Huawei Honor 8 Tips and Tricks

Are you using an Honor 8? If so, check this post to learn several tips and tricks for using your phone.

– Basic

1. Location of the default wallpapers

There are few default wallpapers that come with your Honor 8. If you wish to extract these wallpapers, here’s the location:

\HWThemes\.cache\

More info: Q&A (Honor 8): Where are the default wallpapers stored?

2. Enable blue light filter

Avoid eye strain caused by the blue light from your phone with the built-in blue light filter.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Display > Eye comfort.
3. Slide the Eye comfort switch to the on position.
4. Optionally, you can schedule the times to turn on and off the blue light filter automatically. (New feature in EMUI 5)
   

Tip: There’s an quicker way to enable blue light filter – The Eye Comfort shortcut on the notification panel.

3. Check the battery level and temperature

You can see check your phone’s battery percentage and temperature with the following method:

1. On your phone dialer, dial *#*#2846579#*#*
2. Tap Battery Charge, and you should get a similar screen.
   

There are 2 other methods you can view how much juice is left on your phone. Read this tutorial if you’re interested.

4. Switch between basic and scientific calculator

Simply rotate your phone to landscape screen orientation to switch from basic to scientific calculator.

5. Hide unused apps

If you wish to make those unused apps disappear from your Home screen (Yes, neat and tidy), follow these steps:

1. Place 2 fingers on a Home screen and spread them apart to open the Hidden applications screen.
2. Tap + Add and select the apps you want to hide.
   

More info.: Honor 8: How to hide unused apps?

6. The Mirror app

Use the Mirror app to check your appearance and make some touch ups. Tap the screen once to pause the image. You can also long tap on the screen for a surprise. ?

7. Show network speed in the status bar

You can make the network connection speed visible at all times in the status bar. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings app, tap Notification panel & status bar > turn on Display network speed.

8. Open Sound recorder, Calculator, Torch and Camera from the lock screen

On the Lock screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get the icons to open Sound recorder, Calculator, Torch and Camera directly.

If you’re using the Magazine styled lock screen, you’ll see additional controls for the wallpaper slideshow.

9. Use your knuckles to take screenshots, start video recording and launch apps

Honor 8 is packed with smart features including knuckle gesture controls. If these options are turned on in Smart assistance, you can do the following with your knuckles.

1. Tap the screen using your knuckles to capture screen, start & stop video recording.
2. Draw letters using your knuckles to launch apps.

Go to your device’s Settings > Smart assistance > Motion control to turn on the knuckle gesture controls.

10. Screen shot part of the screen

Sometimes you just want to screen shot part of the screen. The Smart screenshot option helps you to do that.

See this tutorial to learn how to turn on and use this feature.

11. Use fingerprint to unlock App Lock

Make your Fingerprint scanner more useful, and use it to access the App Lock.

Here’s how to set your App Lock to use fingerprint:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Fingerprint ID > Fingerprint management.
3. Turn on Access app lock.
   

12. Prevent pocket-dialling

Stop being the person who accidentally calls your friends. Enable Touch-disable mode to stop accidental placement of phone calls while your phone is in your pocket.

1. Open the Settings app, tap Smart assistance.
2. Turn on Touch-disable mode.

13. Enable Pocket mode

You can make your phone ring louder and vibrate with higher intensity while it’s in your pocket by enabling the Pocket mode option.

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Tap Menu button > Settings.
3. Turn on the Pocket mode switch.

14. Turn off screenshot sound

If you wish to turn off the screenshot sound, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app, tap Sound > turn off Screenshot tone.

15. Schedule power on and off automatically

Turning off your phone when you sleep and turning it back on when you wake up is easier with the Scheduled power on and off function. Head to your device’s Settings > Smart assistance > Schedule power on and off to set the times to have your phone does it automatically for you.

16. Multiple ways to start screen recording

Honor 8 features a built-in screen recorder, and you can use any of these methods to start a recording.

17. Use gloves mode If you want to control your phone without exposing your hands to extreme temperatures, turn on the Gloves mode.

1. Open the Settings app, tap Smart assistance > turn on Gloves mode.

18. Use Fingerprint to turn on and unlock the lock screen

No “double tap to wake”? No problem. You can use Fingerprint to turn on and unlock the lock screen at the same time. Go to your device’s Settings > Fingerprint ID > Fingerprint management to enrol your fingerprint.

19. Dial *#*#6130#*#*

Just dial *#*#6130#*#* for fun and some phone information

20. Display an app’s App Info screen quickly

Here’s a common method in Android to quickly display an app’s App Info screen. If the app is currently running or opened previously, tap the Recent button, (If necessary) scroll through the list of app thumbnails to look for the app you want, then long tap its app icon in the upper right corner of the app thumbnail.

21. Lock an app from closing If you want to stop an app you are using or you’ve recently used from closing in the background, you can just lock it. Here’s how:

1. Tap the Recent button.
2. Scroll through the app thumbnails to look for the app you want to lock.
3. Tap the Lock icon on the thumbnail to toggle between lock and unlock.
   

22. Use these hidden codes

You can enter these codes on the dialer to find out more information about your phone and test the hardware.

1. *#06# – This code displays your phone’s IMEI numbers.
2. *#0000# – This code opens the About phone screen that shows the following information: Model number, Build number, Hardware version, IMEI information, etc.
3. *#*#2846579#*#* – This code opens the ProjectMenu screen that shows the following information: Background settings, Veneer Informations, Network Information Query, Software Upgrade, Restore Factory, Battery information
   
4. *#*#1357946#*#* – This code opens the Settings screen that shows the following information: EMUI version, Serial number, Product ID.
   
5. *#*#6130#*#* – This code displays the phone SIM card information, app usage statistics and Wi-Fi information.
   
6. *#2846# – This code will start a series of hardware tests such as touch screen, colours, hardware buttons, speaker, etc. Press the Volume – button to go the next test after completing the current test by following the on-screen instructions. Press Volume + to get back to the previous test. After a few tests, you should see a Home button that lets you to exit the test anytime.

23. Enable the floating buttons:

Instead of always pressing the Power button to lock and turn off the screen, you can tap the Screen lock button on the Floating dock. The Floating dock float around most screens and offers quick access for Back, Home, Recent apps, Screen lock and One-touch optimization.

1. To enable floating dock, follow these steps: 2. From your device’s Settings, tap Smart assistance > Floating dock > Turn on Floating dock.

24. Use Simple mode

Make the phone best for grandparents and seniors by using the Simple mode. This mode offers minimalistic and clean home screen with large icons. To turn this on, go to the Settings > Advanced settings > Simple mode > Tap the Apply button.

25. Browse your apps in landscape mode

Want to browse your apps and settings screen in landscape? Turn the Auto-rotate feature on.

1. Pinch a home screen using 2 fingers, and then tap Settings.
2. Turn on Auto-rotate.
   

26. Read QR codes There are lots of free QR code apps to download, but your Honor 8 will be able to read QR codes without any of these. Here are the 2 ways to do that:

i. Method 1. Using the Camera app

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Take a photo of a QR code.
3. Then, view it on the Camera or Gallery and tap More > Scan QR code in image.
   

ii. Method 2: Using the built-in Scan tool

1. On the lock screen, swipe up from the bottom of screen.
2. Tap the Scan tool on the far right side.
   
3. Start scanning a QR code

27. Reset the network settings Having a weird Wi-Fi problem such as a public Wi-Fi network isn’t visible on your phone? Try resetting the network settings. From your device’s Settings, go to Advanced settings > Backup & reset > Network settings reset.

– Personalization

1. Add your photos to the Magazine style lock screen Wish to add your photos to the Magazine style lock screen? Here’s how:

1. On the lock screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the Covers button .
3. Tap the + Add button.
4. Select the photos you want to add.

Check out this tutorial for more detailed instructions.

2. Customize the navigation bar If for some reason you don’t like the Back button to be on the left, you can easily personalize the positions of the navigation buttons. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Navigation key.
3. Pick a combination.
   

3. Shake to rearrange Home screen apps

If you find it painful to drag and drop apps around to fill the empty space, turn on the Shake to rearrange Home screen apps option to have this done automatically by just shaking your phone.

1. Pinch a Home screen using 2 fingers.
2. Tap More settings.
3. Turn on Shake.
   

Tip: If you turn on Auto-align, your phone will fill the empty space automatically after you uninstall an app.

4. Shake to change the Home screen wallpaper (This feature has been removed in EMUI 5)

Bored with seeing the same home screen wallpaper everyday? You can easily change it by just shaking your phone. Here’s how to turn on this feature.

1. Open the Settings app, tap Display > Wallpaper.
2. Turn on Shake to change.
   

5. Rotate the Home screen wallpaper automatically

You can change the wallpaper image automatically by setting an interval. Here’s how:

6. Get back the app drawer Whether you’re missing the app drawer or you just don’t like having all the apps on the home screens, you can have it back now. Here’s how:

From your device’s Settings, tap Home screen style > select the Drawer option.

6. Add more live wallpapers

You can download live wallpapers online. Open the Themes app, tap Customize > Home screen wallpaper > Live wallpaper, then download and apply the one that you like. If the given live wallpapers aren’t what you want, you can get it from the Google Play store or Huawei app store. After downloading the live wallpaper, it will appear in the Local tab. You can then apply from there.

7. Automate deletion of magazine style lock screen wallpapers

If you’re using the Magazine style lock screen, odds are you have the auto-download-of-new-wallpapers feature enabled. If you find these wallpapers taking too much of your storage after some time, you can set it to delete the old wallpapers automatically. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings app
2. Tap Screen lock & passwords > Magazine unlock
3. Turn on Auto-delete covers older than 3 months.
   

8. Change your phone’s font to a custom .ttf font

It’s possible to use a custom font on your Honor 8. Refer to this tutorial for detailed instructions.

– Camera

1. Several methods to take photos

Besides tapping the Shutter button to take pictures, here are some other methods:

1. Take photos automatically when detect a smile. To enable this feature, go to the Camera settings, and turn on the Capture smiles switch.
2. Take photos by saying “cheese”. To enable this feature, go to the Camera settings, tap Audio control, then turn on Audio control and select Say cheese to take photos.
3. Take photos by tapping on the screen. Turn on Touch to capture in the Camera settings to enable this feature.
4. Use the self-timer. You have the options of 2s, 5s and 10s delay.
5. Use the volume buttons. You can set the Volume button as the camera shutter.

2. Quickly snap a photo when your phone display is off

If you want to capture a fleeting moment with your phone’s camera, there is actually a way to do it without turning on your phone’s display. Just double-press the Volume button, and you’ve snapped a photo. For this to work, you must turn on the Ultra snapshot option in the Camera settings.

3. Use Object tracking for taking pictures of moving objects

Enable object tracking when taking photos of moving subjects such as people and animals. The camera will automatically maintain focus on the moving subject.

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Swipe left and turn on Object tracking.
   

4. Watermark your photos

Make your photos more informative by watermarking them with weather information, date and time, location and etc. To do this, you’ll need to use the Watermark mode in the Camera app.

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Swipe right and select Watermark.
3. You can then tap Menu button (in the lower right corner) to select the watermark information.
   

– Clock

1. Set an alarm, then turn off your phone

Did you know the alarm clock will still work when you power off your phone? Just make sure the Keep alarm active option is checked when turn off your phone to avoid wasting battery during the night.

2. Set the alarm ringing duration

Are you a sound sleeper that needs the alarm to ring long enough to wake you up? On your Honor 8, you can set the alarm to ring as long as 30 mins.

1. Open the Clock app.
2. Go to the Alarm tab.
3. Tap Settings > Ring duration.
4. Select an option between 1 minute to 30 minutes.
   

– Contacts

1. Share contacts using QR codes

Sharing a contact is easy, especially using a QR code. View the contact you want to share, and then tap the QR code in the upper right corner to show the QR code.

2. Auto-group your contacts You have many contacts. And, your Honor 8 will help you to group them according to their companies automatically.

1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Tap Groups.
3. Tap Companies under Smart groups.
   

3. Scan business cards into the Contacts app If you want to turn your business cards into contacts instantly, use the Scan option in the Contacts app

– File Explorer

1. Hide pictures, files, songs and videos

Whether you need to hide your sexy photos or private videos, you can do so without a 3rd party app. Here’s how:

1. Open the Files app.
2. Go to Local tab > Safe > Enable
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to select a storage (phone or SD memory) and setup your password.
4. When you’re done, tap either Images, Audio, Videos or Files to select the files you want to hide.
   

– Gallery

1. Access camera from the Gallery app (This no longer works in EMUI 5)

In the Gallery app, you can swipe down on the Photos tab to open the camera.

2. Slide up to transfer photos

Transferring a photo to a Bluetooth enabled device couldn’t be easier – just use the Slide up to enable Transfer feature. Hit this link for more detailed instructions.

3. More than one way to rotate pictures

If you wish to rotate a picture, you can do so using one of the following methods:

i. Method 1

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. View the picture you want to rotate.
3. Tap Menu > Rotate.
   

ii. Method 2

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. View the picture you want to rotate.
3. Tap Edit > Rotate.
4. On the Rotate screen, tap Rotate(in the lower left corner)
   

4. Hide photo albums

If you have any albums that you don’t want to show in the Albums tab of the Gallery app, you can hide them. Here’s how:

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. Tap the Menu button > Hide albums.
3. Turn on the switch next to the albums you want to hide from the Album tabs.
   

5. Browse photos by swiping on the fingerprint sensor

When viewing photos in full screen mode, you can swipe left or right on the fingerprint sensor to browse through your photos. To enable this feature, go to Settings > Fingerprint ID > Turn on Browse photos

– HiApp

1. Shake to get app recommendations (This option has been removed in the latest version)

If your phone has the Huawei App store installed, you can turn on the Shake to get app recommendations feature. Here’s how:

1. In HiApp settings, go to Me tab > Settings > Shake for new apps.
2. Turn on Shake for new apps.

– Messaging

1. Cancel send With Cancel send, a message that you sent by accident can be stopped/cancelled. To enable this feature, follow these steps:

1. Open the Messaging app.
2. Tap the Menu button > Settings > Turn on the Cancel send switch.
3. To stop a message from sending out, double tap the message bubble within 4 secs.
   

2. Add a message signature

The Messaging app can help to add your signature to every message automatically. You first need to create a signature with the following steps:

1. Open the Messaging app.
2. Tap the Menu button > Settings > Advanced > Signature.
3. Turn on the Attach signature switch, and then tap Edit signature to enter your signature.

3. Pin a conversation

If you want a conversation (with your favorite friend) to always appear at the top of the message conversation list, just pin it. Here’s how:

1. Open the Messaging app.
2. Long tap the conversation you want to pin, and then tap the Pin button at the bottom of the screen.

4. Lock a message

Want to make sure you don’t delete an important message accidentally? You can lock it to prevent such an accident.

1. Open the Messaging app.
2. Open a conversation.
3. Long tap a message you want to lock.
4. Tap Menu > Lock.
   

– Music

1. Do more than just adjusting volume and skipping songs with the headset control

Do more than just adjusting volume and skipping songs with the headset control by enabling the Smart headset control. With this feature, you can double press the Volume + button to add a song to your favorites and double press the Volume – to switch between playback mode. And the good thing is that it works with any headset that has the volume and play/stop buttons.

To enable the Smart headset control, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Smart assistance > Smart headset control.
3. Turn on the Smart headset control switch.
   

– Phone

1. Answer calls with your voice

Did you know that you can answer calls without touching the screen or even the phone? Follow the steps below to turn on the Answer calls with voice control option.

1. Open Settings app, tap Smart assistance > Voice control.
2. Turn on Answer calls with voice control.

2. Combine call log entries from/to the same caller

Follow the steps below to combine all calls, either incoming or outgoing for the same person under one record in your call log :

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Tap the Menu button > Settings > Merge call log.
3. Select By contact.

3. Mute an incoming call quickly

You’re in an important meeting and your phone suddenly ring aloud. Here are 2 ways you can quickly silence the ringer.

1. Flip your phone face-down. To enable this feature, go to Settings > Smart assistance > Motion control > Flip > Turn on Mute incoming calls.
2. Press either Volume and Power button once.
   

– Phone Manager

1. Create shortcuts to Phone Manager’s function

The Phone Manager app comes with functions to make your phone run faster and more secure. And, you can create shortcuts for any of the often-used functions. Here’s how: