The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
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So you unwrapped a brand new Pixel 6 (or Pixel 6 Pro) this 12 months? Once you’ve got thanked Santa for the brand new telephone, there are a couple of tweaks you may need to make earlier than you begin utilizing it. Google’s Pixel 6 line is phenomenal, with its new Tensor chip, top-notch cameras and an attention-grabbing design. But to benefit from your new Pixel telephone, you may need to dig into the settings and make a couple of customizations.Some of those adjustments will give the person interface a recent look, whereas others will allow you to get extra out of your Pixel telephone’s digicam or battery. Google has additionally baked some fascinating new options into the telephone app that may make it simpler to name customer support numbers with out ready on maintain. We’ll present you how you can flip these settings on and off, too.Here’s a take a look at the settings it is best to change in your Pixel 6 immediately.
Turn on themed icons to make your icons match your wallpaperOne of the most important options in Android 12 is Material You, which customizes the software program’s shade palette to match your wallpaper. You’ll discover that some parts inside sure apps — just like the keyboard in Messages and Gmail’s Compose button — can have coloured accents that match your wallpaper as a part of the broader Material You refresh. If you go into Settings, you may select from a couple of choices.
But you do not have to cease there. To give your app icons a colourful refresh that resembles your wallpaper, long-press any empty house in your Pixel 6’s dwelling display screen. Then faucet Wallpaper & fashion and ensure the change subsequent to Themed icons is toggled on. Now app icons on the house display screen ought to match your wallpaper, as proven beneath. You could make app icons on the Pixel 6 match its wallpaper.
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Use Quick Phrases to dismiss an alarm or telephone name with out saying, ‘Hey, Google’We’ve all been there. It’s 6 a.m., your alarm begins blaring and also you barely have the power to succeed in on your telephone. Google makes this a bit simpler on the Pixel 6 by enabling you to pause or dismiss an alarm by merely saying, “Snooze” or “Stop” with out requiring the “Hey, Google” set off phrase. You can do the identical for telephone calls by saying, “Answer” or “Decline” with out having to seize your machine.To flip this on, open the Settings menu and select Apps. Then, choose Assistant and faucet Quick phrases. You ought to see choices for alarms and timers and incoming calls. Tap the change subsequent to every one to allow this function.This function allows you to dismiss alarms and reply calls with out utilizing the “Hey, Google” wake phrase.
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Have Google Assistant wait on maintain for you and transcribe automated telephone menusTired of ready on maintain? Try utilizing Google’s Hold For Me function, which has Google Assistant wait on maintain after which notify you when a buyer consultant turns into obtainable. If you do not need to keep in mind which quantity to punch the subsequent time you are sitting via automated voice prompts, it’s also possible to activate Direct My Call. This transcribes automated menus in order that you do not have to recollect which quantity to press to get directed to the proper extension. Both of those options are accessible from the Pixel 6’s telephone app. Open the Phone app and faucet the three dots within the prime proper nook to get began. Choose Settings and it is best to see Hold for Me and Direct My Call beneath the Assistive part.The Direct My Call function appears promising, nevertheless it solely works for toll-free numbers in English proper now. That could make its transcriptions a bit complicated since many automated telephone menus sometimes learn choices in Spanish, too.Google Assistant can transcribe automated menus for you when calling toll-free numbers, however solely in English.
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Choose whether or not you need to lengthen battery life or increase efficiency Google’s Pixel telephones can optimize battery life relying on how you employ your telephone. While that is a helpful perk, there could also be instances whenever you’d desire to show this function off so that you could get higher efficiency out of your machine. You can flip this setting on or off anytime by opening the Settings menu, selecting Battery and tapping Adaptive preferences.The Pixel 6 can optimize its battery based mostly in your telephone utilization.
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Turn on Smart Storage to keep away from operating out of houseIf you are taking quite a lot of photographs and movies, you know the way valuable your machine’s space for storing may be. As one method to cope with that drawback, you may select to have your Pixel telephone mechanically delete outdated photographs to release house. If you allow this function, your Pixel machine will erase photographs backed as much as your Google Photos account which were in your machine for 60 days in case your telephone’s storage is lower than 25%.
To flip this on, open Settings, select Storage and faucet Free up house. Then faucet the menu icon within the prime left nook and choose Settings. Toggle the change subsequent to Smart Storage.Google’s Smart Storage function mechanically deletes outdated photographs to avoid wasting house.
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Use Storage Saver to optimize your Pixel’s photograph and video storageIf you need to save house, there’s another choice: Enable Storage Saver in your Pixel machine. This adjustments settings that use massive quantities of storage, comparable to saving RAW pictures as JPEG and recording movies in 1080p as a substitute of 4K. If you care extra about saving house than having the very best decision attainable, you may need to do that.Launch the Camera app and faucet the settings cog within the prime left nook. Then, faucet More settings and choose Device storage. Toggle the change subsequent to Storage Saver.The Pixel may also change sure media settings to optimize storage.
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Customize what occurs whenever you press the amount key whereas taking photographsYou can use the amount button to snap a photograph, alter the zoom or management the audio quantity in your Pixel machine. Open the Camera app, press the settings icon and select More settings. Then, select Gestures and choose Volume key motion to decide on your most popular possibility.You can customise the amount key on the Pixel 6.
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Make positive your Pixel’s display screen mechanically switches orientation when neededFew issues may be extra annoying than having your telephone caught in portrait mode whenever you’re holding it in panorama mode to look at a video. Avoid this in your Pixel 6 by opening the Settings menu, selecting Display and tapping Auto-rotate display screen. You may also select to activate face detection to make autorotate extra correct. Google says pictures utilized in face detection are by no means saved or despatched to the corporate. Make positive your Pixel switches its display screen orientation whenever you need it to.
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Identify songs enjoying close by on the lock screenEver heard a music enjoying at a restaurant and questioned what it is known as? Google Pixel gadgets can acknowledge songs and show the title of the music and artist in your telephone’s lock display screen. Open the Settings menu, select Display and faucet Lock display screen. Press Now Playing and toggle on the change subsequent to Identify songs enjoying close by.The Pixel 6 can show the observe title and artist for songs enjoying close by.
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Choose whether or not you need smoother scrolling or longer battery lifeThe Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are able to boosting their refresh charges to allow quicker scrolling and smoother animations, which makes the software program typically really feel extra responsive. The Pixel 6 can bump its refresh fee as much as 90Hz, whereas the Pixel 6 Pro can go as much as120Hz. But since this function will increase battery utilization, there are occasions whenever you may need to flip it off.To entry this feature, open the Settings menu and select Display. Scroll right down to Smooth Display and toggle the change to show it on or off.
You can select to extend the display screen’s refresh fee or maximize battery life on the Pixel 6.
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Add captions to movies, podcasts and telephone callsGoogle’s Live Caption function generates captions for media enjoying in your machine, and it really works on older Pixels relationship again to the second-generation mannequin too. It’s an accessibility function, and it can be helpful for instances whenever you’re caught with out headphones and wish to listen to the content material of a video or podcast in a public setting. To flip this on, press the amount button and faucet the Live Caption icon, which seems like a speech bubble. Just keep in mind that utilizing Live Caption can use further battery assets. Google’s Live Caption expertise captions audio enjoying in your machine.
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Edit your fast settings to simply entry shortcutsPulling down from the highest of the display screen will launch the quick-settings menu. Tap the pencil icon to edit this menu and add the settings you employ most frequently. Google presents all kinds of choices starting from battery saver to enabling and disabling the microphone and accessing alarms. Here you may discover staples together with airplane mode, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.These are just some of the various settings shortcuts obtainable on the Pixel 6.
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Looking for extra recommendation on your different Google gadgets? Check out our ideas for enhancing your productiveness on Chromebooks and getting essentially the most out of your Google Nest.
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Update, Nov. 11: Clarified the part on Material You and themed icons.