We bring you a compilation with 33 functions and tricks with which to make the most of Android 12 the new version of Google’s mobile operating system. Android 12 is here, with a revolution in its visual aspect, but also with some other interesting options. Here, we’re going to go over everything, both old and new options and tricks, so that any newcomer can master the system.
Something you should keep in mind is that we are going to base ourselves on the pure version of Android as it has reached Pixel devices. But as always happens, some options and tricks may not be available in some customization layers, since that will depend on how each mobile manufacturer adapts Android.
Activate dark mode
Let’s start here so you don’t have to look for it. If you are a lover of dark modes, one of how you can find its activation is in the screen options. You can activate and deactivate it with a button, or program it for hours.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Display .
- Now, click on Dark theme .
- Here you can activate or deactivate it.
- If you click on Programming, you can choose the hours at which it is activated.
Interface with the colors of your wallpaper
One of the main revolutions of Android 12 is given by its drastic design change. And beyond the changes in the appearance of the windows and menus, there are also other small changes such as being able to adapt the color of the interface to that of your wallpaper. In this way, the interface elements will have a color related to the background, and everything will be more aesthetic and cohesive.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Style and wallpaper .
- When changing your wallpaper, be sure to select the Background Colors option below.
- With this option, below you will see a color palette that has been extracted from those of your wallpaper.
Use the icons with colors of your wallpaper
In addition to the interface, you also can change the icons of the main applications for icons that use a color based on the one with the wallpaper you are using. The same as the interface elements, so that everything has the same unified color palette.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Style and wallpaper .
- Activate the Themed Icons option .
Use your internal search engines
This is not an exclusive function of Android 12, but of course, it is one that many mobiles have appreciated. These are two search engines that you can find both in the application drawer and the Settings menu. Both will help you find applications or options without having to waste time searching for them.
The app drawer finder is simple, and it will help you quickly find an app when you have many installed. Just start typing the name and you will see it. The settings finder is even more useful, and you will be able to find those options that do not know exactly what section they are buried in.
Record your mobile screen
For several versions, on Android, you can record the screen, which means that you can record everything you do on it on video. Thus, you will be able to record what you do in an app or your video game games. You can also choose if you want the touches you make on the screen to be marked or the audio to be recorded.
- Swipe down with two fingers from the notification bar to show shortcuts.
- Tap on the Screen Recording shortcut .
- You will go to a screen where you can enable audio recording or show touches on the screen.
- If you click where it says Record audio, you can choose between using the device’s audio, the microphone in case you speak, or the device’s audio and microphone.
Change the shortcuts on the status bar
In the shortcuts screen, you also have a lot of other options, and if you don’t like them, there are other buttons that you can put instead of the ones that are now deactivated. For that, you have a button to edit the shortcuts shown here.
- Swipe down with two fingers from the notification bar to show shortcuts.
- Press the settings button. It is not the cogwheel icon, but the pencil icon.
- You will go to the screen to edit the shortcuts. Above you have the ones that are shown, being able to drag them to change the order.
- Below you have those that are available but you do not have configured, in case you want to drag them up to add them.
Use the device control shortcut
And since we’re mentioning them, on this shortcut screen you also have a button called Device Control. If you press it, you can control the connected devices in your home from there without having to open the Home application. From smart bulbs to any other accessory you have connected.
Resize screen elements
Another option you have to configure the appearance of Android is to increase or decrease the size of the screen elements. This includes the icons, or the text, and other elements that may be in the applications. This can cause some icons or apps to change places, but it will help if you have vision problems.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Screen option .
- Now hit Display size .
- Choose the size you want.
Change the size of the fonts
And since we are within the Screen options, here you will also find the option to change the size of the fonts. With this option, you will modify the size of the letters that appear on the screen on your mobile or in any application.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Screen option .
- Now hit Font size .
- Choose the size you want.
Hide sensitive information from the lock screen
Sometimes notifications containing sensitive content may reach you. And when your mobile is locked and this content is shown, you expose yourself to other people being able to see it. Therefore, a system that Android has to protect your privacy a bit in this context is to make sensitive content not show on the lock screen … or never.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on Privacy .
- Tap Lock screen notifications .
- In the menu that opens, choose the option to Show sensitive content only when unlocking or Don’t show any notifications .
Decide which notifications each app shows
Another option concerning notifications is to decide the type of them that each application shows. This is an option for those cases in which you are interested in notifications from an application, but not all types of notifications that it sends you. With it, you can control these types in each of the installed applications.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Notifications option .
- Once inside, click on Application Settings .
- You will go to a list of apps, where you can disable all notifications from it with the controls on the right.
- If you enter one of the apps, you will be able to specify what type of notification you leave activated and which you deactivate.
Activate the notification history
Android 12 also comes standard with the ability to activate a notification history. By default, it is deactivated to preserve your privacy, but if you activate it, the mobile will record all the notifications that come to you so that you can consult them later.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Notifications option .
- Once inside, click on Notification history .
- Here you can activate it and consult it later.
Remove the media player from notifications
Android always has a multimedia player in the notifications, although it is not always useful, and sometimes annoying. Especially when it gets hooked and is still there even if you have stopped playback. That’s because the media player is set by default, a setting that you can change whenever you want to prevent it from appearing next to notifications.
- Enter the notification panel.
- Keep your finger pressed on the media player.
- When the options are displayed, enter Settings .
- Deactivate the option of Fix media player .
Set the default apps
All operating systems have a series of applications to open by default different types of functions or files. Usually, it will ask you if you want to change the assignments each time you install an app that may affect the current settings, but you can also change the default applications manually at any time.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Applications option .
- Now, hit the Default applications option .
- Now, click on the browser, launcher, phone applications, and all the sections you want to change their default app.
Turn off pinpoint location
Another new feature in Android 12 is to disable the precise locations of individual apps. It is a new location access permission, in which instead of telling an app your exact place you can tell it an approximate place where you are. This is useful for those apps that need your location to work, but they don’t need to know your exact point within a city.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on Location .
- Now, give Application location permissions to manage them.
- Press any of the applications.
- Turn off the Use precise location option .
Use two apps at the same time with the split-screen
Android still allows you to use two applications at the same time with its split-screen mode. With it, you split the screen in two, and you put one application at the top and another at the bottom. The way of doing this has not changed, but being very useful it is worth remembering.
- Swipe from the bottom to the center of the screen.
- The screen with the last open apps will open.
- Click on the icon of one of the apps, above its preview.
- In the menu that appears, choose the Split Screen option .
- That app will be in the upper half, and now you will have to choose another for the lower half.
Extract text from apps without opening them
Another little trick that you can do when you are in the view of the last open applications. And it is that you will be able to select fragments of the text that appears in them without having to enter the applications.
- Swipe from the bottom to the center of the screen.
- The screen with the last open apps will open.
- Click on the Select button at the bottom right or just press and hold the text in a text.
- After selecting a text, the menu will appear to copy it, share it, or search for it in Google.
Extract photos from apps without opening them
And if you are in the view of the last open applications and there is a photo in any of them, press and hold your finger on the photo and it will open. When you do, you can analyze it with Google Lens, copy it, share it, or save it directly on your mobile without even entering the application.
Google Assistant on the power button
Another peculiarity of Android 12 is that you will be able to choose what the shortcut of holding down the power button does, being able to choose between opening the shutdown menu or the Google assistant. This is useful if you want to keep the wizard handy and use it by holding down that button and without having to say Ok Google.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on System .
- Now, hit Gestures .
- In here, click on Hold down the power button .
- You can activate the option to use the wizard, or deactivate it to show the shutdown menu.
Increase screen sensitivity
If you use a screen protector, you may find that its sensitivity is reduced due to the extra thickness that it adds. For this, Android offers the possibility of increasing the sensitivity of the screen and counteracting the fact that you use a protector.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Display .
- Now, activate the option to Increase touch sensitivity in the Other controls for the screen section .
Turn off silent notifications
Android 12 will show you two types of notifications. On the one hand, when you slide down the notification bar you will go to the screen where you will see the normal ones with which you can interact. But below you will also see the silent ones, which are those that are usually irrelevant to you but that Android shows you to keep you informed. If they bother you, you can disable them.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on Notifications .
- Scroll down and activate the option to Don’t show silent notifications in the status bar .
Interact with notifications
And remember that the main notifications that you are going to see will allow you to interact with the content of that notification. For example, if you receive the notification of a message received in a chat or mail application, you may be shown the reply button. This all depends on each app, each one can offer different types of direct interactions to interact with notifications without entering the app itself.
Use one-handed mode
Today’s mobiles are getting bigger and bigger, and therefore sometimes you may not be able to use them well if you only have one free hand. For this, you can adapt the interface to adapt it and use the one-handed mode.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on Accessibility .
- Now, click on System controls .
- In here, click on One-handed mode and activate the option.
Show or hide the battery percentage
Now we are going with a quick trick, one of those that expert users master, but if you are new it can help you. Depending on the customization layer, your Android mobile will show or not show the percentage of battery you have left. This is something that you will be able to change to your liking to display or hide.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Battery .
- Lower and enable or disable the Battery Percentage option .
Change how many icons you see on the desktop
Another way to personalize your mobile is to change the number of icons you see on the desktop, modifying the grid that distributes these icons on the desktop. This is a classic option with which you will be able to choose between four or five columns of icons vertically, always with another five horizontally.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Style and wallpaper .
- Click on the App Grid option .
- Here, choose the layout you want for your grids. Above you will have a preview of how it looks.
Learn to use Digital Wellbeing
Digital Wellbeing is one of Google’s proposals to reduce the use of mobile phones. Thanks to it, you can have tighter control over what you do with your mobile, how long you use it, and add some restrictions. Although the manufacturer of your mobile may have eliminated the option, in the base version of Android 12 it still is.
You will see it within the settings, and its main interface will show us the time of use, the number of unlocks and the notifications received during the day. In the same way, we can manage the notifications that come to us, activate a rest mode so that no one bothers us for a certain period, and access a control panel where we will see the use of the phone in detail.
Save battery with the smart battery
One of the novelties that Android 9.0 Pie brought was the implementation of the intelligent battery system, with which Android tries to save battery by analyzing our usage patterns to know when to limit the consumption of the applications that we use the least. This is a function that is still present in Android 12, although it is not always activated by default.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the Battery option .
- Tap Smart Features Preferences .
- Now, activate the Smart Battery option .
Navigate between open applications
This is a little trick. In the Android touch controls, at the bottom of the screen, you have a point or a line that serves as a control. If you slide that lower point to the left or right, you will navigate through the applications that you have opened before or after the one you are in.
Pin an app on the screen
You will also be able to set an application on your Android mobile, a method for an application to stay in the foreground without being able to close it to use another. This can be useful in cases such as when you are going to lend your mobile to someone for a moment, and you want to rest assured that it will not leave an application and start gossiping on your mobile.
- Enter the mobile settings.
- Click on the * Security option.
- At the bottom, click on Pin apps .
- You will be able to activate the application fixation and choose the option to request your PIN for when you want to remove them.
- Now, in the open applications view, click on the icon of the application you want to set.
- In the menu that opens, click the Set option .
Mobile unlocked on trusted sites or devices
The Smart Lock function helps the mobile to be unlocked only in certain circumstances, such as when you are in a specific location when you have a trusted device such as a watch nearby, or it will simply remain unlocked while you have it on the move. A smart alternative to avoid having to unlock it non-stop when you use it the most.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Click on Security .
- Click on the Smart Lock option .
- The first time, you will have to enter your PIN.
- Now you can configure where and how to do the smart unlocks.
Share your WiFi by QR or Nearby
Android 12 has added a second way to share the WiFi you are connected to with someone who is with you so that you do not have to dictate a complicated password or give them a piece of paper with it so that they spend a long time writing it. You could already do it using a QR code, and now you can also use Nearby, the wireless system to share things with nearby Android devices.
All you have to do is enter the settings of the WiFi you are connected to, either from the quick settings or from the settings. Once there, click on the Share button that appears within the profile of this WiFi, next to the options to forget or disconnect. This will take you to a screen with the WiFi access QR, and below you will have a Nearby button to share it with this technology.
Face detection to rotate the screen
Android has long had a system to rotate the screen automatically so that if you put the mobile horizontally, it also rotates the entire interface of the system and the applications. But for those times when you can be lying horizontally but you are still looking at the mobile vertically, there is a function to detect the face to rotate, so that instead of the orientation of the mobile, what is taken into account is the orientation of your face.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- Tap on Display .
- Tap the Auto-rotate screen option .
- In addition to the auto-rotate option, you can also turn on the Enable Face Detection option .
- You will need to have a mobile with a fairly modern front camera to be able to use the option, in some, it will not appear.
Activate Android game mode
Google has added a game mode to Android 12, although in many cases it will appear hidden and disabled. When you find it and activate it, from whatever game you open you will be able to access the games panel, where you will have options to record them, optimize them or change their FPS. This panel will appear with a bubble on one side of the screen when you open a game.
- Enter your mobile settings.
- In the search engine above, look for the Game Settings option .
- Here, you can activate the game panel function or do not disturb mode when playing.
