How to Print from the Droid Turbo

Are you aware that you can wirelessly print from your Droid Turbo? And are you aware that it’s super easy!?  I will confess that I have owned phones capable of printing for a while now, and it has never ONCE occurred to me to actually try to print something directly. Which is crazy, since it’s not like printing via a computer has been working out super well for me anyway. In fact, my typical printer interactions usually go something like this:

1. Email from phone to computer the pdf/photo/letter to Santa that I wish to print.

2. On computer, send said document to printer.

3. Realize printer is feeling cranky about wireless printing today.

4. Hook up computer to printer.

5. Press print.

6. Wait for something to happen (spoiler alert- nothing ever happens).

7. Press print five times in a row super quickly.

8. Wait again.

9. Mash buttons on printer like I’m still a 9 year old pretending she knows how to play mortal combat.

10. Wait…

11. Hit printer (like the Fonz hitting a jukebox, hoping the innate coolness of such a move will prompt printer to have mercy on me).

12. Wait!

13. Hit printer (like a frustrated adult who apparently can’t get a simple piece of technology to perform its primary function).

14. WAIT!!!

15. Decide I didn’t need the aforementioned document anyway, so the printer did not, in fact, win.

However, despite the shameful printer ineptitude of my past, I was able to quickly and easily print directly from the Droid Turbo. Hallelujah and praise be to the gods of technology! Check out the steps below to learn how to setup wireless printing, enable it, and print directly from your phone. Go on, cut out the computer middle-man, he’s terrible at his job anyway.

Set up Phone Printing

Unlike some other Androids, the Droid Turbo doesn’t come with wireless printing already installed. So, you’ll need to download a plugin. But it’s really quite easy.

1. Open Play Store.

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2. Search for printer apps associated with your brand of printer (in my case HP Service Plugin), tap it.

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2. Tap the big green button that says either “Install” or “Update.”

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Enable Printing

Now that you’ve downloaded the necessary software, let’s check out the printing settings to make sure everything is in working order.

1. Open settings.

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2. Scroll down to the bottom, and tap “Printing.”

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3. Tap “HP Print Service Plugin” (or whatever printer app you downloaded).

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5. Make sure the button at the top right is in the blue “on” position, and that your desired printer appears on the screen.

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Your phone is now set up and totally capable of printing. That was the tough part. Keep reading to learn how to actually print something.

Print

1. Open what you wish to print (in my case an adorable picture of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), and tap the symbol of the three little boxes in the upper right corner.

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2. Tap “Print.”

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3. Tap the pull-down arrow on the first line.

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4. Tap the printer you wish to print from

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5. Tap “Print.”

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Easy peasy one-two-threesy! You have successfully printed directly from your Droid Turbo. Now, in my experience, the HP plugin worked brilliantly. But what about other printer apps or plugins? Leave a comment below if you’ve had good (or bad) experience with a different brand of printer.

For more Droid Turbo tips and tricks head to our Android How To’s section.

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