Android comes with a lot of security features, but many of them are buried deep in settings, so they often go unused. It's worth taking advantage of these features to protect against intrusive targeted ads, unauthorized access, and theft.
7. You can't get rid of ads, but you can choose which ads you see
Advertising is an inevitable part of using Google services , and every Google account has a unique advertising ID that stores and uses the topics you're interested in to show you more relevant ads.
If you don't want to share this data, you can choose to delete your advertising ID entirely or reset it to start over if you see irrelevant ads on Google services. Keep in mind that deleting your advertising ID doesn't get rid of ads, but it can make them a little less intrusive.
To do this, go to Settings > Google > All services > Ads . Here, tap Delete advertising ID to stop seeing personalized ads or Reset advertising ID to create a new ID that apps will use to show you relevant ads.
6. Pinning apps helps keep people from snooping on your data
If you give your phone to someone for a while while you're away, you want to make sure they don't snoop on your private photos and files and still have the apps they need on your phone.
That’s where app pinning comes in. This is an underrated but incredibly useful Android feature that lets you lock an app in place so no one accidentally or intentionally exits it. It’s perfect for when you’re temporarily lending your phone to someone.
For example, if you're a parent, you can pin a mobile game to your screen before handing your phone to your child to ensure they don't accidentally delete important data while you're doing chores. Follow these steps to use the app pinning feature:
To unpin an app, press and hold the Home button and the Recents button at the same time if you're using button navigation, or swipe up and hold from the bottom of the screen if you're using swipe gestures. After unpinning, you'll be taken back to the lock screen and will need to unlock it to continue.
5. Anti-theft protection can save data even if you lose your phone
Google has added a range of new anti-theft protection features to Android to help ensure your personal data stays safe even if your phone falls into the wrong hands. You can find these features in Settings > Security and privacy > Lost device protection > Theft protection .
The first feature is the theft detection lock, which automatically locks the screen if it detects that someone has snatched your phone and run away. This feature is really useful because in such cases, you won't have time to lock the screen and the thief can access all your data, which is much worse than just losing the hardware device.
With the theft detection lock enabled, the chances of a thief gaining access to your personal files are reduced. However, because many sudden movements are intentional, it is difficult to accurately estimate thefts, so this feature does not always activate as expected.
To combat this, Android also has a new offline device lock feature that locks the screen when the phone has been offline for a long period of time. Thieves may try to disconnect the phone to make it harder for you to track it using Find My Device, so this is definitely a smart addition.
The last and perhaps most important feature is remote locking. Once enabled, this feature will allow you to remotely lock your lost or stolen phone from another device, such as a laptop, that is signed into your Google account.
4. You can hide sensitive content from notifications on the lock screen
Notifications that appear on the lock screen can contain important information that you don't want passersby to see, such as OTP codes, bank messages, and private conversations. But hiding notifications from the lock screen completely would be too inconvenient because you obviously don't want to have to unlock your phone every time to see which app has received the notification.
The solution is to simply hide the content in those notifications, so that the lock screen only shows the app icons that send those notifications, not the whole thing. To do this, go to Settings > Notifications > Lock screen notifications and tap Hide content .
3. Remove precise location permissions for apps that don't need them
Many apps on your phone ask for access to your location, but not all of them need your exact location. Sometimes they just need an approximate location.
To maximize your privacy, you should only grant precise location permissions to apps that cannot function without it.
To review location permissions, go to Settings > Location > App permissions . Here, review each app and turn off Use precise location for apps that don't need this permission.
2. Allow only partial access to the library for infrequently used apps
Similar to the point above, it is unreasonable to grant full access to a library and all of its contents to every application that requests it.
To review your gallery permissions, go to Settings > Security and privacy > More privacy settings > Permission manager > Photos and videos . Review each app with this permission and select Allow limited access if appropriate.
1. Pixel's Private Space mimics Samsung's Secure Folder
Samsung added Secure Folder to Galaxy devices in 2017 and it immediately became a fan favorite. Secure Folder is a separate space on your phone that requires you to enter your biometric information or password to unlock and is protected by the company's Knox security platform.
You can move photos, files, and all your sensitive apps into Secure Folder to keep them away from prying eyes. Dating apps, payment apps, and investing apps all contain sensitive information that’s best kept secure. Even if your phone is stolen and the screen is unlocked when the theft occurs, you can rest assured that the contents of Secure Folder won’t be tampered with.
Realizing how important such a feature is to user privacy, other manufacturers have followed suit and added their own implementations. On Google Pixel phones, the feature is called Private Space and is located at the bottom of the app drawer. On Xiaomi phones, it is called Second Space. On OnePlus and Oppo phones, it is called Private Safe.
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.
