Here’s what you want from Android

Not much has changed in Android for a while, but you all let us know what features you’d like to see in upcoming builds, and the results have been interesting to say the least.

We recently asked you what you would like to see in the world’s most popular mobile operating system. It’s impossible to present every option or cast a wide enough net to cover them all, but the responses were fantastic. Our goal was to get people talking, and they loved talking.

Returning to the survey, the most popular option appears to be software improvements, which Google is doing as Material You nears its final form: 22% of respondents put this at the top of their list of things they want from Android.

More features (features that Android is touted to have) followed closely behind with nearly 20% of the votes. Reader SubZeroPT provided one of the most popular shortlists of features they really want in Android: stacked widgets, windowed apps, dedicated lock screen widgets, and folders in the app drawer are great options to effectively borrow from One UI. It’s worth noting that we’re looking at AOSP and the Pixel build of Android here, as this is the “base” for most other OEM skins.

Another big request is a DeX-like desktop mode, which seems to have been in the works for years at this stage, but as reader Matthew puts it, more “effort” is needed “to bring this to the public.”

Another tenet of Android is customization, with 18% of users wanting a bit more control over the look and feel of their OS. Reader berto1014 voiced a lot of complaints about how Pixel and related devices should be more customizable with the new Quick Settings toggles, one of the most controversial UI changes added as part of Material You.

While we would like to see more changes to the Android interface, it’s unlikely that 14% of users want any major changes. However, there is one thing that could help with this: AI integration. This only accounted for 9% of voters, but we could potentially get a completely custom interface that works with Gemini. This may be wishful thinking on my part, but Austin doesn’t want any AI “garbage” so maybe I’m the only one who wants to see how Google tackles future integrations.

11% of users would like to see older features come back. There aren’t that many older features that haven’t been updated or upgraded in the past few years. It’s good to see custom fonts and app icons back. 3% of users would like to see more accessibility features. Google is strongly committed to adding these features and is leading the way in many areas that most users don’t even think about on a daily basis.

Personally, I’m really looking forward to iOS-style shortcuts coming to Android, where powerful scripting can automate and handle tasks that would otherwise require several apps and services to work properly on Android.

Please let us know your thoughts and features you would like to see in the comments section below.