By skyforbes 
Modern smartphones are capable on their own. But for the tech-savvy among us, there’s always room for improvement and plenty of apps that make your phone even smarter.
1
Files Go (File Manager)
In addition to offering all standard file management features, Google’s Files Go also comes with a handful of intelligent tools. This includes suggestions for getting rid of duplicate files, junk pictures or videos you might have received through messaging apps, and even recommendations for uninstalling or clearing data for apps you haven’t launched in a while.
On top of that, Files Go has a sharing utility that lets you send large chunks of files over a local network.
Download: Files Go (Free)
2
IFTTT – Automate Work and Home
If you’re like me, you hate having to perform routine actions manually. Ideally, your phone should be smart enough to automate routine tasks based on your usage patterns and lifestyle habits.
Automation as a dedicated feature isn’t yet common on Android phones. However, apps like IFTTT (If This Then That) are great alternatives. Not only is the app easy to use, but it’s also ridiculously customizable.
You start by setting up a trigger which, when activated, initiates an action of your choosing. And since IFTTT can connect to other apps like Asana, Slack, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, and more, you can make your applets as simple or as complex as you want.
You can learn how to use IFTTT to automate tasks on your phone if you’d like help.
Download: IFTTT – Automate work and home (Free)
3
Sponge – Gallery Cleaner
We all love taking photos, but no one likes cleaning their gallery. And it’s not like you can just automate the cleanup either, because AI can’t possibly know which photos are important to you and which you’d like to delete. Even blurry or grainy photos are sometimes a stylistic choice, after all.
We need a way to make the cleanup process as fast and intuitive as possible so that the time invested in cleaning up your gallery feels worthwhile.
Sponge does exactly this. It uses the same card stack interface found on dating apps, so you can take a quick look at a photo and decide if you want to keep it or trash it. Then, all you do is swipe left if you don’t and wish to mark it for deletion. The premium version of the app offers some extra features like album-wise cleaning, sorting images, and video cleaning.
Download: Sponge – Gallery Cleaner (Free, premium version available)
4
Truecaller (SMS)
Some Android phones’ default SMS apps still lack effective spam protection. Thankfully, Google makes it easy to switch to another SMS app.
Enter Truecaller, the caller ID service that now also blocks spam messages. Truecaller comes with several other handy features, including a shortcut for copying one-time passwords and smart categories.
Download: Truecaller (Free, subscription available)
5
Side Bar – Edge Screen
I’ve long been a fan of Edge Panels on Samsung phones, and the feature is a big reason I haven’t switched yet. If you’re not aware, an edge panel is basically like a mini drawer that you can pull out from the side of your screen to access your favorite apps.
That way, you don’t have to exit the app you’re in to enter a new one, allowing for better multitasking and a more seamless user experience. Luckily, you can replicate the same functionality on non-Samsung phones with the Side Bar app.
During setup, you can change the color, size, thickness, and transparency of the sidebar. You can also add up to five columns (I recommend to two at most), change the icon style of the apps contained in the sidebar, and hide the app name to avoid clutter.
The premium version of the app removes ads and allows changing the position of the sidebar handle.
Admittedly, the app doesn’t support multiple panels for accessing contacts, weather, or music, but most people use the feature primarily for accessing their favorite apps anyway, so that shouldn’t be too big a problem.
Download: Side Bar – Edge Screen (Free, premium version available)
6
Opera Touch (Browser)
Opera Touch is one of the many unique browsers available for Android. While it might not be “smart” per se, it does offer an interface that’s perfect for browsing on the phone. This browser is for people who find it difficult to browse on large-screen phones.
Instead of the usual row of options at the bottom, the app comes with a single gesture-based floating input called the Fast Action Button. You can swipe this in various directions to access actions such as switching to another tab, reloading, searching, and more.
Opera Touch also allows you to block websites that mine cryptocurrencies in the background, and a feature called My Flow which seamlessly shares content between Opera on your desktop and phone.
Download: Opera Touch (Free)
Your phone dialer and contacts book are the kind of apps you probably don’t think about much. That is, until you come across a better alternative. Meet Drupe, a free app that puts every contact link you’ll ever need at your fingertips.
The app offers a swipe-based UI and always remains available through a floating icon. You can tap that icon and execute many contact activities, such as launching their WhatsApp chat page, calling them with recording enabled, and more.
Drupe can also detect promotional callers and includes a mode for when you’re driving.
Download: Drupe (Free, subscription available)
8
Microsoft Whiteboard
If your work involves frequently collaborating with your coworkers and brainstorming ideas, Microsoft Whiteboard can come in really handy. The freedom it offers to have an unbounded canvas on your phone where you can add text, sticky notes, shapes, images, handwritten scribbles, and more is simply unparalleled.
The app comes with a variety of templates you can choose from, including popular ones such as SWOT analysis, the SMART framework, and a Kanban board. And since the app is linked to your Microsoft account, you can easily switch back and forth between your PC and your phone. All the content on your whiteboard will automatically sync up.
Download: Microsoft Whiteboard (Free)
9
AMDroid (Clock)
Do you find it difficult to wake up with alarms from the default clock app? If so, take a look at AMDroid.
AMDroid is a smart alarm clock that packs a host of features for all sorts of sleepers. The app lets you build profiles for different types of situations and days, and configure individual settings for them. For instance, you can set a post-alarm confirmation on weekdays to make sure you haven’t accidentally hit stop instead of snooze. The settings are quite comprehensive.
You can have the flashlight, and Wi-Fi turns on automatically, set challenges like math problems for accessing the snooze button, and even have the alarm screen show the weather information. AMDroid also has a pre-alarm feature that wakes you gradually and gently with personalized intervals and volumes.
Sleep tracking and insights on your habits are available as well. It’s what some may call the Swiss Army knife of alarm apps.
Download: AMDroid (Free)
If you haven’t swapped out the default apps for these categories, a smarter alternative could be just what you need for a better phone.
And once you’ve replaced most of the default apps with smarter alternatives, you can enjoy using your Android smartphone for more than just making calls and receiving messages.