How-To Guides about Android

Google Maps can now take a specific craving, match it to a restaurant, and help you start an order through a partner app, all inside the same conversation. That capability runs through Ask Maps, which draws on billions of photos, reviews, and menus to work out what you actually want to eat (Google Maps blog).

Google says its notification-abuse defenses cut Android notification volume by more than 7 billion messages a day in 2026, according to Google's security team. That number reframes what looks like a minor annoyance, a browser popup asking permission to send updates, into a large-scale security fight Chrome has been waging for years without much fanfare.

This guide covers how to disable AI Mode in Chrome on desktop: the shortcuts that show up in the address bar, the New Tab Page search box, and the right-click context menu on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It doesn't touch Google Search's own AI Mode tab, which lives outside the browser entirely and gets a short, separate note near the end.

Scrolling through your phone from the passenger seat can trigger motion sickness, and Google has quietly added a setting to Android 17 meant to ease that discomfort. Motion Assist overlays small dots around the edge of your screen that move according to your phone's gyroscope and accelerometer, tracking your vehicle's motion (Android Authority today; Google Android Blog earlier this month). This guide explains how to use Motion Assist on Pixel phones, including how to check whether Google has...

Trading in an old phone with Google Store can turn a drawer relic into real money toward a new Pixel. At the Pixel 11 launch, Google's trade-in program offered $150 for a Pixel 4a and $200 for a 2019 iPhone 11, numbers that catch owners off guard who figured those phones weren't worth listing anywhere. The U.S. trade-in ceiling also climbed from about $800 at the Pixel 10 launch to $1,000 this year, with top-tier phones like a Galaxy Z Fold 7 or iPhone 17 Pro Max eligible for $900 to $1,000.

Tom's Guide walked away unimpressed with the Pixel 11 overall, but the outlet singled out one feature it called "genuinely useful": Magic Capture, a camera mode that records a short clip and lets AI pick the best still photos so users stop guessing when to hit the shutter (Tom's Guide, two weeks ago). Anyone figuring out how to use Magic Capture on Pixel 11 will find the basic setup simple, but getting the most out of it means enabling one setting in advance and thinking about your connection...

Less than a month after launch, Pixel 11 owners are running into a scattered set of problems: a phone that won't survive its own setup screen, videos full of static, spotty Wi-Fi, and a hit game that refuses to launch at all.

Most Galaxy tablet problems, including freezing, laggy apps, or a screen that stops responding, don't need a factory reset.

If your Pixel 11 keeps dropping Wi-Fi, shows a 5G icon without usable data, or cuts out over Bluetooth, that doesn't automatically mean the phone is defective.

The best time to charge a Samsung Galaxy Watch comes down to timing: pick whichever stretch of your day you can afford to lose tracking data, charge during that window, and make sure whatever charge you end up with covers your next sleep period or workout.

Samsung says the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra can charge from empty to 65% in 30 minutes. In preliminary testing, the Fold 8 Ultra actually beat that mark, reaching 67% in the same window, according to Android Authority testing three weeks ago. That's a real jump from what the Fold line could do a year ago, and it raises the obvious question for anyone hunting for the best charger for Galaxy Z Fold 8 devices: which one actually gets you there?

As of this week, a Samsung Messages alternative app called Messages by OzarksMade is undergoing closed testing through Google Play, with a public launch set for 14 days after its testing Google Group hits 12 members and a post-launch price of $0.99. Treat that as a snapshot, not a finished product. Betas shift, thresholds get hit or missed, and pricing plans change before launch.

Google Photos has grown well past a backup app. It can search your library in plain English, answer questions about a single photo, edit images from a text description, and create new AI-generated images through templates.

Chrome didn't kill ad blocking. It killed one specific technical approach, and took a popular extension's full functionality down with it. If ads have started slipping through since your last Chrome update, or an old uBlock Origin install stopped filtering the way it used to, the good news is that ad blockers that still work in Chrome are easy to find, once you know which one actually matches your problem.

If you own an older Pixel, you may have noticed something Pixel owners have not generally expected to see: a promotional notification sitting in the shade next to your texts and calendar reminders. After the Pixel 11 launch, Android Authority reported this week that many users, including one of its own writers, started receiving ads for the new phone on their older Pixel devices.

Google's new Search profile looks like the kind of feature every creator should rush to claim: a dedicated, shareable page that puts your work front and center inside Google Search itself. Before spending time hunting for one, it helps to understand Google Search profile eligibility rules, since they set a high follower bar and apply only in the United States for now. This guide walks through who qualifies, how to run a Google Search profile eligibility check on your own name, and what claiming...

Galaxy Z Fold 8 owners are posting screenshots on Samsung's community forum of a home screen gone sideways: icons overlapping, apps sliding past their assigned grid spots, some landing in the gap between the inner display's two panes. One owner said an icon got stuck there entirely, impossible to select or drag back (Android Authority, today). If you're trying to figure out how to fix Galaxy Z Fold 8 app icon misalignment, there's a specific software update worth checking before you waste time...

Google officially announced custom chat themes for Messages on August 27, closing out months of beta testing with a feature that lets you assign a distinct color palette and wallpaper to any individual conversation. If you've been wondering how to use chat themes in Google Messages since spotting the option on a friend's phone, the mechanics are simple. One detail about how the feature actually works, though, is worth understanding before you touch a single setting.

Passports, birth certificates, and Social Security cards don't fit inside a Bluetooth tracker, but Google just gave them a place in Find Hub anyway. A new "Remembered Items" tab lets you tell Gemini where you stashed a document, then ask for that location back weeks or months later, whether you're digging through a closet or standing in a TSA line wondering if you actually grabbed your passport this time.

Google Photos still has a setting that restores date headers in the grid. On Android, the redesigned Photos view switched those headers off by default and replaced them with a floating date indicator that appears while scrolling.

A guide posted on XDA Forums last year describes a way to run Samsung DeX on a Galaxy Z Fold's internal screen, with no monitor, dock, or book cover attached.

10 Gboard Features That Make Android Typing Faster — and 5 Settings That Make It Less Nosy

This guide covers whether turning off Google Play Protect is the right call for your situation, how to do it if it is, and the specific steps to take immediately after. Skipping that last part is where most people get into trouble.

Samsung Messages shut down on July 6, 2026. If you're a US Galaxy user on Android 12 or newer, the app can no longer send or receive messages except to emergency numbers, per Samsung's discontinuation notice. The text field is greyed out, and that's a permanent state.

If Gemini has taken over your Google Home or Nest speakers and you want the old Google Assistant experience back, the answer is frustrating: there is no simple "remove Gemini" button for every setup.

Mina the Hollower has no official Android port, but you can run it locally on your phone through GameNative no streaming required. Whether it actually works comes down to one thing: your GPU.

If you're trying to figure out how to reset YouTube recommendations, here's the frustrating truth: there's no single button that fixes it. YouTube's feed pulls from several independent systems at once what it's designed to show you, what it infers from your viewing behavior, and the explicit feedback you've given it over the years. Clear your history, and the feed barely moves. That's because history and your "Not interested" signals are tracked as separate systems, and clearing one doesn't...

The Razr Fold has one clear hardware distinction over Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold7: active stylus support on both of its displays. The Moto Pen Ultra features on Razr Fold span handwritten notes and pressure-sensitive sketching to on-screen search and cross-device syncing. The Galaxy Z Fold7, at $1,999, offers none of it.

Before touching a single setting, open Settings > Battery > Battery usage and review the breakdown by both apps and system processes. A misbehaving app can consume more power than all the Google Pixel battery drain settings you're about to change, and no system tweak will fix that (Android Police reported this in early 2026). Check it after a full day of normal use, not right after charging.

ChatGPT screen sharing on Android may be getting a less clunky alternative, and the possible replacement is worth understanding before it arrives. Code discovered this week inside version 1.2026.118 of ChatGPT's Android app points to a different method: instead of capturing your screen as video, the app would read visible text and interface elements directly, using Android's Accessibility API and Android's Bubbles feature, according to Android Authority.

Google TV's home screen has a problem that Google shows no signs of fixing: it keeps getting more cluttered. Free channel promotions, recommendations from services you've never opened, a Shop tab, ads throughout, and now an AI-curated Shorts tab rolling out to some devices, per MakeUseOf this month. None of it is meaningfully removable through Google's own settings, according to Android Police.

How to Encrypt Files on Android: CryptoContainer Guide

There is no single switch. That's the honest starting point for anyone searching for how to disable Google AI on Android, and it's worth saying plainly before walking through 16 steps that actually work. CNET reported earlier this year that on Pixel phones especially, AI is embedded at the platform level. The realistic goal is reduction, not removal. What this guide delivers: Gemini features turned off in Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Photos; system-level AI services disabled on supported Pixel...

Android acting up? Your phone freezing, crashing, or running slower than usual? Before you panic or rush to the repair shop, there's a built-in diagnostic tool that might solve your problems: Safe Mode. This feature temporarily disables third-party apps, helping you identify whether a recently installed app is causing havoc with your device's performance.

Pixel Watch Double Counting Steps and Calories: What to Do

You know how smartphones constantly promise to make your life easier with their latest features? Most of the time, that's just marketing fluff designed to justify another upgrade cycle. But every now and then, a company actually delivers something genuinely useful that most people completely overlook. OnePlus AI Recorder is one of those hidden gems.