8 common Android features that originated from third party apps

Android phones have come a long, long way. From the era of clunky, half-baked doohickeys to fine artifacts that demonstrate human proficiency and imagination, the journey of our digital accomplices hasn’t been less than inspiring. And over these years, Android devices have picked up several excellent features that now feel so familiar and ubiquitous that even Apple has had to adopt them on the iPhone.

Many of these features originated as musings of indie developers but have now gained enough popularity to be incorporated into Android. To commemorate them, we’re highlighting eight such features, even though we could make a much longer list.

Nonetheless, while the surge in AOD followed the adoption of more AMOLEDs on Android devices, there was a time when the feature wasn’t natively available. When LCDs were still the popular form of display, even on flagships, Android users had to rely on third-party apps to get a similar functionality.

I used and vehemently attested for AcDisplay because it added a faux always-on display featuring a dark gray background with monochrome icons on my now-deceased Google Nexus 4. The screen lit up every time a new notification arrived, allowing me to stay on top of things, which was fun back when I didn’t have an overwhelming deluge of notifications — or a chronic attention deficit.

Of course, this would chew through the battery much faster, but a simple fix to that problem was to turn off 3G to gain a few more hours without being smothered by FOMO (the fear of missing out).

Thankfully, manufacturers such as LG and Samsung didn’t take too long to figure out how to implement always-on displays on AMOLED screens — and eager brands such as Xiaomi and OnePlus soon followed. Nokia had already accomplished it with phones like the N8 many years ago, so it shouldn’t have been difficult. Simultaneously, we grew more conscious about security and hiding our notifications from the lock screen, leading to the end of apps such as AcDisplay.

We often lambast iOS for offering a very limiting file browser — after not offering one at all for over a decade. But you might be surprised to learn that, for nearly the first decade of its existence, stock Android did not include a native file browser.

Google’s first attempt at file management came in the form of a lightweight local storage browser called Files Go back in 2017, which formed the basis of Google Files that we know of today. Interesting, Files Go also serves as the framework for Google’s Nearby Share, which then became Quick Share, which very recently added support for Apple’s AirDrop.

Even after countless changes, customization remains Android’s primary selling point to date. But one feature that truly represents personalization to the masses, in my view, is wallpaper-based theming in Android. With Android 12, Google officially brought theming support as part of the Material You design philosophy. And the feature continues to exist in Android to date.

Android 12’s theming support was based on a color system called Monet — inspired by the iconic French painter — that picked different dominant colors from the wallpaper. These colors were then used as accents for different buttons, sliders, or backgrounds for different menus, and the same framework continues today.

But long before Google nosedived into the world of colors, the developer community brought it to custom Android ROMs. These custom themes would paint over a wide range of system apps, and even third-party ones like WhatsApp, using selected colors. Some popular ways to install these themes were to use then-celebrated platforms such as Substratum or RRO Layers, the latter of which was initially developed by Sony.

While theming is now an indispensable part of Android, it probably wouldn’t exist without the initial Android community’s fervent need to make their device stand out from the crowd.

For years now, gesture-based navigation has been my preferred way to use Android devices. I find it far more engaging than using buttons fixed at a single position, and I can never imagine going back to them.

While brands like Xiaomi and Samsung played an indisputable role in introducing swipe-based navigation systems, well before Google implemented its horrendous pill-shaped implementation, third-party apps also offered several ways to navigate Android’s interface.

One of these (now-defunct) apps was Swipe Navigation, which would allow users to replace the traditional navigation buttons with swipe-based controls. Essentially, you could swipe upwards with one or two fingers to perform a control. Samsung later adopted similar gestures in the early days of One UI.

My preferred choice — and what I believe to be the true predecessor to navigation gestures — was called “All-in-one Gestures.” It enabled a multitude of gestures that could be triggered from any of the four edges or even the four corners on the screen — far more useful than what Android offers now.

But as Google adopted proper navigation gestures — not the scandalous pill on Pixel phones — and bullied other manufacturers into integrating them, we lost gems like the ones I mentioned.

Eye care is now one of the biggest agendas for smartphone companies. However, nearly a decade ago, most did not bother to keep the users’ eyes healthy so long as they could sell enough devices to stay afloat.

However, there was a host of unofficial apps that would serve the purpose of cutting out specific colors — focusing primarily on eliminating blue — from the screen to make them bearable at night. As someone who has spent countless nights just exploring the depths of the internet’s unreasonable rabbit holes, I truly appreciate apps such as Bluelight Filter and Twilight, especially for their ability to choose from different colored filters (not just blue) and set a daily schedule.

Thankfully, Google officially added a feature called Night Light to the OG Pixel series and later refined it in subsequent versions of Android (see 2:03 in the video below). Major Android brands followed soon.

Over the years, we’ve seen further improvements, so you no longer need to adjust the filter’s intensity manually. Instead, it adjusts automatically based on the ambiance. Though if you need to remove specific colors, because of preference or sensitivity, some of the older apps, such as Twilight, still work.

Support for long snaps and touch-up features now makes taking screenshots easy and effective. However, long before Google or other Android OEMs introduced these features, Android users who wanted more than just capturing the current screen were at the mercy of third-party screenshot apps.

Before the long screenshot feature became widely available, capturing each scroll individually and then stitching them together was a torturous task. Thankfully, apps such as Stitch & Share helped ease much of my pain by not only consolidating all screenshots into one but also allowing me to review and reorder the list before creating one long scroll.

Likewise, screen recording also took long before it could become a standard Android feature, and AZ Screen Recorder served as one of the most compelling options, with features such as 60fps video recording and built-in clip editing that made it the most recommended app for the utility.

If there’s one thing that has pulled me closer to Android than iOS, it is the vast possibilities for customization. Among those prospects, organizing the home screen to reflect my personality remains my absolute favorite.

The launchers we use play a significant role in that pursuit of a personalized homescreen, and while official launchers from brands have adapted many features over these years, they still feel limited compared to custom third-party launchers. And Android owes many of its features to champions such as Nova and Action Launcher. The long list includes customizable icon grids, app hiding features, support for third-party icon packs, folder tweakability, gestures to expand notifications or quick settings, and colored dots for unread notifications.

My first interaction with Nova Launcher — and freeing myself from the shackles of the stock launcher — on my first Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, is one of my core memories. It was also one of the most liberating feelings in my early days with Android, and perhaps the only thing that came closer was a monumental visual leap from Android KitKat to Lollipop.

Google’s Quick Share has been in the spotlight recently for hammering its way through AirDrop, even without Apple’s help. The service originated as Nearby Share in 2020, often referred to as Google’s response to AirDrop, and I couldn’t agree more. In case you’ve still missed it, Quick Share lets you transfer files from one Android device to another — or from Android to Windows, and more recently, even iOS and macOS — over Wi-Fi.

As someone who juggles multiple review units, Quick Share helps preserve my sanity. But way before Quick Share (or Nearby Share) prevented me from willingly banging my head on a wall — because of terribly slow Bluetooth transfer speeds — were apps that served a similar utility.

Some popular apps in the category were SuperBeam, Xender, and Lenovo’s SHAREit, all of which supported peer-to-peer Wi-Fi Direct transfers. My favorite of the lot was SuperBeam for its simple aesthetics and real-time data transfer speeds, but I later switched to SHAREit for its broader popularity in my social circle (the app has over 1 billion downloads).

At the same time, apps like AirDroid offered web-based interfaces for managing connected devices, viewing files, or even managing apps installed on the phone. Another app that I preferred was Pushbullet, which would allow broadcasting text, links, or files in the form of messages across multiple devices — consider it a group chat of your own devices.

However, factors including the ease of file sharing via messaging apps such as WhatsApp, a lack of updates, the inclusion of ads, and, in certain cases, unpatched critical vulnerabilities slowly led to a decline in their popularity.

Do you remember using any of these features before they became mainstream? Or, do you have any other suggestions for us to include in the list? Share your views with us, and other Android Authority readers, in the comments below!