Hidden Android Features You Might Have Missed
Android is hands-down the most popular and flexible mobile operating systems around due to its power packed features. And the best thing about it is, it lets you customize the device as per your choice. So a seemingly simple phone can become a melting pot of technology and creativity with the addition of the right apps.
Reduce Eye Strain.
From built-in PDF converter to blue-light filter, Android covers most of the aspects that tempt you to skip third-party app installations. So the next time you are in an experimental mood, give a shot to the built-in grayscale mode. Once enabled, it wipes out the bright colors and replaces it with a monochromatic hue.
Quick Notification Access
Starting with the most used feature in the new age Android phones — the quick settings menu. What do you do when you need it real quick? Normally, a downward swipe brings down first the notification drawer and then the settings menu.
Display Touch Points
To enable this option, you will have to take a dive into the Developer option. Head over to Input and switch on Show Touches.
To access the developer option on your device, head over to Settings > About and tap on the Build number seven times.
Restrict Data Usage
Open settings and navigate to data usage where you will see the option to restrict app background data. Once this switch is enabled, the background activities will cease to occur over the cellular network and will only occur once you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Save a Web Page as PDF
So before you head off, gather all the articles that you wish to read and open it through Chrome. Now all you need to do is head over to Share > Print and then save the web page as PDF.
Browse Through the File Directory
Just type file:///sdcard/ and all the phone contents — old & new — will be displayed in an index form.
Power Button to End Call
To enable it, open the Accessibility Settings and switch the Power button ends call option to on. That’s it, now you have a physical button to end your calls.
Pin Screen
What I do is, I pin the app which makes it almost impossible for him to navigate over to the other apps, since this nifty trick renders the buttons inaccessible.
All you have to do is head over to the Settings and enable screen pinning.
Boot the Device in Safe Mode
we come across a variety of apps that behave erratically. And when I say erratic, I mean those situations when the app gets aborted multiple times or when it displays an array of obstructive ads that doesn’t allow you to do anything else.
In such scenarios, it’s best to boot the phone in safe mode. Safe Mode disables all the third party apps and that makes it easy to get rid of the offensive ones. To boot the phone into safe mode, tap on the power button and long-press the option to power off.
Smart Lock
One of the most brilliant features that Android has is the smart lock option. It disables the lock screen whenever you are at a particular location — say at home or office or when you connect to some trusted devices.
OK Google
Most of us use the mic button on the Google search bar if we want to search for something, add a reminder, set an alarm clock and the list goes on. But did you know that all these could be done hands-free?
Owner Info
The pattern lock on our smartphones does its job brilliantly as it stops any unauthorized access and keeps the phone’s data safe and secure. But what if a lost phone falls into the right hands, how would he know whom to call?The owner info might is the exact thing that can help you out in such situations. It displays the name & contact number on the lock screen of your phone.
Set Wifi Sleep Policy
Another hidden feature is the Wi-Fi sleep policy in the advanced Wi-Fi settings. In a normal situation, when the screen turns off the phone switches over to cellular data. And when this happens, the battery life also takes a hit (as Wi-Fi consumes less juice than cellular data).In such situations, the Wi-Fi sleep policy should be set to Never, so that the change-over never happens (even when the phone is idle).
To enable this feature, open the advanced Wi-Fi settings and set the Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep to Never.
Guest Mode
One of my friends had recently lost her cell phone and was using mine to keep a tab on messages and emails until she got a new one. To prevent my private date from going public (friends, I tell you), what I did was to enable the guest mode.
Locate your Phone
Finding a misplaced phone can be quite tricky, that too when the phone’s ringer is off.
The easiest way to detect a lost or misplaced Android phone is through the Google device manager. Open the device manager and log in with the ID with which the phone is configured.
See Notification Even After Clearing Them
Clearing notifications is in the muscle memory of many of us, but in the process of getting a clean notification drawer sometimes an important one gets cleared.
So here we are, presenting a nifty built-in Android trick to view all the notifications that have made their way to your device.
Long-press on the home screen, tap on Widgets and place the Settings shortcut on the home screen. Upon opening it, select notification and you are done.
Android is hands-down the most popular and flexible mobile operating systems around due to its power packed features. And the best thing about it is, it lets you customize the device as per your choice. So a seemingly simple phone can become a melting pot of technology and creativity with the addition of the right apps.
Reduce Eye Strain.
From built-in PDF converter to blue-light filter, Android covers most of the aspects that tempt you to skip third-party app installations. So the next time you are in an experimental mood, give a shot to the built-in grayscale mode. Once enabled, it wipes out the bright colors and replaces it with a monochromatic hue.
Quick Notification Access
Starting with the most used feature in the new age Android phones — the quick settings menu. What do you do when you need it real quick? Normally, a downward swipe brings down first the notification drawer and then the settings menu.
Display Touch Points
To enable this option, you will have to take a dive into the Developer option. Head over to Input and switch on Show Touches.
To access the developer option on your device, head over to Settings > About and tap on the Build number seven times.
Restrict Data Usage
Open settings and navigate to data usage where you will see the option to restrict app background data. Once this switch is enabled, the background activities will cease to occur over the cellular network and will only occur once you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Save a Web Page as PDF
So before you head off, gather all the articles that you wish to read and open it through Chrome. Now all you need to do is head over to Share > Print and then save the web page as PDF.
Browse Through the File Directory
Just type file:///sdcard/ and all the phone contents — old & new — will be displayed in an index form.
Power Button to End Call
To enable it, open the Accessibility Settings and switch the Power button ends call option to on. That’s it, now you have a physical button to end your calls.
Pin Screen
What I do is, I pin the app which makes it almost impossible for him to navigate over to the other apps, since this nifty trick renders the buttons inaccessible.
All you have to do is head over to the Settings and enable screen pinning.
Boot the Device in Safe Mode
we come across a variety of apps that behave erratically. And when I say erratic, I mean those situations when the app gets aborted multiple times or when it displays an array of obstructive ads that doesn’t allow you to do anything else.
In such scenarios, it’s best to boot the phone in safe mode. Safe Mode disables all the third party apps and that makes it easy to get rid of the offensive ones. To boot the phone into safe mode, tap on the power button and long-press the option to power off.
Smart Lock
One of the most brilliant features that Android has is the smart lock option. It disables the lock screen whenever you are at a particular location — say at home or office or when you connect to some trusted devices.
OK Google
Most of us use the mic button on the Google search bar if we want to search for something, add a reminder, set an alarm clock and the list goes on. But did you know that all these could be done hands-free?
Owner Info
The pattern lock on our smartphones does its job brilliantly as it stops any unauthorized access and keeps the phone’s data safe and secure. But what if a lost phone falls into the right hands, how would he know whom to call?The owner info might is the exact thing that can help you out in such situations. It displays the name & contact number on the lock screen of your phone.
Set Wifi Sleep Policy
Another hidden feature is the Wi-Fi sleep policy in the advanced Wi-Fi settings. In a normal situation, when the screen turns off the phone switches over to cellular data. And when this happens, the battery life also takes a hit (as Wi-Fi consumes less juice than cellular data).In such situations, the Wi-Fi sleep policy should be set to Never, so that the change-over never happens (even when the phone is idle).
To enable this feature, open the advanced Wi-Fi settings and set the Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep to Never.
Guest Mode
One of my friends had recently lost her cell phone and was using mine to keep a tab on messages and emails until she got a new one. To prevent my private date from going public (friends, I tell you), what I did was to enable the guest mode.
Locate your Phone
Finding a misplaced phone can be quite tricky, that too when the phone’s ringer is off.
The easiest way to detect a lost or misplaced Android phone is through the Google device manager. Open the device manager and log in with the ID with which the phone is configured.
See Notification Even After Clearing Them
Clearing notifications is in the muscle memory of many of us, but in the process of getting a clean notification drawer sometimes an important one gets cleared.
So here we are, presenting a nifty built-in Android trick to view all the notifications that have made their way to your device.
Long-press on the home screen, tap on Widgets and place the Settings shortcut on the home screen. Upon opening it, select notification and you are done.
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