Head into your settings app to make these vital changes

Android 13 brings a variety of new features and improvements to the OS. However, many of these aren't immediately obvious and require some searching to find. You'll need to open your Settings app to find these, but it's worth the effort.

This article walks you through some of the smaller (but still fantastic) changes introduced by Android 13. We show you where to find them and how to use them. Once you've given them a look, try out some of the most underrated features from Android 13.

This setting is a must-change for bilingual Android users. While you can already change your phone's language, Android 13 introduces per-app language settings. This lets you use individual apps in a different language from the rest of your phone. This is helpful because while many popular apps work fine in any language, some are optimized for single languages, resulting in inaccurate translations.

To enable this setting, head to the App Info page of an app and tap the Language button.

Only apps with resource files defining languages offer this feature. The developer provides this file, so don't be surprised if your favorite app doesn't initially support per-app language settings.

Android has been dutifully following in the footsteps of iOS regarding navigation buttons, shifting towards gestures as the standard navigation method. However, for die-hard fans of the old three-button navigation bar, Android 13 now lets you activate Google Assistant by long pressing the Home button.

Here's how to change this setting:

When you are mercifully free of notifications, Android 12 changes the lock screen's clock to an enormous double-line display. However, Android 13 introduces a setting to tuck it nicely in the upper-right corner of your screen, and it's the same way it would appear if you had a notification on your screen.

Android 13 removes the need to unlock your phone to use your smart home devices. However, it's off by default, so you'll need to head into your Settings menu to enable it.

Just like per-app language settings, this feature requires app support to function. It may be some time before your smart home app supports this feature.

Android's Dark theme could previously be scheduled to turn on at a custom time or sunset, and Android 13 also allows you to schedule it for bedtime as set in the Digital Wellbeing app.

Depending on your phone, you may find its vibration setting to be too loud or too quiet. In Android 13, you can change the vibration intensity for notifications, alarms, and media.

Android 13 doesn't bring anything as significant as the sweeping design changes introduced by Android 12, but it offers extensive refinements and updates to make your Android experience more stable for everyone. If you're looking forward to more substantial changes, most of our picks for the best Android phones will receive support for years to come.

Jon has been a freelance writer at Android Police since 2021. He primarily writes how-to guides and round-ups, but occasionally covers news. His favorite Android device was the Pixel 2 XL, and he regards the three-month period where he owned an iPhone as a time of the utmost shame. Jon graduated with a History degree in 2018, but quickly realized his writing skills were better put to use writing about tech rather than essays. He started writing and editing for startups shortly after graduating, where he did everything from writing website copy to managing and editing for a group of writers. In his free time, you can find him fiddling with computers and spending his entire paycheck on vinyl records.