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The home screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 is more configurable than with previous versions of the Android phone and there are two useful tweaks you can make to the layout and content. Customise it and it will suit you better.

The lock screen on your Android phone is an opportunity to show useful information and notifications, and provide fast access to your favourite apps. SnapLock is designed to make the most of it.

After downloading a few dozen apps for your Android phone or tablet, it becomes difficult to find the app you want. You end up swiping left and right through screens looking for it. You can create folders to organise your apps.

Are you waiting for Android 5 to be rolled out for your Android phone? You could be waiting a long time, perhaps forever because there is no guarantee it will arrive. There is an alternative if you want a brand new look and new features for your phone.

Android 5, otherwise known as Lollipop, has a confusing notification system that at first sight does not seem to make sense. If you are confused about the functions and features, this guide will show you how it all works. Take control of notifications.

One of the nice features of Android is the ease with which it can be customised. Every iPhone looks the same, apart from the wallpaper image, but Android users can add lock screen apps that appear when the phone is woken up. Microsoft has an interesting lock screen app that is simple, but effective. You might think it odd that Microsoft has produced an Android app, but the company actually has quite a lot and some are really good, like Next.

Do you have a favourite photo on the lock screen of your phone or tablet? No doubt it looks great, but wouldn’t it be more useful to have the latest notifications displayed too? Then you could see text messages, email messages, missed calls, and other notifications. If you want to make the lock screen more productive on your Android phone or tablet, Echo Notification Lockscreen will do the job.

One of the nice features of Android is the way in which it can be customised. Take the lock screen for instance. It can be totally transformed by installing a lock screen widget. It is much more useful than lock screen wallpaper and they often have some useful features.

The iPhone Stocks app is one of Apple’s favourite apps and it has been on the home screen for many years. It even comes preconfigured to show Apple’s share price when the app is started. Is anyone else bothered though? Not only is Stocks on the home screen and cannot be deleted, it also appears in the Today screen in the newly released iOS 8. Fortunately, it can be deleted from there even though you cannot entirely remove the app.

The lock screen on Android phones and tablets can be very irritating because it often shows very little that is of interest and at best there is just a clock. It also gets in the way and you have to swipe the lock screen away to get to the phone’s features. Lock screen apps are one way to make it more useful and Chronus can be used to show the weather, calendar events, email, news reports and more.

There have been many reports that Facebook could be the cause of excessive battery drain on both iPhones and Android phones. Yes it could be, but it doesn’t have to be and it may be using too much battery power simply because the settings aren’t the optimum for battery life. Similarly, it may use excessive amounts of data, pushing you over your contract limit. Once again, it could be just that the settings aren’t the best.

Apple bundles a useful collection of apps with the iPhone and the home screen is filled with icons. This is fine if all you ever use are the built in apps, but if you use alternative ones, wouldn’t it be better if you could replace Apple’s with your own on the home screen? You can.