How to Customize Your Google’s Discover Feed in Android

Google’s Discover feed – currently available on most Android phones via the Google app – is designed to make exploring personal interests easier. The tool enables mobile device owners to get updates for their passions without searching. Since Discover is all about you and your interests, the tech giant has included a handful of ways to help you customize what you see. In this article we explore how to customize your Google’s Discover feed to make sure you never miss an article of interest again.

Where Can You Find the Discover Tab?

You can access Discover through several avenues on your phone or tablet. For starters, you can open the Google app which comes pre-installed on most Android devices. Alternatively, on some phones, all it takes to find Discover is to swipe left from your device’s home screen.

For those of you using Chrome on your handset, the Discover feed can also be brought up by opening a new tab. You should be able to see it below the search bar.

How Does Google Select What to Show You in Discover?

Google uses the information it collects from your device and other Google products you use to decide what to show you in Discover. Moreover, Google taps the data stored in your Google Account.

The bulk of data is accumulated via “Web & App Activity” which saves your queries, browsing histories, and other activities linked to your Google Account. For those who are uncomfortable with Google knowing all this information, keep in mind that the feature can be turned off and back on again.

Additionally, Google collects app and device info from your devices and uses your location history to construct your own personalized Discover feed that targets your unique interests.

How to Customize Discover

First, you will need to make sure the “Web & App Activity” service is turned on because without it there can be no Discover.

In the Google App

1. Open the Google app on your device.

2. Tap More at the bottom of the screen.

3. Select “Your data in Search.”

4. Scroll down until you find the Google-wide controls section.

5. Turn Web & App Activity on.

In Your Browser

1. Log in to your Google account.

2. Tap on the Google Account icon at the top of the page.

3. Select “Manage your Google Account -> Data & Personalization.”

4. Find the “Activity Controls” section.

5. Turn Web & App Activity on.

Select What Google Shows You in Discover

While Google does a fairly good job of predicting which articles may be of interest to you, you may still find that your Discover feed lacks in certain areas. Or perhaps it is showing some stories you are not really interested in. In these cases, it’s up to you to make the necessary adjustments.

Follow New Topics

You can easily follow new topics in your feed. The process is quite straightforward.

1. Head to Discover on your Android device.

2. Search for an interest, like a TV show or author.

3. You should see a Follow button in the card’s upper-right corner. Tap on the “+” to add this interest to your Discover list. Note that not all queries will display the Follow button.

Unfollow Topics

If Google is showing topics you don’t really care for in your Discover feed, it’s time to take action and unfollow them.

1. Head to Discover on your Android device.

2. Tap on More at the bottom of the display.

3. Go to “Settings -> Interests -> Your Interests.”

4. Scroll down until you find “Based on Your Activity.”

5. Tap on the remove button to stop following a certain topic.

Another way of doing this is to unfollow topics directly from the Discover feed. You’ll notice each card has a three-button menu located in the lower-right corner. Tap on it and choose one of the available options:

• Hide this story – to hide it from your feed
• Not interested in the topic – to unfollow the topic
• Stop seeing stories from a certain source – to unfollow the source
• Manage interests – to go directly to Your Interests

Bring Back Topics that Were Previously Removed

Have you changed your mind and want to bring back stories on a certain topic? The good news is that Google hides the topics you unfollowed in a folder, so you can retrieve them quickly.

1. Go to Discover on your Android device.

2. Tap on More at the bottom of the display.

3. Go to “Settings -> Interests -> Hidden.”

4. Tap unhide on the topic you want to bring back.

Change How Often You See Certain Topics

Perhaps you’re passionate about the TV show Grey’s Anatomy and want to see more stories about it in your feed. If that’s the case, you can opt to find more.

1. Go to Discover on your Android device.

2. Tap on the Control (middle) option located on the bottom right of each card.

3. Tap More (blue dot) to find more cards for this topic.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to unfollow a topic but want to see less of it in your feed, tap Less (red dot).

How to Turn Off Discover

For those who don’t want to see the personalized feed with stories based on your interests, know you can turn Discover off altogether with a few easy taps.

1. Go to Discover on your Android device.

2. Tap on More at the bottom of the screen.

3. Go to “Settings -> General.”

4. Toggle off Discover.

If you’re looking to improve your experience when using Google’s features and apps, you may be interested to learning how to back up Google Photos to your computer, how to enable Google Assistant Ambient Mode or how to customize Gmail notifications for Android.