These 5 Pixel features changed how I use my phone, and I almost missed them
Mark Jansen May 17, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT I've been covering Android and other mobile technology for close to ten years now, with a specific interest in phone accessories, e…
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I turned YouTube into the perfect social media app by eradicating Shorts
…Ignoring your Shorts timer is as easy as closing the notification. By closing the notification or tapping Ignore limit for today at the bottom of the notification, you can resume your scrolling…
I found a Good Lock equivalent for Pixel, and the subtle tweaks have changed everything
…Android lets you limit this to 'hide sensitive content' or 'don't show notifications at all' for better privacy. Not quite. The real concern is privacy exposure — full notification content on the…
I checked my phone's hidden metrics, and I'm a little obsessed with the data
…The notification data was pretty handy, as I used it to identify which apps send the highest number of notifications. That’s how I disabled all the app notifications that I could…
I keep recommending this hidden Pixel setting to all my friends
…For example, you don't see as many notifications. Even if you don't unlock your phone and reply to those notifications, you will still see pop-ups on your screen. That…
Google's emergency alerts just got a huge upgrade that could save lives
Mark Jansen Mar 31, 2026, 9:27 AM EDT I've been covering Android and other mobile technology for close to ten years now, with a specific interest in phone accessories, e…
I don't have a Galaxy S26 Ultra, so I use these tactics to stop shoulder surfers
…To change this, open Settings > Notifications > Lock screen notifications . From there, you can choose to hide the content of notifications, which limits what appears on the lock screen. Lower the brightness on…
I've been using Android's built-in focus modes wrong this whole time, and one setting fixed everything
…And they mute notifications in slightly different ways. However, Google has never done a good job explaining where one ends and the other begins. I spent months toggling whichever one I found…
Google Gemini wants to become a more proactive assistant
…An always-on smarter assistant While not everyone will be comfortable giving Gemini access to their personal information and notifications, it's this level of access that will make the AI assistant…
Android 17 Beta 4 is now available on Pixel
…Resolved an issue where webpage URLs were automatically included when sharing screenshots from the capture preview, causing unwanted links to be shared with image files. ( Issue #444631269 ) An accessibility issue caused the…