It’s no secret to anyone who follows me on Twitter that I have rarely been as vocally positive about a smartphone as the LG G2 [Read our full review here]. I have owned this device since its launch and I find myself using it daily with nay a modification. Despite my love for custom ROMs, I didn’t even root the G2 mainly because some of LG’s features have grown on me and I couldn’t live without them. Here they are.
Knock On
Double tap on the G2’s screen when the device is off and it turns on. Double tap on the notification bar from any app, and it turns off. It sounds trivial, almost gimmicky, but once you get used to this “hey, phone!” approach, there’s no going back. I have tried double tapping my Nexus 7, my Galaxy S3, my TV and even my laptop to turn them on or off. Alas, that doesn’t work there and only the G2 answers my special command.
Clip Tray
Like everyone, my phone is used for both work and personal matters, and I often find myself copying text fragments or URLs and pasting them between apps. LG’s Clip Tray saves the last 20 copied items, no matter what they are, and keeps them accessible if I need to paste them again. It is a huge time-saver when you don’t want to hop back and forth between apps.
Paste the last copied text or access a history of 20 clipped items
QuickMemo
QuickMemo is like an onscreen note-drawing app. Launch it by simply swiping up from the software shortcuts — like you do with Google Now — and you have an easy way to write anything on the current screen, crop it, save it and share it. I never thought I’d need something like QuickMemo until I discovered how convenient, fast and more privacy-minded it is to simply share and annotate part of a screen instead of a full screenshot.
QuickMemo is the easiest way to annotate and crop a part of your screen
QuickRemote
Like many other flagships, the LG G2 comes with an IR blaster that controls various appliances around the house. The one convenience added by LG is a Quick Remote option in the drop-down notification area that gives quick access to select remotes. I have it set up to only show when I’m home so it is hidden when I don’t need it. You couldn’t imagine the smile you have when you get home and your phone already has a one-swipe access to turn on the TV so you can quickly watch content through your Chromecast.
QuickRemote shows the remotes I need when I need them
Notification drop-down shortcut
LG included software shortcuts on the LG G2 instead of physical buttons, but they decided to do things their way with the option to add a notification drop-down shortcut. Now, you would think “why do I need that when I can simply swipe down?” and I had the same thought. But the G2, like most modern smartphones, is quite large and you often have to readjust your grip on the phone to reach the notification area. Thanks to this shortcut, you don’t have to.
On the bottom right of the screen, this notification drop-down and roll-up shortcut comes very handy
I often find myself wanting to check a new notification while typing some text, and it is quicker and easier to reach for the shortcut than the actual notification bar, see what it was, then use that same shortcut to roll it back up. It is fast, convenient, and I wish all large smartphones and tablets have this feature.
Do you have an LG G2? If so, what are the features you like most about it?
