6 hidden Google apps you aren’t using, but should be

Most Google apps don’t need an introduction. Search, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Drive, Photos, Keep — even our parents know about these. But Google makes a lot more apps than that, and most people have no idea they exist, partly because they don’t come pre-installed. That doesn’t make them any less useful, though. If anything, some of these are genuinely better than apps you might be paying for.

If you love editing videos on your phone, Google has a free mobile video editor that’s worth trying out. And despite the name, it’s not just for YouTube Shorts. The app offers everything you could ever need to create an Instagram Reel or a YouTube Short — filters, effects, stickers, transitions, a timeline view, royalty-free music, and even automatic captions. You don’t have to start from scratch, either. There are ready-made templates that let you put together a nice-looking vertical video in seconds.

And since it’s 2026, there are a bunch of AI features too. You can use those to generate images and videos with a prompt. My favorite one is the “Edit with AI” option that automatically picks the best moments from a video you select, then adds music and a voiceover on top. The app has only recently launched and is still in beta, so I won’t blame you for not knowing about it. But yes, I’ve tried it on my Galaxy S26, and it seems to work flawlessly.

There aren’t many photo editing apps for Android that are genuinely good and also completely free. Snapseed is a rare exception, and it goes way beyond that built-in photo editor on your phone. There’s selective edit, masking, perspective, curves, and plenty of other features you’d typically expect from something like Adobe Lightroom or a similar paid app.

What makes Snapseed stand out is that it saves every edit as a stack, meaning you can go back and tweak any specific step without starting over. Its biggest strength is honestly just how approachable it is. The entire editing experience is divided into three sections — Styles, Tools, and Export — so unlike most other photo editors, it never feels overwhelming. 

And if that wasn’t enough, Google recently gave it a major overhaul with Snapseed 4.0, which also added a camera mode for shooting directly in the app using custom styles or film looks.

This one is less of a utility and more of a quiet little money-maker. Google Opinion Rewards is Google’s own survey app. The idea is simple — you answer short surveys and Google pays you in Play Store credit.

The surveys themselves are usually nothing involved. Most of the time, you’re answering a few questions about a place you recently visited, an ad you may have seen, or just your general opinion on something. In any case, they barely take a minute to complete.

The app sends you a notification when a survey becomes available, you answer it, and the credit lands in your account. The amounts per survey are usually small — mostly a few cents — but they do add up over time. If you often buy apps, games, or even books from the Play Store, it’s essentially free money. The only catch I’d say is that survey frequency varies a lot depending on where you live and how many Google apps you use.

Action Blocks is a simple app that lets you create customizable buttons for your home screen. These buttons essentially trigger a specific action with a single tap. It could be making a call, sending a text, playing a video, starting a playlist, controlling a smart home device, or basically anything you’d normally ask Gemini to do. Instead of saying the same phrase or command out loud every time, you just tap.

The built-in actions are pretty basic, but you can create a custom one that does something specific or pulls up exactly what you need. It’s mainly built for people who have a hard time using a smartphone, but there’s no reason others can’t benefit from it too.

Google Photos is great, but it’s a bit much at times. The backup prompts, the AI features, the storage warnings, the constant nudge to try something new — all of it can sometimes feel like too much for an app that’s just there mostly for viewing photos and videos you took. Google’s Gallery app is the exact opposite. It’s a stripped-down, no-nonsense app that shows your photos and videos and nothing else.

There are basic editing tools for cropping, rotating, and auto-enhancing images, plus a dark mode, a recycle bin, and a favorites folder. That’s about all you get — and honestly, that’s the point. If you miss those simple gallery apps from back in the day, this is exactly that.

Google Lens is already baked into Google Photos and the Google Search bar, but it’s often overlooked. It’s also available as a standalone app, and it’s absolutely worth having around because it can do more than just scan QR codes. Point it at a plant, and you can find out exactly what species it is. Point it at a dog in the park, and it’ll identify the breed. Heck, you can even use it to finish your homework by simply pointing it at a math problem or a diagram.

Beyond that, Lens is great for grabbing text from handwritten notes, visiting cards, and billboards. It can also translate text on road signs and restaurant menus in real time. One of its popular tricks is the ability to identify products and help you shop. My favorite, though, is the Live tab, where you can simply have a conversation and ask about anything around you. It’s the closest thing to having a smart friend who knows just about everything.

So these were some of the best Google apps that don’t get enough love. They’re all free and great at what they do. Which one of these are you downloading first? Tell us in the comments.