5 settings I at all times change within the Android Cellphone app

It is a common joke within the tech biz as of late, but it surely’s true — usually, we neglect that our smartphones are alleged to make telephone calls. It is simpler to shoot somebody an e-mail or a textual content message, and telephones serve 1,000,000 different functions, from video games and fitness tracking to social media and recording rides. The best way Apple’s advertising goes, you’d assume most Hollywood motion pictures have been shot utilizing iPhones.

In case you really do wish to use your Android telephone for its nominal function, there are a variety of settings you may change to get probably the most out of it. Notice that these are simply the tweaks I choose after I get to day by day an Android system. It could be price exploring settings by yourself, merely utilizing the recommendations beneath as a place to begin. I will add that not each Android telephone goes to share the identical menu labels, and even the identical choices in some instances, so I am not going to delve (too) deep into directions.

Enabling Name Display screen

The very best is reserved for the Google devoted

One in every of finest options of iOS 26 is elective call screening, however as with a lot of iPhone options, it appeared on Android gadgets first. This allows you to immediate a caller to clarify who they’re and why they’re calling earlier than you reply — if you happen to reply in any respect. Alternately, you may reply with canned or AI-generated responses, the latter tailor-made to what the caller really mentioned throughout the screening course of.

There are a couple of limitations. Non-Google Android gadgets solely assist handbook screening at most, triggered by tapping Display screen name when your telephone rings. And even then, handbook management is simply accessible in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Eire, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US. In case you do not see the choice seem in any respect, strive opening the Cellphone app and going to Extra -> Settings -> Spam and Name Display screen/Name Display screen.

In case you personal a Pixel system and stay within the US, you may activate automated screening by going to the identical menu. One benefit of this (assuming you have got a Pixel 7 or later) is that you could select various levels of safety. All ranges will block identified spam — however you may restrict screening to “suspicious” (probably faked) numbers if you happen to do not wish to interrogate each quantity that is not in your contact listing. I might suggest full screening if you happen to’re usually bombarded by spam. The partial possibility could also be helpful if you happen to’re anticipating calls from new numbers, like shoppers or job recruiters.

Turning on Caller ID bulletins

Train warning

If there’s something on this listing that is sure to upset you, it is in all probability this one, and I perceive why. It may be annoying sufficient when a telephone rings in public, not to mention the concept of an artificial voice proclaiming the identify or quantity. And if you happen to’re the one that owns the system, you might not need your non-public life revealed out loud, or blasted in your ear.

I take advantage of my telephone beneath very explicit circumstances, nevertheless. If I am not alone in my dwelling workplace, I am probably in my automobile, on the gymnasium, or driving my EUC. Having calls introduced will not be solely high-quality, however generally important — I am unable to precisely verify my display after I’m beneath a loaded barbell or carving down a motorbike path.

You may alter this characteristic within the Cellphone app by going to Extra -> Settings -> Caller ID announcement -> Announce caller ID. Most individuals ought to in all probability select Solely when utilizing a headset, which might prevent bother once you’re preoccupied the way in which I’m, however with out telling everybody your private enterprise. The opposite choices are All the time and By no means.

Disabling Name Bubbles

Helpful however distracting

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Google

When Android first gained messaging bubbles a few years in the past, I used to be blissful, largely as a result of it promised simpler multitasking at a time when that was missing within the OS. However the extra I used it, the extra irritated I turned, as a result of these bubbles have been getting in the way in which of interface components in different apps. I did not want a reminder that I had an ongoing dialog, and Android’s present multitasking interface makes it easy sufficient to modify apps.

With regards to the official Cellphone app, bubbles are on by default. They do have their worth — aside from making it simpler to renew a name, you may mute it, put it on speakerphone, or dangle up with out having to go anyplace. However if you happen to’re experiencing the identical frustrations as me, comply with these steps:

1. Faucet and maintain the Cellphone app icon.
2. Faucet Information (i).
3. Choose Superior -> Show over different apps.
4. Lastly, toggle Permit show over different apps.

Activating Flip to Slience/Flip to Shhh

One other edge for Pixel homeowners

This setting is one I am not often able to make use of, since my telephone is usually in my pocket or sitting on a stand, but it surely’s good to have the choice. As its identify suggests, this allows you to flip your telephone over to mute an incoming name. {Hardware} and software program buttons can accomplish the identical factor, however flipping is often simpler, say if a name wakes you up at 6AM and also you need nothing greater than to return to sleep.

On Pixel gadgets from the Pixel 2 onwards, Flip to Shhh is on by default. All it’s important to do is guarantee that your telephone is screen-up on a flat floor, then flip it upside-down when the time comes. That “flat” half is vital — the choice depends in your telephone’s movement sensors, so it won’t work correctly in case your telephone is resting on one thing uneven like a sofa cushion.

And not using a Pixel in hand, you should still have entry to Flip to Silence. It is functionally related — you will simply must navigate to Settings -> Superior -> Flip to silence within the Cellphone app. If you cannot discover the choice, it is perhaps price exploring different menus, however there may be the likelihood that your telephone is not suitable.

A bit of counter-intuitive

Okay, you’ve got acquired me on a technicality — you may’t really set customized ringtones by way of the Cellphone app. However that is some of the vital issues for me on any system, since if I hear my spouse’s tone, I do know to choose up instantly. If it is a generic ringtone, I ought to in all probability verify the incoming quantity first, since many of the calls I get are spam.

So how do you set a ringtone for particular person contacts? Sometimes, that is the method:

1. Obtain or copy the audio file you wish to use to the Information app.
2. Open the Google Contacts app.
3. Choose the Repair & handle tab on the backside.
4. Underneath Different instruments, select Contact ringtones.
5. Faucet Add contact ringtone.
6. Decide a contact, then the ringtone you wish to use.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for as many customized tones as you wish to use.

The large catch to that is that whereas contacts sync between gadgets utilizing the identical Google Account, ringtones do not. You may put your favourite information in Google Drive, however you will must reassign them to every contact when you arrange a brand new telephone.