. After you tap the icon, the OneDrive app opens and performs the task. If you haven’t signed in to your OneDrive account, tap the Sign In link in the bar to open the OneDrive app and sign in to your account or sign up for a OneDrive account.

1. OneNote—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains five OneNote app widgets you can add: OneNote, OneNote Audio Note, OneNote New Note, OneNote Picture Note, and OneNote Recent. The OneNote app from Microsoft is preinstalled on your Tab A so you can write, store, or share notes. Notes can be text, an audio and/or video recording, or a photo.

OneNote—Tap the widget icon to place a OneNote taskbar on the Home screen with task icons, including adding a photo note, adding an audio note, and adding a text note. After you tap the icon, the OneNote app opens so you can add a note.

OneNote Audio Note—Tap the widget icon to place the small OneNote Audio Note widget on the Home screen. Tap the widget icon to open the OneNote app and start recording your audio by talking to your Tab A. After you finish recording, the OneNote app shows the audio recording icon within your new note.

OneNote New Note—Tap the widget icon to place the small OneNote New Note widget on the Home screen. Tap the widget icon to open the OneNote app and write a new text note.

OneNote Picture Note—Tap the widget icon to place the small OneNote Picture Note widget on the Home screen. Tap the widget icon to open the Camera app to take a photo. After you take a photo and tap OK in the preview screen, the OneNote app opens and displays the photo you took within a new note.

OneNote Recent—Tap the widget icon to place a OneNote taskbar on the Home screen with task icons, including adding a photo note, adding an audio note, and adding a text note. Underneath the taskbar, a list appears that previews three of your most recent notes; the most recent note appears at the top of the list. Tap an icon in the taskbar to add the related type of note, or tap the note in the list to open the note in the OneNote app screen.

2. S Bookmarks—Tap the widget icon to display your website bookmark folders. Open the list of bookmarks by tapping the bookmark folder and then tap the bookmark tile to open the website in the Browser app.

3. S Note—Tap the widget icon to open a pop-up window that contains two S Note app widgets you can add: Create Note and S Note List.

Create Note—Tap the widget icon to place an S Note taskbar on the Home screen with task icons, including viewing a list of notes, handwriting a new note, and typing a new note. After you tap the icon, the S Note app opens so you can add a note.

S Note List—Tap the widget icon to place a OneNote taskbar on the Home screen with task icons, including adding a photo note, adding an audio note, and adding a text note. Underneath the taskbar, a row of three thumbnail images list your three most recent notes; the most recent note appears at the left side of the row. Tap an icon in the taskbar to add the related type of note, or tap the thumbnail image in the list to open the note in the OneNote app screen.

1. SideSync 3.0—Tap the widget icon to display content on another Android device (such as a smartphone) that you have connected to your Tab A with the SideSync app. The online bonus material includes more about using SideSync.

2. Smart Manager—Tap the widget icon to display usage information for your battery, storage, memory, and security status. (Intel Security provides built-in scanning of your Tab A for malware.) Tap Clean All in the widget to optimize your storage and memory. Tap an individual feature icon within the widget to view more information about that feature on the screen and perform more tasks.

3. User Manual—Tap the widget icon to display, browse, and read topics in the Tab A user manual within the Internet app.

1. Weather—Tap the widget icon to display the current weather for your location on the Home screen. This widget appears on the main Home screen by default.