Your phone’s home screen might not be something you think a lot about after first setting up your phone. If you’re like, you might meticulously group your app icons into neat, organized folders so you can quickly get to your most-used apps. What you may not know is that many of your favorite apps will have convenient long-press shortcuts or widgets that allow you to jump directly to specific screens or actions. The same goes for the settings on your Google Pixel phone — you can easily set up one-tap access to numerous system settings right from your home screen.
How to add shortcuts to your home screen
Adding a shortcut to your home screen is simple, but it can significantly benefit your user experience depending on the app. This is how you do it:
- Long-press any blank space on your home screen, then tap Widgets.
- Scroll down the list until you find Settings.
- Touch and hold the shortcut, then drop it onto your home screen.
- A menu will then be displayed so you can choose which setting you’d like the shortcut to point at.
Alternatively, you can open the app drawer then long-press the Settings app. From there, hit the Widgets shortcut, then drag and drop the shortcut onto your home screen. Both ways will work out just the same, so it doesn’t matter how you do it.
Once you select a shortcut from the list, it will automatically be placed onto your home screen for you. At the time of writing this guide, there are 23 settings widget shortcuts available. These are the five that we think are the most useful because they help you quickly access settings that are otherwise somewhat buried.
1. Notification log
Notifications are a key strength of Android, especially compared to iOS, although it can be annoying when you accidentally swipe one away without seeing what it was. Thankfully, there’s a way to see a log of every notification that fires on your phone.
The only way to access this screen is through this shortcut, so it’s certainly one of the more hidden features in Android
Enable notification history
By default, the notification log only shows you your currently active or silent notifications. However, there is a way to view your previous notifications, even ones that you’ve swiped away. If you’d enjoy tracking your notifications with more detail, do the following:
- Open Settings > Notifications > Notification history.
- Enable the feature by tapping the Use notification history button on the right.
At this point, all notifications that come through will be tracked and stored in your notification history and log. You can now use the Notification log shortcut on your home screen to quickly glance at any notifications you may have missed.
2. System
One of the best everyday uses for this shortcut is to check for system updates from the home screen quickly. We get system updates every month of the year, occasionally more if important bugs need to be fixed. These monthly updates also include security patches and enhancements to the system, so it’s (usually) a good idea to upgrade as soon as possible. If you’re regularly heading to the System update screen to mash that Check for updates button, this shortcut will save you a bit of time.
Some updates are more beneficial than others, so it makes sense to grab them as soon as possible rather than waiting for the auto-update notification. If you’re a power user who uses developer options, this shortcut also helps you reach those settings just as quickly. You can make use of this dual-purpose shortcut regardless of your experience as an Android user.
3. Passwords & accounts
As we slowly inch towards a passwordless future, we still need to enter passwords multiple times per day. If you save them to Google, it’s easy to access them from your Pixel phone so you can grab them for entry on other devices. This shortcut helps you get there faster.
As well as viewing your stored passwords on this screen, you can also manage other accounts you’re signed into on your phone.
4. Data usage
Whether you’re stuck on a limited data plan or you just prefer to keep your bill lower, you’ll likely want to keep track of the data you use. This shortcut will allow you to check your monthly data usage instantly from your home screen. It’s beneficial in various situations, especially if you plan on streaming a few extra episodes of your favorite show on Netflix.
Even if you don’t have a limited data plan, you might want to check your Wi-Fi usage. It’s also just interesting to see how many gigabytes of data you’ve gone through in one month.
5. App info
Sometimes you need to access a specific app-related setting, such as storage, permissions, or notifications. This shortcut makes it easy to access all the extra settings for your installed apps from your home screen, including the hidden system apps.
Once you have all the shortcuts you plan on using placed on your home screen, you can combine them into a single folder. Just drag and drop one icon onto another to create a folder, then drag the others into it. You can name the folder something simple such as Settings, if it doesn’t do it for you automatically.
This article targets Pixel users, but some non-Pixel devices may also offer similar functionality. Check to see if the settings shortcut is available for you.
These are just a few examples of useful home screen settings shortcuts, but there are lots of other options. Are there any others that you often use on your home screen? Let us know in the comments below.
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