Skip to main content

How to use Android Pie’s search bar to control your phone’s settings

How to use Android Pie’s search bar to control your phone’s settings

/

If you’ve got a Pixel with Pie, you can toggle apps on and off from your search drop-down

Share this story

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

When Android 9 Pie was introduced last year, it brought with it a new feature called Slices, which would allow features from third-party apps to exist within the Android interface. While you’ve been able to ask Google Assistant to toggle some things on and off for a while, the latest implementation of Slices has made it easier to access a variety of Android settings from within Google search — assuming, of course, that your Pixel is equipped with Pie.

It’s very simple: search on something like Bluetooth or Night Light using the Google search box on the home screen. The last choice on the search drop-down menu will have a toggle for that feature. We were also able to do a search on “volume” and got an adjustable range.

android pie bluetooth
android pie volume

Interestingly, with some of these features you don’t have to type in the exact name of the feature — for example, do a search for “bright” and you’ll get the toggle for Adaptive Brightness. However, while “Wi-Fi” with a dash will get you a toggle for your wireless connection, “WiFi” will not. (Sometimes, spelling can be important.)

android pie wifi
Android Pie wi-fi

Currently, the features seem to be only rolling out to Pixels; Google willing, other models running Android Pie will also receive this rather useful update sometime in the near future.

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.