ASUS ZenUI tricks you might not know about

Today I'll be teaching you all the ZenUI shortcuts and tricks I know. These so-called "life hacks" have helped me out more times than I could count, and always saved me time and effort when navigating through ZenUI and being productive.

Please take note that not all features are available on all ZenFones.

Screenshot shortcuts
Probabably one of the most-asked questions out there is how one can take a snapshot of the device's screen, or a screenshot. With ZenUI, there are three possible ways to do this.

• Hold both the power button and the volume down button for 3 seconds.
• Under Settings>ASUS customized settings>Recent apps key, you can set it so that when you tap and hold the Recent apps key, it becomes a shortcut to take a screenshot.
• Under Settings>ASUS customized settings>Quick settings options, you can add an additional Screenshot tool to the four available tools on your Quick settings panel. You'll have to remove a tool first before you can add it in though, because only up to four tools are allowed.
  

Launcher shortcuts and tricks
The launcher is probably the most used app of all, seeing as it's the gateway to all the other apps that are installed on your device. This is why there are a lot of features that can make your launcher experience easier, faster and customizable.

• Swipe up from anywhere in the lock screen to bring up the Manage Home screen. Here you can easily access quick launcher personalization features such as Wallpapers, Icon packs, your ZenUI themes, and more.
• Pinch in on your lock screen to bring up Home edit mode, which allows you to edit your Home pages, the icon size and alignment, scroll effects, the font, as well as the size and color of the font.
• Swipe down from the lock screen to bring up the search pane. Here you can do quick app and web searches, as well as see what are the trending topics in the internet right now.
• Pinch in and out on your app drawer to change the grid size on the fly.
• From your launcher menu, tap Smart group; ZenUI will then automatically categorize your apps according to their purpose.
• Did you know you can download high quality wallpapers from your launcher? Make sure both your ZenUI Launcher is updated, launch Manage Home, then tap Wallpapers. You'll see a Get more icon at the bottom left, tap on that and you'll be presented with a huge selection of wallpapers from ZenUI and TripAdvisor.
• Hide apps from your launcher by going to your launcher menu and tapping Hide apps.
• Uninstall multiple apps quickly by going to your launcher menu and tapping Uninstall/Disable.
  

ASUS Keyboard shortcuts and tricks
There are a lot of customization features for the keyboard as well. From emojis to shortcuts and themes, there are a lot of things you can do to make ASUS Keyboard more productive.

• You can enable emojis (those cute emoticons) by going to Settings>Language & input>ZenUI Keyboard>Input languages, de-selecting Use system language, then enabling Emoji.
• You can switch between the English and Emoji keyboards by tapping the gear icon at the lower-left part of your keyboard.
• You can double-tap the space bar to auto-insert a period and a space.
• Quickly access the number pad by tapping the 123 icon on the keyboard toolbar.
• If the Light theme is too bright for you, you can quickly change to the Dark theme by tapping the Theme icon on the keyboard toolbar.
• If you want to hide the keyboard for a full-screen view you can tap the Minimize keyboard icon on the toolbar.
• You can use the trace typing feature to quickly swipe through the letters to type words instead of tapping each letter every single time.
  

Calls and contacts tricks
Of course, what is a phone for if not for making calls? Here are a few tricks you can teach to an old feature.

• Silence a loud ringtone by pressing the volume down button once.
• Go to Settings>Accessibility then enable Power button ends call to more easily decline calls from unwanted callers.
• You can add spam callers to a blocklist to stop them from contacting you.
  

Gallery tricks
Smartphones are made for media consumption. While ASUS Gallery offers ample photo and video viewing and editing features, here are some of the lesser-known features and settings.

• Want your old Gallery magnification back so you can zoom in to all of your photos' details? Go to your Gallery settings and set Photo magnification to 200%.
• Pinch in and out on the Gallery thumbnails to increase or decrease their size.
• Quickly launch PhotoCollage and MiniMovie via the floating buttons at the bottom right of the Gallery screen.
  

PhotoCollage tricks
PhotoCollage is ASUS' photo-editing suite. Here are two of the most-used effects that you can use.

• Use the Color Lab effect to create isolated color effects.
• Use the Little Planet effect to apply 360-degree planet-like visuals to your landscape photos.
  

SnapView tricks
SnapView allows you to have a separate, hidden account for all your private photos, files and apps. It's a hardly-used feature, but it can be very useful if you have sensitive information lurking around your device.

• Enable SnapView by going to Settings>Users>Add user, then selecting SnapView.
• Set a Dummy notification by tapping the You're in SnapView notification, and tapping Text or Icon to select a customized notification. This notification will appear everytime there is an app in your SnapView account that needs attention while you're on Owner mode.
  

Auto-start Manager trick
Although Auto-start Manager is pretty straightforward to use, there is one slightly hidden setting that can further improve your battery life.

• Enable Clean up in suspend by going to your Auto-start Manager settings. This enables an automated "boost" feature everytime the device's screen is turned off, and automatically cleans all apps with auto-start permissions set to Deny.
  

There's a lot you can do with ASUS ZenUI, no? I'm sure there's more to add here, so feel free to share what you know as well. I'll make sure to add it to this list, credited to you of course. And of course, what's credit without free credits? Anyone who shares their own tips, tricks, shortcuts or life hacks will recieve 10 free credits, on me. ;)

User-submitted shortcuts, tips and tricks
Here we'll give recognition to those members who are willing to share their own "life hacks" to help out fellow members. Click the title to read the whole post.

• Give your Calling Screen, Dialer & Contacts, and Messaging apps a more personalized look by giving them wallpapers. - Zer0
• Share contact by texting. - Rolento
• Asus Zenui quick finder is also one very useful tool we have in our ZenFone especially when you have lots of applications installed in your fone. - gjmsds112510
• This are for those users like me who are obsessed in having their ZenUI always up to date - John87
• Before i'm having hard time locating the photos I would like to send in a certain GC due to messengers recent to old sorting and due to lots of photos, but now it's easier with this method. - djinnski
• you could also mix and match your themes and icon packs. - iamianthugsz
• try to explore the ASUS support app - Tan Lee
• you  could call or text important people from your homescreen - TheLibra
  

Thank you so much sir Nikko. This is very helpful =)

Give your Calling Screen, Dialer & Contacts, and Messaging apps a more personalized look by giving them wallpapers. For Messaging and Dialer & Contacts, launch apps, tap the dots then settings and select personalize > Background. You may also select individual backgrounds on the call log, dialpad, and contacts list. For Calling Screen, launch Phone app > Dots > Settings > Call screen settings > Call background settings. There's also a blur degree option, too.

Thanks Nikko! really good read article for beginners and for those who plans to experience the ASUS ZenUI.

Share contact by texting.
Go to Contacts. Select and hold the name of contact to share. On pop-up screen select "share contact". Then, on next pop-up screen you can choose what information you want to share (e.g. email address or cellphone) then select "Share" on upper right corner. On next pop-up, select Share contact via Messaging. Finally on next pop-up you can select "No" on Share contact via vCard to directly text the contact number via texting. Then select the recipient.

Asus Zenui quick finder is also one very useful tool we have in our ZenFone especially when you have lots of applications installed in your fone. Just tap the magnifying glass symbol besides the word widget shown on top of your apps drawer, then type the first 3 or 4 letters of the application you are looking for and this will show all applications you have starting with the same letters or in the beginning. An example of which is typing letter C. And this will show you all your apps beginning in letter C like calculator, clock and many more.
Through this Zenui feature you save time finding and browsing through all your apps.

Just to add up.

      This are for those users like me who are obsessed in having their ZenUI always up to date or maybe wishing to check if they  have all the ZenUI apps installed on their phone. Instead of checking it in Google Playstore and scrolling in a long list of apps, you can just visit;

Settings > ZenUI Instant Update

On this page you will see all the ZenUI app on your phone and you can immediately see also if they are updated or not. Aside from that this contains all the ZenUI application available in PlayStore aswell, thus providing you the option if you wish to install them or not.

I don't know if this is qualified (hehehe).
Sometimes posting in or sending some photos to Facebook, FB Messenger, IG, ZenCircle, etc especially those older photos are hard to do cos usually their at the bottom part. And with that I find it easier to do so via the Gallery, you can browse easily the photo you would like to share or post just simply selecting that or those photos and pressing the share button located at the top right of the screen, the one with 3 connected dots. Before i'm having hard time locating the photos I would like to send in a certain GC due to messengers recent to old sorting and due to lots of photos, but now it's easier with this method.

you could also mix and match your themes and icon packs. open the Themes app and select your desired theme. Then swipe up on your Home Screen and tap the Themes icon and select your desired icon pack ^_^

Thanks for this post Nikko. I have just tried out that gallery trick and it was nice indeed.