Now that we have had a solid week with the Windows Phone 8.1 preview the tips for using various elements of the mobile OS are starting to crop up.

So I asked on Twitter earlier to find out what kind of things people have discovered with WP8.1 on their devices.

Here are six tips to help you along your journey of discovery with Windows Phone 8.1:

  • Use Quiet Hours to keep your phone silent when you are also at your Windows 8.1 device

Anyone who is integrated in the Windows ecosystem on multiple devices knows you can have several devices sounding off with notifications at one time. The introduction of Quiet Hours in Windows Phone 8.1 allows you to silence those alerts on your phone when you are logged in and using those other Windows 8 based devices. The alerts will still be in the Action Center afterwards for you to catch any you might have missed.

  • Manually check for Windows Phone 8.1  App Updates

With the introduction of the Windows 8 Store we have been able to manually check for updates relating to our installed store applications. In Windows Phone 8 we had to wait until the updates appeared on the Windows Store tile however, in Windows Phone 8.1 you can go to Settings>Applications>Store and tap check for updates to immediately see if any of your apps have been updated.

  • Fix capitalization when composing text, tweets, emails, etc.

When you are composing any type of text on your Windows Phone 8.1 handset leave the capitalization for once the entry is composed. This is especially handy if you are using the swyping method to enter your text. After the entry is ready just tap to highlight the word you want to capitalize and hit the shift key on the keyboard (↑) to cycle through capitalizing the first letter of the word or all letters.

  • Make the Photo Tile transparent

With the introduction of backgrounds on our Windows Phone 8.1 start Screen’s this one can help you make sure that image is visible behind the Photo tile. All you have to do is go to Settings>Applications>Photos+Camera and choose Start Tile shows>Favorite Photos. Now just go un-favorite any images in your Favorite album in the Photo app and the Start Screen tile will be transparent.

In Windows Phone 8.1 you can not only select to install apps and store data on your SD card but you can also move data that is currently on your handset, including installed apps, using the Storage Sense app.

  • Always have Zoom capability available even if a webpage does not support it (@CB_27)

Not all websites implement the ability to zoom in on content but you can use one of Windows Phone 8.1’s accessibility features to always have that functionality at hand.  Just go to Settings>Ease of Access and then turn on Allow zooming on all web content.

NOTE: Tips that are attributed to others will be indicated otherwise they are from me.