20 Awesome Android Tips & Tricks For Your Phone

20 Android Tips & Tricks for Your Android Phone

Google’s Android cellular working device appears easy on the surface, however dig deeper and you locate many methods to hack it for comfort and customization. Check out our first-rate Android hints and hints to discover out how.

Android is a remarkably powerful, modern cell working device that regularly leapfrogs Apple’s iOS in new technological know-how support. 5G, NFC payment, customized keyboards…the listing goes on. All of that contemporary performance makes for a complex, sprawling OS, though. At the floor level, the interface is easy sufficient for informal users—who simply favor to text, make calls, and use their apps—but hidden a layer or two deep in the interface are all varieties of power-user settings and tools. You simply have to comprehend the place to look.

We choose you to be capable to use Google's cell OS like a boss, and our listing of guidelines and shortcuts can assist you do simply that. These are solely some of the approaches you can take gain of the Google's OS—there’s such a deep listing of aspects that you’ll no doubt locate more. Be certain to test out our listing of the pleasant Android apps, too, and sense free to chime in on our remarks area at the backside of the article. We might also add them to future updates of this story!

1. Uninstall Apps You Don’t Need

Most Android telephones come with a wholesome assisting of preinstalled apps. Many will be welcomed via almost everyone—maps, email, browser, and so on—but there are surely some you don’t favor or need. If you’re simply no longer a podcast person, you don’t want a podcast app. And cellphone companies have a tendency to consist of a bunch of their very own apps that you may also in no way want to use. Simply long-press an app’s icon and then pick the i entry to get to its element web page the place you can uninstall it.

Unfortunately, there are some inventory apps you can't uninstall. For example, if you solely use Firefox or Edge as your internet browser, you nevertheless can not uninstall Google’s Chrome browser. For these apps, you can at least pick Disable, which will conceal them from the interface and free up machine resources.

2. Use Digital Wellbeing Features

It’s no longer the healthiest issue in the world to continue to be up all night texting and doomscrolling. Android 11’s Bedtime mode is section of the Digital Wellbeing feature. Not solely does it silence your smartphone at a set time, it additionally modifications the display screen to black-and-white, in case you do have to appear at the display screen after hours. There’s a Pause alternative in the dropdown menu if you want greater time earlier than retiring. If you are searching for greater sleep tips, you need to study our characteristic on how tech can assist (and hurt) your sleep.

Another advocated Wellbeing characteristic is Focus mode, which silences noisy apps’ notifications. Some phones, which include current Pixels and Motorolas, flip on Do Not Disturb mode when you set them down with the display dealing with down—a speedy and handy way to get comfort from disturbances. Finally, the usage of Work Profile hides all these productiveness apps when it’s time to relax.

3. Set Up the Your Phone App in Windows

I suspect that most humans who use Mac pcs or laptops are additionally most probable the use of an iPhone, which gives splendid integration with macOS. But with the Your Phone computing device app for Windows 10, Android customers can get simply as a great deal continuity with their computing device computer—perhaps even more. It’s best to begin setup from your PC. Go to the Setting’s app’s Phone section, pick out Add a Phone, and you’re off and running. You’ll be capable to make calls, ship texts, and immediately see and use pix from the telephone on your PC.

Recent Samsung gadgets and the Surface Duo smartphone get even greater chances with the Link to Windows option, such as jogging more than one Android apps on the computer in the Your Phone app. If you’re now not going for walks Windows, you can get Android messages on the web—another functionality annoyingly no longer presented by means of Apple’s cell OS. You can additionally run Android apps in an emulator on both Windows or macOS, however that route is now not as handy as Windows 10’s Your Phone.

4. Edit Quick Settings

One issue I’m now not loopy about in Android is that the Quick Settings require two swipes to exhibit greater than one row—and even after you do that, you nonetheless have two pages of them. You can make positive that the settings you want most frequently are there in the first swipe-down row. Just hit the pencil icon, and you can add beneficial equipment like Focus mode or Dark mode switches.

5. Install Apps From the Web

For me, this is one of the coolest blessings of Android over iOS: You don’t have to have your smartphone in your hand to installation an app on it. Just go to the Google Play keep in your net browser and you can remotely deploy any app or game, as lengthy as you’re signed in to the identical Google account the smartphone uses. If you have more than one Android gadgets below your account, you’ll see them listed when you go to install. It’s a high-quality comfort for when you find out an app at your laptop and don’t prefer to fumble with your telephone to get the app on it.

6. Install Apps From Other Sources

One of Android's relatively open facets is that, in contrast to on iOS, you’re now not restrained to the use of one company’s app store. Most customers will discover each and every app they prefer on Google’s Play store—and there are profitable protections that come alongside with that. If, however, you want some thing that’s now not in there, nothing is stopping you from heading to Amazon’s app store, your telephone maker’s app store, or even downloading the app and putting in it as an APK (the extension for an Android Application Package file).

One vital note: If you do go this route, be without a doubt positive that you’re getting the app from a dependable source, given that third-party app shops are the number-one supply of Android malware. Do some lookup first! Also be certain to flip off the Install Unknown Apps putting for the supply after you installation the app you want, simply in case.

One instance of why you may prefer to sideload (that is, set up backyard of the respectable app store) an app is the mega-popular recreation Fortnite. Android customers can go to the recreation maker’s web page to get the APK, whilst iPhone customers who favor to set up the sport for the first time are in reality out of luck. You can study about the procedure in PCMag’s article about how to play Fortnite on Android.

7. Install a Launcher App

This is one customization kind iPhone customers don’t get: You can trade the primary begin display screen on your cellphone with the aid of putting in a third-party launcher app from the Play Store. A couple noteworthy launchers are Action Launcher, Apex, the cleverly named Lawn Chair, Lightning, the Microsoft Launcher, Nova, Niagara, and Smart Launcher.

You can even make your Android seem to be like an iPhone with the iOS 14 launcher, which consists of Siri shortcuts and an App Store icon in region of the Play icon. Want to go again to the days of Windows Phone? There are launchers that emulate that OS’s design, too.

8. Customize Message Notifications

Android eleven lets you pick message notifications so that some contacts are greater prominent, and conversations continue to be together. You can now set messages to show up on pinnacle of any different walking apps as bubbles. You without a doubt flip them on in Settings and set the contact to Priority. Within a notification there may be every other placing for Bubbles with three options: All Conversations Can Bubble, Selected Conversations Can Bubble, and Nothing Can Bubble.

9. Add Widgets and Customize Home

iOS simply obtained the potential to add widgets to the domestic display with model 14. Android customers have been capable to do this for ages, however no longer absolutely everyone is aware of how. All you have to do is virtually long-press on the domestic screen, pick Widgets, and then select from the choice made accessible through any apps mounted on their phones. Long-pressing on the Home display screen additionally offers you different customization options, such as casting off the Google feed web page to the left of the Home display or to disabling display screen rotation for the Home screen—which we would in no way do, due to the fact it’s cool to see your domestic display in landscape.

10. Beef Up Storage

A most important gain of Android over iPhones is that some cellphone fashions permit you to extend storage with a microSD card. Not solely does this let you keep extra media and apps on your phone, however it also presents a way to switch giant quantities of file records between your telephone and different devices. Another benefit is that you can plug some Android telephones into an exterior USB storage power and browse its files. If your smartphone has a USB-C port, you can definitely plug in a USB flash reminiscence force with a Type-C connection.

11. Install Antivirus

Since Android is some distance extra open than iOS—that is, extra like Windows than macOS—it’s additionally extra open to malware attacks. Google has constructed in a lot of robust protections, however we suggest you run an antivirus app on Android. PCMag safety guru Neil Rubenking recommends 4 PCMag Editors’ Choice options: Bitdefender Total Security, Kaspersky Security Cloud, Norton 360 Deluxe, and McAfee AntiVirus Plus. Most of these additionally cowl your laptop devices. They make certain you’re now not putting in terrible apps and run ordinary malware scans. They additionally forestall thieves from certainly swapping your phone’s SIM card to acquire access. Some additionally encompass VPN protection.

12. Double-Tap the Power Button to Open the Camera

Unlike the iPhone—which does, however, consists of a digicam icon on the lock screen—most Android telephones let you double faucet the strength button to flip on the camera. Quick digital camera get admission to is indispensable for shooting these fleeing moments. You can additionally use quantity keys to center of attention and take the shot. Long-press on both to begin a video recording.

13. Use Screen Pinning

This is a fantastic tip from our pals at ExtremeTech.com: If you want to hand your cellphone to any individual else and don’t desire them snooping round in different apps, simply pin the screen. If this isn’t enabled by using default, you can flip it on in the Security menu. Tap the app icon on any app in the multitasking interface and pick “Pin” to forestall them from switching apps. You can guard switching apps by using requiring your telephone PIN. Note that the app icon in app switching view additionally lets you cut up the screen, pause the app’s notifications, and see its info.

14. Set Up Guest Access

If you prefer to supply any one else a little greater get admission to than screen-pinning allows, you can. To let any one borrow your phone, however now not get admission to your apps, data, or settings, or ship textual content messages, head to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple Users and allow it. You can optionally allow the slider for Add Users from Lock Screen. You can now swipe down twice from the pinnacle of your telephone to get to Quick Settings. Tap on your consumer icon in the decrease proper and pick Add Guest. The telephone takes a little whilst to swap to the mode, which eliminates any non-public bills (such as email) however permits matters like cellphone calling, maps, and internet browsing. Only default Android apps appear, so you don’t have to fear about your visitor sending a Facebook put up or tweet for your account.

15. Record Screen Activity

With Android 11, Google introduced built-in screen-recording functionality proper into the OS. Previously, Samsung, LG, and OnePlus proprietors had the capability, however now any cellphone going for walks Android eleven receives it. It’s easy to use: You simply pull down the pinnacle colour and pick Screen Record > Start Recording. You get selections for displaying contact factors and recording audio or not. To give up recording, pull down the colour once more and faucet the massive pink bar. It labored like a allure in our testing, producing a popular MP4 file in the picture gallery.

16. Use Developer Options

This one comes through PCMag’s Ben Moore. To flip this on, head to the Settings app’s About Phone section, go down to the Build wide variety and faucet on it seven times. Then head to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options. From here, you can exhibit display taps, alternate Bluetooth system options, and set USB connection preferences, alongside with many different settings solely of activity to developers. This one is simply solely for the intense tinkerer, and no longer for the technophobe.

17. Turn on Find My Device

If you misplace your smartphone or it receives stolen, each cell OSes have facets that assist you hit upon it on a map. Not solely that, however these additionally Find My offerings let you disable the phone, wipe it, and play a sound on it. Apple’s cellular working gadget goes a little similarly through letting you show your variety or any other message on the display of the misplaced device, some thing we do not see why Google hasn't added.

18. Use Battery Saver Mode

Android provides a lot extra manipulate over battery saving preferences than the iPhone does. Not solely can you allow Battery Saver mode and have it mechanically flip off when the telephone is charged, however you can additionally use the Adaptive Battery feature, which extends battery existence primarily based on your utilization patterns. You can additionally set a time table for Battery Saver mode and have that mechanically chosen primarily based on your utilization or when you hit a certain share of charge.

19. Control Your Smart Home With Your Android Phone

With model 11, Android made controlling clever domestic gadgets easier. If you long-press the energy button, a display screen with massive buttons for controlling your mild bulbs and different units appears. For this to work, you want to set up the gadgets in the Google domestic app and—optionally—create a room for the devices.

20. Update Frequently

As we have been working on this story, our take a look at Pixel’s safety settings web page knowledgeable us that there was once a safety replace available. By all means, you prefer to deploy these as quickly as possible. Updating Android is faster and easier than ever, and you in no way recognize what new points an replace would possibly enable. Rest certain that, as we spot new hacks and shortcuts, we will add them to future updates of this story.