Your Samsung phone can do a lot more than you realize. Thanks to the masses of software features found on One UI, you can make your Galaxy device smarter and more user-friendly.

In this guide, we'll show you nine features you can enable on your phone that help save time, ease controls, and make your phone better adapt to your lifestyle. Let's begin.

1. Get Suggested Actions for Notifications

Did you know your phone can suggest responses based on the info you receive in your notifications? For instance, if you receive a message containing an address, you'll see an option to open the address on Google Maps. If someone texted you on WhatsApp, you'll see suggested replies based on the context of the message.

This isn't a new feature by any means, it has been around on Android since 2018. But given how useful it is, you should turn it on if it's not already enabled on your device. To do so, go to your Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings and toggle on Suggest actions and replies for notifications.

2. Automatically Answer Calls Over Bluetooth

You can set your phone to automatically pick up incoming calls after a certain amount of time when it's connected to a Bluetooth device, such as wireless earbuds or headphones. This way, you don't have to take your phone out of your pocket when running or wash your hands when cooking to answer the call.

As long as you have your earbuds on, your phone will get the call for you. Cool, right?

To enable the feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Interaction and dexterity > Answering and ending calls and toggle on Answer automatically. Then, tap the same menu and select your desired delay time. Choose from two, five, or ten seconds, or set a custom time.

3. Set a Media Volume Limit

You probably know how your phone pings you if you increase the media volume too much while wearing headphones. But if your headphones are rather quiet and you often increase the volume beyond the recommended limit, it's best to change the limit to what you find fitting. Conversely, you can decrease the limit if you think it's too high.

To set a custom media volume limit:

  1. Go to your Settings > Sounds and vibration > Volume.
  2. Tap the three-dots menu and select Media volume limit.
  3. Toggle the feature on and use the slider to set a custom volume limit.
    • You can also choose to set a 4-digit volume limit PIN for extra compliance in case you share your phone with others, such as your kids or elderly parents.

While you're adjusting your sound settings, you can improve the sound quality on your Samsung phone to get the best listening experience possible from it.

4. Automate Daily Activities With Bixby Routines

Bixby is Samsung's native voice assistant and it's quite underrated for the tasks it can perform. You can set up Bixby Routines on your Samsung device to save time each day.

If you have smart home appliances at your place that are compatible with the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem, you can have Bixby automate them according to your daily routine. You can use it to automate your lights, speakers, doors, electric outlets, and more. It can also play your favorite morning playlist, open the blinds, and change the temperature for you.

To enable Bixby Routines, go to Settings > Advanced features and toggle on Bixby Routines. Now tap the same menu to enter the Bixby Routines app and select the Add routine tab. Here, create your custom routine by selecting what activities you want Bixby to do and when.

You can also toggle on Bixby Routines directly from the Quick Settings panel on your Samsung phone.

5. Double-Tap the Power Key to Launch the Camera

Have you ever missed a beautiful shot just because of how long it took to get to your phone's camera? Luckily, with the quick launch camera feature, you can skip past the step of unlocking your lock screen and finding the camera app, and get straight to the action. Just double-press the power button and your phone will launch the camera.

To enable the feature:

  1. Go to your Settings > Advanced features > Side key.
  2. Toggle on Double press. Once enabled, you'll see a list of three options.
  3. Of the three options, select Quick launch camera.

6. Enable Motions and Gestures

The variety of gesture-based features on your Samsung phone can make it much more intuitive to use on a daily basis. You can find these features by going to Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures.

Here, you'll see the following settings:

  • Lift to wake: automatically turns the screen on when you pick up your phone, so you don't have to push the power button to get to the lock screen.
  • Double tap to turn on screen and Double tap to turn off screen: another method to control the screen without having to push the power button.
  • Keep screen on while viewing: uses the front camera to see if you're looking at the screen, and keeps it on for the duration—superseding the screen timeout setting.
  • Alert when phone picked up: vibrates the phone when you pick it up after having missed a call or message.
  • Mute with gestures: mute a call or an alarm by putting your hand over the screen or turning the phone upside down.
  • Palm swipe to capture: take a screenshot by swiping the edge of your hand across the screen, instead of tapping the power and volume down buttons simultaneously.

7. Reduce the Touch and Hold Delay

A common part of interacting with your phone is long-pressing apps and settings to see additional menu options. It's something you do countless times each day.

To customize the touch and hold delay on your phone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Interaction and dexterity > Touch and hold delay and set the delay as per your liking. You can choose from four presets, or set a custom delay as low as 0.2 seconds. The shorter the delay, the faster you will be able to interact with your phone.

8. Turn on Accidental Touch Protection

Nobody likes accidental touches, they're annoying and create unnecessary inconvenience. Your phone may pocket dial a stranger, text a coworker some random gibberish, or change the song from the lock screen without your explicit command.

Don't worry, you can set your Samsung phone to ignore accidental touches. To do so, go to your Settings > Display, scroll down, and toggle on Accidental touch protection.

9. Speed Up Animations

Another way you can save some time when using your phone is to reduce the screen animation duration. This will make animations much snappier and your phone feel faster. But before you do this, you'll need to have developer options unlocked. To do so, go to Settings > About phone > Software information and tap Build number repeatedly.

Now go to Settings > Developer options and scroll down to the Drawing menu. Tap Window animation scale and select Animation scale .5x. Do the same for Transition animation scale and Animator animation scale.

Make Your Samsung Phone More Intuitive

You're not getting the full experience out of your Samsung device if you just use it on the default settings. With the above-mentioned features, you can make your phone a lot smarter than before.

Feel free to spend some time going through your phone's settings. There are a ton of other really useful features you might not know that your phone has. You might end up finding a feature you didn't even know you needed!