Make the most of your Android
YOUR STOCK SMARTPHONE ALREADY OFFERS A SUITE OF POWERFUL FEATURES.
ANDROID IS A brilliant operating system, plus it has a huge range of extra functions available through downloadable apps. But before you go filling up your phone with third-party apps, how well do you know what Android can do all by itself?
In this feature, we delve deep into Android to identify the useful features that not everybody knows about. You might be amazed at what is already available.
While Android 6 Marshmallow still powers over 20% of Android phones in Australia, double that number are running a version of Android 7 Nougat, and newer phones are now shipping with, or being upgraded to, Android 8 Oreo. In fact, most Android phones sold in the last year or two are likely to receive an Oreo update this year. For this reason, we have mainly focused on Android 7 and the coming 8 Oreo changes, although many of the features explored are available in earlier versions of Android.
Most phone-specific steps were tested on a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 running Android 7.1 Nougat, with further testing on a range of devices to ensure broad applicability.
If anything we suggest doesn’t seem to be working on your phone, run a Google search on your specific model and see if it uses a different set of commands.
NOTIFICATION OVERLOAD
Android loves notifications. It will tell you about every app update, message, reminder or email, and even broadcast it to the world. But how can you control what, when and how you get notified?
Fortunately, it’s easy to tune your Android notifications. You can go into your settings — normally marked by a round cog icon — then find the correct menu in ‘Settings > Notifications’. Or on many phones, when you swipe down from the top of screen to display current notifications, there’s a ‘NOTI. SETTINGS’ link at the bottom of the list. Either way, tap to manage notifications.
On most phones, you will see a list of apps which you can individually set to: Allow notifications for this app — you may also have the option to switch notifications on or off for all apps before fine tuning individual apps. Show silently — allow notifications, but no sound, vibration or preview in pop-ups. On lock screen — show content, hide content, or do not show notification at all while phone is locked. * Set as priority — prioritise selected notifications above others, and show them even when Do Not Disturb is active. In Android 8, you have the option of snoozing notifications on the home screen — just swipe right and tap the clock icon. Default snooze is 15 minutes but you can set whatever you want.
NOTIFICATION DOTS
Even with notifications set to ‘off’, when you view your ‘all apps’ screen on recent phones, there may be small dots displayed on the app icons to indicate that there is a notification waiting to be viewed.
DO NOT DISTURB DOWNTIME
Downtime or Do Not Disturb is usually found under your ‘Settings > Sound’ menu and you can set a Do Not Disturb schedule by day and time. Then you set what, if any, interruptions are permitted within that time — alarms and reminders, for example. You can even set it so favourite or frequent callers can get through
WHILE ANDROID 6 MARSHMALLOW STILL POWERS OVER 20% OF ANDROID PHONES IN AUSTRALIA, DOUBLE THAT NUMBER ARE RUNNING A VERSION OF ANDROID 7 NOUGAT, AND NEWER PHONES ARE NOW SHIPPING WITH, OR BEING UPGRADED TO, ANDROID 8 OREO.
on phone or text while all others are blocked. Do Not Disturb is a great way to take control of how intrusive your digital devices are permitted to be.
But be warned: you can forget that, for example, your phone is set to not receive calls after 10pm, then wonder why you didn’t get that important message about your morning flight being cancelled.
NOTIFICATION LED
It varies from model to model, but many Android phones have a multicolour notification LED. Sadly, there’s no built-in ability to change colours for different notifications, so we’re breaking the no thirdparty apps rule on this one. Several apps on the Play Store including the free (with paid upgrade) Light Flow ( www.reactle.com), which allows you to customise the LED notifications. The exact options depend on your phone, but you can set different colours for different notifications, such as messages or email. You can also use different blinking, or have the app cycle through the most important, or all the current notifications. Note that this app seems to have some issues on Android 8 at the moment. For phones without a notification LED, the Flashlight Notifications app performs a similar role using your camera flash LED.
AVOID THE BLUES
Our digital screens typically mimic the colour spectrum of daylight, and research suggests that exposure to this light at night can disrupt sleep patterns. Decreasing the amount of blue light, making the screen look warmer, helps reduce these effects. Nearly all Android phones have this feature, called Night Light, Night Mode, Blue Light Filter or the like. You will usually find it under ‘Settings > Display’.
Many phones also have an auto brightness control that dims the screen at night or in dark locations. Some learn your pattern of usage to personalise the lighting response. Check that it is switched on.
If your phone doesn’t have these useful features, there’s a range of apps available to automatically adjust your screen colour at sunset and dawn. One favourite is Twilight ( www.twilight.urbandroid.org), which is free and automatically adjusts based on your location.
UNLOCK AT HOME
Lock screens are important for phone security, but can be a pain at times. However, you can set your phone to unlock automatically when at home, at the office, in the car or anywhere else where you don’t want it to lock right when you’re about to use it.
Go to ‘Settings> Lock screen > Smart Lock’ for the options. As well as defined ‘Trusted Locations’, unlocking can be based on being in your pocket, hearing your voice or more. If your car is Bluetooth enabled, set it as a ‘trusted device’ to keep your phone unlocked when in or around the car.
GET BACKUP
Android backs up system data by default, but check it is turned on at ‘Settings > Backup & Restore’. Provided you are logged in to a Gmail account, your core data will be backed up and can be restored, including to another phone, very simply.
WITH ALL SCREEN TYPES, TURNING DOWN THE BRIGHTNESS, AND SETTING THE SCREEN TO GO OFF MORE QUICKLY, WILL SAVE POWER AND LEAD TO SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER BATTERY LIFE.
Google Photos gives unlimited free photo and video backups, so that’s a great deal that can save your unique photos should something happen to your phone. Just remember to set it to upload via Wi-Fi only — photo and video uploads use a lot of bandwidth. Google Drive and Google Play Music handle documents and music for free, and are well worth using.
Backing up your SMS and call logs needs a downloaded app (unless you have a Google Pixel phone). Google provides Android Messages for free, or there are more comprehensive third-party apps such as SMS & Call Log Backup. Phone compatibility varies, so you just have to try them and see what works.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Android has a built-in device manager
that allows you to remotely locate, ring, lock or erase a lost or stolen phone. By default, your phone should have the Android Device Manager app already installed, otherwise download it from Google Play. The actual remote management is via computer — go to www.google.com.au/ android/device
manager, log in to your Google account and you can see a map of where your phone is located, as well as issue commands to make it ring, wipe it clean of all data or just lock it.
If you have more than one Android device, you can use the Android Device Manager app, which you can keep on all your devices to locate and manage the others.
There are also paid third-party tracking apps such as Cerberus (
which can give extra features such as the ability to take pictures remotely and display messages. Of course, you should never attempt to get a stolen phone back in person — contact your local police.
SET REMINDERS REMOTELY
Logged-in Chrome users on a computer can type a range of plain English commands straight into the search bar to activate a number of useful features. Typing “where is my phone” or “find my phone” takes you to the Android Device Manager map, but the feature with endless uses is Reminders. Just typing “remind me to call Kim tomorrow at 2pm” or “remind me to buy milk/flowers on the way home” sets up reminders on your phone — remotely. Location-based commands work, too, so “remind me to buy paint at Chatswood Bunnings” will activate a reminder when you next visit that location. Try it — the options seem endless.
MAX BATTERY LIFE
All Android devices running 6 Marshmallow or newer have a ‘Battery Saver’ feature. Head to ‘Settings > Battery > Battery Saver’ (menu names may vary by device). You typically have a choice of three default settings, plus you can customise them. Going for maximum battery can triple standby battery life, but takes some radical changes. On the Samsung Note 8, the Home screen goes jet black, with minimal icons displayed along with basic menus and functionality. But it works, and that black screen is pretty cool!
If you don’t want to go so far and have a smartphone with an AMOLED screen, choosing a black or simple dark background for your screen is a very easy way to save significant battery power. Most newer Samsung and Nexus smartphones are AMOLED, along with many
others. You can download dark wallpaper themes if they are not available on your phone to give it a try.
With all screen types, turning down the brightness, and setting the screen to go off more quickly, will save power and lead to significantly longer battery life.
There are some interesting comparisons and charts here: tinyurl.com/tla77-power
If you’re on Android 8, a great power saving option is to set your Wi-Fi to stay off except at home or when in range of a network you have connected to previously. Find the ‘Turn on Wi-Fi automatically’ option in ‘Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences’. There are so many ways to program your Android smartphone’s buttons, and a good start is to head to ‘Settings > Accessibility > Answering and Ending Calls’ and select ‘Power key to end calls’. Then a short push on the power button ends your calls, which can be so much easier than tapping the screen. Check out the other options while you’re there to see what works for you.
For more customisation options, go to ‘Settings > Advanced Features’, where simple features like quickly pressing the Power button twice opens the camera, and switches front and rear cameras. On some phones ,the Volume Down key does this, and takes a photo, too.
Or for no button operation, many cameras can take photos when you smile, make a certain gesture or say certain words. It can get very amusing when your phone is set to take a photo whenever it hears the word ‘cheese’. Just look for the option in your camera settings, and smile.
TEXT-TO-SPEECH
Not only can you read an article but you can also listen to it on many Android devices. So if you prefer to hear incoming information rather than see it, go to the Accessibility section in Settings and turn on the ‘Text-toSpeech Output’ option. You can adjust speed and pitch of speech, too.
ZOOM IN
As screen resolutions go higher, text gets smaller, but this feature can help out. Go to ‘Settings > Accessibility > Magnification > Magnification Gestures’. Then you’ll be able to zoom in on any part of the display just by tapping it. Note that this varies from phone to phone, and may disable other display features.
GUEST MODE
If you would like to temporarily give your phone to another person, yet keep your personal data confidential, use Guest Mode. Go to ‘Settings > Users and accounts > Users > Guest’ or swipe down from the top with two fingers, and tap the User icon on the upper right. The ‘Add Guest/User’ icon will appear, and you’ll be able to choose which actions the person handling your smartphone will be allowed to take.
Unfortunately, the latest Samsung phones don’t support Guest Mode, relying instead on their password protected Secure Folder. Secure Folder might be more secure, but it’s nowhere near as convenient.
An alternative option on some phones is screen pinning. This locks the current app to the screen, and using anything else requires an unlock. Turn it on via ‘Settings > Security > Screen pinning’, then pin a screen by locating and selecting the pin icon.