What a small picture is telling you
Look at the small pictures on a screen and work out what most of them do, without pressing them to find out.
Screens are covered in small pictures, and it can look like a code nobody gave you the key to. There is a key, and it is short.
The same handful appear on every phone and every computer, made by every company, because they were agreed on long ago. Learn a dozen and you can read most screens you will ever meet.
Key points
- The same dozen pictures appear on nearly every screen
- A gear is settings; a magnifying glass is search
- Three lines is a menu; a plus adds something new
- Resting on a picture usually shows you its name
- Reading a screen is a skill, not a memory test
What to remember
- The same small pictures mean the same things wherever you meet them.
- How it behaves is always behind the gear.
- Resting on something is free. It is the cheapest way to read a screen you do not know.
Try this
Open any app on your phone and find the gear. It is nearly always in a corner or behind the three lines. You do not have to change anything — just find it, so that next time you need it you already know where it lives.
Practice: What a small picture is telling you. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.