ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Essentials is a power user’s dream come true on Android.
- You’ll find tons of customizations and tweaks in this app.
- The app is free, but has to be side-loaded.
Most Android owners know of the Settings app, which gives them all the power Google assumes they need. Then there’s the Developer Options feature that can be enabled to give users even more power.
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If that’s not enough, there’s now Essentials, a power-user’s toolbox that includes 30+ mods and tweaks for things like button remapping, app freezing, Google Maps battery saving modes, sound and haptics, wallpaper, widgets, status bar icon customization, edge lighting, flashlight pulsing, notification management, Always-On Display, and more.
Getting Essentials
Essentials isn’t found on the Google Play Store. Instead, Essentials must be sideloaded from the APK available on its official GitHub Repository. Keep in mind that Google has changed the way apps are sideloaded.
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Make sure you understand the new sideloading process before you proceed. You’ll also need to change some permissions, depending on the feature you want to use. For example, to change lock screen shortcuts, you have to enable it in Accessibility Services.
As well, you have to enable restricted settings, which is done with Settings > Apps > See all X apps > Essentials. On that page, tap the three-dot menu and then tap “Allow restricted settings.”
Without that feature enabled, Essentials will be hamstrung by Android’s permissions system.
Using Essentials
Essentials is fairly simple to use. You open the app, search for the feature you want to enable, and enable it.One thing you’ll discover is that you have to enable a lot of permissions for Essentials. It seems every time I go to enable or customize a feature, I have to grant yet another permission. I know it sounds like a hassle, but given the extra power you gain, it’s worth it.
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Let me walk you through a feature found in Essentials you’ll wish were baked into Android. The feature is App Lock, which lets you require authentication for specific apps. This is a handy option, especially if someone gets ahold of your phone while it’s unlocked and tries to open certain apps you’d prefer to keep private (such as your banking app). To use this feature, you have to grant Essentials permission for Accessibility features, which you’ll be prompted to do when you go to enable it.
App Lock is found in Essentials > Security and Privacy. Once there, click the On/Off slider to enable App Lock, and you’ll be prompted to grant the necessary Essentials permission in Accessibility. After enabling the feature, tap it, and you’ll be prompted to authenticate with fingerprint, face, or password/PIN (whichever you have set up).
On the next page, tap “Select locked apps,” and you’ll be prompted to select the apps that require authentication to open. For instance, I want to make sure that Authy (my 2FA app of choice), my bank app, and Messages require authentication before they open. To do that, I tap the On/Off slider for those apps until they are in the On position. The next time I go to open any of those apps, I’ll be required to authenticate
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Another handy feature is found in Notifications and Alerts, where you can enable notification lighting, flashlight pulse, notification snoozing, and snooze system notifications. You can enable notification lighting and then select which apps it applies to. I enabled notification lighting for Messages and Phone, so I will never miss a message or call, even if my phone is on silent mode. You can also enable flashlight pulses, so it doesn’t matter if your phone’s screen is facing up or down — you’ll be notified of your messages.
That’s essentially how Essentials works. Do remember two things: you’ll be met with a barrage of permission requests, and some of those permissions aren’t possible unless you have root access or Shizuku (an open-source Android tool that lets third-party apps use system-level APIs and ADB (Android Debug Bridge) privileges without requiring you to fully root your device. Also, note that Shizuku requires you to enable wireless debugging to start the service. Once you install Shizuku (from the Play Store), you’ll find detailed (and lengthy) directions on how to do this.
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If you want considerably more control over your Android device, I highly recommend adding Essentials, as you won’t find most of these options in any other tool.
