Unlock Android’s secret powers by learning how to

use this hidden settings menu

Unlock Android's secret superpowers.

By David Nield May 19, 2021

Adrien / Unsplash

Maybe you think you know the ins and outs of the Settings menu on your Android
phone. But you may have yet to discover the Developer options menu, which gives you
access to a host of functions you might be interested in if you’re a power user.

Google created this mode so developers could test their apps on Android, but its
usefulness goes beyond that. This menu opens up options to check how your device is
performing, troubleshoot problems, get a closer look at how Android works, and more
cool tweaks.

A word of warning though—Developer Mode is hidden by default for a reason, and if

you enable it, you do it at your own risk. Some of these settings can cause certain apps
to misbehave or make your device more vulnerable to hackers.
It’s not common to run into problems, but it is possible. To prevent any disasters, make
sure everything on your phone is safely backed up before you embark on this
adventure.

How to enable Developer Mode on Android

To enable Developer Mode, go to Settings, choose About phone and then tap the
Build number entry seven times. After a few taps you should see a countdown telling
you that you’re about to turn developer options on.

[Related: 24 hidden Android settings you should know about]

When the task is done, from Settings go to System, Advanced, and there you’ll find the
Developer options menu. If you want to disable Developer Mode, turn off the toggle
switch at the top of the menu, and the options will disappear.

Enabling general developer options

Not everything in the Developer options menu is going to look attractive to the average
user. Some of the entries really are designed especially for developers, like the way
that bug reports are recorded on the device in the event of an app crash.

The first option in the list, Memory, is handy for everyone, though. Tap on it to see
which apps are using the RAM on your device, and how much of it they’re consuming.
If your phone has been running slowly, this might give you some clues as to why. The
Settings screen on Samsung phones, and other third-party apps show the same
information, but  it’s not available natively in stock Android.

The Stay awake toggle switch is a neat little option that might come in useful if you’re
making notes from your phone, for example, and you need the screen to stay on. When
you enable it, the phone won’t sleep or lock itself when charging.

The Select mock location app option is an interesting one: It lets you set your phone’s
GPS to somewhere other than your current location. This allows you to get around
location tracking services or see what apps like Airbnb look like from different areas.
You will need a mock location app as well, like Fake GPS Location or Fake GPS Go
Location Spoofer.

Developer options for unlocking, debugging, and rooting

Then there’s OEM unlocking, which removes the key protection that prevents you from
overwriting the Android OS on your phone. This is something you’d need if you want to
replace your operating system with an alternative one, like LineageOS.

This option also makes it easier for someone else to install unauthorized software on
your phone, so unless you need it, it’s best to leave it off. Still, would-be hackers would
need physical access to your device to cause any harm, so it’s not terrible if you
suddenly realize you had turned it on by mistake.

A little lower down the list is USB debugging, which lets you control your Android
phone from a connected computer. This is another setting you’ll need to enable if you
want to install a different OS.

[Related: 10 hidden tricks to try on your Android phone]

If you’re planning to root your device (the Android equivalent of jailbreaking an iPhone),
you’ll need to enable OEM unlocking and USB debugging. Rooting has inherent
security risks, so it’s better to leave it only for users who really know what they’re doing.

But there’s a reason why people like rooting, too. It allows you to remove bloatware that
you couldn’t get rid of otherwise, and install apps that go above and beyond Android’s
default permissions. This includes backup apps, which copy every last bit of data from
your device to the cloud or an external hard drive.

Get system diagnostics and troubleshooting options with the

developer menu

Developer Mode settings can also tell you more about how your Android device is
running. You can test the impact of certain apps and games on your RAM memory, for
example, or get more information to try and troubleshoot problems.

Many Android phones can now switch between a variety of refresh rates for a more fluid
display experience. If you’re curious about what these are, you can enable Show
refresh rate, and you’ll see the number for the current app you’re using displayed in the
corner of the screen.

Show layout bounds will sketch a layout on top of every Android screen, showing
where button and menu boundaries are. If you’re having problems controlling or
interacting with an app, then this information can be helpful. Enable Show taps as well
and you will see a flash on the specific part of your screen where you are tapping.

Meanwhile, you can also pick Running services to see which apps and underlying
services (such as Bluetooth) are currently active. If you enable this option, you’ll also
get to see how much they’re demanding your device’s system. Knowing more about the
management of your phone’s resources will allow you to stop misbehaving services,
and discover app activity that you might not have known about.

Developer options to tweak animations and boost graphics

performance

There are three entries in Developer options that can help your phone feel a lot
snappier. The first is Window animation scale, which controls the speed at which
apps open and close. Transition animation scale controls how fast you can switch
apps, meanwhile Animation duration scale controls the speed of in-app animations,
like menus opening, for example.

[Related: Android security settings you should check right now]

Tap on any of these options and you’ll be able to turn them off altogether, or dial them
down from the default 1x to 0.5x. If you do that, your phone’s interface won’t look as
elegant or as fluid. But because this gives the internal components in your device less
work to do, it can help claw back some speed if you have an older phone.

Another related option is Force 4x MSAA, which stands for multisample anti-aliasing.
Enabling this more advanced graphics processing technology can improve the
appearance of games and 3D graphics. The downside is that you’ll need a relatively
powerful phone to handle it, and it can drain battery life, so if you use it, do so sparingly
and with caution.

Correction May 21, 2021: A previous version of this story said the only way to
disable Developer Mode was to factory reset your phone, but there is an on-off
toggle switch.

David Nieldis a tech journalist from the UK who has been writing about gadgets and
apps since way before the iPhone and Twitter were invented. When he's not busy
doing that, he usually takes breaks from all things tech with long walks in the
countryside.
24 hidden Android settings you should know about
Master your Android phone.

By David Nield April 26, 2021

Sebastian
Bednarek / Unsplash

This story has been updated. It was first published in January 17, 2020.

Android phones come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. But within, they all run the
same basic operating system, that includes settings to let you tailor your smartphone to
your needs. In this guide, we collected 24 lesser-known customizations for you to toy
with.

Before we start, a quick caveat—although the same Android code runs all of these
phones, manufacturers often modify the operating system by slapping a software skin
on top. Our instructions specifically apply to Android 10 and Android 11, which you’ll
find on Google’s latest Pixel phones.

[Related: 10 hidden tricks to try on your Android phone]

However if you own a phone that runs a different version of the operating system, you
may still be able to apply these Android settings—you’ll just have to rummage around a
little more to find them.

1. Increase font size

You don’t have to squint and strain your eyes when viewing Android screens. Open
Settings and choose Display, Advanced, followed by Font size, to make adjustments.
Drag the pointer along the slider to make changes, and check the preview window to
see what the end result will look like. Once you set the Android font size, most apps will
apply it.

2. Make sure you can find your phone

To maximize your chances of recovering a missing device, make sure to activate

Android’s built-in tracking system. Open Settings, go to Security and tap Find My
Device. After that, should you misplace your phone, head to this page in any browser
and log in to your Google account. If you’re logged in to your account on Chrome, you
can also type “Where’s my phone” on the search bar. You’ll be able to view your
handset’s location on a the map, among other options, like making the device ring (even
if it’s in Do Not Disturb mode), lock it, or erase it. For more details, check out our guide
to finding a lost phone.

3. Tweak the Quick Settings panel

Drag two fingers down from the top of the screen, and you’ll open Android’s Quick
Settings panel, which provides immediate access to Android settings such as Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, and flashlight mode. These shortcuts are useful, but you can make them
even handier by customizing which ones show up and the order in which they appear.
Open the panel, tap the pen icon on the lower left, and you’ll be able to add shortcuts
and drag the icons into a new arrangement.

4. Reduce data usage

Android includes a built-in system to limit how much data background apps can gobble
up (at least when you’re not connected to Wi-Fi). This mode will affect different apps in
various ways—for example, in a browser, images might not show up unless you tap on
them. To switch on this handy feature, open Settings and pick Network & internet,
then turn on the toggle switch next to Data Saver.

5. Stop new apps from creating shortcuts

By default, when you install an app, it automatically appears as a shortcut on one of

your phone’s home screens. This allows you to quickly launch a new app, but it can
also clutter up your interface. To disable this default, perform a long press on any blank
part of a home screen. When a menu pops up, choose Home Settings and turn off the
Add icon to Home screen option. Note: This setting used to appear in the Play Store
app, but starting in Android 8.0, you can now access it from any home screen.

6. Rotate the home screens

Yeah, this doesn’t look weird at all. Sandra Gutierrez

[Related: Android 11 is out now—here are some new features to try]

Within an app, you can turn your phone to switch the view from portrait to landscape or
vice versa. But the home screen doesn’t come with the same default—you have to turn
this option on. Return to the Home Settings screen discussed in the previous tip.
Here, you can choose whether or not the home screens rotate with the phone by turning
Allow Home screen rotation on or off. Note: You won’t be able to access this option
(it will appear grayed out) if you’ve locked the orientation of your phone. To restore this
ability, you must unlock your screen orientation—open Settings, go to Display,
Advanced, and change the Auto-rotate screen option.

7. Project your phone on a bigger screen

Android now comes with built-in casting, so you can mirror the screen on any monitor or
television equipped with a Chromecast device. Although many apps have their own
Chromecast buttons, you can also project any screen or app from the Settings. Just go
to Connected devices and select Cast. If you do this often, Android 11 also allows you
to create a shortcut in the Quick Setting menu. Go to tip number 3 and drag the icon for
Screen Cast to the top.

8. Change app permissions

You can see exactly how much access and permissions an app has by going to
Settings, tapping Apps & notifications, and picking an app (or hitting See all apps to
view the full list). Then, to view and edit that app’s access, tap Permissions. For
example, you might allow an app to access your contact list but not your location.
9. Control battery use

Android now optimizes apps so they won’t drain the battery as much. For example,
your email app can still run in the background, checking for updates, but it does so less
frequently. However, you can exempt certain apps if you want them to always run at full
throttle. Open Settings and tap Battery, then the menu button (three dots on the top
right), then Battery Usage. Here, you’ll be able to see which apps drain your battery
according to how much you use them. Tap on any of them and then on Battery
Optimization. Next, hit the Not optimized link, then All apps. Finally, select an app
and pick the Don’t optimize option.

10. Wake your phone with your voice

You don’t have to touch your phone to gain access to Google Assistant. You just need
to adjust your Android settings. Open the Google app, tap the menu button (three
horizontal lines on the bottom right), and then hit Settings followed by Voice. On a
Pixel phone, tap the Google logo on the left of the search bar of your home screen. Tap
on the Assistant Settings icon on the left (the box with three lines coming out of it) and
then your avatar picture or initial in the top right corner of the screen. Choose Voice
Match, and toggle the switch next to Hey Google. Then the phrase “Hey Google” will
work at any time, even when your device is locked. In fact, you can use voice
recognition to unlock your phone this way.

11. Free up more memory

Optimize the storage on your phone so you always have space to save those pictures you’ll never (ever)
see again. Sandra Gutierrez

If you’re running Android 7.0 Nougat or later, you can take advantage of Smart Storage.
If your device is struggling for free space, this feature will automatically delete local
copies of photos and videos that have safely been transferred to Google Photos. To
enable it, open Settings, tap Storage, and turn on the Smart Storage toggle switch.
12. Adjust lock screen timing

Why should you reduce the time your phone takes to automatically lock the screen?
Less down time makes it less likely someone will swipe your handset before it locks
itself. This will also reduce battery drain, because the screen will stay lit for a shorter
period. From Settings, head to Display, tap Advanced, and choose Screen Timeout.
Then you can pick a time-out period that works for you.

13. Customize notifications from specific contacts

To help you instantly identify who’s calling—and to decide whether or not to pick up—
you can assign certain contacts unique ringtones. Your default ringtone will remain the
same—change it in Settings, under Sound & Vibration, and choosing Phone ringtone.
To change notification settings for individuals, launch the Contacts app, tap the
Contacts tab and then a contact name. Open the menu (three dots on the top right),
and choose Set ringtone. Then you can select a specific sound from a list.

14. Change volume levels separately

You might not want to play your podcasts at the same volume as your ringtone. To
adjust those separately, launch Settings and open the Sound & Vibration menu. Here,
you’ll find volume sliders for media, call, alarms, and ringtones. You can also access
individual volume settings by pressing the physical volume button, which will make one
slider appear on screen, and then tapping the slider option on the bottom. This will
open a menu where you can see all three volume sliders.

15. Unlock your phone in your car

Once you’re securely seated in your car, you might want your phone to unlock itself.
This would let you open a map without entering a code, and would allow any
passengers to put on your favorite tunes. Android can do this by recognizing your car
stereo as a “trusted” Bluetooth device, one that proves you’re in possession of your
phone. From Settings, head to Security, then Smart Lock, then Trusted devices.
Finally, work through the simple setup process, and then your phone will unlock when
it’s in the presence of your car stereo.

[Related: Android security settings you should check right now]

16. Turn on Wi-Fi automatically

Keeping your Wi-Fi off while you’re out and about increases your phone’s security and
preserves its battery. But in the presence of a strong, trusted Wi-Fi network, one that
you’ve used in the past, Android 10.0 and 11.0 can automatically turn your phone’s Wi-
Fi back on. From Settings, tap Network & Internet, then Wi-Fi, then Wi-Fi
preferences. Finally, turn on the Turn on Wi-Fi automatically toggle switch.
17. Change notification priorities

The latest versions of Android also let you prioritize different types of notifications from a
given app. In Gmail, for example, you might choose to receive a noisy alert for
important emails and a less obtrusive one for regular updates. Open Settings, tap
Apps & notifications, and pick a specific app or tap See all to view a full list. Different
apps will offer different categories of alerts, so choose Notifications to view them and
configure different sounds for each.

18. Quickly switch between apps

Android 11’s app carousel includes shortcuts to the most used apps and the search bar for the Google
Assistant. Sandra Gutierrez

Jumping immediately from app to app is not, strictly speaking, an Android setting—but it
still makes a very useful shortcut. On Android 8.0 a single tap on the Overview button—
the square icon in the navigation bar—brings up a view of all your open apps as tabs.
However, if you double-tap on the button, you’ll immediately jump from your current app
to the one you were previously using. On Android 11, however, you have no buttons
but you can still jump seamlessly between apps. While on an app, make a short swipe
up from the bottom of the screen and then to the right to jump directly to the next
opened app.

19. Change emoji mode

You can view emojis on the default Google keyboard for Android by tapping on the
emoji button to the left of the space bar. But did you know you can pull up emojis with
different skin colors or genders by pressing and holding on an individual icon? This
works on most emojis depicting people or body parts, such as a thumbs up.
20. Show emergency information

If someone should discover your phone after you’ve been in an accident, having your
key medical information show up on the lock screen could save your life. To do this,
open Settings, choose About phone, then tap Emergency information. You can
provide details like allergies and organ donor status, as well as emergency contacts.

[Related: Twenty features you didn’t know Android and iOS stole from each
other]

21. Move the cursor more delicately

Using only your clumsy fingers, you probably have a hard time highlighting specific
sections of text. If you’re using the default Google keyboard, then this neat trick will
make it easier to move the text cursor just one or two characters at a time. Launch any
app where you can write and edit text, and tap in a text box to pull up the keyboard on
screen. Then, instead of moving the cursor within the text box itself, place your finger
on the space bar. Tap and drag left or right on the spacebar to move the text-editing
cursor in the same direction.

22. Tweak the color range

A phone’s “color gamut” controls the range of colors that you see on screen—a wider
gamut means colors will appear more vibrant, but also less natural. You can adjust the
gamut in Settings by going to Display, Advanced choosing Colors, and choosing
Natural, Boosted, or Adaptive. Depending on the make and model of your phone, you
may see different options listed here. Play around with them to find the color scheme
that works best for you.

23. Snooze notifications

To clear a cluttered notification menu, you can drag individual alerts to the left, and
they’ll disappear. But what if you want to clear those distractions now, but revisit them
later, when you have time to deal with them properly? Snoozing notifications is a
fantastically useful feature only available on phones that run Android 8.0 Oreo and up.
To enable this feature, go to Settings, Apps & notifications, and then Notifications.
Scroll down, tap on Advanced and turn on the toggle switch next to Allow notification
snoozing. Once activated, the feature will let you drag any notification to the right, and
a clock icon will appear. Tap the clock, and you can choose to snooze the alert for 15
minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours. Once the time has expired, the notification
reappears as if it’s come through for the first time.

24. Get help from Cortana

When it comes to various AI assistants, everyone has a favorite. If you prefer
Microsoft’s digital helper to Google Assistant or Samsung’s Bixby, you can install
Cortana for Android. You can even make it the default app that appears when you hold
down the Home button on Android 8.0 Oreo and up. Open Settings, go to Apps &
notifications, and then tap Advanced, Default apps, and Digital assistant app.
10 hidden tricks to try on your Android phone
Be the master of your Google-powered device.

By David Nield November 20, 2019

EsaRiutta / Pixabay
Android is highly customizable, so go ahead and transform your phone into a tailor
made experience for you. EsaRiutta / Pixabay

The Android versus iPhone debate continues to rumble on. But one thing is certain:
Google’s phone software is more versatile and customizable than Apple’s offering. Dig
into the settings and tweaks available for your Android phone and you’ll find a host of
clever features and useful tools. We’ve collected 10 of them right here.

A quick note before we begin: Android has a wide variety of makes, models, and
versions, which makes it more difficult to find features that will be consistent across all
devices. We only verified the following tips on stock Android 7.0 Nougat—they should
also work on related systems, but some of the menus and procedures may vary slightly.

1. Cast your Android screen

Android Casting
Recent versions of Android come with Chromecast mirroring built in.

For a number of years, you’ve been able to broadcast your Android phone or tablet’s
display to the larger screen of a television using a Chromecast. In addition to beaming
video from all the usual movie and TV apps, this streaming device can mirror your
phone. Take advantage of a mirroring shortcut in the Quick Settings pane, which you
access by dragging down from the top of the screen with two fingers. You should find a
Cast option in this menu.

If it doesn’t show up, there’s another way to set up mirroring. First, check to make sure
you’ve installed the Google Home app for Android. You probably already used this
program to set up your Chromecast. Open the app, tap Cast screen/audio from its
menu, and then choose your Chromecast. Your device’s display should appear on the
big screen.

2. Run apps side-by-side

Split screen
Multitask like a pro using two apps side-by-side.

One of the new features added in Android 7.0 Nougat is the option to run apps side-by-
side or one above the other. This view comes in handy when you want to display
photos, optimize your social networking, or multitask, although it’s a bit too laggy for
gaming.

To set it up, tap the Overview button (the square icon below the screen to the left), and
choose which of your recently used apps you want to see. Hold and drag it to the top or
left of the display, then choose another open app to appear alongside or under it.

And since we’re already talking about the Overview button, here’s a pro tip: Double-tap
rather than single-tap it to quickly switch between the two apps you’ve been using most
recently.

3. Make text and images more visible

Display size
More text and less images, or viceversa? On Android you can choose.

If you’re struggling to see what’s on the screen—or, alternatively, if you want to cram as
much content as possible onto the display and don’t mind doing a bit of squinting along
the way—you can zoom in or out on text and objects. Not all the apps will respond to
these adjustments, but most of them will.

To change size settings, open the Android Settings app and go to the Display
heading. From the Display menu, tap the Font size link to change the default font size.
Select the Display size link to make on-screen objects larger or smaller.

4. Change volume settings independently

Android volume
Never oversleep again because of a barely audible alarm clock: make sure your volume
settings meet your needs.

Your device plays several different types of audio—including ring tones, notifications,
alarms, phone calls, and media. If you’ve ever gone to the Settings menu, opened
Sounds, and tapped Volume, you’ll have seen that you can use individual sliders to
adjust these audio types individually.

However, Android gives you a quick-and-easy shortcut. Tap the physical volume
buttons on the side of your device to make whatever’s currently playing softer or louder
(if no media is playing, this action will adjust your ringtone volume). When you do, a
small box will pop up on the screen, showing which volume setting is changing and
how. On the side of that box, you should see a small arrow. Tap it, and the box will
expand to show multiple volume sliders at once. This can save you a trip to Settings.

5. Lock phone borrowers inside one app

Screen pinning
Screen pinning locks the phone user into one app.

What happens when you want to lend a friend or young family member your phone, but
don’t want them rooting through your private information or posting to your social media
accounts? Screen pinning lets you be generous without giving up your privacy. Pinning
one app to the screen means that your phone will only run that app until someone
enters the lock screen code again. Essentially, the user won’t be able to access any
other parts of your phone without your code.

Screen pinning is easy to set up. Open Settings, go to the Security menu, and enable
screen pinning. Once you’ve turned on the feature, launch the app your friend needs
to use. Then open Overview by tapping the square navigation button below the phone
screen. On the window for the most recently opened app, you should see a pin icon (it
looks like a little thumbtack) in the lower right-hand corner. Tap the pin button to pin
that app to the screen.

6. Disable the lock screen at home

Smart Lock
Smart Lock lets you unlock your phone with several options, including your voice, face
or your home.

To keep your device safe, you need to set up a PIN code or a fingerprint scan to unlock
your phone. But this makes it more inconvenient to access your apps. Google’s Smart
Lock feature lets you remove this obstacle, giving you instant access to your phone—
but only when you’re safely at home.

From Settings, tap Security (or Security and Privacy), and turn on Smart Lock. As
well as disabling the lock screen when you’re at home (that’s the trusted places option),
you can also disable the screen when your phone’s Bluetooth is connected to a trusted
device, such as your car stereo unit, or when it recognizes a trusted voice, such as
yours.

7. Tweak the status bar

System UI Tuner
Want more Android secrets? Try System UI Tuner, a hidden menu inside the operating
system.

The status bar is a thin strip at the top of the screen display that shows you notifications,
your phone’s current signal strength, and battery life, among other icons. Thanks to a
hidden settings menu called System UI Turner, you can select exactly which icons will
appear in the status bar, and tweak extra settings for Do Not Disturb mode and
notifications. However, this menu only became available in recent versions of Android,
so older phones may not allow you to use it.

To enable it (if it’s available on your phone), swipe down from the top of the screen with
two fingers to show the Quick Settings pane. Locate the settings gear icon in the top
right, then press and hold it for a few seconds. If you see a confirmation message, that
means you’ve successfully enabled Settings UI. When you go to the Settings menu,
you should see a new menu entry called System UI Tuner. Tap on this new entry, then
choose Status bar to control which icons—from Bluetooth mode to battery levels—will
show up in the status bar.

8. Choose new default apps

Default apps
The ability to set default apps is one difference between Android and iOS.

One of the differences between Android and iOS is that Google’s mobile operating
system lets you choose different default apps for web browsing, texting, viewing photos
and so on. A default app is the app that opens automatically when you try and do
something on your phone—so when you click a hyperlink, for example, your default web
browser app will open that link.

Take advantage of this flexibility by setting up the defaults as you want them. Head to
Settings, then Apps, then tap the cog icon in the upper right corner. Select any of the
categories on screen to see a list of installed apps that can take over default duties. For
example, if you’d prefer to chat with friends via Facebook Messenger, rather than your
phone’s built-in SMS app, you can make Facebook’s product your default messaging
app.

9. Bring back lost notifications

Notification log
Bring your notifications back from the dead with the Widgets menu.

It happens—you accidentally swiped away one of the notifications that you wanted to
read fully and now you have a nagging sense someone emailed you, but are not sure.
If you want to review all of your recent notifications on Android, you’re in luck. This
ability is possible—though the option isn’t easy to find.

Tap and hold on an empty part of the home screen, and a screen-adjusting mode will
pop up. Choose Widgets, and find the Settings shortcut. Drag this icon to an empty
space on one of your home screens and drop it in place, and a list will automatically pop
up. Choose Notification log from the list and tap the icon to open up Android’s
notification history.

10. Activate one-handed mode

One-handed mode
This keyboard tweak makes your phone easier to use one-handed.

As today’s phones continue to grow in size, they become harder and harder to operate
one-handed. So Google’s custom keyboard, which is the default option on certain
Android phones, has a solution: A special one-handed mode that you can switch to with
a simple shortcut. If you own a Pixel or Nexus device, this keyboard will be your default
typing option. If you’re on a Samsung or LG phone, you’ll have to first download
Google’s version and set it as your default keyboard (as demonstrated in tip 8).

Open up the keyboard as normal and tap and hold on the comma key. Drag up to the
right-hand icon to enable one-handed mode. The arrow lets you switch this smaller
keyboard from side to side, the bottom icon lets you reposition it, and the top icon
restores the full-size keyboard. Other phone keyboards may also have one-handed
modes, but they can be harder to access than Google’s. Try looking up your phone
model and searching “one-handed keyboard” to learn more.
Android security settings you should check right now
Google stopped using dessert names, but protecting your data is still as
easy as eating cake.

By David Nield September 24, 2020

Daniel Romero/Unsplash

Most of your life is on your phone, so you might as well protect it as much as possible.
The good news is that Android can help.

With security features that apply to your device or your Google account on all devices,
keeping your data safer is only a tap away.

Find out which apps are doing what (and how to stop them)

Go to Permission Manager by tapping Settings, and then Apps and Notifications—

this is where you’ll find out which apps are allowed to do what on your phone. This
screen will also let you control access to everything from your contacts to the
microphone, and if there are any permissions you aren’t happy about, you can easily
revoke them.

Apps can’t grab data without your specific authorization, so you don’t have to worry
about that new social media platform you’re trying out suddenly launching the camera or
recording your voice before you’ve agreed to anything. However, you may have
approved a permission without giving it much thought, or granted an app access to
certain data long ago, and now you’ve changed your mind.

On Android 11, the latest iteration of Google’s operating system, some permissions
have more than one option to pick from. For example, you can grant an app access to
your location all the time, only while using the app, have it ask you every time, or simply
deny it. These granular settings allow you to assign different levels of trust to different
apps so the carpool platform you rarely use only has the right amount of data on you.

Go even deeper by using Special App Access

This menu lets you manage a more advanced level of permissions for your apps, such
as access to features like the battery optimization, installing unknown apps from outside
the Play Store, or modifying low-level system settings such as which gestures launch
which actions. Find this screen by going to Settings and choosing Apps and
Notifications.

As with the permissions manager, tap any item on the list to see what apps have access
to a given feature. If you want to revoke permissions at any point, you simply have to
turn the relevant toggle switch off. Again, apps can’t get any of these privileges without
your explicit authorization, but it’s always a good idea to check this page regularly.

Some things are best kept private

You don’t necessarily want all of your messages, dating alerts, and banking app
updates showing up on the lock screen for anyone and everyone to see. Go to
Settings, Display, Advanced, and Lock Screen, to stop this from happening. Tap
Notifications on lock screen and you can opt to show all or none of the content
behind the notifications on your lock screen.

You can also have Android decide what to show, and only display notification content
the operating system deems non-sensitive. In that case, you don’t get much control
over what you see, but rest assured that anything from a messaging app, for example,
would be deemed sensitive.

Close the window of opportunity to a possible data breach

Go to Settings, Display, Advanced, and finally tap on Screen timeout. The period of
time listed on this menu—ranging from 15 seconds to 30 minutes—controls how long
your phone will sit idle before going into standby and displaying the lock screen. It
might be annoying to have to unlock your phone constantly to access it, but from a
security perspective, you want this time frame to be as short as possible—it’ll reduce
the chances of someone else gaining access to your data if your device is stolen or you
leave it unattended.
Some apps think they can outsmart you, but really, why would a social media app need
your health data? David Nield

Protect your passwords and information

The menu under Settings and Privacy is an alternate way to the permissions manager
and notification content screens, but here you can also turn off the feature that briefly
shows password characters as you type them—just in case someone might be looking
over your shoulder.

Tap Advanced and you’ll be able to take charge of the information Google is allowed to
collect on you through Android—from the websites you’re visiting to the places you’re
going to. You can tweak these same settings if you’re on the web.

These controls are more about your privacy and your relationship with Google than
actual Android security, but it’s worth noting that the less data you share, the safer you
are. Even if you trust Google to handle your information respectfully, you have to
assume anything you share with them or any other tech company might eventually fall
into the wrong hands and be used in malicious ways. Being preemptive is the key,
here.

Three words: lock your phone

The Security menu, which is exactly where you would expect Android’s security
features to be—under Settings—is home to a host of useful functions. The top section
is more of a status panel rather than anything you can actually interact with, but there
are other options you can look into.
You should absolutely make use of the Screen lock feature, which will let you protect
your phone with a fingerprint, face, PIN, or pattern, depending on the make and model
of your device, and the biometric security features that come with it. With no protection
in place, anyone can unlock your phone and access your apps and data.

Never lose your phone again

There’s one important security feature on this menu: Find My Device. You should
make sure this is enabled so you can track your phone if it ever gets lost. This feature
also allows you to wipe out all your data remotely if your device ends up in someone
else’s hands.

The same page shows the status of Google Play Protect, which is the malware-
scanning feature built into the Play Store app.

Always be prepared

Open up the System menu (under Settings) to access two important features. The first
is Backup, which you’ll be glad to have in place if anything unfortunate should happen
to your phone. Google will back up your device to the cloud regularly and for free, so
make sure you’re taking advantage of it.

Secondly, if you tap Advanced and then System update, you can make sure you’re
running the latest version of Android available for your handset. From a security
perspective, it’s crucial that your OS is always as up to date as possible, as this will
ensure you have the latest patches and fixes.