Android, the most popular and widely used OS amongst the smartphone users. It is highly customizable and easy to use. You might be using your smartphones just for texting and making phone calls but there are some amazing features in this OS that most people don't know about. Here are some cool features of Android which you can use to show off amongst your friends and make life easier. Lets see how many of them do you know about...
View Cleared Notifications -
If you are using android for some time, you must have faced the situation of clearing some important notifications without knowing which app was it from. You can actually view them, just follow these steps -
- Open the widget section and place the "Settings shortcut (1X1) " on the home screen.
- A list will be prompted, choose Notifications from the list and its done!
Now whenever you want to view notifications just tap that Settings icon.
Control Animation Speed -
Finding your phone slow between switching apps and multitasking, well android has a solution for this.First go to Settings>About Phone and click on Build Number (or Software Version) a couple of times and this enables the Developer Option on your phone. Now go to Developer Options in settings and scroll down to Drawing(or Animation) section, there you can modify the animation speeds as you like. There are some other options which you can change but do it at your own risk as it might mess up your phone completely.
Find Lost Phone -
So you went to hangout with your friends and while returning back you realized that your smartphone is missing. Don't worry Google has a solution for this too. If you have a laptop nearby just open Chrome and log into Google, then type "where is my phone" and it will display a map showing the current location of your device. Open the Android Device Manager website there you can update owner's info, ring and lock your device from your laptop. If you have your friend's android phone, just download the Android Device Manager App and log into it. This app provides all the features of the website.
Using Daydream Feature -
Want your phone to display something interesting instead of just going blank. You can enable Daydream feature to let your phone display the photos, news, clock and other things while its charging. Just follow these steps -
- Go to Settings>Display>Daydream.
- Enable it by clicking the button at top right corner.
- Then from the list choose what you want to display.(Click the settings button besides it and change its settings as you like )
- Tap the “When to Daydream” button, and pick an option: “While docked” (meaning while your Android phone is sitting in a charging cradle), “While charging,” or “Either.”
- Tap "Start Now" to give it a test run. There are some cool daydream apps, you can download from Play Store.
Use head movement to control your smartphone -
You might have come across the situation where you need to use your phone but your hands are occupied somewhere else. Eva Facial Mouse has a solution for this, this app lets you handle your mobile through the face movement which is tracked by the front camera. It is simple to use and quite accurate.
OK Google -
There are a lot of things that you can make your phone do by just saying it to do it. Here are all the tasks which you can ask your phone to do. Just say OK Google followed by the command. (Make sure that OK Google detection is enabled in Google app settings). Here is the list of some useful commands -
- Open[App Name], Send Text to [Contact Name][Message Content].
- Set an alarm for[time or amount of time], Set a timer for [X] minutes.
- Directions or Navigate to [address or place], Sports scores.
- Lumos (turn on flashlight), Nox (turn off flashlight), Silencio (activate silent profile).
You can check the complete list of commands here
Smart Lock -
Now you don't need to remember your phone's passwords or pattern, it automatically gets unlocked when it detects that it is with you. Go to Settings>Security>Smart Lock. There are different types of smart lock to choose from -
- Trusted Place - Set up a location on Maps and your device will remain unlocked while you are at that place. It can be your home, office or your girlfriend's place XD. You must enable Location before using this.
- Trusted Device - Add a device to let your phone stay unlocked while it is near that device. The device can be a bluetooth watch, car's bluetooth system, NFC sticker on the phone dock in your car.
- Trusted Face - Set up facial recognition to unlock the phone when you look at it. It is less secure and might not work properly in dark.
- Trusted Voice - Let "OK Google" unlock your device when the sound matches your voice model.