We’re nearing the end of the first month of 2015 and a lot has happened. CES 2015 showed us some new tech and everyone’s looking forward to the next few months as new phones and products are announced and launched. There were also some great apps and games released. Here are the best new Android apps and games from January 2015.
Adobe Lightroom Mobile
[Price: Free (requires Creative Cloud subscription)]
First up this month is Adobe Lightroom Mobile. This is a mobile version of the popular Lightroom app that lets you edit, organize, and otherwise manage your photos and other images. There have been some issues including compatibility issues with newer smartphones and space issues. However, if you can get passed that, this is a powerful photo editor that can be used in tandem with the desktop version assuming you use and pay for a Creative Cloud subscription.
Asana
[Price: Free]
Asana is a task management platform aimed at teams of people who need to get work done. Technically, this app has existed for a while but it essentially a wrapper for the mobile site and it was pitifully awful. It’s now a native Android app with Material Design and it’s way better. There are still some issues here and there but this is a big step forward and an app to keep an eye on.
Camu
[Price: Free / $2.31]
Camu is a popular photo editing app that was very popular on iOS and has finally made its way to Android. It features the ability to shoot videos and photos with live effects applied, collages, text, various effects, super focus, and auto-enhance mode. It’s free with in app purchases but, believe it or not, the in app purchases aren’t that bad.
Crossy Road
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Crossy Road was about as big a hit as any app could be on the Amazon Appstore and eventually saw its release on Google Play. It’s kind of like Frogger in that you’re a chicken who must cross many, many roads. The graphics aren’t great but the game play is surprisingly fun. There is no story or anything ridiculous but it’s a solid and difficult time waster that costs nothing to download.
Dragon Quest V
[Price: $14.99]
Square Enix continues to re-release their old collection of games here in 2015 and first up this year is Dragon Quest 5. Much like others in the series, the game is played entirely in portrait mode which is unique. It also features full camera control, monster catching, AI battles for easier level grinding, and more. It’s a tad expensive at $14.99 but at least there are no in app purchases.
Facebook Lite
[Price: Free]
Facebook Lite was developed for those who use budget phones. It’s optimized for 2G internet and its less-is-more design is great for weaker processors. Unfortunately, you can only officially get it from the Play Store if you have a terrible phone. It’s less than 1MB and includes the core Facebook functionality without any of the frills. If your device isn’t compatible in the Play Store, you can pick up the APK to sideload here.
Google Classroom
[Price: Free]
Google Classroom is a classroom environment that allows teachers and parents to help students learn by creating a virtual classroom environment. It was only available as a web app for a long time but is now available on Android and iOS. It allows students to take and upload pictures to Classroom, interact with the platform, chat with students live, and more.
Lego Bionicle
[Price: Free]
Lego Bionicle is a hack and slash style game where you must pick your Lego hero and kill a bunch of bad guys. The graphics and controls are actually pretty good even if the story line is a tad shallow. It is totally free to play with no in app purchases which is a rarity and thanks to its mild nature, it’s a great game for kids.
LibreOffice Viewer
[Price: Free]
LibreOffice Viewer is a document viewing app released in beta this last month. It is in beta so if you find bugs, it would be better to report them than to give the app a bad review because it is a beta. Aside from the beta related issues, the app seems to be progressing nicely and even hit the 4 out of 5 star rating on Google Play recently. It’s also nice to see official LibreOffice on Android, even if it’s just a viewer.
Manual Camera
[Price: $1.99]
Last on our list this month is Manual Camera. This app takes full advantage of the Camera2 API in Lollipop so, as you can probably guess, this app is only for people who use Lollipop. It lets you adjust things like shutter speed, focus distance, ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation. The compatible device list is pretty slim so read the description before downloading!
Wrap up
As always, if we missed any great new Android apps and games released in 2015, let us know about it in the comments below!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
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