10 New things you can now do in Android 10 that you couldn’t do before

We now have Android 10. But so what? What has changed? What can you do now on your Android 10 that you couldn’t do before?

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Android 10 is the tenth major release and the 17th version of the Android mobile operating system. It was released on September 3, 2019. With this update, we now have access to many features that we didn’t have before.

Here are some of these Android 10 features that you need to be aware of:

1. Notifications

Android 10 has new ways to deal with Notifications. We get so many of these from so many different apps but now we can take back control and silence them!

We are able to silence the notification for a period of time eg. Silence email for 1 hour or we can silence the notification permanently from apps that offer no real value in their notifications.

2. Location

We don’t realize how many apps grab a snapshot of our location. Now we do. With Android 10 every time an app wants to send your location to their office, Android 10 will ask you if you want to allow it. You can allow it permanently, or deny it permanently, or you can allow it while using the app. Now that makes sense.

If I am using Google Maps I am happy for it to know my location, however, it doesn’t need to access my location when I don’t use it.  So now, I just simply disable it whenever I am not using the app.

3. Live Captions

A superb new feature is being able to have the video or audio display a live caption as it is playing. Many of us use our phones in bed without the sound on. With Live Captions, you can still watch the video and read the captions like subtitles in a foreign language movie.

4. Digital Wellbeing

Let’s be honest, we spend far too much time on our phones. With the Digital Wellbeing feature, your phone will show you just how many hours you spend scrolling through Twitter or reading emails or watching Netflix.

You also have the option to limit your time using an app. If for example, TikTok is distracting you, then you can allow yourself X number of minutes of usage per day before it is disabled (you can override that if you need to).

When getting ready to head to bed, you can set the winddown option which will change your phone’s screen to grey making you less likely to use the phone, and enables the Do No Disturb so you get no more notifications as you head to bed. In the morning (or the time you set) if changes the phone back to its usual settings.

5. Sound Amplifier

When you connect your headphone via the USB-C or via the headphone jack, you are able to amplify the sound that is around you. The phone picks up the sound and you listen to the world via your headphones. This is superb in a nature reserve when you want to hear the birds for example.

You can also customize those settings and enable noise reduction too if you are on a plane and want to get some sleep.

6. Activity Control

We love having our info synchronized across multiple devices but that does mean sharing information with Google. Now with Activity Control, you can control what kind of info is shared so you have peace of mind.

7. WiFi Sharing

Ever arrive at a location and want to use the WiFi? We all have. With WiFi Sharing, simply ask any of your friends who are already connected to the WiFi to click on the Share button. You will see a QR code that you can scan with your phone and automatically be connected.

If you don’t have an Android 10 phone, the WiFi password will be displayed in plain text so you can manually enter it on your device.

8. Security Update

In Android 10, you can now get your Security Updates separately from the regular Android updates. This means that you are able to keep your phone more secure while waiting for the main updates to come in. Awesome!

9. Smart Replies

This is another amazing feature – being able to quickly reply to a message with text that is pre-written for you. For example, you get a text asking if you are attending the meeting at 2pm. The system will automatically offer you several options such as: For Sure or No. You simply tap on the one you want and it is sent.

Another feature os Smart Replies is when the message asks a question that Google can help with. For example: Where are we going for dinner? The system will offer you the option to click on Dinner nearby. You tap on that and Google Maps opens with restaurants near you. Pick the one and it is sent!

10. Navigation

There is a new way to navigate around Android 10 – with swipes. Swipe up and you get the home screen or closes the app. Swipe up and hold and you get the recently used app screen. Swipe from the left or from the right and it takes you back one step.

It does take a little getting used to, but when you do, it is a simple fast way to get around the phone. If you miss the old three-button-navigation, you can enable that instead.

so many new things that you can do now and couldn’t do before – I also checked out the Google Pixel 4 running Android 10 and I tried the transcribing app with various accents which were….well….interesting!