9 tips and tricks to try on your phone

The Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro marked a major milestone in Google’s smartphone journey. Bolstered by a new and refreshed design alongside an in-house Tensor chip, they brought users the best of Google’s software capabilities.

With the success of the Pixel 6 series, Google introduced its budget-oriented Google Pixel 6a with most of the goodies of the flagship devices but in a smaller, more affordable package. The Pixel 6a inherited the same design with the distinct visor-like camera bump and chipset complete with all the new AI chops.

This article highlights some of those new features coming to the Pixel A series for the first time, with tips and tricks on using them to the fullest.

1. Quick Tap to take a screenshot

Although the three-finger swipe gesture has been around for some time, the default way to take a screenshot on Android involves pressing two buttons together (usually the power and a volume button). However, depending on the layout of the buttons, it can be a little finicky. On the Pixel 6, Google introduced the ability to take a screenshot by tapping the back of your phone. That gesture has also carried over to the Pixel 6a.

To use it, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > System.
2. Tap Gestures.

3. Select Quick Tap to start actions.
4. On the next screen, turn on Use Quick Tap. The first action of taking a screenshot is chosen by default.

5. Once set, tapping twice on the back of your phone takes a screenshot.

If you prefer a different function, such as playing/pausing media or launching Google Assistant, choose the appropriate option. If you inadvertently activate the double-tap feature, you can toggle on the option to require stronger taps for it to work.

2. Multilingual keyboard

If you’re a language juggernaut with mastery of multiple dialects, consider setting up a bilingual or multilingual keyboard. This removes the need to switch between languages when typing constantly. Here’s how:

1. Navigate to Settings > System.
2. Tap Languages & input.
3. Tap On-screen keyboard.

4. Select Gboard.
5. Tap Languages.

6. Tap Add keyboard.
7. Choose a language from the list.

8. Ensure Multilingual typing is turned on and finish the setup.

Now, when you type, the keyboard automatically detects the input language and predicts and corrects spellings for them without you having to switch manually.

3. Allow homescreen rotation

A typical smartphone’s tall, slender display means we use them in portrait orientation by default, only switching to landscape when gaming or using the camera app. But that doesn’t have to be the case. If you’d prefer to tablet-ify your phone by using it in landscape orientation, Pixel 6a has the option to rotate the homescreen.

Long press on the homescreen wallpaper and tap Home settings. Then, toggle the switch next to Allow Home screen rotation.

The rotating icon appears when you rotate your phone to landscape while on the homescreen, letting you do your thing. But if you want it to happen automatically, enable Auto-rotate in the quick settings shade.

4. Turn off At a Glance

Unlike the previous tips, this one involves turning off something rather than activating it. Google’s At a Glance widget is a handy tool that automatically displays weather conditions, important calendar events, travel plans, and more from your Gmail account. It’s available by default on Pixel phones, but you can turn it off if you find it intrusive.

Here’s how to turn off At a Glance:

1. Long press the widget and tap Customize.
2. Select At a Glance in the list.

3. Tap Turn off.

Disabling At a Glance won’t free up space to be used for other widgets or app icons. Plus, it disappears from both your homescreen and lock screen.

5. Turn off the Google Discover page

On a Pixel phone, swiping to the left while on the homescreen brings up the Google Discover page, whose feed is populated by trending news and videos on subjects you follow. But it doesn’t always work as expected. If you find the algorithm shows outdated and repetitive content, or it’s not your cup of tea, you can turn it off entirely.

Long press on the homescreen wallpaper and select Home settings. Next, toggle off the switch beside Swipe to access Google app.

6. Enable Live Caption

Whether you need it for accessibility reasons or are in a noisy environment, Live Caption is handy for enjoying media when you can’t hear the audio. The tool uses Google’s AI chops and years of study data to generate text for any media, including videos, podcasts, audio messages, and phone calls.

On the Pixel 6a, you can access Live Caption via the volume rocker. Tap the physical button to raise or lower the volume, and a small bubble appears to toggle the feature. From here, you can enable or disable it when needed.

If you don’t see it when pressing the volume buttons or want to customize the feature, go to Settings > Accessibility, tap Live Caption, and turn on Use Live Caption.

7. Quickly switch off mic or camera access

Privacy has been a huge aspect of Google’s latest Android releases. Android 11 introduced temporary access to location, microphone, and camera features using one-time permissions. Android 12 took things a step further, with icons showing when apps are using the camera or microphone. Android 13 extended the privacy dashboard to show seven days of information from 24 hours on Android 12.

Google also added quick toggles to cut all access to the mic or camera with a single tap. If you need to use this, drop the quick settings shade and tap the respective tiles.

If they do not appear, tap the pencil icon and add them to the existing quick setting toggles.

8. Flip to Shhh

Gestures have been a part of Android phones for years. While some have been gimmicky at best, others have turned out to be genuinely useful. One gesture that falls into the latter category is the ability to mute your phone by flipping it, and the Pixel 6a supports it.

It’s not a gesture that you’d use often. But when you’re in a meeting or out with friends and family, it comes in handy for silencing your phone without fiddling with menus. To activate it, navigate to Settings > System.

Then, select Gestures and toggle on Flip to Shhh.

9. Recent apps screen on steroids

The recent app screen is a basic part of every smartphone. For multitaskers, it comes in handy for finding minimized apps alongside a button to clear newly opened apps. Sometimes, it can recommend apps for you based on your usage.

Google makes the recent apps screen even more useful on the Pixel 6a with the inclusion of screenshot and text selection buttons. There are several ways to take screenshots, and this isn’t much of a game-changer.

On the other hand, the select button should come in handy for copying texts from apps without fully opening them. It might not seem like much, but it should reduce the time spent copying lengthy text between different apps.

Take full advantage of the Pixel 6a

Whether you’ve been using your Pixel 6a for a while or just joining the party, these tips will help you get the most out of the device. We’ve been using it ourselves, and here are the top things we love and hate about the Pixel 6a. You’ll also want to pick up a sturdy case to protect your new Pixel.