These 5 apps died this year, and I already miss them dearly

I’ve encountered a bouquet of incredible new Android apps this year, from small utilities that bolster my productivity to genuine problem solvers that make the platform better. Not every Android app has or will survive to see the new year, though.

As 2025 draws to a swift close and I scroll through the remaining apps pinned to my drawer, I can’t help but remember those wares that once formed a core part of my Android experience and that were sunset this year. Many of these apps I’ve used religiously in the past, and I’ll certainly miss them going forward. I’ll miss these five dead Android apps in particular.

Launched initially as Read It Later back in 2007, I used Pocket religiously across platforms to store articles I wanted to read at a later date. This was a core process in my daily workflow and allowed me to stow interesting and potentially distracting online content for later perusal while remaining focused on the task at hand.

Mozilla purchased the service in 2017 and quickly integrated it with Firefox. But this, it turns out, was a mistake. Many users viewed this integration as more bloat infecting their web browser, while pure Pocket users were constantly bombarded by recommended content. Just prior to its demise, the app simply refused to present several articles in reader mode, rendering the entire reader app experience rather pointless for me.

In July 2025, Mozilla announced the surprise shutdown of Pocket, which included my massive library of curated content. While the service made exporting that content relatively easy, I was left without a direct alternative. Eventually, I moved to Raindrop.io, which has proven to be a more than worthy replacement. Nevertheless, the simplicity of Pocket is still something I miss daily.

These past 12 months have not been kind to read-it-later apps. Omnivore died at the tail end of 2024, but I still felt its effects into the early parts of this year.

The app, which was billed as a looming Pocket and Instapaper rival, packed a host of valuable features for read-it-later app users. These included PDF support, various annotating features, multi-platform smarts, self-hosting options, and an app that made organizing and consuming content a breeze and pleasure. While Mozilla controlled multiple aspects of Pocket, Omnivore was seen as an open-source oasis, handing over control to users.

This wasn’t to be, though. Omnivore was purchased by speech tech and AI company ElevenLabs, which eventually meshed Omnivore’s smarts into its own reader app.

Before Omnivore’s collapse, I considered it a long-term self-hosted alternative to Pocket. This, obviously, failed to materialize. Nevertheless, the inspiration to achieve such a setup still lives on, and Karakeep seems to be the frontrunner.

Syncthing is a feature that I wish all operating systems would integrate. It’s a continuous file and folder synchronization framework that works across platforms and devices. In practical terms, I regularly used Syncthing to mirror photos stored on my Windows machine with my Windows laptop and Android phone.

Although the technology that underpins Syncthing remains strong and healthy, the flagship Android app is anything but.

At the end of 2024, Syncthing’s maintainer, imsodin, announced that they will no longer publish any updates for the app, citing issues with Google Play’s publishing demands. “The app saw no significant development for a long time and without Play releases I do no longer see enough benefit and/or have enough motivation to keep up the ongoing maintenance an app requires even without doing much, if any, changes,” they stated.

Importantly, Syncthing itself lives on! Various forks and its availability across various platforms keep the project alive. However, I was a firm user of the official app and wasn’t keen on jumping over to another to rebuild my workflow. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider.

Just a few years ago, Android browsers with extension support were a rare breed. You’d have few choices if you wanted anything other than a Firefox-based browser. Yandex offered just a handful of options. However, Kiwi Browser is the alternative that I once recommended.

Built for power users but kind to novices, Kiwi Browser introduced support for plenty of third-party plugins in 2019, something Google Chrome proper is still struggling (or refusing) to do six years later. While Chrome users were dodging ads, stuck reading bright web pages, and foregoing genuinely useful utilities, Kiwi users were coasting across the internet, enjoying all of these pros. The browser itself was as pacey and approachable as Chrome, too.

However, as you’ve probably gathered, Kiwi wasn’t to be long-lived. In January 2025, the app’s developer announced that the project would be archived and the extension features would be integrated into Microsoft Edge Canary. While Redmond’s mobile browser has grown in leaps and bounds since then, I still miss Kiwi.

Last but not least, the most impactful demise of 2025 must go to a once-great Android launcher: Nova. Even if you haven’t used Nova Launcher on your phone, you owe it a great deal in terms of customization options on Android.

Nova Launcher was first offered to Android Ice Cream Sandwich users in 2012 and has seen the progression of the operating system to its current elite status. Unlike the limited default launchers manufacturers offer on their devices, Nova allowed the micromanagement of almost every visual aspect on the home screen and app drawer. With Sesame Search, it offered contextual search for Android intents and beyond. Its 12×12 home screen grid lets users finely resize widgets, crowd their screens with icons, or create unique, intricate designs. There’s a good reason why the Nova Launcher subreddit has over 60,000 members.

However, everything started going wrong for Nova and its developers in 2022. The app was purchased by analytics company Branch back in 2022, but a subsequent development kick was never in the offing. In 2024, the launcher’s 100-strong team was dissolved, leaving the launcher’s future in doubt.

What truly hurts about Nova’s demise is the lack of follow-through regarding the intended open sourcing of the launcher’s code. While Nova Launcher could’ve lived on under the stewardship of enthusiastic fans and creators, it will now slowly fade into obsolescence. That’s such a shame.

On the bright side, we’re living in a golden age of Android launchers, and the array of options available is vast. Nova Launcher is arguably leaving Android in a better shape than when it arrived.