By Oluwaniyi Raji
Publication Date: 2026-05-10 13:30:00
Every time I open my Gallery app, I look at the AI-generated highlights, the auto-curated collections, and the suggested changes and think to myself, “Is this really necessary?”
Of course, you can disable AI features on your Android phone individually. Google Photos added a toggle for Gemini-powered search in early 2026, and Samsung allows you to turn off Photo Assist in its Gallery settings.
But these switches are often reset after updates, new AI features appear with every software cycle, and the entire process feels like defending yourself against your own phone.
I’d rather use apps where the default experience is already clean than apps that I have to reconfigure every few months to keep it that way.
I firmly believe that AI is a tool to make my job easier, but it shouldn’t act on my behalf.
So I did a little research and found apps that perform their functions well without giving in to the AI fad that infects everything from…
