Earlier this year, Google released the stable version of Android 13. Codenamed Tiramisu, it brings several under-the-hood performance improvements and new features like native support for Bluetooth LE Audio, per-app language support and more.
Soon after, device manufacturers like Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus and others started updating their phones to Android 13. If you have already received the Android 13 update, here are some tips and tricks you might have missed out on.
Material You themed icons
Android 13 builds on the Material You design language and adds several new colour options. While themed icons are still in beta, they work pretty well for numerous apps. To enable themed icons in Android 13, all you need to do is long-press the home screen, tap on ‘Wallpaper and style’ and turn on the toggle labelled ‘Themed Icons’.
Change language for selected apps
Another useful feature introduced with Android 13 is the ability to set language preferences for every app, which lets users switch a particular app to their preferred language. Keep in mind that the feature is developer-dependent, so it might not work with all apps.
If you want to set language preferences per app, head over to the ‘Settings’ page, tap on ‘System’, navigate to the ‘Language and Input’ sub-menu and you will find an option to set ‘Appl languages’. Here, you will find a list of apps that support the functionality.
Now, tap on the app you want to change the language for and set your preferred language and you are good to go. The next time you launch, it will be available in your selected language.
Toggle one-handed mode from quick settings
Even though one-handed mode was already available in the previous version of Android, one had to dig through device settings to use it. But with Android 13, Google has added the ability to toggle one-handed mode from quick tiles.
To enable the feature on your Android 13 device, simply pull down the quick settings menu from the top of the screen. Once done, pull it once more and you will see a pencil-like icon that lets you edit quick settings. Scroll down and you will eventually find a tile named ‘One-handed’ mode. Long press on it and you will be able to place it in the quick settings tile.
Scan QR codes without launching any app
If you find yourself launching the camera app on your smartphone for scanning QR codes, this feature will come in handy. Similar to the one-handed mode toggle, Android 13 introduced a quick settings tile that lets you quickly scan QR codes without having to launch any app.
Adding the quick settings tile is easy as it can get. Swipe down to the quick settings tile menu from the top of the screen, swipe it down again and you will see the pencil-like icon that lets you edit the layout. Now, find the ‘Scan QR code’ tile, long press on it and you will be able to move it around. Drag it to the quick settings tile list and you are good to go.
Check apps active in the background
If you are experiencing battery drain on your device or just want to see which apps are consuming power in the background, you no longer have to dig into battery settings and manually check the list.
Android 13 introduces a new functionality that lets you easily check the apps that are running in the background. To check this, swipe down twice from the notification bar and besides the settings app shortcut, you will find text that says ‘X apps are active.’ The active apps shortcut shows you how much time the apps have been running in the background and even lets you stop them.
