Here are a few features that can make using your Android phone more convenient and safer.
Feature 1. Remote Control
If you have lost your phone or stolen it, you can remotely, via a computer or tablet, track its location and, if necessary, block it. However, Android developers for some reason rather “deeply” hid this option in the settings.
To activate it, go to the "Settings" menu, then select the "Security" section, the "Device Administrators" subsection - here we select the "Android Remote Control" item.
All you need to do in this paragraph is to click on the “Enable” button.
Now that the option is activated, you can control the device through your Google account. If geolocation is enabled on the phone, it will also be possible to track its location.
Remote control of the smartphone is carried out using three optional icons: “Call”, “Block” and “Clear” (for these functions to work, the lost phone must be connected to the Internet).
When using the “Call” option, a call will be sent to the phone and it will play music at maximum volume for some time. Thus, the owner of the smartphone, having tracked its location and arriving there, will be able to quickly find his gadget, even if it is hidden by tall grass, forest vegetation or lies on some other surface where it is difficult to detect. Or, if this phone was forgotten in a public place, there is a chance that passers-by / acquaintances / colleagues will pay attention, find it and return it to its rightful owner.
The option “Block” locks the device and resets its current access password.
The “Clear” function will delete all data from the phone’s memory, depriving attackers of the opportunity to obtain personal or important business information stored on it.
Function 2. Get rid of spam
Installed applications over time begin to send various advertisements and other "spam" information (especially free games "sin" this).
Getting rid of annoying notifications is easy enough. To do this, go to "Settings", and then to the "Application Manager" section. Here we must find the culprit of "spam" - that program that sends unnecessary information.
Going into the application profile, select the "Notifications" item, and prohibit the distribution of notifications by this program.
Feature 3. Data Encryption
For those who are well versed in the Android operating system, recovering deleted data is not a problem.
On the one hand, it seems and is not bad that all files can easily be returned again from nonexistence. However, in the case when the phone on which some personal information, documents, photographs, etc. were lost or stolen, even remote wipe of the memory does not guarantee the impossibility of their recovery and subsequent use by outsiders.
The solution to this problem is simple - pre-encrypt the data. To enable encryption, go to "Settings", select the "Security" section, and then select the "Encrypt device" option (in addition to the memory of the phone itself, you can enable encryption for files on the SD card, additionally selecting the corresponding option located here )
Activating this option makes all the files in the phone’s memory encrypted in a special way until the owner enters the correct password or logs in using a fingerprint scan.
It should be remembered that the operation is not simultaneous. If many files are stored on your phone, their encryption can take a long time (from an hour or more). If the encryption procedure is interrupted, some of the data may be lost.
Function 4. Display contact information on the main screen
The following function can also help recover a lost phone. Suppose a good Samaritan finds him and wants to return him. But how can he contact the owner of the device? If you have a password or a fingerprint scanner, this will not be easy.
Therefore, it would be nice to display any contact information on the main screen: mail address or landline phone number. And such a function is present on Android devices!
To set this useful option, go to “Settings” → “Lock screen” → “Owner information”. In this section you can specify the address e mail or another phone number (or both)
This data can be seen even with the phone screen locked.
Feature 5. Hidden Games
Finally, a bit of fun. Many users of Android devices have probably heard that the developers of this "OS" (starting from version 2.3) insert the so-called "Easter egg" into the system - a hidden mini-game. However, not everyone knows how to run it on their smartphone, since this requires a number of - unobvious - actions.
For example, owners of phones with Android version 6. Marshmallow can play a rather difficult toy where you need help the robot fly over obstacles; owners of devices with the Android 7 system can catch cats appearing on the screen; Android 8 Oreo users can have fun by dragging a virtual octopus across the screen.
In this article, we will discuss the launch of a proprietary secret game in the version of Android 6. Marshmallow.
In order to access it, you must go to the "Settings" menu and open the "About the device" section. In this section we find the line “Android version” and quickly click it several times.
After that, a circle appears on the screen with a marshmallow drawn inside, stylized as the head of Androida. If at the moment you quickly click on this image and then “hold” it a little (“long” press) - the system will launch a hidden mini-game (by the way, the “easter” in Android 8 launches in the same way).
It - like the entertainment in the previous version of the system - is made in the style of the Flappy Bird game (where the player must control a bird that needs to - without touching anything - fly between rows of pipes, stone blocks, lollipops and other obstacles).
The hidden game in the sixth version of Android offers you to lead the Android robot between the marshmallows sticking out from above and below.
By the way, the task is quite difficult, because it is important to "dose" the touch. It is necessary to overexpose a little or, on the contrary, not to hold a finger on the screen - and the robot crashes into an obstacle.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading the article. Use the hidden functions of your smartphone, and it will become even more convenient to use it, and the information stored on it will receive additional protection.
To be continued.