6 efficiency-enhancing Android apps

30/12/2021

Contributed by: Google author

Your smartphone is now your assistant, just like any other assistant, and it requires the right tools to perform its task efficiently. The best part? If you're an Android user, there are many options to improve efficiency. Contrary to other mobile platforms, Android offers you the ability to alter and manage the user interface of its core to tailor it to your preferences. Furthermore, while more advanced tools for adjusting the UI are designed for the elite crowd, you don't need to be an avid card-carrying expert to use the features they can offer. Check out these six applications that will empower your favorite tech-savvy assistant and enable it to realize its productivity potential fully. Here are 6 efficiency-enhancing Android apps. Let's discover now

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1. Edge Gestures

Price: $2

Google has been pushing Android towards a future of gestures; however, even if you happen to have Android 10 already, it's not necessary to be restricted on the actions Google offers.

You can make your customized gesture system today with Edge Gestures. It lets you integrate all kinds of time-saving shortcuts to your Android device and then make them function precisely as you'd like them to or as an addition to Android's system-wide gestures, or as a stand-alone alternative.

Edge Gestures lets you create three hot areas on your screen -located on the left and right and at the bottom of the screen. In reality, you'll only need to turn on one of them since each offers plenty of possibilities for custom commands using the combination of tapping, swiping, and holding. For instance, you can create an app that will send you back to the home screen, take you back to your home screen whenever you press long in the hot area or show the overview section of Android when you swipe upwards on the region, and also functions as the system's Back button when you touch it.

6 efficiency-enhancing Android apps. Source: Proreviewsapp.com

It is possible to create similar types of actions for changing the brightness of your screen and brightness, opening your notification or quick Settings panel, or switching the split-screen mode of Android. Also, you can enable a "pie control" option that places a tiny, transparent button on your hot area. Holding the button opens a pie-shaped semicircle of your most-loved shortcuts. You can swipe to any of them for quick and instant access to the apps from any location.

This makes for an easier and more natural user experience when using a phone, mainly when using a phone with a larger display (where it usually requires some fingers to reach the top and bottom of the show). The possibilities for this device are virtually limitless and lead us to our next efficient feature:

Price: $2

Make your custom gestures have more aplomb by using The Popup Widget is a carefully created app that works in conjunction with Edge Gestures to summon some powerful abilities.

Popup Widget 3, Source: Youtube, Adventure Tube

It was created by the same developer that created Edge Gestures; Popup Widget 3 allows you to keep any standard Android widget within your reach regardless of what is happening on your smartphone. The device is assigned to an action, such as switching towards the left side of your Edge Gesture hot zone -or whenever you complete that action, the widget will show up as a floating box that overlays everything else displayed on your screen.

It means that you can navigate through things like your email inbox and your list of messages or your notes by sliding your fingers across the screen's side and never having to switch applications or disrupt your work.

3. Expand

Cost: free with limited phrases, or $3.50 for unlimited words and advanced phrase lists.

Are you bored of writing the exact words time and time again? (Who isn't?) Text and its more efficient Textpand Plus sister can save you time by storing the most frequently used phrases such as your address, number, the stock replies to messages and emails, or even variables such as the current date and then allowing you to access them and then insert them into text fields using your macros.

You can create *a to represent your address, and *d to show your current day. When you type these macros into a text box, the box will pop up with the appropriate phrase you have set.

Through Expand Plus, you can create lists of words that trigger specific macros and appear in your field-inserting choice.

There's only one issue: Expand is incompatible with several apps, including Gmail and Google Docs, and Chrome. The creator came up with a viable solution in these scenarios. It's possible to keep Texpand open in your notification area and move and drop the words directly into applications where macros aren't working.

In any case, it's an essential improvement to the mobile typing experience.

4. Taskbar

Cost: free

In most desktop-based environments, you can open any application at any time using the ever-present Taskbar (or the Dock). It doesn't matter what apps are running or what you're currently doing. There's never a requirement for you to "return to your home screen" to browse through all of your applications and launch a new one.

AMAZING!! PC's TASKBAR ON ANDROID PHONE!!, Source: Youtube, GEDA TECH

For mobile devices, there's an entirely different scenario. However, you can alter this with the help of Taskbar that brings an app launcher that is always on the screen of your Android device. The bar is nothing more than a small and transparent arrow located at the lower-left edge of your display. Click it, and you'll be greeted by a familiar all-apps button that opens an overview of all apps that are installed on your device and the option of an overview of the most frequently used apps or pins to your favorites.

You can also alter the list of apps that appear on the main menu to block certain apps or rank specific applications you would like to show up before others. Plus: Taskbar works on Chrome OS, which gives users an additional choice to access Android apps from the Chromebook.

5. Action Launcher

Pricing: Free with a $7 in-app upgrade to get more advanced features

However much you're able to add to it, the home screen will always serve as an initial point of reference to meet your mobile productivity requirements, and a straightforward upgrade from the default configuration will make it more effective and efficient.

It's essential to use an application known as a custom launcher. It can take over the entire home screen in exchange for a flexible and robust alternative. Launchers are available for nearly every style and function on Android; however, one that has for a long time stood out is a unique and small-scale creation known as the Action Launcher.

Action Launcher has oodles of intriguing features and options to customize. One example is that it lets you store widgets available on-demand in each home screen icon. This allows you to pack a wealth of functionality into one space without creating clutter. It's as simple as a swipe to the right of the icon to open its widget, which lets you look inside the application and access the most critical elements right here and there.

Another useful feature allows you to personalize the menu on your home screen to be more functional for your needs. You could provide the menu with direct access to your phone's battery status, for instance, or even a one-touch method to browse your phone's memory. Things that usually step away are now available to you -- and you can perform the most basic tasks of productivity right from your home screen without spending your time searching around.

6. LaunchBoard

Cost: Free with a $2 in-app upgrade to customized themes

Don't let out; make sure you provide an application drawer that is your standard an increase with the help of launch board, an app that makes it as quick and easy to locate the app you're looking for on your home screen regardless of what kind of system you're running.

The method by which LaunchBoard operates is relatively straightforward: When you install the display on the home screen of your device, you'll be able to see a keyboard that's open and ready to be used in rapid actions. When you're ready to open an app, all you need to do is tap the first letter on that keyboard. In just a few seconds, LaunchBoard will pull up the list of all applications that begin with the letter you want to open -- no scrolling or searching required.

You can mark frequently frequented apps as favorites, which means they appear at the top of the results when the letter is pressed. You can get access to your favorite apps by pressing an icon that resembles a heart within the LaunchBoard keyboard. Additionally, you can open the list of the most recently utilized apps by tapping the clock icon within that same area.

LaunchBoard App Review!, Source: Youtube, Daniel Roman

Here's where things get very exciting: In addition to acting as a launchpad for your applications, LaunchBoard can act as an effective way to search for and connect with anyone in your list of contacts. When you select the right option in the LaunchBoard's settings, its keyboard will display contacts alphabetically with lightning speed (either showing them in conjunction with your apps or in lieu of your apps, based on the preference you have). One tap on any contact will trigger either a text or call. It's as simple as an adjustment to alter the behavior you prefer.

Utilize LaunchBoard along with other tools available in this set, and the tools you require will always be within reach and simple to control whatever you're performing on the device at any moment. This dear readers, is the essence of efficiency.