Make your new phone better with 10 simple tricks

There’s one thing particular in regards to the first time you arrange a brand new telephone. Urgent the facility button and seeing the show spring to life is enjoyable regardless of how typically you do it. There are such a lot of menus to discover and settings to customise that the setup course of can nearly really feel overwhelming. With that in thoughts, we’ve give you some Google Pixel 6a ideas and tips to strive proper out of the field to make your telephone even higher.

Google Pixel 6a ideas and tips

Google launched Fast Faucet on the Pixel 6 collection, letting it function a religious successor to the much-loved Lively Edge. It hasn’t precisely changed the legacy characteristic within the hearts of longtime Pixel followers, but it surely’s a simple approach to put some further performance at your fingertips.

Our verdict: Google Pixel 6a evaluation

Utilizing Fast Faucet is as simple as might be. All it’s important to do is rapidly double-tap your machine’s again to activate your chosen command. The choices aren’t limitless, however you may strive completely different options like taking a screenshot or launching the Google Assistant. For those who can’t discover a most well-liked Fast Faucet from Google’s current listing, you can even set it to launch an app. For instance, I’ve my Fast Faucet set to open the Lifx app so I can entry sensible lights all through my dwelling.

Right here’s how one can arrange Fast Faucet:

1. Open the Settings menu.
2. Choose the System heading.
3. Faucet Gestures.
4. Select Fast Faucet.
5. Choose your command.

Stay Caption is likely one of the most handy accessibility capabilities in Google’s lineup. It may be a lifesaver in a loud atmosphere the place you may’t hear your video or a quiet one the place you don’t wish to make a sound. The AI-driven characteristic provides real-time captions to only about any media, together with movies, podcasts, and precise telephone calls on the Pixel 6a.

Whereas it’s important to dig via the Settings menu for many controls, Stay Caption is straightforward to seek out with the amount rocker. Any time you elevate or decrease the amount, you’ll see a bubble seem with a small textual content field on the backside. It’s not labeled, however this textual content field is the Stay Caption toggle. Suppose you need much more management over your captions. In that case, you may open the Settings menu to handle your profanity preferences and resolve if the caption consists of sound labels like laughter and music.

Right here’s how one can discover the Stay Caption menu:

1. Open the Settings menu.
2. Select the Accessibility part.
3. Faucet Stay Caption and toggle it to On.

When you arrange Stay Caption within the Settings menu, it’s a good suggestion to check it with the amount rocker once more.

Our subsequent Google Pixel 6a tip has nothing to do with the software program. It’s additionally the one characteristic you may change earlier than the telephone arrives at your step. We at all times advocate that you just choose up a case on your new telephone — we purchase one every time we get a telephone for evaluation — and the Pixel 6a isn’t any exception. Google’s mid-ranger isn’t product of glass, but it surely’s not invincible, both, so it’s higher to be protected than sorry.

Fortunately, we’ve already put within the work to seek out a number of the greatest circumstances round. We’ve tried to cowl a number of classes, together with skinny circumstances, clear circumstances, and a few battle-tested rugged choices. You can even take a look at certainly one of Google’s first-party silicone circumstances, which comply with the identical design that began with the Pixel 6.

There’s an excellent probability you’ll hear music enjoying if you’re out and about. It received’t at all times be to your style, however there’s an opportunity it could possibly be a brand new artist you wish to take heed to once more. If that’s the case, you could be scrambling to open an app like Shazam to catch the tune title, however there’s no assure that you just’ll be fast sufficient. As a substitute, you may strive Google’s Now Taking part in characteristic. It makes the reduce as certainly one of our prime Google Pixel 6a ideas as a result of it’s one characteristic you should use with out considering.

Now Taking part in listens for ambient music and mechanically shows the tune and artist throughout the underside of your show. Even higher, it retains a historical past of the previous few songs you listened to in case you neglect to make a remark of it your self. The best approach to dig up Now Taking part in is to open the Settings menu and kind it into the search bar. It’s additionally hidden below the Sound & Vibration menu if you wish to toggle it similtaneously Stay Caption.

We had reassurances that the Pixel 6a’s fingerprint reader was not the identical one utilized in its Pixel 6 siblings, but it surely’s at all times good to watch out. Google’s flagships had been rife with points, from not registering fingerprints to opening slowly and even breaking if the battery died. Up to now, there haven’t been as many points on the Pixel 6a, however one of the best ways to extend your possibilities of unlocking is to re-register your fingerprints. The sensor placement continues to be simple to succeed in, so it could be a good suggestion to register every of your thumbs twice.

Right here’s what to do:

1. Head to Settings.
2. Scroll to Fingerprint Unlock.
3. Enter your PIN when prompted.
4. Choose Add fingerprint.
5. Observe the steps to scan your total fingerprint.

Whether or not you’re an adrenaline junkie or identical to to journey, it’s good to have a plan in case of an accident. Google’s Private Security app pulls nearly every little thing — emergency contacts, medical data, and private knowledge like your tackle — into one handy spot. The data you enter is then saved domestically to your machine.

Prepared for a visit? Listed below are the very best journey apps and devices to carry alongside

Private Security will first immediate you so as to add emergency contacts, which individuals will be capable to attain in case of an emergency with out unlocking your Pixel 6a. The varied medical data menus allow you to add every little thing out of your blood sort to allergy symptoms and drugs in case you take them.

From there, you may stroll via a Security examine — the place your telephone will provide you with a warning at a sure time and activate emergency sharing in case you don’t reply — or activate Emergency sharing, which broadcasts your location on the push of a button. Private Security even helps automotive crash detection and alerts for close by pure disasters and public emergencies.

Spam calls are rampant, and the variety of folks making an attempt to succeed in you about your automotive’s prolonged guarantee doesn’t seem to be it’ll dwindle for some time. The FCC and all three main US carriers have introduced measures to fight spam, but it surely retains coming via — nearly just like the calls are coming from inside the home. Fortunately, Google is taking its steps to maintain undesirable robo-callers at bay.

For those who open your Telephone app and head as much as the settings (the three-dot menu on the prime proper nook), you’ll discover our subsequent Pixel 6a tip. It’s known as Spam and Name Display and lives below the Assistive heading. While you open it, you get entry to toggles that may determine caller and spam ID, activate Verified Calls, and fine-tune your Name Display preferences. Verified Calls reveals the caller ID and the rationale on your incoming name if it’s from a enterprise.

When you head to the Name Display menu, it offers you choices to sort out spam mechanically. You’ll be able to filter suspected spam and probably faked numbers with a single faucet, and there are much more choices for dealing with first-time callers and personal or hidden numbers.

I nonetheless let first-time callers via, however I’ve by no means been happier to not have my telephone ring.

The Pixel 6a is far simpler to make use of with one hand than both of its Pixel 6 siblings had been. Nevertheless, typically you continue to wish to tweak some issues right here and there to make life even simpler. We advisable resizing the Pixel 6 keyboard to make it simpler to succeed in, however our Pixel 6a tip is to customise every little thing else.

Not bought on Gboard? The perfect Android keyboards to strive as a substitute

Yow will discover the Pixel 6a’s keyboard settings below the Languages & enter menu. From there, you may toggle Google Voice Typing on or off or head into the Gboard settings for slightly extra energy. The Gboard permits you to add language preferences (and completely different keyboards with default characters), activate glide typing in case you don’t wish to carry a finger, and even add phrases to your private dictionary. That’s the simplest approach to fight autocorrect points, however you can even instruct the Gboard to neglect its discovered phrases and knowledge in case you wish to begin contemporary.

I’m unsure we are able to write in regards to the Pixel 6a or its software program with out at the least a short point out of Materials You. Launched alongside Android 12, Materials You is all about making your telephone really feel as distinctive as potential. It affords a collection of customization choices out of your app icons to your widgets, and it’s all themed round your wallpaper.

It’s simple sufficient to take management of your colourful Android expertise with a long-press in your wallpaper. This may open a menu with choices for Wallpaper & type, Widgets, and Residence settings. If you need color-coordinated app icons, you’ll discover them below the primary choice, however know that the characteristic is proscribed to Google’s first-party apps in the interim. Widgets are in the identical boat — Google’s choices provide completely different shapes and colours, whereas most third-party creations are restricted to traditional rectangles.

You’ll discover essentially the most freedom within the Google Images widget, which we’ve written about prior to now. So long as you’ve up to date to model 5.65, you must see about half a dozen body sizes and shapes to select from.

There’s an excellent probability you’ll end up within the Pixel 6a’s Fast Settings menu at the least as soon as per day. Whether or not you’re toggling Bluetooth, your most well-liked Wi-Fi community, or activating Battery Saver, it retains key options only a swipe away. Whilst you may pull down the shade and swipe left or proper to get to every choice, it’s a lot simpler to customise your listing. I’ve pulled options like Airplane Mode to my entrance web page whereas relegating choices like Auto-rotate to the second web page as a result of I by no means use it.

For those who’ve by no means reorganized your Fast Settings, you may not have realized how easy it may be. As a substitute of searching down a cog icon, all it’s important to do is faucet the pencil on the backside of the menu. Then you may drag and drop your current tiles and add new ones from choose third-party apps.

There aren’t as many third-party tiles as widgets, however I’ve added the power to create a brand new Asana job on the push of a button in order that I’m by no means chased down by an editor for forgetting ever once more.

These are our favourite Google Pixel 6a tricks to customise your telephone proper out of the field. You probably have any tips we would have missed, tell us within the feedback under!