Google apps on Android that desperately need updating (Early 2022)

Google does a really good job of updating their own apps on Android and that's exactly the reason why I must point out the apps that have been somewhat neglected. Now, I'm not saying that Google has not updated these apps, however, the apps I am pointing out don't seem to fit with what they're doing from a design perspective so they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. I use all of the apps I will be mentioning on a near-daily basis.

First up we have Find My Device. FMD is a handy app that allows you to track your devices, secure a device and play a sound so you can more easily find said device. Now the problem with FMD is that it looks very dated. There are no rounded corners or Material You support. Also, it has that green bar at the top. Why? Additionally, Google has not added new features in recent history. Personally, I would like to see my Chromebook in the list of devices and support for dark theme.

Next up we have YT Studio. The YT Studio app is an app for content creators and I have recently become an avid user. With the app, again, we have the grey bar at the top. Why? The rest of the app is fine but that bar at top. I would like to see proper dark theme support. You can turn on dark mode but I like when apps respect the theme of the device. So the app should be in light mode when the device is in light mode and vice versa.

Google News is an app that looks like it was made with a different design language in mind. Google News is not a bad-looking and it's quite serviceable but I would like to see what a Material You version of the app would look like. Also, Google News is the perfect platform for an RSS reader. There is a bit of RSS in the app, however, a dedicated section for RSS would be awesome.

Then there's Blogger. A very basic tool for us bloggers that happen to use the platform. With Blogger, the app does not seem modern to me and I would like to see Google add more features. First, please add Material You. Then add the ability to see your stats and proper dark mode support.

Lastly, we have Family Link. Another app that gets updates just not a whole lot of new features. The app seems dated and does not resemble the rest of Google's offerings. There's no dark theme support and the app still features sidebar navigation. The sidebar navigation is definitely the lesser evil here although a bottom bar navigation will make the app look a bit more modern.

That's my list. What apps do you think Google needs to update?

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