Miss the home button or hate alerts? Stop annoying smartphone features
When it comes to consumer tech, there’s a whole bunch of stuff to get excited about.
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Our smartphones help us do a lot of work, but that doesn’t mean we sometimes don’t want to throw them out the window. Here are the main complaints I heard and how to fix them:
1. Your screen brightness keeps changing
Apple’s Face ID doesn’t just unlock your phone. It can also tell you when to pay attention to your phone. If you look away, your screen dims and the alarm volume decreases.
Fluctuating brightness can be frustrating. You can turn this feature off.
• go set up > accessibility > Face ID and Attention.
• turn leave Pay attention to the perception function.
On Android, Adaptive Brightness or Auto Brightness uses sensors to adjust the screen to your environment. Sometimes it works well, but not always.
The steps will vary depending on your phone model, but this is a starting point.
• go set upThen exhibit.
• Look for adaptive brightness and toggle it leave.
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2. The person you’re talking to can’t hear you
When you’re on a call, your iPhone monitors the noise around you and tries to reduce it so the person you’re talking to can hear you better. This is a nice feature, but it can lead to “wait, what did you say?” too often.
First, check your microphone volume. Press the volume up button during a call to adjust. If people still can’t hear you, you can turn off noise cancellation.
• go set up > accessibility > Audio/Video and switch leave Phone noise reduction.
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3. You don’t want bloatware
Android phones are notorious for preinstalling apps you don’t want or need. These extraneous programs can slow down your phone and consume storage space and battery life.
There are several ways to get rid of bloat.
To delete apps from your Android phone:
• Open Google Play Store app.
• In the upper right corner, tap your profile icon.
• tap Manage apps and devices > manage.
• Click the name of the application To delete, then select uninstall.
Some applications cannot be deleted.You can press and hold the app and tap disabled Options – or you can hide them on some Android phones.
Hide apps by tapping and holding the app and dragging it to the “Remove from Home” box at the bottom of the screen. This doesn’t delete or disable the app; it just moves it out of sight.
hide apps in samsung phone
• open your app drawer,then click three points In the upper right corner.
• Open Home screen settings (Either set up).
• choose hide apps options.
• Select the applications you want to hide.
• by confirmation Application or complete button.
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4. Your group text is too verbose
Group messaging is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, but constant pings can be too much. Here’s how to mute conversations on iPhone:
• Open messagethen tap and hold a conversation.
• tap hide alert.
• You can also do this in a conversation by tapping your name at the top of the screen, then open hide alert.
This is a useful option, but you’ll still be notified if someone mentions you in a group text. You can also turn off such notifications.
• go set up > message.
• Scroll down to mentions and toggle leave remind me.
On Android, the steps to hide conversation reminders vary by phone model. try this:
• Open messagethen tap and hold a conversation.
• Click three dot icon In the upper right corner.
• choose mute notifications Open the settings for that contact or conversation.
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5. You miss the home button
The iPhone 8 was the last model with a home button. That was a long time ago, but I know it’s hard to change, and you still might miss it. You can’t fit a physical home button on your phone, but there’s a feature that gets you close:
• go set up > accessibility > touch > Assistive Touch.
• turn superior Assistive Touch. A button will appear on the screen.
• Under Custom Actions, change click, double click, and long press settings.
• If you want the closest home button experience, set click as home pagethen drag the button to the middle bottom of the screen.
• Now whenever you click on the virtual button, you will be taken to your home screen. Neat!
Keep your technical knowledge going
My popular podcast is called “Kim Comando today. Here’s a 30-minute feed of solid tech news, tips, and callers from around the country with tech questions. No matter where you get your podcast, you can search for it. For your convenience, click the link below to see the most recent one set.
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Learn about all the latest technologies The Kim Comando Show, the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and advises on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacking. For her daily tips, free newsletter, and more, visit her website: Komando.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
