Xiaomi Redmi S2 Tips and Tricks

Android 8 (Oreo)
Phone: Xiaomi Redmi S2
Factory OS: Android 8 (Oreo)

Have you updated your Operating System?
Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie)
Or view tips for all Android versions

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

Open your Browser App and press the Tabs icon at the bottom or top depending on your bowser. Then press the Menu or More button at the top. Then select New secret tab or select Open Incognito Tab.

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.

If you don’t want to have to unlock your screen every time you take your device out of standby then go to Settings – Personal – Lock screen and security.

Then select Screen lock type and select None.

If you have a frield, child, or family member who frequently borrows your phone, but you want to make sure that your personal settings and apps don’t get messed up, using Guest Mode on your Xiaomi Redmi S2 is the best solution.

Now not all phone models have a Guest Mode feature, but if your Xiaomi Redmi S2 model has this, just follow the steps below to activate it:

  1. On the home screen, swipe down using two fingers.
  2. Look for the User icon (usually located at the top-right portion of the screen).
  3. Tap “Add Guest.”
  4. Fill in the form and follow other instructions to set up the Guest Mode profile.
  5. You may also tweak the settings of each profile by tapping on the Guest or User profile. This includes access to contacts, making calls, sending messages, and even access to images and other files.
  6. Just tap on a Guest/User name to use that mode. If you want to exit Guest Mode, just tap on your main user profile or remove the guest account entirely.

This method generally works for Android phone users. However, certain brands may have different variations in setting up the Guest profile. For Huawei phone users, you can add up to 3 guest user accounts.

Just follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings → Users & Accounts → Users
  2. Tap “Add User” then start setting up the User Profile.
  3. Alternatively, you can tap “Add Guest” instead. From there, you can also set up the Guest profile.

You can manually set up the settings and allowable activities per user or guest. Just tap on a guest/user profile and tick certain boxes of which they may be allowed to do. This includes making calls, sending messages, and sharing contact records.

Android has a feature allowing you to update Applications automatically. This is turned off by default, but you can turn it on.

Open the Play Store App and press the Menu icon in the top left of the App. Then select Settings and in Notification section you can turn Auto-update apps on.

From here you can chose to do this over WiFi only or using your Data connection.?

Android now comes with some great battery management built into the OS.

Pull down your notifications screen and select Settings. Then go to Battery and you will see some useful stats such as the time remaining. There are also two other options: Power saving mode and Ultra power saving mode. Select one of these to really make your phone last the distance.

Be warned that these can limit your device quite considerably.

You can also increase Battery Life by minimizing the numbers of Apps running in the background.

To lock your screen while you are watching videos, simply press the power button.

This will disable the touchscreen buttons while the video is playing, but it won’t turn the screen off like the lock key normally does.

Note, this will only work on video files that you are playing that are stored on your phone. It won’t work for videos played within websites, such as YouTube videos.

If you would prefer to correct your own mistakes, then go to Settings – System – Language and input.

Then select the keyboard you are using and press the Settings icon again.

You should be able to find a predictive text option on this screen.

To change your default font, go to Settings – Device – Display – Font. You can also change the font size here also.

Another option is to install the popular Go Launcher EX App. Then once this is installed, download their GoLauncher Fonts App.

Most Android devices come with an alternative way of entering text called Swype. Many prefer this method and believe it is quicker.

When any text entry box appears, press and hold the box. Then select Input method: SWYPE. Once enabled, you simply drag your finger around the keyboard moving over the letters in the correct order to spell a word.

Google have hidden a clone of an Octopus inside of the Android Oreo OS.

To access this follow these instructions:
Drag down the notifications screen and go to Settings. Then scroll down to About device. Then tap on the Android version option 5 times.

You should now see a Lollipop on the screen or a double layer Oreo for Android 8.1.

Keep pressing the Lollipop/Oreo and after awhile a flying Octopus will appear.

You may need to long press on the Lollipop if multiple presses doesn’t work.

You can drag and fling that Octopus all around your screen. The eight tentacles represented 8.0