Google Pixel 3 XL Tips and Tricks
To copy files between your phone and PC, go to the Android Play Market and download an app called Air Droid.
This is an extremely useful App that connects your phone to your PC wirelessly, allowing you to move files and many, many other things.
Alternatively if you just want to copy using USB then simply plug a micro USB cable into your phone and it should appear as another drive on your PC.
Some phones do not allow data transfer to PC, to enable this feature go to Settings – Developer Options – Networking, and then tap on USB configuration and change it from ‘Charging’ to ‘MTP’.
Note: Developer Options is not always enabled by default. To enable, go to Settings – System – About Device. Then tap on Build number 7 times to enable this secret option.
While the stock standard keyboard is fine, there are much better keyboards available for the Google Pixel 3 Xl.
First, you need to go to the Play Store and download one. Try searching for the word ‘keyboard’ and you will see a number of options.
One of the best keyboards is a keyboard called Swiftkey, which is a top-rated App. This will literally change the way you feel about your phone as the standard keyboard can be quite a frustrating experience.
Download your chosen keyboard and go through any install steps that you are presented with.
If you see a warning saying the keyboard will collect all information (including credit cards) just ignore this. This is just a security feature that Android shows for every third-party keyboard that you install.
Then, go to the App you want to type in. You should now see a little Keyboard icon on the row at the bottom of your screen, towards the bottom-right corner. Press that icon and you can switch between all of the keyboards you have installed.
Some other notable keyboards that work on the Google Pixel 3 Xl are GO Keyboard and Gboard (the Google Keyboard). Download and install your keyboard app of choice. Once that’s done, follow these steps to switch your current keyboard to that newly installed one:
- You can click on your newly installed keyboard app (icon).
- Most of them can assist you on how to switch your keyboard.
- Just follow the instructions from the new keyboard app.
How to Switch Your Phone’s Default Keyboard to A New One
You can follow the steps above because most keyboard apps can assist you when it comes to switching the default keyboard to theirs. However, you can also do it manually by going to your Phone Settings. Just follow these steps:
- Go to Settings and scroll down or look for the “System” sub-menu.
- Under “System,” tap “Language and Keyboard” or “Language and Input.”
- Tap “Default Keyboard” and select the new keyboard app.
Depending on your unit and model, this method could vary. For those who can’t find the “Default Keyboard” option, you can follow these steps:
- Under “Language and Input,” you need to look for Virtual Keyboards → Manage Keyboards.
- Tap your keyboard of choice to activate it.
- You will get a message of confirmation. Just tap “OK.”
- Open your keyboard. You can do this by trying to write a message, email or search.
- Then tap the keyboard icon.
- Choose the Input Method (tap on your preferred keyboard).
Done! You can change your Google Pixel 3 Xl keyboard’s theme, predictive text, and other settings by opening its menu. You can do this by locating the keyboard icon on your home screen, or by tapping on the settings icon when you open the keyboard for typing.
If you prefer a different voice when listening to the Google Maps voice navigation, you can select another language or accent.
To change this, go to Settings. Then select System – Language and input – Text-to-speech options. Then under the Preferred text-to-speech engine, press the gear icon.
From there, select Language and you will be able to choose from different languages or language variations.
If you find that a particular App is sending you too many notifications, there is a quick way to disable these.
When you receive the notification, pull down the notification screen. Then long press on the notification, then tap on the ‘Notification’, from here you can turn notifications ON or OFF for that particular App.
To see notifications on your Lock screen, the best option is to download an App called NoLed from the Play Store. This will show notifications such as text messages, emails and missed calls as bright icons on your homescreen.
You can choose between very small squares or small icons and these can assigned by coloured.
The following is a list of commands that can be used for the Google Now service. This can be accessed by using the Google Search widget on your homescreen. Simply press the little microphone icon and say the commands below:
General
Search for
Who invented
Show me the stocks for
Author of
How old is
How tall is
Time & Date
What time is it in
When is the ?in
When is the sunset in
What is the time zone of
Time at home
Weather
Show me the weather
Is it going to rain tomorrow?
Do I need an umbrella?
Do I need a jacket
What is the weather in
How is the weather on ?going to be?
Maps / Location
Map of
Show me the nearby ?on map
Where is ?situated?
in
Navigate to ?in car
I am hungry (shows all nearby food points on map)
How far is ?from
Calculations / Conversions
How much is ?times
What is ?percent of
Square root of
?… ?equals
What is the numerical value of Pi
Convert ?into
Temperature of the sun
Sports
points table
Who won the last match between ?and
scorecard
Schedule of ?games
Websites
Go to
Open
Show me
Browse to
Entertainment
Listen to
Play
YouTube
When was the first episode of
movies
Who acted in
Who is the producer of
When was ?released
Runtime of
Notes / Reminders
Remind me to ?at
Wake me up in
at
Self note to
Set alarm for
Contacts / Communication
Call
Send ?to ?via text
(shows the contact card)
Call ?in
Send a text to ?
Email to , B C C , Subject , message
Flights
Flight Status of
Has ?landed/departed
When will ?land
Other
Do a barrel roll
If you want to find your phone’s WiFi MAC address (for improved WiFi security), then go to Settings – System – About device .
Then scroll down until you see WiFi MAC Address. The address should be a series of Hex numbers and letters.
How to unlock: Unlocking can bring many important benefits and can save you a considerable amount of money.
We can recommend a safe, reliable and low cost phone unlocking supplier or you can read more in our comprehensive phone unlocking guide which explains what it means, why you should unlock, and the safest and cheapest place to get it done.
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To add a widget, simply long press on a blank part of one of your homescreens. Then select Widget. Scroll through the list of available widgets and choose one. It will be placed on your homescreen and you can move it around as you desire.
If you regularly visit a website you can add a shortcut to your homescreen which can be quite useful, rather than entering the web address each time you want to visit the site.
You can either do this to an existing Bookmark, or simply a page you’re visiting:
1) Open your Browser App. Enter the website you want to bookmark. You may need to wait for the whole page to load first. Then press the phone’s Menu button or More at the top and select Add to home screen.
A pop up will appear, so choose “touch & hold to place manually” or “add automatically”.
2) Then bookmark the page.
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