7 Samsung Apps I Think Google Can’t Match

Key points

• Samsung apps like Samsung Health, Messages, and SmartThings offer intuitive features that rival Google apps.
• Features like detailed fitness tracking, customizable interfaces, and smart home controls set Samsung apps apart.
• Google has no alternatives to apps like Good Lock, DeX and Samsung’s Penup, leaving users with limited customization and connectivity options.

Galaxy phones are feature-rich and allow users to choose between Android-based Google apps or Samsung alternatives that do the same thing. The Play Store usually reigns supreme thanks to robust built-in Google apps like Maps. Google’s vast ecosystem and excellent integration with other devices are hard to beat.

However, Samsung has a few tricks up its sleeve and offers some excellent apps that I feel Google can’t match in terms of ease of use and performance. Some are direct competitors to Google’s offerings, while others are unrivaled and dominate unchallenged.

1 Samsung Health

Track your activities and find workouts

Samsung Health is a health and fitness tracker that monitors your activities and offers workouts to improve your well-being. The app offers comprehensive tracking features so you can accurately know the distance you have walked or cycled, your daily steps and how long you have slept. You can also add your weight and height and track your calories by entering the amount of food and water you’ve consumed.

Google Fit is a formidable rival with a simple interface and many similar tracking features.

As for fitness, Samsung Health offers various workouts to lose weight, build muscle or improve endurance. You can filter them based on your fitness level or goals to find what you’re looking for. Once you’re done with your workout, the app offers mindfulness options like meditation, sleep stories, and soothing music to help you unwind.

Google Fit is a formidable rival with a simple interface and many similar tracking features. Samsung Health continues to win the crown because its workout and mindfulness options go the extra mile to help you stay fit. I also prefer Samsung Health’s UI over Google Fit’s.

2 Samsung Messages

Intuitive messaging with interesting themes

Samsung Messages was once the default messaging app on all Galaxy phones, but it’s now been dethroned by Google Messages as the pre-installed option in the US. However, despite its declining popularity, it still has something to offer users and remains the favorite choice among users looking for simplicity in a complicated world.

The most significant advantage of Samsung Messages is its ease of use. It has easy-to-reach tabs for conversations and contacts at the bottom, and you can create separate folders at the top to sort your messages into categories. Since the app is part of Samsung’s One UI ecosystem, you can customize it with themes and colors instead of having a generic white background like Google Messages. Users who worry about privacy often prefer Samsung Messages because it works without requiring a Google account.

3 Samsung SmartThings

A simple interface to control your smart devices

Samsung’s SmartThings connects all your smart home devices to a single interface so you can easily control them from your phone or tablet. The app works with most third-party devices, such as cameras, TVs, lights and more, making it easy to set up automation and routines. It’s also compatible with most voice assistants, like Google Assistant and Alexa, for easier integration into your existing system.

After adding your devices, you can access excellent utilities in the Samsung SmartThings app to manage their functions and monitor their usage. You can track how much energy you use or use the home monitoring feature to alert you to water leaks, fires and safety issues. SmartThings offers incredible versatility and can work as a remote control for your TV or create routines to automatically adjust the lighting and heating based on the time of day or your preferences.

4 Good lock

Unlimited customization options

Samsung’s Good Lock includes various app modules to customize every aspect of your Galaxy phone experience. With Good Lock you can create custom themes, wallpapers and keyboard skins using any image you want to enhance your phone’s interface. The sky’s the limit, and you can improve functionality by adding routines and advanced settings to the audio and camera apps.

Google doesn’t offer a version of Good Lock for its Pixel phones, forcing users to use third-party apps like System UI Tuner that don’t come close in terms of customization options.

So far Google doesn’t have an answer and doesn’t offer a Good Lock alternative to customize Samsung Galaxy phones. That’s not surprising, considering all the work that would go into its development when Google has to worry about its own Pixel phones. That said, Google doesn’t offer a version of Good Lock for its Pixel phones, forcing users to use third-party apps like System UI Tuner that don’t come close in terms of customization options.

5 Samsung Notes

Advanced note-taking tools for the next level

Samsung Notes is the default note-taking app on Galaxy phones. It can’t compete with Google Keep when it comes to cloud storage and cross-platform compatibility. However, it has a few tricks up its sleeve that make it a superior option. Unlike Google’s offering, which keeps things simple, Samsung is focused on offering users more features like better rich text tools and drawing capabilities, which are especially useful if you have an S Pen.

Another advantage of Samsung Notes is that it offers more items to add to your notes, such as PDFs, scans, and audio files. It also has better AI integration with easy access to summarize, translate, and other useful tools to make your life easier.

6 Filler

Get the most out of your S Pen

Penup is Samsung’s exclusive drawing app to get the most out of your S Pen. Its simplest feature offers blank canvases of various sizes and lets you draw pictures using pens, crayons, markers, and brushes in any color you want. Not everyone is a great artist, so Penup lets you draw over existing images in your gallery or use the Live Drawings feature to teach you how to draw animals, landscapes, and other images.

Penup is also great for socializing with other artists and allows you to test your skills against theirs with various drawing challenges.

If you don’t like drawing, you can use Penup to color pictures to relax or practice your skills. It offers a range of basic and advanced images to color, and you can compare your work with users online to see how it stacks up. Penup is also great for socializing with other artists and lets you test your skills against theirs with various drawing challenges.

7 Samsung Dex

There is no competition

Samsung DeX is a versatile app that connects your Galaxy phone to a monitor or PC so you can use all your apps on one big screen. It’s perfect for multitasking because you can open multiple windows at the same time. Typing and navigation become easier because you can use a keyboard instead of your phone’s touchscreen. DeX is ideal for work because you can access your phone and PC apps from one screen to save time. The app is also great for leisure, because you can access your mobile games and streaming services without having to download them again.

Third-party alternatives such as AirDroid Personal and ApowerMirror are available in place of DeX, but they offer limited functionality and cannot match all of its features. So far, Google doesn’t have an alternative app to rival DeX, which puts its Pixel line of phones at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to connectivity. According to online leakers, Google is working on a new desktop mode for Android 15, but so far there’s been no official announcement and we’re still keeping our fingers crossed.