Software & AI

Uses augmented reality to show Wi-Fi signal strength in the space around you.

A music player that plays two songs at once, handy for two people sharing one phone.

An icon pack he rates in his top three of the year, helped by its good wallpapers.

An elegant, low-power live wallpaper that looks good out of the box.

A toolbox of Android mods, including forced rotation and a customisable ambient display, without needing root.

A lightweight browser that saves 30 to 40 percent of data and is an absolute must-try for him.

Useful enough that he switched to it as his main keyboard, thanks to one-handed and floating modes.

An eye-grabbing blue and white neon icon pack that pairs well with a matching wallpaper.

An amazing way to completely restyle a Samsung One UI phone without rooting.

Convenient camera-based heart rate readings that are fine for fitness tracking but not medical use.

Well-done dice, coin and card randomiser, though he wishes it had fewer ads.

A party trick that pauses games and videos when you look away; he would not use it himself.

An absolutely killer, well-animated live wallpaper that is mostly black to save battery.

A fascinating way to run Android inside Android, useful for separating work and personal use, though it crashes on his Samsung.

Brings back a notification LED using screen pixels, but still feels beta and lacks features.

Lets you remap screenshots to holding the home button and adds an instant share pop-up.

He still uses it three times a week to quickly vary a favourite wallpaper.

A smart, fast OS creating a new category of semi-smartphones, but its long-term future is uncertain as incomes rise.

Promising and scalable operating system, but he doubts it will replace Android in the next five years and sees it as an experiment that wil…

Huawei's in-development OS could be fast and run Android apps, but it lacks Google services and faces strong opposition from Google.

Shown as proof that an alternative Android app store with over 800,000 apps can exist without Google.

His number one pick: the best compromise between light, fast and customisable, and what he'd recommend for most people.

Offers huge customisation, which may be too much for some, but is a great launcher if you invest the time.

A returning veteran launcher that is fluid, up to date and hugely customisable.