Nokia Lumia 928: Helpful Tips and Tricks

7 helpful Nokia Lumia 928 tips you should try

By Simon Hill October 15, 2013

Nokia Lumia 928 front bottom macro — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s rare that all the features and functions of a new smartphone are immediately obvious. It may take you weeks to discover those time-saving tweaks and uncover new possibilities. Why not skip the lengthy discovery search and just dive into our collection of Nokia Lumia 928 tips and tricks?

How to save battery life

There are many ways to extend the battery life of a smartphone. From obvious things like turning off Bluetooth, NFC, and other features when you aren’t using them, to less obvious things like reducing the sync frequency of your email or Facebook updates. Here are a few more ideas:

You can properly close apps and Web pages by tapping Back to get out rather than hitting the Home button.
You should manage your background apps to stop power-hungry apps from running. Go to Settings swipe left and check Background tasks and block apps like Angry Birds: Space and Nokia Drive + Beta (HERE Drive+) from running in the background.
Use the battery saver function if power is running low, via Settings > Battery saver, but remember you won’t get new emails, calendar events, or updating Live Tiles when it’s on.

How to auto-upload your photos

You can automatically have your photos upload to your SkyDrive account in the cloud. That means they’re backed up and you can access them easily from anywhere. If you want to set it up, go to your Photo Hub and tap the ellipses “…” to enter the menu. Tap Settings and scroll down to find the Auto upload section and tap on SkyDrive. We recommend setting it to only upload via Wi-Fi, or you could end up using a lot of your data allowance.

How to free up 2.5GB of space

You might find that your Nokia Lumia 928 ships with offline maps pre-installed. This could take up as much as 2.5GB and you probably don’t need maps of the whole country, right? Fire up your HERE Maps app and enter the menu to check, then hit Download Maps > Download New Maps and press and hold on the maps you don’t want. This will open up the option to delete. You can always download what you do need again in the future.

How to transfer contacts from your old phone

There are various ways to transfer your contacts from your old phone without a major hassle. Here are three of the simplest options:

Use the Nokia Transfer My Data app.
If you’re with Verizon try Verizon Backup Assistant Plus to sync contacts, pictures, videos, music, and more from the cloud.
Head to Welcome Home to Windows Phone 8 and download the right version for you. It lets you move contacts, email addresses, meetings, and events. It even allows you to move non-DRM media files, so you can shift over all your photos, videos, and music.
If your last phone was a Windows Phone, your contacts should come over when you log into your account. You can log into a Google account to bring over Google Contacts as well.

How to get rid of tint on photos when using flash

If you’ve been experiencing an orange or yellow tint on your photos when you use the flash, there’s a good chance that it’s because of your camera settings. All you have to do is fire up the camera app, go into the Settings and under White Balance switch it off Auto to Fluorescent or something else. Try the different settings out and see what looks best.

You may find that there is a flash before you take a photo even when you’ve turned the flash off. This is the focus assist LED and if you don’t like it then you can turn it off in your camera app via photo settings.

How to use voice commands

Long press on the Home button and you can use hands-free voice commands for various actions. Preface your command with call, text, find, open, or note. Swipe the screen off to the left and you’ll see supported apps, swipe again and you’ll get another list of handy voice commands that you can use.

How to use Nokia Music

You get the basic Nokia Music service, offering you ad-free radio style music for free with your Nokia Lumia 928. To get started with it fire up the app, select Mix radio, and choose the genre you want for a pre-selected mix. If you want to be more specific, tap Create and specify some favorite artists. You can download up to four mixes for offline play. Tap and hold on the mix you want to get the Download option, but make sure you’re connected via Wi-Fi.

You can unlock unlimited track skipping, unlimited playlist downloads, and higher quality audio by splashing out $4 per month on Nokia Music+.

That’s it for Nokia Lumia 928 tips and tricks, but if you’ve got something to share then please post a comment. You’ll find more ideas in the official user guide and, since the Nokia Lumia 928 runs WP8, you might also want to check out our Windows Phone 8 tips for some more ideas.