These 6 apps are only in the Galaxy Store, and they took my Samsung phone to the next level

Key Takeaways

• Expert RAW offers professional camera capabilities for Samsung phones, including easy lens switching and RAW image capture.
• Sound Assistant lets you use app-specific volume presets and cosmetic customizations for Galaxy phones.
• Galaxy Enhance-X uses AI tools to restore old photos while providing user-friendly controls.

One of the biggest advantages of having a Samsung phone is the ability to access the vast app selection available on both the Galaxy and Google Play stores. They both offer an extensive range of games and apps for every imaginable purpose, and the overlap between them means you can use one or the other interchangeably to find most software.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Store offers certain exclusive apps for Samsung users that aren’t available on Google Play. These apps are specifically designed for Samsung Galaxy phones, and they can drastically enhance performance and functionality to get the best out of your device. Today, I’m going to look at the best Galaxy Store-exclusive apps you should install now if you want to use your phone’s full potential.

1 Expert RAW

Make the most of your phone’s camera capabilities

Expert Raw is a must-have app for anyone looking to give their Samsung Galaxy a pro upgrade for free. It’s a standalone camera app that updates the interface with speed, exposure value, and focus instead of the usual options. The dedicated buttons for Telephoto, Wide-Angle, and Ultrawide lenses are another nifty feature that makes it easy to switch between lenses instantly while I’m shooting.

The app can also shoot RAW and JPEG shots simultaneously, offering incredible versatility to hobbyists and pros alike. Balancing the colors or changing the exposure of the RAW images is a breeze with professional software like PhotoShop. At the same time, the phone’s correction tools optimize the JPEGs to look their best without editing. Expert RAW takes time for novices like myself to master, but it was worth it for the amazing output once I got the hang of it.

2 Sound Assistant

Customize your Galaxy’s sound settings

Samsung’s Sound Assistant is a fun app that allows me to customize my phone’s volume controls and fine-tune the settings. I like that I can remap my phone’s volume buttons to control media sound instead of ringtone levels, and I also use them to skip tracks and more when enjoying music. Individual app volume is another feature I can’t live without because I can use simple sliders to preset the levels for Spotify, YouTube, and other apps to meet my preferences.

On the cosmetic side, Sound Assistant allows me to move the volume panel from right to left and adjust the number of steps to reach the minimum and maximum levels. The expanded volume panel is a nice touch because it adds more bars for app volume and extra toolbar options for quick access to the equalizer and other settings. As someone who loves personalizing my phone, I appreciate that I can add custom themes and lighting effects to the volume panel and add a floating dial for a retro feel.

3 Galaxy Enhance-X

Restore old photos with the latest AI tools

Galaxy Enhance-X is another fantastic Samsung-exclusive app that miraculously restores images with advanced AI tools. I recently used it on old black-and-white photos of my grandparents, and it accurately colorized them, made them sharper and clearer, and removed unwanted shadows in seconds. A convenient slider lets me switch between the before-and-after shots to see the improvements before saving.

Apart from restoring old pictures, Galaxy Enhance-X helps remove motion blur from unfocused shots and can increase the brightness or resolution of my shots. It also has fun options, like the 24-hour time-lapse and Sky-Guide tools. Galaxy Enhance-X is fairly user-friendly for a complex app and won’t take long to master because all the buttons are logically laid out at the bottom of the display.

4 Good Lock

Unique customization options to make your phone stand out

Good Lock is a customization app that allows me to personalize nearly every visual aspect of my Galaxy phone with its countless features. Thankfully, it’s broken into several modules, like Theme Park to create custom themes, Keys Cafe to change the keyboard settings, and NavStar to organize the navigation bar, to name a few. This setup allows me to focus on a single personalization aspect at a time and prevents me from getting overwhelmed by many options.

Wonderland is my favorite Good Lock module because I can create custom wallpapers using photos from my gallery and add movement effects for when I tilt my phone. Keys Cafe is also pretty good because I can change my keyboard’s color to something more exciting or create a custom layout with each button and symbol where I want them. NavStar is another interesting tool that allows me to replace my phone’s navigation bar icons with bespoke options and add new swipe gesture controls. Goodlock’s many features can keep you busy for hours, and you’ll have a unique phone like no other if you’re willing to put the time in.

5 Camera Assistant

A simple tool to improve camera functionality

The beauty of the Camera Assistant app is that it improves my camera functionality while keeping things simple and maintenance-free. This app comprises a single page with handy set-and-forget sliders to add a 2x zoom shortcut, picture softening, and auto lens switching to my standard camera app.

Navigating lower on the page, I can activate the quick tap shutter function, distortion correction, and prioritize focus over speed. I often use the multi-photo timer option, which allows me to take between one and seven pictures in timer mode and adjust the interval between them from one to three seconds. Audio monitoring is another handy feature of this app that plays the audio from the videos I’m recording through my headphones or speakers via Bluetooth or HDMI.

6 Good Guardians

Optimize your phone to increase its lifespan

Good Guardians keeps my Samsung Galaxy phone in tip-top condition with various modules to monitor its health and optimize its settings. The list includes Battery Tracker, Battery Guardian, Galaxy App Booster, Thermal Guardian, Memory Guardian, and Media File Guardian, and they handle all aspects of my phone’s performance between them.

Battery Tracker and Battery Guardian are my go-to modules on the road. They enable me to monitor each app’s battery usage over a 24-hour or seven-day period and enable various power-saving features when I’m low on juice. Thermal Guardian is handy for monitoring my phone’s temperature and CPU usage. It includes a brightness limiter and other tools to protect the internals and help them last longer when the phone gets too hot.