In my many years of covering Android, I’ve heard it all:
- “You can’t have privacy if you use Android!”
- “You can’t have security if you use Android!”
- “You can’t get upgrades if you use Android!”
- “You can’t have a good user experience if you use Android!”
All of these are remarkably common comments that you hear from both tech enthusiasts and professionals who write about this stuff on a daily basis. And I’m here to tell you that they’re all equally mistaken since there are some hidden features of Android phone you might have no idea of.
The iPhone vs. Android argument is still raging. Yet one thing is certain: Google’s phone software is more robust and adaptable than Apple’s offering. Explore the settings to find a variety of clever features and practical tools that your Android phone is capable of. Here, we’ve gathered eight of them.
- With your Android phone, you can run many apps simultaneously or side by side.
Although this option has been available since Android 7.0 Nougat, consumers frequently overlook it. Depending on the direction of your screen, this side-by-side or top-and-bottom app view is useful for multitasking, social networking, and displaying images.
Make sure both of the apps you wish to use are open before configuring it. Then, swipe up quickly from the bottom of your screen to reveal the app carousel. Locate the current app you wish to utilize and click on the top-right circular symbol. On the emerging menu, you should see a Split top option. Keep in mind that not all apps support this feature (like Instagram, for example), so if you don’t see this option, it’s because you can’t use it like this. If you see it, tap Split top, and the app will automatically position itself at the top or left of your screen. You can open a different app from the app carousel on the opposite side. Simply swipe this time to access it and tap the preview to open it.
You’ll see a thick black line dividing the two programs; drag it up or down to reposition the apps on your screen. Simply drag the black line all the way up or all the way down to end Split Screen mode.
2. Alter the volume settings on your own independently
This is an interesting example of Some hidden features of Android phone, your device plays several different types of audio—including ringtones, notifications, alarms, phone calls, and media. If you’ve ever gone to the Settings menu and opened Sound & vibration, you’ll have seen that you can use individual sliders to adjust these audio types individually.
And even though, Android provides a simple and quick shortcut. To control the volume of the music or other audio playing on your device, tap the physical volume buttons on the side of the device (if no media is playing, this action will adjust your ringtone volume). When you do, a tiny box indicating the volume setting and how it is changing will appear on the screen. You ought to see three dots at the bottom of the box. When you tap one of them, the box expands to reveal several volume sliders at once. You may not need to visit Settings after all.
3. Activate one-hand mode
Today’s phones are getting bigger and bigger, making it more difficult to use one hand to control them. The Google custom keyboard, which is the default choice on some Android phones, offers the following remedy: a unique one-handed mode that you can access by using a short-cut. This keyboard will be your default typing option if you have a Pixel phone. You must first download Google’s version and configure it as your default keyboard if you’re using a Samsung or LG phone.
Tap and hold the comma key as you normally would after opening the keyboard. One-handed mode can be activated by dragging up to the right-hand icon. This tiny keyboard can be moved about by using the arrow, the bottom icon, and the top icon, which restores the full-size keyboard. There may be one-handed modes on other phone keyboards as well, but they may be more challenging to use than Google’s. To find out more, try searching “one-handed keyboard” for your phone model.
4. Bring back lost notifications
If you mistakenly swiped away a notification that you wanted to read in full, you might now have the nagging suspicion that you received an email from someone but are unsure. You’re in luck if you want to review every recent notice you’ve received on Android. Although it’s not simple to find, this option is available.
Tap and hold on an empty part of the home screen, and a screen-adjusting mode will pop up. Choose Widgets, and find the Settings shortcut. Drag this icon to an empty space on one of your home screens, drop it in place, and a list will automatically pop up. Choose Notification log from the list and tap the icon to open up Android’s notification history.
5. Choose new default apps
Google’s mobile operating system allows users to select multiple default apps for online browsing, texting, viewing images, and other functions, which is one of the ways Android and iOS differ from one another. When you try to do something on your phone, the default app launches immediately. For instance, when you click a link, your default web browser app opens.
Take advantage of this flexibility by setting up the defaults as you want them. Head to Settings, go to Apps and choose Default apps. Select any of the categories on screen to see a list of installed apps that can take over default duties. You can set Facebook’s product as your preferred messaging program, for instance, if you’d rather communicate with friends through Facebook Messenger than your phone’s built-in SMS software.
6. Make text and images more visible
You can zoom in or out on text and objects if you’re having trouble seeing what’s on the screen or, conversely, if you want to fit as much stuff as possible into the screen and don’t mind some squinting in the process. While not all apps will react to these changes, the majority of them will.
To change size settings, open Settings and go to the Display heading. From there, tap the Display size and text and drag the slider under Font size at the bottom of the screen to make text larger or smaller as needed. Android 13 introduced a new slider on this menu—Display size. You can play around with it to make icons and the Google search bar chunkier.
7. Cast your Android screen
Some hidden features of Android phone is screen cast. You’ve been able to use a Chromecast for a while to project the display from your Android phone or tablet onto a larger television screen. This streaming gadget can mirror your phone in addition to streaming video from all the common movie and television apps. Take advantage of the Quick Settings pane’s shortcut for mirroring by pulling down with two fingers from the top of the screen.
You should find a Screen Cast option in this menu. If it doesn’t show up, swipe left on the Quick Settings menu for more options, or tap the pencil icon at the bottom to add the shortcut.
There’s also another way to set up mirroring. First, check to make sure you’ve installed the Google Home app for Android—you probably already used this program to set up your Chromecast. Open the app and choose your Chromecast and your device’s display should appear on the big screen. On your phone, tap Media and choose from Music, Video, Podcasts, or Radio and select a service to start streaming.
8. On Body detection-Disable the lock screen at home
You must configure a PIN code or biometric scan to unlock your phone in order to keep it secure. But doing so makes it more difficult to use your apps. You can get rid of this barrier and instantly access your phone thanks to Google’s Smart Lock feature, but only while you’re secure at home.
From Settings, tap Security & privacy, go to More security settings, and choose Smart Lock. As well as disabling the lock screen when you’re at home (that’s the Trusted Places option), you can also disable the screen when your phone’s Bluetooth is connected to a trusted device, such as your car stereo unit, or when it detects you have it on you.
Conclusion
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