Android Is Awesome & These 13 Hacks Prove It

Power Down

Decrease your battery consumption by going to Settings > Developer Options > Window Animation Scale > Transition Animation Scale > Animator Duration Scale > Adjust the scale to 0.5x.

A Lost Cost

While it’s difficult to have faith in the public as a whole in the Trumpian world, there exist a chance a good samaritan would return your phone should you lose it. Stay on the safe side and input your personal information in Settings > Security > Owner Info.

Phone A Friend

Siri is cool, but she’s not the only voice on the block. You can activate voice control, so you’re able to start a Google Search from any screen by saying “Okay, Google”, by going to Google App / Google Now > Settings (Icon on bottom right) > Voice > Ok Google Detection > From Any Screen. Voila!

Locked Up

You can enable the use of your widgets even when your phone is locked by going to Settings > Security > Select Enable Widgets. You can then customise the widgets by swiping left when your phone is locked, and select the ‘+’ sign.

Secret Codes

Android has a huge list of secret hacking codes you can activate by calling the following (user discretion is advised as these are literal hacks):

• *#*#4636#*#*  – Display information about Phone, Battery and Usage statistics
• *#*#7780#*#* – Resetting your phone to factory state (i.e. deletes application data and applications)
• *2767*3855# – Complete wiping of your mobile and reinstalls the phones firmware
• *#*#34971539#*#* – Shows completes information about the camera
• *#*#7594#*#* – Changing the power button behaviour (i.e. enables direct power-off once the code enabled)
• *#*#232339#*#* or *#*#526#*#* – Wireless Lan Tests
• *#*#232338#*#*– Displays Wi-Fi Mac-address
• *#*#0*#*#* – LCD display test
• *#*#0673#*#* or *#*#0289#*#*  – Audio test
• *#*#0842#*#* – Vibration and Backlight test

Time To Default

You’re scrolling through a random Buzzfeed article, and decide to click on a Youtube Video of a litter of Chocolate Lab puppies, but instead of redirecting your browser to Youtube, your phone insists on closing it down and opening your Youtube App. While this sounds fine, sometimes the time it takes to launch this application is just not worth it. Has this happened to you? Make it a thing of the past by going to Settings > Apps> Open By Default > Select Clear Apps.

Why Fi When You Can Swipe

Okay, we all know how to change our WiFi network, but you can skip going into your settings to do so by swiping down twice (or swipe with two fingers) to access your Quick Settings menu, and instead of selecting the WiFi button, which turns it off, select the network name, which then opens a list of all the networks available to you.

Easy Peasy Prioritisation

You can keep your phone on silent while allowing the notifications of your choice to come through by going to Settings > Sound & Notification > Do Not Disturb and customise. Simply access your Quick Settings to disable and turn sounds and notifications back on.

In A Pinch

Sometimes, it isn’t very easy to pinch your screen to zoom in. Such as when you’re driving, for instance. Avoid a pinchy situation by going to Settings > Accessibility > Magnification Gestures, which allows you to magnify by triple tapping and adjust zoom with two-finger pinching.

Unlock Its Potential

While you want to keep your information protected, having to unlock your phone in a safe environment can feel pretty unnecessary at times. Use the GPS function, different networks, or even your face to tell your phone there’s no need to lock it by going to Settings > Security > Smart Lock  and customise away!

Put A Pin In It

If you often allow kids to use your phone, but are worried they’ll rack up massive phone bills with in-app purchases, you can enable screen pinning by going to Settings > Security > Select Screen Pinning. Then go to the App in question > Select Overview [Square] > Select Pin Icon > choose PIN.

Bad Kids On The Block

While we’re advocates for proper conflict resolution rather than passive aggressive blocking, you can send all the calls from a specific person straight to voicemail by going to the person’s Contact > Edit > Menu [Three Dots] > Select All Calls To Voicemail.

What’s In A Song?

Who needs Shazam when you can find out a song straight from your Google Search? Tap on the Microphone from your Google Search, and ask “What’s this song”, and your phone will analyse the audio that’s playing and show you the information it can find.