14 Best Android 14 Hidden Features and Tips You Should Know

Key Takeaways

• With Android 14, Google has added plenty of new features for customizability.
• There’s an added focus on user privacy, with apps having access to selected photos and videos only.
• The inclusion of AI Wallpapers makes image generation accessible to every Android user for free.

1. Create Cinematic or Live Wallpaper From Any Photo

With Android 14, you can create cinematic wallpapers with 3D effects from any photo saved on your phone. The wallpaper appears to move when you switch between pages or perform other actions. You can set this cinematic wallpaper on both the lock and home screen. Here’s how.

Step 1: On your Android 14 device, navigate to Settings > Wallpaper & style > More wallpapers. Tap on My Photos.

Step 2: Select the photo of your choice to create a cinematic wallpaper. Once the photo preview shows up, tap on the icon with three stars. A confirmation pop-up will show up. Next, enable the toggle next to Create Cinematic wallpaper. Once done, the wallpaper may turn blurry. Wait for a few seconds, then tap the Set Wallpaper button at the top.

Note: If you don’t have the cinematic wallpapers option or cannot set it, open the Google Photos app and go to Library > Utilities > Cinematic photo. Select a photo and create a cinematic picture. Your phone will automatically download the necessary files for cinematic wallpapers. Restart your Android phone, and then try creating a cinematic wallpaper.

2. Enable Flash Notification

Android 14 introduces the much-awaited flash notification feature. And you don’t just get one, but there are two types of flash notification features in Android 14. First is the Camera flash, which, as the name suggests, will use the camera flash for new notifications and alarms. And second is the Screen flash, where the screen will light up with a selected color upon receiving new notifications.

To enable it, go to Settings > Notifications > Flash notifications. Here, enable the toggle next to the preferred Flash notification type. If you want to use Screen Flash, tap on the Screen Flash text to select the color of the screen flash color.

Note: The flash notification feature is functional regardless of your phone being locked or unlocked.

3. Create AI Wallpapers                 

Android 14 lets users create completely new wallpapers using AI. You must pick from given topics and colors and modify the text to create different wallpaper versions.

To create an Android 14 AI Wallpaper, follow these steps:

Step 1: Head on to Settings > Wallpaper & style > More Wallpapers. Here, tap on AI Wallpaper and select your theme.

Step 2: Tap on the dotted text to replace it with a pre-given text. Finally, tap on Create Wallpaper to make your AI wallpaper. Once done, press the checkmark icon to set the wallpaper.

4. Monochrome Theme

If you enjoy customizing the theme and colors of your Android phone, Android 14 brings a neat monochrome (black and white) theme for both the lock and home screen.

To apply it, go to Settings > Wallpaper & Style, and select the Black and white color theme from the list of options. If it isn’t visible, tap the three-dot icon and select the Black and white theme. And that’s it.

Once applied, you will notice that most things will use the Monochrome effect. For best results, tap on the Home screen tab and enable the toggle next to Themed icons.

5. Set Regional Preferences

Android 14 update lets you set regional preferences for temperature (C, F), the first day of the week, and more. That way, the apps can personalize the experience without the need to change it every time you install an app.

To customize it, simply navigate to Settings > System > Languages > Regional preferences. Here, you can set your preferences as per your region.

6. Keep Separate Notification and Ring Volume

If you have ever used a Samsung Galaxy phone, you must have noticed that it has separate options to control notification and ring volume. This is another hidden feature introduced in Android 14. Now, you can keep ring volume at maximum whereas notification volume to a minimum or whatever suits you.

Go to Settings > Sound and Vibration. Here, you will find separate volume sliders for Ringtone and Notifications.

7. Increase Font Size Up to 200%

One of the coolest hidden features of Android 14 is that you can increase the font size to 200% now. Moreover, there’s non-linear font sizing, which means everything will be increased appropriately without messing anything, especially the larger font size, which will be increased slower than the small font.

Go to Settings > Display > Display size and text. Use the slider under the Font size slider to make text bigger or smaller.

Tip: Check out the best font apps for Android users

8. Change Font from Quick Tiles

Starting with Android 14, you can quickly make text bigger or smaller on your phone from the newly introduced Font size Quick tile.

Swipe down twice from the top edge to open the Quick Settings panel. Look for the Font size tile. Tap on it and then use the slider to adjust the font size.

Note: If you don’t see the font size tile, tap on the Pencil (Edit) icon on the Quick Panel and add the Font size tile. 

9. Give Access to Certain Photos and Videos Only

Until now, you could give full or no access to your photos and videos to apps. But that’s changing with Android 14, as you can select or pick only certain photos, so the app doesn’t have access to all your photos or videos. Whenever you see the ‘Allow [app name] to access photos and videos on this device’ pop-up, choose the ‘Select photos and videos’ option.

10. Login Without Pressing Enter

One tiny annoying feature of Android has been that you need to press Enter after you input your lock screen password. Thankfully, that’s changing with Android 14, as your phone will unlock automatically after you enter the correct lock screen password.

To enable it, simply go to Settings > Security and Privacy> Device Unlock. Tap the gear icon next to Screen lock and enable the toggle for Auto-confirm unlock.

Note: This setting will show up only if you have set a 6-digit PIN.

11. Drag and Drop Text or Images Between Apps

The drag-and-drop feature was available in Android 13 for split-screen mode. But it now works between apps in full-screen and also in the App Switcher (Recent apps) screen. Select the text or image by holding it, use your other hand to open the app from the home screen or in the App Switcher where you want to put it, and then drag it to that app.

Tip: On the recent apps screen, you can drag it to the list of contacts or apps at the bottom. Or, to the three-dot icon to open the Share screen from where you can select any app.

12. Make the Navigation Bar Transparent

If you look at small details, you will be glad to know that Android 14 can now keep the navigation bar color transparent. The setting is under the Developer options by the name of the Transparent navigation bar.

13. Check Phone’s Manufacturing Date

With Android 14, you can now check the year your phone was manufactured. Go to Settings > About phone > Model. Here, you will see the Manufactured year.

14. Lock Screen Customization

You must have definitely heard about the lock screen customization introduced in Android 14. You can customize the lock screen clock by changing its style, size, and color. You can even add lock screen shortcuts now. We have covered Android 14 lock screen customization in our dedicated post.

Other Cool Features of Android 14

Here are some additional hidden features of Android 14:

• Hearing aids get a dedicated setting under Accessibility.
• You can use your Android phone as a web camera for your PC.
• Play lossless audio on USB headphones.
• Android 14 lets you capture Ultra HDR images.
• A dedicated Health Connect app where you can check data from different fitness apps on one screen.