Missing features on the Nexus 5

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).