![]() ![]() And, in fact, that opens up another interesting possibility: You can create folders of related shortcuts to give yourself a custom productivity command center. With these app-added shortcuts, in contrast, you can drag and stack to your heart's content. Try to drag one widget on top of another, and nothing will happen (other than finding yourself feeling slightly silly for a second). Here's how I know: Widgets can't be stacked. What's especially confusing about this setup is that the sorts of shortcuts we're talking about are technically considered Android widgets - though in reality, they really aren't. There, you can tap the three-dot menu icon while viewing any specific site to add a direct link to that site onto your home screen.Īnd there's one more side of this system worth considering. The most prominent example - though one that's still super-easy to overlook and/or forget about - is Chrome. Just open up any individual contact there, then tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner of the screen to give yourself a quick 'n' simple link to that specific Homo sapien's hub. The concept applies to the spreadsheet front as well, like in the Google Sheets Android app: JRĪnd it's available within the Google Contacts Android app, too. And the same thing is possible in Microsoft Word on Android, too, by the way, if that's your jam. Tap that sucker, and shazam: You've now got a one-tap shortcut that'll beam you directly to that specific document - right from your home screen. (Here in particular, you'll almost certainly have to scroll down a little to find it. Open up Docs, tap the three-dot menu icon next to any document you've got, and hunt for the "Add to home screen" option in the panel that appears. Remember how I said it's mostly productivity apps where this system comes up? Maybe it won't surprise you, then, that another Android app that's a perfect place to explore it is Google Docs. But when there's a specific file or folder you're eyeing, it's up to you to dive into the actual app and find it - then find the option to add it onto your home screen from there.Īnd Drive isn't the only place where this puzzling possibility exists. That area of the Android interface tends to include a combination of functions within an app along with one or two recently accessed items. What's interesting is that these same sorts of shortcuts will sometimes show up when you press and hold the associated app's icon, but more often than not, they won't. That means you can get to it easily, anytime, without ever having to open up the main Drive app or do any manner of digging. ![]() Tap that son of a gibbon, and how 'bout that? You can actually add a one-tap shortcut to that exact item right onto your home screen for super-speedy, direct access. Midway down that list - and you might even have to scroll a little to see it, depending on the size of your device - you should see an innocuous little option called "Add to home screen." JR Tap the little three-dot menu icon alongside it, and look closely at the sprawling list of options that appears in front of your blinking peepers. Open up the Drive app on Android and find any file or even folder that you tend to pull up often from your phone. So for our first example, let's start with Google Drive. This possibility tends to be present in productivity apps where you're dealing with lots of individual documents, files, or other such items. ![]() But it's a tough concept to convey without just walking through a real-world example - so let's do that, shall we? That may be the most confusing sentence I've ever written, I realize. With specific Android apps, y'see, you can create your own custom shortcuts to individual items within the app from inside the app itself. (I've got a primer and a bunch of specific suggestions here, if you could do with a refresher.) But the ones we're talking about today are even more mysterious. Those standard Android App Shortcuts are spectacular and similarly all too easy to forget about. So, here's what's especially interesting about the Android shortcuts of which we speak: They're almost identical in form to the standard Android App Shortcuts system - y'know, that thing where you can press and hold any app's icon on your home screen to reveal a series of direct links to specific functions within the app - only with these, you really have to go out of your way to find 'em. My friend, prepare to achieve Mega-Nerd™ status. And you'd have to be - well, an efficiency-obsessed Mega-Nerd™ to even realize they're there. These shortcuts are buried deep within some of Android's most productivity-oriented apps. Today, as your friendly neighborhood Mega-Nerd™, I want to remind you about an easily overlooked option for adding some extra step-shaving shortcuts directly onto your home screen. ![]()
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