If you are a typical smartphone user, you average almost five hours a day on your phone right now. But beyond video and social networking apps, you might not know the tweaks and settings that can make those hours easier or even shorter.
The Android Settings screen has more options than you might realize, options that can make your phone more convenient to use, keep your data safer, and enable faster connections to other devices. be different. These all appear in the Settings app on the latest version of Android 13, called “pure Android,” that you get on Google Pixel devices and other lightly touched models, but the Other handsets, like those from Samsung or Motorola, will have similar options in similar places.
Automatically turn on Wi-Fi
You may have turned off Wi-Fi while away from home or at the office. If so, Android may turn it back on for you when you’re back in range of the network you signed in to before. Towards Network and Internetafterward Internet, and Network Options to find Automatically turn on Wi-Fi switch.
Use less data
If you are abroad, on a limited data plan, or in an area with little cellular coverage, you can make your phone use less data by tapping Network and Internet and Data Saver. This works in a few different ways: For example, some apps may check for updates less often, while images on the web may not load until you tap them.
Add extra security for contactless payments
Apps like Google Pay let you pay with your phone through the magic of NFC, which means anyone holding your phone can pay with it. You can prevent that by making sure NFC payments require a screen unlock. Towards Connected devices, Connection options, NFCand turn on Requires device unlock for NFC.
Auto start driving mode
Android now comes with a special mode for when you’re driving that makes it easy to perform certain actions with voice commands and dismiss other notifications. You can have it start automatically when your phone connects to your car Bluetooth stereo: To set up this feature, select Connected devices, Connection optionsand Driving mode.
Set default apps on your phone
Certain actions, like opening links or answering calls, require default apps associated with them. To control which apps are associated with which tasks, select Application And after that Default Apps—You can then select an application type (such as a web browser) and choose which one is used first. All available apps that match that category will be listed on the screen.
Manage what apps can do on your phone
Apps often ask for access to some data or parts of your device, such as your contacts and phone location. To view — and if necessary, edit — these permissions or restrict access only while you’re using the app, open Application and then select View all apps to select a specific application. Then tap Permission to check the settings and make changes. You will also be shown the last time a specific permission group was used.
Pause permissions on unused apps
You don’t want old apps you no longer use to retain their permissions, that’s why by default Android now suspends permissions on apps you haven’t used for a while. To control this for individual apps, select Applicationafterward View all appsthen select an app and select Permission and Pause application activity if not in use. (By the way, now is a good time to delete any apps you really don’t use anymore.)
Check your notification history
Android stores your notifications, in case you swipe them away too quickly and need to get them back. You can enable this feature and view recent notifications from your app by selecting Notify And after that Notification history. Note that notifications that are currently snoozed will appear in this list as well as those that you dismissed.
Hide sensitive notifications on lock screen
You don’t necessarily want sensitive or personal notifications to appear on the lock screen, where anyone can read them. You can prevent this from happening by selecting Notify and disable Sensitive notice switch button. Notification sensitivity is actually controlled by the developer of the app sending the notification, but will typically include direct messages.
Hide silent notifications
You can get enough notifications without all the silent notifications. These are things that can tell you the weather, traffic in your area, or podcasts downloading in the background. If you don’t want these to appear on your phone and distract you, select Notify and activate Hide silent notifications in status bar.
Show battery percentage in status bar
It can be difficult to tell how much battery you have left on your phone by looking at the little icon in the status bar. To get the reading percentage next to it, select Battery and then turn on Batery percent switch button. All other icons in the status bar will move to the left respectively, and the regular battery life icon will stay in place.
See which apps use the most storage
If you’re running low on space on your phone, see which apps are taking up the most space by going to Warehouse And after that Application. The biggest apps in terms of storage are shown at the top of the list. The displayed metrics include all of the app’s files — so, for example, downloaded Spotify playlists and Netflix shows, as well as the actual Spotify and Netflix apps.
Add live subtitles to videos
The ability to subtitle speech in videos — in real time — is available on a growing number of Android phones, and it’s useful even if you’re not hearing impaired. You can find the option by tapping Sound and Vibration And after that Live subtitles. Subtitles generated by Google’s AI processing then automatically appear whenever a voice is detected, whether it’s in a social media video or during a video call.
Bring the lock screen earlier
The lock screen protects your phone from unwanted users, so ideally you want it to activate as quickly as possible after you put it down. You can change this duration by opening Display and then select Screen timeout from the list — typically you’ll be able to choose a duration from seconds to minutes.
Make everything on the screen bigger
If you’re having trouble reading text on the screen, go to Display and Display size and text in the settings section. You will see two sliders, one for Font size (make text bigger or smaller) and one for Screen size (it makes everything larger or smaller, including icons and menus). Touch Reset settings to return to standard settings.
Unlock your device in trusted places
If there are certain locations where you’re sure that no one untrusted will get to your phone — like at home, for example — you can have the screen automatically unlock in these locations for your convenience. More convenient. Towards Guardafterward Advanced settingsafterward Smart lockand finally Trusted location. Add a location and you’re good to go.
Add your medical information
Let’s say you have an unfortunate medical emergency. In that case, you may not be able to tell first responders about your blood type, medications, allergies, and other important information. However, you can speak to your phone — via Safety and Emergency and Medical information—And these details will then be accessible from the lock screen.
Set app usage limit
If you’re worried that you’re spending too much time on TikTok or Twitter, Android can help here. If you touch Digital Health and Parental Controlsand then select dashboardYou can see how much time you’ve spent on specific apps during the day — and if necessary, set limits on how much time you can use them in the future.
Turn on guest mode
Guest mode is a great way to let someone else use your phone without them being able to access your social media accounts, banking apps, or your high scores in games. It works like a user account on macOS or Windows, and you can set it up on Android by selecting System, Many usersand then activate Allow multiple users.
