15 essential Nokia Asha tips and tricks

The latest family of Nokia Asha smartphones are brilliant, versatile little handsets. Follow these tips to get even more out of them.

1. Import contacts

Importing contacts from an existing SIM card is one of the first things you’ll need to do when you use your Nokia Asha for the first time. Thankfully, it’s something anybody can do with ease. Open ‘Contacts’, and then press the ‘Import contacts’ button at the bottom.

2. Camera quick start

If you want to take a photo quickly, while your Asha is locked, tap a button and swipe upwards. This will automatically start the camera application.

3. Glance Screen

The Glance Screen on the Nokia Asha means you’ll always be able to see the time without having to unlock the phone. To turn it on, open Settings and tap the ‘Glance Screen’ toggle.

4. Lock-screen notifications

You can make new messages and other notifications show up on the lock screen of your Nokia Asha. Just press Settings and then tap the ‘Notifications’ toggle. Simple!

5. Customise your menu screen

The Fastlane screen is great for opening the apps you use regularly, but you can also customise the menu so your favourite apps appear at the top. Just tap and hold the app you want to move, and then drag it to its new home. The old app in its place will automatically move out of the way.

6. Customise your Fastlane

Want to change what shows up on your Fastlane? Open Settings, scroll down and press ‘Fastlane’. You can choose a range of different notifications, from Facebook and social networks, to new messages, to recent apps installed, and recent web pages you’ve looked at.

To remove a Fastlane notification, tap and hold one of the notifications on your Fastlane. Tick the red cross to remove a single item, or press ‘Clear all’ to start afresh.

7. Download an app

To download an app on your Nokia Asha, swipe to the menu and press the Store icon. Tap the search bar and type the name of the app, or click ‘Applications’, ‘Games’, Personalisation’ or ‘Collections’ to search by type. When you’ve found an app you want, tap it, and then press the large button in the middle of the screen to download.

8. Manage and uninstall apps

Want to free up space for new apps, photos or music? To delete old apps, just tap and hold the icon on the menu screen. Then press the red cross in the corner to uninstall the app.

9. Swipe to close an app

To exit an app as quickly as possible, and get back to the menu screen on your Nokia Asha, just swipe your finger from right to left across the display.

10. Add an email account

It’s easy to add one, two or multiple email accounts to your Nokia Asha. Click Mail and, when the app opens, swipe upwards. Press ‘Accounts’, followed by the + button, and then select the type of email account you want to add. Enter your details and press ‘Sign in’.

11.Boost battery

You can boost the already-excellent battery life on your Nokia Asha even further by exploiting the shortcut buttons at the top of the display. Just swipe down and disable the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi buttons when you’re not using them to reduce power drain.

Still want more from your battery? Open Settings and scroll down to the ‘Brightness’ bar. Move the bar over to the left to dim the screen. The darker the screen, the more time you’ll be able to eke out between charges.

12. Set an alarm

To use your Asha as an alarm clock, open the menu, press ‘Alarms’ and move the hands on the clock to the time you want. Click ‘Only once’ to change the Repeat settings, where you can set the alarm to go off on different days, along with changing snooze settings.

13. Create a backup

It’s really important backup your Nokia Asha content. Open settings, click ‘Backup’ and then press ‘Create backup’ to archive your contact details, messages and other priceless data to a memory card.

14. Add a passcode

Open Settings, scroll down to ‘Phone lock’, click the ‘Security code’ toggle and then enter the passcode you want to use for your Nokia Asha.

15. Change wallpaper on lock and home screens

Changing the wallpaper on your Asha is a great way to give it your personal touch. Open Settings and scroll down to the ‘Personalisation’ section. Tap ‘Wallpaper for lock screen’ to pick a new image. You can also select ‘Wallpaper for home screens’ to change the background when the phone is unlocked.

Do you have any tricks that make your daily Asha experience that much better? If we haven’t included it above, let us know and share with the Asha community here on Nokia Conversations