5 Discontinued Android Apps That Customers Actually Miss

We’re getting near the twenty-year mark for Android, and over the past 20 years, loads of apps have come and gone. Many have fully disappeared unnoticed due to issues like GDPR and quickly altering API necessities, and but there are actually greater than a handful of discontinued apps which can be nonetheless missed by customers to today.

Google, specifically, has killed plenty of beloved apps, however due to a consistently altering tech panorama stuffed with buyouts and ever-shifting API adjustments, there may be additionally no scarcity of discontinued third-party Android purposes customers nonetheless pine for.

So strap in and put together your self for a visit down reminiscence lane; it is time to discover a few of Android’s most missed apps. From adored RSS readers to cherished app launchers, many would agree that Android is worse for put on, due to the wholesale disappearance of a lot of its greatest apps and their premature (and sometimes unwarranted) deaths.

If you happen to had been to ask any random Android person which app they miss essentially the most, you are more likely to hear certainly one of two solutions. It will both be Google Reader or Inbox (extra on Inbox beneath), and Google Reader has been gone since 2013, so it’s simply within the lead for many missed simply by how lengthy it has been gone.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Google Reader, it was a preferred RSS feed aggregator run by Google. It launched in 2005, and the Android app hit the Play Retailer in 2010 (then referred to as the Android Market). However like many Google merchandise that do not show to be an instantaneous hit, it withered on the vine with a scarcity of updates till the doorways had been shuttered 5 years later, unceremoniously so, which served to additional enrage devoted customers (a traditional Google transfer, one thing the corporate is now very well-known for with its infamous Graveyard). Thus, Google Reader earned its place in our rose-tinted glasses and hearts as a maligned service that deserved higher.

Whereas there are nonetheless loads of RSS feed aggregators on the market in Android land, like Feedly and Inoreader, Google Reader had a status for providing a clear, easy-to-navigate feed backed by limitless archiving and a killer search operate. So it is comprehensible why loads of Android customers nonetheless miss it. It labored, and it labored nicely.

It is no secret that many customers really feel Gmail is fairly dated, due to a stagnant design that is each cluttered and difficult to navigate (and we aren’t speaking about when it’s not working right). Inversely, Inbox was the precise reverse of Gmail: a breath of recent air with an intuitive and uncluttered UI, and it featured loads of helpful instruments like sensible bundles and a nap operate, giving customers management to maintain their electronic mail inbox tidy. It is simple to see why it had a devoted person base, which helps clarify why it is nonetheless held in excessive regard regardless of Google killing the service in 2019.

Whereas a lot of Inbox’s options ultimately discovered their technique to Gmail, corresponding to snooze and bundles (the latter now powered by AI), the magic combo of its fashionable UI and huge characteristic set that Google’s experimental crew cooked up by no means absolutely translated to Gmail, which nonetheless suffers from a cumbersome and cluttered interface throughout its website and apps.

The excellent news is that Inbox was so well-liked {that a} handful of apps took on the problem to take up the mantle. One such app, Spark, has discovered an excellent little bit of success by providing “Sensible. Centered. E-mail.” Actually, Spark launched its Android app on the identical day Google killed Inbox, a sensible transfer for an electronic mail app that was already gaining recognition on iOS as an Inbox different. So, on the very least, in the event you’re nonetheless nostalgic for the nice previous days of Inbox, there is a strong different obtainable that is nonetheless standing.

Over two years in the past, Reddit did the unthinkable and pulled up the ladder throughout its website by including a cost to its API entry, a characteristic that had beforehand been free. This locked most builders out. As much as that time, it was straightforward for third events to create apps to entry Reddit. However Reddit had spent plenty of time constructing its personal app stuffed with adverts, and almost certainly did not need customers to keep away from these adverts through the use of third-party apps.

As soon as the API required fee, nearly each third-party Reddit app died an premature demise, together with Enhance for Reddit, one of many extra well-liked purchasers that was obtainable on the Play Retailer. The explanation Enhance for Reddit was so well-liked was that it was extremely customizable, permitting customers to dial of their Reddit expertise, fairly than wait round for incomplete updates. It supplied an intuitive design, included a number of format choices, from playing cards to galleries, and was straightforward to theme. It was additionally an ad-free expertise, very fluidly animated, so it felt responsive to make use of.

Whereas Enhance for Reddit is formally useless, the excellent news is that the developer has created a brand new app. The catch is that it’s not a Reddit app however a Lemmy feed reader. Lemmy is an open-source, decentralized Reddit clone with a a lot smaller person base. The principle profit is that nobody entity is in management, however that is additionally why there may be a lot much less moderation, a significant draw back. Nonetheless, in the event you’re a Lemmy person who missed Enhance for Reddit, do your self a favor and take a look at Boost for Lemmy.

YouTube Music has actually come a good distance since its launch, progressively including an increasing number of options. However earlier than we had YouTube Music, we had a totally featured app referred to as Google Play Music, and followers of the now-dead app nonetheless miss its inviting, intuitive UI, to not point out its excellent dealing with of native and uploaded music inside the library. For a lot of, Google Play Music was the GOAT of music apps, due to user-focused options like private play counts, in addition to its means to showcase your native assortment of uploaded media alongside the licensed streaming choice. Whilst you can add your information to YouTube Music as of late, they’re saved in their very own Uploads part, separate from the primary library. Google Play Music merely did it higher.

So although YouTube Music has principally caught as much as Google Play Music, the slight variations add up, which ensures that Google Play Music will proceed to be missed by followers. From AI suggestions that felt extra numerous to the seamless caching that saved songs prematurely, Google Play Music supplied some unbelievable options which can be nonetheless arduous to search out right this moment with its alternative and rivals.

After all, now that Google Play Music is gone, your greatest guess for the same alternative is definitely YouTube Music. Lots of the beloved options of Google Play Music have made the transition to YouTube Music. So in the event you’re nonetheless lacking Google Play Music, however have but to strive YouTube Music, maybe it is time to give its successor a correct spin.

Whereas Nova Launcher remains to be obtainable on the Play Retailer, it is a dead man walking. The launcher was bought by Department in 2022, and Department just lately laid off the final developer of Nova, Kevin Barry, who was additionally the founder. So although Nova remains to be kicking, and even acquired a current replace, that replace was previous code left over from earlier than Barry was laid off. On the finish of the day, Nova Launcher remains to be on its final legs and can probably by no means obtain one other replace. It is mainly in upkeep mode, and the subsequent step is demise.

Nonetheless, it is simple to see why Nova Launcher might be missed. Many think about it certainly one of, if not the perfect, Android app launchers. That is due to its nearly limitless customizability. In an age the place you’ll be able to’t even take away the search bar from Google’s Pixel Launcher, apps like Nova Launcher have supplied the customization that customers and themers alike crave. From dialing in your margins, icon grid dimension, dock, and scroll results, to its sturdy app drawer group and light-weight efficiency calls for, the launcher is each performant and feature-rich.

Sadly, there does not seem like a path ahead for Nova except Department decides to help it once more, which appears unlikely when there’s new management in charge of the corporate. Previous commitments like open-sourcing the app upon its abandonment seem like null and void, with all work on the venture halted. Worse, for the reason that founder was unable to finish the open-source course of, there is not any code obtainable to the neighborhood, making any hope of a revival or fork unimaginable. Fortunately, there are different launcher choices on the market, like Lawnchair, which already has a beta available for its Android 15 construct.