This little setting is the first thing I change on each Androidsmart phone

Old habits die hard, and this is especially true for me. I fine -tuning a few things on each Android -Smartphone I have ever owned, including faster the standard animation duration and speed and activate Dark Mode permanently. But a small setting I have changed religiously for many years now is the screen adjustment of the minimum width.

The Android slider to adjust the UI elements has been around since 2016. Some companies, such as Samsung, call it screen zoom, and others use viewing size. In short, the slider lets users enlarge or shrink the contents that appear. This has become a tremendously important function on modern devices, where screen sizes regularly exceed six inches, and solutions are growing increasingly closer.

Although I appreciate that this option is still available, I have one big problem: it is too stiff. The steps of the slider remain too large and do not give me the fine adjustment I prefer. So to get around this, I turn to an old school solution. Wondering within Development Options> Minimum Width lies the control I want. Changing the minimum number manually allows me to force the UI element size beyond what the device normally allows.

For example, even with the smallest selection of screen zoom (a DP figure of 411), items on Galaxy S24 Fe remain too big for my taste. I have found that the most comfortable figure is closer to 502 dp. There are no way the standard options on the phone will let me achieve this.

As you can see from the above screens, it makes it possible to cope with this setting to find the sweet place between making the elements comfortably visible and maximizing the contents that appear.

Of course, stuffing several UI elements on the screen has specific benefits. More icons, more text on web pages, settings menus, Spotify texts, more thumbnails in the Gallery app … The list continues! It is also useful for adaptation – Third party shootersLike Nova, still works best with higher DP numbers. Beyond smartphones, this setting is particularly useful on Android -St board and folding. That makes my Samsung Galaxy Tab a 8.0s Stubby Display to feel more spacious than it is.

And hey, even though your sight is not as excellent as it used to be, you can still use this setting to your advantage. Reduce the DP number to enlarge items on the screen!

Of course, there are disadvantages. Adjusting this setting on older phones makes them feel tardier. This is not a problem on modern hand sets. Adjusting the minimum size beyond the default values ​​also negatively affects some widgets. I have found this particularly annoying with some of Samsung’s stockpile. Does this ruin the experience for me? No. I find options. But it can annoy you.

If you are new to Android, there is a good chance that you never even knew this was possible. For everyone else, bring me with me for a moment. To adjust the minimum width of Android phones, you must first activate the Hidden Developer Options menu.

Note: These steps were collected using the Galaxy S24 FE, but may vary from unit to unit.

1. Open the Settings Menu, and then find Software information part.
2. Identify Building number Line and press it at least seven times. A notice should see notify you that Development options The menu is now activated.
3. Return to the main setting page, scroll down to Development optionsAnd press it.
4. Now, scroll down to Drawing sub -section and identify Minimum width line. Tap it.
   • To condense the size of UI elements, select a number larger than the standard DP figure.
   • To increase the size of UI elements, select a number less than the standard DP figure.
5. Once you have entered a number, you must turn Ok. The items on the screen should shrink or expand a little when the new setting takes shape.

Finding the golden number will take a while. You may need to repeat the last steps several times until you are satisfied with the outcome. Still, I would advise you not to exceed 700 dp. Figures beyond this will make your Android phone a difficult Android tablet.