If there’s one thing you can say about the LG G3 it’s that it’s innovative, with all sorts of features, modes and options hidden away. But hidden is the key word, as many of them aren’t immediately obvious.
With that in mind we’ve compiled a rundown of tips and tricks for your shiny new G3, including some of the best features that you might not already be aware of.
While most phones require a button press to turn the screen on or off, the same can be achieved on the LG G3 just by double tapping the display. That’s a feature called KnockOn, inherited from the LG G2, but LG has taken it even further this time with Knock Code.
Knock Code allows you to enter a series of taps on the screen when it’s off to not only turn it on but bypass the lock screen. The series can contain between three and eight taps in up to four different quadrants allowing for over eighty thousand possible combinations, so it’s very secure.
But as you can enter the taps anywhere and even do it when the screen is off it’s also faster and more convenient than a PIN or password. You can set Knock Code up from the Lock Screen section of the settings menu.
With an eye catching handset like the LG G3 you might find a lot of people ask to see or use it which of course can bring up privacy concerns as you probably don’t want them rifling through your messages.
That’s not a problem though as the G3 has a Guest Mode which can be set up from the settings menu. This involves giving it a custom Knock Code combination and selecting which apps it has access to. Then whenever you enter that Knock Code from the lock screen or when the screen is off it will launch the phone in Guest Mode, so whoever you’re sharing your phone with will only have access to what you’re comfortable with.
One advantage of the LG G3’s large 5.5 inch screen is that it’s big enough to display two things on it at once. That’s where Dual window mode comes in.
Hold the back button for two seconds and Dual window mode will launch, allowing you to select two apps to run at the same time, with one appearing at the top of the screen and the other below it.
There’s any number of possible usage scenarios for this, you might for examplewant to message someone while watching a video on YouTube. Or you can even open two browser windows to view two different websites at once.
LG’s keyboard is rather more feature rich than those of some competitors. Dive into the keyboard settings and you’ll find various options, including the ability to change the height of the keyboard, so if the default size is too cramped or fills too much of the screen that’s not a problem.
There are some useful shortcuts once you start using it too. For example if you start typing a word and the finished word appears on the suggestions above, then rather than tapping it you can simply swipe up towards it to complete the word.
The more you use the keyboard the better it will get too, as over time it will learn your typing habits and optimise itself to minimise typos.
The LG G3’s camera is packed with features and it performs well in almost any situation, but it helps if you know your way around it.
First of all, although there is an on screen shutter button you don’t have to use it, instead you can simply tap on where you want to focus to take a picture.
On the other hand if you want to take a burst shot just hold the shutter button and it will take a rapid stream of photos.
If you want to switch to the front facing camera you can just swipe from right to left across the viewfinder. Once you’re on the front facing camera and have lined up a shot you don’t even have to press the shutter button to take a picture, instead simply wave at the camera, which is a handy feature if you’ve put the phone on a stand or something rather than holding it.
Although the front facing camera doesn’t have a flash it can still take bright photos with a virtual flash, which uses software to imitate the effects of a flash. You’ll see an icon for this at the top of the screen and can turn it on and off as needed.
