How to unlock 7 'secret' features on Android you probably didn't know existed

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Arthur Goldstuck, Founder and CEO of World Wide Worx.

Listen below:

Think you know your smartphone? Android users, it's your time to shine!

Many people don’t realise how many cool and powerful features are literally at their fingertips, says Goldstruck.

South Africa alone boasts well over 30 million Android users. In the rest of the Continent, the figure is probably heading for the billion mark, but few users are aware of Android’s 'secret' tools, explains Goldstruck.

Here are some of them:

'Digital wellbeing' and 'focus mode'

This reveals how time is spent across various apps and provides users with tools to reshape their relationship with technology.

Daily limits on app use can be set, allowing users to curb endless social media scrolling without external discipline. 

Focus mode deepens this capability by silencing distracting apps entirely during selected hours, helping users reclaim attention spans. 

Bedtime mode adds another layer, switching the screen to greyscale and muting notifications overnight, subtly steering users towards healthier sleep.

'Live transcribe' and 'live caption'

Live transcribe turns spoken words into on-screen text in real time, making conversations, meetings and lectures accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. For example, you can use this feature during meetings to transcribe it - it even transcribes mumbles, says Goldstruck. 

It also picks up environmental sounds, offering visual alerts for events like alarms or doorbells.

Alongside it, 'live caption' automatically captions any media playing on the phone without needing an internet connection. 

'Nearby share' and 'quick share'

Nearby share, now expanded through collaboration with Samsung into quick share, changes the equation. 

Files, photos, videos and whole folders can be sent instantly between Android devices, Chromebooks and Windows devices with minimal friction and no internet connection. 

'Gemini' and 'on-device intelligence'

Gemini operates as a multi-modal generative AI capable of understanding complex instructions, summarising documents, drafting messages, and stitching together actions across different apps. Importantly, much of this processing now happens on-device, ensuring faster responses while preserving privacy. 

'Safety check' and 'emergency sharing'

Safety check enables users to schedule check-ins with trusted contacts and automatically shares the location if no response is received. 

Emergency sharing goes further by transmitting critical data to chosen recipients during distress, providing potentially life-saving situational awareness. 

These tools, embedded within Google’s Personal Safety app, respond to the harsh realities faced by many users, offering a measure of control in unpredictable circumstances.

'Screen pinning' and 'app locking'

Screen pinning allows users to lock the device to a single app, requiring a password to exit. It is an understated but highly effective privacy feature, protecting sensitive information with a few taps.

Many Android brands extend this idea with app locking, enabling fingerprint or password protection at the individual app level, offering layered control over personal data.

'One-handed mode' and 'voice access'

One-handed mode responds with a simple solution: it compresses the usable area of the screen for easier thumb reach.

What seems like a small tweak has an outsized impact, particularly for mobility-impaired users or anyone juggling physical tasks while using the device.

Voice access, another overlooked feature, allows full phone navigation using only spoken commands. 

"We have these incredible gadgets in our hands, and we don't know what to do with them. Everyone's talking about the new AI features built into these phones, but it goes beyond AI. And there are so many features... but they don't have to be secret, you just have to explore them."

- Arthur Goldstuck, CEO - World Wide Worx

Read Goldstruck's full article here.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.