I’ve recently upgraded from a
Samsung Galaxy S III to a Nexus
5. I love pretty much everything
about the phone, but I am
missing a few of the features
that I took for granted on my S
III. These include things like the
quick settings shortcuts in the
notifi cations pane, and
advanced video and camera
apps. What are your
recommendations?
The Nexus 5 is indeed a
fantastic phone, but as
you’ve noted it does
lack a few of the subtle
usability touches that Samsung
incorporates into its devices.
This represents the different
attitude of the manufacturers:
Samsung wants to produce a
phone that does everything you
could want it to do right from the
outset, while Google is producing
a pure smartphone that you
customise with apps in order to
get it to do exactly what you
want. This means that there are
apps for everything you are
missing.
For example, to add
shortcuts to the notifications
pane you can use the Settings
Extended app. This will enable
you to toggle Wi-Fi and data on
and off, control the backlight
and even have a quick shortcut
to a torch feature. It’s one of our
favourite apps for the Nexus 5.
For video, check out MX Player,
which supports just about every
kind of video format you’ll ever encounter.
And as for a better
camera app, there are literally
dozens in the Play store that you
can choose from. Shot Control or
Camera FV-5 are our choices for a
more professional app, while
Camera Zoom FX or Camera
Awesome will add the more
consumer-friendly options you’ll
be used to from Samsung.
While
we’re recommending some apps
you might also want to try
Battery Percent for KitKat (free
from the Play store) to display
vital battery information, Textra
as a classier alternative to
Hangouts for text messaging,
and Chronus, our current
favourite home screen clock and
weather widget (which also
works on your lock screen too).
