15 Hidden Features of Android That You are Missing But You Should Not

Android is, no doubt, the most popular operating system for smartphones. Unlike iOS, Android provides you a lot of customization that let you personalize your phone as you per your choice. With millions of apps on Play Store, you can turn any Android Phone different from another Android Phone. All you need is creativity and the right choice of apps.

Android dominates the 87% of Smartphone Market and this number is enough to give you an estimate of Android users around the globe. With the increasing number of Android users, developers are also developing some of the greatest apps for the better Android experience. But, are you using your Android Smartphone at its best?

There are a lot of hidden features of Android that you are not aware of. So, let’s quickly find out the hidden features of Android that probably you are not aware of. Let’s Start

#1. Inbuilt File Explorer

I know you have a file explorer installed in your Android Smartphone but just think about those who are getting “No Storage Available” notification whenever they open Play Store to download a new app.

For those of my buddies, there is inbuilt file explorer in your Android Smartphone. All you need to do is to open Google Chrome (Yes, you read it right) and in the address bar, enter file:///sdcard and there you have your file explorer without installing any third party app.

Also Read: How to Increase Internal Storage of Android

#2. System UI Tuner

You gonna love it. System User Interface Tuner allows you to make modifications in the Quick Settings in the drop down menu. Moreover, it also allows you to modify Status Bar of your Phone.

To activate System UI Tuner, Swipe down to open drop down menu and tap & hold the settings Gear Icon for 4-5 seconds. After that, you get the pop-up of Congrats. System UI Tuner has been added to Settings. 

Now head over to Settings and swipe down and the last option would be of System UI Tuner. Open that and then Open Quick Settings and customize as per your need. There is also Status Bar, that allows you to remove the indications of Bluetooth, Alarm, Wi-Fi, Mobile Data etc from the Status Bar.

NOTE: Works on Android 6.0 and upper version of Android

#3. Space Bar Scrolling

We all know that writing on a smartphone with a touchscreen keyboard is not the best writing experience we ever had. The experience gets even worse when you missed out words from a line. You tap on the screen where you missed and sometimes, it irritates when cursor failed to land on the desired edit location.

Here is the hidden thing of Android that you might have missed. The Space Bar of your Google Keyboard will rescue you. Whenever you wanted to edit the text, just swipe right or left on the space bar of Gboard to move the cursor left or right.

Also Read: 5 Awesome Features of Gboard You Should Not Be Missed Out

#4. Synchronization is Necessary

Every day, a new Android Smartphone is launching in the market and every next phone is better than the last one. There are a lot of people who used to switch their primary phones with a new one. In all that, one thing that always adds extra steps is moving contacts and other private data to the new phone.

Well, like always, Google has a solution for this. All you need is to go to Settings > Accounts > Google. Make sure, all the options are switched on especially Contacts. This option will help you in automatically getting all your contacts and data (Related with Google Only) in your new phone as soon as you log into your Google Account.

Also Read: How to Backup & Restore Contacts, SMS and Call Logs

#5. See Touch Pointer & Location

As working on a Tech Website, sometimes, I need to give How-tos tutorials in the form of videos. (Subscribe Us on YouTube) While doing that, it becomes difficult for the viewer to see the full screen of Mobile Phone and the options I am using in the video. That’s why, I used to project Android Screen on Laptop then I record the screen. During that also, touch pointer are not visible. For that, there is a great option provided by Android in which you can see the touch pointer and the touch location on the screen.

To see the pointer location on Android, go to Settings > About Phone > Tap 7 times on Build Number > You are Now a Developer > Go back > Open Developer Option > Under Input there are two options of Show Touches & Pointer location. Switch them On and see your touch pointer.

#6. Notifications Log

Do you remember the day when you just tap on the Clear All option in the notification tray and then you realized that you just wipe out an Important Notification? Well, Android also has the answer to it. You can get all the wiped out notification through Notification Logs. Here is what to do?

Tap & Hold the home screen > Tap on widget > Add Settings widget by tap & hold on the screen > Now add the Notification Log option. Now, you can get all your notifications from your Home Screen using Settings widget.

#7. Power button to End Call

I have a lot of experiences when after the conversation, the person forget to End the call the put the phone back into the pocket and then you have free time pass :P. If you are the kind of person who relies on the other person to end the call, this would be a good option.

You can end the call just by pressing the power button. Here is what to do. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch on the Power Button Ends Call option. Easy & Quick.

See Also: Kodi Exodus not Working

#8. Save a Webpage as PDF

The majority of people whenever faced any issue in their life be it related to technology, Relationships, Health issues, buying decisions etc, they Google it. Google always focuses on providing quality internet experience to the end user and thus gives you relevant results based on your query. But sometimes, we cannot use that information at the same time and then we try to copy paste the URL of that web page. But in case, you don’t have the internet at that time, you would not able to access that web page.

But hey, you can save a web page as a PDF. All you need to, Open web page on Chrome > tap on menu > tap on Share > Select Print option > Save as PDF.

#9. Screen Pinning

This is my favorite thing and if you have siblings or annoying cousins, it would be helpful for you. What this thing gonna do is, it would lock your navigation buttons. That means, if you pinned a tab, then the person using the phone would not be able to navigate the phone or to open or close any other app.

To do that, Go to Settings > Security > Screen pinning. In some devices, it is available in Accessibility. Switch on the Pin. Before handing over the phone to that annoying person, tap on the pin option to pin the tab.

So, next time, whenever your cousin or sibling ask to show your phone, show them and let them explore your phone (if they can). Make sure they never read this article before.

#10. Track Your Android

Have you ever lost your phone? If yes, then you can feel that panic & helpless feeling. If you never lost your phone, then let me tell you, that is one of the badest feelings you will ever face but I don’t want you guys to face that. That’s why I would recommend you to go through an article about How to Track Lost Android Phone or How to prepare your Phone for Tracking so that you can track your device whenever needed.

Android Device Manager is a powerful tool which hep you in tracking the phone, Wipe out the data, lock the phone and also Ring the phone just by logging into Google Account.

#11. Better Zoom

Google Maps is a great thing and helps us a lot in many situations. If you visited a new country, Google Maps would be a very good companion. Google Maps are normally used while you are driving, walking or say when you are in movement or busy in searching the right way. For some people, zoom means, pinching the screen out. But that is not what exactly we want. Pinching the screen needs two hands and when you are busy, you cannot use two hands.

Use double tap on the map where you want to zoom. Easy and through the point.

#12. OK Google

I use it a lot. You should also use it. With saying “OK Google”, Google will be there to solve any damn query of yours. You don’t need to touch the mic icon for voice commands.

Go to Google Now App, swipe right, and open Settings. There you need to select Voice option. Then tap on “Ok Google” Detection and setup the voice demo for the first time. In the same option, you would see an option of Detection from Any Screen. Just turned it on to give voice commands from any screen.

Also Read: Cool Google Tricks & Internet Hacks You Should Know for Better Internet Surfing

#13. Really Quick Quick Settings

There is a quick setting panel underneath the notification tray. To open that, you normally do it by swiping down with a finger (Which first opened up notification tray) then you swipe down again to open Quick Setting Panel.

Now try this. Instead of swiping down two times. Do it at once using double fingers. Swipe Down the notification tray with two fingers for accessing Quick settings.

#14. Play Dinosaur Game

You must be heard about the Dinosaur game on Google Chrome but have you played it on Android. Turn off the internet connection. Open Google Chrome and visit any website (The Internet is already turned off. So doesn’t matter). Tap on Dinosaur and play the game. Do share your Score in the comment section.

#15. Smart Lock

Smart Lock is another great feature of Android which came with Lollipop & upper. This feature is for those who really have sensitive data in their Android Smartphone (Not Chats & Photos). Using Smart Lock, you can lock your device until phone get satisfied with the condition you applied.

The Android Phone can only be unlocked when it came in a particular location. You can also add voice and facial lock but that is not safe. Moreover, you can also add On-Body Detection where the phone will automatically get locked when you place your phone anywhere or say when it is not in your hands.

To use Smart Lock, first go to Settings > Security > Add a Screen Lock (If you don’t have already) > Open Smart Lock and choose your security type.

Also Read: How to Get LG G6 Like Rounded Display Corners on Any Android Smartphone

How Many Hidden Features of Android You Knew?

So, this is it. These are some really helpful Hidden features of Android that would definitely help you in providing you a great Android experience. Do let me know other hidden features of Android that you know through comment section. Also, share this with your Android buddies on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter or wherever you wanted to share.