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LG G7 ThinQ: 10 tips and tricks

Because not everything is obvious.

Jason Cipriani Contributing Writer, ZDNet
Jason Cipriani is based out of beautiful Colorado and has been covering mobile technology news and reviewing the latest gadgets for the last six years. His work can also be found on sister site CNET in the How To section, as well as across several more online publications.
Jason Cipriani
4 min read
Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The LG G7 ThinQ is a perfectly fine phone, full of artificial intelligence and other fancy features. 

Instead of waiting until you happen upon a new feature or setting, read through our list of 10 tips and tricks below. We can't promise they will change your life, but they will help you get the most out of your new phone. 

Watch this: LG G7: Three ways its cameras are different

Change Settings view

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Tabs or a list: those are your options for different views of the G7's Settings app. To change from the default Tabs view, tap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of the Settings app and select List View.

Ditch the notch

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It's 2018, and notches are all the rage. After Apple announced the iPhone X , Android makers have adopted the new look to make room for larger displays in smaller phones . With the G7, LG is giving users the option to hide the display notch altogether, or fully embrace it by highlighting it with colors.

Open Settings > Display > New Second Screen and tailor the notch, or the second screen as LG calls it, to your liking.

No escaping the notch: 15 phones with screen notches

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Save some battery life

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A general rule of thumb for battery life is the higher the resolution, the more strain on the battery. LG has built in a setting to lower the resolution of the G7, which should, in turn, reduce the amount of processing power (and battery) needed to push all those pixels.

Lower the display's resolution in Settings > Display > Screen resolution by sliding the dot between low, medium and high.

Add and remove nav buttons

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Back, home and recent app view are the default buttons in the navigation bar for nearly all Android devices. You can add, remove or rearrange the buttons on the LG G7 by going to Settings > Home touch buttons.

Change the color of the bar itself, and add or remove more buttons on the Button Combination page.

Where's the app drawer, bro?

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Android users typically love their app drawer, so when a phone-maker does away with it in favor of a more iOS-like home screen, it can be jarring and frustrating.

Enable the G7's app drawer in Settings > Display > Home screen > Select Home and select Home & app drawer.

Notice you can also select whether or not an App Drawer button is placed in the bottom dock. If you opt to do away with it, a swipe up on the home screen will reveal the app drawer.

Smart Bulletin or not

LG's Smart Bulletin is sort of useful. It lives to the left of your home screen and displays various shortcuts to music controls and updates based on the time of day.

If you're not a fan of the added screen, disable it in Settings > Display > Home screen.

Alternatively, you can customize what's displayed in your Smart Bulletin by selecting it on this same setting's page.

Magical floating bar

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The G7 has a floating bar feature that puts shortcuts to common tools at your fingertip, regardless of what you're currently doing on the phone.

Go to Settings > Extensions > Floating Bar and enable the feature. The bar includes options to include app shortcuts, screenshot tools, music controls and contact shortcuts.

Use the Floating Bar by tapping on its icon (usually on the edge of your screen) then swiping through the various panes.

Everyone gets a GIF

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If you leave the Screen Capture feature of the floating bar enabled, it includes a GIF tool to record and create an animated image of whatever's on your screen at the time.

Access the floating bar and swipe to the screen capture tools, then select the GIF button. Resize the recording box, then press the record button. Tap stop when you're done, then save or share your creation.

Disable Google Assistant's dedicated button

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A dedicated Google Assistant button seems like a good idea, but in practice, it gets accidentally triggered a lot. If you're tired of hearing Assistant try and talk to you, disable the shortcut button altogether.

At the bottom of Settings > Extensions > Shortcut keys is the option to disable the Google Assistant button.

Pin apps

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One thing I personally find useful when using LG devices is the ability to pin an app and keep it from being force-closed. This prevents me from losing my place in my Reddit feed or closing out YouTube after I paused a video.

To prevent an app from being force-closed, tap the recent apps button in the navigation bar and then the thumbtack-looking icon on the app's card.

Now, when you clear all apps, any pinned apps will stay open.

LG G7 ThinQ: A seriously detailed look

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LG G7 Thinq: Read CNET's full review.

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