There’s something incredibly satisfying about booting up agreat new Android phonefor the first time and being greeted with a clean, bloat-free experience. I’ve long been critical of OEMs and cellular carriers mucking up brand-new devices with preinstalled apps and services the user never asked for.
That being said, I also believe that a solid suite of in-box apps are essential in rounding out a platform’s usefulness. While some will argue that calculator, note-taking, and voice memo apps are nothing more than unnecessary bloat, I consider them to be a hallmark of an operating system’s maturity. TheiPhone, for all its faults, has a rich set of applications that cover most of the basics. Android phones are more hit or miss, with different manufacturers likeSamsungbaking in their own utilities piecemeal.
While some will argue that calculator, note-taking, and voice memo apps are nothing more than unnecessary bloat, I consider them to be a hallmark of an operating system’s maturity.
I’ve compiled a list of some apps that I would love to see Google itself take on and make available across the breadth of the Android ecosystem.
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1Google’s version of Apple Shortcuts
No, Tasker isn’t the answer
Apple’s Shortcuts appis pretty powerful, so much so that it’s been brought to the Mac as well. It lets you automate certain tasks and makes it fairly easy to do so. You can use it to do everything from combining pictures or creating animated GIFs to automatically sending messages at a specific location or connecting to third-party apps to further automate tasks on your phone.
A popular solution that already exists in the world of Android is theTasker app. While it’s undoubtedly powerful and flexible, it’s paid software and has an interface that’s serviceable but far from the friendliest.
Some Android OEMs like Samsung have built their own solutions, but I’d love to see Google take a stab at the feature. If anyone can take a somewhat complex idea and streamline it into an easy-to-use package for the masses, it’s Google.
2A compass to keep you grounded
Wait, this one isn’t already available?
Here’s a simple one. Most Android phones have a magnetometer inside of them, and yet few OEMs have taken the liberty of building a compass app to leverage the sensor. An interface giving you a sense of true north and your current elevation is the sort of thing that you don’t expect to need until you actually need it.
There are tons of third-party compass apps on the Play Store, but I’m sure Google could build a visually appealing native app to serve most people’s needs.
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3An app to measure things
It’ll come in handy sooner or later
There are tons of situations where access to a leveling tool or a tape measure might come in handy, from putting up a photo to building a piece of furniture. And as it turns out, you’re likely actually carrying one in your pocket all day long.
A simple built-in version with Material You theming is something I know I would appreciate, and I bet others would as well.
Like with compass apps, there are a ton of third-party options you can find on the Google Play Store. A simple built-in version withMaterial Youtheming is something I know I would appreciate, and I bet others would as well.
4Rain? Snow? We need a Weather app
A link to the Google app ain’t cutting it
Remarkably, the out-of-box weather experience on Android isn’t a standalone one – it’s a shortcut to a section within theGoogle app. The interface and information provided is great, but it should really be an app that can be launched directly from the app drawer. As it stands, you can manually create a home screen shortcut to view the weather, which feels disjointed at best.
The same can also be said for financial updates and sports scores. These are simply components of the broader Google app, and would benefit from being expanded into their own standalone experiences. Ideally, I would love to see dedicated finance and sports apps developed by Google, but I think weather is the service that users will benefit the most from having streamlined access to.
Most Android phone makers have already built their own weather app at this point, so Google is definitely playing catch-up here.
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5Google Password Manager – passwords are a hassle
Where is it even located?
Much like with Google’s weather interface, the search giant has made its password manager needlessly complicated to interact with. You’ll need to dig deep into your phone’s settings and create a home screen shortcut to launch the interface from.
Why not make the feature available as a standalone app? This would increase discoverability and just be plain convenient for users. I’m frequently surprised by just how few people even know the feature exists on their phone. Easier access to your saved passwords doesn’t have to pose a security concern, either. Simply lock the app behind biometric authentication or a PIN code to keep your sensitive info safe from others.
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To be fair, the iPhone’s own password manager suffers from the same issue. However, you’re able to create an app icon via the Shortcuts app to take you directly to your passwords – just like you would if it were a native app.
6A music player for when you have no reception
YouTube Music is the wrong home for local music playback
The Android platform does indeed have its own audio player –YouTube Music. The problem is that this app is downright terrible for playing back local sound files. I get it, most of us stream our tunes these days and YouTube Music is a viable competitor to Apple Music and Spotify. But none of this should come at the expense of something as basic as local file playback.
None of this should come at the expense of something as basic as local file playback.
The functionality is there, but it’s very clearly being pushed aside and treated as a second-class citizen from a user interface perspective. It’s also confusing for users – who in their right mind is going to launch an app with ‘YouTube’ in its name to play back .mp3 files they have stored locally on their phone?
Unfortunately, Google is on a path towards consolidation, rolling more features into the YouTube Music app. Besides being the current home for local music playback, podcasts will also live here going forward. The company is sun setting its dedicated app, which was a simple, lightweight, and functional portal into the world of podcasts.
7A video editor that even mom can use
Android deserves its own Windows Movie Maker moment
More and more, Android devices are finding themselves being used as productivity machines rather than strictly as content consumption devices. Google Workspace provides users with basic tools for word processing, slideshow and spreadsheet creation, and more. Google Photos has a reasonable set of image editing tools at its disposal. What’s missing from this list is a basic video editing application. Apple has iMovie, Microsoft has ClipChamp, and it’s high time Google built an equivalent.
I would expect a Google-built solution to be quite basic and easy to use, to not step on the toes of third-party offerings. Apps like the popularLuma Fusionoffer the sort of robust toolkit that video editors need for more professional purposes. Google could effectively fill the niche with a lightweight and easy-to-use package for casual users.
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