We reveal the best hidden features of the HTC 10, plus our favourite tips and tricks to get the most out of your new HTC phone. Here’s our complete HTC 10 guide.
The HTC 10 uses a reasonably vanilla version of Android, thanks to HTC’s close collaboration with Google during the phone’s creation. However, there are a few funky changes and little tricks that you won’t find on other Android mobiles.
Here’s our guide to getting the most out of the HTC 10 with these bonus features and modes. And check out our full HTC 10 review for our in-depth thoughts on HTC’s latest flagship.
Read next: Our full HTC 10 camera review vs Galaxy S7
How to change the HTC 10’s theme to a Freestyle theme
One of the HTC 10’s funkiest features is the new Freestyle desktops, which gives the boot to traditional grid-style layouts and allows you to go crazy with your shortcuts and widgets.
To find out how to set up Freestyle desktops and download Freestyle themes, check out our complete HTC 10 Freestyle themes guide.
How to change one part of a theme that you really hate on the HTC 10
If you have a theme that you really love, but there’s one tiny aspect – such as the alarm noise or font – that you can’t abide, then good news. Tweaking it is simple as pie.
Just head to the HTC 10’s settings and then tap ‘Personalize’. You’ll notice an option to ‘Edit current theme’. Tap this and you’ll get a list of all of the theme’s features which can be altered. Get stuck in and change what you don’t like, to make the perfect HTC 10 theme.
How to tweak the HTC 10’s screen to make it warmer/colder and more or less vibrant
If you’re not entirely satisfied with the vibrancy and colour warmth of the HTC 10’s display, that can easily be fixed.
Head to the HTC 10’s settings and then tap ‘Display, gestures & buttons’. In here, poke ‘Colour profile’ and you’ll have a choice between the standard RGB range or HTC’s own ‘Vivid’ mode, which changes the colour range and saturation. Tap the three dots to the right of each option and you can manually configure the colour temperature, making it warmer or colder to suit your personal preferences.
How to quick-launch the HTC 10’s camera
Some phones allow you to quick-launch the camera from hibernation with a double-tap of one of the volume buttons, but on the HTC 10 you’ll have to pick up the phone and then swipe a finger down the screen twice in quick succession.
How to get better battery life from the HTC 10
Head to the HTC 10’s settings and then tap ‘Power’, which is near the bottom of the menu. From here you can see how much battery you have remaining, how long your phone has been running on battery power and so on. By default, the HTC 10 can optimise your battery life by controlling apps that you’re not using. However, there are extra steps you can take to wring some bonus battery life from the phone.
Tap the ‘Battery usage’ section and you can see the biggest battery hogs. If you’re barely using one of these apps but it’s still sucking loads of battery life in the background, then get rid of it; all you need to do is give it a tap, then prod ‘App info’ and choose ‘uninstall’. Bye bye, battery drain.
If you’re still in need of longer battery life, activate the Power Saver mode by swiping the switch to the right of it. This automatically reduces the HTC 10’s screen brightness, turns off GPS and fiddles with some other power-draining settings, when your battery level reaches a certain level. You can manually set this by tapping Power Saver and then selecting your preferred level.
Not good enough? Try out HTC’s well-titled ‘Extreme Power Saving Mode’. This kills even more features, including the ability to remotely access the HTC 10 to locate or wipe it. Turn it on and choose what level it activates in the same way as the Power Saver mode.
Read next: HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7, which is best?
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