Thanks to its open-source nature, the Android ecosystem probably holds the plentitude of features within itself. But even then, there seems a lot to be desired. For example, the ability to undo a notification or browse through its logs or even a better clipboard management feature is something that everyone wishes to have on their devices. Google is doing its part in bits and pieces, but still, the reach is limited. For example, you could now have full control over the app’s permission like giving it permissions only when the app is running in the foreground. But this feature is itself limited to Android 10, and the earlier version is left in the dark. Therefore, in this guide, we will focus on how to get your hands on these missing Android features on your devices.
1. Get the Undo Notifications feature on Android
You might be receiving tons of notifications on your device, most of which occupy the last spot on the importance list. While swiping them away, sometimes you might end up doing so to the more important ones. To counter this, there exists an efficient way of getting this missing Android feature back. That is possible via the Notification Log widget. Just long-press on your Home Screen, tap Widgets > Settings shortcut > Notification log.
But what if you could avoid all this in the first instance. Yes, it’s possible, thanks to the Unnotifications app. As evident by its name, every time you swipe any notification away, you will be asked to either undo your action or continue with your decision. Granted, it might end up becoming quite a cumbersome process to perform a double swipe on any notification every time you wish to remove them. To counter that, you may add some apps that for sure don’t send important notifications, to the whitelist.
Doing so will let those notifications disappear in the first swipe itself. As an added bonus, the app also has an in-built notification log. Evident by its functionality, the app would require permission to access all your notifications. So proceed ahead only if you’re satisfied with that. Still, a pretty useful app to get back this missing Android feature. However, to customize WhatsApp Notifications, do check out our separate guide on the said topic.
- Download: Unnotification
2.Categorize Notifications on Android
The best part about the now-defunct Inbox app by Google was how efficiently it was able to categorize emails into different categories like promotions, news, etc. Well, the same functionality, could now be carried over to your notifications as well. Thanks to the Notifix app, you could get this missing Android feature.
Furthermore, you could even categorize these notifications into different bundles. This will help you in identifying important notifications. For example, you could easily swipe away the entire notification bundle belonging to the promotional categories. Also, if you loved the Inbox app, you would end up liking it’s alternative, i.e. Spark as well.
- Download: Notifix
3. Get a Universal Search feature on Android
Strange as it may sound, but Android devices are yet to receive a universal search functionality. Though most devices come with a Google search bar, it is only able to do an online search or could search for any installed apps. This is were apps like Seasame Shortcuts comes in handy. For the initial setup, you will have to sign in with your Google ID (to secure your account, see how to enable two-step verification on Google Account). After signing in, you could easily get back the missing Android feature.
Once you do so, you could easily search for anything, literally anything. From the contents of your email to a YouTube video, it covers all. It could also search for any content from any of your messages, including Telegram, SMS, WhatsApp, etc. All in all, the more permissions you grant it, the more efficiently will it work. Pretty useful app to get back that missing Android feature.
- Download: Seasame Universal Search and Shortcuts
4. Get a Clipboard Manager on Android
A native clipboard app is something Android users are yearning for ages. All that one could do is simply copy the content to the clipboard. Modifying it or trying to access any of the previously saved contents to the clipboard is just not possible. The only option left was to copy and paste the contents onto any of the memo apps, so that it remains stuck for a longer period of time. However, upon doing extensive research, I was able to find the Clipper app. On that note, do check out the steps to send text from PC to Android with Chrome’s shared clipboard.
The app helps you in getting back the ever-requested missing Android feature of the clipboard manager. This is the best replacement for your device’s default clipboard manager. It further provides tons of options to efficiently handle your clipboards. Apart from the usual edit, modify and delete options, you could even move these clippings permanently to another location. Or even better, you could share it through various apps.
- Download: Clipper- Clipboard Manager
5. Get Temporary App Permissions on Android
Beginning with Android 6.0, Google made a major overhaul with the app permissions. And later on by introducing granular permissions, further changes were made. But still, a lot seems to be desired. For example, you cannot grant or revoke app permissions for a particular period of time. Say, you need to give TrueCaller access to your contacts only while it’s running in the foreground. You may get this missing Android feature if you’re running the latest Android 10. For previous versions, that isn’t possible. However, it is still possible to remove app permissions from your Google Account. Refer to the detailed instructions to know more.
But now, you could take the help of the Bouncer app to simulate temporary app permissions. Whenever you exit an app, the app will notify you whether to keep that app’s permissions or remove it at that instant. You may even make the Bouncer schedule allow or revoke these permissions for a specific duration. The only caveat? You will have to shell out around Rs 75 or near about a dollar to get this missing Android feature.
- Download: Bouncer-Temporary App Permissions
With this, we conclude the tutorial about how to get back some of the missing Android features on your device. Do share your views on the same, down in the comments section below.
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