Your Phone Can Do More Than You Think
Most of us use maybe a third of what our phone can actually do. We make calls, scroll WhatsApp, watch videos — and never open the corners of the settings where the genuinely useful features live. That is a shame, because brands like Samsung, Infinix, Tecno, Xiaomi and Google hide some real gems in there, and every one of them is free.
Here are ten built-in Android features that many people have never tried. Menu names differ slightly between brands, so whenever you cannot find something, use the search bar at the top of Settings and type the feature’s name — it will take you straight there.
1. Split Screen: Two Apps at Once
Watching a YouTube video while replying on WhatsApp, or copying an account number from a message into a banking app — split screen does this properly.
Open the first app, tap the Recent Apps button, tap the app’s icon at the top of its card and choose Split screen (or “Open in split screen view”). Then pick the second app. Drag the middle divider to give one side more room. Once you try it for copy-paste work, there is no going back.
2. App Pinning: Hand Your Phone Over Safely
A child wants to watch a cartoon, a friend wants to make one call — and two minutes later they are in your gallery. App pinning locks the phone to a single app until you enter your PIN.
Turn it on in Settings > Security > App pinning (Samsung calls it “Pin app” inside Other security settings). Then, from the Recent Apps screen, tap the app’s icon and choose Pin this app. The guest can use that one app and nothing else. Exit with your usual unlock gesture plus PIN or fingerprint.
3. Notification History: Recover Slipped-Away Notifications
You swipe away a notification by reflex, then realise it mattered. If your phone runs Android 11 or newer, the record is still there: Settings > Notifications > Notification history. Switch it on once, and from then on every notification — including WhatsApp messages the sender later deletes — stays readable there for 24 hours. It is one of those features you set up once and thank yourself for months later.
This same history is also the safe, built-in way to see deleted WhatsApp messages — no risky apps needed.
4. Screen Recording Without Any App
Still installing a third-party recorder full of ads? Your phone already has one. Pull down the Quick Settings panel twice and look for Screen record. Not there? Tap the pencil (edit) icon and drag it into your active tiles. It records gameplay, video calls (screen only), and app tutorials, with or without microphone sound — perfect for showing a family member how to do something on their phone.
5. Guest Mode and Multiple Users
Your phone can hold completely separate user profiles, like a family computer. Settings > Users (on Samsung: Accounts and backup > Users) lets you add a Guest or a second user with their own apps, photos and WhatsApp. Hand the phone to anyone in guest mode and your personal data simply is not there to be seen.
Settings hide more than features — our guide to changing your phone’s language and keyboard settings unlocks Urdu typing most users never find.
6. One-Handed Mode
Phones keep getting taller, and thumbs do not. One-handed mode shrinks the whole screen towards the bottom corner so everything is reachable. Enable it in Settings > Advanced features > One-handed mode (Samsung) or Settings > System > Gestures > One-handed mode (Pixel and many Infinix/Tecno models). On most phones a quick swipe down on the gesture bar, or a double-tap of Home, brings it up.
On Samsung phones it lives under Settings > Advanced features > One-handed mode; on Xiaomi, look in Settings > Additional settings. Once it is on, a quick swipe down at the bottom edge of the screen (or a double-tap of the Home button on some models) shrinks everything into thumb reach — genuinely handy on a bus or when your other hand is carrying shopping bags.
7. Built-In Document Scanner
No need for a separate scanning app that watermarks your CNIC or documents. Two built-in options: Google Drive app > + New > Scan, which straightens, cleans and saves pages as PDF; and on Samsung phones, the Camera app itself detects a document in the frame and offers a one-tap “Scan” — open the camera, point it at the page, and tap the yellow scan button that appears. Clean, private, and free.
On Samsung phones the Camera app often detects a document by itself and offers a Scan button; Xiaomi’s Camera has a dedicated Documents mode. The scan saves as a clean PDF or image — perfect for CNIC copies, application forms and receipts, with no third-party app needed.
8. Double-Tap and Gesture Shortcuts
Your phone is full of shortcuts nobody told you about:
- Double-tap the power button to open the camera instantly (most brands).
- Draw a letter on the sleeping screen (Infinix/Tecno and others) to jump straight into an app.
- Three-finger swipe down for a screenshot on many Xiaomi, Infinix and Tecno phones.
- Flip the phone face-down to silence a ringing call.
Check Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures (or search Settings for “gestures”) and switch on the ones that suit you.
9. Focus Mode and App Timers
If TikTok or a game eats your evening, Android’s own Digital Wellbeing can push back. In Settings > Digital Wellbeing, set a daily app timer — say 45 minutes for the time-wasting apps — and the app pauses itself when time is up. Focus mode goes further: one tap silences a chosen set of distracting apps until you turn it off. It is gentler than uninstalling, and honest enough to work.
10. Text Selection From Any Screen (Overview Selection)
Here is a trick that feels like magic: some text in apps cannot be long-pressed — an Instagram caption, a note inside a photo, an address in an image. Open Recent Apps, and on many phones you can long-press and copy text directly from the app’s preview card, even text inside images. On Pixels this also offers instant actions like calling a shown number. If your brand’s recents screen does not offer it, Google Lens (in the Google app) does the same job from a screenshot.
A final tip before the recap: features like these sometimes get a new name or a new home after a big software update. If you updated your phone recently and a favourite shortcut seems to have vanished, do not assume it was removed — search Settings for it first. Nine times out of ten it has simply moved.
Quick Recap
- Split screen for two apps together; app pinning and guest mode for safe sharing.
- Notification history rescues swiped-away alerts; screen recording is built in.
- Document scanning, one-handed mode, gesture shortcuts — all free, all already on your phone.
- Digital Wellbeing timers keep the time-eating apps in their place.
If you enjoyed these, our Android speed settings guide is full of similar tucked-away switches that make the phone feel new.
Start with the two you will actually use every day — notification history and split screen — and the rest will follow naturally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these features work on every Android phone?
Most of them work on any phone running Android 11 or newer, which covers most recent Samsung, Infinix, Tecno, Xiaomi and Vivo phones. A few (like overview text selection) are brand-dependent; the guide notes alternatives where that matters.
Where do I find a feature if my menus look different?
Use the search bar at the very top of the Settings app. Type a word like “pinning”, “gestures” or “history” and Android will take you to the right screen regardless of brand.
Will turning these features on slow my phone down?
No. These are light system features, not extra apps. Notification history and screen recording only use resources while you are actively using them.
Is app pinning really secure?
Yes — exiting a pinned app requires your PIN, pattern or fingerprint, the same security as your lock screen. Just make sure a screen lock is set up first, or pinning has nothing to protect it with.
There is plenty more waiting: our Android speed settings guide and our language and keyboard settings guide — both here on Ehsas Tips.
Sharjeel Rana manages Ehsas Tips and writes practical mobile guides in simple language.