Screenshots come handy when you want to share something like a two-sided conversation with your crush to your friend or like sharing an image from Instagram. They also help to freeze the moment of the screen to have it forever.
The way to capture screenshot differs with few brands while some add additional ways to take a screenshot instead of changing the usual way. First, we will see the usual way and we will see brand differences one by one.
The way to capture screenshot differs with few brands while some add additional ways to take a screenshot instead of changing the usual way. First, we will see the usual way and we will see brand differences one by one.
Stock android, AOSP ROM, Android One and few other brands
This method is the most familiar and common method originally seen in Google’s Android. Many brands choose to add additional ways than the default way of taking a screenshot as seen in Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo, OnePlus and so on.
The procedure is to press and hold the ‘volume down’ and ‘power’ keys simultaneously for roughly 2 to 3 seconds until you see the screenshot clicking animation that slightly differs with various brands.
That is all, the screenshot is taken and to access it you can simply pull down the notification shade and open it straight away or head to the gallery and choose the folder ‘Screenshots’ in which you can find all the screenshots arranged chronologically.
Do note, this method of the screenshot is only applicable on Android version 4 or above. Before which the option of capturing the screen was considered insecure or not enough API was available to have such a feature.
Samsung way of capturing a screenshot
Samsung is one renowned company that has chosen to change the way screenshot is captured in order to create a unique experience for their brand alone. Samsung smartphone requires ‘Power Key’ and ‘Home Key’ to be pressed to together to capture a screenshot.
Samsung could make the difference since they are one of the very uncommon brands to have a physical home button in the Android world. But that too has changed with the latest infinity edge display that we saw first on the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Samsung could make the difference since they are one of the very uncommon brands to have a physical home button in the Android world. But that too has changed with the latest infinity edge display that we saw first on the Samsung Galaxy S8.
The latest Samsung smartphones with infinity display have adopted the Android’s default way of capturing the screen.
Now let us see some brand-specific ways of taking a screenshot that is deployed in addition to the default procedure.
Xiaomi offers a three finger swipe from the top towards the bottom to take a screenshot which is very handy even when a physical button fails. This feature can be enabled or disabled from the settings.
Huawei has a funny way, knock on the phone’s screen with your knuckle twice and the phone screenshots the content. We neither feel that is easier than the default way, anyway it is up to you to use any of the methods.
Apart from these, there are some common ways to take a screenshot with few selected brands alone. Asus, Xiaomi, Lenovo have an optional toggle that can be added to the quicksetting menu to trigger a screenshot. Some brands offer screenshot option on the switch off menu that pops-up with the long press of the power button.
Apart from these, there are some common ways to take a screenshot with few selected brands alone. Asus, Xiaomi, Lenovo have an optional toggle that can be added to the quicksetting menu to trigger a screenshot. Some brands offer screenshot option on the switch off menu that pops-up with the long press of the power button.
Rooting in case you are helpless
If your volume rocker or Power button fails and your UI does not support any other native ways to take a screenshot or simply your phone runs on Android OS older than 4.0 then you are not out of luck, you can still make it. But you need to attain root access in order to achieve it.
Rooting is not geek’s thing, there are a ton of tutorials that can guide you to root your phone. Simply root the phone and install apps that enable screenshot and screen recording and make the fullest use of your phone. Some notable mentions of screenshot apps that can be used after rooting – Screenshot Easy, Super Screenshot.
Non-Rooted devices
If you feel insecure to root your phone or afraid of handling it, we still have got you covered. Connect your android smartphone to a PC and install an Android SDK to do the task. Though it is a bit complicated it is more secure and reliable than rooting the phone. Also, this works with devices running on previous versions of Android 4.
I hope this will be helpful to capture your screen itself whatever be the condition. You probably won’t need the last few options since it is 2018 and I have not seen a person carrying a device on Android 4.0. It will be useful if you are stuck with a semi-working device with a worn out volume button or power button.
