Essential Android, instantly
Tired of having to tap and
swipe through multiple screens to get to the tools you use the most? There are
apps to help with that
Smartphones are in a rut.
Whether you're using an
iPhone or something running Android, you get a static row of icons at the
bottom along with rows and rows of additional ones above or in a drawer. Doing
anything generally involves stopping what you're doing and tapping on one of
these icons.
Fortunately, on Android, we
can make changes that speed up how we interact with our phones no rooting or
flashing required.Developers have come up with some creative shortcuts for
placing calls, sending texts, and quickly accessing common tasks.Many of them
have opted to emulate Assistive Touch for iOS.Hey, whatever works. Here are
five that caught my attention.
EasyTouch
When Assistive Touch
launched for iOS, some Android apps had already experimented with the idea of
putting a floating button on the screen. Still, many of the options that have
come out since have used Apple as a model.
EasyTouch is one of those
apps. It embraces Android's current design language, and that's a big draw. The
settings screen and shortcuts look like something that could've come from
Google.
The downside to apps like
this is that the button is always visible. Fortunately, compared to some of the
other options in this list, EasyTouch's icon isn't all that annoying.
Nevertheless, you can change the size and transparency to make it less
intrusive. Plus there are plenty of themes.
EasyTouch is free to use.
There are no in-app purchases, but there are some ads.
Shorty
Rather than a generic icon,
Shorty uses an “S“ inside a red circle. Tapping it provides access to up to
five tasks. What these tasks are is up to you, as the app provides none out of
the box.
Possibilities include
placing a call directly to one of your regular contacts, sending a text along
with a pre-written message, taking a photo, or launching an app.
This is one of those
delightful options that does one thing well while looking perfectly at home
next to Google-made apps. Shorty isn't free, but the Rs 65 price isn't too much
to ask.
Floating Toolbox
Floating Toolbox uses a
floating button, but instead of opening a menu when you tap it, you get a list
of your favourite apps. A panel of them drops down from the circular button,
and it retreats back in when you're done. Then the icon fades so as not to
obstruct your view.
You can tweak the
transparency, size, and colour to get the appearance to your liking. While the
free version doesn't let you access toggles and other settings that similar
shortcut apps are known for, you can access those with the pro version for Rs
60.
Simple Shortcuts
Tired of buttons that take
up part of the screen? Simple Shortcuts is a solution that you may forget is
even there. The app sits invisibly off to the side of the screen, waiting for
you to swipe in from the edge. This brings up a pane of apps. You can select
favourites or have Simple Shortcuts show every app you've installed.
The app is ad-supported,
and the display banners make the configuration screen look cluttered. You can
remove those distractions and unlock the ability to sort your apps into
additional columns by paying Rs 55.
Assistive Touch 2
There are a number of apps
in the Play Store that simply call themselves Assistive Touch. Most of them are
the same, and there isn't much reason to choose them over EasyTouch aside from
a difference in appearance.
Assistive Touch by the
Assistive Touch Team is one of those apps. You can arrange icons differently,
select from various colours, and change the floating button into assorted
pictures.
Really though, it's the
followup app that warrants a mention.Assistive Touch 2 shrinks the floating
button into a smaller, less intrusive target. The launcher that pops up
consists of a ring of circles instead of a single transparent square. The
functionality is largely the same, but this is a distinctive visual twist that
still looks great.
The app has more ads than I
care for, and when I tried to toggle my flashlight using the default shortcut,
that didn't work. The other ones I tapped did work, so I would still consider
this worth a look. Assistive Touch 2 lets you remove ads for Rs 65.
How Do You Navigate Android?
Every time I press the home
button and open the app drawer, I run the risk of getting distracted and
tapping on an icon that had nothing to do with what I originally wanted. One
way I've combated this time-sucking problem is by only installing apps I
consider to be essential, but installing any of the apps above helps tackle the
same problem.
For folks who are enamored
with Assistive Touch for iOS, there really is no shortage of additional
options. There are quite a few to choose from that are simply called Assistive
Touch, just like the one listed above. You may also want to consider
QuickTouch.
This article first appeared
on Makeuseof.com
|
Bertel King, Jr
|
MM28MAR16
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