Android is the most popular OS across all smartphone users and every 8 out of 10 smartphones sold are running on Android. With so many features built into Android OS and some extra add-ons embedded by the OEMs, these smartphones have so many features and most of these are available straight from the settings menu for ease of access.
But, there are a few more features that are either not popular or are only meant for advanced users and are hidden deep inside the setting menu. Hence, you tend to miss out on the most incredible features of these devices.
But don’t worry, after reading this article you will get familiar with such 5 hidden features for your android phone, which you might have never heard, and they will definitely fascinate you.
Also Read: How to make your Android look like an iPhone.
Hidden features of Android phone
1. Using Split Screen for Multi-tasking
The most important highlight in Android is having the ability to have two applications running on the screen simultaneously. It’s convenient when you are taking a meeting on google meet and checking emails, or when you are looking into a spreadsheet and sending the corresponding data in Messages or face calling a friend and scrolling the social media by the side. Be that as it may, it’s not completely clear how to get applications in split-screen mode.
Furthermore, to enable the split-screen mode on phones running Android 9 Pie or newer, you must:
- Open the app that you wish to use in split-screen mode.
- Enter the recent apps screen by pressing the recent button if you are using 3-buttons many or just swipe up from the home bar if your smartphone is running on Android 10 and you have enables gestures navigation.
- From this recent apps screen select the app that you wish to run on the second screen of split-screen view. You need to press and hold on the three-dot kebab menu on the right-hand side of the app to select “split screen”
- Now open any other secondary app from this recent menu or from the home screen and this app will be open in a split-screen view.
Also Read: 9 things to do with your new Android phone.
2. Lock people out of specific apps
We all have somewhere faced the problem of being asked of our phone by the people we don’t want to show our personal data to. Well in such case it’s safe to lock such people out and prevent them from opening your apps such as WhatsApp, Gmail or your photo gallery, which contain some of your private content which you want to keep it to yourself. To keep such information private from people’s eyes, we are going to tell you some of the features available on your smartphone for that.
Screen Pinning is one such option, which can help you keep your apps locked until and unless you enter the code (which only you know) to open it. To enable the screen pinning in your phone stick to the following steps.
- Go to Settings> Security> turn on Screen Pinning.
- After turning it on, open the app, your friend/ loved one asked for.
- Open recent apps screen with the square button below the phone screen. You’ll see an icon that looks like a pin in the lower right corner.
- Tap an icon that looks like a pin in the lower right corner, and it’ll remain pinned to the front.
- Now that’s all anyone can use until you enter the password.
Furthermore, the Play Store is filled with apps that can be used to lock certain apps. You can try out the following apps: App locker, Lock App, Ultra AppLock to lock your apps with a password or biometric authentication.
Also Read: Top 10 Racing Games For Android And iOS!
3. Get into your phone faster with Smart Lock
Keeping your smartphone secure is important. However, in case you’re the one holding it, there’s no explanation on why you need to unlock your device each and every time you drag it from your pocket and unlock it. When you pick up the phone multiple times a day to look for something and keeping your phone secured, you have to do an awful lot of unlocking- be it with your face, your fingerprint, or the code you tap or swipe onto your screen.
Fortunately, the Smart Lock functionality is built into Android OS for quite some years. This functionality when turned On keeps the device unlocked under certain trusted conditions to allow unlocking of the screen without any authentication. There’s Trusted Face, Trusted Location, Trusted Devices, and on-body identification. At the absolute minimum, all gadgets ought to have Trusted Devices and Trusted locations.
So, for instance, you can have your smartphone set to swipe open at home. However, if you go for a walk down the square, it will begin requesting PIN, or secret key lock. The equivalent goes for Trusted Devices—in case you’re associated with a Bluetooth or NFC gadget. If you have recently set it as “trusted” (like your vehicle or Android Wear watch), you’ll see no secure lock screen.
With Trusted Face, the smartphone will switch consistently to swipe open mode on the off chance that it spots you with the front camera. On-body location is somewhat odd, this choice keeps your phone unlocked whenever you’re holding or carrying it as long as you’ve already unlocked it.
Also Read: 10 Ways Smartphones Can Save You Time and Money
4. Recover accidentally cleared notifications
Have you ever faced the situation where you tap the button to clear your notification tray, only to notice an alert you needed to read at the last second? Yes, we know you have, and it’s super frustrating. Notifications are an essential part of the phone and even keeps people hooked to the device. Thankfully, there is a way you can see every alerts and notification you have received in the past few days. Here is how to do it.
- Long-push on any empty spot on your screen.
- Select Widgets from the menu.
- Discover the Settings shortcut widget.
- In the Settings shortcut menu scroll down and tap Notification log.
- Now a Notification log shortcut will appear on your home screen.
- Tap on this shortcut to view all your missed notifications
Whenever you miss an alarm, tap the gadget, and you’ll see a rundown of all of your alerts.
On the off chance your smartphone doesn’t have a Notification Log, check the “Notification History Log” application from Google Play Store.
Also Read: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9s Receives New MIUI Update.
5. Transferring files through Wi-Fi Direct
Do you face connectivity issues while transferring the files to your device? It gets pretty annoying while transferring the files over an android device while using Bluetooth to transfer files which most of the time it fails to establish a connection and when it does it’s pretty slow to transfer files. Well, we got you covered; Wi-Fi direct is a new technology that can help you transfer files wirelessly in a way similar to Bluetooth.
Also Read: The Best Smartphones A Student Should Buy
Wi-fi direct transfer files at blazing fast speeds, which obviously are much faster than Bluetooth. Like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct has the same “discover, pair and send” functionality. However, Wi-Fi direct isn’t as widespread as Bluetooth right now. A few gadgets may not be Wi-Fi direct compatible. The best part about Wi-fi direct is that it does not require any third-party applications to establish a connection.
To transfer files via Wi-fi direct you need to turn ON the Wi-Fi direct options from settings. To do so go into Settings -> Connections -> Wi-Fi then tap on the Wi-Fi Direct tab at the top. And once the connection is established you can share any files by clicking on the share button and selecting Wi-fi direct from there.
Also Read: How To Take A Backup Of Your Android Smartphone
Conclusion
In this piece, we presented 5 hidden features of Android phones that you might not have used before. Go ahead and try them out on your android device and make your experience with your device fully valuable.
Note that some of these features might not work exactly the same in every android device because every device is built upon a different custom skin over Android.
Also read: Smartphone reviews
If your phone is facing issues, then you can conveniently get phone repair online through Cashify. You can also sell old mobile to us if you’re planning on buying a new phone.
