3 dots menu option

[DYK] Long Press on 3-Dots Menu and Get “More Options” in Android Mobile Phones

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me and shared a tip about Android mobile phones. He told me that if we long press on the 3-dots menu present in WhatsApp on an Android mobile phone, a hidden secret "More Options" menu is displayed on screen. But he was not able to tap on the secret menu so it was basically useless.

I knew about this feature and I told him that it's not only available in WhatsApp but also available in almost all Android apps. I told him the truth about this feature which I'm also going to share in this article.

I was surprised that the reader didn't know about this feature, so I decided to ask about it with other people. I asked my friends, relatives, colleagues, etc about this trick and I was amazed to see that no one knew about it. They all asked me what is it? Is it any secret stuff? What does this hidden "More Options" menu do? They were asking different questions but I was unable to find a single person who was aware of this feature.

That's why I decided to post this article!

In Android mobile phones, almost all apps have the 3-dots menu at the top-right corner which works like the main menu and allows users to change app settings and access all available features and options.

You just need to tap/touch on the 3-dots menu and it shows all available options in a drop-down menu.

Now open an app in your Android mobile phone which contains this 3-dots menu. You can open WhatsApp, File Manager, Gallery or any other app. Almost all apps have the 3-dots menu.

Once you open the app, tap and hold on the 3-dots menu i.e. long press on the 3-dots menu. That's it. You'll get the secret "More Options" menu on screen.

Following screenshots show the secret "More Options" menu in various apps:

"More Options" menu in Memo app:

"More Options" menu in File Manager app:

"More Options" menu in Gallery app:

Now try to tap on "More Options" menu, nothing will happen and the secret menu will disappear after a few seconds.

You can try this trick in any Android mobile phone whether it's Samsung or Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Sony, LG, Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus, etc. All Android mobile phone will show this "More Options" menu.

Following animation shows this secret menu live in action:

So what is this secret menu? What does it do? In fact why does it exist? Why can't you access this menu? You might be having all these questions in mind.

Now let me reveal the truth!

It's not any hidden secret menu. Actually it's a tool-tip which shows that the 3-dots menu stands for "More Options" menu.

If you use Windows operating system in your computer, you might be already aware of tool-tips which appear when you move your mouse cursor over something like Taskbar clock, running program icons, titlebar buttons (minimize, maximize, close), etc.

Tooltips are shown to provide more information about an element in operating systems. That's what happens when you long press on 3-dots menu in Android mobile phones. It shows the tooltip for the main menu.

Although long pressing on an icon to access it's tooltip is not a great idea. Many users might consider it as a menu and it does look-like a menu.

So now you know what is "More Options" menu in Android mobile phones and what it does? Right?

Did you know about it? Ask your friends, family members about it and enjoy their face 

Posted in: SmartFones

About the author: Rohit AnanD (also known as rtad1428) has been awarded  (Most Valuable Professional) award.