9 hidden Android shortcuts you will get by merely choosing textual content

Shortcuts are in all places on Android, and I take advantage of them day by day to hurry up my workflow. Lengthy-time Android smartphone homeowners could also be conversant in shortcuts that seem when icons are long-pressed or the varied swiping gestures accessible that set off quite a lot of different actions. However Android additionally hides a bevy of different shortcuts in a context menu when choosing textual content.

What are these hidden Android shortcuts?

Earlier than you run off choosing every thing in your machine, let me first outline what I’m particularly referring to.

The shortcuts in query seem when a easy textual content string is highlighted inside any app that helps them. As these shortcuts are tied to textual content, not a hyperlink or an icon (together with the context and content material of that textual content), a number of shortcut choices can set off. They’re nice for skirting monotonous copy/paste duties and additional menus and as an alternative level me proper to the app I need to open. Granted, this shortcut system has flaws, and I’ll make sure you cowl these beneath, however first, I need to element the examples I’ve added to my day by day Android repertoire.

For essentially the most half, you’ll discover a default checklist of shortcuts throughout the Android ecosystem, which normally consists of Reduce, Copy, Translate, Choose all, with Share and Handle apps lurking behind the three-dot overflow button. These choices differ broadly throughout units. In addition they depend upon which apps you’ve put in and which app you’ve chosen the textual content.

Tapping Handle apps lets you add apps to the shortcut checklist completely. On my Galaxy S24 FE, this consists of hyperlink checker URLcheck, sensible browser Arc Search, and privateness browser Firefox Focus.

As I’ve talked about, I need to element a few of the particular, particular shortcuts that I’ve added to my Android routine. These shortcuts transcend the usual context menu shortcut checklist. Let me clarify these beneath.

I usually encounter place names and bodily addresses on my machine. As a substitute of manually performing a Google Maps search, I can choose the textual content and faucet the Map shortcut choice that seems. It will produce the Open with menu itemizing apps that assist addresses and places. On my cellphone, these embody navigation apps like Maps.me and OsmAnd, geographical apps like PeakFinder, and transport apps like Uber. Zoom Conferences seems too for some purpose.

Notably, I discover the Maps shortcut choice doesn’t reliably set off when highlighting each place title, which can turn into a theme as I progress by this information. Positive, it acknowledges a metropolis, suburb, highway title, nation, and whole handle strings, however it doesn’t appear to set off on some landmarks. “JFK Airport” was one omission I discovered significantly puzzling.

Confirming plans in messaging apps normally includes bouncing round concepts and dates between varied customers. As soon as I’ve confirmed a date with my associates, I can spotlight the date string and faucet on the Add occasion shortcut. I need to be clear: strings like “2025/04/07” assist this shortcut, however different date codecs are hit-and-miss.

The primary time I examined this, “Monday 7 April” produced the Add Occasion shortcut. Nevertheless, the second try to spotlight that textual content produced a View shortcut as an alternative. Presumably, it’s because the date was now prior to now — it’s an attention-grabbing little element if that’s the case.

Much less formal dates, like “This Saturday,” additionally triggers View. Tapping this opens the Calendar app on that given date. Curiously, phrases like “Subsequent April” don’t set off any date-related shortcut.

I can’t recall once I final used my cellphone as a cellphone, however once I do encounter a quantity, I can choose it to set off the Name shortcut. This works very well in browsers, however it’s unreliable in virtually each different app.

For example, highlighting cellphone numbers saved in Google Preserve doesn’t set off it (as a tradeoff, Preserve hyperlinks the quantity). Moreover, five-digit SMS numbers used right here in South Africa aren’t acknowledged as numbers.

Lastly! A dependable shortcut that’s predictable. Virtually any string that features an @ image and a .area will produce the E mail shortcut, even when it’s an actual handle or not. Tapping it should open up your most well-liked e-mail shopper and set the handle as your recipient. It really works throughout a number of apps, too, from third-party browsers to Google Preserve.

Textual content inside Google apps and definitions

You possibly can simply set off a Google Search of any chosen textual content in Google apps. That is one other extremely dependable shortcut to set off.

A very good instance of that is choosing textual content throughout the Uncover feed. Along with the Search shortcut within the contextual menu, a shortcut bar additionally seems on the backside of the display. When you received’t discover the shortcut in Chrome’s context menu, the bar does seem. It’s one other design quirk, however one which doesn’t have an effect on performance all that a lot.

Moreover, the Outline shortcut is among the many most irritating to make use of. It seems when highlighting a handful of phrases that appear utterly random. The shortcut opens a Google app search results of the phrase chosen prefaced by “Outline”. Briefly, it’s successfully an extension of the shortcut I described above, however it’s far much less dependable.

To emphasise my level, the Outline shortcut appeared once I highlighted “southern” and “occupies” in an article by The Guardian operating in Google Information. Nevertheless, choosing “worldwide regulation” throughout the identical article triggered nothing. In one other article I examined, the shortcut appeared once I highlighted “fossilized” and “dinosaur” however not “paleontologist.”

Fortunately, internet hyperlinks are acknowledged in a much more constant method. (Virtually) any internet handle that features .area will set off an Open shortcut choice. Notably, tapping this may set off your default browser, not an Open with field. In my case, that’s URLcheck.

Translate seems on virtually each textual content string that’s chosen, and that’s very useful. Nevertheless, the one annoying side of this shortcut is its reliance on the dictionaries you’ve gotten put in in your machine.

I may translate from English to Spanish as a result of my cellphone has the latter dictionary saved (I’m undecided why), however it wouldn’t to Afrikaans because it lacked that database. It’s unusual that this characteristic wouldn’t leverage Google Translate itself to supply on-line translations.

That is one in all my favourite textual content choice shortcuts, and I take advantage of it as usually as I bake (which, whereas usually, most likely isn’t usually sufficient.) Choose a temperature, distance, weight, or quantity, and a Convert shortcut will seem. Faucet it, and conversions in metric and imperial measurements will seem in a field. You too can faucet Present extra to develop the checklist of choices. It’s swift, predictable, and infinitely helpful.

If I have been to element all of the text-based shortcuts accessible on Android, we’d be right here all day, however I need to contact on another third-party app-related shortcuts that provide up their very own performance.

One instance I take advantage of usually is Inoreader’s Annotate and Create Highlighter choices and Pocket’s Spotlight shortcuts. Each enable me to carry consideration to a bit of textual content in an article.

Browsers like Firefox supply Ask shortcuts, which permit additional analysis of a selected textual content string in one other app, like Firefox Focus, Arc Search, or Perplexity.

On my Samsung cellphone, Microsoft affords a handful of shortcuts, too. There’s an choice to avoid wasting blocks of textual content utilizing Microsoft’s 365 Notice, whereas Samsung gives a shortcut to Samsung Cross in sure conditions.

I really like that Android affords these text-selection shortcuts, however the characteristic feels unfinished, unpolished, and largely forgotten by Google.

I usually must guess which shortcut will set off based mostly on the textual content I choose, which makes it way more possible that I’ll manually copy/paste data into my app of selection somewhat than counting on the context menu. Will it acknowledge “LAX” as a spot? Will it outline “squirrel”? Will it understand this apparent cellphone quantity is a cellphone quantity? Deciding on textual content simply to find what’ll occur goes in opposition to the shortcut’s time-saving function. It’s not intuitive, which discourages its use.

For essentially the most half, I consider Google can enhance the context menu’s usability with out revolutionizing it. I need the choice to reorder shortcuts as I see match, and supply the total breadth of doable choices for any given slice of textual content. Granted, I don’t count on the Convert shortcut to look whereas highlighting an e-mail handle, however I count on the Translate choice to look when choosing a French dish or Outline to set off on any phrase.

I’d additionally recognize Google gifting the majority of its personal merchandise shortcuts of their very own. I’d actually like to avoid wasting chunks of textual content to Google Preserve through a shortcut, for example.

Does this imply you shouldn’t use the shortcuts which can be already accessible? Under no circumstances. Once they work, they’re extremely helpful, and I consider they’ll enhance your smartphone workflow simply as they’ve mine.

If there’s a text-selection shortcut that you simply use usually or significantly like that I didn’t point out above, please inform me extra about it within the feedback part.