Google Maps Issues, Lowest Game Price On Steam, Dark Mode On Google Drive

This week, we fix Google Maps if the app isn’t working properly, update the Google Play System on Android mobile, and find the lowest price of a game on Steam. We turn on dark mode in Google Drive, “Shock” friends on Facebook, correct the exposure of a photo with Google Photos, and use the SORT function in Microsoft Excel.

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How do I fix Google Maps if the app is not working properly?

Usually, when an Android application shows problems, such as failure to load, freezing, or crashing, it is enough to clear the cache, because there may be an error in the temporarily stored files.

However, Google Maps is a special case because it uses many subsystems and processes of the device. Therefore, solving the problems presented by their application requires a different approach.

First, as with any other application, it is necessary to clear the cache and all data of the application. To do something like this, we open the settings, press “Applications”, and choose “Maps”.

Then, locate “Storage”, press “Clear data”, and in the box that will open press “Delete”.

After deleting the data and before reopening the application, click on “Permissions” and set the permissions as follows:

• Location: “Only by using the app” or “Always allow”
• Camera: “Only by using the app”
• Pause idle app activity: Inactive switch

Then we go to “Battery” and select “No Limit” so that the operating system does not automatically disable Google Maps to reduce battery consumption.

Then, we press on “Mobile data” and activate the switches next to “Allow background data use” and “Allow data use with Data Saver active” so that the application can access the Internet constantly, even if we have data saving active.

Finally, we click on “Picture in picture” and activate the switch next to “Grant permission”, so that the operating system does not close Google Maps if we open another application during navigation.

How do I update Google Play System on Android mobile

Google Play System is core system software that enables major features on every certified Android device. As we understand, it is important that this software stays up to date.

Google releases a new version every month. However, it is up to the device manufacturer to allow the update to be made available to their own products.

In any case, if the device is still receiving updates, according to the respective company’s upgrade policy, sooner or later the Google Play System will be upgraded to the latest version made available by the search giant.

If we don’t want to wait for the automatic software update, or we want to make sure that our device has the latest available version installed, then we enter the settings and press “Phone information”.

Then click on “Software Information”.

Then, we press “Google Play System Update”.

The operating system will check for updates. If it detects a newer version it will immediately start downloading and installing and restart the device. Otherwise, it will say “Your device is up to date”.

Finally, if we want to do an additional check, then we press the “Check for update” button.

How do I find the lowest price of a game on Steam?

Game publishers and developers offer their titles at a discount for various reasons, such as celebrating a milestone, receiving an award, or anniversary and seasonal sales.

In any case, if we are interested in buying a game from Steam, it is a good idea to check what is the lowest price at which it has ever been available and how often this title is sold at a discount.

To check the price history of a Steam game, we enter SteamDB and perform a search for the game of interest.

Then, on the SteamDB game page, locate the filters section and select “Price history”.

In the “Steam price history” table we can see the current price of the game in the “Current Price” column and the lowest price at which it has been sold in the “Lowest Price” column.

Just below the table is the “Price History”, this is a new chart that shows how the game’s price has fluctuated over the last six months, the last year, or from the day it was released to today.

By observing and looking at the chart, we can see how often the company offers the game at a lower than normal price.

So we can decide whether to buy it at the current price or wait until the next time it’s available on sale.

Finally, by hovering over the green line, we can see the price of the game at the selected time.

How do I enable dark mode in Google Drive?

Like most Google apps, Drive has a dark mode. To activate the so-called dark theme on the Google Drive website, we click on the gear.

Then, we go to “Settings”.

Next, we locate the “Appearance” section and select the setting we like:

• Bright: Google Drive will have a white user interface.
• Dark: The website environment will be dark.
• Device Default: The website theme will follow that of Windows.

How to “Shoot” Facebook friends in 2024

One of the first “social” features of Facebook was the “shake”. The social networking platform allowed us to “bump” friends with the push of a button. However, Meta found that the popularity of this feature was waning and decided to remove it.

In essence, the company never completely removed nudge from Facebook, it just hid it in the hope that some of its users would seek it out. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg considers the “shake” a very important historical element of this particular social media.

In 2024, we can still find friends on Facebook, but it takes more than one click. First, we write in the search “Twitches” and press Enter.

Then we click on the first result.

Then, we press the “Shake” button, next to the name of the friend we want to shake.

If we have a lot of friends and find it difficult to find the desired person by scrolling, we can use the search at the top of the page for “Tumps”.

How do I correct the exposure of a photo with Google Photos?

The low lighting in the room results in the photos being underexposed. This results in a less clear image with less vivid colors.

Fortunately, we can easily correct the exposure of smartphone photos using the Google Photos app. First, we open the application, find the photo we want to edit, and click on it.

Then press “Edit”.

Then, press “Customize”.

Then, press “Brightness” and adjust it according to the photo.

In addition, we adjust the “Contrast”, “Highlights”, and “Shadows”.

Finally, we can adjust other settings, such as white or black point, which could improve the image even more.

Once we are satisfied with the result, press “Finish” and select “Save a copy” to save the final photo as a copy so that the original file is not overwritten.

How do I use the SORT function in Microsoft Excel

The SORT function allows us to sort data of specific cells. In this QuickSteps we will see how to use this function in Microsoft Excel.

When we use the SORT function, Excel copies the data of the selected cells and places them in a corresponding number of cells, with the first cell being the one in which we enter the function.

The basic syntax of SORT is “=SORT(CELL_RANGE)” and the function sorts the data in those cells alphabetically from A to Z, or if they are numbers, from smallest to largest.

If we want to sort the data containing two or more columns, then in “CELL_RANGE” we put the corresponding range.

However, in this case we need to add one more variable to SORT, otherwise the function will sort the data in the columns based on the data in the first column.

To choose based on the data which column SORT will sort on, we add the variable for the sort order and the function becomes “=SORT(CELL_RANGE;SORT_ORDER)”.

Finally, we can change the sort mode from the default AZ and ascending order for numbers to AZ and descending order for numbers. To do this, we add one last variable, “-1”. So the function takes the form “=SORT(CELL_RANGE;SORT_ORDER;-1)”.

Did you enjoy this week’s QuickSteps?

What did you think of this week’s tips and tricks? Did you know and/or use any of them?

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