Android comes with a lot of features, but not all of them are enabled out of the box. With the ever-growing feature set, it's easy to miss those deeply buried Android settings that can enhance your experience.

Whether you are looking to fine-tune your privacy and security or boost performance, here are some changes you should make in the Android settings menu.

Some settings might be located at different paths and some menus might be named differently depending on your phone's manufacturer. An easy way to find the appropriate setting on any Android device is by using the Search option in the settings.

1. Hide Notifications From the Lock Screen

As you know, you can interact with the notifications from different apps directly from the lock screen. While this is convenient, it also means that anybody can go through your notifications—even when your phone is locked. Fortunately, there's an option to hide notification content on the lock screen.

First, you need to secure your Android phone with a password, pattern, or a PIN. Once you do, here's how to hide notification content.

  1. Open Settings > Notifications (or Notifications center).
  2. Choose the Lock screen under Notification style.
  3. Tap on Notifications to show and choose Show notifications but hide content. This setting will apply to all your apps.
  4. To turn off lock screen notifications for individual apps, use the Toggle Off button.

Now, your notifications will show just the app name instead of displaying the actual message. You'll need to unlock your device to view the message.

2. Stop Seeing Personalized Ads

There are a shocking number of things that Google knows about you. Its huge tracking system is the reason why you see such precisely tailored ads. For instance, if you search on your desktop about noise-canceling earphones, you might quickly start seeing ads for them around the web.

If you're paranoid about your privacy, there's an easy way to take a bit more control of it.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to Google > Ads.
  3. Tap on Delete advertising ID and press Delete Advertising ID on the next page.

Note that while you'll still see ads in ad-supported Android apps, they'll not be based on your interests.

3. Configure the Screen Timeout and Locking Behavior

By default, your Android phone's screen turns off automatically after a set period of inactivity to help extend your battery life. But the lock screen only kicks in a few seconds later. Mischievous people can potentially access your unlocked device if you leave it unattended during this period.

It's recommended to lower your screen timeout. To do so, head over to Settings > Display & brightness > Screen timeout. Select the lowest acceptable number of seconds after which your screen would turn off.

Once you've lowered the screen timeout, it's time to force the lock screen to kick in as soon as the screen is turned off.

  1. To do so, navigate to Settings > Security and select the cog icon next to Screen lock.
  2. Go to Lock after screen timeout and choose Immediately.
  3. On the same page, enable Power button instantly locks.

4. Change Your Phone's DNS Server

DNS, or Domain Name System, is required to connect to different websites on the internet. It's like the internet's phonebook. Tweaking the DNS can increase your internet speed and your overall browsing experience. Here is how you can change the DNS in Android settings:

  1. Navigate to Settings > More connections.
  2. Here you'll see an option to enter a Private DNS. Tap on it.
  3. Enter the DNS hostname under the Private DNS provider hostname.

Two popular DNS servers are Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS. Here are the hostnames for these DNS servers:

  • Google DNS: dns.google
  • Cloudflare: one.one.one.one

5. Enable a Persistent Number Row in Gboard

If your job involves dealing with numbers, it can be cumbersome to toggle your keyboard between the number and the alphabet mode.

If you use Gboard, which we guess most of you do, you can enable a persistent number row at the top of your keyboard. It's a great way to utilize the growing screen real estate on mobile devices.

  1. Open Gboard and tap the cog icon to go into Gboard keyboard settings.
  2. Tap Preferences.
  3. Enable Number row.

You should see a persistent number row at the top of your keyboard. This can help you substantially increase your typing speed.

6. Enable Night Light or Eye Care

Using your smartphone for extended periods of time can take its toll on your eyesight and sleep. This can be due to the brightness and color tones of your screen. So, the best way to protect your eyes and sleep pattern is to enable the Night Light option in Android settings.

  • Navigate to Settings > Display & brightness.
  • Select Night Light, which may also be called something like Eye Care.
  • You can either turn it on immediately or schedule it to automatically be enabled from sunset to sunrise.

This option tints your screen amber making it better suited for viewing and reading, and reduces glare in lower light conditions. It will most probably also help you fall asleep.

7. Disable and Hide Unwanted Apps on Your Phone

Android phones by various manufacturers come preinstalled with a lot of apps that you might not even need. Some of these apps might also push annoying notifications every now and then. So, let's look at how you can deal with all this bloatware from within the settings:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Apps.
  2. Go to See All Apps to open the list of installed apps.
  3. Tap on the app that you don't want, to open its app settings.
  4. If you just want to disable its notifications, tap on Notifications and Toggle it off.
  5. You can also disable the app altogether by tapping on Force stop and then Disable at the bottom of the screen.

You need to be careful while disabling an app completely because disabling a system app can break your phone. Make sure what you disable is something that is not related to the system's functionality.

8. Tweak the Developer Options

Apart from the regular settings, the Android developer options feature some advanced settings you can tinker around with. The Developer options might be intended for developers, but it's a goldmine of settings that even casual users can utilize.

For instance, you can tweak the animation speeds to make your phone feel snappier, set a mock location and fake your GPS location, or enable USB debugging to send commands from your computer to your Android device.

We've extensively covered some of the Android developer options that you should change, so do check it out.

Make the Most of Your Android Phone

Tweaking these settings will help you get the most out of your Android device, without dramatically changing the way you use your favorite operating system. Whether you're looking to protect your privacy or enhance your everyday Android experience, a few tweaks are all you need.

Want to try out new ways of using your phone? Check out these apps that might change the way you use your Android device.