Google Nexus 5X Tips and Tricks

Android now has privacy or incognito mode built into the stock browser.

Open your Browser App and press the Tabs icon at the bottom. Then press the Menu or More button at the top. Then select New secret tab, or Secret mode security.

Another option is to use the popular Dolphin browser whenever you want to browse privately. Then each time you exit, Dolphin asks you whether you want to delete your Cache or History.

If you select yes, then your activity will be untraceable. You may need to check this is enabled in the Dolphin settings.

To adjust your screen brightness, there are two options:

1) Simply drag your finger from the top of the phone down to pull down your quick settings screen. Then at the top there will be a brightness bar. Drag this left or right or press Auto.

2) Drag your notifications screen down and select Settings. Then under Device, select Display – Brightness. Then choose the desired brightness setting.

You can also select Automatic brightness to let the phone decide for you.

Smartphones can sometimes get hot when playing play games, listening to music, watching videos, or charging.

This is common and mostly caused when several Apps are running at once, or one App is using a lot of processor power.

Normally there is no need to worry about phones getting a warm while in use as the phone and battery can heat up to 120 Fahrenheit without damage.

However, when your phone becomes unbearably hot and you start having issue with your Apps, then there might be a problem. This might be due to faulty battery, too much charging, or a high workload.

To diagnose this, you can use apps like TempMonitor or Battery Temperature Guard (free) to monitor your device’s temperature.

Both can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

These apps should be able to tell you that your phone’s temp is within normal range.

If you are running low on phone storage memory, you can look for your largest applications to uninstall.

Go to Settings – Applications – Application manager.

From here you can see which applications are taking up the most memory and uninstall them.

Android manages Apps very well and some Apps do not have the option to close them specifically. Normally the App will stay running in the background and only close when many other Apps have been opened.

If you do want to close or terminate an App, then press and hold the Multitasking key on your phone. On some devices you may need to long press the Home key.

Then you can swipe the Apps off the screen to close them.

If you find that apps are slowing down your device or consuming unecessary memory or batter life, then try downloading an App called DU Battery Saver or DU Speed Boost which are great for optimising the Apps that are running.

If you want to install Apps outside of the Play Store (called sideloading), then go to Settings – Lock screen and security and select Unknown sources.

This setting will allow you to download Apps onto your device that would normally be blocked in the Play store.

Note: use at your own risk.

To show the Browser History, open your Android stock browser (the default browser). Then press the Menu or More button and select Settings. Then Advanced – Manage website data.

To clear history, go to Privacy and Delete personal data.

If you have used up all of your Quick Launch spaces, then there is a trick to provide you more.

First, press and drag an App from the home screen and move it over the top of an App in the Quick Launch area. Then release your finger.

This will create a folder containing the original App plus the new one.

This is a great way to have access to regularly used Apps.

If you find yourself woken up by notifications, text messages or incoming calls, then there is a handy feature called Blocking mode.

To enable this go to Settings – Do not disturb.

Next, select Enable now or Enable as scheduled.

The latter option will give you options to set the time period for your Do not disurb.

You can also add exceptions to allow notifications from certain contacts that you don’t mind bothering you.

Having notifications come through on the lock screen can be handy because you don’t have to unlock your phone to see what the notification is about.

The problem with this is that someone may see the content of a notification (a text message for example) which you would like to keep private.

To change this setting to only display that the notification has arrived (rather than the actual content), then go to Settings – Lock screen and security.

Then select Notifications on lock screen

From here you can enable or disable which apps you can show notifications from or at the top, select to Show or Hide notifications.