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    5 settings you won’t regret changing on your Android phone

    Change these settings in your new Android telephone. 
    Angela Lang/CNET
    The default settings on an Android telephone are alright, however they do not show you how to get essentially the most out of your telephone. Instead of settling for a similar expertise as everybody else, take a telephone minutes to tailor your Android telephones’ settings. As we strategy the vacations, there are many alternatives to discover a whole lot on a brand new Android telephone, whether or not as a present or an excuse to deal with your self. For essentially the most half, the Android expertise is similar, irrespective of who makes the telephone. That’s what makes Android nice, effectively, that together with a variety of customization choices and settings, which have given Android customers bragging rights over iPhone homeowners.

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    Samsung’s Galaxy S20 FE and Google’s Pixel 5 are 5G-capable telephones that are not overpriced, whereas the Galaxy Note 20 has a steep asking worth, however is loaded with options. We’ll information you thru squeezing each little bit of battery life out of your new gadget — or the one you have already got — taking preventative steps within the occasion of a misplaced or stolen telephone and retaining your house display screen freed from pointless litter. An overly vivid show will drain your battery extremely quick. 
    Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET
    Settings to enhance battery life Living with a telephone that has poor battery life could be infuriating, however there are some steps you possibly can take to maximise every cost proper from the very starting: 1. Turn off auto display screen brightness and set the slider to below 50%. The brighter your display screen, the extra battery energy it requires. Pull down the shortcut menu from the highest of the display screen and alter the slider.  Some telephones even have a toggle for auto brightness within the shortcut panel; in any other case, you may must open the settings app and seek for “brightness” to search out the setting and switch it off. 2. Use Adaptive Battery and Battery Optimization. Google first launched each of those options in Android 9.0 Pie: They give attention to studying how you employ your telephone, understanding which apps you employ and when, after which optimizing the apps and the quantity of battery they use.  Some Android telephones could have a devoted Battery part within the Settings app, whereas different telephones (taking a look at you, Samsung) bury these settings. It’s a little bit totally different for every telephone. I like to recommend opening your settings and trying to find Battery. The outcomes ought to get you to the fitting display screen. Using darkish mode on any telephone is a simple and handsome method to save battery.  Dark mode is your pal Another means to enhance battery life whereas additionally serving to save your eyes is to make use of Android’s devoted darkish mode. Any Android telephone working Android 10 or newer could have a devoted darkish mode possibility. According to Google, darkish mode not solely reduces the pressure that smartphone shows trigger on our eyes, but it surely additionally improves battery life as a result of it takes much less energy to show darkish backgrounds on OLED shows (utilized in most flagship telephones) than a white background.  Depending on which model of Android your telephone is working, and what firm made your telephone, you’ll have to dig across the settings app to discover a darkish mode. If your telephone runs Android 10 or newer, you’ll activate systemwide darkish mode. If it runs Android 9, do not despair. Plenty of apps have their very own dark-mode possibility within the settings that you need to use whether or not or not you’ve Android 10.  To flip it on, open the Settings app and seek for Dark Mode, Dark Theme, and even Night Mode (as Samsung likes to name it). I counsel utilizing darkish mode on a regular basis, however when you’re undecided, you possibly can all the time set darkish mode to routinely activate primarily based on a schedule, say from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every single day, or permit it to routinely change utilizing your location on the time of sundown/dawn. One key advantage of Android is a clutter-free homescreen. 
    Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
    Keep your house display screen freed from litter Planning to hit up the Google Play Store for a bunch of recent Android apps? Be ready for lots of icon litter on your house display screen, which is the place shortcuts land each time you put in one thing. Thankfully, there is a easy means out of this: Long-press on an empty space of your house display screen and faucet Home settings. Find the choice labeled one thing alongside the strains of Add icon to Home Screen and switch it off.  Presto! No extra icons whenever you set up new apps. You can nonetheless add shortcuts by dragging an app’s icon out of the app drawer, however they will not litter up your house display screen until you need them to. DND provides your thoughts an opportunity to take a break from the fixed onslaught of notifications. 
    Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
    Set up Do Not Disturb If your telephone routinely spends the evening in your nightstand, you most likely don’t need it beeping or buzzing each time there is a name, message or Facebook alert — particularly whenever you’re attempting to sleep. Thankfully, Android gives a Do Not Disturb mode that may maintain the telephone kind of silent throughout designated hours. On some telephones, that is known as the Downtime setting and even quiet time. Bottom line: Head to Settings > Sounds (or Sounds and notifications), then search for Do Not Disturb or an identical identify. Using the function, you possibly can arrange a spread of hours (often nighttime) whenever you need to flip off the digital noise. But don’t fret, any notifications you get whereas DND is turned on will nonetheless be ready for you whenever you get up.  Also, you possibly can usually make an exception that permits repeat callers and favourite contacts’ calls to undergo. Turn that on. If somebody is asking you in an emergency, odds are they will maintain attempting. What somebody who finds a misplaced or stolen Android telephone will see after you employ Find My Device to lock it. 
    Jason Cipriani/CNET
    Be ready to lose your telephone Is there something worse than a misplaced or stolen telephone? Only the data that you might have tracked it down when you had turned on Google’s Find My Device function. To set your self up for a profitable restoration, this is what it is advisable do: Open the Settings app after which seek for Find My Device. It’s often within the Security part of the Settings app. Or when you’ve got a Samsung gadget, you need to use Samsung’s Find My Mobile service present in Settings > Biometrics and safety > Find My Mobile.  Once enabled, you possibly can head to android.com/discover from any PC or cellular gadget and check in to your account. Samsung customers can go to findmymobile.samsung.com to search out their misplaced telephone.  Losing a telephone is rarely a enjoyable expertise. 
    Angela Lang/CNET
    If you run into any hassle setting any of this up, remember to learn by our full information to discovering a misplaced Android telephone. Assuming your telephone is on and on-line, you must be capable of see its location on a map. From there you can also make it ring, lock it, set a lock display screen word to inform whoever has it find out how to get it again to you, or, worst-case situation, remotely wipe the entire thing. There’s much more to find out about a brand new telephone, in fact. If you’ve a telephone with Android 11, just like the Pixel 4A 5G, take a look at these options. Or when you’re searching for methods to enhance battery life on the Galaxy S20, learn this. Gestures are a brand new means of getting round that depends on faucets and swipes you may must be taught. Don’t neglect to transfer Google Authenticator whenever you get a brand new telephone, and when you’re uncertain which apps you have to have, listed here are our prime Android app picks for 2020. 

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