Quick Settings & the Buttons That Confuse People

Opening Quick Settings

Everything starts with a swipe. Once you have the motion, the whole panel is yours.

On many Pixel and other phones, if you swipe down from the top-right corner, you may jump straight to the full panel in one motion. On Samsung, one swipe shows a small strip and a second swipe opens it fully. Either way, keep swiping down until you see the grid of switches.

• Put your finger at the very top edge of the screen, above the clock.
• Swipe down. A few switches and your notifications slide into view.
• Swipe down a second time to open the full panel, with all the switches.
• To close it, swipe up, or tap Home, or tap an empty area.

Reading the Panel

Before we go switch by switch, let us learn to read the panel at a glance, so nothing looks like a mystery.

A quick tap turns a tile on or off. Pressing and holding a tile, keeping your finger down a moment, usually opens its full settings. For example, tapping Wi-Fi turns it on, while holding Wi-Fi opens the list of networks to choose from. This one trick unlocks a great deal.

• Each little square or pill is called a tile, or a switch.
• A tile that is lit up or colored means that feature is turned on.
• A tile that looks gray, faded, or dim means it is turned off.
• A single tap flips a tile from on to off, or back again.

The Flashlight and Brightness

Let us start with the two most-loved switches, the ones folks reach for every single day.

The long bar, usually with a small sun at each end, controls how bright your screen is. Slide your finger left to dim it, right to brighten it. Turn it up outdoors in the sun, and down at night to be easier on your eyes. Many phones also adjust it for you automatically.

• Look for the tile shaped like a small torch or flashlight.
• Tap it once and the bright light on the back of the phone comes on.
• Tap it again to turn it off.
• Wonderful for keyholes, dropped items, and reading a menu in a dim restaurant.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Mobile Data

These three are how your phone reaches the internet and connects to your gadgets. They are worth understanding, because they cause the most confusion.

Tap the Wi-Fi tile to turn it on, then press and hold it to see the list of networks and pick yours. It may ask for a password the first time only. Bluetooth works the same way, hold the tile to see nearby gadgets and tap the one you want to pair.

• Wi-Fi is the internet in your home or a friend's, from the box your internet company installed. Free to use, once connected.
• Bluetooth connects nearby gadgets to your phone, hearing aids, speakers, a car, a smartwatch.
• Mobile data (sometimes just Data) is internet from your phone company, used when you are away from Wi-Fi.

Airplane Mode

Airplane mode is a single switch that turns off all your phone's signals at once. It is useful in the right moment, and a nuisance in the wrong one.

It is meant for airplane travel, where the crew asks you to switch off signals. It can also give a tired phone a fresh start, flip it on for ten seconds, then off again, and your phone often reconnects to a better signal.

• It turns off calls, texts, mobile data, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth together.
• The tile usually looks like a small airplane.
• You can still use apps that do not need the internet, like the camera or notes.
• Turn it off, tap the airplane again, and your signals come back.

Do Not Disturb and Auto-Rotate

Two more everyday switches, one for peace and quiet, and one that stops your screen from flipping when you do not want it to.

This switch decides whether the screen turns sideways when you turn the phone sideways. With it on, tipping the phone makes photos and videos fill the screen. With it off, the screen stays upright no matter how you hold it, which many folks prefer for reading in bed.

• The tile often looks like a small circle with a line, or a crescent moon.
• Turn it on and calls and alerts stay quiet, while the phone still works.
• Wonderful at night, at church, or during a nap.
• You can allow certain people, like family, to ring through, which we cover on page 18.

Battery Saver

When your battery is running low and a charger is not close, this switch helps your phone last longer until you can plug in.

Flip it on when you see the battery getting low, say under twenty percent, and you are not near a charger. Many phones offer to turn it on for you automatically when the battery gets low. When you plug in and charge up, you can turn it back off.

• The tile is often a battery shape, sometimes with a small leaf or plus.
• Turn it on and the phone quietly trims things that drain the battery.
• The screen may dim a little and some background activity pauses.
• Everything you need, calls, texts, maps, still works fine.

Screen Cast: Putting Your Phone on the TV

This switch, often called Cast or Smart View, sends what is on your phone to a television, so photos and videos show up big on the living-room screen.

Tap the Cast or Smart View tile, wait a moment, and your phone lists any TVs it can find. Tap your TV's name, and your phone's screen appears on it. To stop, open the tile again and tap Disconnect. It is a lovely way to share vacation photos with the whole room.

• A modern smart TV, or a small streaming stick plugged into the TV.
• The TV and the phone on the same home Wi-Fi.
• The tile is often called Cast on Pixel, or Smart View on Samsung.

Hotspot: Sharing Your Internet

A hotspot lets your phone share its internet connection with another device, like a laptop or tablet, when there is no Wi-Fi around.

Press and hold the Hotspot tile to see your phone's hotspot name and password, which you type into the laptop or tablet, just like joining any Wi-Fi. Turn the hotspot off when you are done, so it does not run in the background.

• The tile is often called Hotspot, or Mobile hotspot.
• Turn it on and your phone becomes a little Wi-Fi source of its own.
• Your laptop or tablet can then connect to the phone and get online.
• Handy on a trip, or if your home internet goes down for a while.

Choosing Which Switches You See

The panel does not have to stay the way the phone came. You can bring your favorite switches to the front and tuck away the ones you never touch.

Press and hold a tile and drag it where you want it. The switches you use most, like the flashlight, belong near the top so they are easy to reach. Drag tiles you never use down out of the way, or off the panel entirely. When finished, tap Done or the back arrow.

• Swipe down twice to open the full panel.
• Look for a pencil icon, or three dots, usually near the bottom or a corner.
• Tap it, and the tiles wiggle or become movable, ready to rearrange.
• On Samsung, tap the three dots, then Edit buttons.

Reordering So It Makes Sense to You

A little arranging goes a long way. When the switches you use sit right where your thumb lands, the whole phone feels friendlier.

Nothing here is permanent. If you move a switch and later miss it in its old spot, just open the editor again and drag it back. Removing a tile from the panel does not turn the feature off, it only hides the switch, and you can add it back anytime.

• Put your everyday switches, flashlight and brightness, in the top row.
• Keep Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and airplane mode nearby, since you use them now and then.
• Drag rarely-used tiles further down, or remove them from view.
• Leave the panel less crowded, so it is easy to read at a glance.

The Physical Buttons on the Side

Beyond the screen, your phone has real buttons on its edges. Knowing what they do, and what holding them does, clears up a great deal of confusion.

A quick tap and a long press, holding the button down a couple of seconds, do different things. Tapping power just sleeps the screen. Holding power brings up a menu, or in many cases the voice assistant, which we cover on the next page. It is worth knowing the difference.

• The power button, usually on the right edge, wakes and sleeps the screen.
• The volume buttons, a pair (or a rocker) on the side, turn sound up and down.
• A single tap of power turns the screen off and on, it does not turn the phone off.
• A press of volume, while music or a video plays, changes that sound.

What Long-Pressing the Buttons Does

Holding a button down, rather than tapping it, is where folks get surprised. Here is exactly what to expect, so nothing catches you off guard.

The power menu is where you find Power off, to shut the phone down completely, and Restart, to switch it off and on again in one step. Restart is the gentle first fix when the phone acts up, it clears little glitches without losing a thing.

• On Pixel and many phones, holding power opens Gemini, the voice helper.
• On Samsung, holding the side button may open Gemini, the voice helper, or the power menu.
• To reach the power menu (with Power off and Restart), you may need to hold power and volume up together.
• This is set in Settings if you want to change what holding does.

Turning the Phone Off and Restarting

Every so often a phone gets sluggish or stubborn. Knowing how to turn it off, and better yet restart it, is the single most useful fix you can do yourself.

If an app freezes, the phone feels slow, or the internet will not work right, a restart often puts things right in under a minute. It does not erase anything, it simply gives the phone a fresh start, the way a good night's sleep helps the rest of us.

• Hold the power button (or power and volume up together, on newer phones).
• The power menu appears, with Power off and Restart.
• Tap Restart to switch off and on in one step, this fixes most small glitches.
• Or tap Power off to shut down fully, then hold power to turn it back on later.

Silencing Calls the Right Way

You want peace and quiet without cutting yourself off from the world. Here is how to quiet your phone safely, and why airplane mode is the wrong tool for it.

It is tempting to reach for airplane mode to get some peace, but it shuts off every signal. No one can reach you, you cannot receive an urgent call from family, and you cannot dial out at all. Do Not Disturb keeps the phone connected while simply hushing the ring.

• Turn the ringer volume down with the side buttons and the small menu that appears.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb from Quick Settings, calls stay quiet, phone still works.
• Flip the phone face down, some phones quiet the ringer on their own.

Letting the Right People Through

Do Not Disturb does not have to shut everyone out. You can let family ring through while the rest of the world stays quiet, so you never miss the calls that matter.

You can also have Do Not Disturb turn on by itself each night, say from 10 at night to 7 in the morning, so the phone quiets down at bedtime without you lifting a finger. Look for a Schedule option in the same Do Not Disturb settings.

• Press and hold the Do Not Disturb tile to open its settings.
• Look for People, or Calls, or Allowed exceptions.
• Choose to allow calls from Contacts, or just your Starred or Favorite people.
• Some phones let a second call within a few minutes ring through, in case it is urgent.

The Different Kinds of Volume

Here is a puzzle that stumps nearly everyone, your phone does not have one volume, it has several, and pressing the side buttons may not change the one you meant.

Press a side volume button and a small slider appears. Tap the little arrow or three dots next to it, and all the separate sliders open up, ring, media, alarm, and more. Slide each to where you want it. This is why your alarm can be loud even when your ringer is soft.

• Ring volume, how loud the phone rings for calls and texts.
• Media volume, how loud music, videos, and YouTube play.
• Alarm volume, how loud your morning alarm sounds.

Samsung and Pixel: The Differences

The switches and buttons work the same in spirit on every Android phone, but the two most common kinds name a few things differently. Here is a plain rundown.

• The screen-to-TV tile is called Smart View.
• Editing tiles is under the three dots, then Edit buttons.
• Holding the side button may open Gemini, the voice helper, unless you change it.
• The power menu often needs power and volume up held together.

What's in the 27-page PDF

• How to open Quick Settings, and the full panel (pages 3-4)
• What each switch, or tile, actually does (pages 5-11)
• Editing and reordering your tiles (pages 12-13)
• The power and volume buttons, and what holding them does (pages 14-16)
• Silencing calls the right way, and the volume types (pages 17-19)
• Samsung versus Pixel, a cheat sheet, and a word list (pages 20-22)

Why I wrote this

I write these as printable handouts because a guide you can keep in a drawer beats a web page you have to find again. No jargon, no judgment, no rushing. If you'd rather have someone sit beside you and go through it together, that's a flat $99 first visit with the 30-day follow-up included — serving Portage County from Atwater, Ohio. — Bill