These Android Phone Shortcuts will make your life much easier when navigating around your smartphone. Thanks to these shortcuts, you can quickly get access to all manner of sections, apps, and utilities with the help of some simple home screen widgets.
Navigating menus and sub-menus can be annoying if you find yourself diving into certain portions of your Android phone on a daily basis. Being able to go right to where you need to be might be something you’ll really appreciate. Just keep on reading to learn the secrets to smooth android phone surfing.
Learn about Android Phone Shortcuts
Data Usage counter Tip
Want to keep a track of your data plan and don’t want to constantly go to the settings menu? Find the Settings app and long-press to open the Widgets sub-menu or simply long-press a blank region on your Android home screen and find the Settings widgets panel.
Select “Settings shortcut” > drag to your home screen > Data usage. Tapping this icon will instantly take you to the “Data usage” page usually found by heading to Settings > Network/Connections > Data usage.
Connected devices Lookup shortcut
Want to check what devices you have connected via Bluetooth to your phone? Long-press a blank area of your home screen to add a widget > Select “Settings shortcut” > drag to your home screen > Devices.
From here you can check just what accessories and devices you have connected. It goes beyond simply the last or currently connected indicator you’ll find attached to the Bluetooth toggle found within Quick Settings.
Notifications and notification history
Dismiss a notification and want to see it again? If you have Pixel which is running Android 11 or newer. Then you can view a log of every notification you’ve received on your device. You can also select this shortcut to just access the dedicated Notification panel if you prefer that.
Being able to see your Notification log is more helpful for most people. And is a recommended Android shortcut to use here. Long-press a blank space on your home screen > Select “Settings shortcut” > drag to your home screen > Notification or Notification log.
Compose an email or message
The process is the same but using Gmail as an example. Find the app and long-press the icon to launch the pop-up quick menu. Drag the “Compose” or “New conversation” option to your home screen for a super quick access toggle right at your fingertips.
Google Assistant routines
If you use the Assistant to run daily routines, you can set shortcuts to instantly launch specific routines. Without needing to speak or activate the voice assistant. You can do this a number of ways, but the easiest is to open the Google Home app > Tap your profile image > Assistant settings > Routines. From here you can create a new routine or use an existing preset.
Open a Routine and you should see a phone icon with an arrow in the upper right. Tap this and you’ll be able to add this to your home screen. Tapping the icon will instantly launch the actions — no matter how intricate — you have set for this specific routine.