I haven't downloaded and messed with it yet but I'm going to - not so much because of it's features, but because even after reading the entire article I still don't understand what it has to do with that annoying hole in phones screens where your camera is... I think maybe by pressing your camera hole it activates the app?  - maybe, I don't know.

I guess I could have done tested it out in the time it took me to make this post, but I just don't feel like doing that now, but thought it interesting enough to mention.

Excerpts below.

By Jon Gilbert Mar 4, 2026, 11:15 AM EST

The best software upgrade I made to my Android phone wasn't from Google; it's a tiny utility

https://www.androidpolice.com/i-turned-my-phones-camera-hole-into-an-asset-with-this-app/

Some try to hide it completely, but the standard for flagship phones is an isolated cutout in the top-center of your phone's screen. We've become accustomed to this black void over the years, but no matter how manufacturers try to dress it up, it's still an inconvenience we have to deal with. But what if we could use it instead? ... ..

But out of all the ones I've tested, Material Capsule is by far the best. .... Material Capsule not only fits perfectly within this design language, but it might also be the best example of it I've seen. ...

The free version of Material Capsule only lets you activate two options per feature. This might sound limiting, but in my testing, I found this limit more than enough to make my phone more useful. ....

It's seriously impressive how swish Material Capsule is. The media player has become my most frequently used feature as it's a more convenient way to pause or skip tracks than the player in the notification shade. There are plenty of other nifty features, like the timer display, connection indicator, and download tracker. It has most of the functionality of your phone's Quick Settings menu, but that's not what I love about it. There are plenty of apps that add shortcuts, sliders, and extra buttons to your Android phone. But I tend to find these tools obstructive and annoying. I'd rather take the extra couple of seconds to toggle a setting than to fiddle with clunky UI elements.
Thankfully, Material Capsule sits quietly in the background, only appearing when it's absolutely necessary. ...

The customization options are crucial here. I don't need Material Capsule to notify me about every status change on my phone, but I do need it to show music controls. With all Material Capsule's features enabled, it would activate for nearly every action you can do on your phone.

The customization actions extend to setting up the widget. Every phone has a slightly different camera hole, so you can adjust the size of Material Capsule so it's always invisible when not in use. You can set which direction it opens, the animation style, and the background color.

Material Capsule stands apart as it not only manages to feel like an app designed by Google, but it also utilizes all the tools at its disposal in the best way possible.

I haven't yet upgraded to the Pro version, but when lifetime access is only $3.30, I don't think it'll take long before I switch. It's well worth the money, but I'll need to test it more before I pay for it. .....

Google could learn a lot by examining how a third-party app can pack functionality into a tiny space without feeling clunky or cluttered. Best of all, there's no AI.