Changing these 10 settings on my Pixel phone gave it a nice performance boost

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Google Pixel telephones are infamous for having hidden settings that may enormously improve the person expertise.
• The record contains choices for ramping up the show refresh fee, optimizing the battery life, and gestures.
• I demo them on a Pixel 9a working on Android 15, however newer and older software program variations ought to have related capabilities.

With so many Google Pixel fashions out within the wild, you might be questioning if now could be the most effective time to improve and swap telephones. Maybe a greater query to ask is how one can optimize your present gadget to make it last more. 

Like any Pixel phone, the most effective options typically aren’t enabled by default. I’ve examined generations of Google Pixel telephones, and to attain the most effective person expertise, you virtually at all times should do a little bit of digging and analysis.

Additionally: The secrets that make Pixel 10 Pro the world’s smartest phone camera – from inside Google

That is why I’ve carried out the laborious give you the results you want and gathered the most effective, handiest suggestions under, all of that are based mostly on a Pixel 9a working Android 15 and 16. Relying on which Pixel mannequin and Android model you are utilizing, the precise menu places might fluctuate barely, however the settings themselves are broadly obtainable throughout latest Pixel generations.

1. Allow Easy Show

Pixels proceed to ship with an excellent Actua 120Hz OLED display set to a extra conservative 60Hz by default. It is fantastic for battery conservation, however if you’d like buttery-smooth scrolling and animations that showcase the display’s full potential, activate Easy Show.

Additionally: 7 Google Pixel phone settings you should change immediately (and how to do it)

Go to Settings > Show > Easy Show and toggle it on. You may instantly discover a lift in responsiveness when scrolling by way of social feeds or navigating the UI.

2. Customise Fast Faucet

The Pixel’s Quick Tap function permits you to double-tap anyplace on the again of the telephone to set off customizable actions — however it’s not enabled by default. You may set it to launch the digital camera, take a screenshot, pause music, or open your favourite app.

Additionally: My 7 favorite new Android 16 features include delights for every Pixel user

Go to Settings > System > Gestures > Fast Faucet, then flip it on and select your most popular shortcut. I set mine to toggle the flashlight, which is available in very useful.

3. Maximize battery life with Adaptive Battery and Excessive Saver

Pixels have already got stable battery life, however Google’s battery-saving instruments take it even additional. Adaptive Battery learns which apps you utilize most and cuts energy to the remainder. Excessive Battery Saver shuts down predetermined non-essential apps to stretch energy for days.

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Allow each in Settings > Battery > Battery Saver > Adaptive Battery and Battery Saver > Excessive Battery Saver. You may as well set schedules for them to activate robotically when wanted.

4. Personalize the lock display with At a Look

The Pixel’s lock display can grow to be a mini command middle in case you activate its smarter widgets. At a Look can present flight information, climate alerts, calendar occasions, and extra.

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All of this occurs by way of the Pixel Launcher. On the house display, faucet and maintain any open area and choose Residence settings, then faucet the settings icon for At a Glance. There, you may handle what varieties of data will seem and what information sources it faucets into (along with your permission, in fact).

As a bonus, your private home display will even showcase this information within the At a Look widget, so that you’re extra prone to catch these reminders and updates.

5. Improve Now Enjoying for even better tune identification

Now Enjoying is a cool function that auto-detects songs playing round you. The telephone shows that info in your lock display passively. Despite the fact that the database is spectacular and saved totally on-device, it might’t determine each tune on the market. That is the place Google Search is available in.

Additionally: I changed 8 settings on my Pixel phone to dramatically improve battery life

Head to Settings > Show > Lock Display > Now Enjoying and activate Establish songs taking part in close by. Then, activate Present search button on Lock Display. The subsequent time Now Enjoying comes up brief, faucet the lock display icon to ship that audio fingerprint to Google Seek for a second opinion. It does not at all times work, however when it does, you may be glad you probably did.

6. Allow app recommendations on the house display

The Pixel Launcher can floor app recommendations based mostly on private context like location, time of day, and your utilization habits.

Additionally: 6 Android home screen launchers that are better than your default

Faucet and maintain an open area on the house display and go to Residence settings > Strategies. Allow Strategies on Home Screen, then take away at the least one static icon from the underside row in your Residence Display. That spot will flip yellow and start to dynamically shift relying on utilization patterns. You may even apply this to the entire row if you’d like.

7. Arrange Dwell Translate and Interpreter Mode

Tensor-powered Pixels assist offline translation instruments. Dwell Translate permits you to robotically translate textual content messages in actual time.

Additionally: 6 hidden Android features every user should know – and how they make life easier

Go to Settings > System > Dwell Translate and Add a language. Relying in your alternatives, you may unlock totally different options like in-message translation, digital camera view translation, and Dwell Caption translation for movies. Interpreter mode nonetheless requires Google Assistant, which is turning into much less central now that Gemini is taking up.

8. Change your lock display privateness settings

By default, notifications seem in your lock screen, which suggests others may see your messages. I at all times modify this setting on my new Pixel gadgets.

Go to Settings > Notifications and set Delicate notifications to Off. This retains the sender and app seen however hides the message contents. For optimum privateness, go to Notifications on lock display and choose Do not present any notifications.

9. Use caller ID and spam ID to avoid wasting time and sanity

Pixel telephones actively filter spam and unknown numbers. With Caller ID and Spam, Google flags robocalls and different junk earlier than you even reply.

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Open the Cellphone app > Settings > Caller ID and Spam. Allow See caller and spam ID, and people incoming calls will likely be given a vibrant purple warning that is inconceivable to disregard. In case your Pixel exhibits the choice to activate Filter spam calls, I like to recommend activating that, which prevents these calls from ringing your telephone, as a substitute sending them on to voicemail.

10. Dismiss notifications throughout Pixel gadgets

This one is for the Pixel superfans on the market. When you personal a number of Pixel gadgets signed in with the identical Google account, you may sync notification dismissals throughout them.

Go to Settings > Notifications > Dismiss notifications throughout Pixel gadgets. Toggle on Dismiss on this gadget, grant notification entry, and select the apps you need synced. Ensure that to repeat the method in your different Pixel gadgets, and you will by no means see the identical notification twice between them.

Additionally: Sick of ads on Android? Change these 5 settings for more privacy – fast

A number of small tweaks can go a great distance towards making your new Pixel really feel sooner, smarter, and extra private. Whether or not it is your first Pixel or, like me, you’ve got misplaced depend at this level, taking a second to dig into these settings helps unlock a number of the better of what Google affords.

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