Smartphone

After updating your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro to Android 13, you may notice that activating Google Assistant will bring up the on-screen text box or virtual keyboard instead of automatically enabling voice input.

To see how you can fix this glitch, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. The first potential solution you can try is to check if you have the microphone permission enabled for the Google App. In order to do so, you can take the following steps:

• First, you need to head to the Settings menu on your Pixel 6 series phone. To do so, you can open the Settings App or tap the gear icon in the expanded Quick Settings menu that you can pull down from the top of the screen.
• In Settings, scroll down and then head into Privacy.
• You then need to go to the Privacy Dashboard from the Privacy menu.
• Next, you need to select Microphone from the Privacy Dashboard.
• In the Microphone Usage menu, select the Manage Permission option located at the bottom of the screen.
• You then need to select Google from the Microphone menu.
• In the Microphone Permission menu of the Google App, make sure that the “Allow only while using the app” option is enabled. If it is already enabled, then you can select another option first and then select “Allow only while using the app” to see if switching this permission off and then on will fix the Google Assistant bug in Android 13.

2. You can also try disabling and then re-enabling the Google App by doing the following:

• Go to the Settings menu of your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro.
• Next, you need to head to the Apps section in the Settings menu.
• In Apps, select See All Apps.
• You should now be in the All Apps section, where you need to select Google.
• In the App Info section of the Google App, select Disable.
• You should get a pop-up menu. Here, you need to select Disable App.
• In the same App Info section of the Google App, select Enable.

3. You can also try uninstalling, and then re-installing, the Google App updates by taking the following steps:

• First, you need to open the Google Play Store App.
• In the Google Play Store, tap your profile picture on the top right side of the screen.
• You then need to select Manage App & Device in the pop-up menu.
• In the Manage App & Device section switch over to the Manage tap at the top.
• Next, you need to select Google.
• In the Google App page, select Uninstall.
• Select Uninstall again in the pop-up notification.
• Afterwards, select the Update option from the same Google App page.

4. You can also see if there is a new system update available on your Google Pixel 6 series phone by doing the following:

• Go to the Settings menu on the device and then select System.
• You should then go to the System Update section from the System menu.
• Finally, select the Check for Update option.
• Once the new firmware has been installed, check to see if the Google Assistant is working as intended.

With Android 13, you are able to easily change the audio output of your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro. To find out how to switch the source, you can check out this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

1. As we stated above, your phone needed to be running on the Android 13 operating system. While the Pixel 6, Pixel 6a and Pixel 6 Pro launched with Android 12 pre-installed, these devices can be upgraded to the new OS.

To check the current operating system, as well as updated it, you can take the following steps:

• To begin, make sure you open the Settings App on your Google smartphone.
• After opening the Settings App, you then need to go to System from the front page.
• You should then find the operating system right under the System Update option in the System menu.
• If your Pixel phone is running or Android 12 or an older OS, then you can select the System Update option and the Check for Update. Afterwards, wait for the down and installation to be completed to upgrade the operating system to Android 13.

2. Once your Pixel 6 series phone has been updated to Android 13, you can go ahead and open a media playing app.

For this guide, we will be using the Firefox App to play YouTube videos as an example.

3. Inside the media playing app, start playing the audio or video. Optionally, you can also immediately pause the media after you start playing it.

4. Next, you need to use one finger swipe downwards from the top of the screen in order to pull down the Quick Settings menu.

5. In the Quick Settings menu, you should see a big tile that shows the media player for your Pixel 6 phone.

On this tile, tap the option located on the top right corner. Depending on the default audio output source, this option will be different. If you are using your phone’s speakers, for example, then the top right option will be “This Phone.”

6. In the pop-up menu, you can then choose a different the audio output source.

7. Once you are finished with making your choice, select the Done option in the pop-up menu in order to confirm the change.

8. The audio output source should now be switched over to the other listening device.

With Android 13, you are now able to adjust the intensity levels of the touch feedback and media vibration haptics for the Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro.

To find out how you can change the rumble intensity for these two categories, you can follow the steps laid out in this tutorial at Seeking Tech.

1. Before we start, make sure that your Pixel 6 series phone is running on the Android 13 operating system.

To check the current OS of the device, you can try doing the following:

• First, off, you should open the Settings App. If you can’t find this application, then you can use one finger to swipe down twice from the top of the screen. You will bring down the Quick Settings menu with the first swipe and then expand its window with the second swipe. After, tap the gear icon located on the bottom right corner of the screen.
• After opening the Settings App, you should then go to the System section.
• Next, you should see the System Update option with the current operating system listed directly under it.
• If your phone is running on an operating system older than Android 13, then you need to select the System Update option.
• Afterwards, select Check for Update to update your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro to the new OS.

2. Once you get your phone running on Android 13, you need to go to the Settings App.

3. From the front page of the application, you then need to tap Sound & Vibration.

4. Once you get to the Sound & Vibration section, you need to go to Vibration & Haptics.

5. In the Vibration & Haptics section, you need to first make sure that the Use Vibration & Haptics setting is turned on. Otherwise, the other settings will be greyed out.

6. Next, you need to scroll down to the Interactive Haptics category.

7. To adjust the vibration intensity when you are touching the screen of your phone, you can move the slider located directly below the Touch Feedback setting.

8. To change the rumble intensity when using a media player, you can mover the slider located directly below the Media Vibration setting.

Android 13 added App Languages to the Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro. With this feature, you can easily set the language for a specific app by using the system menus of your smartphone. It is also helpful if you want to use an application in a language that is different from the default one.

To see how you can use App Languages, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

1. The App Language feature was added to Android 13. So, if your phone is running on Android 12 or earlier, then you need to update to the new operating system.

To see if there’s a new OS update to download and install, you can try doing the following:

• Head over to the Settings App and then go to System.
• You then need to tap the System Update option in the System menu.
• In the next screen, you should then tap the Check for Update option, which should be located on the bottom right side.

2. Once you updated your Pixel 6 series phone to Android 13 or later, you should go back to the Settings App.

3. From the front page of the application, navigate down and then select System.

4. In the System menu, you need to tap Languages & Input, which is the top option.

5. You should then tap the App Languages option from the Languages & Input menu.

6. Inside the App Languages, select the application that you want to change when it comes to the language that will be displayed.

7. In the App Language menu for that application, you can pick the language option.

The System Default option will match the language option of the app to your system menus.

To change the System Default Language, go back to the aforementioned Languages & Input menu and then select Languages. In the next screen, make sure that the default language option is listed as #1.

If you have multiple options, you can hold and drag an item in order to move the items up and down the list.

If you want to remove an option from the list, then you need to tap the More option, which has an icon with three dots located on the top right side of the menu. Afterwards, select the Remove option. Select the language you want to remove from the list and then tap the garbage can icon.

If you have a hard time finding your language, then you can search for it by tapping the magnifying glass icon located on the top right side of the App Language menu. Afterwards, you can use the on-screen virtual keyboard in order to search for your language.

A new shortcut for scanning QR codes have been added to the Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro tanks to a new update to the operating system. To see how you can use this function, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

1. It is important to note that the QR code scanning shortcut was added to Android 13. On Android 12, you previously need to open the Camera App, or use another application, to be able to scan a QR image.

So, if you haven’t done so already, you can update your smartphone by doing the following:

• First, you should open the Settings application on your smartphone.
• From the Settings App, you need to scroll down the list and then select System.
• In the System menu, you then need to tap System Update.
• Finally, select the Check for Update option located on the bottom right side on the next screen in order to see if there is a new Android version to download and install.

2. With Android 13 installed on your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro, you then need to go to the expanded Quick Settings window.

One of the methods to do so is to swipe down from the top of the screen with one finger and then do it again.

Alternatively, you can also use two fingers to swipe down from the top of the screen to open the expanded Quick Settings window immediately.

3. In the expanded Quick Settings window, tap the edit option, which is represented as the pencil icon.

4. In the Edit menu, scroll down to the Hold and Drag to Add Tiles. Here, you should find the Scan QR Code tile.

5. Move the Scan QR Code tile to the Hold and Drag to Rearrange Tiles section at the top of the Edit menu.

To make Scan QR Code tile appear in the truncated Quick Settings window, make sure you move it to move it to one of the top four spots in the Hold and Drag to Rearrange Tiles section.

If you want the Scan QR Code tile to appear in the first page of the expanded Quick Settings window, then you need to move it somewhere between the range of the #5 to #8 spots in the Hold and Drag to Rearrange Tiles section.

How to use the Scan QR Code function on Pixel 6

Now that you added the Scan QR Code tile to the Quick Settings menu, you can use it on your Pixel 6 series phone by doing the following:

1. To start off, swipe down from the top of the screen to bring up the Quick Settings window.

2. If the Scan QR Code tile does not appear, then you can swipe down from the top again to expand the Quick Settings window.

If you still don’t see the tile, then you can swipe to the right to change pages.

If the Scan QR Code tile is nowhere to be found, then make sure you added it to the Hold and Drag to Rearrange Tiles section in the aforementioned Edit menu.

3. Next, you need to tap the Scan QR Code tile.

4. In the Scan Any QR Code menu, align the square with the QR code.

If you need better lighting, then make sure you tap the lightning icon located on the top right side of the menu.

After updating your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro to the Android 13 operating system, you may notice that the battery is draining very quickly.

To see how you can prevent the battery charge from depleting rapidly, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. Because you are installing a new operating system to your Pixel 6 series smartphone, it may take some time for Android 13 to accurately display the remaining battery charge.

In this case, we recommend that you use the device and then recharge it normally. After a few discharge and recharge cycles, your phone may be more accurate when it comes to showing its battery percentage.

2. If your Pixel 6 is still draining battery after several discharge and recharge cycles, then the next step you can take is to update all of your installed apps. Some applications may not be fully compatible with Android 13 and, as a result, end up using more battery than previously. Therefore, a new patch may help resolve this problem.

In order to update all of your apps, you can try doing the following:

• Open the Google Play Store App.
• Inside the store, tap your profile picture located on the top right side of the screen.
• You then need to tap Manage Apps & Device in the pop-up menu.
• Inside the Manage Apps & Device menu, tap the Update All option in the Updates Available section.

3. You may also want to consider force stopping, uninstalling and/or disabling apps that are draining the battery of your phone.

In order to do so, you can try taking the following steps:

• First off, you should go into the Settings App on your phone.
• Inside the Settings menu, you should then head over to the Battery section.
• From the Battery section, go to Battery Usage.
• In the Battery Usage, you should see the amount of battery change being used by active applications over the past 24 hours. Here, you can select an app.
• In the next screen, you can force stop the application to prevent it from running and, therefore, draining your battery.
• Alternatively, you can select the Uninstall option in order to delete the app. For Google applications, you can select the Disable the option, which will stop and hide the app but won’t delete it.
• Furthermore, you can also set the Manage Battery Usage to Optimized or Restricted.

4. A new update to the Android 13 operating system may also fix the battery drain issues of your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro.

To manually check if there is a new update available, you need to open the Settings App and then go to System. Afterwards, select System Update and then Check for Update.

5. A factory reset may be helpful as well since it returns its phone to its original default settings. To factory reset your Pixel 6 series phone, you can do the following:

• To start off, back up any important files and data. Otherwise, these will be deleted during the process.
• Next, you should head into the Settings App.
• You then need to head to System.
• Inside the System menu, select Reset Options at the very bottom.
• In the Reset Options section, you then need to select Erase All Data (Factory Reset).
• Once the factory reset has been completed, you need to setup your phone again. During this process, you should be able to import the files and data that you previously backed up.

Thanks to a new update, you are now able to add a Google Home shortcut to the lock screen of your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro. This feature is helpful as you don’t have to go through the extra steps in order to access the smart devices you have linked to your smartphone.

To find out how this shortcut can be added, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

1. To start off, make sure you update your smartphone to Android 13. Without this new operating system, you won’t be able to add the Google Home shortcut to the lock screen.

2. If you haven’t done so already, you should also make sure that you add your smart devices to the Google Home App. In order to do so, you can take the following steps:

Start by opening the Google Home App on your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro. If you can’t find it, then you can swipe up from any empty space on the home screen to bring up the list of installed applications. You should be able to find and go to the Home App from there.

Inside of the Google Home App, you then need to tap the plus sign icon located at the top left side of the screen.

In the Add and Manage menu, you then need to tap Set Up Device.

You should now be in the Set Up a Device menu, where you should be able to add a new smart device to the Google Home App.

3. Once you have everything set up, you need to go ahead and open the Settings App on your phone.

4. From the Settings menu, you need to tap Display.

5. You then need to tap the Lock Screen option in the Display menu.

6. From the Lock Screen menu, you first need to make sure that the Show Device Controls setting is enabled. Otherwise, the Control from Locked Device setting will be greyed out.

7. Next, you need to also enable the aforementioned Control from Locked Device setting from the same Lock Screen menu.

8. You should now be able to open the Google Home App straight from the lock screen without having to unlock your phone beforehand.

The Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro recently got updated to the Android 13 operating system, adding several new features. One of which is a privacy dashboard that makes it easier to see what potentially sensitive information are being tracked on your smartphone.

To see how you can open this dashboard, as well as use it to enable or disable permissions, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

1. Before we start, make sure that your smartphone has been updated to Android 13 if you haven’t done so already. Otherwise, the privacy dashboard won’t be accessible in an older Android operation system.

2. Once you have your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a, or Pixel 6 Pro updated, you can then head over to the Settings App.

If you can find this app, then it should appear when you swipe up from an empty space to bring up a list of installed applications on your phone.

3. From inside the Settings App, you need to scroll down and then select Privacy.

4. In the Privacy menu, you then need tap the Privacy Dashboard option located at the top.

5. Inside of the Privacy Dashboard menu, you will see the type of information that was being tracked over the past 24 hours.

To view more permission types, tap the See Other Permissions options. The full list should include the following categories:

• Location
• Camera
• Microphone
• Body Sensors
• Calendar
• Call Logs
• Contacts
• Files
• Music and Audio
• Nearby Devices
• Notifications
• Phone
• Photos and Videos
• Physical Activity
• SMS

6. Select any of the aforementioned permissions to view more time-specific details on the tracking.

7. In the next screen, you can also tap the Manage Permission option at the bottom of the screen, which will let you choose to allow, or disallow, apps from using this type of tracking.

8. Next, you should see a list of apps that have been categorized based on the following options:

• Allowed all the time
• Allowed only while in use
• Ask every time
• Not allowed

Here, you can tap any apps that support this permission. Afterwards, you should be able to select any of the aforementioned options.

9. Repeat the same process for any permissions that you want to allow or disallow from apps by using the Privacy Dashboard menu.

New Assistant shortcuts have been added to the Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro. To find out how you can add these new ways of activating the voice control feature, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech

How to add Google Assistant shortcut to gestures-based navigation

In order to add the Assistant shortcut when you are using the gestures-based navigation on your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro, you need to take the following steps:

1. Before you begin, make sure you turn on your phone and unlock its screen. Afterwards, you should also make sure that you have updated the device to the latest firmware as the new shortcut was added in the Android 13 operating system.

2. Once you are ready, you need to launch the Settings App.

3. Inside of the application, select System from the bottom of the screen.

4. In the System sub-menu, you then need to go to Gestures.

5. You should then head to System Navigation in the Gestures sub-menu.

6. From the System Navigation menu, you should first make sure that the Gesture Navigation setting is selected.

7. Afterwards, tap the gear icon next to the Gesture Navigation setting in the same screen.

8. Once you get to the Gestures Navigation Sensitivity sub-menu, make sure that the Swipe to Invoke Assistant setting is enabled.

9. With this setting turned on, you will be able to activate Google Assistant by swipe upwards from the bottom left corner or bottom right corner of the screen.

How to add Google Assistant shortcut to buttons-based navigation

If you want to add the Google Assistant shortcut while using buttons-based navigation, then you need to do the following:

1. To start off, make sure you update your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro to Android 13 if you haven’t done so already. Otherwise, the shortcut won’t be available.

2. After making sure that your smartphone is running the latest Android operating system, you need to open the Settings App.

3. Inside of the Settings application, you need to scroll down and then select the System option located near the bottom.

4. Once you get to the System sub-menu, you need to tap Gestures.

5. From the Gestures sub-menu, go to System Navigation.

6. In the System Navigation sub-menu, make sure that the 3-Button Navigation option is selected and then tap the gear icon next to it.

7. From the Button navigation sub-menu, make sure that the Hold Home for Assistant setting is enabled.

8. With this setting enabled, you can now be able to activate Google Assistant by pressing and holding the circle icon, which should now have a circular outline, located at the bottom of the screen.

With the Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a and Google Pixel 6 Pro, you can add a back tap shortcut in order to use your smartphone as a flash light. To find out how to do so, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

Downloading the Android 13 Firmware

The flashlight back tap shortcut was added in Android 13. So, if you haven’t updated your phone to that operating system, then make sure you do so.

The Pixel 6 series came out starting in 2021; therefore, you should be able to update to Android 13.

In order to manually update your smartphone, you can try doing the following:

1. Open and unlock you Pixel 6 series phone if you haven’t done so already.

2. Now that you can interact with your smartphone, you then need to go to the Settings App.

3. In the Settings App, you first need to select the System option located near the bottom of the list.

4. Inside the System screen, you should then select System Update.

5. From the System update screen, select Check for Update.

6. Wait for the firmware to complete.

How to add flashlight to the back tap shortcut to Pixel 6, Pixel 6a and Pixel 6 Pro

Once your Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6a or Google Pixel 6 Pro has been updated to Android 13, you will be able to add the flashlight back tap shortcut by doing the following:

1. Once again, you should head over to the Settings App.

2. On the front page of the Settings application you need to scroll down and then tap System.

3. After getting to the System screen, you then need to head over to Gestures.

4. Select the Quick Tap to Start Actions option in the Gestures menu.

5. Once you get to the Quick Tap to Start Actions menu, you first need to make sure that the Use Quick Tap settings is enabled.

6. Next, you need to select the Toggle Flashlight option from the same Quick Tap to Start Actions menu.

7. Exit out of the Quick Tap to Start Actions menu and then double tap the back of your Pixel 6, Pixel 6a or Pixel 6 Pro.

You should be able to turn on the flashlight feature of your phone.

8. If you are having a hard time trying to activate and deactivate the flashlight, then make sure that you are taping towards the middle port on the back of your phone.

If you are using a protective case, then it may be causing issues with your phone not being able to recognize the back taps. In this scenario, you can try applying more pressures to the back taps. Alternatively, you can try removing the case to see if the device will become more responsive to your inputs.

9. If you keep accidentally turning on your flashlight, then you can go back to the aforementioned Quick Tap to Start Actions menu. From there, you can turn on the require Stronger Taps setting.