I'm sure it's happened to you: you're about to send a funny photo or an interesting link and, suddenly, your phone suggests sending the content to someone you haven't spoken to in ages or, even worse, to that ex you don't want to know anything about.It's a rather awkward situation, especially if you have someone next to you and you don't want a scene to be caused by an algorithm that thinks it's very clever.
The truth is that Android tries to make our lives easier by predicting our actions, but sometimes it goes too far and shows us completely irrelevant contactsMany people think that clearing the cache solves the problem, but unfortunately that doesn't help because the information is stored in a much deeper part of the operating system.
The engine behind the suggestions
Since Android 9 Pie landed on our devices, Google decided to push artificial intelligence to the limit so that the phone would know which apps and people These are the most important things for us at any given time of day. This system analyzes your usage patterns and creates a kind of preference map.
With the arrival of Android 10, the focus shifted slightly to give more weight to the data transparency and user privacy. This is where a critical component called Device customization servicesBasically, it's the piece of software that decides what to put in that row of suggested contacts when you tap the share button in apps like Google Photos.
How to get rid of unwanted contacts?
If you find yourself in a situation where the sharing menu is a mess and people you blocked years ago or relatives you haven't spoken to in ages are appearing, don't despair. There isn't a "delete individual contact" button in that list, but you can reset system learning.
To restore order, you must navigate through your device's menu following this path: Settings > Privacy > Device Personalization ServicesOnce you're there, you'll see that you have the power to delete the data that the mobile phone has been collecting to generate those predictions.
The most interesting thing is that you don't have to delete everything if you don't want to; the system lets you choose. different time rangesYou can choose to delete what you've learned in the last hour, in the last 24 hours, or, if you want to do a thorough cleaning and have your phone forget everything, select the option since everBy doing this, the device will stop showing those annoying shortcuts and start learning from scratch based on your current interactions.
Having control over these functions is essential to avoid misunderstandings and maintain the privacy of our communicationsensuring that only the people we actually interact with in our daily lives appear, and allowing you Stop sharing mobile contacts with external apps if you wish.