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

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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.