Pixel 6, Android 14 wasted home screen space question

[GJAZZ]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and requesting help from the Android geniuses here.

1. How can I use this wasted space on the Pixel 6P Android 14 phone. It won't let me park anything there and the default is the Google calendar. First home screenshot.

2. Is there a setting to change these DND, Flashlight,BT, Auto rotate to small icons like the Samsung? 2nd 2 photos.

3. Bluetooth button used to toggle on - off. and long press to access settings. Now it goes straight to settings so I have to go thru 3 steps to use it - press, turn on or off BT- close. This was a really stupid change Pixel. I use it to connect to BT in the car daily and it's a PITA.

Do I have to go to a Nova or other Launcher to get what I want? I'd rather not spend the time to do that.

Thanks in advance to whoever replies.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I moved this from the Introductions forum to the Pixel 6 Pro forum, since this is more of a question than an intro.

You can't do anything about that At A Glance area on the stock Pixel Launcher. You would need to install a 3rd party launcher like Nova (which is what I do -- it gives you much more flexibility).

You can't change the size of the Quick Settings icons, even with a custom launcher -- that's baked into the firmware.

You also can't change how the Quick Settings Bluetooth button behaves. I actually find that recent functional change to be beneficial, because there have been plenty of times when I wanted to adjust a Bluetooth setting, but instead turned it completely off (which could be disruptive -- e.g., if listening to media using BT earbuds at night, then suddenly having the sound blast through the phone, disturbing someone else trying to get some sleep). Unfortunately, like many other aspects of UX design, one size usually never fits all. You can always send feedback to Google about this in the system settings.

 

[GJAZZ]

Thank you for the reply and your knowledge.
My replies are not arguing with you, just pointing out pointless design choices.

RE:BT - It used to be toggle on/off and long press for settings without disrupting it. It changed a few months ago. I don't know how this is improvement since it's the same functionality.

The size of the quick settings serves no purpose other than to take longer and more swipes, to find what I need. Plus the brightness bar is under them.

The small ones have been around forever and worked fine.

Any way to recalibrate the adaptive brightness?

I don't know why when something works they can't leave it alone. Irritating dumb engineering.

Is there a way to send feedback to Google from a laptop? I hate typing with my fat fingers on a tiny screen.

Again, please excuse my bitching, not aimed at you, just the behemoth monolith that is Google.

Gracias

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't dispute any of your concerns -- they all make sense, and I'm sure there are many people who feel the same way. But there are also probably many people who agree with the current situation, so it can be challenging to determine what will satisfy the most number of people.

I think you can calibrate your Adaptive Brightness by going to the Display menu, making sure Adaptive Brightness is toggled on, and then manually adjusting the brightness slider there. Adaptive Brightness will then use that as a general guideline. For example, I just tried adjusting the slider down to around 30% -- afterwards, when holding the phone up to a bright light, it adjusted to about 68% (as opposed to close to 100%). Conversely, after I adjusted the slider to 99% and then brought the phone into a dark room, it dimmed only to about 90%.

I think the best way to send feedback specifically about the phone is through the phone's system settings, unfortunately. You could type your feedback on your computer using Google Keep or Google Docs, and then copy/paste that on your phone after it's synced.

 

[GJAZZ]

Thanks for the tips.
G