How to add practically anything into the Android 11 power menu

One of Android 11’s most useful additions is the new connected-device command center that comes up whenever you press and hold your phone’s power button. Have you seen that thing yet? By default, it has controls for smart lights and other connected gadgets associated with your phone and/or Google account — but with a teensy bit of tinkering, you can actually expand it to include controls for almost anything your curiously moist brain can cook up.

Maybe you want to add in a simpler shortcut for activating Android’s now-rather-buried split-screen function, for instance. Maybe you want to implement a one-tap link to a specific section of your system settings. Or maybe you want to create a time-saving tile that you can tap to compose a specific prewritten email or text message for on-the-fly sending — a thank you for a meeting with a client, perhaps, or an “on my way” update to send to a colleague or significant other (maybe even with your location attached!). The options are practically endless.

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