Essentials replaced a bunch of my old power-user apps
Essentials is the app that caught me off guard. I only started using it over the past couple of months, but it has already replaced a stack of apps that used to be staples for me, including tools like Button Mapper, System UI Tuner, Hail, and Quick Tiles.
The reason is simple: Essentials bundles a ridiculous amount of power-user functionality into one place. I can remap buttons, hide status bar icons, hide system apps, and unlock a heap of extra quick settings toggles. There are way too many features to unpack properly in one video, but the important part is that it has let me uninstall a bunch of separate apps because it is just that versatile.
now I literally do not know what I would do without it.
— Sam BeckmanThe forked Shizuku is the version I install first
Essentials needs Shizuku to work properly, and I have featured Shizuku several times before. The version I am using now, though, is a forked version that keeps everything great about Shizuku while adding two toggles that make it so much better in daily use: start on boot and watchdog.
You still have to go through the initial setup process the first time, but after that the forked Shizuku can automatically start again after a reboot, or restart itself if it crashes. That is absolutely not how the Play Store version works, and the Play Store version also does not work with a lot of newer phones thanks to a bug that has not been patched yet.
Remy Reminders fixed why I moved away from Memory
I used Memorgi for a long time, and I probably would not have stopped using it if it were not for two issues: there was no iOS version, and it did not have cross-device syncing in the background. So my developer and I built Remy Reminders around those two gaps while keeping the best Memory feature, which is custom snoozing straight from the notification.
Remy Reminders has highly customizable repeating reminders, location-based reminders, and now voice-activated reminders. That voice feature is the one I am most excited about because I can say a bunch of reminders naturally, including repeating ones, and have them created without manually typing every detail.
It is a paid app, but you can use Remy Reminders completely free for 7 days with no payment details required. It has been my one and only reminder app for months now.
Blip is still better for Android-to-Mac file sharing
After switching from my Windows editing PC to an M3 Ultra-powered Mac Studio, I needed apps that made Android and Mac feel less awkward together. Blip is the first one. Google has made Quick Share compatible with AirDrop in recent times, and that is fantastic for one-off sharing with Apple devices you do not own, like sending photos or videos to friends.
For devices I share between all the time, like my own Android phones and Mac computers, Blip is still the superior option. Once it is set up, it just works in the background. There is no need to turn on share with everyone, and no need to click to accept an AirDrop transfer every time. The only thing missing right now is text sharing, which feels like a seriously missed opportunity.
ClipSync fills the clipboard gap, with a couple of annoyances
ClipSync is a little-known app I found while browsing Reddit, and it unlocks seamless clipboard sharing between Android and Mac. Once the pairing process is done and the permissions are granted, copied text from my Mac appears on my Android clipboard pretty much instantly, and copied text from Android is available to paste instantly on my Mac.
There are two issues I am running into. Sometimes ClipSync gets my Android phone into a funk where the keyboard starts auto-closing, which is really annoying. It also does not auto start after rebooting my Mac, so I need to repair it whenever that happens. Still, it is otherwise a seriously fantastic app that I rely on.
InstallerX Revived makes sideloading feel less painful
InstallerX Revived is one of my favorite hidden gems of the last year because it makes installing downloaded APKs much more seamless than the default Android experience. It also relies on Shizuku, but once it is set up, the InstallerX Revived interface appears whenever I install a downloaded APK.
Even from a design standpoint, it looks way better than the default installer. More importantly, it unlocks advanced options like automatically deleting APK files after installation, bypassing the warning for older outdated APKs, allowing restricted permissions, and granting all requested permissions.
Home Assistant became a daily app, not just a hobby
I have gone way further down the Home Assistant rabbit hole since first talking about it. Between the Home Assistant app and the web platform, I am pretty much using it daily now.
The big change is that I moved away from running Home Assistant through the Docker desktop app and installed Home Assistant OS on an old MSI laptop I had lying around. After rebuilding my setup on that base, I can now use Home Assistant and my Stream Deck Plus to control devices directly rather than relying on the Google Assistant SDK method I was using before. The result is that my smart devices react nearly instantly, and I have way more control over them.
Gradient Weather finally replaced my old weather setup
For the first time in a very long time, I switched to a new weather app: Gradient Weather. I had been using Frog Weather Shortcut to launch my go-to weather app, but after an update, a patch, or who knows what, that setup basically stopped working altogether.
Gradient Weather has a lovely modern design that almost looks like Google designed it themselves. It also offers detailed weather insights, which are becoming rarer in modern weather apps, and it has a built-in weather radar, which is even rarer. The core features are free, with a paid upgrade available if you want extra tweaks.
Standby Mode is random, but I use it every night
Standby Mode is the app that emulates iOS's standby mode feature, and yes, it is a random one to include. But after getting obsessed with that feature when wirelessly charging an iPhone overnight, I have been replicating the same thing on every Android phone I use.
I place my phone on the charger, and within mere moments my clock of choice shows up. In the evening, it switches to a night mode version that does not light up the entire room in the middle of the night.
zFont 3 makes supported phones look cleaner
zFont 3 is another random app I use on any phone that lets me. Ever since I used it to load the Google Sands font systemwide on my Galaxy S25 Ultra, any phone that does not use that font, or at least a very similar font, looks outdated to me.
There is a big caveat, though. In One UI 8.5, Samsung patched the backdoor workaround zFont 3 was using to implement custom fonts. There is still a working backdoor method for Oppo phones, which is what lets me make the systemwide font look cleaner and more modern on my Oppo Find N6.
Flights25 went from maybe-useful to travel essential
A developer reached out about Flights25 about a month before my last trip, and honestly, I was not sure whether I would actually use it. Then I flew to the UK a couple of months back and completely depended on it to track all my flights.
Flights25 has a clean and intuitive design. You can add an upcoming flight by entering the flight number, or connect your Gmail account and have flights added automatically. Once you have checked in and received your boarding pass, you can scan it to get more detailed flight information, including a digital boarding pass you can use when boarding.
Pocket Casts won me back because it just works
The last time I made this style of video, I was using Snipped for podcasts, but it never seemed to figure out its cross-device syncing issues. So for probably close to a year now, I have been back on Pocket Casts.
The reason I came back is not complicated: Pocket Casts just works. It also does not look outrageously outdated like a heap of other popular podcasting apps.
Ultrahuman is the app I use every single day
The Ultrahuman app connects to the Ultrahuman Ring Air that I wear, and it is where I track all the data transmitted from the ring. I use it literally every single day, which makes it worth mentioning even if you do not own an Ultrahuman product yourself.
It is also one of the few Android apps that pretty much nails the liquid glass aesthetic. That is not the main reason I use it, but it does make the app feel much more polished than a lot of health companion apps.
Surfshark is still my go-to VPN app
Surfshark has sponsored several of my videos in the past, but it is not sponsoring this one. I am including it because it is genuinely my go-to VPN app, and I use it so often that I could not leave it off the list.
Aside from the functionality it provides, the price is what has made it pretty much unbeatable for me compared to the competition. If you have been thinking about getting a VPN and are not sure which one to pick, I can wholeheartedly recommend Surfshark.
Wispr Flow is the universal voice typing replacement I wanted
Wispr Flow solves one of the things I miss most when I am not using a Google Pixel: assistant voice typing. Google Pixel phones have a way more accurate voice-to-text feature, but when I use a non-Pixel phone, that feature is not there.
Wispr Flow essentially replicates that idea, but it is universal. It works not just on every phone, but also on Windows and Mac devices. When I have a big chunk of text to send from my phone, I can activate Wispr Flow, talk it out, and within seconds get an accurate transcription with formatting, punctuation, and errors removed.
Google has announced its new Rambler feature, and it does look great, but it is not out yet, I do not think it will work on computer-based devices, and Google has said it will come to Google and Samsung's most recent flagships first.
for now, Whisper Flow is easily the best, most universal replacement.
— Sam BeckmanA few gotchas before installing everything
- Essentials and InstallerX Revived both rely on Shizuku to work properly.
- ClipSync is not currently available through the Google Play Store.
- ClipSync can occasionally auto-close the keyboard on my Android phone.
- zFont 3 no longer works the same way on Samsung with One UI 8.5.
- Gradient Weather has free core features, with a paid upgrade for extra tweaks.
Those caveats aside, these are the Android apps I keep installing because they genuinely change how I use my phones. Some are tiny quality-of-life upgrades, some replace whole groups of apps, and a few have become part of my everyday workflow.