I found an overlooked Android feature that makes conversations easier to follow

Published Jul 20, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT I cover Android with a focus on productivity, automation, and Google’s ecosystem, including Gemini and everyday apps. With a background in engineering and software development, I tend to go beyond surface-level tips and focus on how features fit into real workflows. Before joining AP, I wrote for tech publications such as Gizbot in 2023 and iJunkie (formerly known as iPhoneHacks) from 2021 to 2022. There have been plenty of times when I've been sitting in a busy café or trying to watch TV without waking everyone else, only to realize I couldn't quite make out what was being said. Then I found an Android feature I'd completely overlooked. It doesn't remove background noise or replace a good pair of headphones, but it does make voices much easier to pick out in situations where I'd normally struggle. After using it for a while, I couldn't believe I'd ignored it for so long. This app isn't just trying to make everything louder The feature I kept overlooking is Google Sound Amplifier. It's an accessibility app pre-installed on Pixel phones and available for download on other Android devices. But don't let that label fool you. You don't need to have hearing loss to find it useful. What makes Sound Amplifier different is that it doesn't simply increase the volume. It lets you reduce background noise, boost quieter sounds, and adjust different sound frequencies, so voices are easier to pick out. To get started, connect a pair of wired or Bluetooth headphones, then open Settings > Accessibility > Sound Amplifier > Open Sound Amplifier. If your phone doesn't include it, you can install the Sound Amplifier app for free from the Play Store. After it's running, choose Phone mic to amplify the surrounding sounds or Phone media to improve audio from videos and other media. I finally understood what all those sliders were for When I first opened Sound Amplifier, I was greeted by a handful of sliders with names like Noise reduction, Boost quiet sounds, and Boost high or low frequencies. The Noise reduction slider became my go-to whenever I was in a busy café or waiting at an airport. Increasing it cut down on the constant background chatter, making it much easier to focus on the person I was talking to. If someone had a soft voice, I nudged up Boost quiet sounds instead of turning everything up. That made their voice easier to hear without making every other sound in the room louder. The frequency controls required a bit more experimentation. Boosting the high frequencies made consonants sound clearer, while boosting the low frequencies helped deeper voices stand out. The app lets you save settings that work for you, and even adjust the left and right ears separately if needed. After I found a combination that suited my hearing, I rarely had to touch the controls again. Quiz8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeHidden Android settingsTrivia challengeFrom secret menus to buried toggles — how well do you really know Android's hidden side?DeveloperEaster EggsHidden MenusSettingsSecretsBeginHow do you unlock the hidden Developer Options menu on most modern Android devices?ATriple-tap the Android version number in About PhoneBTap the Build Number seven times in About PhoneCLong-press the System Update option for five secondsDEnable USB debugging from the Security settingsThat's right! Tapping Build Number seven times in About Phone unlocks Developer Options. You'll usually see a countdown message like 'You are now 3 steps away from being a developer' as you tap. This hidden menu gives access to powerful tools like USB debugging, mock locations, and animation scale controls.Not quite — the correct method is tapping the Build Number seven times in About Phone. This Easter egg has been present since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and Google added it partly as a playful nod to developers who know where to look. Once unlocked, Developer Options appears as a new menu item in your main Settings.ContinueWhat hidden Easter egg appears when you repeatedly tap the Android version number in Settings on Android 12?AA flappy bird-style mini gameBA spinning clock face that reveals hidden textCAn interactive clock that unlocks a wallpaper painting toolDA hidden Tetris-style game using the notification shadeCorrect! Android 12's Easter egg features an interactive clock that you can long-press to unlock a colorful painting and doodling tool. Each major Android version has hidden its own unique Easter egg in this same spot. It's one of Google's longest-running traditions, dating back to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.Not quite. Android 12 hides an interactive clock in the version number screen — long-pressing it unlocks a fun painting tool. The flappy bird Easter egg actually appeared in Android 5.x Lollipop, while other versions have featured zombies, cats, and abstract art animations. Google sneaks a new surprise into every major release.ContinueWhat is the primary purpose of the hidden 'Running Services' screen found inside Developer Options?AIt shows a list of all installed APK files and their signing certificatesBIt displays currently active background processes and their RAM usageCIt reveals apps that have been granted root access on the deviceDIt lists all scheduled alarms and pending background sync jobsSpot on! The Running Services screen shows you every active background process along with how much RAM each one is consuming. It's a powerful diagnostic tool that Android has carried for many years, though it's been progressively hidden deeper in settings as Google has tightened background process management. Tapping any entry lets you stop that service directly.The correct answer is that Running Services displays active background processes and their RAM usage. It's essentially a live task manager tucked away inside Developer Options, and it can help diagnose battery drain or slowdowns caused by rogue background apps. Google has moved it deeper over the years as part of its push to manage background activity automatically.ContinueWhat hidden feature is accessible by dialing *#*#4636#*#* in the Android phone dialer?AA factory reset confirmation screenBA testing menu showing phone info, usage stats, and Wi-Fi detailsCA network signal strength booster toolDA hidden SIM card management and unlock panelCorrect! Dialing *#*#4636#*#* opens a hidden testing menu with detailed phone information, battery stats, usage statistics, and Wi-Fi connection details. These are called USSD codes, and Android inherited the concept from older feature phones. The menu varies slightly by manufacturer but generally exposes diagnostic data not surfaced in standard settings.The answer is a hidden testing menu covering phone info, battery stats, usage data, and Wi-Fi details. The code *#*#4636#*#* is one of several USSD diagnostic codes that work on Android devices. Another well-known one is *#*#7780#*#* which initiates a factory data reset — so you definitely want to dial those carefully.ContinueWhich Developer Options setting is most useful for identifying apps that slow down Android's UI by doing too much work on the main thread?AShow GPU overdrawBStrict mode enabledCProfile GPU renderingDDisable HW overlaysExactly right! Strict Mode makes the screen flash when an app performs long operations on the main UI thread, such as reading files or accessing a network synchronously. It's a developer debugging tool that visually flags violations in real time. Enabling it on your own device can reveal how well-optimised — or poorly coded — your installed apps actually are.The answer is Strict Mode. It causes the screen to flash whenever an app blocks the main thread with slow operations, which is a common cause of UI jank and stuttering. Show GPU overdraw and Profile GPU rendering are more useful for diagnosing graphics rendering issues, while Disable HW overlays forces all compositing through the GPU rather than dedicated hardware.ContinueWhat does the hidden 'System UI Tuner' in older versions of Android (6.0 to 11) allow users to do?AChange the default system font without a third-party appBCustomise the status bar icons and Quick Settings tilesCUnlock hidden dark mode options before they were officially addedDAdjust screen refresh rate independently of the display settingsThat's correct! System UI Tuner, unlocked by long-pressing the gear icon in the Quick Settings panel, lets users rearrange or hide status bar icons and deeply customise Quick Settings tiles. Google quietly removed it in Android 12, likely because it became hard to maintain as the UI evolved. Many of its features have since been absorbed into standard settings or third-party launchers.The right answer is that System UI Tuner lets you customise status bar icons and Quick Settings tiles. You unlocked it by long-pressing the settings gear icon inside the Quick Settings dropdown. Google removed it in Android 12 without much fanfare, frustrating power users who relied on it to hide the battery percentage, clock, or carrier label from their status bar.ContinueWhat happens when you long-press on a blank area of the Android home screen and navigate to 'Home Settings' on stock Android (Pixel)?AYou gain access to a hidden icon shape customiser exclusive to Pixel devicesBYou can enable a secret 'Desktop Mode' that mirrors a PC-style layoutCYou access options including notification dots, Google Feed toggle, and icon layout tweaksDYou unlock a battery optimisation panel tied to home screen widgetsCorrect! Long-pressing the home screen and tapping Home Settings on stock Android reveals options like toggling the Google Discover feed, enabling or disabling notification dots on app icons, and adjusting home screen grid density. These settings are tucked away in a context menu rather than the main Settings app, making them easy to miss entirely.The answer is that Home Settings exposes options like the Google Feed toggle, notification dots, and home screen layout adjustments. It's one of those menus that many Android users never discover because it's not reachable from the main Settings app at all. The hidden Desktop Mode you may have heard about is a separate experimental feature tied to Developer Options and external display connections.ContinueWhich hidden Developer Options toggle, when enabled, forces all apps to use a dark background regardless of whether they officially support dark mode?AOverride force-darkBDisable HWUI renderingCForce RTL layout directionDSimulate colour spaceAbsolutely correct! The 'Override force-dark' toggle in Developer Options instructs Android to apply a dark theme to any app that hasn't officially implemented one, using an automatic colour inversion algorithm. Results can be inconsistent — images and some UI elements may look strange — but it's a handy way to extend dark mode to stubborn apps while developers catch up. It appeared in Android 10 alongside the official system-wide dark mode.The correct answer is 'Override force-dark,' which forces Android to apply dark mode to apps that haven't officially added support for it. The system does this by algorithmically inverting light colours, with mixed results depending on the app. 'Simulate colour space' is a different useful hidden tool — it emulates how the screen looks to people with various forms of colour blindness, which is helpful for accessibility testing.See My ScoreChallenge CompleteYour Score/ 8Thanks for playing!Try Again It made noisy conversations much easier to follow Credit: Baseus The first place I tried Sound Amplifier was a busy café, partly because that's where I usually have the hardest time following conversations. Even when the person across from me wasn't speaking quietly, I found myself getting distracted by clinking dishes, background music, and everyone else talking nearby. With Sound Amplifier turned on, I noticed I wasn't asking, "Sorry, what did you say?" nearly as often. I adjusted the Noise reduction and Boost quiet sounds sliders until voices stood out more clearly without completely drowning out the world around me. On Pixel phones, Conversation mode goes a step further by using your phone's microphone to focus on the person you're speaking with while reducing surrounding noise. It helped me hear the TV without turning up the volume Credit: Samsung / Netflix Watching TV late at night often requires a compromise. I can either keep the volume low and miss half the conversation or turn it up and risk disturbing others in the house. However, Sound Amplifier provided me with a third option. Instead of listening through the TV speakers, I pair my Bluetooth earphones with my phone, place the phone near the TV, and let Sound Amplifier use the phone as a remote microphone. The TV stays at a comfortable volume, while the audio is streamed to my earphones. Now, whenever I'm watching TV while someone else is asleep or doesn't want the volume turned up, I use the Sound Amplifier app. The app worked with the earphones I already owned Before I tried Sound Amplifier, I assumed I'd need a pair of Google Pixel Buds or other premium earbuds to get the most out of it. That assumption couldn't have been more wrong. I used Sound Amplifier with my OnePlus Buds, and getting started was as simple as pairing them with my phone and opening the app. Sound Amplifier works with both Bluetooth and wired headphones, so you don't need to invest in new audio gear to try it. Still, your headphones matter. Better earbuds can provide cleaner audio, and some Bluetooth headphones may introduce a little latency or lower audio quality compared to wired ones. But for everyday conversations, watching TV, or listening to a presentation, I never felt like my earbuds were holding the app back. One of Android's best features was hiding in plain sight Sound Amplifier became one of those apps I open whenever I know I'll be in a noisy place, watching TV late at night, or sitting through a presentation. It helps you hear the sounds more clearly, whether that's a conversation across a café table or dialogue from the TV. While it is an accessibility tool, I think many Android users could benefit from trying it. It only takes a few minutes to set up, and if you're anything like me, you might wonder why you didn't discover it sooner.