The Google Pixel 6a comes with a TalkBack feature. To see how you can enable, customize and disable this mode, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

What is Google Pixel 6a TalkBack?

The TalkBack feature of the Google Pixel 6a has multiple functions as it is designed for users who have a hard time seeing the screen.

By turning TalkBack on, you will activate the screen reader, which provides a voice description of the content that is being displayed and/or highlighted.

This feature also changes the navigation system to help those with a visual impairment. For example, you can swipe to the left or right to move between selectable options. You can also tap an option to get a voice description and then double tap the same option to select it. Moreover, you can use 2 fingers to scroll through the page.

How to enable and customize the Pixel 6a TalkBack feature

To enable and customize the TalkBack feature of the Google Pixel 6a, you need to take the following steps:

1. To begin, open the Settings App of your Pixel 6a.

2. In Settings, you need to head over to Accessibility.

3. After getting to the Accessibility menu, you then need to go to TalkBack.

4. Once you arrive at the TalkBack menu, make sure that the “Use TalkBack” setting is turned on. You may get a notification asking if you are willing to allow this feature to have full control of your phone. Select the Allow option to continue.

If this is your first time using this feature, then you may get a description explain about how it works before the activation.

5. In the same TalkBack menu, you can choose whether or not you want to add a shortcut.

If you turn this setting on, then you will be able to turn on this feature by pressing and holding both Volume keys at the same time.

6. To customize this screen reader and navigation feature, select the Settings option from the TalkBack menu.

7. In the TalkBack Settings menu, you have the following customization options:

• Text-to-speech
• Verbosity
• Sound and vibration
• Focus Indicator
• Gestures
• Menus
• Proximity senor
• Icon descriptions
• Braille keyboard
• Braille display

There is also an Advanced Settings section with the following customization options:

• Spoken passwords
• Custom labels
• Single-tap activation
• Description order
• Window announcement delay
• Typing preference
• Typing touch and hold delay length
• Keyboard shortcuts

How to turn off the Pixel 6a TalkBack feature

In order to disable the Talkback feature of the Google Pixel 6a, you need to do the following:

1. Start by opening the Settings App of your phone.

2. From the front page of Settings, tap Accessibility.

3. You then need to head over to TalkBack.

4. In the TalkBack menu, make sure that the “Use TalkBack” setting is turned off.

5. In the same menu, you may also want to disable the TalkBack Shortcut setting so that you don’t accidentally activate this feature when you press and hold the two volume buttons.

The Google Pixel 6a comes with an on-screen fingerprint sensor. If you are having problems trying to get this sensor to detect your fingerprint correctly, then you can take a look at troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. To start off, make sure that your finger is both clean and dry before you put in on the on-screen fingerprint sensor of the Pixel 6a.

2. You should also make sure that the screen of your smartphone is clean as well. Otherwise, the sensor may have problems trying to scan your print.

To see how you can properly clean the Google Pixel 6a, you can take a look at this guide.

3. If you see a message that says to “hold a little longer,” then make sure you aren’t taking your finger off of the on-screen sensor too early.

4. If your smartphone gets wet, then the sensor could end up being inaccurate. In this case, we recommend that you let your Pixel 6a dry up at room temperature before trying to unlock it with your bio-metrics.

To find out more information about how you can properly dry this phone, you can check out this post.

5. If you are trying to use the fingerprint scanner in an overly bright environment, such as in direct sunlight, then the brightness may interfere with the detection.

In this scenario, you can try to move to a darker environment to see if you can get the fingerprint sensor to work properly.

6. You can also try enabling the lift to wake or tap to wake feature, which should make the sensor show up quicker when compared to pressing the power button to turn on the locked screen.

To see how you can enable these features, you can take a look at this article.

7. If you are using a screen protector, then you should make sure that it is fully compatible with the touch features of the Google Pixel 6a. If you don’t believe that the protect film is compatible, then you might want to remove it from the touch screen of your phone.

8. You can also try increasing the touch screen sensitivity by taking the following steps:

• Open the Settings App on your Pixel 6a.
• Inside of Settings, you to select Display from the list of available options.
• After you get to the Display menu, you then need to make sure that the “Increase touch sensitivity” setting is turned on.

9. If you fingerprint has a new scar or is visibly damaged in some way, then the sensor may not be able to recognize it. In this case, you can either use a different fingerprint or re-registered the current one you are using.

In order to do so, you need to do the following:

• On your Google Pixel 6a, open the Settings App.
• From the Settings App, you need to select Security.
• In Security, select Fingerprint Unlock.
• Enter your PIN in order to continue.
• Once you get to the Fingerprint Unlock menu, select the garbage can icon next to the fingerprint that you want to delete.
• You then need to select the Delete option to confirm your choice.
• Next, you need to select the “Add fingerprint” option from the Fingerprint Unlock menu.
• In the “Touch & hold the fingerprint sensor” menu, follow the on-screen instructions in order to re-register your print.

10. You may also want to add more profiles to the same fingerprint in order to increase the likelihood of the senor correctly detecting your bio-metrics.

To do so, you need to take the following steps:

• Open the Settings App and the head over to Security.
• Select Fingerprint Unlock and the input your PIN code.
• Select the “Add fingerprint” option in the Fingerprint Unlock menu.
• Follow the instructions in the “Touch & hold the fingerprint sensor” menu. Make sure you are using the same finger as before.
• Once you are done, select the “Add another” option located on the bottom left corner.

• Register the same finger again. This time try to apply different pressure to the screen as well as use different angles than you did in the previous profile.
• Keep adding more profiles until you reach the maximum number allowed, which should be 5.

The fingerprint scanner should now be more accurate as it has a database of 5 fingerprint profiles that you registered to the same finger.

Being able to go back or go back to a previous screen can be a little bit confusing if you are new to using user interface of the Google Pixel 6a. To find out how you can properly perform these actions, you can take a look at this guide from Seeking Tech.

How to go back to a previous screen on the Pixel 6a

The default way to go back to a previous screen is by swiping to the left on either the right edge or left end of the screen.

In the system menus, you may also be able to find a left-pointing icon located on the top left side of the screen. Some apps may also come with an icon that you can tap in order to get back to the previous page.

Using the swiping gestures to go back is not as precise or accurate as tapping an icon. Therefore, you may want to add button navigation to the user interface of your Google Pixel 6a instead. To find out how to do so, you need to follow the steps laid out in this tutorial.

After adding button navigation, you should see three buttons located at the bottom of the screen. You can tap the left-pointing triangle button from this bottom navigation menu in order to head back to a previous screen.

How to go forward on the Pixel 6a

Unfortunately, there is no system-wide method where you can go forward in order to return to a previous screen. Instead, you need to go through the same action again in order to get to the same page as before.

With that said, some applications may come with a come forward option.

On the Firefox App, for example, you can tap the icon with the three dots located on the top right side of screen. In the side bar, you then need to tap the right-pointing arrow in order to go forward to a previous page.

If you are using the Google Chrome App, then you also need to select the three dots icon located on the top right side. In the side bar, you them need to select the right-pointing arrow in order to move forward.

You can easily wake your Google Pixel 6a by using the lift to wake or tap to wake features. To see how you can turn on these functions, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

How to turn on lift to wake on the Pixel 6a

In order to turn on the lift to wake feature on the Google Pixel 6a, you need to take the following steps:

1. Start by opening the Settings App on your smartphone.

2. After getting to the Settings App, you need to select System.

3. Inside of the System sub-menu, you should then select Gestures.

4. From the Gestures sub-menu, you then need to select the “Lift to check phone” option.

5. On the “Lift to check phone” sub-menu, make sure that the “Lift to check phone” setting is turned on.

With this feature enabled, the screen of your Google Pixel 6a should be able to turn on when you lift up your smartphone.

How to turn off lift to wake on the Pixel 6a

If you want to turn off the lift to wake feature, then you need to do the following:

1. Open the Settings App.

2. Once you launched the Settings App, you need to tap System.

3. You then need to tap Gestures.

4. Inside of Gestures, tap the “Lift to check phone” option.

5. After getting to the “Lift to check phone” sub-menu, you need to make sure that the “Lift to check phone” setting is turned off.

How to enable tap to wake on the Pixel 6a

To enable the lap to wake feature of the Google Pixel 6a, you need to take the following steps:

1. Launch the Settings App of your phone.

2. From the Settings menu, head over to System.

3. Once you arrive at the System sub-menu, you then need to go to Gestures.

4. In the Gestures sub-menu, go to “Tap to check phone.”

5. After you get to the “Tap to check phone” sub-menu, you need to make sure that the “Tap to check phone” setting is enabled.

By turning on this feature, the screen of the Google Pixel 6a should turn on when you tap it.

How to disable tap to wake on the Pixel 6a

If you want to disable the tap to wake feature of the Google Pixel 6a, then you need to do the following:

1. Start by launching the Settings App of your smartphone.

2. From the front page of Settings, you need to tap System.

3. Now that you are in the System sub-menu, you then need to tap Gestures.

4. From the Gestures sub-menu, you need to head over to “Tap to check phone.”

5. Once you are in the “Tap to check phone” sub-menu, make sure that the “Tap to check phone” setting is disabled.

The Google Pixel 6a comes with call screening. To see how you can enable, customize and/or disable this feature, you can take a look at this guide from Seeking Tech.

How to enable call screening on the Pixel 6a

If you want to turn on the call screening feature of the Google Pixel 6a, you need to take the following steps:

1. Power on your smartphone if you haven’t done so already.

2. From the home screen of your device, select the phone icon.

3. In the next screen, you then need to select the three dots icon located on the top right side.

4. In the small pop-up menu, you then need to select Settings.

5. Inside the Settings menu, you should then select the Spam and Call Screen option in the Assistive section.

6. After you get to the Spam and Call Screen menu, you need to select Call Screen.

7. In the Call Screen menu select the “See how Call screen works” option.

8. From the “How Call Screen works” menu, read through the information and then go to the next page.

9. On the third page, select the “Turn on” option located at the bottom right side of the screen.

How to customize call screening on the Pixel 6a

In order to customize the call screening featuring on your Google Pixel 6a, you need to do the following:

1. Open the phone app.

2. In the phone app, tap the icon that has three dots, which should be located on the top right side of the screen.

3. Tap Settings in the pop-up menu.

4. In the Settings menu of the phone app, tap Spam and Call Screen.

5. Next, you need to tap Call Screen.

6. After you get to Call Screen menu, scroll down to the Unknown Call Settings section.

7. In the Unknown Call Settings section, you can select the following:

• Spam
• Possibly Faked numbers
• First-time callers
• Private or hidden

For spam calls, you can choose to make your Pixel 6a ring normally, automatically screen or silently decline. For the other unknown call types, you can choose to ring the phone normally or screen the call.

8. In the same Call Screen menu, you can also tap Voice. In the Voice menu, you will be able to change the voice soundbite that will be played when a call gets screened.

How to turn off screen calling on Pixel 6a

If you want to disable the screen calling feature on your Google Pixel 6a, then you need to take the following steps:

1. Open the phone application.

2. In the phone app, select the three dots icon on the top right side and then Settings.

3. From the Settings menu, select Spam and Call Screen.

4. You then need to select Call Screen.

5. From the Call Screen menu, you should see the Unknown Call Settings section with the following options:

• Spam
• Possibly Faked numbers
• First-time callers
• Private or hidden

To disable call screening, select any of the aforementioned unknown call types.

6. In the pop-up menu, you then need to select the “Ring phone (default)” option.

7. Repeat step #6 on any other unknown call types in the Call Screen menu in order to disable this feature.

By default, your Google Pixel 6a will use 5G. If you want to disable this mobile network connection, then you can take a look at this guide to see how you can properly do so.

How to turn off 5G on the Pixel 6a

Depending on mobile network carrier, you may be able to turn off 5G by using the Settings App. In order to do so, you can try taking the following steps:

1. Open the Settings App on your Pixel 6a.

2. Once you get inside of the Settings App, you need to select Network & Internet.

3. From the Network and Internet menu, you need to select SIMs.

4. You should then select “Preferred network type.”

5. Finally change the network from 5G to LTE, 3G or 2G.

How to turn off 5G on the Pixel 6a in Safe Mode

If you aren’t able to disable 5G by using the Settings App, then you can try using the same application when you set your Pixel 6a in Safe Mode. In order to do so, you need to do the following:

1. Open the power menu.

You can do so by pressing and holding both the power and volume up buttons at the same time. Alternatively. You can also swipe downwards from the top of the screen two times to open the expanded Quick Settings menu and then select the power option.

2. In the power menu, press and hold the power option until you see a notification asking you to reboot the phone in Safe Mode. Select OK to continue.

3. In Safe Mode, swipe downwards two times from the top of the screen to open the expanded Quick Settings menu. From there, make sure that you disable Airplane Mode.

4. With the Airplane Mode disabled, select the gear icon in the same Quick Settings menu to head into the Settings App.

5. In Settings, select Network & Internet.

6. You then need to select SIMs.

7. In the next screen, select the “Preferred network type” option.

8. Change the network type to something other than 5G.

How to disable 5G on Pixel 6a by using the dialer

If the “Preferred network type” option does not appear in the Settings App, then you need to use the dialer of your Pixel 6a in order to turn off 5G. In order to do so, you need to take the following steps:

1. Open the Phone app on the home screen.

2. In the Phone app, select the dialer option on the bottom right on the screen.

3. You then need input the following on the dialer:

*#*#4636#*#*

4. If done correctly, you should now be in the Testing menu. From there, you need to select the Phone Information option.

5. Once you get to the Phone information menu, select the Set Preferred Network Type drop-down menu.

6. Finally, change the network type to something that does not contain NR in order to disable 5G.

The Google Pixel 6a features a news feed section that will let you catch up on the latest stories. If you would rather disable this feed, then you can follow the steps laid out in this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

How to view the news feed on the Pixel 6a

In order to view the news feed on the Google Pixel 6a, you need to swipe left on the home screen. Alternatively, you can also find the news feed by opening the Google App on your Pixel 6a.

How to exit the news feed on the Pixel 6a

If you want to exit the news feed section on your Google Pixel 6a, then you can swipe right in order to head back in to the home screen.

If you are in the news feed section of the Google App, then you can either go back to a previous section or close the application altogether.

Why you want to disable the Pixel 6a news feed

The news feed may not always be relevant to your interests. Not to mention that it will take up bandwidth. So, if you keep accidentally turning on the news feed and/or don’t find this section to be useful, then we recommend that you disable it.

How to turn off the news feed on Pixel 6a

In order to disable the news feed on the Google Pixel 6a, you need to take the following steps:

1. To start off, make sure you turn on and unlock your smartphone if you haven’t done so already.

2. You should also make sure that you are in the home screen menu.

3. In the home screen, press and hold an unoccupied space.

4. In the pop-up menu, you then need to select the Home Settings option.

5. After getting to the Home Settings menu, then you need to make sure that the “Swipe to access Google app” setting is disabled.

With the “Swipe to access Google app” setting turned off, you will no longer be able to access the news feed section when you swipe left on the home screen.

There is currently no way to disable the news feed in the Google App. So, if you want to avoid seeing this section, then you can either stop using this application or disable the app so that you don’t open it by accident.

In order to disable the Google App, you need to open the Settings App. Inside of Settings, you then need to select Apps > See All X apps > Google. Once you get to the App Info menu of the Google App, select the disable option. Finally, select the Disable App option in the pop-up notification.

Keep in mind that the Google App can’t be uninstalled on your Pixel 6a as it is considered to be an essential application.

With Google Assistant, you can use voice commands to perform certain hands-free actions on your Google Pixel 6a. If you would rather disable this feature on your smartphone, then you can take a look at this article from Seeking Tech.

While you can’t completely disable Google Assistant on your 6a phone, you should be able to turn off the ability to activate this feature.

The following steps are based on the Android 12 operating system. If you are using a newer OS, then the directions may end up being different if there are any new changes made to the system menus.

1. To start off, we recommend that you change the function of pressing and holding the Google Pixel 6a power button. By default, this action will activate Google Assistant.

To find out how you can change this function to open the power menu instead, you can take a look at this tutorial.

2. You should also turn off the Hey Google activation feature. In order to do so, you need to take the following steps:

• Turn on your Google phone if you haven’t done so already.
• Open the Settings App of the Pixel 6a. If you have a hard time locating Settings, then you can swipe downward from the top of the screen two times in order to open the expanded Quick Settings menu. From there, tap the gear icon to head into Settings.
• Once you have launched the Settings App, scroll down and then select Google from the list of available options.
• In the Google menu, select the “Settings for Google app” option located at the bottom.
• Inside the Settings for Google Apps menu, you then need to select the “Search, Assistant and Voice” option.
• You then need to select Google Assistant in the next screen.
• Afterwards, select Hey Google and Voice Match.
• After you get to the Hey Google and Voice Match menu, make sure that the Hey Google setting is disabled in the This Device section.

3. You should also make sure that you disable the Hey Google activation feature on the lock screen. For the uninformed, the lock screen of the Pixel 6a will appear when you turn on the screen but don’t unlock your phone.

To turn off the Hey Google activation feature on the lock screen, you need to do the following:

• Open the Settings App on your Pixel smartphone.
• From Settings, you need to scroll down and then tap Google.
• After getting to the Google menu, you then need to tap “Settings for Google app.”
• Afterwards, tap the “Search, Assistant and Voice” option.
• You then need to tap Google Assistant.
• In the next screen, tap Lock Screen.
• Inside of the Lock Screen menu, make sure that the “Assistant responses on lock screen” setting is turned off.

By changing the function when pressing and holding the power button to open the power menu, as well as disabling the Hey Google voice activation, you should be able to avoid triggering the Google Assistant feature to appear.

While you can lower the brightness of the Google Pixel 6a, its minimum brightness output may still be too bright for your eye comfort. By lowering the screen brightness even more, you should also be able to save on battery life as well as prevent screen burn-in effects.

To see how you can further dim down the display of this smartphone, you can take a look at this guide from Seeking Tech.

How to dim the Pixel 6a screen

There are two ways that you can dim the screen of the Pixel 6a. Keep in mind that these steps are based on the Android 12 operating system. If you are using a newer OS, then the steps may end up being slightly different.

The fastest way to dim the screen brightness down for your smartphone is to use the quick settings menu. To access it, swipe down from the top of the screen. You then need to swipe down again to expand the Quick Settings menu. Alternatively, you can use two fingers to swipe down from the top of the screen to immediately open the Quick Settings menu. Either way, you should find the brightness slider located at the top.

The other method is by using the Settings App. In order to do so, open the Settings App and then select Display. If you can’t find Settings, then you can open the aforementioned Quick Settings menu and then select the gear cog icon. Inside of the Display menu, you then need to tap Brightness Level to bring out the slider at the top of the screen.

How to make the Pixel 6a screen extra dim

If the minimum brightness level on the brightness slider of the Google Pixel 6a is still too bright for your eyes, then you can make the screen extra dim by taking the following steps:

1. Open the Settings App on your Google Pixel 6a.

2. Once you arrive in Settings, then you need to select Accessibility from the list of available options.

3. Inside the Accessibility menu, select the Extra Dim option.

4. After getting inside the Extra Dim menu, make sure you enable the “Make Extra Dim” setting.

5. In the same Extra Dim menu, you can also adjust the dimming intensity. You can move the slider to the left to make the screen dimmer or to the right to make the screen brighter.

6. Furthermore, you can enable the “Keep on after device restarts” setting in the Extra Dim menu so that the you can keep the same brightness level even if you choose to reset your Pixel 6a.

7. From the same Extra Dim menu, you can choose whether or not to add an Extra Dim Short icon.

If you do, then the icon will appear at the bottom right side of the screen that you can tap to quickly change between the regular brightness and the extra dim modes.

Notifications can show up on the lock screen of your Google Pixel 6a. To see how you can customize this feature for your smartphone, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.

Before we begin, it is important to note that the following steps are based on the Pixel 6a running on the Android 12 operating system. If you are running a newer Android OS, then there may be small changes made to the system menus.

1. For the first step, make sure you turn on your Pixel 6a if you haven’t done so already.

2. You should also make sure that you are in the home screen menu of your phone.

3. From the home screen, open the Settings App.

If you aren’t able to located the Settings App, then you can swipe upwards from an unoccupied space in the home screen in order to bring up a list of installed applications. Here, you should be able to find and open Settings.

4. Once you get inside the Settings App, you then need to select Notifications.

5. In the Notification menu, scroll down to the Privacy section.

6. After getting to the Privacy section, select the “Notifications on lock screen” option.

7. In the small “Notifications on lock screen” pop-up menu, you can select the following options:

• The “Show conversations, default, and silent” option will show the conversation, default and silent message types when you screen is locked.
• The “Hide silent conversations and notifications” option won’t show any conversations and notifications that are set to silent.
• The “Don’t show notifications” option won’t show any notifications at all in the lock screen.

8. In the same Privacy section from the Notification menu, you can also choose whether or not to turn on the “Sensitive notification” setting.

If you turn it on, then notifications that contain any private information will be shown when the screen is locked.

If you turn the “Sensitive notification” setting off, then any notifications that have private information will be blocked from being shown on the lock screen.

9. You can also choose which app that you want to enable or disable notifications for.

In order to do so, return to the Notifications menu and then select App Settings at the top. From the App Notifications menu, select the drop-down menu and the All Apps to see a list of installed applications on your Google Pixel 6a. You can then choose to enable or disable any apps you see in this list.