The Moto G4 Play, designed by Motorola in collaboration with Lenovo, continues to be one of the most highly valued phones in the entry-level Android range thanks to its combination of reliability, balanced performance y customization options. Although time has passed since its launch, many users still trust this terminal for its durability, its practically pure software and its extensive community. If you're one of the proud owners of a Moto G4 Play, or you're interested in getting the most out of it, you've come to the right place.
In this extensive article you will discover 21 essential tricks for the Moto G4 Play, complemented by detailed guides, customization tips, recommendations on hidden features, and explanations of quick access, privacy, advanced gestures, and much more. Each section is structured to make the experience as clear as possible, gathering reference information and expanding your device's capabilities beyond what you imagine.
Ready to explore all the possibilities of your Moto G4 Play? Let's go.
Customize and optimize the Moto G4 Play home screen
The first impression you get from your phone is its home screen. The Moto G4 Play offers several ways to personalize this essential space:
- Status bar: View the time, battery, and network connections. Swipe down to access notifications and quick settings.
- widgets: You can add widgets to your home screen to quickly access the information you need most—from the weather to tasks to daily reminders.
- Shortcuts: It includes shortcuts to frequently used apps and favorite websites, allowing you to open them with a single tap.
- Favorites tray: At the bottom, you can add your most used apps, customizing them based on your habits. You can also access the full list of apps from here.
- Button navigation: Use the bottom bar to go back, return to the home screen, or switch between open apps. You can long press to use split screen and manage multiple tasks.
Remember that, depending on the app you're using, the navigation buttons may appear as dots or disappear; just tap their location to restore them if necessary.
Change the screen color mode and adjust the display
One of the best kept secrets of the Moto G4 Play is the possibility of modifying the display color mode to adapt it to your preferences. In the display settings you can:
- Change the brightness level manually or activate automatic brightness.
- Adjust the font size for easy reading.
- Choose the color mode: You can choose between more natural colors or vivid, saturated colors, ideal for those who enjoy more intense images or a more realistic display.
These small custom changes can significantly improve your experience, whether you use your phone indoors or outdoors.
Configure Active Display and control your notifications
Active Display It's one of Motorola's flagship features. Thanks to this option, you can see the time, notification icons, and important messages on a dark screen without having to unlock your device.
You can customize Active Display by accessing Moto > Display:
- Disable this feature if you prefer the screen not to turn on automatically.
- Select which apps can display notifications on the sleep screen, which is very useful if you want to hide private messages.
- Set time periods when the screen should not be activated (for example, while you are sleeping or working to avoid distractions).
To interact with notifications, simply hover your finger over the corresponding icon and you'll have direct access to the message or alert content.
Moto G4 Play: Eye Care Features
Eye health is essential and Motorola knows this. The Moto G4 Play integrates options designed to protect your sight during prolonged use:
- Night mode: If you have the right version of Android, you can activate warm filters that reduce blue light emission and minimize eye strain when using your phone in dark environments.
- Invert colors: Available in settings, perfect if you spend a lot of time reading text with a white background in dim light.
- Recommended applications: Tools like Twilight They help you automatically adjust the colors and intensity of the screen based on the time of day, blocking tones that can interfere with sleep.
Advanced camera management: focus, exposure, and professional mode
La Moto G4 Play camera It offers outstanding results for its category thanks to optimized software and intuitive controls. Particularly noteworthy are:
- Touch Focus: Tap the object you want to focus on on the screen.
- Exposure control: Adjust the image brightness with a wheel, allowing you to quickly adapt to different lighting conditions.
- Focus lock: Press and hold to lock focus on an object, allowing you to recompose the image or adjust the exposure without losing the focal point.
- Smart Zoom: In addition to the classic pinch gesture, swipe up to zoom in or down to zoom out.
If you want to go a step further, access the professional mode from the camera icon:
- Adjust the white balance depending on ambient lighting.
- Control the ISO and shutter speed to achieve artistic effects or avoid blurry images.
- Modify the saturation and color temperature to achieve the visual ambiance you're looking for.
These controls give you great flexibility for photographic experiments or demanding situations.
Scan QR codes and barcodes without additional apps
One of the most practical details of the Moto G4 Play is its QR and barcode reader integrated into the camera appSimply point the camera at the code you want to scan and you'll receive the information instantly, without relying on external applications. This speeds up tasks such as add contacts, connect to Wi-Fi o access webs.
Edit the shortcuts according to your needs
With the arrival of modern versions of Android, the Moto G4 Play incorporates customizable shortcuts in the notification bar. You can rearrange these feature icons (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, flashlight, etc.) to bring the ones you use most to the forefront:
- The first five will appear when you unfold the bar once.
- The rest will be displayed when you unfold it again.
Simply long-press an icon to move and adjust it to your liking, allowing you to spend less time performing repetitive actions.
Manage notifications: reply, mute, or block
La efficient management of notifications It's vital to your productivity and peace of mind. The Moto G4 Play offers several options:
- Answer directly: You can reply to messages from the notification itself without opening the app.
- Selective blocking: If you find an app annoying, swipe the notification to the side, tap the gear that appears, and adjust the settings to hide future alerts from that app.
- Mute calls: Picking up your phone while it's ringing mutes the call. Press the power button to achieve the same effect.
Configure privacy settings and control your data
Motorola collects information about device usage to improve the user experience. If you prefer to maintain your privacy:
- Accede to Settings > Motorola Privacy to disable the sending of usage data.
- Customize permissions and control which apps access your location, contacts, photos, and other sensitive data.
This option gives you complete control over your information and your digital experience.
Touch gestures and motions: Explore Moto actions
The Moto G4 Play incorporates a series of smart gestures and movements to make your daily life easier. You can activate or deactivate them and check out all the available options at Bike > Actions. Among the most notable we find:
- Shake the phone twice to turn on the flashlight (and repeat to turn it off).
- Pick up the phone to silence it when someone calls you.
- Turn your wrist twice to open the camera.
- Place the phone face down to activate Do Not Disturb mode.
These gestures save time and can even prevent embarrassing situations from inopportune calls or the need to quickly capture a moment.
Additional tips for daily use of the Moto G4 Play
- Quickly open the camera: Twist your wrist twice or press the power button twice to capture the moment without delay.
- Keep the screen dark: Program from bike > display when you want the screen to remain off, avoiding visual discomfort at night.
- Extension options: If you have visual impairments, you can enable additional magnification gestures in Accessibility settings, allowing you to zoom in or out by spreading or pinching two fingers together on the screen.
- Swipe and drag: Learn to move quickly between apps or screens by quickly swiping or tapping and holding to drag icons and widgets to new positions.
FM radio and recording of favorite programs
The Moto G4 Play is one of the few modern phones that includes FM radio with integrated antenna. This allows you to:
- Tune in stations easily, even without an internet connection.
- Control the radio from the Active Display panel, changing the station by dragging the corresponding icon.
- Record fragments of programs or music you want to store to listen to later.
An ideal tool for fans of conventional radio and those looking to save mobile data.
Emergency and safety broadcasts
Security is a priority and the Moto G4 Play has a section to manage emergency broadcasts:
- Receive alerts about external threats such as weather events, civil emergencies, or relevant security advisories.
- You can access from Settings > Wireless & networks > More > Emergency broadcasts.
- Learn how to use alerts and customize which ones you receive based on your location and preferences.
A useful tool to keep you informed and protected against unexpected incidents.
Share the Internet easily: portable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
The Moto G4 Play allows share your internet connection with other devices using different options:
- Portable WiFi Zone: Enable this feature in the Wireless & Networks section, set the name and password, and allow others to connect to your network.
- Share via Bluetooth: Few phones offer this option. Pair the Moto G4 Play with another device via Bluetooth and share your data connection wirelessly.
Ideal for traveling, working in groups, or saving you money in emergency situations when others don't have internet access.
Discover hidden features and games on the Moto G4 Play
- Hidden Game: You can find a Flappy Bird-style minigame in your settings. Go to About phone, find your Android version, and tap it repeatedly until the game appears. Tap and hold the logo to start the game.
- Developer options: If you like to tinker and improve performance, find the build number in About phone and tap it several times to unlock advanced development options: from forcing GPU, animations, USB debugging, and more.
Advanced touch gestures to enhance your experience
- Touch: Press and release quickly to open apps, select items, or interact with menus.
- Hold down: Allows you to select items or access secondary functions (such as copying text or moving icons).
- Drag: To move icons or widgets to different areas of the home screen.
- Slide: Quickly navigate menus, switch between tabs, or scroll through lists.
- Zoom in or out: Pinch two fingers together or apart on the screen to zoom in or out on images, maps, or expandable notifications.
Remember that these gestures can personalize in many cases from the accessibility settings and the Moto app, further improving interaction with your device.
Additional tips to get the most out of your Moto G4 Play
- Usa custom widgets on the home screen to quickly access notes, calendars, or weather information.
- Customize the favorites tray to always have essential apps at hand.
- Activate battery saving mode in the settings when you need to increase the autonomy.
- Use the storage manager integrated to clean temporary files and gain space.
- Use the split screen (press and hold the recent apps button) to use two apps at the same time.
- R customize vibration and ringtone according to your most important contacts.
- Explore the do not disturb mode to avoid interruptions during meetings or nighttime rest.
- If you need it, use the function factory reset from the recovery menu to troubleshoot and return your phone to its original state, after ensuring a backup of your data.
The Moto G4 Play is an example of how a budget phone can continue to offer a solid and customizable experience over time. Thanks to its multiple features, advanced gestures, customization options, and compatibility with the latest apps, this device continues to stand out in the market. Whether you're looking for simple improvements or want to squeeze every last bit of functionality out of it, these tips will give you complete control over your device and your user experience.
