0:00 It has now been close to 4 months since I last created an app related video on the channel, but I did promise that I'd create some app videos before too long. And so, here we are. And because you've been so patient for this video, I've gone and found 15 fantastic apps, all of which are at the time making this video at least, not available on the Google Play Store. So, sit back, grab a drink, and let's begin. All right, kicking off the list today is an app called Pico, which is actually a mod of the Twitter app, but it honestly makes it a thousand times better. For one, you get material-based theming. It also brings back the original Twitter logo up here and the original Birdhouse home icon down the bottom here, which looks way better than the new one in my opinion. But then beyond the design, you also get access to premium exclusive features like undoing posts, customizing
0:47 the navigation bar. You can also download videos. You can completely remove ads. Plus, you can customize the timeline to your heart's content, including disabling your timeline from autoscrolling when you first launch the app, which I don't know about you, but this is one of the most annoying things that happens with the main Twitter app. And then beyond all that, it also restores the app name back to Twitter, which is just how it should be. All right, next is an app called WhatsApp Cleaner. And let me tell you, I was absolutely shocked when I installed this and saw that WhatsApp was using over 8 GB of precious internal storage on my phone. The thing is, whilst I could just clear the app's entire data and storage, I actually don't want to do that. So, with WhatsApp Cleaner, it'll organize everything into different file types, I can then also sort each category by size. But that means that I can keep all of my important images, for example, and
1:34 then delete all the videos, documents, and GIF files taking up unnecessary space. Super handy. And then speaking of organizing media files, Shots Studio is an app that very closely resembles the Pixel Screenshots app, normally exclusive to Google Pixel phones. Not only does it act as a self-contained hub containing all your screenshot files, but much like the Pixel Screenshots app, it also uses AI to analyze and index your screenshots, which therefore makes them searchable and really easy to browse. You can also group your screenshots into collections if you like, or add your own notes to screenshots. But then perhaps my favorite feature is that you can add reminders to screenshots, which is actually really useful. But let's shift gears for a second cuz this next app might just save you should you ever lose your phone. Picture this.
2:20 You're out and about having a good time with friends when suddenly you realize that you left your phone on the train. You call head office but no one's handed it in. Okay, so you try checking Google's Find My Device only to realize that whoever's taking your phone has switched the thing off. And that's where the app officer comes in. Because despite some phones forcing you to input a passcode whenever you try to power up the phone from the lock screen, lots of phone manufacturers are yet to implement this important feature. And so once you set up the app, anytime someone tries to launch the power menu from your lock screen, it'll immediately put the display to sleep. Now, it's not perfect cuz the power menu does still show for a split second or so, but in theory, it might just take them long enough to figure out how to actually power off your phone to give you the time that you need to track it down. Next up is Ping Off, which is a dead simple automation app that does one thing, but does it
3:06 really well. You essentially use it to set up your phone's do not disturb mode to automatically turn on based on the app that you're using. So, if you want your phone to stay quiet when you're reading or playing a game, well, you can just add those apps to the D&D list using ping off. And whenever you open them, your phone's do not disturb mode will get automatically switched on. And then when you get out of the app, it switches back off. Then we've got an app called Launchpad Search, which is essentially a universal search bar that can be accessed anywhere on your phone. So, let's say I'm on Twitter, but I want to open up Instagram. I can just swipe up like so, start typing Instagram, and boom, there it is. But also works for Google searches, launching specific system settings, searching for contacts, or even solving complex math equations. And just so you're aware, this app used
3:51 to be on the Play Store, but for some reason, it wasn't anymore at the time of making this video. So, there you go. And if you're looking for a new offline music player that is open source, well, Lotus might just be what you're looking for. Now, it's a relatively young app, only first getting released at the start of this year, meaning it ain't quite as feature- packed as other apps you might know. But what it lacks in features, it definitely makes up for in design. As you can see, it's got a clean, material-based design with a handful of theming options to choose between. The animations are also incredibly on point, and I mean, how can you not love the little squiggly music scrubber here? It also packs in features like a sleep timer, synchronized lyrics, custom playlist. So, definitely worth checking out. All right, real quick. Just wanted to take a moment to thank today's video sponsor, Blue Eddie, and their AC70 power station. And I've actually been
4:38 wanting one of these for a long time. So, when they reached out and agreed to send one over, I couldn't say yes quick enough. But yeah, this thing is a whopping 768Wh unit that can power pretty much anything you throw at it. laptops, drones, even a full desktop setup. With its 1,000 watt output and a boost mode of up to 2,000 watts, this thing is well and truly up to the task. For example, in my studio, I've had like three or four power outages over the past year. And whenever that happens, my entire editing station is out of action. Well, not anymore. The AC70 has a built-in UPS with a switchover time of just 20 milliseconds, so it can kick in instantly and keep everything running, preventing shutdowns or data loss. And beyond just raw power, the AC70 charges from zero to 80% in under 45 minutes. It
5:23 has a clear, intuitive LCD display, a companion app, and the whole unit feels really solid and well-built with a compact form factor, and an ergonomic handle. Plus, it runs surprisingly quiet, making it the perfect accessory for portable power. Check it out using the first link down in the description below. All right, halfway down the list and next up is Sapphira. And let me say, if you're someone who uses an Android phone and a Windows PC, then this app is seriously amazing. Essentially, with the app installed on both your phone and your computer, from that point onwards, everything is synced. So, you can copy any text from your PC and then instantly paste it on your phone. You can control media playback on your PC from your phone. You can also mirror notifications or sync files. And you can even respond
6:10 to phone messages on your computer. And honestly, I'm now using this app for the clipboard sharing feature alone. It is that convenient. And speaking of syncing files to and from your phone and your computer, QuickDrop is an incredible app that I've been using for quite some time now that unlocks genuine quick share capability on any Mac device. Now, technically, there is an Android version of the app available on the Play Store, but I'm not really too sure why it exists, and I'm really only interested in the Mac version, which is not on the Play Store. So, it still counts, right? Anyhow, as I said, with this app installed on your Mac, that's literally it. You can then share something via Quick Share on your Android phone, and your Mac device will show up as a nearby device, and you just select it as you normally would, and it's done. It even works in the background, too. No need to first open it on your Mac. And man, I
6:56 honestly love this app. And again, staying in the world of file sharing, next up is an app called Sync Thing Fork. And if you've heard of the app Sync Thing, which was actually discontinued last year, well, this is a forked version that is still being actively developed and it works really, really well. Now, if you haven't heard of Sync Thing before, then in short, it's an incredible app that allows you to sync files and folders across multiple devices completely for free. So, for example, I can set it up to sync this documents folder on my S25 Ultra here to any other device that I like. And once it's all set up, anytime any item is added or deleted or edited or updated in any way, within literally seconds, those changes will be reflected and synced across on my other devices. It takes a little bit of practice to get your head around the setup process, but
7:42 once you have, it can be an absolute gamecher of an application. All right, moving on. And next up is Heliboard, which is a privacyconscious, customizable, and more importantly, open-sourced keyboard. It actually has a pretty clean design, but if you don't like how it looks out of the box, you can customize pretty much everything about it, including swapping out every single icon if you like. It also supports clipboard history that can have its expiry date extended to unlimited if you like. There's a one-handed mode, really solid auto correction, and it even supports haptics, which I know is a mustave for a lot of people like myself. And as I said, it's open sourced and maintains your privacy. So, definitely worth a look. Then if you've ever wondered what it looks like to watch TV in another country, well, TV Garden is
8:27 the app for you. It literally gives you free access to live TV channels from all over the world 24/7. You just spin the globe, find a country that you want to check out, then you'll get a list of every available channel, and you just tap to open it, and there you go. Now, keep in mind, you won't find all the bigname channels from every country, but you'll be surprised at just how many are available, especially if you explore the options from the US. It's a bit of fun and completely free, so definitely worth a look. After that, we've got Watts. Possibly the simplest app of the lot today, but this is an app for anyone wondering what apps are causing their phone's battery to drain the most or what charges are giving them maximum charging speed. It just places a tiny little wattage indicator in your status bar that updates in real time depending on what you're doing. So, with the phone
9:13 idle just sitting on my home screen, you can see the wattage is right around one. But then let's say I open up Google Chrome and just start opening stacks of tabs, it goes up considerably. Or likewise, I can plug in a bunch of different cable and charger brick combinations to see which ones are actually charging my phone the most efficiently right from the status bar. So again, a really useful tool to have installed. Second to last today is an app called Android Screener, which is a super niche tool for anyone looking to adjust their phone's screen resolution. Now, this app does require Shizuku to work, so just keep that in mind. But once set up, as I said, you can use it to tweak your screen's resolution to your heart's content. I will just mention the app hasn't been updated in a little while, but again, a nifty little tool worth trying. And then finally for today, we started with a Twitter mod, why not
9:59 close it out with an Instagram mod? This one's called Instafll. And the beauty is that whilst it can be installed over the top of the main version of the app, completely replacing it, you can also install it as a clone version, giving you access to both. You just long press the home icon, then tap on go to developer options. And there is a litany of tweaks that you can make in this section. 99% of which completely goes over my head. So the better option is to head to the Instafll Telegram group. Then find a backup file that you like the look of. Then back in the Instafll app. You just go to your profile, then long press the hamburger icon here, then tap on backup options, import, and then find and import the backup file that you just downloaded. And that's it. It can take a minute to get your head around, but it unlocks some incredible features that you might think are very much worth
10:45 it. But there you have it, 15 amazing Android apps that you cannot find on the Google Play Store. If you have any other secret apps that you reckon others should try, put them in the comments below. But aside from that, hopefully you enjoyed the video. Thank you all very much for watching and I will catch you later. [Music]
