20 tips for your Android smartphone

Locate your Android phone, block unwanted calls, listen to YouTube with the screen off, record a call … Here are 20 tips for your Android smartphone!

All our advice to enjoy all the features of your Android smartphone. Photo credits: iStock / guvendemir

With 75.2% of the mobile market share in the world, Android is the operating system used by many smartphones. In order to better configure your device and adapt it to your needs, we offer you a list of tips.

Table of Contents

1. How to block unwanted calls

With the new versions of Android, it is becoming easier and easier to block calls from unwanted numbers on your phone. The easiest and fastest method is as follows:

Open the Phone app
Enter the “Call log” or “Recent calls” menu
Select the unwanted number or contact and press and hold
Click on “Block number” in the menu that has just been displayed. You can perform this same manipulation to unblock a number

Note: for Xiaomi and Huawei phones, it is necessary to first create a contact card with the unwanted number in order to be able to block it.

To unblock a number that no longer appears in the log or consult your blacklist:

Open the Phone app
Open the menu with the three dots and go to settings
Select Calls> All calls> Auto reject list

2. How to record a telephone conversation

There is no functionality internal to Android to record telephone conversations. If call recording applications are however available on the Play Store, it is possible that most of them no longer work with the arrival of Android Pie, Google having chosen to restrict the development of this type of device. application for legal reasons in some countries.

The only known exception is that of the MIUI overlay from the manufacturer Xiaomi, where it is possible to activate call recording in the settings.

Another tip for recording a call on Android is to:

download a dictaphone application on Android,
start recording before the call,
put the call on speaker.

3. How to listen to YouTube in the background

To listen to YouTube in the background on your smartphone:

Open your Chrome browser on your phone
Enter the YouTube URL address in the search bar (don’t go to the app!)
On YouTube, click on the little dots at the top of the window and select “Desktop version”
Start your music, minimize the window. If the music pauses after the window is minimized, click the play button in the notification bar.

4. How to turn off geolocation on Android (and Google)

On Android, turning off location is easy. Open your notifications menu and click on the icon to turn GPS tracking on / off.

To prevent Google from saving your location history, go to the Maps application on your smartphone:

Once on the map, click on the search bar menu> Settings> Personal content, and scroll down until you find the location settings.
In this menu, you can view the location history, delete all or part of the location history.

5. Configure the “locate my device” feature

Open your phone’s Settings app
Click on “Security and Location” or on Google> Security, depending on your device
Tap Find my device and enable the option if it’s disabled

This procedure ensures that the phone can be found in the event of loss or theft. You can follow this tutorial to find your Android smartphone .

6. How to share your connection with a mobile, PC or tablet

Go to Settings> Connections> Mobile hotspot and modem
Activate the mobile access point to share a wireless connection or select the “USB Modem” mode to share your phone connection with a USB cable

7. How to Backup Your Android Phone Data

Note: it is possible to activate the automatic data backup function when configuring your device for its first use. Then:

Go to Settings, find the backup menu and select “Data Backup”.
Select where your data is stored, make sure you have enough space.

Some manufacturers offer software to allow you to make a backup of your device and keep all the data (application, contacts, SMS, etc.) from your computer, here is the list:

Samsung Smart Switch
Huawei HiSuite
LG PC Suite
Sony Xperia Companion
Xiaomi Mi PC Suite

8. Manage subscriptions and payments on Android

To manage your subscriptions on Android:

Open the Google Play application and go to the menu represented by three superimposed bars
Click on subscriptions
Find the applications to which you have subscribed to manage your offers

9. How to configure credit cards and your Paypal account on Android

To manage payment methods on Android:

Open the Google Play application and go to the menu represented by three superimposed bars
Open the “Payment methods” menu: in this insert you can add a credit or debit card, add a paysafecard, add a Paypal account or even use a promotional code

Note: returning to the Google Play menu, you can also find the “Settings” insert below, in which you can activate or deactivate parental controls, moderate purchases with fingerprint authentication, etc.

10. How to uninstall system apps on Android

There are two solutions to remove default installed apps from Android device. The first is to simply disable apps from settings:

Go to the Device Settings app
Select the application management menu
Display the list of all apps and select the one you want to remove
Then press deactivate

If you wish to reactivate this application, you will have to follow the same path and click on “reactivate”. This method does not completely remove applications and they still remain in the phone memory. However, this prevents them from running and removes the shortcut icon in the device.

For reasons of security and device integrity, do not delete system applications. These are named: com.android.email, com.android.gallery3d, com.android.soundrecorder etc.

The second solution is to root your Android device. By rooting your phone, you have the administrator rights of the device, so you can fully control it. The operation is not without risk and the method differs between phone models and Android versions. Make sure you do your research before you start rooting an Android device. If this method makes it easier to remove an application, improper handling can turn your smartphone into a simple inert brick.

11. How to change your PIN code

On your smartphone, go to the security or phone lock settings.
Select the SIM card lock menu> change your PIN code

12. How to transfer contacts between two Android phones

Your contacts are automatically synced to your Google account. But if you prefer to use a solution other than Google to synchronize and save your contacts on your phone, there are several methods.

Go to settings> Backup and restore> Back up my data
Select the backup settings and select the data you want to transfer (here contacts, but also messages, applications etc …)
Once the backup file is created, you can store it or send it to the cloud and transfer it to your other smartphone

Another alternative:

Go to your phone book
Select the option “Export contacts” or “Manage contacts” depending on your phone model
Your phone will create a file in .vcf or .csv format that you can transfer to your other smartphone. This can be done via cloud sharing or file transfer via USB.

13. How to import contacts from iPhone

In the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” menu of your iPhone, click on the “Add a Google account” option.
During the synchronization step, select your contacts to transfer. Your iPhone contacts will automatically sync with the Google account.
Once on your Android phone, your data will be synced when you are logged into your Google account.

Another alternative:

On iCloud, go to the Contacts page and export them to vCard format. Refer to the procedure above to transfer them to Android.
On iTunes, go to the “information” menu and synchronize your contacts with Google Contacts.

14. How to sync Gmail and Android contacts

To synchronize your contacts between Gmail and those on your Android phone:

Go to your phone settings
Select your menu concerning your accounts and synchronization
Click on your Gmail account> synchronize the desired data

15. How to save the battery of your Android phone

There are many causes of loss of battery life, as are the solutions to save energy. Find our complete guide to saving battery on your smartphone .

16. How to personalize your Android phone: themes, applications, keyboards, widgets…

Do you want to give your phone a little more personality, images, colors, atmospheres that suit you? Here is our complete file for you to find out how to personalize your Android smartphone .

17. How to backup your data, photos, SMS and contacts

Like many electronic devices, the smartphone has a limited lifespan. To make sure you don’t lose any data in the event of loss, theft or simply changing your phone, learn how to save your documents in our dedicated article.

18. How to free up storage space on your Android phone

Is your internal memory full and you want to clean up to save a few GB of storage? Here are our solutions to free up memory on your smartphone .

19. How to reset an Android smartphone

Need to reset your smartphone to factory settings ? Find our article to find out how.

20. How to turn off Facebook background location on Android

We all know that Facebook can sometimes be a little intrusive … To be sure that the application does not spy on your every move, find our tip for deactivating geolocation