There are a whole lot of unhealthy Android apps on the market. You could find them at any level with a fast search. Many builders put up subpar work attempting to compete with bigger or extra proficient builders, leading to an infinite provide of watered-down clones, apps that seem like somebody printed a coding tutorial, and loads of different misfires that stand to solely make the great apps look higher.
Nonetheless, some apps are “unhealthy” in a special sort of means. Unhealthy sufficient to depart a mark on the Play Retailer. You most likely know most of those. In any case, problematic software program will get talked about as a lot as, if no more than, comparatively good software program. We dug into the hall-of-fame offenders and picked out the worst Android apps of all time. Right here they’re.
Please notice, there are tons of of 1000’s of apps and clones which can be simply flat-out unhealthy for a lot of causes. We selected to not embody them as a result of their lack of influence on normal society. Plus, a lot of these apps by no means see north of 1,000 downloads and easily aren’t seen sufficient to matter.
The worst Android apps
Amazon Prime Video
Worth: Free with in-app purchases / $8.99 per thirty days / $139 per yr
Amazon Prime Video is a case research on how to not do a streaming service. The app formally launched in 2014. Nonetheless, it could be one other three years earlier than it was truly on the Play Retailer. You needed to sideload it by way of Amazon’s Appstore, requiring two app installs as an alternative of 1. Updates occurred within the Amazon Appstore too, that means you couldn’t simply eliminate it after you had Prime Video put in.
Amazon did a poor job making Prime Video aggressive after that. It was the final of the massive streaming companies to assist Google Chromecast and Android TV. Official assist was added in 2019 after a really lengthy, very public beef between Amazon and Google. All stated, it took Amazon 5 years to get their product on an Android TV-powered tv or a Chromecast. At present, the general public overtly criticizes a brand new streaming service for not having these options at launch.
Amazon did nearly all the pieces mistaken with Prime Video for over half a decade.
Sadly, the app has different points littered in its previous too. For instance, it took 5 years earlier than Amazon began utilizing a filter to indicate subscribers content material they will stream with out further purchases. That made it tough for folk to search out stuff to observe for “free” on a streaming service they had been already paying for.
In 2022, Amazon Prime Video is definitely a good video streaming service. It simply took over half a decade of hilariously irritating errors to get it there. We might anticipate that from a small or new firm, however not from Amazon.
Cheetah Cellular apps
Worth: Not accessible
Cheetah Cellular is among the sleaziest, most unethical builders within the historical past of software program growth. Many of the firm’s apps had been unhealthy for varied causes. Let’s begin with the plain one, Clear Grasp. It was one of many authentic apps that claimed to make your cellphone run cooler and sooner by shutting down background apps and doing different mysterious issues.
The app truly shut down apps, but it surely ended up inflicting extra hurt than good. Briefly, background apps in Android merely open again up after you shut them down, so utilizing an app to do that truly decreased battery life and efficiency as your cellphone closed and restarted all background processes again and again. Clear Grasp was downloaded one billion instances. That’s billion, with a B. Equally pointless clones account for billions extra. It’s a literal plague within the Play Retailer that continues to at the present time.
Cheetah Cellular is clearly the worst developer in Google Play historical past.
However that’s simply the tip of the iceberg. Cheetah Cellular was concerned in a number of controversies over its extreme and abusive person monitoring insurance policies. As well as, the corporate allegedly used bots to simulate actual folks to defraud advert companions out of cash. There are additionally allegations of working with shady advert businesses.
After which there are the opposite, smaller issues. Badland (Google Play) was the most effective platformers of the early 2010s. Developer Frogmind launched a superb, premium sequel on iOS, however farmed out the Android model to Cheetah Cellular. Cheetah Cellular turned it into an ad-filled, microtransaction-heavy mess that wasn’t even near the iOS model.
Fortunately, Cheetah Cellular is now not with most of us. Google banned the corporate and its apps (together with AnTuTu) from the Play Retailer again in 2020, citing a poor person expertise. We predict that’s the tamest and most well mannered means of claiming what sort of expertise Cheetah Cellular supplied.
ES File Explorer
Worth: Not accessible
ES File Explorer was as soon as one the best apps of Android’s early days. It was a superb file browser, years forward of its time, and highly effective sufficient to simply be among the many finest within the class. The app was mainly the Nova Launcher of file browsers. We advisable it to folks for years in our greatest lists. Life was good.
Then, in 2016, the builders launched one of many worst updates we’ve ever seen. They not solely launched intrusive promoting into the free model of the app, however in addition they began including cellphone booster options which, as we described above, don’t work. Nonetheless, it was nonetheless okay as a result of the professional model eliminated the ads and the booster options had been simple sufficient to disable and ignore.
Issues went additional south after that. The intrusive promoting despatched adverts to cellphone lock screens. That was finally eliminated, however the bitter style by no means actually went away. Then, in 2019, a reasonably important safety flaw was uncovered. Later, the app’s developer, DO International, was accused of click on fraud, the identical variety that received Cheetah Cellular in scorching water a yr earlier. Google Play took the chance to place ES File Explorer on the ban checklist.
Few merchandise had a fall from grace like ES.
However it in some way will get even worse. The app was then banned in India when the nation went on its Chinese language app ban spree in 2020. And despite the fact that you may nonetheless obtain ES from the official web site, it now prices $9.99 per thirty days (after a free trial) for the premium model — a delightfully silly change the builders made later in 2019.
There are numerous shady apps that don’t seem on this checklist. Nonetheless, none of them had been as soon as thought of among the many prime ten finest Android apps of all time at one level. ES File Explorer’s fall from grace was really one among a sort.
Learn extra: One of the best Android file explorer apps
Fb’s many apps
Worth: Free
Fb’s official app has at all times been troublesome, even from its humble beginnings over a decade in the past. Let’s begin early. Till the mid-2010s, the iOS model of Fb was loads higher than the bugged, gradual, battery-intensive useful resource hog that was the Android model. There are various experiences as to why, however Mark Zuckerberg blames Google. He stated Google purchased out the builders that had been making the Android model of the Fb app and that hindered Fb’s progress.
After all, the present Android model works mainly identically to the iOS model, so issues finally labored out in that regard. That doesn’t imply we’re carried out right here by an extended shot. There are many different issues that make Fb one of many worst. Let’s begin with some fundamentals. Discovering any setting is a big ache and Fb has a penchant for resetting your app settings after updates typically.
Fb’s app has at all times been thought of a vital evil for many of its customers.
The UI is cluttered, there are tons of adverts, and it’s already used 900MB of information on my three-week-old Galaxy S22 Extremely. The app takes up about 1GB of storage as properly. Years in the past, Fb separated Fb Messenger into its personal bloated, resource-heavy app that’s required if you wish to message folks. And if there’s something worse than one Fb app, it’s two of them.
Fb Residence
Worth: Not accessible
I like speaking about Fb Residence. It was a kind of app experiences that you just knew was going to be unhealthy the second it hit the market. The app was an Android launcher that took over your house display screen and put the least fulfilling content material on Earth on it: Fb posts. How might it not be doomed from the beginning?
The house display screen was mainly simply Fb updates from your mates. The app drawer was laggy, there was no widget assist, little or no customization, and a lot of the Fb Residence settings resided within the official Fb app the place settings menus go to die. It was only a scaled-back model of Fb with an app drawer and it was each bit as depressing because it sounds except you had been some sort of Fb fanatic.
Fb Residence was very unhealthy. We don’t know what Fb was pondering with this one.
That stated, Fb Residence did give us one gem. As a part of the preparation for the Fb Residence launch, Fb added chat heads to Fb Messenger. In contrast to Fb Residence, folks truly fairly favored chat heads they usually finally turned a local Android function. Sure, pricey readers, Fb House is the place Android 11’s chat bubbles got here from.
See higher choices: One of the best Android launcher apps
Google Allo
Worth: Not accessible
Google Allo was a fairly horrible app. Lots of people tried to see the silver lining when it first launched, however Allo’s chief competitor, Google Hangouts, was higher in nearly each means. Certain, by way of pure performance, Google Allo wasn’t horrible; it did work and it served its function. Nonetheless, the issue went a bit of bit deeper.
Google Allo signaled the start of Google’s identification disaster within the cell messaging house. By the point it was carried out, there have been six messaging apps in complete and 5 of them are presently shut down. You would simply put any of them on this checklist. Google Allo was simply the primary one to fail.
Google Allo was the start of an extended string of unhealthy choices from Google’s messaging crew.
Plus, Allo lacked options and Google dragged its toes when it got here to including them. The chatbot operate was underwhelming, and that’s placing it politely. On the time, Hangouts had SMS assist together with knowledge chat assist and Allo had neither. Allo’s net UI got here out means too late and on too few platforms.
That is a kind of apps that by no means actually had any momentum. Curiosity took a dive a bit of over every week after launch and the app took a really very long time to die. It was the big-name launch that was speculated to catapult Google to WhatsApp heights. Ultimately, it was simply a humiliation that wasn’t even very enjoyable to make use of.
Google Pay
Worth: Free
Google Pay’s inclusion on this checklist is a delicate topic as a result of the service was good for quite a few years. Certain, it had some missteps, like not letting root customers truly use the app, however for probably the most half, it was dependable, good, and simple to make use of.
Then, Google did a full redesign in 2021 and all the pieces modified. The brand new app has a ton of issues and the transition from the outdated model was horrible. Let’s checklist a number of the stuff folks don’t like concerning the new Google Pay. It doesn’t have web site assist on the time of writing. You need to create a brand new account along with your cellphone quantity to ship cash. Your mates want an account to obtain cash. None of your Google Pay contacts transferred over, and Google Pay costs you a payment to ship cash by way of a financial institution card.
Google Pay went from the most effective cash companies to one of many worst in lower than 24 hours. There was an enormous upheaval within the Google Pay crew after that. Dozens of staff and executives left after the redesign and Google even canceled its plans for a checking account in October 2021. Google hasn’t carried out a lot to repair the problems but, so it will get to remain on this checklist.
{Hardware} companion apps
Worth: Many of the unhealthy ones are now not accessible
Again in the dead of night ages, you wanted apps to handle a whole lot of {hardware} that you just don’t want apps for now. One of the notable and memorable examples is the MOGA controller. You wanted the MOGA Pivot app to attach the controller after which you could possibly open your sport and play. It was intrusive, annoying, and didn’t work half of the time. There’s a purpose Bluetooth controller assist took so lengthy and that’s as a result of it was initially actually unhealthy.
This was true for a very long time. Many corporations have cleaned up their acts, however you may nonetheless discover examples right this moment. As an illustration, some cheaper, off-brand drones have barely purposeful apps that constantly disconnect from the drone and are gradual to answer primary instructions. Historically, non-smart tech appears to undergo probably the most from this downside. Take this fish finder companion app. It flat out doesn’t work properly once you’re out on the water and have a poor sign. Even massive corporations like LG can miss the mark on companion apps for equipment.
Huge Tech had this downside years in the past, however most manufacturers have figured it out — roughly. In any case, sensible thermostats like Nest and Ecobee have very purposeful apps. Nonetheless, as an increasing number of corporations go sensible, we’re seeing the identical errors repeated again and again with every new technology of sensible tech. It’s irritating as a result of folks simply need their stuff to work.
Transfer to iOS
Worth: Free
Transfer to iOS is extra of a humorous app than a nasty one, however we predict few folks will argue about its inclusion right here. It was Apple’s first app on Android and its aim was to switch knowledge out of your Android cellphone to your iPhone. The Android neighborhood responded in variety and Transfer to iOS nonetheless has extra one-star opinions than every other score.
Right here’s the opposite factor: the app truly isn’t excellent. Apple is used to growing for a small variety of gadgets whereas Android has no scarcity of gadgets. Thus, the app is very buggy on most telephones. Customers spend days attempting to get their knowledge to switch with out success.
Some persons are transferring tons of photographs and movies from one cellphone to the subsequent (despite the fact that there are extra environment friendly methods, like Google Photographs or Amazon Photographs). It’s merely a nasty app and Apple doesn’t appear too motivated to make it work on Android telephones.
Many Official apps
Worth: Free
Official apps for companies have the identical problem as {hardware} companion apps. Huge corporations have roughly ironed out their bugs so you’ll find examples of fine official apps, such because the official Star Wars app. Go one step down, although, and you’ll find some actual clunkers.
For instance, the NHL has a fairly good official app. You could find information sorted by groups, and there are issues like stats, schedules, and extra. In the meantime, the official AHL app is fairly unhealthy. You possibly can watch AHL video games, however the full-screen mode doesn’t work properly, with constant app crashes and an absence of total options. It’s knowledgeable sports activities league, you’ll anticipate higher, proper?
You could find a bunch of examples. The official apps of many native information organizations, like Cleveland.com or the Occasions of London Puzzles app, are fairly unhealthy. Equally, native enterprise apps may be hit and miss with regards to high quality. It’s unimaginable to checklist all the examples, however you’ll suppose if an organization was going to go to the hassle to create an app, it could no less than get it proper, particularly in 2022.
