WhatsApp, Instagram, Duolingo — you know these apps. Everyone does. But there’s a whole world of genuinely useful apps that fly under the radar because they’re just a bit… weird.
From an app that scans food packaging to tell you if the ingredients list is lying, to one that turns your phone into a walkie-talkie, to another that automatically skips YouTube ads for you — I installed the craziest Android and iOS apps to see if they’re worth the hype. I think you should give them a try.
Action Notch
Turn your notch into an invisible button
Most phones have a top-notch that houses the front-facing camera unit and the sensors. But what if you can turn it into a button? Action Notch adds an invisible button to the front of your phone that you can tap to perform a range of actions.
It’s a clever way to the dead space around your front camera into a customizable shortcut button. You can set single taps and double taps to launch apps, toggle flashlight, take screenshots, or control media playback. It’s available for free on Android with a premium version that unlocks more gestures and actions.
To use the app, first you need to grant the accessibility permissions and then choose your actions. I’ve set mine to launch the camera with a double-tap and control music with a single tap. The app works surprisingly well, though occasionally it misses a tap, but that’s likely due to the thick screen protector on my phone.
- OS
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Android
- Price model
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Free, ad supported
Action Notch lets you use your phone’s camera notch as a customizable shortcut button. Tap or swipe to launch apps, toggle features, or perform quick actions without touching physical buttons.
Touch Grass
The app that literally makes you touch grass
A 2023 CDC study found that social media use is linked to isolation, stress, and depression among teens. Touch Grass is a digital wellness app that wants to help break that cycle by blocking all social media apps until you step outside.
I’ve used ScreenZen to tame my doom scrolling habits, which forces you to think for a few seconds before unlocking an app for five minutes. Touch Grass, however, requires you to wait 15 minutes or go outside and literally touch grass to skip the lock.
The app uses your phone’s camera to verify you’re actually touching grass. When you try opening a blocked app, it shows a timer counting down from 15 minutes. Or you can tap Touch Grass Now and point your camera at real grass. The AI recognizes grass instantly and unlocks your apps. It’s free on Android with optional premium features for scheduling blocks and tracking your outdoor streaks.
- OS
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Android
- Price model
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Free, ad-supported
App Blocker: Touch Grass blocks distracting apps and websites on your phone. Unlocks them only after you literally go outside and touch grass, detected via your camera. Encourages healthier, balanced usage.
Micro Gestures
Control your phone with physical movements
Remember those old phones where you could shake to shuffle music? Micro Gestures brings that concept to modern Android phones, letting you control your device using physical gestures like shaking, swinging, or turning on different axes.
The app uses your phone’s accelerometer and gyroscope to detect movement patterns. It offers 12 different gesture types to work with—single and double turns on three axes in two directions. I’ve set up a double shake to turn on my flashlight and a swing motion to skip songs. The setup is clean and ad-free with a 30-day trial period.
The main limitation is Android itself. Most gestures won’t work when your screen is off unless you use volume button triggers, and that requires some ADB setup. The app is only available for older Android versions and may not work with Android 16 phones. Still, for one-handed navigation and quick shortcuts, it’s incredibly useful.
buz – Voice Connects
Turns your phone into a walkie-talkie
Buz is not just another instant messaging app, though it offers the functionality. If you were ever fascinated with walkie talkies like I was in my childhood, buz lets you turn your phone into one by adding other devices and communicating just like you would on a walkie-talkie.
The push-to-talk feature makes voice messaging instant. Hold the button, speak, release to send. Messages play automatically even when your phone is locked, so you don’t need to actively use the app to hear incoming voice notes. The app transcribes voice to text when you can’t listen, and group chats get real-time translation across 26 languages.
It also comes with the Live Place feature—a virtual hangout space where you can add background music, colors, and chat with friends like you’re in the same room. The app is free on Android and iOS with fun voice filters that make you sound like a ghost or a kid. It’s oddly addictive once your friends join in.
Ad Skipper
Skip YouTube ads automatically
Ad Skipper does exactly what its name suggests: it automatically skips YouTube ads for you. Some ads are so long and unskippable that I’d rather close the video than sit through them. Others become skippable after a few seconds, but you either miss the button or it’s just inconvenient to reach for it when your phone is across the table, or you’re watching on a tablet.
Ad Skipper uses Android’s Accessibility API to detect when the skip button appears and automatically clicks it for you. It’s free to use and has worked well for all the skippable ads that appear when I watch videos on YouTube. It’s one of those little utilities that you set up once and forget that it even exists.
Auto Clicker
For the very productive folks
Auto Clicker sounds like a gamer’s tool. While many use it for grinding in games like Roblox, it’s surprisingly useful for everyday tasks. You can use it to keep an app active or tap through repetitive menus.
The app needs some permissions, including accessibility, to work. After that, you can enable Single Target Mode, where you can select a location and hit play, and the app continues to tap that location. In Multi-Target Mode, you can choose a sequence of taps to complete a specific action. It can also do swipes in any direction you want, which is handy if you want to continuously scroll through the screen.
The floating control panel makes it easy to start and stop. I’ve used it for collecting rewards in idle games overnight, but it can be used for many different things.
It’s free on Android 7.0 and above, requires accessibility permissions, but no root access. You can save and share tap scripts, set timers for automation runs, and adjust tap speeds. For anyone dealing with repetitive tasks on their phone, this is a genuine time-saver.
Not the most popular apps, but worth a try
These apps won’t top any download charts, and you probably won’t find them featured in app store collections. However, each app solves a problem that you probably didn’t know needed fixing.
Yes, not all apps in the list are completely free, but they have generous free tiers or trials. Give these apps a spin, and you might just find your new favorite tool hiding among these underdogs.
