Five hidden Android features to turn on now, to help you get the best from your smart phone

FILE - We’ve compiled a list of the top Android tricks and tips, which users can make use of to ensure they get the most out of their device. FILE PHOTO: Roselle Chen/Reuters

FILE - We’ve compiled a list of the top Android tricks and tips, which users can make use of to ensure they get the most out of their device. FILE PHOTO: Roselle Chen/Reuters

Published Oct 10, 2022

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Present day smartphones from almost every manufacturer are loaded with features and tricks that many users might not know about, some of which users may use or get to witness.

From displaying the battery percentage in the icon on the home screen, to small adjustments capable of saving a lot of data - Android smartphones offer many features that users might have used from other devices, and miss in their current one or might not have heard of before.

We’ve compiled a list of the top Android tricks and tips, which users can make use of to ensure they get the most out of their device.

Automatically turn off WiFi

If you’re connected to a WiFi network and become distant from the access point, your connection quality will significantly be reduced without knowing.

To ensure you always have the optimum signal go to your Android’s settings, go to Network and Internet and change the option in the menu to Turn on Wi-Fi automatically.

Save on Data Usage

Many years South Africans have joined the cry, Data Must Fall, and now that networks have obliged it's time to save even more.

Go back into your Android smartphone’s Network and Internet settings, within this menu a Data Saver button will appear toggle this on, and you’ll notice a difference in your data consumption.

Showing Battery Percentage

While smartphones drain their batteries all day when not charging, having a number behind the bar makes it easier to manage when to charge.

Head into Battery settings by accessing the smartphone’s general setting or type in “battery percentage” in the search bar above the Settings options.

Toggle this option on to either display battery percentage within the battery bar icon or next to it.

Make text more visible

One of the major gripes, especially among older Android users, is the visibility of text, which might appear too small for some users.

To increase the font size of everything on your Android smartphone go to Settings, and under Display options, two sliders should appear.

The first slider should make Font Size larger or smaller in messages, browsers and other text content being displayed. The second slider for Display Size will control the size of text on the device overall, including apps and menus.

Monitor your device usage

If you’ve ever spent too much time on your smartphone, you’ll be happy to know that you can get a little help in self-control from your Android smartphone.

In the Settings menu, tap Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls. The Dashboard option will offer useful insight into most used apps, and set limits on the ones you prefer to spend less time on.

* Disclaimer: While all of the features mentioned are available on Android devices in some form, the names of each feature, navigating to them and their functionality, may differ according to the device and make. Searching a term relating to each of the mentioned features within an Android smartphone’s settings menu, will likely yield the desired result or menu related to the feature.

IOL Tech

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