Here are our best Android tips and tricks. Note: As there are a large variety of Android phones out there, these tips might not always apply to you; it depends on what Android version you’re running on and the type of Android layer that’s on your phone. Also see: Best Android keyboard
Best Android tips & tricks: Backup & sync
If you have multiple devices or wish to use your Google account as a means of backing up your contacts, photos and settings, your Android device can help save these settings in the cloud so that you don’t have to remember them and re-sync them each time. Depending on what you want to synchronise, head into the settings and look for Backup & Sync (or Backup & reset). In this menu, enable Google to backup your data. If you’re purely looking to backup photos, head into the Google Photos app and within its Settings select Backup & Sync. This small tip will allow you to have somewhat have a backup of your important settings and namely your contact details, which you’ll then be able to view on your computer.
Best Android tips & tricks: Developer Options | Speed up your Android phone
The name might frighten you, as you can change a lot of settings through your Android’s developer settings, however there are three options in here which will help speed up your phone, at least its perceived performance will increase. We’ve got a dedicated article on how to enable your developer options, but in short: Go to Settings > General > About phone > Software information > Build number. Now rapidly tap on ‘Build Number’ five times and you will see the message ‘You are now a developer!’
Once you’re set as a developer, you can go back to the About section of your Android phone to see the Developer Options. Within this section you’ll find: Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. These three options determine the speed of animations and the time it takes for them to show. By default these should be set to 1x. If you tap on these options and set them all to 0.5x, your phone’s perceived speed will increase by 50%. This useful trick will make a big difference to your Android experience. Read next: Fastest phone.
Best Android tips & tricks: Battery
Every Android phone has a battery monitor, whereby you’ll have the ability to control the consumption or power saving modes. You’ll find your device’s battery settings within the Settings of your phone. Once in, you can tap on the consumption tab to reveal more details on what’s consuming your device’s battery and set power saver modes.
This small trick will enable you to monitor what is sucking all that Android-battery. Read next: Android update battery problems.
Best Android tips & tricks: Change your wallpaper
The beauty of Android phones is their vast amount of customisation available. This starts from the wallpaper, where you’ll be able to set a different wallpaper for your homescreen, which is independent from your lockscreen one. You can also set a live wallpaper which will react to user interaction or gestures. To do this, navigate to Settings > Display > Wallpaper and you’ll be able to set your desired wallpapers from there. If you’ve got some live wallpapers, then you’ll have the option to set a live wallpaper instead. Do remember that a live wallpaper will consume your battery. Read next: Best Chinese phones 2016.
Best Android tips & tricks: Use Google Now
You can setup and use Google Now to aid you navigate your phone or take voice commands. This useful tip, is good if you are driving or want to perform certain tasks vocally. To enable voice detection, head into Settings > Voice and enable the option for Google’s detection. Next, you’ll want to head to the Google app (or widget search bar) and go into the app’s settings to enable Google Now. You’ll now be able to set reminders, have personalised notifications and be able to control your phone through voice (normally done by saying: “Ok Google”). Read next: How to update Android smartphone or tablet.
Best Android tips & tricks: Secure or wipe your phone
Security is always important, as there’s a lot of data we store on our phones. If we were to lose our phones we could be giving away a lot of information.
To enable this, head into Security within your device’s Settings. From here, depending on your device, you’ll have an array of different security settings to choose from, this includes phones with fingerprint scanners. Read next: Best dual-SIM phone 2016 UK.
Best Android tips & tricks: Take a screenshot
Taking a screenshot on Android can be useful if you want to brag about the Pokemon you’ve just caught, to sharing bug reports with developers. To take a screenshot on most Android devices, hold the power button and volume down button simultaneously. This will take a screenshot and save it within your pictures. Read next: Pokemon GO troubleshooting.
Best Android tips & tricks: Find a file
If you’re looking for a file, such as a screenshot, you’ll be able to find it in the root directory of your Android device. To find the folders and files you’re after, head to the Files app. If you don’t happen to have a Files application installed, you can install one for free, such as ES File Explorer.
Navigate to your Internal Storage and in our example, look for the Pictures folder. In this folder, you’ll find your Screenshots folder among others, such as WhatsApp folders, which holds media shared to and from your WhatsApp contacts. Knowing this folder is useful when you want to transfer images taken from your phone to your computer. As by default, the root directory will hold the DCIM folder, where all your camera photos will be stored.
