It’s weird. You spend so much time on your smartphone, and still, you don’t know all the functions. Of course, you should be familiar with how to make calls, send messages, identify songs on the radio or conduct video conferences. Custom backgrounds, ringtones or sleep times make your device more “your phone”.
Nevertheless, your Android phone has numerous functions hidden deep in the menu that you may not even be aware of. You can save individual websites as PDFs. Or do you know the guest mode that can be activated when you let go of your device? In addition, many practical shortcuts are hidden in Android, allowing you to reach your goal faster. We introduce you to the ten best Android tricks.
These Are The Best Android Tricks
This Will Get You To The Quick Settings Even Faster
The Quick Settings is perhaps “the essential menu” on your Android Phone. Swipe your finger to the center of the screen to bring up half the menu, and swipe down again to see the full view. An easier way to call up the overall view is to swipe two fingers to the middle of the display right at the beginning – this is much faster.
View Missed Notifications
With the help of this Android trick, you can display missed notifications. This is possible from Android 11. The feature is initially deactivated by default. To turn it on, go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications > Notification history and enable the feature. This way, you have insight into all notifications of the past 24 hours.
How To Turn Off Or Mute Notifications
In some cases, it can be very useful to get notifications and even – as mentioned above – to view past notifications. At other moments, however, constant incoming notifications can be exhausting. In this case, you can switch them off or mute them. To do this, go to Settings > Apps > Apps, select an appropriate app, and tap Notification Management.
You Can Also Pause Notifications
As you can see, there are many Android tricks related to notifications. This may be because communication plays a major role on the smartphone. But sometimes not, so you can pause individual notifications if you wish. Go to quick settings, swipe aside the relevant notification and tap on the little clock. Now you can set an individual timeout for the notification.
Open QR Codes Thanks To This Android Trick
Since Corona, the QR code has come back at the latest. It was never really gone, but in recent years the feature has felt more like an innovative holdover from the 2000s. It’s now essential – and you don’t need an extra app anymore. Most Android devices now have the QR scanner integrated into the camera. Open the app, hold it over a code and a link will appear.
Save Websites As PDFs With Chrome
Google Chrome is undoubtedly one of the most popular Internet browsers. This may be because it has a clear design, is extremely easy to use and has many useful features. For example, you can save websites as PDFs to your smartphone. To do this, tap the symbol with the three small dots > Share > Print and then select “Save as PDF”. The website is already secured on your device.
Enable Guest Mode On Your Device
Some Android tricks may seem less useful to you, but other Android tricks may be more. Guest mode is undoubtedly one of the essential Android tricks everyone should know. The mode protects your device’s data if you let it out of your hands. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users to switch to guest mode. Once that is done, you can switch to guest mode via the quick settings.
Camera Quick Launch Using This Android Trick
There are two ways to open your device’s camera: one classic and one fast. The classic one is via the app icon. The quick one is via the small camera icon at the bottom of the screen. Samsung, Oneplus, and Google Pixel devices offer a third way: press the power button twice, and the camera will open. You can even switch between the main and selfie camera on Samsung phones by double-clicking again.
Android Tricks That Make Life Easier: Shortcuts
With app shortcuts, you can open an application and instantly jump to a menu item. This is incredibly practical, and thanks to this Android trick, you save valuable time. All you have to do is hold your finger on an app icon for longer, and a menu will then open. With Instagram, for example, you can send a DM, display activities, post a new post or open the camera directly. Very simple, then.
Quickly Switch Between Apps
To jump back and forth between apps, you don’t have to close one app and open another every time. That’s easier too. Instead, you can easily jump to another application with a swipe gesture. To do this, swipe sideways over the small bar at the bottom edge of the display. This works with Samsung as well as Google and OnePlus devices. For Xiaomi or Huawei, swipe sideways from the bottom to the center of the display.
