Whether you are new to Android and eager to try out every available option you see on the screen, or familiar with the system, including the annoyances that plague you on a daily basis, tips and tricks to get around a system is always helpful. We are here to help you with that. In this post, we are featuring 10 useful Android tips and tricks that may improve your experience while using your Android device. Do note that the steps may vary a little from one Android phone to another due to the differences in the build and the OS version, but if you play around with it, the next step isn’t too far off.
1. Disable App Notifications
Bugged by annoying app notifications that just keep coming? If you don’t know already, these app notifications also drain your phone’s battery. If you want to turn them off, and you are on Jelly Bean 4.1 and above, here’s how:
- On any of your unwanted notifications in your notification bar, long press on the notification for a message box to appear.
- Tap on App Info > Untick Show Notifications > OK.
2. Disable Mobile Data
Whenever you don’t need to stay connected, disabling the Mobile Data can help keep your smartphone battery from draining too quickly. Turning off mobile data is as easy as:
- Going to Settings > Data Usage.
- Disable Mobile data by toggling the setting from ON to OFF.
3. Set Mobile Data Limit
Want to keep track of how far your usage is from your monthly mobile data limit? If you have I.C.S. and above, there is a feature which lets you keep track of how much of the quota you have left.
- Head over to Settings > Data Usage.
- Set your data limit by dragging the orange line to reflect your monthly quota.
- Set your data usage cycle based on when your “month” starts and ends, and you’re done.
You will be alerted once you hit the limit you have set. Note that the tracked data usage of your phone may vary slightly than your carrier’s tracking.
4. Disable automatic App Updates
Prefer to read through app permissions and manually pick which app updates to adopt? You can, but first you need to disable your automatic app updates. Here are the steps:
- Open Play Store and head over to Settings.
- Tap on Auto-update apps.
- Choose Do not auto-update apps.
If you want to enable the auto updates, follow the same path and choose Auto-update apps at any time or via Wi-Fi (available for certain Android devices only).
To update your apps manually, just open Play Store, and on the main page swipe in from the left and tap on My apps. You can tap on apps with pending updates and update them manually, or if you like to update them all at once, just tap on Update All.
5. Disable Animations
Here’s a tip on how to make your Android device run a bit smoother: disable its animations. You will need to have access to Developer Options which can be found under Settings or About device.
Note: For some phones, you may need to go to Build number and tap on it repeatedly until you see “You are now a developer!”. Developer options are now enabled.
Under enabled Developer options, look for Window animation scale,Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. Then, turn them off (disable) them one at a time.
6. How to Turn Off Auto-Correction
Hate the fact that your phone is going English teacher mode on you? Turn off auto-correction for peace of mind when texting.
- Go to Settings > Language & input.
- Tap on the settings icon next to the keyboard that you are using, e.g. Google Keyboard.
- Look for Auto-correction and tap on it.
- Select Off to turn auto-correction off.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (I.T) 