The home screen and the desktop

Your home screen is where everything starts. Let's learn your way around it. When you unlock a phone, you see the home screen. Each little picture is an icon. Tap an icon to open its app. The row of icons at the bottom is called the dock. It holds the apps you use most. Swipe down from the very top of the screen to see your notifications, like new messages, missed calls and updates. Tap one to open it, or swipe it sideways to clear it. Your home screen doesn't show every app. On many Android phones, you swipe up from the bottom to see all your apps, with a search box at the top. One app you'll use a lot is Settings. Its icon looks like a gear. It's the control room of your phone. Wi-Fi, brightness, sound, storage and much more are all in Settings.

A computer's desktop

Now a laptop or desktop computer. When it starts, you see the desktop. The desktop is the main screen. It can hold icons for apps, files and folders. The taskbar is the strip along the bottom. It shows the apps that are open, and the time. The Start button opens the Start menu, a list of all the programs on the computer. And every app you open appears in its own box, called a window.

Three buttons on every window

In the top corner of every window, you'll find three small buttons. Minimise hides the window in the taskbar without closing it. Click its icon in the taskbar to bring it back. Maximise makes the window fill the whole screen. Click it again to make it smaller. And the X button closes the window. If you haven't saved your work, the app will usually ask first.

Quick check

Quick check. Where do you look to see how much battery is left? The status bar at the top of the screen. It shows the time, your signal, Wi-Fi and battery. Options: The keyboard; The status bar at the top of the screen; The camera; The dock.

Recap

Tap an icon to open an app. Swipe down from the top for notifications. Settings is where you control your phone. On a computer, learn the desktop, the taskbar, the Start menu and windows. And every window can be minimised, maximised or closed.

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