How to capture screen from the phone

So let's say the only reason you'll ever use a screenshot for your smartphone is to show someone hilarious typos in text messages. Even if that was literally the sole purpose you learned how to take a screenshot -- and there are others, including keeping records of app or Web site information handy without an Internet connection -- I think we can all agree that it would be worth it.

But there are a lot of different phones out there and not everyone is immediately sure how to easily capture our auto-corrected hilarity. Let's take a shot at showing you how your mom's inadvertent double-entendre can be captured for eternity.

First off, let's start with the iPhone. Press and hold the "home" button at the bottom of your phone. While you're doing that, press the top "sleep" button. The screen will flash white for a moment, and voila. The image will be ready to text, e-mail, upload or gaze at in your camera uploads. Because those with Siri get her attention by pressing the "home" button, just wait patiently for her to quiet down and then press that "sleep" button as usual.

Nearly the same instructions go for Android phones running a 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) platform. Hold down that "power" key, and this time press the volume down button. The screen will flash white, and you can access the image in your gallery.

Now that we've got those easy ones out of the way, let's take a look at some phones that make it a lot harder to crack the capture code.