There’s one thought that every Android user has during their Android life cycle “Should I root my device?” and after knowing the risks the user decides not to root their device because they want to keep it safe while I say “JUST DO IT! VOID THE WARRANTY” because rooting will completely change your perception of Android on what’s possible to do on a mobile operating system and its fun to mess around but we understand that people don’t want to root because they have concerns about their device and that’s completely okay you can still mess around with Android and we will help you out. Here are 10 useful features you can add to Android without Root access.

Ambient Display by Acdisplay

Acdisplay is an app developed by one of my favorite developers Artem Chepurnoy, I’ve been following Artem for years now because he has made some great contributions to the Android community. Acdisplay is a completely free and open sourced app there are no hidden transections no ads just a free featured packed app. What Acdisplay does is that it gives your phone Ambient display capabilities meaning that every time there’s a notification your phone’s display will automatically turn on and show the notification to you in a well-designed manner then you can choose to either open the notification or dismiss it. I have been using this for over a year and even over Android Lollipop’s own ambient display mode because this is just so much better designed and this is so much more stable.

Download Acdisplay from here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.achep.acdisplay

Themes with Themer

If you’re someone who doesn’t want to spend hours and hours on Gimp or Photoshop designing your own homescreen Themer has you covered. Themer is an app which comes with preset homescreen layouts which you can use to give your device a unique and personal look. You can make your phone look minimalistic, material designed or completely flat there’s a theme for pretty much every type of user.

Download Themer from here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycolorscreen.themer

Home screen customization with Nova Launcher

With Themer you can download a preset homescreen but with Nova Laucnher it is completely the opposite. Nova Launcher has so many customization options which if you chose according to your needs you can design your own homescreen from scratch, one that truly matches your own personality. The capabilities are virtually endless.

Here are some homescreens I was able to design in Nova Launcher:

Comment down below if you guys want tutorials on how to make a homescreen like that. 🙂 You can download nova launcher from here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher

Immersive mode with GMD

One root feature we have been enjoying for years is having the ability to choose which app needs to run in immersive mode (expanded desktop). In immersive mode the phone hides the status bar and the navigation bar so the app can take the center stage and you can have a truly immersive experience. GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode does the same thing except it doesn’t require root.

You can download GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode from here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gmd.immersive

Turning off unnecessary apps from the background with Greenify

We have all been annoyed by useless apps running in the background and draining our phone’s battery and if you have a relatively lower end phone those apps running in the background might be even slowing your device down. This is where Greenify comes in, Greenify will close those apps so you can have a much smoother android experience. Although Greenify requires root to turn off system apps it can function properly with normal user apps without needing Root access.

You can download Greenify from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify

Heads-up notifications with Headsup

Headsup is another app by Artem Chepurnoy, just like Acdisplay this is also completely free and open sourced. The app is for the people who don’t have Android Lollipop but want headsup notifications. I tested headsup back when I had Android 4.4 and it works great really smooth and stable.

You can download Headsup from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.achep.headsup

Customizing widgets with Zooper Widget

Zooper Widget is one of my favorite android tools, there are so many beautifully designed widgets available that will make your Android look refreshingly amazing but if you don’t like the widget you can design one yourself its really simple.

Let me know in the comments if you would like to see a tutorial on how to make zooper widgets.

You can download Zooper Widget from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.zooper.zwfree

Switch between apps with Rovers Floating Launcher

Rovers is one of those apps which really take advantage of Google’s Material Design Language and make multitasking on Android much much easier and simpler. With rovers you can add your apps as shortcuts on the side of your phone which are always available to you no matter which app you are using. It’s really good.

Download Rovers from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.schiztech.rovers.app

Pintasking is another multitasking tool which will make your Android experience much better. Power users like us can relate that when we are using two or more apps at once the multitasking/recents screen sometimes lags so much that the user is annoyed. With Pintasking you can set your apps just a swipe away. Let’s say you’re using the messaging app and suddenly you remember that you want to use the calculator normally now you would press the home button open the launcher find calculator and then come back to the messaging app now let’s replay the same scenario with Pintasking you’re in the messaging app and suddenly you remember that you need to use the calculator you swipe from the top and there you are right in the calculator then after using it you swipe the top again and back to the messaging app. That’s how pintasking works.

Download Pintasking from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phinxapps.pintasking

Automatically changing wallpaper with Muzei Live Wallpaper

When you have a beautiful 2K, 1080p or a 720p display on your phone you want to show it off by a wallpaper but then you see that you have over a hundred wallpapers and then it’s a trouble picking one wallpaper with Muzei you can select multiple images and then the Muzei app will automatically change the wallpaper after a set interval of time.

You can download Muzei from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nurik.roman.muzei

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Image source: google play store.