- 6 hours ago
Discover 15 standout Android apps, from clever shortcuts to powerful creative tools. This roundup explores Tapbar’s customizable screen actions, DroidDeck for running compatible PC games, TrackHop playlist syncing, and Aura’s glowing notification alerts.
You’ll also find apps for dual-camera recording, custom keyboards, Linux desktop software, voice-following teleprompters, full-screen reminders, travel-friendly phone security, and manual camera controls with RAW video support. Whether you want to personalize your Android phone, improve productivity, play games, or create content, these app recommendations offer plenty to explore.
Find Android app reviews, useful open-source apps, phone customization ideas, mobile gaming tools, productivity apps, and camera apps in one practical roundup—ideal for discovering new downloads and getting more from your Android device.
You’ll also find apps for dual-camera recording, custom keyboards, Linux desktop software, voice-following teleprompters, full-screen reminders, travel-friendly phone security, and manual camera controls with RAW video support. Whether you want to personalize your Android phone, improve productivity, play games, or create content, these app recommendations offer plenty to explore.
Find Android app reviews, useful open-source apps, phone customization ideas, mobile gaming tools, productivity apps, and camera apps in one practical roundup—ideal for discovering new downloads and getting more from your Android device.
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TechTranscript
00:00We're back with 15 of the best Android apps that you'll actually want to download for November
00:042026. And you know, it's kind of crazy to think about that I've been doing this series since 2015
00:08over a decade now. And sometimes I do wonder if I'm ever going to run out of good apps to
00:13just
00:13show you guys, but somehow I still haven't. So let's keep the series going. Drop a comment letting
00:18me know what year you started watching too, because I really want to see just how many OGs
00:23have stuck around. Anyways, let's jump right in. Whenever I tap on the time in my status bar,
00:27it now instantly opens my clock app, so I can just set a timer. But if I double tap it
00:32as well,
00:32it mutes my phone entirely. And then on the right side, when I tap on my Wi-Fi icon, it
00:37just opens up
00:37my browser. And when I'm scrolling an article, if I double tap it again, it'll jump all the way back
00:42up. And even cooler, if I long press my hole punch, it'll also open up the camera app. How am
00:47I doing
00:47all this? It's with this free and open source app called Tab Bar. Basically, it lets you create up to
00:52four invisible tiny tap zones just anywhere on your screen. I place all of mine in the status bar,
00:57and then you can just assign different actions to each one. So one tap could be to open an app,
01:02a double tap could trigger a shortcut, or you can even set a long press to do something completely
01:07different. And what's really cool too, is that there are literally over a hundred different
01:11actions to choose from. So there's a ton you can do with it. From there, I found this really awesome
01:16app that literally lets you run actual PC games right on your Android phone. That's right, it's with
01:21this free and open source app called Droid Deck. And as soon as you open it, you can literally open
01:25up
01:25Steam. And from there, once you open Steam, it'll have you sign it to your account. And then you'll
01:30get a full big picture interface, just like you'd see on a Steam Deck. And you can download a lot
01:36of
01:36games, and most of them are even compatible too, to play on your phone. I literally played a bunch of
01:41games that aren't even found in the Play Store. Like I tried Chain Together, that one worked really
01:45nicely. I also tried Resident Evil Village. And on top of that, I played Warframe. And I had to keep
01:51them at their lowest settings, because of course, at their highest settings, it did make my S26 Ultra
01:56lag a little bit. But at lower graphics, it ran just fine. And by the way, you can use touch
02:01controls,
02:02but I personally found that using a controller just made gameplay a lot easier. So that's what I did,
02:07and what I would recommend you do as well. And keep in mind that not every Steam game out there
02:11is
02:12going to work. For instance, I tried to run Doom Eternal, and it just didn't work because it didn't have
02:16the right GPU. So just keep that in mind when you download these large games with big files. But
02:21even crazier, it doesn't just stop with Steam. It also supports Epic Games, Xbox, GOG, Amazon Games,
02:27and a lot more. Plus, it even lets you run a full Linux operating system as well. It's honestly pretty
02:32insane what you can do with it. From there, if you'd like to switch between music services, like one day
02:37you're using Spotify, and then the next you're using YouTube Music, you should definitely check out this
02:41free and open source app called TrackHop. It basically lets you keep all your playlists
02:46synced across different music services automatically. So whenever you add a new song to a playlist or
02:51your liked songs on Spotify, for example, it can also show up on your YouTube Music app or other
02:57streaming service without you having to manually add it again. So whenever you add a new song to a
03:02playlist or your liked songs on Spotify, for example, it can also show up on YouTube Music or the
03:08other streaming service that you have synced up without you having to manually add that song.
03:12And you can choose how often the app syncs everything as well. I chose to have it check
03:16every hour and just sync all the new songs automatically. And it works with a bunch of
03:20popular services including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and more. But what's even
03:26crazier is that you can transfer all your playlists all at once too. So if you're trying to switch
03:31completely to a different platform, it's super easy. And if it finds uncertain matches when you're
03:36transferring all those playlists over, it'll have you verify those songs that it's just not sure
03:40about to just make sure that they're the right songs. A pretty great app. And that's just three
03:45out of the 15 apps that I got lined up for you in November 2026. I really appreciate all the
03:49support
03:49that you guys gave me in the last episode for October. We even almost hit 10,000 likes. I really
03:54want to see if the boys have my back this time and we can actually hit it this time around
03:5810,000 likes
03:59because trust me guys, I do spend days looking for super underrated apps with most of them
04:03having less than a hundred downloads. So a quick thumbs up just keeps this video series going.
04:08And by the way, stick around to the end because I'll show you the best app on this entire list
04:11that I love. Next, this app called Aura will transform the way your notifications come in.
04:16Because instead of having those giant notification banners just constantly interrupting you,
04:21this app instead shows you glowing lights along the edges of your screen just whenever you get
04:25a notification. And then you can even have them follow the same color as the app.
04:29So I made Instagram glow red and my regular text messages be blue and Gmail light of white.
04:36So that way you know which notification is linked to which app. And you can also adjust
04:40their positions on the sides as well. So they never really overlap. And the best part is that
04:45when you tap on a light, it'll bring up the notification. And then to take it even further,
04:49you can even expand the app in a floating window to see the entire conversation and you can respond to
04:55it as well. It's really useful. Or you can even just dismiss notifications altogether.
04:59And don't worry, it won't show you a light for every notification that you get. I mean,
05:03you'd have millions at that point. Just the apps that you choose inside Aura. Hell,
05:07you can even group apps so they all appear under one light bar at once. That one's nice.
05:12It's honestly such a nice way to just stop your notifications from just constantly interrupting
05:16or distracting you. A big shout out to NAPS 11 for the recommendation on my how to my Reddit page.
05:21And if you also have a recommendation for an app that you'd like for me to check out,
05:24just drop it there on my Reddit page. And if I choose it, I'll give you a shout out in
05:28the next
05:28episode. Dual cameras next and it lets you capture with your front and your rear cameras together at
05:33the same time to capture videos and photos. And that can be great because maybe you're at a concert
05:38and you want to record that or maybe you're trying to vlog. That's another way to use it. Plus,
05:43you can really customize it. Like you can choose whether you want the shots to be like in a collage
05:47combined together or in picture in picture mode, like on the Samsung phones, like how they have
05:51that or even just save separately altogether. Plus, I know what you guys are thinking in the preview.
05:56It looks kind of cropped in, but don't worry because in the end, it still records with the entire sensors.
06:01So you'll have the full image. And if you have a foldable too, it looks even better because the
06:06viewfinders are just much bigger. From there, I gave my incoming notifications a more exciting,
06:11unique design with this app called Drift. Basically, you can choose over 90 different
06:15notification styles to give your app's notifications a completely different look.
06:20You can even choose to have a random style each time you receive a notification. But just keep in
06:24mind that that feature does cost three bucks. But still, there are so many themes that you can choose
06:29from. And I will say one thing though, is that the previews could use a bit of work because you
06:34can't really tell what they are until you tap on the test button. It's kind of a pain. But still,
06:38there are so many themes to choose from and a lot of them look really nice. And you can customize
06:42pretty much everything about them too, including their animations, their buttons, their visual effects,
06:47and a lot more. And don't worry, they still work like regular notifications. So you can tap on them
06:52to open them, you can reply to your messages, or even just dismiss them. A pretty fun app.
06:57Huge thanks to Admin5447 for the recommendation on my HowToMyReddit page. Now, this next one is for those
07:02who use the free version of Spotify. You're probably really tired of all those ads. So this next app
07:07called Hush has a pretty clever way to just stop them in a legal way. Basically, whenever Spotify
07:12starts playing an ad, Hush automatically restarts Spotify in the background. And within a split second,
07:17your music is playing again. I'm not lying, it literally happens so fast that you don't even
07:22notice that there was a break in the music. And the best part is that it even works in the
07:26background.
07:26So you can even have your phone locked away in your pocket, and it'll stop that advertisement. Or even
07:32if you're using the phone, it still won't interrupt what you're doing because again, it resets the app
07:36in the background. But even better, if you'd rather not have Spotify restart, it gives you the option to
07:41just instead of mute the ads altogether. It's a pretty neat workaround. I gotta say, I'm still pretty
07:46jealous of Samsung phones and just how customizable they are. I mean, you can even completely change the
07:51look of your keyboard right down to just the individual keys and animations. Well, I found this app
07:56called Keen Keyboard that literally gives you a keyboard that has that same level of customization.
08:01And I'd even say a little bit more. I mean, you can make your keyboard look like a vintage typewriter.
08:06Or this cool Spider-Man theme where whenever you type, you get a little web. Or even have this theme
08:11where whenever you tap on the keys, it'll leave a claw mark as you type. But honestly, I'm just
08:15scratching the surface here. I mean, there are so many styles to choose from. There's over 47 different
08:20ones with over 120 different color themes inside of those as well. And you can even add effects to them,
08:26like sparks, ripples, and animated backgrounds. But if you're still not satisfied, you can even
08:31customize it even further by changing the look of each key individually. And if you're wondering
08:36how it feels to type on, I honestly like how it felt. I will say it's not as smooth to
08:40type on as
08:41Gboard. And it also doesn't have gesture typing where you can swipe around and type that way. But
08:46it was still pretty nice to use. Another thing I'm still jealous of is the iPhone's dynamic island.
08:51And sure, Android has its own live update notifications now, but they're still pretty
08:56limited and really only work with certain apps. Like on the Google Pixel, it doesn't even support
09:00music controls like other Androids do. So instead, I downloaded Shima to make my
09:05hole punch camera a whole lot more useful. And I know there are plenty of dynamic island
09:09alternatives out there. But what I really like about this one is that it's got a way better
09:13looking material you design that just most other competitor apps don't have. And it's also got
09:18smoother animations and a ton more features. I mean, it shows you the music you're playing along
09:22with controls, you get call information when you're on the phone, you can see your timers,
09:28directions when you're navigating the GPS, and it even lets you swipe on it to trigger different
09:32actions like enabling Do Not Disturb mode or even bringing up an entire widget like my calendar.
09:38But my favorite part is just how it reacts to just things happening on your phone. Like when I
09:42adjust my volume, it'll show me the exact percentage and even let me bring up this expanded volume menu.
09:47And then when I download something off the Play Store or the web, it'll also show me the percentage
09:51and just let me cancel it too. I can also get notified much more prominently when my microphone
09:56or camera is being used. And there's a lot more where that comes from, just a lot of little things
10:00that I liked about this app and made me love it. A huge thanks to AvailableElk4251 for the
10:06recommendation on my Reddit page. From there, Tessera is another mind-blowing app because it lets you run
10:11actual Linux desktop apps right on your Android phone. And that's pretty impressive because we all know
10:16Androids have been able to run and emulate operating systems like Windows and Linux,
10:20but actual apps were a little harder. Tessera did it though. You just let it download and set up Linux,
10:26and then you can open up its built-in app store. And from there, you can just download desktop apps
10:30right then and there. There are just so many to choose from. There's apps like GAMP, LibreOffice apps
10:36that I tried, like the Word document one, and a ton of OG games out there. And what's really cool
10:41is that
10:41each app is kind of treated like a real app that you download on your phone. Like it'll open up
10:46and
10:46appear in your Recents menu too. Now, I did find that some apps did require a keyboard to just work
10:52all together. Like I literally had to pull out my Bluetooth keyboard to use them, but they did work
10:57just fine, even surprisingly how old some of them are. It's honestly a really cool app. And on top of
11:01that, if you have a bigger screen Android device, like a tablet, this would be great because you can use
11:06it kind of like a mini laptop. Not a bad little hack. Now, if you record videos or make content,
11:11you're going to love this app called Souflyor. It's basically a teleprompter that puts your script
11:15right underneath your phone's camera. But what's really cool is that it actually listens to your
11:20voice and follows along as you read it. So if you pause, it pauses with you. If you mess up
11:26and repeat
11:26a sentence, it'll go back with you. And you can even skip an entire paragraph and it'll catch up.
11:31And sure, there are plenty of teleprompter apps out there, but this one
11:35is completely free and open source and has no ads, no subscriptions, and doesn't require you to
11:40make an account. It even works offline too, so no internet connection required. And even better,
11:45you can even import files like Word documents, PDFs, or even plain text, and it'll add them.
11:50You can also customize how the text looks inside the little window and even control scrolling with
11:55a Bluetooth remote. The only thing is that voice tracking currently only supports English and Russian,
12:00but otherwise it's a really useful app, especially if you're a content creator.
12:04From there, if you have an Android phone and you're kind of curious about the iPhone Duo,
12:08you can actually try out its home screen with this app called Fullio. I mean, it's not an
12:12exact replica, but it's pretty close. It gives you that same split home screen layout with your apps
12:17on one side, which is on the other, or even spread out. And on top of that, you can have
12:22your dock
12:22on the right edge. And even cooler, when you close your foldable, you even get this satisfying
12:27folding animation, just like on the iPhone Duo. Plus, it brings over a bunch of familiar iPhone features,
12:32like you've got Spotlight Search, their control center, an app library that looks just like the
12:37one on the iPhone, and the notification center. And everything is pretty customizable too,
12:41even with its settings looking like the one found on iOS. Now, I know this probably isn't for everyone,
12:46but if you ever wonder what it'd be like to use an iPhone Duo, this is a pretty fun way
12:50to just try it
12:51out for free. Okay, I've also been kind of jealous that Samsung phones are really the only Androids that
12:56give you full screen reminders. I love it because when a full screen reminder pops up, I have to see
13:01it the second I turn on my screen. I can't just swipe it away like a notification and miss it
13:05completely.
13:06It's way more effective than those tiny dings that can get lost. Luckily, I found a way to get this
13:11on
13:11any phone with this app called Remind Me. It lets me sell reminders for anything, and when the time comes,
13:16boom, full screen alert plus an alarm. There's no way I'm missing a reminder ever again.
13:21If you travel a lot, you need to check out Stay Put. This is perfect for those times when you
13:25need
13:25to charge your phone in a public space, like at an airport. You just open the app and hit the
13:30Stay
13:31Put button, and if anyone tries to unplug the phone, it'll blast a loud alarm until you enter your
13:36password or your fingerprint. It's a really simple but effective way to stop anyone from stealing your
13:40phone while you're not looking. From there, I found this app called Mirror Frame that just brings
13:44that same GCam camera quality to your phone and makes your phone's camera even more powerful than before.
13:50You have a lot more manual controls to play with. I mean, by default, everything stays on auto,
13:54but you can change that because whenever you want to take more control, there's a bunch of dials
13:58that let you adjust things, including the exposure, shutter speed, ISO, of course, the zoom, and focus.
14:04And the best part is that when you change one setting, everything else can still adjust automatically,
14:09so you're not forced to go fully manual for everything, but you can if you want. And you also got
14:15some
14:15nice little extras that content creators may like, like grid lines, you have a histogram,
14:20you also have false coloring, and of course, a night mode that combines multiple frames together to
14:25just improve low light shots. But my absolute favorite feature is that it even supports raw video
14:30recording on compatible phones. And that's especially cool because even Google's own Pixel camera app
14:35doesn't offer raw video recording. So with Mirror Frame, I'm able to shoot in raw now on my Pixel 11.
14:42It's pretty amazing. Anyway, if you want to keep watching, tap this video where I go over 20 of the
14:46coolest tech items you've also never heard about, but you'll definitely want to buy. And again,
14:50if I help you download just one app, a quick thumbs up goes a long way, so that way we
14:54can hit a 10,000
14:55like goal. Thanks so much for watching till the end, and I'll catch you guys in the next one. Kapow!