10 best features of manufacturers' custom Android UIs that should be on more phones
In order to differentiate their products from the ones offered by their rivals, pretty much every manufacturer on the planet adds his own touch on top of the existing Android base. That's right, even though your Samsung device looks markedly different from a Nexus one on the outside, they share the same core that is Google's mobile operating system. But it's not just about the skin (the overlay) -- the available feature set across Sony, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG devices differs. Sometimes significantly.
Samsung and LG handsets, for example, are well known for their massive arsenals of extras and perks, while, in comparison, Sony and Motorola phones are relatively down-to-the-point with not too many additional features on top of the stock Android experience. But the truth is that all of them have at least one feature that we love using and would like to see trickle down to other devices. Or, alternatively, for the traditionally conservative vanilla Android to include them out of the box.
Quite a few features made it to our shortlist, but we then further narrowed it down to just ten-- some of which we feel have universal appeal and would add to the Android experience. Itching to know which features ended up on the list? Go right ahead and jump into the slideshow below.
Features arranged in no particular order.
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Things that are NOT allowed: