Methods and arrangements involving electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, wearable devices, etc., are disclosed. One arrangement involves a low-power processing technique for discerning cues from audio input. Another involves a technique for detecting audio activity based on the Kullback-Liebler divergence (KLD) (or a modified version thereof) of the audio input. Still other arrangements concern techniques for managing the manner in which policies are embodied on an electronic device. Others relate to distributed computing techniques. A great variety of other features are also detailed.