Scoring the Nexus 7 this Christmas season, any of the two versions, is a rewarding experience by itself as it means owning one of the best Android slates without having to pay too much.

But taking full control of the vanilla Android tab, now in process of chewing in KitKat 4.4, is another thing and below are simple navigational trips and tricks that should make for an enjoyable and equally productive Nexus 7 experience.

Keep the home screen clean and simple

Mobile devices and apps go together and the same is true with the Nexus 7. As users go about in installing applications, in time the device will be cluttered with too many app shortcuts that pulling up the one that you need to use could become tedious.

There are two ways to organise the app shortcuts sitting on your Nexus 7. One is by creating specific folders with the following names: Tools, Games or Net. Then use the folders as application drawers.

Or prevent any apps from creating shortcuts during installation. Do this by heading to Google Play Store, tapping the Settings and uncheck the 'Auto-add widgets' tab.

Quick-manage device notifications and settings

Note alerts sit on top of the Nexus 7 screen. Swipe down from top to view the Notification Window and do the reverse stroke to dismiss it. To view a given notice, simply press it from the list then an associated app will open up. One by one, the notes will be cleared as you view them. To clear without viewing, flick the screen sideways and the notifications will vanish.

Note too that swiping down from the top right corner of Nexus 7 will pull down the Quick Settings menu, from which you can toggle on and off functions and features such as Wi-Fi, Brightness, Bluetooth and many more.

Manage applications

To dictate how downloaded applications behave to your taste, go to Settings > Device > Apps. Here you can set if the application would open for a desired function. Or if any of the apps are no longer needed, tap the app and choose Uninstall from the menu that will pop up.

Also, uninstall can be performed by pressing the Apps tab from the Home screen. From there, any of the app icons can be long pressed then drag to the Uninstall icon that will appear on top of the Nexus 7 screen.

Kill apps

Some apps remain running in the background even when you exit using the normal course. To really kill them and save system resources, head again to Settings > Device > Apps. From the Window, click Force stop and the application will be put to sleep and remain dormant unless prompted anew.

View specific locations on Google Maps offline

It used to be that users can save specific Google Map locations on a device and view them offline when needed. That option, however, disappeared with KitKat 4.4. In order to circumvent, you can type in the desired map location, they key in OK Map on the search tab. As soon as you hit enter, the Nexus 7 will save starting saving the viewed location on Google Map's cache.

Next time you want to check again the same location, you can do so minus an active Internet connection.

Disable keyboard auto-correction

If the native Android touch keys auto-correction is bugging you, unwilling to adapt with your unique typing habits, you can disable the feature by following this route: Settings > Personal > Language and input > Keyboard and input methods. Tapping the Quick Settings icon will bring up a dialogue box from which you can turn of auto-correction.

Or you can simply press Delete during typing each suggested word correction appears and by doing so, the Android keyboard will adjust to your typing routine.

Create contact shortcuts on Home screen

If certain contacts are regular recipients of your love, get in touch with them easier by placing shortcuts on the Nexus 7 home screen. From an open space on the screen, tap the Apps tab then choose the Widgets window. From there, hold-press the Contact entry then pick out from the list that will be presented.

By tapping you choice, a shortcut of that contact's details will be automatically created on the home screen.