11 Android Quick Settings additions that’ll supercharge your efficiency

Quick: When’s the last time you really, truly thought about your Android device’s Quick Settings setup?

If you’re like most mammals I know, the answer probably ranges somewhere between “eons ago” and “never.” And it’s no surprise: Android’s Quick Settings area, seemingly set to get some significant upgrades in next year’s Android 16 release, is one of those things that’s just sort of there. It’s convenient, sure, but it’s all too easy to forget that it’s completely customizable — and expandable, too. It can turn into an invaluable home for your own custom Android shortcuts, if you take the time to build it up accordingly.

The challenge, aside from simply remembering that you can expand that area of your phone’s interface, is knowing where to begin. Google doesn’t have any great way to track down and identify apps that offer Quick Settings additions, and even when you have an app with a cool Quick Settings option on your phone, you might not even realize it’s there.

But hey, that’s what I’m here for — that, and eating copious quantities of meatloaf. But the former is what’s most relevant for our purposes today.

So set aside your own meatloaf stockpile for a moment, and let’s dig into your device’s equally delicious Quick Settings improvement potential — shall we?

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Android Quick Settings tile #1: Your timeout override

The shiny screens on these stunning modern smartphones of ours are typically set to shut themselves off after a certain number of seconds. And that’s generally a good thing. Otherwise, the dodo brains among us (hiya!) would forget to shut our screens off every time we got distracted — by a dancing panda passerby, a plate of steaming squared meat, or whatever manner of diversion tends to claim your attention unexpectedly.

Sometimes, though, you genuinely want your screen to stay on for an extended period, even when you aren’t actively caressing it. Maybe you’re poring over a complex document, staring at one of those weird 3D image things everyone was obsessed with in the 90s, or considering which hue of chartreuse is the most rage-inducing color of all.

Whatever the case, an app called Wakey will give you a single-tap switch in your Android Quick Settings area to keep your screen on anytime the need arises.

To get it up and running on your phone:

First, install the app (obviously, right?!). It’s free with an optional $2.50 upgrade to remove ads and enable some extra features, and it doesn’t require any unusual or eyebrow-raising permissions.

Next, swipe down twice from the top of your screen to open your full Quick Settings panel. Tap the pencil-shaped icon within that panel, then find the “Enable Wakey” button in the inactive tiles area.

Press and hold that button and drag it into your active tiles area. If you want it to be especially easy to access, place it in one of the first four spots so that you’ll see it in the top row of options — even just with one swipe down from the top of your screen.

Wakey’s Android Quick Settings tile gives you a quick ‘n’ simple way to keep your screen from timing out as needed.JR Raphael, IDG

And that’s it: Whenever you want to prevent your screen from timing out and turning off, you can just tap that spiffy new Wakey tile. Just be sure to tap it again when you’re done with whatever you’re doing and ready to have your standard screen timeout kick back in.

Android Quick Settings tile #2: Your on-demand agenda

One of my favorite Android Quick Settings additions comes from a super-simple app that does one thing and does it well: It shows your next calendar event as a tile within your phone’s Quick Settings for exceptionally easy at-a-glance access.

The app is called CalenTile, and there really isn’t much to it: Once installed, it keeps scrolling text with your next event right at your fingertips, from anywhere on your device — and, in a nice little twist, it also lets you tap that tile to pull up an on-demand access panel with more info along with extra shortcuts for editing the event or creating a new event, too.

See your next event right in Android’s Quick Settings panel and tap it for even more info with CalenTile’s convenient addition.JR Raphael, IDG

Once you’ve got the app installed, all you’ve gotta do is follow the same steps we went over a moment ago to find its tile within your inactive Quick Settings area and drag it into an active position.

CalenTile costs a whopping $1 and doesn’t require any disconcerting permissions.

Android Quick Settings tile #3: A fast task adding option

I don’t know about you, but keeping track of tasks is without a doubt one of the top things I rely on my phone to do. And with a quick adjustment to your Quick Settings, you can make it easier than ever to add something new onto your list.

Both Todoist and Microsoft To Do have one-tap Quick Settings commands for fast task adding within their respective Android versions. Just install whichever app you like, then edit your Quick Settings to find and activate its tucked-away task-adding tile.

Android Quick Settings tile #4: An easy way to see the weather

While we’re thinking about easier access to important info, how ’bout keeping a quick overview of the current weather a single swipe away — no matter what else you might be doing on your device?

After all, even with all the exceptional Android weather apps out there, there’s something to be said for being able to see that sort of info quickly, without disrupting other tasks and having to head back to your home screen first.

And a handy little app called Chronus is the key to making it happen. Among many other features, Chronus has the easily overlooked option to add a simple tile into your Quick Settings with up-to-the-minute weather for wherever you may be.

Never wonder about the weather again with Chronus’s handy forecast tile in your Android Quick Settings panel.JR Raphael, IDG

Once you’ve installed the app, you’ll need to open it once, hit the three-line menu icon in its upper-left corner, and select “Quick Settings” — then tap the button to allow the pertinent permissions at the top of the screen that comes up. You can also configure some things about the weather Quick Settings tile’s appearance in that same area.

All that’s left is to bring the tile into your active Quick Settings area, using the same steps from our first item.

Chronus is free, with an optional $3 that unlocks a variety of extra features (including the ability to be able to tap the weather widget for instant extended forecast info).

Android Quick Settings tile #5: Your always-available calculator

Ever find yourself needing to conduct a quick calculation whilst wading around the ocean of information on your dapper Android device?

Sure, you could stop what you’re doing, head back to your home screen, find your calculator app, and then open it up to perform your mathematic magic before plodding your way back to whatever app you started in — but goodness gracious, that’s an awful lot of inefficient steps. And it’s pretty inconvenient, too.

Instead, make sure you have the official Google Calculator app installed on your device. It’s already present by default on Pixels and available to download for free on any other Android phone or tablet.

Then, open up your Quick Settings once more and find that pencil-shaped editing icon. You should see the Calculator tile in the inactive area of that editing interface, and with one quick press-and-drag into the active Quick Settings section, your next calculation will be especially easy to pull off.

Android Quick Settings tile #6: Faster file access

Another Google-made Android app that’s quietly gained a hidden-by-default Quick Settings shortcut option in recent months is the excellent Google Files app.

Download the free app onto your device, if it isn’t already there, and follow those same steps from a moment ago to find its inactive tile and make it active.

Then, anytime you need to find a file you’ve saved or deal with any other storage-related duty, you can simply swipe down from the top of your screen to tap that freshly revealed shortcut and fly right over to a full-fledged file manager — no home-screen-returning or app-drawer-hunting required.

Android Quick Settings tile #7: Your recording quick-start

This next shortcut is specific to the Pixel owners among us: Google’s self-made Android phones come with an outstanding audio recording called, rather fittingly, Recorder. It’s a spectacular tool for recording everything from meetings to conversations and even rambling note-to-self memos, complete with Google’s unmatched text transcription and even instant cross-device access of all your recordings.

But what few mere mortals realize is that Recorder holds a hidden shortcut that makes starting a recording a snap. And if you’re carrying a Pixel phone, it’s already there on your device and just waiting to be dug up.

All you’ve gotta do is open up your Quick Settings panel and tap the icon to edit it, just like we’ve been doing with every item in this collection — and then look closely at the list of inactive options at the very bottom of the list. Somewhere in that jungle, you should see a tile labeled “Recorder.”

Press and hold that puppy and drag it up to the area with all your active Quick Settings options, and you’ll then be able to find and tap it for a single-step way to start an audio recording almost instantly — without delay.

Android Quick Settings tile #8: A better way to read

The out-of-the-way Android Reading Mode is one of the most useful smartphone features you probably aren’t using. It’s a one-tap tool you can use to transform practically anything on your screen — an email, a document, even an overly cluttered article you’re reading on an otherwise wonderful website (insert awkward casual whistling here) — and turn it into a delightfully distraction-free experience.

width='2160' height='2034' sizes='(max-width: 2160px) 100vw, 2160px'>Android’s Reading Mode makes any manner of reading instantly more pleasant — and with the associated Quick Settings tile, it’s never more than a swipe and tap away.JR Raphael, IDG

Reading Mode eliminates any and all mid-text interruptions, and it also empowers you to pick any color, font, size, and general style your peepers prefer. And if all of that isn’t enough, it gives you the option to play whatever you’re reading out loud like a custom podcast, too — at any reading speed you like and even continuing in the background when you move onto other things.

Specific to our purposes here today, though, what matters is the shortcut to summon Reading Mode from your phone’s Quick Settings area whenever you want it.

Just make sure you have the Google-made Reading Mode app installed from the Play Store, then do that double-swipe-down from the top of your screen to open up your full Quick Settings menu. Tap that pencil-shaped editing icon within it again, find the Reading Mode tile within the inactive tiles area, and drag it into an active place.

Ahh — serenity now.

Android Quick Settings tile #9: Your song ID assistant

Okay, so this next one isn’t technically work-related — but with a little creative thinking, it could be.

Say you’re out on a Very Important Business Lunch, and some song starts playing in the restaurant that you know you recognize but can’t quite identify. (Hint: It’s almost certainly by The Scorpions.)

Maddening, right? Enough to keep you distracted and unable to properly focus on the meeting and/or meating at hand?

Get Google’s recently rolled out Song Search tile in your Android device’s Quick Settings, and you can ID the song in seconds and get back to business.

The tile showed up without any fanfare or announcement via an update to the Google app present on every Android device a little while back. If you edit your Quick Settings and look in the inactive tile area, it oughta be there and waiting to be called into action.

Android Quick Settings tile #10: Your built-in virtual remote

Up next is another Android shortcut that’s quietly lurking in your phone’s dustiest corners and waiting to be discovered. And once you bring it out to the forefront, you’ll wonder how you went so long without ever realizing it was there.

It’s a native virtual remote for any Google/Android-TV-associated devices — everything from TVs with that software built in to set-top boxes and even the newer Chromecast/Google TV Streamer With Google TV And Maybe Also Android TV By Google dongle doohickeys. (I’m pretty sure that’s their official name now, right?) If you’ve got any such apparati in your home and/or office, this easy little addition will bring a brilliant upgrade to your life.

The secret to making this bit o’ goodness appear is opening up the Google TV app — y’know, that thing that probably came preinstalled on your phone and that you’ve probably never bothered to look at. Well, get this: If you open that app up even once, a new TV Remote tile will magically appear in the invisible area of your phone’s Quick Settings panel.

And from there, all that’s left is to edit your Quick Settings — using the same exact steps from above — to drag it up or over into an active and visible position.

Once you do, you’ll always have a universal control for all of your Google-connected screens at your frothy fingertips.

Android Quick Settings tile #11: Instant access to anything

Whew! We’ve covered a bunch of ground already. But if you’re finding yourself wishing you could get to another specific app or action via a custom Quick Settings shortcut you haven’t seen yet, a Swiss-Army-knife-style app called Tile Shortcuts is exactly the tool you need.

Tile Shortcuts makes it as simple as can be to create your own custom Quick Settings tiles for all sorts of specific purposes — like:

Launching any app on your device

Launching a specific process within an app you have installed

Opening any website you want

Performing a variety of system-level activities and settings adjustments

You can even use it to create entire folders of apps, if you’re really feeling adventurous.

Just note: After you create any new tile within Tile Shortcuts, it’s up to you to add it into the active area of your Quick Settings panel — using the same steps we’ve gone over a few times now. Note, too, that the tile may have a generic-seeming name, like “Tile Shortcuts #1,” until you drag it into the active area of your Quick Settings setup and save out.

Tile Shortcuts is free, with optional donations for the developer.

And with that, congratulations are officially in order, my fellow efficiency-seeking emu. You’ve just made your Android phone substantially more useful — and that, m’dear, is a feat worth celebrating with mountains of seasoned meat.

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