You updated you device to all new Android Lollipop? Don’t feel overwhelmed by all the new features and interface. Lollipop is unlike it predecessor; its faster and more feature rich. So here are some tips and tricks that can help you get familiar with Lollipop and at the same time use it with its full potential.
Tips and Tricks for Android Lollipop
Battery Saver
With the devices getting powerful, poor battery has to handle a lot of pressure. Fortunately, Lollipop has a built-in battery saver feature which can help you squeeze out extra juice when you really need it. Enabling it will reduce your device’s performance, block background processes and turn off vibrations. To enable battery saver, go to Settings > Battery > tap the menu button and setup. You can manually enable battery saver when you need to or set it to automatically turn on when the battery is at certain level, say 10% or 5%.
Set up Priority
Notifications marked as “priority” will be put on top of the list of notifications. This will also make these notifications or people to get through when the device is in Priority Mode. To set up what gets through Priority Mode, go to Settings > Sound & notifications > Interruptions and chose who or what gets through from the section titled Priority Interruptions. You can add contacts, calls and messages etc.
Restore previous Android device’s data
The restore settings have been changed and improved in Lollipop. Previously, when you signed into your Google account all the app that were previously downloaded would automatically download but sometimes they wouldn’t and you would have no choice but to manually download it again. Now, there has been some improvement and you’re able to restore to any device found in your account. Settings, wallpaper, and even launcher’s icon arrangement will be restored. Plus, it will also restore apps that you choose to restore.
Quick Settings
Lollipop’s improved Quick Settings has a lot of shortcuts to settings. You can turn on or off alarm, access battery settings to know how much it’ll take to reach 100%, go to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings, etc. There’s also a tile that displays’s your photo and when tapped will show your details and also allow you to switch to other connected accounts. There are some more settings shortcuts including screen orientation, toggle airplane mode, location, flashlight, and so on.
Time left till Full Charge
Lollipop tell you who long will it take for you device to fully charge. When you connect your charger, the lock screen will display the ETA until the battery is fully charged at the bottom of the screen. This is a simple feature but it will help you a lot, especially when you’ve planned to go out.
Flashlight
The users who used CyanogenMod will be familiar with this. Notification drawers has a tile for turning on the camera flash to use it as a flash light during emergencies. Now stock android users can also use this feature and forget about the trouble of searching 3rd party flashlight app from app drawer and turning it on when you need it.
Do not Disturb
Apart from Priority Mode, Lollipop also has a Do Not Disturb mode. If you enable this feature, Android will not disturb you with anything – no notifications, no calls, nothing. You can enable this feature by pressing the volume buttons and tapping on the NONE tab. You can enable this mode for indefinite time or schedule it to turn off after certain amount of time. Enabling this mode will not even allow the alarm to go off so use it wisely.
Hide Sensitive Contents
You can now hide notification contents you think are sensitive. You can mark individual apps as sensitive or let Android do it for you. To hide sensitive contents, go to Settings > Sound & notifications > When device is locked. You’ll find 3 options – show all, hide sensitive content and show none. Select “hide sensitive content” and select apps. Now the contents of the app’s notification will not be shown, instead you’ll only see “contents hidden” on the notification.
Pin Apps
This feature lets you lock your phone to just one app which is particularly useful when you need to lend your android device to a friend or colleague. This prevents viewing of personal information and sensitive contents on your device. You can enable this feature from Settings > Security > Screen pinning. Now you need to open the app that you would like to pin and press the Overview button. Scroll up and then tap the thumb-tack icon. The app is now pinned. To unpin an app, long-press the back and Overview buttons simultaneously.
Settings Search
There are a lot of settings in Android and for an average user, navigating through them to find what you need can be tiresome. Keeping that in mind Google has included search feature inside Settings. You can see a magnifying glass icon inside Settings app and it also appears inside most of the sub-settings. You can use it to find the settings without having to scroll and scroll and scroll.
Play Flappy Lollipop
Some know, some don’t but all the Android comes with a secret screen which is at most time interactive. But in Lollipop, a whole game has been included. It’s called Flappy Lollipop which looks like Flappy Bird. To play this game, go to Settings > About phone > tap Android version 5 times. Now tap the lollipop a couple of times, long press and then tap one last time.
Notification Customization
Customization is not a new concept for android but in Lollipop, it’s even better. You have full control over notifications and each app can be configured to send notifications only when you want to see them. You can block the notification, change its priority or set its as sensitive content. Blocking the notification will disable the notification of the app altogether, setting it to Priority will show notifications at the top of the list and allows it to be visible even when in Priority Mode and marking it as Sensitive will let the notification appear without reveling its contents. You can adjust these settings either by long-pressing the notification or by going to Settings > Sound & notification > App notifications.
Guest User Mode
You can now create a Guest User account and enable it whenever you are handing over your phone or tablet to a friend or colleague. You can also use this feature as a child account. To access Guest Mode, go to Settings > Users. When in guest mode, only stock apps can be accessed. User information and other apps can be accessed. It’ll look like a brand new device. You can change its settings to restricted and restrict selected apps for extra security.
Data Usage shortcut
The Quick Settings saves a lot of your time and has been improved a lot in this version of Android. You can access data usage drirectly from the quick settings and it will take you to cellular data’s settings. You can see the data you’ve used previously and set up limits. You can also see total data usage if you tap on More settings.
Smart Lock
Since it is your personal phone or tablet, it is always a wise decision to set up a lock screen security. But using pattern lock or pin lock as will slow you down and can often be irritating when you forget the combination. Keeping that in mind, Lollipop has a new feature called Smart Lock. What it does is, it makes your phone “trust” you. You can setup Trusted devices, Trusted face and Trusted place. If you add any Bluetooth or NFC device on Trusted devices, the lock screen will be disabled when they are connected. If you set up your face as a trusted face, it will scan your face every time you try to unlock your phone. You can also add places that you’ve added to your Google account as trusted places. When you are in those places, lock screen security will be disabled. Now you don’t have to constantly enter pins, passwords or patterns to unlock your device. Got to Settings > Security > Smart Lock to use this feature.
These are some of the feature that Lollipop has to offer. We’ve listed them to enhance your experiment but there are a lot more. Comment below and let us know if you have anything to share or you’ve found a feature that is not listed above. Ciao!
Also read:
- How to Use the Face Unlock Feature in Lollipop
- How to set up Smart Lock and Trusted Devices in Android 5.0 Lollipop?
- How to Restore Softbricked Device after Updating to Lollipop
