10 Best Useful Android Features

Android is all about customization and the freedom to use it the manner you want to. With each essential Android replace, we get some certainly cool features to use. But, are you truly using all the features that Android offers? Are you the use of your Android phone to its complete ability? properly, it’s time to find out. There are a few lesser-acknowledged capabilities of Android. So, we thought why now not throw some mild to such capabilities.

1.Android Device Manager

Did you ever misplace or lose your Android phone? in case you did then it in reality need to have been a superb moment of distress and panic. nicely, the Android tool supervisor is there on your rescue. With Android tool manager, you may easily song in which your device is and can even erase your critical information for security.

The Android Device Manager comes built-in on Android 5.0+ devices and can be easily enabled. Go to Settings > Security > Device Administrator and enable “Android Device Manager”. Well, that’s it.

Now, if you need to find your device, you have to head over to Android Device Manager’s web page on a browser. You can use a web browser on your PC/Mac or on a smartphone itself. In the Android Device Manager page, login with the Google account that your use on your Android smartphone. Once logged in, you get three options:

• Ring: This will ring your phone at full volume so that you can find your phone if it’s nearby.
• Lock: This will lock your phone and will reset the device password.
• Erase: This will erase all your data present on your device.

For Android Device Manager to work, there are some warnings though. You have to make sure that the lost Android phone is synced with Google Account and is connected to the internet or GPS. If your phone is not connected to the internet then Android Device Manager will only show you the last available location and when was your phone online last time.

2.Google Screen Search aka Now on Tap

Google screen seek or formerly known as ‘Now on Tap’ is one of the most unnoticed features of Android 6.zero Marshmallow. However, you need to strive it, as it can come in available in a number of situations. The principle purpose of Google display screen search is to offer greater data of what presently is being displayed in your display. For example, in case you’re studying some article on VR gaming you then’ll be provided with extra related statistics on it. If you’re looking some movie trailer on YouTube then it’s going to display you related facts approximately the cast, film summary and more. Nicely, if you’re not pretty aware of the way to use it then right here’s a brief rundown on a way to enable it and use it.

To allow Google Screen Search go to the Settings->Google->Screen Search and enable the first option. Now, to trigger Screen Search, you need to press hold on the home button. The best thing is, it can be triggered from any screen.

You can even take a screenshot of the current screen and select a word on the screen and Google it. Text selection works even on images. So, that’s a plus. So, if you are using Android 6.0 device then you should definitely check it out.

Note: Screen Search in Android 7.0 and above is replaced with Google Assistant. It’s actually been integrated inside Google Assistant.

3.User Accounts

It’s usually quite a trouble whilst there’s only one Android pill that distinct participants in a family use. Anybody has their personal on-line money owed and interest in games and apps. Fortunately, Android lets you create more than one person debts or profiles. In a brand new person profile, the consumer can setup a brand new search for that profile and might even installation new apps which won’t have an effect on the unique account. Android tablets have had this feature from Android 4.2 but this selection handiest arrived on smartphones with Android 5.0 Lollipop. So, let’s see how you may upload a brand new consumer account for your Android device.

First, head to Settings->Users and tap on “Add user“. Then, tap on “Set up now” when prompted, after which you will be taken to the new user account and you can add the accounts and install apps.

To switch between users, bring down the Quick Settings in the notification shade and tap on the user profile icon in the top-right corner and choose the user.

Note: Now, some manufacturers set their own maximum limit for users. For instance, for my phone, the user limit is set to 2. The guest account is not counted in the limit though. Your phone might have a higher limit. So, create users accordingly.

4.Screen Pinning

You have to have been through this example in which your buddy asks you to make a cellphone name from your smartphone and after he’s completed with the decision, he starts off evolved messing together with your phone; reading chats and sorting out personal pictures. It’s annoying, proper? well, there’s a really perfect answer for such conditions. Google delivered a new “display screen Pinning” feature with Android 5.0 Lollipop that no longer many humans are privy to. What it basically does is, it pins a specific app in your cellphone, which means that a consumer can handiest use that precise app and will no longer be capable of open another app. Even the home, again, and the recent button emerge as unresponsive. Hence, you could keep a person restricted to a selected app.

To enable Screen Pinning go to Settings->-Security->Screen Pinning and enable it. Now, just open the app you want to pin, tap on the Recents button and you should find a pin icon in the bottom-right corner for the app. Tap on the pin icon and the app will be pinned.

To unpin the app, you just have to long press the back button. Well, you can also enable the option ‘Lock device when unpinning’ in the Screen Pinning settings for more security.

5.Smart Lock

Another security feature that you perhaps aren’t using on your Android smartphone, is the Smart Lock. Smart Lock automatically unlocks your phone when it is around some trusted agent like your Android smartwatch, your house or maybe, in your pocket. If you happen to lock your phone with PIN or Pattern then this feature can be really convenient. So, let’s see how to enable it. You’ll need Android 5.0 or above for this.

Go to Settings->Security->Trusted Agents and enable “Smart Lock”. If the option is grayed, it means you haven’t added a PIN or a Pattern Lock. Set a lock first and then enable the option.

Now, to customize and set your trusted agents, go to Settings->Security->Smart Lock on your phone. Here, you’ll find the options to set up different trusted agents like places, devices, voice etc. You can set up whichever option is convenient to you.

6.Notification Control and Priority

Android 6.0 was all about giving control to the users. It brought a new ‘App Permission Manager’, which allows users to disable specific permissions for an app. Permissions like camera access, storage access, location and others. Along with that, you can also set up the priority of notifications from a certain app.

Android 6.0 become all approximately giving manage to the customers. It introduced a brand new ‘App Permission supervisor’, which lets in users to disable unique permissions for an app. Permissions like digital camera access, storage get admission to, location and others. In conjunction with that, you may also installation the concern of notifications from a sure app.

If you are on Android 6.0, you can just go to Settings->Apps, choose an app, then tap on “Notifications“. Here, you can ensure the app’s notifications are treated as prority. You can even make sure to hide sensitive content from an app in the notifications. There’s also an option to block all the notifications from an app, whose notifications you don’t find useful. Android 7.0 Nougat takes it even further. In the “Notifications” page of an app, you will find a bar, which you can set to give the app notifications different priority levels.

Android 6.0 notification options (left) and Android 7.0 notification options (right)

You can also get to an app’s notification settings by press holding on the notification of the app and tapping on “info” button.

Note: Some manufacturers include even more notification control options, so you should check them out.

7.The Do Not Disturb Mode

Well, most of the users know about this feature but they often neglect it. Maybe it’s a meeting or you’re doing some important work; switching off your phone or setting it to vibrate is not the only solution. The Do Not Disturb Mode can really be helpful in these situations.

Fine, most of the customers realize about this selection however they regularly overlook it. Maybe it’s a meeting or you’re doing some critical work; switching off your cellphone or placing it to vibrate isn’t the most effective solution. The Do now not Disturb Mode can sincerely be helpful in these conditions.

You can allow the Do Not Disturb Mode from the notifications panel. Tap on it and you’ll get the options to set the time period till you want it to be active or you can just set it to indefinite time until you manually disable it. If you have some important contacts whom you can’t ignore, you should choose the Priority only mode. You can also choose the “Alarms only” mode if you don’t want to miss out any alarms.

To set up the Priority mode, you can head to Settings->Sound & Notification->Do not disturb and tap on “Priority only allows“. Here, you can enable reminders, events, messages and calls from starred contacts only and more.

You can also set “Automatic Rules” that will enable the Do Not Disturb Mode automatically when a rule comes into action. You can set the Start Time and the End Time along with the actual day. Also, if you happen to have an event in Google Calendar then you can set that too. You will find these options in Settings->Sound & Notification->Do not disturb.

8.Format SD Card as Internal Storage

If you happen to run low on your internal storage and you also happen to have Android 6.0 or above running on your phone then you can format your SD card as internal storage for more space. It means your SD card will become a part of the internal storage and you’ll be able to install apps on it. This can come in very handy if you have a device with low internal storage. Well, let’s see how you can do it.

First, you want to have ahigh-speed SD Card with properly Read/Write speeds. Properly, in case you don’t have one, we’ll advise you to no longer allow this option, as your device might gradual down drastically.But, if you have a high-speed SD Card, go to Settings->Storage and USB->Portable Storage and tap on “Format as Internal”. Your SD card will be erased and formatted as internal storage. Do make sure you backup your SD card data first. After you’re done, tap on “Erase and Format“.

To format SD card back as Portable Storage, just go back to the SD Card settings and you should get the option “Format as Portable“.

Also, do keep in mind that formatting an SD card as internal storage will encrypt the card, so you will not be able to remove it.

9.Screen Recording

If you wanted to apply a display screen recorder app on your device going for walks an Android model prior to 5.0 Lollipop, your device had to have root get entry to. However, that has modified and now you can file the Android display the use of various superb apps.

The app I constantly use for screen recording is Lollipop screen Recorder (free). Open the app and you could begin recording your smartphone’s screen with the aid of tapping on “begin Recording”. In the Recording Settings, you may change the resolution, orientation, or even the bitrate. You may additionally record voice using your phone’s microphone or even installation a PIP view of your the front digital camera.

10.Encrypt your device

Device encryption was introduced back in Android Gingerbread (2.3) and since then it’s been sitting there in the security settings. If you happen to have an Android device that you use for sensitive data then phone encryption is a feature that you might want to enable.

Encryption actually makes the data unreadable and random. When you unlock your phone using a PIN, the phone undergoes decryption using a secret key, making your data readable. This makes sure that even if your phone is lost or stolen, anyone else won’t be able to decrypt the data.

Few things to keep in mind before encryption:

• There might be a slight performance drop after encryption. It won’t be that noticeable while usage.
• The only way to undo this process is through afactory reset.
• Encryption can cause problems on rooted devices.

To begin the encryption process, go to Settings->Security and tap on “Encrypt phone”. Now, you’ll first need to have your battery charged up to 80% and connected to a charger during the encryption process. If it’s not charged then the option to encrypt phone will be grayed out as shown in the below image.

When you’re ready, tap on “Encrypt phone“. It will really ask you again if you really want to Encrypt. Again tap on Encrypt phone and the phone will reboot to start the encryption process.

Know any more hidden or lesser used useful Android features?

The main aim of this article was to hut some light on the useful Android features that people don’t really use. So, did you find these features useful? Also, if you know of any other Android features that people seldom use.