As successful as Animal Crossings: New Horizons may be (it sold 13.41 million units in 6 weeks), fans of the series have voiced many valid criticisms of the best-selling Nintendo Switch title.
These include the tiresome airport system, excruciatingly slow chat speed (why do I need to hold 'B' just to speed up the same old line a thousand times?) and more.
Reddit user u/Apermax has since collated the many complaints of the Animal Crossing community and illustrated some NookPhone app concepts that could drastically improve quality of life if implemented within the game.
Calendar
Instead of relying on Isabelle's announcements or checking the noticeboard, players can access a centralised calendar that lists birthdays and special events like Bug Off and the quarterly Fishing Tourney.
Photos
Currently, screenshots and videos are only accessible via the Switch's Photos app. Having it built right into the game itself will certainly save a lot of hassle switching in and out of programs.
Tracker
Imagine being able to see where each resident (or visitor) is at all times! You'd save so much time checking to see who's crafting at home, or tracking down that pesky villager you're looking to evict to see if they have a bubble on their head.
Music
Presumably, this app allows you to choose a global music track, instead of relying on the many radios and music players scattered around your island. While the latter method allows you to customise the 'soundtrack' of each unique area, sometimes you just wanna listen to Bubblegum all day, everywhere, alright?
Stalks
Ah, turnips. The bane of our Animal Crossing experience. Sometimes we want to track prices for our friends to make turnip runs, or input them into apps like Turnip Prophet to predict the current pricing trend. The Stalks app will automatically record prices throughout the current week, so you don't have to open a dedicate spreadsheet (like me).
Currently, mail can only be accessed via the mailbox, which can be placed anywhere on the map once you reach a certain level of progression. The Email app will enable you to check mail from anywhere on the island - no more running across the entire map just to grab the new Diving Suit your friend just sent through the mail.
Weather
Been raining for a week? Now you can check if salvation is near (and if there's a meteor shower tonight!)
Timer
Currently, the only timer function available in the game is the Stopwatch purchasable from Nook's Cranny when you have visitors on your island. It allows you to host your own fishing tournaments, mini-games and more. The proposed timer function has a few timing options, which could also help you mark your 'last 15 minutes' before you sleep.
CrossingWorld
It's Facebook, but for your Animal Crossing Villagers. What's not to love?!
Settings
Ah, 2 basic settings that Nintendo seems to have missed out despite New Horizons being the umpteenth iteration of the beloved Animal Crossing franchise. This concept introduces the option to invert X and Y axis controls, as well as adjust text speed (COME ON NINTENDO, POKEMON HAS HAD THIS OPTION LITERALLY DECADES AGO!)
Other players in the Reddit thread have also chimed in with their suggestions, including a NookFlight app that tracks which of your friend's islands are open, as well as a Bank app that allows you to withdraw Bells on the go.
Whatever it is, we hope Nintendo takes note of all these handy suggestions and rolls 'em out in the next patch (please, before my 'B' button breaks from speeding up text all the time).
