From dark mode to Do Not Disturb, here are 5 tricks to use your Android smartphone at its best
If you've recently bought a smartphone for sure at the beginning you'll be excited and amazed by its responsiveness, how long the battery lasts and how smoothly everything "runs". Enjoy it, because it won't last long.
All Android smartphones (and actually iPhones as well), in fact, lose their shine after a while and it's absolutely normal that they do. However, there are some basic tricks to keep your device in shape, settings that in the long run are good for performance and battery. There are 5 easy tricks that allow you to make the battery age less quickly, keep the screen young and make it last longer that feeling of cleanliness that offers a new smartphone. Putting these tricks into practice is not only very simple, but also highly recommended.
Smartphone Battery Tricks
Since Android 9, Google has introduced a new battery management/optimization system. A system recently refined in Android 10, which optimally manages battery usage by "studying" our typical smartphone usage. With stock Android 10 to activate it just go to Settings > Battery > Energy Saver and choose "Based on your routine". Another trick, which is good for both the battery and the screen (but also for your eyes), is to lower the brightness of the display. Just pull down the shade and turn off the automatic brightness, and then manually set it to 50-60% maximum.
Use Dark Mode
Dark mode is the next step after the trick we just described to you: it reduces battery consumption, turns off screen pixels, rests your eyes during the evening hours. You can activate it both at app and OS level (if you're using Android 10), and if your display is OLED it works wonders: your battery will last up to 30% longer.
Clean up the home screen from useless icons
The big advantage of an Android smartphone over an iPhone, in terms of usability, is that you can keep the home screen clean and free of useless icons, so you can quickly find the apps you need without having to search through all the others. Each installed app "deposits" its icon on the screen by default, but we can delete it manually or set the smartphone so that this doesn't happen. Just make a long tap on a free part of the home screen and choose, from the menu that appears, "Home Settings". Here we will find a toggle "Add icons to Home screen". Let's deactivate it.
Use Do Not Disturb
This trick is all about our well-being: let's learn how to use the Do Not Disturb feature, especially if we usually sleep with the phone on the nightstand. We find it in Settings > Audio > Do not disturb and we can program it to our liking. We can disable all audio notifications but, if needed, we can also set exceptions.
Let's protect ourselves from device theft or loss
The last trick that everyone should put into practice is related to the "Find My Device" feature, which is used to track the location of the smartphone in case of theft or loss. By going to Settings > Security > Find My Device we'll be able to activate it and be a little safer if our smartphone is no longer found.