The homescreen on your smartphone may not be something you think much about after setting it up, but it’s a core part of your overall user experience. The best Android phones offer unique homescreen features not found by other device manufacturers. Because of that, you might not be using these extra features to their fullest potential. You could easily miss out on multiple helpful homescreen shortcuts without knowing they were there. The Settings app, for example, provides a shortcut widget that gives you quick one-tap access to the numerous system settings.
This guide covers some of the most helpful Settings app shortcuts you can place on your Google Pixel’s homescreen.
This article targets Google Pixel smartphones, but some non-Pixel devices may offer similar functionality. You’ll have to check if the Settings app shortcut widget is available on your device.
How to add Settings app shortcut actions to your homescreen
Adding a shortcut to your homescreen is simple and can save you from having to scroll through endless menus. Regarding the Settings app on your smartphone, there are several homescreen shortcuts to choose from. In the sections below, we cover the ones that can be helpful to most average users.
To add a specific shortcut from the Settings app to your homescreen, check out the following steps:
- Long press any blank space on your homescreen, and then tap Widgets.
- Scroll down the list until you find Settings, then tap it to reveal the Settings shortcut. Alternatively, open the app drawer and long press the Settings app.
- Touch and hold the shortcut and then drop it onto your homescreen anywhere you like.
- Select Widgets and then drag and drop the Settings shortcut action onto your homescreen.
- You’ll now see the Settings shortcut screen with a list of all the available shortcut actions.
- Select a shortcut action from the list to place it on your homescreen for quick access. There are more than 20 shortcut actions available, with some being more useful than others.
1. Notification log
You likely get multiple notifications throughout the day, so managing them is necessary for staying organized. Occasionally, you may run into a situation where you accidentally swipe one away when you meant to view it. Although this can be annoying, should this ever happen to you, there’s an easy way to keep track of them.
The Notification log shortcut allows you to view a scrollable list of your recent notifications, even those you swiped away. The best way to access this screen is through the homescreen shortcut, making it a somewhat hidden feature.
Enable notification history to keep track of everything
By default, the Notification log feature you access from your homescreen only shows active or silent notifications. You can’t view the ones you accidentally swiped away just yet. To see your previous notifications with even greater detail, turn on the Notification history feature in your system settings. Once enabled, it shows a complete record of your recently dismissed notifications, allowing you to view them later.
To get started with that, check out the following steps:
- Go to Settings > Notifications > Notification history.
- Tap the Use notification history button on the right to enable the feature.
From this point, all notifications that come through are stored in the Notification history screen for viewing later. You can also find them by launching the Notification log homescreen shortcut mentioned above. These two features can work without the other, but combining them gives you faster access to your notifications directly from the homescreen.
2. System
Many of us get device updates monthly, typically including security patches, bug fixes, and performance optimizations. The System shortcut is an excellent way to check for system updates from your homescreen. This gives you easy access to the System update section, allowing you to kickstart the update process instead of waiting for the notification to pop up.
If you regularly check for updates through the settings menu, this shortcut makes it even easier to stay up to date. If you’re a power user using the Developer options feature, this shortcut helps you reach those settings quickly.
3. Passwords & accounts
As we slowly inch toward a truly passwordless future, we still need to continue using old-school passwords. This likely means you’ll access your saved passwords frequently, which the Passwords & accounts shortcut can help you with. If you keep your passwords safe using the Google Password Manager feature, you can create a shortcut to view them even faster. And with a recent update to the Google Play Services, you can now add a shortcut on your homescreen to access the Google Password Manager page directly.
You can also use the Passwords & accounts shortcut to manage the other accounts you might be signed in with, such as Facebook or Instagram. Having one-tap access from your homescreen to manage your accounts is helpful, especially when combined with the new Google Password Manager shortcut.
4. Data usage
If you’re stuck on a limited wireless data plan, you’ll want to keep track of the amount you consume each month. The Data usage shortcut allows you to check how much you’ve used up to that moment. You can even view how many days are left in your current billing cycle. This can be helpful if you plan to stream a few extra episodes of your favorite show on Netflix. You should also check your home Wi-Fi data usage to see how much you consume monthly, even if you don’t have a set data cap limit.
5. App info
The App info shortcut brings you to the All apps page, allowing you to view every app installed on your device. This enables you to access a specific app-related setting, such as clearing the cache, checking permissions, or changing notification options. You can also use this feature to find system apps that would otherwise be hidden from your app drawer. Managing the system app settings directly on your homescreen keeps things simple, making your life easier.
Place your homescreen shortcuts into their own folder for easy access
Since there are more than 20 Settings app homescreen shortcuts, you could end up with more than the ones outlined in the list above. Once you have all the shortcuts you want on your homescreen, you can combine them into a single folder. Just drag and drop one icon onto another to create a new folder, then bring the rest of the shortcut icons into that folder. If needed, you can name it something simple such as Settings or Settings shortcuts.
Simplify your smartphone experience with the Settings app homescreen shortcuts
These homescreen shortcuts can make your smartphone experience more manageable, allowing you to avoid digging through endless system settings. We mentioned only a handful of the many Settings app shortcuts currently available, but feel free to try any that aren’t listed here. You may find a few other shortcuts you didn’t know you needed, which is the best part of having many choices. You’ll want to use the shortcuts that matter to you the most, giving you the best benefits for your specific needs.
The Settings app homescreen shortcut widget can be helpful. However, there are more examples of hidden or forgotten Android homescreen shortcuts. Our guide covers various built-in system and app shortcuts that only some are aware of but should be using.
