Android buries some of its best tricks three menus deep. Most owners use a fraction of what their phone can do.
Updated August 08, 2026, after a fresh review, with updated visuals and links.
These seven features are all built in, take seconds to enable, and honestly change how the phone feels day to day.
Pitfalls worth skipping
- Exact menu names vary by brand. If a path differs, the Settings search bar finds every feature mentioned here by name.
- App pinning confuses people who forget it's on: just hold Back and Recents with your PIN to unpin.
How to do it
- 1. Pin your apps for lending the phone. Settings, Security, App pinning. Pin an app before handing the phone over and the borrower cannot leave it without your PIN. Kids, coworkers, random cousins: handled.
- 2. Split screen multitasking. Open the Recents view, tap the app icon at the top, Split screen. Maps on top, chat on the bottom, and it feels like a second monitor in your pocket.
- 3. Quick Tap on Google Pixels (or gestures elsewhere). Settings, System, Gestures. Double tap the back of the phone to open the camera or take a screenshot. Samsung has its own gesture suite under Advanced features. Either way, buttons become optional.
- Screenshot on back tap is the crowd favorite
- Camera on double press of power works on nearly every Android
- 4. Notification history. Settings, Notifications, Notification history. Swiped away something important by reflex? It's all logged here for 24 hours.
- 5. Live Caption for any audio. Press volume, tap the Live Caption button. Any video, podcast or voice note gets real time subtitles on screen, offline. Watching videos in silence without headphones, solved.
- 6. One handed mode. Settings, System, Gestures (search 'one handed' if it hides). The screen slides down so your thumb actually reaches the top. Big phones become usable one handed again.
- 7. Bedtime mode that grays the world. Digital Wellbeing, Bedtime mode. At your chosen hour the screen goes grayscale and notifications quiet down. Color is addictive; gray is not. Your sleep notices within days.
Pro tips without the attitude
- Turn WiFi off in quick settings with a long press to see the detailed panel half of Android hides from people.
- The Gboard clipboard saves copied text for an hour: tap the clipboard icon once while typing and reuse anything.
- Developer options unlock animation scales to make the phone feel twice as fast. Covered in a separate Tutomod guide.
Before you ask
Are these available on every Android?
Split screen, app pinning and bedtime mode are standard. Quick Tap is Pixel exclusive; other brands have their own gesture extras.
Do these drain battery?
Live Caption uses some power while active. The rest are free.
Keep reading
- How to Block a Number on Android (Calls, Texts and Spam)
- How to Scan a QR Code on Android Without Installing Anything
- How to Free Up Storage on Android Without Deleting Your Photos
That covers it
Pick three, turn them on, live with them for a week. Settings you never opened become the features you'd refuse to give up.
