Best 9 Android 12 Tips and Tricks to Know About

Google has unveiled the upcoming android version at the Google I/O event held recently. The developer preview of Android 12 was already there for few months but Google surprised us with a completely refreshed user interface, to which we didn’t even get a hint in the developer preview builds. The Android 12 comes with a lot more changes in the interface and at the core level as well.

Install Google Assistant on Windows 10 PC

The first public beta build of the Android 12 build has been released by Google and is ready to install on supported devices. If you want to know how to install 12 on your smartphone then follow our simple guide. And if already got it installed on your phone then here are some of the best tips and tricks for you to try on your phone.

Android 12 Notification History

Google has added the notification history feature on Android 12’s notification panel. Previously on Android 11, this feature was not properly baked into the system and it stays off by default. In Android 12, Google has added an option right into the notification panel to show the notification history, you can turn it on and off on that page.

To access it, just pull down the notification drawer then select History > Notification history, there you will see the toggle to turn it on and off. The Notification history page is pretty easy to use and you can clearly see the dismissed notifications list. It shows the notification history for up to 24 hours and the notifications are categorized according to the apps.

Android 12 App Hibernation

App hibernation is one of those features which got leaked previously this works a little bit differently than we expected. This feature pauses an app instantly and you have to do it manually. You can manually temporarily pause an app which completely stops that app’s background activities.

In that hibernation period, the app also won’t be able to send notifications. The app icon gets faded and you can’t access the app during that period. To pause any app, all you need to do is tap and hold on to that app icon and select the Pause app from the popup menu.

Home Screen App Suggesstions

Even though we got a refreshed user interface in Android 12 but the home screen still looks and works the same except for one little change. The App Suggestions is a new feature in Android 12’s home screen that shows you app suggestions on the home screen in the app bar.

Android 12 learns about your app using patterns and shows you the apps you use the most in the app bar. You can enable or disable this feature in the home screen settings. Tap and hold on to the home screen > Home screen > Suggestions, here you can disable one or both the suggestion options.

Android 12 Game Mode

Googles been adding all those important features from Android-based custom user interfaces. Last year we got the native screen recorded and this year we got native Gaming mode. This game mode comes with a bunch of options that come in handy when playing games.

The process to enable it is a bit complicated so we have a complete article about how to enable hidden Game Mode in Android 12. Once enabled, the game mode automatically turns on when you start a game. You get a small popup on the screen with a bunch of options.

Google Assistant Key

If your phone does not have a dedicated Google Assistant key and if you want one then don’t worry. Android 12 got your back. Google has added a feature that lets you use your smartphone’s power button to trigger the Google Assistant. This feature is already available on some smartphones running custom UI like ColorOS.

To enable this feature in Android 12, open Settings > System > Gestures > Power menu. Here you will find a couple of options, enable Hold for Assistant toggle here. Now, whenever you hold the power button, the phone will trigger the Google Assistant. Keep holding the power button for longer to get to the power menu.

Android 12 Extra Dim

Have you ever felt like that your smartphone’s brightness is higher when using it in bed at night even though it is at the lowest setting? Android 12 got your back there, it comes with an Extra dim feature that lets you lower the brightness lower than the lowest setting. You can also adjust the brightness in the extra dim feature to make your eyes comfortable.

To enable this feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Extra Dim, here you will see the toggle to enable that feature. Once you enable it, you will see a slider to adjust the intensity of this filter. There are two more options below the slider which are pretty self-explanatory so you can enable them if you want.

Disable Ads in Android 12

Android 12 has a feature that can access the app’s data on your phone to personalize your phone experience. But if you think this is a privacy breach, you can opt out of this easily. Just go to Settings > Privacy and disable Personalize using app data toggle. This will stop sending your app’s data to Google.

Google also built a universal opt-out of personalization feature to keep your data safe even if you bought a phone with custom UI. You will see this feature in almost every smartphone running Android 12 and you can easily enable that feature. Go to Settings > Privacy > Ads > enable Opt out of Ads Personalization.

One-handed mode

This is the feature that we expected to come last year in Android 11 but that didn’t happen. Almost every custom UI based on Android OS comes with a one-handed mode for smartphones and Google finally decided to add it to the vanilla Android OS. Just go to  Settings > System > Gestures > One-Handed mode > enable all the Toggles.

To trigger one-handed mode, all you need to do is just swipe down on the navigation gesture bar. This will shift the user interface down just like the reachability feature in iOS. You can even enable timeout for this feature so it switches back to normal mode automatically after a defined time period.

Adaptive Connectivity

Google has always tried to extend the battery life of Android smartphones using different methods. Adaptive Connectivity is a new feature in Android 12 which changes the connection mode to save the battery. It can automatically detect when you don’t need a faster connection and automatically dials down the connectivity option. To enable it, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Adaptive connectivity, here you can enable it using the toggle.

Conclusion

These were the nine best tips and tricks about the Android 12 so you can get the best out of the new OS on your phone. If you find more tricks about Android 12 then tell us in the comments.