You've probably customized your Android phone with a new launcher, replaced the keyboard, and maybe even installed an icon pack. But you might be missing a tiny, important secret that could fundamentally change the way you use your phone.
Compatible Android apps by default
One of the main features of Android is the ability to select different default apps. These are specific applications that are used to perform certain tasks or open certain types of files. For example, when you click a link in a text message, it opens with the application you've chosen as your default browser. It's a great system.
Besides the browser, the most common default app that people replace may be home screen. Home screen launchers such as Lawnchair and Niagara Launcher are extremely popular. Similarly, you can replace the standard keyboard with Gboard, SwiftKey or something more specialized is a common, simple tweak that can greatly improve your typing experience. Most people know you can do it.
However, there are many other “core” Android features that third-party apps can replace as well. You may have never given much thought to the humble clipboard.
Arguments for using a clipboard app
Android has had a clipboard since Android 8.0 Oreo in 2017, but it's incredibly basic. In fact, the only way to really use it is via keyboard app. This is of course good for the basics, but gets cumbersome when you need to copy and paste multiple elements.
This is where third-party clipboard managers come in handy. They can offer a major upgrade to what can be one of the most tedious parts of using a phone. Instead of seeing a half-screen clipboard on your keyboard, you can create an entire app for it. One of the best is simply called “Clipboard» by The 1Studio.
As you'd expect, this app does a lot more than just keep a history of copied items. It lets you categorize clips with tags, organize everything into folders, create persistent items for things like your home address, pin frequently used clips to the top, and search across clips. Think of it as a notes app that also fetches items from the system clipboard.
I mentioned that using a keyboard app to access the clipboard is awkward. Well, the Clipboard app makes it much easier too. Not only do you open the actual app, but you also get a notification shortcut and widget on your home screen. Just be sure to remove anything you don't want anyone to stumble upon.
Clipboard is not the only clipboard app available on the Play Store, but it may work best. Some other apps I tried weren't as good at retrieving items from the system clipboard and hadn't been updated in a while. However, if you're interested, it's worth trying a few different apps.
How
One of Android's core philosophies has always been to provide choice. Most of the features are aimed at the average person, but they can be expanded upon if you know where to look. Replacing seemingly insignificant system functions with much more powerful third-party apps is what makes a phone truly yours. That's why the Clipboard app is a great example of what makes Android so great.
Of course, you don't have to stop at the clipboard. There are many other core areas that can be replaced, e.g. notification panel And even the lock screen. It doesn't always go smoothly when you try to replace something that isn't the default app, but that shouldn't stop you from experimenting.
How to Get Lock Screen Widgets on Android
Apple introduced lock screen widgets for iPhone in iOS 16. Android is known as a highly customizable operating system, but it doesn't have such features. Well, not officially, but that shouldn't stop us. Android actually supported lock screen widgets long before the iPhone did. It was officially added back in 2012 with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. However, this feature was removed two versions later in Android 5.0 Lollipop. So let's bring it back.
