There are lots of Pixel tricks that you might not be aware of. Things that are just a button away from being used but aren’t an obvious feature unless you like to dig through your phone’s settings.
Below are some of our favorite Google Pixel tips and tricks so that you can get the most out of your phone. Most of them work on every edition of the phone, so even you original Pixel owners should find this list very useful!
There’s a setting within your phone that, if enabled, will open the camera when you double-press the power/lock button. Whether you’re on the lock screen or in an app, the camera will immediately take over to give you those extra couple seconds you need to quickly take a picture or start recording.
To enable this, go to Settings > System > Gestures > Quickly open camera (or Jump to camera in some versions).
What’s neat about this feature is that it works entirely offline, so nothing is ever sent to Google and you can use it even without a data connection. From the settings is also a whole list of all the songs it’s identified. You can even make a shortcut to this list on your home screen to have instant access at any time.
Enable this through Settings > Sound & vibration > Now Playing (or Settings > Sound > Now Playing in some versions). Songs are displayed both on the lock screen and in the notification pull-down menu.
The next time you need to make a reminder, look up something, send a message, or check the weather, just squeeze the bottom half of your phone to get started.
Go to Settings > System > Gestures > Active Edge to enable this feature. It’s there that you can also adjust the squeeze sensitivity and make it work when your screen is off.
This works with everything but phone calls, music, and VoIP, so turn it on for live broadcasts, archived videos, podcasts, or anything else.
Enable Live Caption on your Pixel through Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption. On that screen is an option to show the Live Caption toggle on the volume control menu to make it much easier to turn on and off.
To take this a step further, you can even automatically screen calls. Spam calls can be auto-screened or silently declined so that you’re not even notified about them. You can also have first-time callers and/or private/hidden numbers screened.
Open the Phone app to take advantage of this Pixel tip. From the three-dotted menu at the top right, go to Settings > Spam and Call Screen > Call Screen for all the options.
All your photos and videos can be backed up to Google Photos, but as great as that is, you shouldn’t overlook the space-saving feature built-in to it. It will automatically erase all the images and videos on your device that are already safely backed up to Google Photos.
Here’s one way to do this: tap your profile image at the top right, and then choose Free up space, followed by Free up . This will recover potentially a lot of space on your phone that you can then use for other things like music, apps, and more photos and videos.
The extra tip you get as a Pixel owner is unlimited storage for all your photos and videos. This means you can take literally as many as you want, and store them all in your Google Photos account to never run low on local phone storage. As long as you use the Free up space button, you never have to use your phone’s storage to hold your pictures and videos.
The only catch is that depending on what Pixel model you have, you might be limited to uploading only high quality media files instead of original/full resolution ones. You can check the current limitations here.
Before you take a picture, slide over to Portrait. After it saves, your phone will automatically blur out the background of the subject, whether it’s a selfie or a photo you took of someone or something else.
You can even do this with other pictures saved in Google Photos (if it features a person) and pictures that you didn’t use Portrait mode on. Just use the edit button to adjust the Blur setting.
This is extremely handy if you find yourself using an app for the same purpose over and over, like to open a playlist in your music app or to compose a new email. Just open this little menu to jump right to the function you want. You can also drag the shortcut onto the home screen to speed things up even more.
Try it on any app you have to see if there’s a quicker way to get places. YouTube, Shazam, Messages, banking apps, Phone, Settings, Twitter, Maps, and web browsers are just a few examples.
When you’re ready to take a picture, tap Try Night Sight (if you see it) or swipe over to the Night Sight mode. After pressing the shutter button, wait a few seconds for the photo to finalize.
Learn how to use Night Sight on your Pixel for all the details.
You can still toggle Do Not Disturb manually; this tweak just lets you do it hands-free at a moment’s notice.
This is system gesture setting, so go to Settings > System > Gestures > Flip to Shhh to turn it on.
Go to Settings > Display > Dark theme to toggle this tweak.
Pixel users, however, can not only turn on auto-connections for public Wi-Fi hotspots but simultaneously pair it with a VPN managed by Google.
Using public Wi-Fi networks reduces your data usage, and VPNs help to secure your connection so that you can safely use your phone like you would at home.
To turn this on, go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences, and enable Connect to open networks. In some Android versions, the closest option is Settings > Network & internet > Internet > Network preferences > Notify for public networks.
Just say OK Google, take a picture, or OK Google, take a selfie, to start the countdown. You’ll have three seconds to position yourself or your group for a hands-free photo.
When you enable Lockdown, it turns off Smart Lock, disables biometric unlocking, and suppresses all notifications on the lock screen.
You might do this if you feel someone might soon force you to give up your phone. You can’t be coerced to provide your fingerprint because the fingerprint sensor is disabled, and messages and other sensitive information aren’t displayed on your lock screen.
Enable Lockdown in Settings > Display > Advanced > Lock screen display > Show lockdown option. To use it, just press-and-hold the power button and then tap Lockdown. Everything will go back to normal after you enter the passcode.
Simply swipe down on the sensor to view notifications, and swipe up to close them.
If your phone has a fingerprint reader, enable this trick here: Settings > System > Gestures > Swipe fingerprint for notifications.
