Every Android phone has a standard set of buttons at the bottom. They can be physical — with moving parts — or they can be capacitive, responsive to your touch. The order may change, but the functions are the same. You will find:
- Home: return to the main home screen. Hold to see your most recently used apps. (Tip: try tapping it again once you’re on the main home screen and see what happens.)
- Back: returns a level in an app, or a page in a browser, etc. (Tip: Hold while browsing to quickly access your bookmarks, history, and most visited sites. Thanks Snapdragon0503! )
- Menu: tap it to get more options in the app or home screen. (Tip: Hold down to bring up the keyboard.)
- Search: opens the search function. It can be an in-app search, a Google search, or a universal search for contacts, bookmarks, apps, etc. on the phone. (Tip: hold to start voice search.)
Most Android phones have four buttons, although sometimes the manufacturer does without a search button.