The Android we know today has a rich legacy, built on a foundation of apps that have endowed it with its powers of customization and extended its utility beyond what was natively offered. Over the last decade, many of these services have either become obsolete or been integrated into core features in Android. But they continue to remain in our hearts.

Today, we’re recounting legendary apps that helped shape Android and made it more meaningful than the barebones stock version of yesteryears. Here are my top picks for Android apps that had a fundamental — almost irreplaceable — role on Android phones in the past. Most of these apps no longer exist, haven’t been updated in a while, or have undergone radical changes — for the worse — in recent years, but their contributions remain unmatched.

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