4 nice apps I take advantage of to attain a Pixel feel and look on any Android cellphone

Throughout the Android world, Google’s Pixel smartphones are recognized for 3 issues specifically: their stellar computational photography-powered digicam stack, their seize bag of helpful AI options, and the slick, refined software program expertise they supply out of the field.

Different non-Pixel Android telephones, together with these from Samsung, OnePlus, and Motorola, supply their very own distinctive tackle software program, however, in my eyes, there’s one thing notably nice in regards to the Pixel’s potent mixture of AI and UI that different cellphone makers have not fairly captured to the identical diploma.

It is truly potential to port over a lot of the Pixel expertise to non-Google-branded Android telephones, however it requires a good bit of elbow grease. Pixel app APK files can be downloaded from the online, however it may be hit-or-miss whether or not they are going to operate on any given third-party cellphone or OS variation.

Pixel-esque customized ROMs might be flashed on handsets with an unlocked bootloader, however this requires some extra know-how, and it is not for the faint of coronary heart. Different options require rooting a handset and making use of software program options like Shizuku, that are time-consuming tasks in their very own proper.

Fortunately, even with out leaping by means of hoops, it is potential to Pixelify your Galaxy, Moto, or some other Android cellphone utilizing mainstream apps with a user-friendly design. Listed below are 4 apps I personally use to inject some Pixel-inspired AI jazz and UI pleasantry into my cellphone expertise.

1

PixelShot

The very best Pixel Screenshots various

Launching alongside the Pixel 9 series in 2024, the Pixel Screenshots app serves as a one-stop-shop for accessing all of the display captures you have taken in your cellphone. Except for being a handy vault for accessing your saved photographs, the app makes use of on-device AI to categorize, tag, and extract related information from them. As soon as analyzed, you possibly can seek for content material inside any of your screenshots, or hop again into the app or net web page the screenshot originated from.

Whereas there are different options in the marketplace, the third-party PixelShot app is my private favourite. It features practically equivalent to Google’s personal Pixel Screenshots app, and it offers a clear Material 3 Expressive design that appears and feels very “Pixel.” The app makes use of on-device intelligence to course of your captures, with no information being despatched to the cloud. A paid Professional tier is accessible for customers wanting in-the-background evaluation and a number of other different perks, however the free model is greater than succesful for many use instances.

2

Shazam

Auto Shazam is the only solution to emulate the Now Enjoying expertise

Now Playing is arguably my very favourite characteristic discovered on fashionable Google Pixel telephones. The device works silently within the background, figuring out and surfacing particulars of the songs that play ambiently throughout your day-to-day life. It really works identical to Shazam, however within the background, and even with out an energetic web connection.

Talking of Shazam, the Apple-owned music identification app is a surprisingly viable Now Enjoying various for non-Pixel telephones. Throughout the app’s important Settings web page, an Auto Shazam possibility might be toggled on, which may work within the background to repeatedly detect and determine music in your atmosphere. No, it isn’t fairly as well-integrated into the system as Google’s first-party answer is, however it’s a wonderfully serviceable answer that does not require any fiddling so as to arrange. Plus, it is completely free.

3

Lawnchair 15

A souped-up tackle the Pixel Launcher expertise

Third-party home screen launchers may not be as all-encompassing as full-blown customized Android ROMs, however they obtain a lot of the identical impact whereas being simpler to put in and arrange. Quite a few launcher apps can be found that provide a clear Pixel UI-inspired interface, however my private favourite is Lawnchair. Now in its model 15 launch, Lawnchair’s M.O. is to offer the consumer with a clear Android expertise that follows Google’s personal design imaginative and prescient, whereas sprinkling in a number of helpful options and customization choices that the Pixel Launcher merely lacks. Lawnchair is free to obtain and set up, and its code base is open-source and available on GitHub.

Launchair 15 offers in-depth customization choices together with management over font model, weight, and coloration, icon shapes, app closing animations, a wallpaper depth impact, a double-tap on the house display gesture, app dock conduct, app drawer group, folder presentation, and numerous different helpful additions that construct upon the simplicity of Google’s fundamental Pixel Launcher.

Lots of of expressive widgets that completely complement the Pixel aesthetic

If you happen to’re trying to really embrace the Pixel feel and look in your non-Google Android cellphone, then think about downloading the third-party Materials You widgets app from the Play Retailer. For a single-time buy of simply a few {dollars}, the app unlocks entry to a whole lot of high-quality widgets that embrace Google’s newest Materials 3 Expressive design ethos to a tee. These widgets are versatile and responsive with dynamic resizing, they adhere to the system’s gentle and darkish mode toggle, and so they faucet into Google’s coloration theming engine that modifications primarily based on wallpaper of alternative.

Widget choices discovered throughout the Materials You Widgets app embody system toggles, clocks, calendars, climate circumstances, music playback controls, contact playing cards, battery indicators, the present moonphase, a pedometer, a compass, day by day quotes, video games like Tic Tac Toe and Snake, screentime metrics, and far, far more.