Android Phones for Dummies

If you're trying to learn your smartphone quickly, this is the book. It covers everything, from installing the battery to many tips on managing the phone, battery life, etc. There are parts you might not need, but I think it's better to have a complete reference than attempt to find a book that just answers your specific questions. This is not a book to read cover to cover, but a book to use to help you feel confident in using the phone quickly.

Good basic manual. The beginning assumes you know nothing at all, which is actually valuable since I didn't know how to change my sim card and had already thrown away the tool needed. So it would be helpful to read this book before you open your cell phone. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow.

This is the book I waited a long time for. I was clueless regarding the use of my phone beyond receiving and making basic phone calls. I would poke around on the phone, but most of its operation was not intuitive, at least not to me. I happen to have a Motorola Droid Razr MAXX phone. Then I bought the 2012 edition of this same book. I was disappointed. In that book Mr. Gookin gave his email address (!) and so I contacted him about 9 or 10 months ago and told him that I was having problems with my Android phone and his book didn't seem to help. That very evening (!) he responded. He told me that the book he was working on then (the book that I have now, the 2014 edition) should be of better help. He said that the latest version of Android 4.x.x would be addressed in this new book. Was he right! If you have tried to decipher the cryptic instructions or the user guide pdf that either came with your phone or that you have downloaded somewhere and have been totally lost, or if you have tried youtube and found the disjointed help there not organized in any meaningful way and seemed to vary in quality using methods that are different depending on the video you happen to watch, and are just pulling your hair out like I was, this is the book for you. The book begins with an overview of my (!) phone. It is of your phone as well if you have a Samsung, HTC One, Motorola, or other similar Android phone running Android version 4.1.x to 4.4.x. It is also the first Dummies book I've ever seen in color. After the overview, the book takes a tour of the Android home screen which, for the first time in my experience, was 100% relevant to my phone. I could do on my phone what it said to do, and the results were what the book said the results would be. Then the book gives tips on typing, using the Android phone as a phone, organizing your frequent contacts, text messaging and email, browsing on the Internet, text/voice/video chatting, using the map and location features, using your phone as a camera and a video recording, playing music, and taking a trip through the apps store. This book is clearly written and uses the time-tested Dummies features, including the Tips, Remember, Warning, and Technical Stuff Icons that you've seen before, if you've ever read any other Dummies tome. Because of this book, I FINALLY can now use my phone better than my son can. That's truly amazing.

This book is helpful for a beginner learning the Android O.S. but will not answer all you questions as each mfg is allowed to put some of their own software over Android OS. You will still be running to your T-Mobile store for help and calling customer service. It took me about 4 days to understand all the basics and I will spend another week or so to learn how to deal with photos, videos etc. the learning curve is fairly high but with ones background with computers it isn't that bad. Android phones are computer/phones and depending on your needs can take a month to learn with help from knowledgeable people. If all Android phones were pure Google Android with nothing added by different mfgs then the book would be more helpful. Don't expect to drop your current carrier, buy an Android phone, switch to T-Mobile, read this book and be good to go. It won't happen for beginners like myself or you! Take one day at a time and you will get where you want to go!

Good Old Days????......remember when you simply plugged a phone into the wall, then started using it. Oh, wait! The phone company did that for you. You weren't even allowed to buy a phone of your choice, or color. You just took what the phone company delivered. Later, of course, they would allow you to pick a beige, or white, or red one. NOW, praise be, you need a BOOK to tell you how to operate a phone you bought (or got FREE on a promotional). Well, this is a great book. And for readers who are gnashing their teeth, yes, this is a "phone." It's primary purpose is to make calls (often called "phone calls") to other people. And yes, we know that it does lots of other things, ergo, this book. Well, the book was a great purchase, and although I've had the Motorola RazrMaxx for a couple of years, this book has revealed many, many things that one could NEVER figure out by trial and error. Since "Android" is a basic structure, it is modified slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer (Motorola to Samsung, etc) so you may find an occasional reference to a particular function not exactly matching the phone you have in your hand. However, the accompanying explanation makes it clear, and every single time, you'll get it. This is the "second" edition. Don't know why I missed the "first" edition, but I can't say enough about its patient, often humorous, explantions for those of us who want to get every cent out of the dollars we spent on that "phone." Want to smash your Facebook "friends" into your contact list on your phone? This tells you how. Want to add all your Facebook friends to your phone's contact list? This tells you how, but be aware that many of your Facebook friends do not show their "phone" numbers on their FB pages, so you'll have a contact, without a phone number. Oh, well. So if you're comfortable reading books which have covers, and pages made out of paper, this is the book for you. I tuck it into my briefcase every time I travel, and learn a little bit more each time. Highly recommended.

Just working my way through it. Informative and humorous. Just right for the beginner and also those with reasonable amount of knowledge. Good as a reference book on the shelf !

This book is very informative even for a new to cell phones 79 year old like me.

Only partially explanatory for my HTC

O livro seria perfeito se não fosse baseado em 2014, época do Android 4. Estamos no 11... Nada contra Don Gookin. Um expert. Deveria ser vendido como usado por 5 reais. A tecnologia voa...

Very good and most useful for anyone starting with an Android phone. All those things that are supposed to be "Intuitive" are explained in a simple manner. However the author suggests that you use it as a reference book! an index would help greatly! There is a table of contents at the beginning which I eventually found ( only visible in Kindle version if you force the pages to go below Zero content), but this is written in such a "trendy" way that half the time you have to guess where anything is. Then in the Kindle version you have to get there; this is more difficult as the book will not jump by chapters and you have to guess whether to go forwards or backwards. A very good book but would be greatly improved with an index and the Kindle version needs improving!