In October 2024, Kaspersky’s antivirus was removed from the Play Store, along with the rest of the company’s apps. This action stemmed from a policy decision by the United States government, which at the time explained it was for national security reasons.But not all cases are so extreme; some app developers simply prefer other methods and platforms to distribute their apps. In this video (now an article), I’ve compiled some of those apps that you won’t find on the Play Store, and they’re quite interesting.
Kaspersky antivirus
So what happens to Kaspersky from now on? The company says that if you already had the app installed, it will continue to update automatically through its cloud servers.
The application itself remains as good as ever, with its virus scanning and cleaning, as well as other security tools such as an anti-phishing system, a password manager, and a VPN.
However, for those who want to install the antivirus on a new device, they will have to install it using an APK package from the Kaspersky website itself, or through other official stores such as the Galaxy Store, the Huawei store or the Xiaomi store.
Kaspersky | Download from their official website
Install with Options
This app lets you perform all kinds of custom installations. Have you ever wanted to install a very old app (for example, one from before Android 6) but your phone wouldn’t let you because it wasn’t compatible? Well, with Install with Options, you can now do it without any problems.
You can also use it to disable fingerprint access, grant all permissions to an app at once, or even downgrade to a previous version. All of this can be done from a centralized control panel.
It’s really frustrating when an app is updated and the new version is much worse than the previous one. I’m sure it’s happened to you many times, right? The only thing you need to keep in mind is that to use this tool, you first have to install Shizuku on your phone.
InstallWithOptions | Download from GitHub
Vectras VM
Vectras VM is a virtual machine that lets you emulate other operating systems like Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android on your Android device. It’s similar to the VMWare application for PCs, but designed for mobile devices.
To use Vectras on your mobile you need Android 5.0 or higher, 3GB of RAM and a relatively powerful processor based on ARM64-v8A or X86_64 architectures.
According to the authors, it should work without problems on phones manufactured from 2021 onwards, so if you have a relatively recent phone you shouldn’t have any problems.
Vectras VM | Download from GitHub
Magisk
Magisk is an essential app for those who have rooted their phones. With Magisk, you can grant and revoke administrator privileges to your installed apps, all without changing the partitioning system.
As an added bonus, you can also install modules, which are powerful applications that require root access. Furthermore, Magisk is open source, free, and compatible with Android 6.0 and higher.
Is it still worth having a rooted Android device in 2025? With apps like Shizuku, you don’t even need to root your device to unlock certain parts of the system, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Magisk | Download from GitHub
F-Droid
F-Droid is an alternative Android repository that offers only free and open-source applications. Many of its apps are also available on the Play Store, although it includes a lot of software that has never been released in Google’s official repository.
In each app’s information page, you’ll also find a section called “Anti-features” that details any aspects related to privacy, transparency, or excessive permission usage. This way, you can get a clear picture before deciding whether or not to install it.
The F-Droid store is available in app format, but there is also a web version if you prefer to download the APKs of the applications manually.
F-Droid | Download from its official website
Fennec
Fennec is a Firefox-based browser developed by the F-Droid team. It’s essentially an open-source fork of Mozilla’s browser, but with tracker blocking, no proprietary code, and the removal of Firefox telemetry.
It offers a one-click private mode, customizable navigation bar, dark mode, cross-device synchronization, and PiP mode, among other features.
Firefox has always been the alternative to Google Chrome for those seeking a bit more privacy, but Mozilla isn’t exactly completely private either: it uses social media trackers, tracks windows open in incognito mode, allows cross-site cookie sharing, and a few other things. Well, with Fennec, you get rid of all that too.
Fennec | Download on F-Droid
GMS Flags
Next up is another app for rooted users. With GMS Flags, you can easily activate certain “flags” or hidden features of some Google apps. This gives us access to features that are still in testing or unavailable in our country due to regional restrictions.
Some users use it, for example, to activate call recording in the Google Phone app, a feature that is not available globally by default.
In any case, keep in mind that to use GMS Flags you need to have your phone rooted.
GMS Flags | Download on GitHub
Florisboard
Keyboard apps like Gboard and SwiftKey are great, but some users find them overloaded with telemetry and features they don’t really need. Florisboard is the complete opposite: a lightweight keyboard app and nothing more.
It offers plenty of configuration options, custom themes, dark mode, an emoji keyboard, gestures, a clipboard, and clipboard history. Beyond that, it’s a really lightweight app, weighing in at only 17MB, requiring minimal permissions, and not accessing the internet, thus maximizing your privacy.
Although Floris is technically still in beta, the application has been active since 2020, so you can expect a fairly polished keyboard experience in every way.
Florisboard | Download on F-Droid
APKUpdater
The downside of manually installing apps in APK format is that you then have to worry about updating them regularly. APKUpdater is designed to simplify that entire process.
It is an open-source tool that searches for available updates for your APKs in repositories such as APKMirror, Aptoide, F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, APKPure, GitLab, and GitHub.
Another alternative is to use the F-Droid app, which, if installed on your mobile phone, also automatically updates all the APKs in its catalog.
APKUpdater | Download on GitHub
Mixplorer
MiXplorer is considered by many to be one of the best file explorers for Android. It’s quite sad that it’s not available on the Play Store, but the developer had a bad experience with Google and decided not to release it there (if you’re curious, you can read the full story on the XDA Developers forum).
In any case, it’s one of the most complete and advanced browsers you can find today, and it’s also 100% free. If you want to support the developer, you can also buy the premium version (which is available on the Play Store), although both versions are exactly the same.
Mixplorer | Download from their official website
microG
Although Android is an open-source operating system, the reality is that many of its essential components are owned by Google. In practice, this makes it virtually impossible to install any application without relying on Google in one way or another.
Because there are a lot of applications that are dependent on Google, the MicroG Project was developed, which basically works as a replacement for Google apps and services.
This will come in very handy if you install a custom ROM, such as Lineage OS or any other ROM, and want to use Google Maps, the Play Store, or any other app from the company.
MicroG | Download from their official website
PrivateDNS Quick Toggle
As you may know, by default mobile phones use the DNS servers of your internet provider (whether it’s Movistar, Vodafone, or any other). But it’s also possible to use custom DNS servers.
These DNS servers prevent our internet service provider from arbitrarily blocking websites, but they also offer other advantages.
For situations like this, you can use PrivateDNS Quick Toggle, which adds a button to the quick settings menu that lets you switch between DNS servers with a single tap. It’s very convenient and saves a lot of time.
However, keep in mind that for everything to work, you’ll first need the Shizuku app or to run a few ADB commands from your PC.
PrivateDNS Quick Toggle | Download at IzzyOnDroid
URLCheck
Now let’s talk about a security app that should come pre-installed on Android. Because when we click on a link online, we’re really taking a leap of faith. Because… well, the website waiting for us on the other side might be safe, but it could also contain malware.
URLCheck is a tool that acts as an intermediary, allowing you to check any link before opening it, see what’s behind a shortened link, check the status of that link, its domain, whether it has an HTTPS security certificate, and other relevant data.
URLCheck | Download on F-Droid
FakeStandby
FakeStandby is an application that allows you to continue running apps with the screen off.
This is an issue that’s been dragging on for years, and every time a new app comes out to perform these kinds of tasks, it ends up becoming obsolete or disappearing. FakeStandby, for now, works and is compatible with Android versions 6.0 and higher.
There’s actually a bit of a catch here, since the app doesn’t actually turn off the screen, but rather displays a completely black image in the foreground, giving the impression that it’s off. Therefore, this will help you save battery, yes, but only if you have an AMOLED screen.
FakeStandby | Download on F-Droid
Greentooth
Has it ever happened to you that you unplug your headphones from your phone but completely forget to turn off Bluetooth? It happens to me all the time, and by the time you realize it, you’ve had Bluetooth on all afternoon without even knowing it.
To avoid this type of oversight, you can use Greentooth, which is a very simple application that detects when you have stopped using Bluetooth and automatically deactivates it after a while.
You can set a waiting time of, say, 15 seconds, or whatever you prefer, and also activate a notification to alert you that you had Bluetooth enabled without any device connected.
The developers stopped updating Greentooth a few months ago, but I just tested it on a phone with Android 12 and it still works perfectly.
Greentooth fork | Download on GitHub
Greentooth Original | Download on GitLab
Greentooth | Download at IzzyOnDroid
Nothing Recorder
Nothing is a relatively new mobile phone manufacturer that has brought a much-needed breath of fresh air to the Android ecosystem. Besides making phones, Nothing also has a few of its own apps that follow the same design aesthetic, and they’re actually quite cool.
Nothing Recorder is one of them, and at its core, it’s just a recorder, but look how good it looks! The app has three recording modes: the first is “normal,” then there’s a “voice mode” and an “environment mode.”
It also has a sound wave that is displayed on the screen while we record, and little else.
Although it’s an app exclusive to Nothing, there’s nothing stopping you from installing it on any other phone if you download the APK from a trusted repository like APK Mirror. Just make sure you download an APK compatible with your Android version.
Nothing Recorder | Download on APK Mirror
Share Paste
Doesn’t it make you feel uneasy when you share a password in a WhatsApp chat? Sometimes we post sensitive texts or messages online, and once they’re sent, there’s no going back. They’re there forever.
Share Paste is an app that helps you solve this. You simply paste the text you want to share, choose an expiration date, and the app will generate a link.
Then, share that link with whomever you want, with the peace of mind of knowing that the information will disappear and the link will stop working from the chosen date.
You can also ask it to self-destruct when they click on it and have read it once.
