Even after a decade of using Android, there are still hidden features that make you wonder, "Why didn't I know about this sooner?" From Developer Options to overlooked settings, these small but useful tips will make your life easier.
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It's easy to accidentally dismiss an important notification while clearing clutter, and it happens to even the best of us. Luckily, Android has a handy notification history feature that lets you see all the notifications you've recently dismissed, but you'll need to enable it first.
On a Samsung Galaxy (One UI 6), go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Notification history and turn it on. Unfortunately, Samsung doesn't provide a quick shortcut, so you'll need to open Settings every time to access Notification history.
When at home, many people prefer to keep their phones unlocked so they can use their devices without having to unlock them repeatedly. However, they only want to do this at home and not anywhere else. Extended Unlock allows you to keep your device unlocked when your phone detects that it is in a trusted location, on your person (such as in your pocket), or connected to a trusted device such as a smartwatch .
To enable this feature on Samsung Galaxy:
People often type the same phrase and rely on aText to expand the text on their PC. Luckily, you don't need a third-party app on Android - both Google and Samsung keyboards let you create text shortcuts for commonly used phrases.
On Samsung phones:
You can set up shortcuts for your home and work addresses, bank details, invoice templates, and frequently used email responses.
One of the oldest but least known features of Android is the ability to move the cursor by sliding the space bar.
Sure, you can drag the cursor by touching and holding it on your screen; however, this often blocks the view and moving it to a precise location isn't the ideal way to do things.
Instead, press and hold the spacebar and slide your finger in the direction you want to move the cursor. It's accurate and works perfectly every time.
People use QR codes to pay for things, view restaurant menus, or leave store reviews. But they're also a great way to share Wi-Fi without revealing your password . This is especially useful if your router doesn't support guest networking.
To share Wi-Fi using a QR code:
Now your guests can scan the QR code and tap Connect to join your Wi-Fi network.
People often experiment with Developer Options to enable advanced features like USB Debugging , but you'll also find some surprisingly useful everyday tweaks.
To enable Developer Options:
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is already fast, but tweaking animation settings makes it even faster. Android 14 and above offers a Reduce animations option ( Settings > Accessibility > Vision enhancements > Reduce animations ), but it doesn't offer full visual smoothness.
Instead, you can change the animation speed in Developer Options to get a good balance between animation and responsiveness. To do this:
You can also turn animations off completely, but this may make the UI less visually smooth. Experiment with different settings to find what works best for you!
Not all smartphones support reverse charging, but for those that do, it's a lifesaver. It allows you to wirelessly charge another device by placing it directly on top of your phone.
You can charge your Android phone, iPhone, or wireless headphones. This feature is also useful for smartwatches, allowing you to leave the charger at home and use your phone instead.
Reverse charging is available on flagship phones from Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, and Xiaomi, as well as some devices like the OnePlus 13, Nothing Phone 2, and Sony Xperia 1 VI.
To use wireless power sharing on your Samsung phone, swipe down with two fingers to open Quick Settings, then swipe left to find more options.
Finally, tap Wireless power sharing to enable the feature. For this feature to work, your phone needs to have at least 30% battery and not be connected to a charger.
There are also more handy features, like setting a custom DNS to block ads system-wide, using split-screen view to multitask, and double-tapping the recents button to switch between apps. Android has a lot of useful tricks, and you can keep discovering more surprises!
ADB is a powerful set of tools that give you more control over your Android device. Although ADB is intended for Android developers, you don't need any programming knowledge to uninstall Android apps with it.
You might think you know how to get the most out of your phone time, but chances are you don't know how big a difference this common setting makes.
The Android System Key Verifier app comes pre-installed as a system app on Android devices running version 8.0 or later.
Despite Apple's tight ecosystem, some people have turned their Android phones into reliable remote controls for their Apple TV.
There are many reasons why your Android phone cannot connect to mobile data, such as incorrect configuration errors causing the problem. Here is a guide to fix mobile data connection errors on Android.
For years, Android gamers have dreamed of running PS3 titles on their phones – now it's a reality. aPS3e, the first PS3 emulator for Android, is now available on the Google Play Store.
If you really want to protect your phone, it's time you started locking your phone to prevent theft as well as protect it from hacks and scams.
Android Picture-in-Picture mode will help you shrink the video and watch it in picture-in-picture mode, watching the video in another interface so you can do other things.
The common point of most of these AI chatbot tools is that they need an Internet connection to use. But with the article below, you will learn more tips for using AI chatbots without the Internet on your phone.
Depending on your needs, you'll likely get a set of Pixel-exclusive features running on your existing Android device.
After years of using Android phones, many people have become familiar with a number of open source Android apps. These apps are better than their closed source counterparts.
Samsung's camera app works well out of the box, but Camera Assistant adds new features that you wish were built in from the start.
Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a powerful and versatile tool that allows you to do many things like find logs, install and uninstall apps, transfer files, root and flash custom ROMs, create device backups.
Chrome on Android is a great browser out of the box, but you can make it even better. These tips and features will help you browse the web faster.
When you compare smartphones from nearly two decades ago and today, you can't help but notice that they've gotten worse in a variety of ways.
Through your purchase history on the App Store, you will know when you downloaded that app or game, and how much you paid for the paid app.
iPhone mutes iPhone from unknown callers and on iOS 26, iPhone automatically receives incoming calls from an unknown number and asks for the reason for the call. If you want to receive unknown calls on iPhone, follow the instructions below.
Apple makes it easy to find out if a WiFi network is safe before you connect. You don't need any software or other tools to help, just use the built-in settings on your iPhone.
iPhone has a speaker volume limit setting to control the sound. However, in some situations you need to increase the volume on your iPhone to be able to hear the content.
ADB is a powerful set of tools that give you more control over your Android device. Although ADB is intended for Android developers, you don't need any programming knowledge to uninstall Android apps with it.
You might think you know how to get the most out of your phone time, but chances are you don't know how big a difference this common setting makes.
The Android System Key Verifier app comes pre-installed as a system app on Android devices running version 8.0 or later.
Despite Apple's tight ecosystem, some people have turned their Android phones into reliable remote controls for their Apple TV.
There are many reasons why your Android phone cannot connect to mobile data, such as incorrect configuration errors causing the problem. Here is a guide to fix mobile data connection errors on Android.
For years, Android gamers have dreamed of running PS3 titles on their phones – now it's a reality. aPS3e, the first PS3 emulator for Android, is now available on the Google Play Store.
The iPhone iMessage group chat feature helps us text and chat more easily with many people, instead of sending individual messages.
For ebook lovers, having a library of books at your fingertips is a great thing. And if you store your ebooks on your phone, you can enjoy them anytime, anywhere. Check out the best ebook reading apps for iPhone below.
You can use Picture in Picture (PiP) to watch YouTube videos off-screen on iOS 14, but YouTube has locked this feature on the app so you cannot use PiP directly, you have to add a few more small steps that we will guide in detail below.
On iPhone/iPad, there is a Files application to manage all files on the device, including files that users download. The article below will guide readers on how to find downloaded files on iPhone/iPad.
If you really want to protect your phone, it's time you started locking your phone to prevent theft as well as protect it from hacks and scams.
