Chronus. I've been using this for almost 10 years on all the Nexus/Pixel line. The dev is still very active and responsive. Of course it's much more than just a clock but you need not use every feature. I love the weather widget which lets you select from several weather api's. Cheers.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dvtonder.chronus
There is . But it is useless because it is not baked into system. This is for the notification (not so great, as it overlays on top of existing notification): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.treydev.pns
This is for volume (i like the fat MiUI ones) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tombayley.volumepanel
Oh wait. Browser doesn't always work for me either. I use this app and open the links by instantly sharing the link to the app after opening the page in browser. Then the app gives me an option to use what app I want.
I'm also in the small minority who always likes having an option to choose an app instead of setting a default.
If you want to have options from non browser apps as well, set the app as default browser
There's no better workaround afaik
Try Bottom Quick Settings from the google store. Maybe it is what you are looking for.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tombayley.bottomquicksettings
You can get it to switch to a "normal" clock by displaying a notification. I use an app that generates a persistent notification called "Notification Maker". I just create a notification with just a "." and tell the app to make it persistent.