Android is very customizable – many of its features are just defaults
and can be swapped out for third-party alternatives without any rooting
required. Some of these things are possible on a jailbroken iOS device,
while some remain impossible.
You can replace nearly anything included with the Android operating
system, including some things not mentioned here – for example, you can
install a replacement dialer or contacts app if you like, too.
Image Credit: Johan Larsson on Flickr
Change Your Keyboard
Android’s default keyboard is one of many options. Without even
rooting your device, you can install third-party keyboards and switch
between them from the Language and input screen in your device’s
settings.
This allows third-party developers to experiment with new and
different keyboards that may work better for you. Popular alternative
keyboards include
Swype,
which is included by default with some Android smartphones and tablets
and available as a free beta from Swype’s website, and SwiftKey,
available for $4 from Google Play. Swype allows you to type words by
“swiping” over their letters with your fingers, while SwiftKey uses
natural language processing to automatically guess the words you meant
to type and the words that you’ll type next.
Swap Home Screen Launchers
The default home screen is just another app that can be swapped out.
If you’re looking for something with a completely different look or more
options, you can install a third-party launcher from Google Play.
There’s a thriving ecosystem of third-party launchers out there.
GO Launcher EX
is a very popular one – it includes skins, widgets, and many
configuration options. If you’re using Gingerbread or Froyo, older
versions of Android, but like the Android 4.0+ Ice Cream Sandwich look,
you can try
Holo Launcher to get a similar, updated look.
To select your default launcher, tap the Home button on your device
after installing a launcher. You’ll be prompted to select a launcher.
Choose a Lock Screen
You can change your lock screen, too. Alternative lock screens offer
different themes and additional functionality. For example,
WidgetLocker
allows you to add widgets to your lock screen and move them around to
design your own ideal lock screen. Custom lock screens aren’t quite as
popular as custom launchers – there aren’t nearly as many custom lock
screens, and most of them seem to be paid apps.
Set Your Default Browser
Android allows you to install third-party browsers and set them as
your default browser, allowing you to ignore the built-in browser
(Internet or Chrome) entirely. When you tap a link after installing a
new browser app on Android, you’ll be prompted to select your default
browser.
Better yet, Google doesn’t place the same restrictions on developers
Apple and Microsoft do – these third-party browsers are proper browsers
that use their own rendering engines. Firefox for Android uses the same
rendering engine that Firefox on your desktop does, and Opera Mobile has
its own rendering engine, too. On iOS, these browsers must be “shells”
around the built-in browser. In fact, although Chrome for iPhone is
forced to be a shell around the built-in Safari browser, Chrome for
iPhone isn’t even as fast as Safari because Chrome isn’t allowed to
access Safari’s optimized JavaScript library and can’t include its own.
Although you can switch browsers on a jailbroken iOS device, iOS
browsers like Chrome and Firefox will remain shells over Safari with
inferior performance.
Switch Email Clients
Unlike on iOS, you can also install different email clients and set
them as the default email app that appears when you tap an email address
link anywhere in the OS. Third-party email applications aren’t that
popular (Android’s included Gmail app is very good for Gmail users), but
Microsoft and Yahoo produce their own apps for Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail –
each of which can be your default mail app, if you like. There are also
other email apps, like
K-9 Mail.
If you don’t like Gmail, you’ll never have to see it. You can’t say that for the default email app on iOS.
Install a New Operating System (Custom ROM)
Android is open source, so the community can build on its source code
and create modified versions with additional features – these are known
as custom ROMs. The most popular custom ROM is
CyanogenMod,
a custom ROM that can replace the included Android OS on a wide variety
of devices. CyanogenMod is made possible by Android’s open-source
nature – it isn’t just a series of hacks on top of a closed-source
operating system build; the CyanogenMod developers start with Android’s
source code and build on it to create their own community-developed
version.
