5 Google Pixel Settings You Should Always Change on a New Phone

Getting a new Google Pixel phone is a truly exciting experience, whether you’re unboxing the latest and greatest flagship in the lineup or simply installing a refurbished older generation model. Out of the box, Google’s mix of hardware and software delivers an incredibly clean Android user experience that everyone can enjoy. But to get the most out of these devices, however, you should not stick to the default out-of-the-box setup. By enabling a handful of features, you can make your Pixel a more useful and powerful phone.

If you’re new to the company’s Pixel line of smartphones, you may not know that Google leaves many of its most powerful and convenient features disabled out of the box. For what? This probably comes down to preserving battery life, but it could also be a way to avoid stressing new users with too many options at once. However, Google’s choice to disable these features by default means everyone is missing out on the phone’s powerful features and, arguably, some of the smartest quality of life improvements a phone could hope to have. In short, everything that makes owning a Pixel so special.

So instead of going through endless submenus, we’ve put together a list of some essential settings you should consider enabling for your new Pixel right away. Taking a few minutes to set them up will immediately make your phone easier (and more enjoyable) to use every day, especially with the Pixel settings that speed it up.

Google’s new Pixel phones all have pretty vibrant displays, but if you want to fully exploit the high refresh rate capabilities of these displays, you’ll have to dig into the menus. By default, many Pixel devices are locked to a standard 60Hz refresh rate, to help your phone extend battery life a little longer. While this default setting is fine for all kinds of basic tasks, it completely ignores the premium hardware you’ve paid for.

One of the best tips for setting up your new Google Pixel phone is to enable the Pixel’s Smooth Display feature, which automatically adjusts your phone’s display to 90Hz or 120Hz, depending on your specific model. Enabling this single setting will make the operating system (and everything you run on it) feel fast and smooth. It’s nice to have, whether you’re browsing long articles or playing large, graphics-intensive phone games; This improved frame rate delivers an ultra-smooth visual experience that feels much more responsive to your touch and looks great on the eye. And best of all? Because the refresh rate is adaptive, the Pixel is smart enough to dial things back when you’re looking at a static image, helping balance silky-smooth performance with power savings, which we like. To enable it, open your Settings app, tap Display, then toggle the Smooth View switch to the on position.

Have you ever been walking down the aisles of a store or relaxing in a brewery when an upbeat song starts playing in the background? You desperately want to know the name of the song and who is singing it, but by the time you unlock your phone, open Shazam, and wait for it to start playing, the song is already over. Google solved this frustration years ago with a handy Pixel-exclusive feature called Now Playing, but it’s inexplicably turned off by default.

With this feature, whenever it detects a song, it instantly displays the song name and artist right on your lock screen. Audio matching is done locally on your phone using a downloaded database; it doesn’t send your private audio recordings to the cloud, which helps protect your privacy while saving data.

For your convenience, Now Playing even keeps a history of the songs it has identified, so you can easily come back to it at any time to browse and even add the ones you like to your favorite playlists. To enable this surprisingly useful feature, open your Settings, tap Sound & vibration, select Now playing, and turn on the toggle.

Who among us hasn’t had that sudden moment of panic when you delete a bunch of new notifications, only to realize a second later that it was actually an important message you needed? Whether it’s an urgent email from your boss, a chat reply from your sister, a fleeting calendar reminder, or an urgent security code, seeing a crucial notification disappear into the digital void is a complete disappointment.

Fortunately, however, your Google Pixel has a built-in safety net designed to prevent this exact problem; However, you’ll need to take a moment to turn it on before disaster strikes. This discreet, life-saving feature is called Notification History and acts as a chronological log of every notification that has appeared on your phone in the last 24 hours, ranging from emails and alerts to chat messages. It keeps your dismissed alerts tidy and organized, so nothing important is lost permanently with a swipe of the thumb. Notification History allows you to interact with your accidentally swiped notifications as you normally would.

Since logging this data requires a tiny bit of system overhead, Google leaves it disabled by default on new devices. To use it, swipe down from the top of your screen and look for the clock symbol circled counterclockwise, under all your notifications on the left side. Tap it to view and interact with your notifications. To give yourself that much-needed peace of mind, open Settings, tap Notifications, tap Notification History, and turn on this smart feature.

The world we live in today is hyper-connected. Because of this, it can be very difficult to disconnect from our phones and truly be present and focused during important moments. It can happen in any type of situation, from work meetings to date nights, and we all deserve better. While you can technically tweak your phone’s volume buttons or navigate the quick settings panel to enable Do Not Disturb mode, Google has a much more elegant and intuitive solution just for Pixel users that might blow your mind. It’s a gesture-based command called Flip to Shh, and it’s an absolute must-have for anyone who appreciates effortless silence.

To activate it, simply place your Pixel phone face down on a flat surface, like a desk or table. You will then feel a subtle vibration confirming that your Pixel has entered Do Not Disturb mode. The mode completely silences all incoming calls, text messages, and app notifications (except for exceptions you choose to configure) without anything else from you. When you’re ready to get back on track, just pick up the phone and life goes back to normal. To enable this peaceful shortcut, go to Settings, choose System, select Gestures, tap Return to Shh and enable it.

We want our smartphones to last as long as possible, but one of the quickest ways to degrade a modern lithium-ion battery is to leave it plugged into a charger at 100% capacity, especially for long periods of time. And when you plug in your phone right before you go to bed, it probably reaches full capacity within an hour or two, meaning it spends the rest of the night slightly draining and continually recharging up to 100%; this can wear out the battery. Google has developed a good solution to this common problem called Adaptive Charging. This is definitely a feature you should make sure is enabled on your new Pixel phone.

Adaptive charging intelligently learns your daily routine, paying special attention to your usual phone use. Then, instead of rushing to charge your phone to 100% as soon as you plug it in, Adaptive Charging only charges your smartphone to 80% (which is the top of the lithium-ion battery’s healthy charge limit) and interrupts the charging process just before your first alarm is scheduled to finish topping off the remaining 20%. This brilliant background process ensures that you wake up with a fully charged phone and its battery remains healthy. To set it up, go to your Settings, tap Battery, select Battery saver & charging, and make sure adaptive charging is turned on. Now that that (and all those other cool features) is enabled, it’s time to check out some useful accessories that work best with Google Pixel phones.