Are you a devoted Android user? Think you know all the tricks and tips there are to know? After reading this article, you may want to think again! Most Android operating systems have several customizable features that you can edit at the click of a button. However, most of these features are not so easily found at first glance. With that said, this article will help you find and learn more about these hidden settings. Please note, most of these settings are found in Android smartphones with Android 10 and 11. If you do not have an updated android operating system, these features may be a little harder to find.
When it comes to customizing your android, there are a few features that one might expect to find upon initial set-up. For example, changing app permissions and modifying notifications in settings seem quite intuitive. Yet, knowing where to allow your phone to wake up with your voice or show emergency information is a little more difficult. To help you learn more about how to access these features, here are some interesting customizable features and where to find them as listed in Popular Science:
- Wake up your phone with your voice: Want to unlock your phone without having to reach for it? In your device settings, navigate to the Voice or the Assistant Settings section. There you should be able to select an option called Voice Match and enable “Hey Google”. Once you have set this up, you can say “Hey Google” and your device will use voice recognition to unlock your phone.
- Change notification priorities: In the Apps and notifications section of Settings, you can select from different customization options of anything including the sound for that specific notification to how noisy of a notification you want to receive for your more important apps.
- Show emergency information: This feature can be vital in the case of a life threatening emergency. In the About section of your phone, select the Emergency information section. There, you will be able to provide important details such as your allergies or emergency contacts in case you are in a critical situation.
- Unlocking phone in your car: To help you or (preferably) a passenger set up the music or maps for your drive without the need to enter a passcode, have your car set as a trusted device if possible. To do this, you will need to navigate to the Smart Lock section of your Security settings and follow the steps to set up your car as a trusted bluetooth device.
- Freeing up memory: Need to free up more memory on your device? You can enable a feature called Smart Storage in the Storage section of your device’s settings. This is extremely useful if you have Google photos as Smart Storage will delete duplicate copies stored in your device to free up space.
If you are looking to take it a step further, you may be interested in using the Developer options menu. However, it is suggested that one uses the developer options with caution as it may expose your android to a variety of security threats. To learn more about how you can enable and use Developer Mode in order to customize your Android check out Popular Science’s article on it here.
