How To Use Google Pixel’s New ‘Rules’ To Automate Your Noisy Android

Google Pixel users will find a new “Rules” feature added to their devices starting today. Rules are analogous to iOS shortcuts, allowing you to create toggles for automatic settings changes when you’re in certain locations—though Android Rules are much more limited to Shortcuts, by comparison. For now, you can only set up Rules that will:

  • Turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode.

  • Set notifications to silent.

  • Set notifications to vibrate.

  • Set notifications to ring.

The new Rules menu also has an option to turn on rule suggestions based on how you use your phone and change your settings—for example, your phone might suggest creating a rule to silence notifications outside of your house if it notices you routinely turn down the ringer volume when you leave home.

As for manually setting up your own Rules:

  1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Rules (You’ll need to grant Rules permission to run in the background and make changes to your settings the first time you’ve opened the Rules page.)

  2. Tap “Add rule.”

  3. Tap “Add Wifi network of location” to select where the setting change will trigger. You’ll be able to select between a list of saved networks or find a location via Google Maps search. You’re also able to modify the area of effect radius around the location as well.

  4. Finally, there’s also an option at the bottom of the page that lets you enable push notifications for when a rule change has toggled.

  5. Once you’ve set everything up, tap “Add” at the bottom of the menu to complete the rule setup.

  6. Rules you’ve made will be listed under Settings > System > Advanced > Rules. You can delete a rule by tapping the trash can icon next to it.

The new Rules menu is included in the most recent Google Pixel Feature Drop, which itself is a part of the March 2020 Android security patch for Pixel devices. You can download it right now by going to Settings > System > Advanced > System Update.

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