Tushar Mehta / Android Authority
The Android we know today has a rich legacy, built on a foundation of apps that have endowed it with its powers of customization and extended its utility beyond what was natively offered. Over the last decade, many of these services have either become obsolete or been integrated into core features in Android. But they continue to remain in our hearts.
Today, we’re recounting legendary apps that helped shape Android and made it more meaningful than the barebones stock version of yesteryears. Here are my top picks for Android apps that had a fundamental — almost irreplaceable — role on Android phones in the past. Most of these apps no longer exist, haven’t been updated in a while, or have undergone radical changes — for the worse — in recent years, but their contributions remain unmatched.
Before we begin, please let us know which ones you have used and miss the most.
Which of these legendary Android apps have you used? 146 votes Inbox 22 % Google Play Music 31 % Swype Keyboard 10 % SuperSU 5 % Titanium Backup 8 % MX Player 7 % ES File Explorer 10 % Google Plus 8 %
Inbox by Google
Inbox, to me, was one of the most iconic apps Google ever made. In case you never got around to using it, it was a Gmail alternative with superior sorting features and better looks. I found it to be designed in a more palatable way, somewhat futuristic for the time, than the original Gmail app, and its use of cheerful and electrifying shades of blue made it feel more engaging. Of course, clearing the inbox like a clean slate and seeing the toony sun shine through was one of the biggest highlights of the day for many users, including my colleague Mitja Rutnik and me.
Inbox was also the testing ground for features that we see on Gmail today, including the swipe to snooze or archive feature and the ability to view reminders and tasks directly from the email app. Of course, as I progressed through my career, and my overload of PR pitches fluffed up my email inbox, I found it increasingly difficult to stay on top of every email and went back to using Gmail so that I could mark all emails as read with a single click by skimming through the subject lines and scanning for familiar names.
Google also gave up on the app in 2019, as it does with many products that spark initial excitement, but I wish it had invested more effort into evolving Inbox over time.
Google Play Music
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