Android-only apps: Here’s what iOS users are missing out on

iPhone owners have access to a long list of great iOS-only apps that you won’t find on Android, but not every blade of grass is greener on the other side. I’m not taking sides in the Android vs. iOS debate, but Android smartphone users have hogged many unique apps over the years, including better launchers, customization tools, and certain apps that don’t align with Apple’s philosophy. I did.

Below are some of my favorite Android apps that can’t and probably never will run on an iPhone. But I hope that things change in the next few years.

Pixel Recorder is a great utility for recording conversations, lectures, and meetings. Its AI summary feature is really useful and won’t offend anti-AI fans. These enable faster generation of key points, smarter, more reliable transcription, and the ability to recognize individual speakers. This makes Pixel Recorder a must-have for students and journalists. The app also syncs with your Google account, providing cloud storage and access from multiple devices.

However, there is one drawback. Of course, it’s also available on Android, but it’s limited to Pixel devices. Many features are limited to newer models.

As a result, Google makes many apps available on iOS, but they are not available on iOS at all. However, a similar tool developed by Apple that blends with its own ecosystem and leverages Apple Intelligence would be most welcome. There are third-party alternatives like Otter, but nothing comes close to Google’s app.

I’m still using a 5-year-old smartphone, so monitoring the battery health is essential. One app that helps you do this is AccuBattery. This is one of the few apps I’ve paid for over the years, and it’s been a worthwhile investment.

This app monitors battery history, graphs charge cycles, and makes educated guesses about battery health. It also includes real-time details of your current charge or discharge cycle, shows you a list of apps that drain your battery, and teaches you how to be kinder to your mobile battery.

This continues to be one of the first apps I install on my Android smartphone, so it’s a shame there isn’t a direct equivalent for those using iOS, especially older iPhone models. Some widgets and other apps show details about battery runtime, charge level, and health, but none provide enough detail to make AccuBattery mandatory.

Buzzkill is an Android-only app that lets you track the notifications you receive and manage them through a set of rules and triggers you create.

For example, if you receive multiple notifications from WhatsApp within 15 seconds, Buzzkill will mute further notifications. We also have a trigger that will ping your device every minute if it receives a particularly important message. These are simple examples, but this app will significantly improve your quality of life. The app also has a library of useful ready-made recipes.

There is no Buzzkill build for iOS, but you can probably trigger many of its features using Apple shortcuts. However, it’s great to have all of this under one roof.

Not everyone wants to stream music from Apple Music or Spotify. This is especially true for people who have amassed their own collection of files. In this case, a dedicated offline music player makes a lot of sense, and one of the prime examples is Poweramp.

Poweramp offers advanced audio playback options, high-resolution output, wide format support, visual customization, and much more. Although this is a premium app, it does offer a short trial period long enough to test it from top to bottom.

There is no iOS version of Poweramp, but there are several alternative versions of the OS such as Evermusic and Neutron. Especially for those who value audio quality above all else, nothing can match Poweramp’s extensive feature list and pedigree.

Another Android-only app that I always install on new devices is Hermit. It is a single window browser that can turn web pages into a standalone browser.

The premium version offers a rich list of features, including sandbox functionality, ad blocking options, and a change monitor that displays notifications if a page changes. This is a very useful app for browsing individual forums, turning sites like X and Reddit into standalone apps, and providing quick passes to frequently visited sites. I use this as an alternative to Google News in combination with aggregators like The Brutalist Report and Hacker News.

As far as I know, there is no iOS app comparable to Hermit. Notably, the app’s developer has hinted at an iPhone version, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Right now, Reddit users have few options, from a slew of third-party apps that enhance the social app to a current situation where only a few official passes remain. Thankfully, I can still use RedReader to immerse myself in my favorite subreddits.

This Android-only app has received an exception from Reddit’s app ban and is the best client on Android in terms of functionality. It has subreddits arranged in a vertical master list and offers a very functional, if not very exciting, UI. Favorites can be pinned to this list, while users can easily search for new communities. There’s nothing fancy about RedReader, but it works well. I’ve been using this app for many years and have never run into any problems.

Third-party Reddit apps on iOS, such as Comet and Reader, offer more visual enjoyment, but neither is as complete as RedReader.

Retro emulators are no longer exclusive to Android, and more and more are being released for iOS, although not all emulators are available on Apple’s platform yet. Typical examples include jack-of-all-trades RetroArch and PSP emulator PPSSPP.

I expect these availability issues to lessen in the coming years as Apple relaxes its policies regarding retro games. However, Android remains the best gaming emulator platform for now.

I have a complicated relationship with Tasker, almost as complicated as the app itself. It’s a multi-tool for Android users that offers a dizzying list of context-sensitive automations and triggers. It can be a daunting experience for new users, but once you get that learning curve up to a high, you’ll have a powerful set of tools that can work with almost every aspect of your smartphone.

I think Tasker is too practical for its own sake, but I do recognize its usefulness. Use it to turn on the flashlight by shaking your smartphone from side to side. At one point I used this to switch some wallpapers based on the time of day. There are many other use cases.

Sure, Apple has Shortcuts, which offers similar functionality and perhaps a better UI, but Tasker’s more seamless automation and acceptance of scripts and advanced tasks is an advantage over Shortcuts.

I believe Tasker will never come to iOS. The main reason for this is that Shortcuts exist and iOS is much more restrictive than Android, but the more powerful tools built into Shortcuts never fail.

You probably won’t find an app like ML Manager on iOS. This Android-only app allows users to extract APK files from installed apps to back them up or share them with others.

I wish I had installed this app years ago before it ruined many of my favorite Android apps. Still, it’s never too late to back up. ML Manager also has a built-in uninstall manager. If you have root privileges, you can uninstall system apps.

iOS devices use IPA files for apps, and the platform has several third-party apps that can back them up. However, these methods usually require your iPhone to be connected to your Mac or PC. ML Manager lets you save apps directly to your device.

Finally, what would Android be without third-party launchers?

These Android-only apps will improve your experience with Google OS, whether you’re a minimalist, maximalist, or someone who only cares about features. Some of the best launchers include my favorite Kvaesitso, the popular Niagara, and the venerable Nova Launcher. There are also many unique Android launchers out there that deviate from the norm.

Although Apple bundled more customization tools with iOS 18, the OS still has strict sandboxing measures that prevent apps like the launcher from interacting with other apps. As a result, iOS doesn’t allow you to use one app to launch another.