5 settings I modify on a brand new Android cellphone straight away

For those who comply with me on-line, you most likely know me as an iPhone person, given how usually I write about Apple. I do attempt to hold present with Android, although, and I’ve truly owned a number of Android phones over time — even now, I’ve a OnePlus phone as a backup and take a look at system. If I had my manner, iOS could be open-source, identical to Android.

Each platforms have their quirks, so it is essential to tweak settings earlier than you may actually get going. This is what I would suggest doing everytime you decide up a brand new Android cellphone — placing apart any brand-specific choices you may want to alter.

1 Developer Choices to open up superior settings

Not strictly vital, however…

As a tech journalist, I am usually exploring options that push the boundaries of a cellphone. As an everyday person, you do not have to, however some Android options — together with one on this checklist — merely will not work when you do not change on Developer Choices. Fortunately, it isn’t a posh activity.

On most Android gadgets, the method ought to seem like this:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Faucet About Cellphone.
3. Discover Construct Quantity, and faucet on it seven occasions. You will see a pop-up message when Developer Choices are enabled.

As soon as that is carried out, you may go to Settings > System > Developer Choices at any time, however do not change something you have not learn up on. Google is severe concerning the mode being meant for app builders. Just a few settings may probably cripple your system when you’re not ready.

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2 Night time Mild and Darkish Theme

Save your sleep, imaginative and prescient, and battery life

For no matter cause, most if not all smartphones nonetheless default to themes that aren’t solely eye-searing at night time, however drain your sleep and battery ranges. Brilliant lights usually tend to hold you awake, after all. To elucidate the battery challenge, most flagship telephones now use some type of OLED display screen. OLED panels can shut off particular person pixels to attain true black, so the darker onscreen photographs are, the much less energy they devour.

To allow Android’s Darkish Theme:

1. Go to Settings > Show > Darkish theme.
2. If you’d like Darkish Theme on completely, flip the toggle.
3. Alternately, faucet Schedule, then select Activates at customized time, Activates from sundown to dawn, or Activates at bedtime. For the final one, you may have to allow Bedtime mode on a cellphone with Android 13 or later.

If sleep is your overriding concern, you may additionally wish to activate Night time Mild. Very like Night time Shift on iPhones, this skews your display screen away from blue mild, in principle, making it simpler to sleep. Medical questions apart, I discover heat mild comforting earlier than I hit the hay.

To make use of Night time Mild:

1. Go to Settings > Show > Night time Mild.
2. For those who do not wish to allow Night time Mild manually each night, decide Schedule.
3. Select Activates at customized time or Activates from sundown to dawn. I choose the previous, since I do not need Night time Mild affecting the look of my apps earlier than I am about to crawl into mattress.

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3 The Snooze button for notifications

Get centered with out shedding monitor

Google / Pocket-lint

You’d assume this could be accessible by default, however if you wish to briefly snooze push notifications to enhance your focus, you are out of luck (as you may see) until you manually allow the Snooze button.

You are usually meant to make use of Do Not Disturb, however forgetting to disable that may sow chaos, particularly if a accomplice or boss is attempting to achieve you. The Snooze button allows you to deal with issues on a quick, per-app foundation, say if you do not need Chrome bothering you throughout work, however nonetheless need Messages to get by.

Use this information:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Superior settings.
2. Toggle Present snooze button or Enable notification snoozing.
3. Whenever you get a push notification, faucet Down arrow > Snooze to mute an app for various lengths, often between quarter-hour and two hours.

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4 Sooner cellphone animations

Perform over kind

Newer telephones are typically fairly snappy regardless, however you may enhance the responsiveness of any system by rushing up OS animations. They’re largely beauty, so there’s little hurt in shortening them to get again to navigating Android.

1. Go to Settings > Developer choices.
2. Beneath Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator length scale, tweak settings. Select .5x to extend velocity.
3. You too can select Animation off, however this may be visually jarring.

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5 Passcode unlock with out hitting OK

Fixing a small however repeated inconvenience

One factor iOS will get proper is routinely unlocking your iPhone everytime you enter the fitting passcode, whereas Android usually makes you hit “OK” earlier than persevering with. That sounds minor, particularly since you may usually be utilizing fingerprint or facial recognition, but it surely’s an pointless hurdle until you are nervous about somebody brute-forcing entry.

Comply with these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Lock display screen > Display lock sort.
2. Choose PIN.
3. Select a six-digit PIN (passcode) you may keep in mind, with Verify PIN with out tapping OK chosen.

The choice will not work when you select a shorter PIN, presumably as a result of that is too simple to guess or brute-force.

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