Every few years, Google quietly removes something from Android that was doing nothing wrong. I’ve been using Android since the days of Ice Cream Sandwich, and I’ve lived through Google killing over a dozen apps and features that I used to love. Here are five such features that they dropped in favor of some subpar alternatives.

Miracast: wireless screen mirroring that didn’t need internet

The open standard Google quietly swapped for a proprietary one

Miracast is an open wireless display standard developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and introduced in Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) as “Wireless Display.” It allowed Android devices to mirror their screens to compatible TVs or projectors using Wi-Fi Direct—no router, shared network, or internet connection is required. You could enable wireless display in settings, select a compatible device, and mirror your screen, just like that.

But then Google decided to drop Miracast support in 2015 with the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow—replacing it with its own proprietary Google Cast protocol. Unlike Miracast, Cast requires both your phone and the TV to be on the same Wi-Fi network just to connect—something that was never an issue before. It also needs an active internet connection, because for app-specific casting like YouTube or Netflix, the receiver is actually fetching content directly from the internet—not necessarily mirroring it from your phone.

Try using Google Cast in a hotel or conference room, and you’ll immediately realize how inconvenient the experience is. Miracast handled those scenarios effortlessly because the connection was direct—your phone directly talked to the display, and the internet was irrelevant. Thankfully, some Android manufacturers like Samsung still support Miracast through features like Smart View, and it’s also included in most modern smart TVs.

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Google Now on Tap: instant context for whatever was on your screen

It made you feel like you were living in the future

Google Now on Tap was one of those features that felt almost sci-fi in its execution. You would long-press the home button, and the system would analyze text and images on your screen—then surface relevant information in a pop-out card. A restaurant name in an email pulled up its rating, hours, and directions. Likewise, a movie title in a text conversation showed reviews and showtimes. You didn’t have to select anything, type anything, or even think about what you wanted to search.

The feature launched with Android 6.0 Marshmallow in 2015 and, if my memory serves me right, was phased out by Android 8.0 Oreo in 2017—replaced by Google Assistant. For the next seven years, the closest thing Android had was a “What’s on my screen?” prompt inside Assistant. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as popular—being buried behind a bunch of layers.

Circle to Search finally arrived in early 2024 as the spiritual successor to Google Now on Tap—but the core convenience is still missing. Instead of the system analyzing your entire screen automatically, you now have to manually circle or tap the specific thing you want to search. Granted, it’s more reliable because you’re telling it exactly what to look at. However, I feel that even Google Now on Tap would have been just as reliable with modern AI powering its backend.

Android Beam: seamless device-to-device sharing

What Google traded away for a ‘safer’ sharing method

Android Beam was one of the most intuitive and fun ways of sharing data between two devices. You’d physically touch two Android devices back-to-back, accept the on-screen prompt, and seamlessly exchange contact details, URLs, photos, app links, and more. The NFC chip handled the initial handshake, and for anything larger than a contact card, Bluetooth kicked in automatically to handle the actual file transfer.

Google introduced the feature back in 2011 with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but fully removed it by Android 14. There was apparently a security flaw that allowed malicious APK files to be silently transferred via NFC. While I’d argue fixing the security vulnerability would’ve been better, Google decided to introduce a new data-sharing protocol—Nearby Share (currently Quick Share).

Now, Quick Share is a capable feature. It uses Wi-Fi Direct for data transfers, works across the room, supports larger file sizes, and runs on Android, Chrome OS, and Windows. It’s even compatible with Apple’s AirDrop. However, could we not do all of that and still maintain the NFC handshake to initiate the pairing process? Opening the share sheet, selecting Quick Share, and waiting for device discovery is just not an intuitive workflow.

The notification feature that respects your focus

Smartphone notifications weren’t always as annoying and distracting as they are now—especially not prior to Android 5.0 Lollipop. Back then, we had the notification ticker—a scrolling line of text in the status bar that briefly previewed incoming notifications. This had been the default since Android 1.0, until Google decided to ditch it in favor of modern notification banners—better known as heads-up notifications.

Instead of a line of text in the status bar, a card now drops from the top of the screen—showing the notification content along with action buttons for quick replies or dismissal. It’s more functional, and for time-sensitive alerts like phone calls, the added visibility makes sense. But it’s a step backward when you consider that this feature is at the core of what makes smartphones so distracting.

The ticker was ambient by design. It gave you just enough information at a glance without breaking your focus. Heads-up notifications are the opposite—they appear on top of your content and demand a decision. Having the option to switch between banners and tickers would have been the ideal middle ground. Instead, we’re stuck in a binary world—either deal with intrusive banners or enable DND and miss everything. Far from ideal if you ask me.

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Get creative with your digital wellbeing

This one was just too ahead of its time

Android introduced lock screen widgets back in 2012 with version 4.2 Jelly Bean—a full decade before Apple. You could place any widget directly on your lock screen—calendar, weather, music controls, to-do lists—and swipe between them without ever unlocking your phone. My personal favorite was DashClock: a single widget that showed your next alarm, weather, unread messages, and missed calls in one glanceable view.

The feature had a solid run for about two years before Google decided to remove it in 2014 with the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop. One of the reasons was that lock screen widgets posed security risks—someone could see your personal information without unlocking the device. But if you ask me, the security trade-off was always the users’ to make—a quick disclaimer about the security risks would’ve sufficed.

And here’s why I’m right—Google just reintroduced lock screen widgets on Pixels with Android 16. However, in my opinion, it feels like a worse implementation because all the widgets are stacked vertically. In fact, I’d wager that Apple introducing lock screen widgets with iOS 16 is what nudged Google into action. It’s funny how Apple made Google play catch-up on a feature that Google themselves pioneered—they really should have had more confidence in their own work.

Brand

Google

SoC

Google Tensor G5

Display

6.3-inch Actua OLED, 20:9

RAM

12 GB RAM

Storage

128 GB / 256 GB

Battery

4970mAh

Not every trade-off was worth making

Android is a better operating system today than it was a decade ago—there’s no denying that. But “better overall” doesn’t mean every individual decision was the right one. The five features above all worked. They were intuitive, practical, and in some cases ahead of their time. Google chose to remove them anyway, and the replacements haven’t fully filled the gap.