Hacks to set up your new Android phone

Whether you’re buying your first Android phone or switching to a new one (congratulations on your new phone, by the way) the setup process is fairly straightforward. Android, now in its 16th year, is a mature platform with a simple and refined setup mechanism.

Data can be quickly and easily transferred between devices via Wi-Fi, USB, and over the internet via your Google Account, and most of the time that switch is seamless and hassle-free. But there’s more! That is, to truly refine and personalise your user experience on your new device. To do the same, we’ve put together this little list of hacks you can use.  

Simple hacks to set up your new Android phone

Here are some simple hacks to help you make the most out of your new phone:

ALSO READ: 15 years of Android: How Google’s OS spearheaded the rise of smartphones

1. Backup all your data

2. Enable developer mode

3. Check display settings

4. Enable Live Captions

5. Disable annoying notifications

6. Enable Voice Access for enhanced voice control

7. Better privacy

1. Backup all your data

This should go without saying, but given that it’s a feature that many of us forget to enable, we feel it’s important to emphasise this. Before doing anything, please ensure that all your data is properly backed up at all times. Whether you’re using Google’s built-in services or are backing up images and files to a separate USB drive, ensuring that your data is properly backed up is very important. You don’t want a botched setting or an update deleting years worth of photos now, do you?

2. Enable developer mode

Developer mode is a “secret” mode in Android that gives you access to a tonne of experimental features. We’ll be recommending you turn on some of these features in this article as well, so we’d also recommend you turn developer mode on before we begin.

To do this:

1. Head to Settings > About Phone

2. Scroll down to ‘Build number’ and tap on it seven times or till you see a notification saying ‘You are now a developer!’

3. You will now see a separate ‘Developer options’ section in the ‘Settings’ pane.

3. Check display settings

Some phones, especially Google’s Pixel devices, don’t enable advanced display features like high refresh rate and wider colour modes by default. To check that these are enabled:

1. Head to Settings > Display

2. Confirm that your phone is running the fastest refresh rate for the smoothest experience

3. Note that you can lower the refresh rate to enhance battery life

Another display feature that’s worth enabling is the Screen Attention feature. With this feature enabled, your phone will keep the screen unlocked while you’re looking at it, but will immediately lock it when you look away. This is a great way to ensure privacy when you’re using your phone in a public setting.

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To enable this feature:

1. Head to Settings > Display >Screen timeout

2. Enable ‘Screen Attention’

4. Enable Live Captions

Live Captions is a brilliant little Android feature that should be enabled by default. When this feature is enabled, your Android phone will automatically generate captions in real-time when watching any video, be it on Youtube, Instagram, or any other app. These captions are very accurate and their placement can be adjusted while watching.

To enable Live Captions:

1. Head to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing enhancements

2. Enable ‘Live Captions’

5. Disable annoying notifications

One of the most annoying things for me when setting up a new Android phone is the barrage of notifications that Google delivers. Most of these come from the Google Play Store and Play services, and they can be really annoying because they’re not usually useful.

To disable these notifications, as well as notifications from any other app that is annoying you:

1. Head to Settings > Notifications > App notifications

2. Sort by ‘Most Frequent’ and disable the ones that annoy you the most.

6. Enable Voice Access for enhanced voice control

Did you know that you can give your Android phone detailed voice instructions for opening apps, scrolling through them, and more. Not only is this useful when your hands are full, it’s also a great accessibility feature for those who have difficulty handling an Android phone.

To enable Voice Access:

1. Head to Settings > Accessibility > Enable Voice Access

2. Now you can say ‘Ok Google, start voice access’ to start using the feature

7. Better privacy

Two settings you need to set for better privacy are ‘Lock incognito’ and ‘Show passwords’

By default, you can just access your Incognito mode tabs in Chrome by swiping to them when the browser is open. This assumes that access to your phone is secure. However, say you hand your phone over to someone but you don’t want them to access your Incognito tabs, here’s how you lock Incognito mode behind biometrics – Open Settings > Privacy and security > enable ‘Lock incognito when you leave Chrome.’ You’ll now need to authenticate your incognito settings whenever you want to access incognito mode.

ALSO READ: How to clear the cache on an Android phone

The other security option lets you disable password previews as you type. This is important to enable in public places to keep your passwords secure.

To do this – Head to Settings > Privacy > Disable ‘Show passwords.’ Your passwords will no longer be previewed as you type.

We hope these quick hacks have given you some ideas on how to enhance your Android experience. Many of these are essential security features that should have been enabled by default, while others are quality of life improvements that will make your experience more fun. Either way, feel free to experiment and have fun setting up your new Android phone! If there are any other tips that you’d like to suggest, do hit us up on social me