Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police | Siberian Art / Shutterstock
By
Irene Okpanachi
Published 5 minutes ago
Irene Okpanachi is a Features writer, covering mobile and PC guides that help you understand your devices.
She has five years' experience in the Tech, E-commerce, and Food niches. Particularly, the Tech space allows her to geek out and share knowledge.
Irene is a couch potato who loves gaming, singing, listening to music, and eating when she's not typing furiously on her laptop.
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Mornings are the most important part of the day, besides being the first. I'm a firm believer that if you don't start it right, you'll spend the rest of it fixing things.
That's why I make sure to kick mine off with as much energy as possible. I also find ways to save time and focus on what matters.
I start with waking up early. More importantly, without handling my mobile devices until 10 AM, unless there's an urgent work task. It eats minutes from my day, and I easily fall into doomscrolling.
Automating things like drafting my task lists and setting up routines makes my day run itself with minimal intervention. These six apps make it possible.
Alarmy
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Alarmy is an annoying app, and that's why it works. My biggest challenge in the morning is not waking up, but getting out of bed without snoozing my phone.
Most people never break through that first wave. We convince ourselves that five minutes of extra sleep doesn't hurt.
The app gives you three snoozes. Afterward, you must get up. There's no way to dismiss the sound, even if you lock your device or use the volume buttons.
You have to start a mission. You may shake your device a specific number of times or scavenge your house for items. These physical movements chase away sleep inertia, so you don't climb back into bed.
If you go premium, you can set multiple missions consecutively, including jumping jacks. The sound goes mute during your activity. It returns to haunt you in seconds, even if you close the app.
Alarmy also has dramatic tones. My current wake-up sound is End of the World. I connect the app to my bedside Bluetooth speakers to heighten the effect and set alarms to repeat daily.
Although I can boost the volume past my phone's 100% limit, I keep it at 70% and enable the Gentle Wake-Up feature.
The sound transitions from low to high volume naturally. You don't want to shock your system out of deep sleep. It's dangerous as your heart rate spikes suddenly.
Gemini
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Google is officially phasing out its longtime Assistant for Gemini. The timeline stretches until May 2026, but we'll have to say goodbye eventually.
Gemini still feels clunky in many places. Hopefully, by the time Assistant disappears, it will have matured.
That said, I do enjoy talking to Gemini Live. It feels like speaking to an actual person instead of a bot. I can interrupt it and redirect the conversation.
I frequently use it to record events and tasks. I can't always do it myself, and I forget things. I make it Gemini's job by saying, "Hey Google, let's talk live." Then I tell it what I need.
Gemini asks what the first item on my list is. We add it to Google Tasks and build next steps. It asks for the date, title, and time when I'm adding events to Calendar.
Later on, I ask the tool to remind me of my tasks for specific dates. I use hands-free commands for quick answers and when I'm multitasking.
It seems Google is pushing Gemini everywhere now. I can't wait to test it on my smartwatch, TV, and Maps.
Google Maps
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You probably haven't entered the Labeled menu in Google Maps. But you may need it to reach a rental apartment in a new city, or when you're rushing.
It stores the places you visit the most, and you'll use custom keywords to tag them. Instead of typing or saying the full address, use your phrases to shorten the process.
I've set up my Home, Work, and Gym locations in the menu. Maps displays the directions in seconds when I use them.
Another underrated feature is multi-stop routing. Instead of entering each destination manually, chain them to get the best route in one go. Otherwise, the app has to recalibrate with every newly added stop in the middle of the journey.
It won't optimize the sequence, so you'll lose time and miss shortcuts.
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You may think Flipboard is a forgotten app. But it's among the most reliable places to read news. Feed curation is the reason I keep it. Google's Explore or Discover feed works for me too.
I use Flipboard to follow my interests closely over random trending topics. I follow specific tags and create a personal magazine that shows me related content.
Plus, the flipping animation is relaxing. It feels like I'm turning digital pages.
I added the widget to my home screen to get a preview of headlines. It refreshes hourly, daily, or never, depending on your preferred setting.
There are arrows for scrolling, so I can mindlessly skim through topics before deciding if something is worth reading.
If This Then That
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The IFTTT app is an automation service connecting apps and devices. It works on the logic that if something happens, then do something else automatically. These chains are called applets.
The free plan has only two applets, which isn't enough. I upgraded to the Pro plan to unlock 20. The $3 monthly cost was worth it since I rely on them every day now.
The app works similarly to Tasker and MacroDroid, but I prefer IFTTT for its simplicity. You don't need to understand code or scripting. Popular services have ready-made triggers waiting for you.
I've set up an applet that silences my phone whenever I enter my church, library, work station, and other locations that demand silence.
Another one reminds me of grocery items when I enter supermarket locations. I use a Bluetooth applet to automatically trigger audio playback when my phone connects to my earbuds or headphones.
The app's so interesting that I've used up all available commands.
Home Assistant
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My not-so-many smart devices would've been homeless without Google Home. It was the one thread that linked everything together as a hive system.
But now, the whole ecosystem is in a strange transition period. Google is overhauling its assistants, and the entire system is now confused.
It's hard to find a smart home app that has the range and flexibility that the app does. There are a few competitors out there. But most of them either lock you into specific brands or don't work seamlessly with devices you already own.
Home Assistant is the closest I've come to finding a good alternative. It supports thousands of integrations and is open source. However, it's the DIY version of a smart home controller. Setting it up isn't easy.
I had help from my technician, who installed my personal server in my home. I'm able to run everything locally and control devices however I want.
Android's got the wheel
Android sits at the center of a larger hub than I give it credit for. Likewise, you'll notice that automation isn't limited to smart bulbs or Assistant commands if you look closer.
Android Auto is one intriguing part I look forward to using when I get a car. It can read messages aloud, adjust music, silence notifications, and handle calls.
My phone already influences my movements through Google Maps. It's only natural that I'd want it to improve broader areas of my daily experiences.
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