While Motorola’s regular slab phones might not be top-quality Android phones, the company makes some of the best flagship phones in the foldable category. However, no matter what form factor or price range you choose, you can’t get the best experience out of that device right after the first boot. That’s because Motorola’s handsets have useful features that are turned off by default and buried under settings.
This is also true for phones from other brands, but deciding what features should be available at first boot varies across companies. If it’s a Motorola handset running Hello UI, change these six settings to get the best experience from your handset.
6
Enable Overcharge protection
Prevention is better than the cure
Motorola is criticized for its software update policy not being on par with those of its competitors. While software support plays a significant role in determining how long you should hold onto your handset, updates aren’t in your hands after you buy a phone. Instead, pay attention to other factors, such as the battery for better longevity of your phone, and avoid taking it in for a repair to change the power source occasionally.
You can’t change the battery capacity, but you can reduce its degradation, a common phenomenon in Li-ion batteries. Motorola phones come with Overcharge protection that protects its phone batteries from fast degradation.
Keeping the phone at 100% charge for a long time with the charger plugged in can cause the battery to lose its original capacity faster, reducing the battery life faster than you would’ve liked. That’s where the Overcharge protection capability comes in handy. When activated, it ensures the battery charge doesn’t get past the 80% mark, except once a week. You can turn it on by opening Settings, going to Battery > Overcharge protection, and then turning on the Use overcharge protection toggle.
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More apps on your home screen
The home screen offers space to pin all your apps and widgets for quick access. However, having too many of them can be an issue, given the limited space on the screen. The Sidebar solves this problem by allowing you to pin more apps for easy access, like Samsung Galaxy phones.
However, unlike Samsung, the Sidebar on Motorola phones does more than pinning apps. The Sidebar is also useful even when you don’t need a lot of apps in your face. Instead of pinning apps, you can pin important contacts or tools like a screen recorder, switch to the last app, and more. To activate the Sidebar, open Settings, navigate to Gestures > Sidebar, and turn on the Use sidebar toggle.
4
Change Control Center to Modern Style
It separates Quick Settings from notifications
When you pull down from the top of the screen, you get quick action buttons and notifications on Motorola phones. That’s because the Classic Style option is selected as default in the Control Center. I changed the Control Center to Modern Style on my Motorola phone because I get two major benefits.
The issue with the Classic Style option is that the notifications and Quick Settings are cluttered in a single space. You need to make extra effort and swipe again to access all the Quick Settings buttons. Modern Style has a dedicated space for Quick Settings and notifications. Pulling it down from the right gives access to all the Quick Settings, while pulling it left opens the notifications.
In the Modern Style view, the Quick Settings panel has a tiny settings button at the bottom, which would’ve otherwise required a double swipe to become visible in the Classic Style. To change the Control Center setting, open Settings, go to Home & lock screen > Control center, and select Modern style.
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3
Multi-volume
Set different volume levels for different apps
Multi-volume is a handy tool for anyone, especially if you use your phone for media consumption. The name describes what the feature does: it allows you to control the individual volume of multiple apps using the volume up or down button. It also automatically mutes apps that you always mute manually.
This can also be useful in scenarios where you are listening to music on Spotify and communicating with your colleagues on your phone. If it’s an important meeting, lower the Spotify volume and keep the notification volume high so you don’t miss a notification from that chat. You can activate this by opening Settings, going to Sound & vibration > Multi-volume, and then turning on the toggle.
2
Storage Manager
Let your phone do the cleaning
You should back up all your important files to the best cloud storage platforms so that you never lose them if you delete them from your phone or the phone acts up. However, that also means you have two copies of the same files, taking up unnecessary space on your phone storage. Storage Manager can help you with this.
The Storage Manager on your Motorola phone automatically deletes backed-up photos and videos older than 90 days from your devices to free up storage space. To activate this, open Settings, go to Storage, and then turn on the Storage Manager toggle.
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1
Smart SIM
Your phone will make calls using the best SIM card
I keep two SIM cards. However, I don’t always recharge both SIM cards at the same time, which is why I select the Always ask option instead of choosing a particular SIM for calling. However, selecting the SIM every time I want to make a phone call is inconvenient. Turning on the Smart SIM toggle in SIMs & mobile network settings has a solution. When activated, your phone detects when you call a contact three times using the same SIM and then automatically makes that SIM the default for calling that contact.
You can do more on your Motorola phone
You should always make the most of your Motorola phone. There is plenty you can do, even if it’s a budget-friendly handset. If you’re new to Motorola and are looking for a feature you used daily on your previous phone, you should find that in Settings, and you’ll likely find something similar.
I use Phone Link on my Samsung Galaxy daily to connect it to my PC, but it doesn’t work how I want on a Motorola phone. Instead, I set up the Smart Connect to connect my Motorola phone to your PC for a cross-device experience. The goal is to find out what you need and change the Settings accordingly.
