LG G3 Tips, Tricks, FAQs & Useful Options

LG G3 is the 2014 flagship smartphone from LG, and this device comes with a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, i.e. 2560×1440 pixels screen resolution, and the internal configuration includes Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset, 3GB RAM and the device runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS. For the LG G3 users who are finding it difficult to get things done in the initial stage, here are a few tips and tricks to start you off and help you use the LG G3 in a better way.

LG G3 Tips & Tricks – Index

• How to take a screenshot
• How to edit Quick settings in Notification Panel
• How to use Multi Window for Multitasking
• How to use Knock Code for Security
• Use Back Button Keys as Shortcut for Apps
• How to set Contact Information on Lock Screen
• How to place Widgets / Apps on Home Screen
• How to hide Home Touch Buttons in Apps
• How to Manage App Drawer – Sort, Uninstall, Hide apps
• How to Install external apps with apk files
• How to check for Android Updates on LG G3
• How to use your LG G3 as a Remote for TV
• How to share your Data network via Tethering
• How to do a backup of Home screen data
• How to change the Font type and size on LG G3
• How to Activate and use Guest Mode on G3
• How to change Home Touch Button combination
• How to use LG G3 easily with One hand (One handed operation)
• How to free space on LG G3 using Smart cleaning feature
• How to do a Factory Data Reset of LG G3
• How to change the look of Messaging App in the LG G3
• How to use Swype / Path Input typing on LG G3 keyboard

Before jumping into the tips, here’s a few things you can check out about the phone – LG G3 performance & benchmark, LG G3 photo gallery.

How to take a screenshot

Taking a screenshot on the LG G3 is no different from what you would do in the LG G2, but it is different from most of the other Android based smartphones, because here, the physical buttons are all adjacent to each other, and on the back panel. That is one of the reasons why people usually get confused about it. To capture a screenshot on LG G3, you need to press and hold the two buttons – Home, Volume down buttons together at the same time, until a capture sound is heard.

There are different ways, one even with the gesture method but the physical buttons one is the easiest, and it requires a little practice before you get used to it.

How to edit Quick settings in Notification Panel

The quick settings is one of the highly used sections in the phone, for people who want to toggle the settings but don’t want to go to the main Settings area. The quick settings come in a particular list, thus if you feel that was not the order you wanted to see, it can be easily changed. You can even go further into it and delete any quick settings which you didn’t want there.

To do that, go to the extreme right by swiping on the quick settings panel, and there, you will find the option “Edit”, tapping on which you would see the list of Quick settings. You can remove the setting, or hold and drag it up or down to rearrange it. The same section has the option to show the Brightness and Volume toggles.

How to use Multi Window for Multitasking

Multi Window is a feature in the LG G3 (firstly introduced in the G Pro 2) which helps the user in multitasking, opening two apps at the same time. Though limited, there are certain apps which can share the screen space and run at the same time. To activate Multi Window feature, go to Settings > General > Smart Functions > Dual window and activate it.

Then, long press the Back button and you would notice a window showing up a list of apps which can be used together with any other app. Select two apps, and they would take half a screen each. You can use both the apps at the same time, and also can make one window bigger and other smaller.

How to use Knock Code for Security

Knock Code was the security feature introduced this year by LG during the MWC 2014, and since then, most of the new LG smartphones had this feature. To use the Knock Code feature in your LG G3, go to Settings > Display > Lock Screen and under that, go to “Select screen lock” and select Knock Code. You will be taken into the few steps of setting up the Knock Code. Use a pattern which you can remember, in a sequence of 4-8 taps in the four boxes provided. You will also be asked to enter a backup code which you can use if you forgot the pattern for Knock Code.

Use Back Button Keys as Shortcut for Apps

The back buttons given on the LG G3, i.e. the volume rocker buttons can be used as shortcuts, if you choose to do that. Although there is nothing you can do to set the apps which can be opened, this shortcut comes handy when you have the screen turned off and directly wanted to open the Camera or Quick Memo apps.

There is no dedicated camera button which you can use to activate the camera, thus this shortcut option would be pretty good. Go to Settings > General > Personal > Shortcut key and here. turn it On. You will be able to activate:

• Quick Memo app by long pressing volume up button
• Camera app by long pressing volume down button

How to set Contact Information on Lock Screen

Remember of the early days when you could set a network message on the tiny screen of the feature phones? such thing still exists, and now you can have a proper sentence on the lock screen, which could sometimes help you if you lost your phone and someone who finds it, would be knowing about who the device belongs to, and try contacting them.

Here’s how you can set a contact info on the lock screen: Go to Settings > Display > Lock Screen > Customize > Contact for lost, and there you can set the contact info or any text which shows on the lock screen.

How to place Widgets / Apps on Home Screen

It isn’t much different from much of the other phones, but here you won’t get a direct option from the menu key. You will have to find for an empty space on any of the home screen, which would bring out all the options – Apps / Widgets and Wallpapers. You just need to select a widget and it would try to fit in a place where there is the space it needs. If not, you will have to go back to the home screen and pinch to bring out the home screen options, and add home screens if there is no space for the widgets or app shortcuts.

How to hide Home Touch Buttons in Apps

The good thing about the latest flagship devices from LG is that the home touch buttons are a part of the screen, and thus you can customize them and rearrange them. But in the LG G3, you are given an option to even hide them in particular apps. To set that, go to Settings > Display > Home & Lock > Home touch buttons and in that, the last option – Hide home touch buttons is what would help you hide them, in particular apps which you can select. The good thing is that the home touch buttons can be brought anytime into the screen by just swiping up from the bottom.

How to Manage App Drawer – Sort, Uninstall, Hide apps

The App drawer in the LG G3 can be customized quite a lot, where you can sort the apps based on Alphabetical order, downloaded date or your own way, and you can even choose to hide a few apps from the list. To do all this, you will need to tap on the Options icon on the top right in App drawer, and there you would be able to see a few options – “View Apps by”, “Show large icons”, “Hide/Show apps”, “Edit/Uninstall apps” and “Home screen settings”.

Tap on “View Apps by” to change the view – Alphabetical order, downloaded date and Custom where you can arrange the apps, drag them in the order you want.

• Tap on Hide/Show apps to select the apps which you wanted to hide, and later show them if you wanted.
• Tap on Edit/Uninstall apps if you wanted to directly uninstall the apps from the app drawer.

How to Install external apps with apk files

For any Android phone, it is possible to install external apps, which are even not available on the Play Store. It is just the .apk installation file needed for the user to install the app. Before installing the app using an APK file, you will need to go to Settings > General > Security > Phone administration > Unknown sources and here, you need to enable it and tap on “OK” below the warning.

Then, you can just transfer the apk file to your Phone’s file system from either your computer, or download the file from Internet and install it with ease, just like an App downloaded from the Play Store gets installed.

How to check for Android Updates on LG G3

The Android OS updates on the flagship devices are expected always whenever Google announces a new update to the OS. Sometimes, you would need to manually check for the updates to the OS, and to do that, there is a special app called as Update Center. Just check for the folder Utilities, which comes by default in the phone, and under that, there is the Update Center where you can check for both – Android OS update as well as updates to the Apps. Go to Phone Version Upgrade and you will be able to check for any OS updates from there.

How to use your LG G3 as a Remote for TV

The LG G3 comes with the IR blaster, which can be used for managing the TVs and other smart electronics which are controlled by remote controls. Basically, you can use your LG G3 as a remote. To do that, search for the app called QRemote which has all that is needed to use the device as a Remote for your TV, Set-Top box, Audio player and any other electronic device that is supported. Open the app, and tap on + icon to add a TV, and you can personalize by letting the app know whether this is the TV in Living Room, Bedroom, Office, etc.

You will have to select the TV brand, try to check if the buttons and functions are properly working and you are able to change the functions on TV using your smartphone on-screen buttons. It would save it once you say that the functions are working, and next time you just have to select the particular remote and use it for the TV or other devices.

How to share your Data network via Tethering

Tethering the data network and having the best connectivity options is what defines a high-end smartphone. The LG G3 comes with no less options, and if you are using a high-speed data network, i.e. 3G or 4G LTE, you can share that with the devices around you. There are a few options for the same – USB Tethering, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth tethering. If you wanted to share the data network, go to Settings > Network Settings > Tethering & networks and there you would be seeing all the available options.

• USB Tethering: If you are going to use this option to tether the data to your computer, make sure the drivers for the phone are installed on the PC, and then connect the device using the USB cable, and finally turn the USB Tethering on.
• Wi-Fi hotspot: The Wi-Fi hotspot is something using which you can connect to the Internet on other devices using the Wi-Fi network of the LG G3. You can keep it unsecured or can set a password for the same.
• Bluetooth tethering: This is to share the Internet with the other devices through Bluetooth connectivity.

How to do a backup of Home screen data

The home screen has a lot of stuff which we personalized to make it better and more productive, but that does pose an issue when you are trying to change the launcher or theme, or even doing a software update. That is when you would feel that the phone had an option to even remember what you had on the home screen. The LG G3 comes with such options – backup and restore the home screen content.

To take the backup, go to Settings > Display > Home screen > Data > Home backup & restore and there you would be able to take a backup and later restore it whenever you feel the changes made should have not been done.

How to change the Font type and size on LG G3

The font on LG G3 can be customized, i.e. the font size and type can be changed based on the need of the user. There are fonts which can look both professional and funky, and the size can be very small to large. To make changes, you need to go to Settings > Display > Font > Font type and Font size.

The NewSmartGothic, Travel, Foxrain, Coffee, Purewhite, Serif are the font types while the size includes Minimum, Small, Medium, Large, Very large, Maximum.

How to Activate and use Guest Mode on G3

Guest mode is something using which you can have a privacy and select the apps which you wanted to show when handing over the device to someone. You can select only 5 apps to be shown in the guest mode and restrict the usage. One can also change the wallpaper, and choose the lock screen type to use Guest mode. To activate Guest mode, you need to go to Settings > General > Privacy > Guest Mode.

How to change Home Touch Button combination

The home touch button combination can be changed in the LG G3, just like it was in the G2. Apart from the standard three home touch buttons, there are a few more buttons which can be included in home touch button tray. The buttons are – Back, Home, Multitasking, Notifications, QMemo+, QSlide, Dual Window. Go to Settings > Display > Home & lock > Home touch buttons and there, tap on “Button combination” and drag the buttons in and out of the tray to change the combination.

You can also have the colors for the button tray – White, White Gradation, Black, Black Gradation. You can also have a transparent background on home touch buttons in home screen.

How to use LG G3 easily with One hand (One handed operation)

For the large 5.5-inch display of LG G3, it isn’t easy to hold the phone in one hand and use it with the same hand. Using the One-handed operation feature in the LG G3, you can use the phone in one hand, for a few things – Dial keypad, LG keyboard and Lock screen. Here you can just turn the option on by going to Settings > General > One-handed operation and toggle it ON and then choose the feature where you wanted to use it. Just open the app, i.e. keypad, keyboard or lock screen and then drag it to either left or right where that particular section becomes smaller than what it is and is easily accessible with the same hand.

How to free space on LG G3 using Smart cleaning feature

LG has included the Smart cleaning feature in the LG G3 using which you can free up space by cleaning some apps and temporary files. To take the advantage of it, you need to go to Settings > General > Phone Management > Smart cleaning – and there you would be able to get the sections – Temporary files, Downloads folder, Idle apps. You can go into that and delete the files based on whether you need it or not.

Although the smart cleaning feature doesn’t do everything to enhance the performance or free up space, it gives you the direct access to the files which are really not the ones you would keep always, and thus you can easily free up storage space.

How to do a Factory Data Reset of LG G3

To do a factory data reset of the LG G3 smartphone, you will need to first take a couple things into consideration: You have a backup account set, so that the apps and data are all backed up there, and then do a backup of the important things such as SMS, Media, etc. Once both are done, you need to go to Settings > General > Phone Management > Backup & Reset and hit “Factory Data Reset” to completely reset the phone.

How to change the look of Messaging App in the LG G3

The look of the messaging app can be changed in a couple of ways, and actually in more ways if you tried to change the font and size of text from the tip above. In the settings of the Messaging app itself, one can change the conversation bubble, as well as the wallpaper of the conversation thread. To do that, go to Messaging App > Settings > Conversation Theme and you see two options – Wallpaper & Bubble. The wallpaper can be selected from the given pictures, or you can capture a photo or even use one of the photos from the Gallery. There are a few bubbles to choose from, and you can change based on what you like to see.

How to use Swype / Path Input typing on LG G3 keyboard

Swyping on the text and making it easier to type is what users would want to do, especially in flagship devices. To activate and use the Swipe (or what LG calls as Path Input), open the keyboard in any app, and there in the bottom character line, tap on the Wrench icon which takes you to Settings. There, go to Smart Input > Path Input and activate it. That’s it, you can now try it out and enjoy typing by just swiping your finger on the alphabets.