Make Your Pixel Smarter: 4 Settings You Forgot To Change

The latest Google Pixels, alongside the last several generations of the device, have so many features and tools that make the Pixel line smarter than other phones. I've spent time digging through menus and have found several settings you can change to make your Pixel even smarter. These range from launching apps faster to more quickly invoking AI (even faster than using the ShareSheet to send content directly to Gemini). Customize your lock screen shortcuts Pick two apps you want to get to quickly The Pixel lets you pick two lock screen shortcuts; tapping and holding on these lets you instantly jump into the app. Think of this space like your toolbelt: I like to put the Flashlight and Do Not Disturb on my lock screen. The flashlight is obvious: sometimes you quickly need a light. Having quick access to DND is helpful when you need to silence everything on your phone, like if you're going into a movie theater or somewhere else where you don't want your phone to make any noise. To customize your lock screen shortcuts, go to Settings > Display and Touch > Lock Screen > Shortcuts. Unfortunately, the Pixel doesn't let you add other apps to your lock screen through this interface. This is a shame, since tools like the calendar or calculator would be useful here. Instead, you can add a shortcut for any app to your Quick Settings panel. To do this, drag down from the top of the screen twice to open Quick Settings. Tap the pencil icon to edit this panel, then find Calculator (or whatever other option you want to add) and press plus. Turn on fingerprint unlock while the screen is off Unlock faster, especially when your phone is on a table The latest Pixels have an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which is faster than the optical variety. By default, you must first tap the screen to wake the device, then authenticate with your finger. But a small setting in the Security & Privacy menu lets you unlock your device with the screen off — ideal for tabletop unlocks. The catch is that you have to approximate the location of the fingerprint sensor, since there's no visual indication of its location when the screen is off. But after a bit of practice, it becomes second nature. To do this, go to Settings > Security & privacy > Fingerpint > Enable Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock. While you're here, you can also double-check your registered fingerprints. Invoke Gemini with a simple gesture The fastest way to AI There's another quick way to invoke Gemini hidden in your device's settings. This setting allows you to invoke Gemini with a swipe gesture from either of the bottom corners of the phone. I like this because it's natural to perform the gesture before asking Gemini a question about what's on the screen. For example, if you're reading an article, you can perform the gesture and say, "What are the key points of this article?" Or if you're looking at a picture of a cool car, you can say, "How much is this? How much horsepower does it have?" and so on. Of course, you can also invoke Gemini by pressing and holding the power button, or by going to the app directly, but this gesture is even faster. To enable this, go to Settings > System > Gestures > Navigation Mode and turn on Swipe to invoke assistant. Turn on maximum screen resolution It's limited to 1080p out of the box From the factory, most Pixels are not set to use their maximum screen resolution. On my Pixel 10 Pro (which has tons of time-saving features), the display is 1280x2856. But out of the box, to conserve battery and slightly improve performance, resolution is set to 1080x2410. I want to use my phone's full capabilities, and setting it to the maximum resolution does that. Leaving the phone at maximum resolution, in my testing, has no noticeable effect on performance or battery life, but your mileage might vary depending on what you use your phone for. For example, if you play a lot of games, you'll probably get worse battery life with maximum resolution. But for my usage of web browsing and productivity apps, the higher resolution means text and images are a bit sharper and easier to read. To change this, go to Settings > Display and Touch > Screen Resolution. Your Pixel is highly customizable Spend time exploring the settings I've found that the best way to customize your Pixel, besides digging through the Settings app, is to spend time looking at the options and settings within the many default Google apps that come preinstalled on the Pixel.