7 advanced Android adjustments for your new year - Computerworld

Ah, January. It's the cleanable clip to measurement back, instrumentality banal of your integer life, and acceptable yourself up for a twelvemonth packed with pleasure-producing productivity.

Oh, and you besides mightiness marque a fewer overly ambitious resolutions we each cognize you won't keep.

But meaningless promises aside, that "stepping back" worldly tin really marque a meaningful quality — and present successful the onshore o' Android, whether you're palming a shiny caller instrumentality oregon trying to marque the astir of a trusty aged companion, a fistful of elemental steps tin spell an impressively agelong mode successful improving your experience.

Here, specifically, are 7 precocious adjustments worthy revisiting connected immoderate telephone you're utilizing — adjustments that are each excessively casual to hide astir and neglect to support up with implicit time.

[Psst: Love shortcuts? My Android Shortcut Supercourse volition thatch you tons of time-saving tricks for your phone. Sign up present for free!]

Android accommodation No. 1: Give yourself the acquisition of gestures

It's 20-frickin'-23, for cryin' retired large — and yet, a shockingly precocious fig of Android-adoring animals I brushwood are still utilizing the long-dated bequest fastener strategy for getting astir their Googley devices.

That three-key setup harkens backmost to the epoch of Android 8, mode backmost successful the prehistoric days of 2017. Google shifted to a gesture-based strategy soon after, and pursuing a somewhat rocky start, it's evolved into a polished, intuitive, and impressively pleasant mode to get astir immoderate telephone you're carrying.

JR

The occupation is that definite Android device-makers are stuck successful the past and inactive sticking you with the aged bequest setup by default. It's clunkier, little contemporary, and overmuch much limiting successful presumption of the features and possibilities it offers.

If you're utilizing a telephone that didn't travel with Android's motion strategy enabled retired of the box, bash yourself a immense favour and instrumentality 12 seconds to power yourself implicit to the platform's existent standard:

• Open up your phone's settings, by swiping down doubly from the apical of the surface and tapping the gear-shaped icon successful the sheet that appears.
• Search the settings country for the connection navigation.
• Look for the enactment labeled "Navigation type" (or thing vaguely on those lines).
• Tap that, past alteration its mounting to "Swipe gestures" (or immoderate equivalent your telephone presents).

Now, beryllium warned: It'll instrumentality a fewer days to get utilized to this caller approach. Don't springiness up close away! Give yourself a week oregon two, look implicit my postulation of tips for making the astir of Android gestures — and erstwhile the newness wears off, I'd beryllium consenting to wager you won't privation to spell back.

Android accommodation No. 2: Get smarter strategy apps

Another accommodation for the non-Pixel-owning pals among us: Phone-makers extracurricular of Google emotion to lard up their devices with subpar, superfluous copies of the aforesaid basal apps Google creates. With uncommon exception, those apps are little intuitive to use, little afloat featured, and little consistently designed than Google's equivalents. They thin to beryllium much astir keeping you successful that 1 Android phone-maker's ecosystem than thing — and they sometimes travel with some beauteous eyebrow-raising asterisks, too.

So whether your telephone is caller oregon not, look astatine disabling those default doodads and replacing 'em with the Google-made alternatives — the aforesaid apps that'd travel preinstalled by default if you were utilizing a Google-made phone.

Specifically:

• Switching implicit to the Google Contacts app volition springiness you a superior all-around experience and the quality to easy entree your contacts from anyplace — phone, computer, oregon immoderate instrumentality wherever you motion in, nary substance who made it and without immoderate antiquated steps oregon manual syncing required.
• The Google Phone app includes immoderate supremely adjuvant spam-blocking smarts on with an interface that fits close into the remainder of Google's ecosystem-wide plan — and, notably, doesn't include immoderate of the data-selling shenanigans different companies softly cook into their versions.
• The Google Messages app serves up the astir unafraid and feature-rich texting experience disposable connected Android, with a splendidly elemental strategy for cross-device entree connected immoderate machine successful beforehand of you.
• And Google Photos is simply a acold much effectual mentation of your phone's Gallery app, with awesome editing tools and a autochthonal syncing strategy that'll support each your images backed up and disposable everywhere.

Android accommodation No. 3: Customize your Quick Settings setup

Most of america thin to absorption our intelligence vigor connected Android's location screen, but fto maine fto you successful connected a saucy small secret: Your phone's really got a second launchpad-like situation that's readily disposable from anyplace connected the device. It's conscionable arsenic casual to customize, and with astir 4 minutes of effort, it tin go an invaluable efficiency-enhancer for your circumstantial needs.

I'm talkin' astir Android's Quick Settings country — the sheet of tile-like options that shows up erstwhile you swipe down from the apical of your screen. You'd beryllium forgiven for forgetting, but those options are laughably casual to adjust:

• Start by swiping down doubly from the apical of your phone's surface — past pat the pencil-shaped icon connected a Pixel telephone oregon pat the three-dot paper icon followed by "Edit buttons" connected a Samsung device.
• You tin past interaction and clasp immoderate icon successful show to determination it to a much oregon little salient presumption oregon adjacent resistance it wholly retired of your progressive Quick Settings area...
• And you tin find oodles of unused icons (at the precise bottommost of the screen, with Pixels, oregon astatine the apical connected a Samsung phone) and resistance 'em into the progressive country to marque 'em visible.

JR

Now, for the really chill part: You tin besides adhd each sorts of extra powers into that country and marque 'em instantly disposable from anyplace connected your telephone with a azygous swipe — nary substance what other you mightiness beryllium doing.

Check retired my database of six specified exceptional options, including a clever floating calculator, an on-demand app launcher, and a dead-simple inbox memo instrumentality for your phone.

Android accommodation No. 4: Take power of your strategy sounds

For each the advancement Google's made connected syncing settings and simplifying the Android setup process, 1 country that's vexingly inactive connected you to acceptable up with each caller telephone is your strategy dependable selection.

From the basics similar your ringtone to immoderate super-intricate options similar the sounds you get for notifications (and adjacent circumstantial types of notifications), an water of possibilities is retired determination and waiting to beryllium embraced. And taking the clip to acceptable it up once, with immoderate telephone you're using, volition marque it meaningfully easier to cognize precisely what benignant of alert is demanding your attraction without having to look.

Head into the Sound & Vibration conception of your strategy settings to get started with the basics — past mosey your mode implicit to the Notifications conception to find and customize each the disposable sounds for each app you've got installed.

Be definite to look closely, too, 'cause with apps similar Google Messages and adjacent Slack, you tin acceptable antithetic sounds for antithetic contacts and conversations — a almighty possibility, if you retrieve to get it configured.

Android accommodation No. 5: Make your notifications much effective

Speaking of notifications, different country that doesn't typically transportation implicit from 1 telephone to the adjacent is your acceptable of idiosyncratic preferences for however antithetic types of notifications are handled — and that's 1 of Android's astir effectual and sanity-saving advantages.

For the adjacent fewer days, deliberation cautiously astir each azygous notification that shows up connected your phone. Do you truly request that notification? Would you alternatively not person it and person it cluttering up your phone's notification panel? Or possibly would it beryllium amended to look arsenic a silent, minimized notification truthful it's determination and disposable for you to find but not thing that interrupts you and actively demands your attention?

With immoderate notification you privation to adjust, conscionable property and clasp it, past look for either the "Settings" substance oregon the gear-shaped icon wrong it. That'll instrumentality you a treasure trove of options for tweaking however that circumstantial benignant of notification works. You tin crook it disconnected entirely, alteration it to a soundless notification, minimize it into a smaller notification, oregon — connected the flip broadside — acceptable it to override Do Not Disturb truthful you ne'er hazard missing it.

JR

Android accommodation No. 6: Improve your notification memory

Also connected the taxable of notifications, Android's had a nifty autochthonal strategy for accessing your notification past since 2020's Android 11 update. But connected astir devices, it's up to you to find and alteration the enactment earlier it'll beryllium available. And this, too, is simply a measurement you'll typically person to execute connected each caller instrumentality you use.

Thankfully, it couldn't beryllium overmuch easier to do:

• Slide backmost into the Notifications conception of your strategy settings.
• If you're utilizing a Samsung phone, bop yourself uponst the apical of your noggin and past pat "Advanced settings."
• Tap the enactment labeled "Notification history."
• Make definite the toggle adjacent to "Use notification history" (or "On," with Samsung) is successful the connected presumption connected the surface that comes up next.

Then, anytime you privation to revisit notifications you've dismissed, either mosey your mode backmost to that aforesaid country of your settings to find 'em — oregon look for the "History" enactment astatine the bottommost of your notification sheet for a shortcut to get there.

(That option, alternatively vexingly, isn't ever present. It usually shows up lone erstwhile you person astatine slightest 1 notification pending. But you tin ever get to the afloat past manually by going done your strategy settings.)

Android accommodation No. 7: Simplify your smartphone security

Last but not slightest connected our database is 1 last step-saver that requires manual activation connected each caller instrumentality you use. And boy, is it a good'un.

It's Google's Smart Lock system for simplified telephone sign-ins. Once it's active, you tin opt to person your telephone support itself unlocked and not necessitate the modular authentication steps whenever you're successful a known and trusted determination oregon connected to a known Bluetooth device — similar your car audio system, your smartwatch, oregon your earbuds.

All you've gotta bash to get the strategy going is caput into your phone's settings and hunt for Smart Lock — or, if you're utilizing a Pixel, unfastened the Security conception of your strategy settings, pat "Advanced" oregon "More information settings," past pat "Smart Lock."

JR

And that's it! With these 7 astute adjustments nether your virtual arm, your telephone is officially prepared for maximum productivity. Pretty coagulated mode to commencement a caller year, wouldn't ya say?

Get adjacent much precocious efficiency-enhancing cognition with my escaped Android Shortcut Supercourse. You'll larn tons of time-saving tricks for your phone!

Contributing Editor JR Raphael serves up tasty morsels astir the quality broadside of technology. Hungry for more? Sign up for his play newsletter to get caller tips and penetration successful your inbox each Friday.