Technologies

13 Pixel 7 Settings to Tweak to Make the Phone Even Better

Try out these simple changes to help make your Google phone even better.

If you just purchased a new Pixel 7 or 7 Pro phone, you’ll want to adjust a few settings. Your Google Pixel can feel more efficient, functional and suited to your needs by making a few minor changes. You can, for example, change the color palette on your home screen to match your favorite hue, as well as save storage space and battery life.

Google launched the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro in October, and both phones include a refreshed design, face unlock, the new Tensor G2 processor and improved cameras. But many of these settings options below should also be available on older devices too, including the Pixel 6 lineup.

Follow the steps below to learn more about how to get the most out of your new Pixel.

Turn on themed icons to make your icons match your wallpaper

One of the biggest features that debuted in 2021’s Android 12 update is Material You, which customizes the software’s color palette to match your wallpaper. To give your app icons a colorful refresh, long-press any empty space on your Pixel 7’s home screen. Then tap Wallpaper & style and make sure the switch next to Themed icons is toggled on. Now app icons on the home screen should match your wallpaper. You’ll notice that some elements within certain apps — like the keyboard in Messages and Gmail’s Compose button — will have colored accents that match your wallpaper, too.

Unlock your Pixel 7 just by looking at it

Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro both support face unlock, unlike last year’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. If you own a Pixel 7 and haven’t set it up yet, you can do so by launching the Settings menu and tapping Security. Tap Face and fingerprint unlock and enter your PIN. From there, choose the Face Unlock option to register your face to your phone.

Google cautions, however, that your phone can be unlocked by someone who looks like you, such as a sibling, when using this feature. As such, the Pixel 7’s face unlock functionality is meant just for quickly unlocking your phone rather than authenticating payments and other transactions. That makes it significantly different than Apple’s Face ID, which creates a depth map of your face by «projecting and analyzing thousands of invisible dots,» according to Apple’s support page.

Use Quick Phrases to dismiss an alarm or phone call without saying, ‘Hey, Google’

We’ve all been there. It’s 6 a.m., your alarm starts blaring and you barely have the energy to reach for your phone. Google makes this a little easier on the Pixel lineup by enabling you to pause or dismiss an alarm by simply saying, «Snooze» or «Stop» without requiring the «Hey, Google» trigger phrase. You can do the same for phone calls by saying «Answer» or «Decline» without having to grab your device.

To turn this on, open the Settings menu and choose Apps. Then, select Assistant and tap Quick phrases. You should see options for alarms and timers and incoming calls. Tap the switch next to each one to enable this feature.

Have Google Assistant wait on hold for you and transcribe automated phone menus

Tired of waiting on hold? Try using Google’s Hold For Me feature, which has Google Assistant wait on hold and then notify you when a customer representative becomes available. If you don’t want to remember which number to punch the next time you’re sitting through automated voice prompts, you can also turn on Direct My Call. This transcribes automated menus so that you don’t have to remember which number to press to get directed to the correct extension. Direct My Call should work even faster on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, since Google says these phones may show some transcriptions before they’re even spoken.

Both of these features are accessible from the Pixel’s phone app. Hold For Me works on the Pixel 3 and later, while Direct My Call is available on the Pixel 3A and later. Open the Phone app and tap the three dots in the top right corner to get started. Choose Settings and you should see Hold for Me and Direct My Call under the Assistive section.

The Direct My Call feature seems promising, but it only works for toll-free numbers in English right now. That can make its transcriptions a bit confusing since many automated phone menus typically read options in Spanish, too.

Choose whether you want to extend battery life or boost performance

Google’s Pixel phones can optimize battery life depending on how you use your phone. While that’s a useful perk, there may be times when you’d prefer to turn this feature off so that you can get better performance out of your device. You can turn this setting on or off anytime by opening the Settings menu, choosing Battery and tapping Adaptive preferences.

Turn on Smart Storage to avoid running out of space

If you take a lot of photos and videos, you know how precious your device’s storage space can be. As one way to deal with that problem, you can choose to have your Pixel phone automatically delete old photos to free up space. If you enable this feature, your Pixel device will erase photos backed up to your Google Photos account that have been on your device for 60 days if your phone’s storage is less than 25%.

To turn this on, open Settings, choose Storage and tap Free up space. Then tap the menu icon in the top left corner and select Settings. Toggle the switch next to Smart Storage.

Use Storage Saver to optimize your Pixel’s photo and video storage

If you want to save space, there’s another option: Enable Storage Saver on your Pixel device. This changes settings that use large amounts of storage, such as saving RAW images as JPEG and recording videos in 1080p instead of 4K. If you care more about saving space than having the best resolution possible, you might want to try this.

Launch the Camera app and tap the settings icon in the top left corner. Then, tap More settings and select Device storage. Toggle the switch next to Storage Saver.

Customize what happens when you press the volume key while taking photos

You can use the volume button to snap a photo, adjust the zoom or control the audio volume on your Pixel device. Open the Camera app, press the Settings icon and choose More settings. Then, choose Gestures and select Volume key action to choose your preferred option.

Make sure your Pixel’s screen automatically switches orientation when needed

Few things can be more annoying than having your phone stuck in portrait mode when you’re holding it in landscape mode to watch a video. Avoid this on your Pixel phone by opening the Settings menu, choosing Display and tapping Auto-rotate screen. You can also choose to turn on face detection to make autorotate more accurate. Google says images used in face detection are never stored or sent to the company.

Identify songs playing nearby on the lock screen

Ever heard a song playing at a restaurant and wondered what it’s called? Google Pixel devices can recognize songs and display the name of the song and artist on your phone’s lock screen. Open the Settings menu, choose Display and tap Lock screen. Press Now Playing and toggle on the switch next to Identify songs playing nearby.

Choose whether you want smoother scrolling or longer battery life

Certain Pixel devices can boost their refresh rates to enable faster scrolling and smoother animations, which makes the software generally feel more responsive. The Pixel 7 can bump its refresh rate up to 90Hz like the Pixel 6, while the Pixel 7 Pro can go up to 120Hz just like the Pixel 6 Pro. But since this feature increases battery usage, there are times when you might want to turn it off.

To access this option, open the Settings menu and choose Display. Scroll down to Smooth Display and toggle the switch to turn it on or off. This feature isn’t available on the Pixel 6A.

Add captions to videos, podcasts and phone calls

Google’s Live Caption feature generates captions for media playing on your device, and it works on older Pixels dating back to the second-generation model. It’s an accessibility feature, and it can also be useful for times when you’re stuck without headphones and need to hear the content of a video or podcast in a public setting. To turn this on, press the volume button and tap the Live Caption icon, which looks like a speech bubble. Just remember that using Live Caption can use additional battery resources.

Edit your quick settings to easily access shortcuts

Pulling down from the top of the screen will launch the quick settings menu. Tap the pencil icon to edit this menu and add the settings you use most often. Google offers a wide variety of options ranging from battery saver to enabling and disabling the microphone and accessing alarms. Here you’ll find staples including airplane mode, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Looking for more advice for your other Google devices? Check out our tips for boosting your productivity on Chromebooks and getting the most out of your Google Nest.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Nov. 12

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 12.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I was doing great until I stumbled on 6-Across, but filling in the Down answers solved that for me. If you need the answers, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Place with ships and slips
Answer: DOCK

5A clue: Assignment for a delivery driver
Answer: ROUTE

6A clue: Way in
Answer: ENTRY

7A clue: What might leave stains on a gardener’s pants
Answer: SOIL

8A clue: Fearsome dinosaur, for short
Answer: TREX

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Person giving blood
Answer: DONOR

2D clue: Kind of belly button that 10% of the world has
Answer: OUTIE

3D clue: Shortcut for «cut,» for short
Answer: CTRLX

4D clue: Door opener … like 6-Across?
Answer: KEY

5D clue: «Oh, give it a ___ already!»
Answer: REST

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 12, #415

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 12, No. 415.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The purple category trusts that you know your pro teams, and that you can spot them out of context. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Great White North.

Green group hint: Famous baseball places.

Blue group hint: Alma mater groups.

Purple group hint: Hoops first.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Canadian NHL teams, minus the S.

Green group: MLB stadium landmarks.

Blue group: College conferences.

Purple group: Starts with an NBA team.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Canadian NHL teams, minus the S. The four answers are Canuck, Jet, Maple Leaf and Oiler.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is MLB stadium landmarks. The four answers are Green Monster, Home Run Apple, McCovey Cove and Monument Park.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college conferences. The four answers are Ivy, Missouri Valley, Patriot and Sun Belt.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts with an NBA team. The four answers are buckskin, heat check, Magic Johnson and sunscreen.

Technologies

November Nights Are Dazzling With These 3 Meteor Showers. How to Watch Like a Pro

You won’t need binoculars or a telescope, but you will need to get away from city lights to see one of the meteor showers peak tonight.

Skygazers, get ready for an active night sky this week and next. Following the supermoon last week, we’ve also got three annual meteor showers happening right now: the Northern Taurids, which peaks Tuesday night; the Southern Taurids, which has already peaked but is ongoing through November; and the Leonids, which peaks early next week.

While these showers aren’t as prolific as the biggest ones, including August’s Perseids and January’s Quadrantids, you can still marvel at meteors with a bit of luck and some tips we’ll provide.

Not everyone understands what a meteor shower actually is, but it’s fairly simple. Shooting stars are a common occurrence in space around planet Earth. According to NASA, 48.5 tons of meteoritic material hit Earth’s atmosphere every year. Sometimes, enough of that material comes from the same spot, and we humans refer to those as meteor showers.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Southern Taurids: Ongoing

The Southern Taurids shower, one of the longest meteor showers of the year, lasts for two months.

Southern Taurids peaked on the evening of Nov. 4, spawning upwards of five meteors per hour during that peak, but is expected to hang around through this week and next. Southern Taurids is known for its increased chance of fireballs, which are meteors that are brighter than most. According to some reports, these fireballs can be brighter than the planet Venus when they streak across the night sky.

All meteor showers are named for the constellations where they appear to originate, a spot known as the radiant. For the Southern Taurids, the radiant is in the Taurus constellation near the Pleiades star cluster, so that is where you’ll want to look for them. Taurus will be visible in the eastern sky shortly after sunset and end its evening in the western sky as the sun rises.

Northern Taurids: Peaks Nov. 11-12

The Northern Taurids meteor shower is set to peak over the next couple of days, on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s identical to the Southern Taurids, only with a later peak date. The origin point will be the Taurus constellation, producing an average of five meteors per hour with an increased chance of fireballs.

The Leonids: Peaks Nov. 16-17

Of the three November meteor showers, Leonids should be the most active. It is fed by the Tempel-Tuttle Comet, which can produce some dense debris clouds, resulting in very strong showers. The Leonids meteor shower is set to peak this weekend, on Nov. 16 to 17.

Some sources say that seeing as many as 15 visible meteors per hour is possible, while NASA estimates a more conservative three per hour under dark skies. It’s impossible to know for sure how active this shower will be until the peak occurs.

As the name implies, Leonids will appear out of the Leo constellation. Leo is visible in the eastern sky between midnight and 1 a.m. local time.

According to the American Meteor Society, Leonids has produced some intense meteor showers as recently as 2002, but isn’t scheduled to do so again until 2031, 2064 and 2099 as the comet returns to the solar system. During these rare meteor storms, NASA says that it’s possible to see upwards of 1,000 meteors per hour.

Tips for watching meteor showers

Here are some tips and tricks that will help increase your odds of spotting a meteor in November.

Get away from light pollution

This is the most important guideline to follow. Simply put, city lights make meteors harder to see.

«Light pollution will definitely hamper your viewing of meteors,» Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, told CNET. «The more light pollution you are under, the fewer meteors you’ll see.»

Nichols says that unfavorable conditions can reduce the number of meteors you see by as much as 75%.

Head to the countryside and find a spot that is as dark as possible. (There are other sources of light pollution that humans can’t do anything about, like the moon.)

The Southern Taurids peaked during November’s full moon, which is also a supermoon, meaning it shares the maximum amount of light pollution you can get from the moon. If you’re going to skip any of these showers, the Southern Taurids is probably the best choice. The other two showers will have much more favorable celestial conditions.

Don’t take any equipment

Meteor showers typically have an origin point, but you won’t need binoculars or telescopes.

«You want to just use your eyes,» said Nichols. «Binoculars or telescopes both look at ever-smaller pieces of sky, and you want to be able to look around at the entire sky.»

Meteors are very fast, and a magnification device may obstruct your ability to see the whole path. Nichols says that Taurids meteors tend to travel at 17 to 18 miles per second, while Orionids may travel as fast as 41 miles per second.

Also, meteors don’t last for a long time.

«Look for short-lived, quick streaks of light,» Nichols says. «Meteors tend to last a fraction of a second to maybe a few seconds for the longer-lived ones.»

Nichols also notes that much of the material falling to Earth’s surface is «only about the size of a grain of sand.» As such, the streak humans often see isn’t the meteor itself, but rather the «glowing, superheated air that surrounds that bit of comet material» as it plummets toward Earth.

Dress for the occasion

Unless you live in the Deep South, it’s likely to be cold outside in November. Dressing for the occasion means you’ll be able to stay out longer, even if it’s chilly.

«When you go outside, dress warmly in layers, even if it’s not terribly cold where you are,» says Nichols. «You’ll be out there for a while, and at night, you may easily get chilled, especially if it’s damp out.»

Nichols recommends bringing an extra chair to put your feet on to keep them off the cold ground, especially if it’s wet, and also recommends against drinking alcohol, which causes blood vessels to dilate, causing the body to lose heat faster.

Patience is a virtue

The phrase «it’s a marathon, not a sprint» is about as apropos as it gets for meteor watching. Showers are unpredictable, and every number you’ve seen in this article or elsewhere online is essentially an estimate. You’ll want to make sure to give yourself as much time as you can to get settled.

«Give your eyes at least 20-30 minutes to adjust to the darkness,» Nichols advises. «You may not see meteors right away. And when you do, they’ll be sporadic.»

If it were easy to spot meteors, then it wouldn’t be special. You can help yourself by reducing your phone screen brightness to its lowest setting to preserve your night vision, and by using flashlights, not big camping lanterns.