Smart Phone Hacks to Make Your Life Easier . Android is a powerful and innovative mobile operating system that frequently outperforms Apple’s iOS in terms of support for new technology. The list goes on and on: 5G, NFC payment, bespoke keyboards, etc. However, cutting-edge capabilities result in a complex, substantial operating system. The UI appears essential enough for casual users—those who want to text, call, and use their apps—but some power-user settings and capabilities are hidden a layer or two down in the interface. Using our list of tips and shortcuts, you may learn how to use Google’s mobile operating system to its fullest potential. There are many possibilities with Google’s operating system, and you’ll not be sure to uncover new ones as you play around with it.
Remove any apps you don’t use.
Teri-installed apps are standard on most Android devices. Most users will likely welcome maps, email, browser, and so on, but there will inevitably be some that you don’t need or desire. Unless you often consume podcasts, you don’t require a podcast app. You may never use the myriad of apps that phone manufacturers regularly include. You can remove an app by pressing and holding the app’s icon for a few seconds, then selecting the I entry on the app’s info page. Unfortunately, certain stock apps are impossible to remove. If you exclusively use Firefox or Edge, for example, you won’t be able to delete Google’s Chrome browser. At the very least, you can select Disable for those apps, which will hide them from the UI and free up system resources.
Take advantage of digital wellbeing features
If you’re constantly checking your phone for messages and surfing through social media, your health is at risk. As a part of Android 11’s Digital Wellbeing feature, the Android 11 Bedtime mode is available. After a set amount of time, it turns off your phone’s sound and turns the screen black and white so you can still see it if you need to. If you require additional time before going to bed, you can use the Pause selection in the dropdown menu. Check out our post on how technology can help or harm your sleep for other sleep tips. Focus mode, which silences annoying app notifications, is another recommended Wellbeing feature. When you set down your phone with the screen facing down, some phones, such as the latest Pixels and Motorola’s, enter Do Not Disturb mode. This is a quick and easy Setup to eliminate disruptions. Finally, when it’s time to unwind, Work Profile hides all those productivity apps.
In Windows, set up your phone app.
I believe that most people who use Mac desktops or laptops also use an iPhone, which works well with macOS. However, with the Your Phone desktop app for Windows 10, Android users can achieve the same, if not greater, consistency with their desktop computer. Starting the setup process from your computer is the simplest option. Go to the Phone area of the Settings app, then click Add a Phone, and you’re done. You’ll be able to use your PC to make phone calls, send texts, and see and use images from your phone in real-time. With the Link to Windows option, recent Samsung devices and the Surface Duo phone get even more capabilities, including the ability to run numerous Android apps on the desktop under the Your Phone app. You can get Android SMS on the web if you don’t have Windows—another feature that Apple’s mobile OS doesn’t have. You may also use an emulator to run Android apps on Windows or macOS, although this is not as handy as Windows 10’s Your Phone.
Change the Quick Settings
I wouldn’t say I like Android because it takes two swipes to reveal more than one row of Quick Settings, and even then, there are two pages of them. In the first swipe-down row, check sure the settings you use the most are there. Select the pencil symbol to add essential features such as Focus mode and Dark mode switches.
 Use the Web to Install Apps
The ability to install apps without holding the phone in your hand is one of the significant advantages of Android versus Apple’s iOS. If you’re signed in to the same Google account as the phone, you can access the Google Play Store and download any app or game. If you have more Android devices, you’ll get a list of them when you go to install them. If you locate an app on your computer and don’t want to deal with your phone to download it, this is a great time saver.
Download Apps from Other Places
One of the most notable features of Android is that it doesn’t have a single app store, unlike iOS. Google’s Play Store is the best place for most Android users to get any software they need. Any software that isn’t available in the Google Play Store can be downloaded and installed as an APK from Amazon’s app store or your phone manufacturer’s app store (the extension for an Android Application Package file). using a trustworthy app shop to obtain the program, as third-party app stores are the primary source of Android malware. Before anything else, do some homework. After installing the program you want, disable the source’s Install Unknown Apps function just in case. The massively popular game Fortnight is why you would side load (install software outside of the official app store) a program. Those with Android devices can download the game’s APK from the developer’s website, but those with iPhone will have to wait until a future update. You can learn more about doing this in PCMag’s guide to playing Fortnight on Android.
Download and install a launcher app.
iPhone users are missing out on a great opportunity for customization. You can change your phone’s default start screen by downloading a launcher app from the Play Store. Among the prominent launchers are Action Launcher, Apex, Lawn Chair, Lightning, the Microsoft Launcher, Nova, Niagara, and Smart Launcher, many of which have clever names like those mentioned earlier in this paragraph. iOS 14 launcher has Siri shortcuts and an App Store icon in place of the Play button. Are you nostalgic for the days when Windows Phone was at its peak? Launchers that look and feel like that OS can be found elsewhere.
Message Notifications can be customized.
When using Android 11, you can customize your SMS notifications so that specific contacts stand out more and conversations stay together. The ability to display message bubbles above other running programs has been added. Set the priority of the communication and enable them in the settings. Within a notice, you can help or disable bubbles for specific conversations, all conversations, or none.
Customize Your Home with Widgets
Widgets can now be added to the home screen in iOS. Android has been able for a long time, but not everyone knows how. Using a long hold on the home screen, pick Widgets and choose from the alternatives supplied by many apps installed on their phones. In addition, long-pressing on the Home screen provides you with more customization options, such as removing the Google feed page from the left side or disabling screen rotation for the Home screen—which we would never do because it’s excellent to view your home screen in landscape mode
Boost Your Storage
One of the most notable advantages of Android over iPhone is the ability to expand storage capacity with a micro SD card in some versions. This increases the amount of media and apps you can store on your phone while also sending large No amounts of data between your phone and other devices. Another benefit is that you can browse the data on some Android phones by connecting them to an external USB storage drive. If your smart phone has a USB-C port, you can easily connect a Type-C USB flash memory drive.
To open the camera, double-tap the power button.
Unlike the iPhone, which has a camera icon on the lock screen, most Android phones allow you to turn on the camera by double-tapping the power button. It’s critical to have quick camera access to capture such fleeting moments. To focus and take the shot, you can also utilize the volume keys. To record a video, press and hold either button for a long time.
Keep track of what you do on your computer screen.
Google has included screen recording into Android 11’s operating system. In the past, only Samsung, LG, and One Plus phones were capable of this, but now any Android 11-powered phone can. Using it is a cinch: Screen Record > Start recording can be accessed by lowering the top shade and selecting the option from the menu that appears. You have the option of displaying touch points and recording sound or not. Stop recording by lowering the tint and pressing the big red barn. It worked perfectly in our tests, generating a standard MP4 file for use in the photo gallery.
Conclusion.
Mobile Oases contain tools that assist you in locating your phone on a map if you misplace it or it is stolen. Not only that, but these Find My services also allow you to disable, wipe, and play a sound on the phone. Apple’s mobile operating system goes a step further by allowing you to display your phone number or another message on the screen of a misplaced device, something Google has yet to do.
