Android is now over fifteen years outdated, and in that point, some actually nice apps have come and gone. Let’s take a second to honor a number of of our fallen brethren who actually did serve us effectively.
DashClock
Some widgets work finest on your own home display screen. Some are of higher use in your lock display screen, the place you may see sure data with out unlocking your cellphone. Each kinds of widgets have languished a bit, however the latter particularly. Lengthy earlier than lock screen widgets started their recent comeback, there was an app known as DashClock that confirmed us how helpful these widgets could possibly be.
Lock display screen widgets existed earlier than DashClock, however they nonetheless had a protracted solution to go. DashClock launched widgets that appeared nice in your sleeping cellphone. The climate could possibly be convened by a tiny monochromatic icon. The variety of messages in your inbox popped up subsequent to slightly envelope. You possibly can get detailed details about your battery well being. A few of these widgets can be found in trendy variations of Android, with One UI particularly letting you go wild. However on many telephones, there is a large gap that Sprint a clock as soon as stuffed.
We covered DashClock ourselves again within the day, however we are able to thank our sister web site PocketNow for the next journey down reminiscence lane.
iA Author
Android has a number of distraction-free writing apps, however we writers is usually a persnickety bunch, and most have a number of design choices and quirks that I finally nonetheless discover to be, effectively, distracting. For some time, my favourite was iA Author. Sadly, the Android model didn’t have characteristic parity with the iOS one, and the app languished for a very long time with out an replace. Then I discovered why.
The builders asserted that Google had modified app developer tips in a manner that made the app not capable of perform how the builders wished, and it could have been price prohibitive to proceed for the amount of cash they have been bringing in. They finally decided to pull the plug on the Android version of iA Writer.
Nova Launcher
Nova nearly wants no introduction. For years, it was the de facto default alternate launcher for many people who weren’t glad with the customization options our telephones provided out of the field. With Nova, you could possibly change nearly every part associated to your own home display screen.
Sadly, the app was ultimately bought, and growth priorities modified till work on Nova eventually ceased altogether, as this story typically goes.
TweetDeck
There are numerous whose hearts nonetheless pang on the lack of TweetDeck, a useful app for a lot of that offered much more flexibility than the official Twitter apps. You possibly can have a number of feeds open side-by-side, arrange detailed filters, and ship out tweets in line with your individual schedule. It was an app careers have been constructed round, one whose usefulness was considerably diminished by Twitter API adjustments lengthy earlier than the location’s eventual acquisition and identify change.
TweetDeck was so fashionable that Twitter bought the app in 2011, and it technically nonetheless lives on within the type of X Professional. Simply do not search for an Android app, seeing as you will not discover one.
For this hit of nostalgia, we’ll flip to an outdated and blurry interview with TweetDeck’s founder, courtesy of TechCrunch.
Pocket
This is a current addition to the checklist, seeing as Pocket solely recently shut down in the summer of 2025. The app was a spot the place you could possibly save webpages to be learn later, reformatting them right into a format that was much more readable. Because the app grew, you could possibly save and share sources aside from webpages.
Mozilla bought Pocket in 2017, only some years into the latter’s lifespan. The performance grew to become related to Firefox, the place Pocket was a baked-in characteristic. However Mozilla by no means adopted by way of on guarantees to open supply Pocket, limiting the service’s attraction to a lot of Firefox’s most diehard followers. Finally, the non-profit shut down the servers, however at the least there are alternatives to Pocket that largely do the identical factor.
Humble Bundle
That is much less in regards to the lack of one app and extra in regards to the lack of an period. There was a time when Humble Bundle was the very best supply for DRM-free Android video games. I constructed up a small assortment by buying a number of Humble Indie Bundles. The Humble Bundle app served as an alternative way to install apps over a decade in the past, permitting you to obtain any Android recreation out of your Humble library.
Whereas the shortage of DRM meant you actually owned your video games, it didn’t imply you’ll be capable to play them for lengthy. As new variations of Android got here out, these video games steadily stopped working. Since nobody was pushing out updates to those outdated Android video games, players have been left with APKs they could not do something with. The Humble Bundle staff struggled to maintain up with new variations of Android and ultimately shut down the app in 2021.
Whereas the app isn’t any extra, you may nonetheless buy a small choice of Android games from Humble Bundle by way of your internet browser.
All issues ultimately come to an finish, and apps aren’t any exception. Happily, there stay some apps which have managed to face the take a look at of time—like my go-to podcast client and one of my favorite live wallpaper apps. What’s one factor these two apps have in widespread? They’re each open supply.
Source link
