The Google Play store has exploded in recent years, with a proliferation of apps that can cater to your every need. The problem is: there are just too many of them, even with Editor’s Picks, Featured and Best Selling, Top Paid and Top Free categories there to help
What’s the best phone of 2016?
And that’s why we made this list. Like you we want the best apps for our Android phones. The apps that are going to revolutionise functionality or, at the very least, offer something so great that it becomes one of the must-have apps that has to be downloaded whenever you get a new handset.
The following apps will be constantly updated and are a mixture of paid and free ones and have been chosen by our Android experts. So, even if you do dip into actual cash for one of these apps, you are safe in the knowledge that it is a worthwhile purchase.
Free
Anyone with a tiny artist (or future Spielberg) at home should give
Toontastic 3D
a try. This Google app might look like a game, but at its heart it
s actually all about drawing, animating and narrating your own cartoons.
Pick a setting and a cast of characters (or create your own), and then move them around the environment (dragging them to make them walk), while adding sound effects or dialogue via your phones microphone.
You can also interact with the backdrop, tapping on objects to animate them. Then add music from the built-in selection of songs and move on to the next scene.
It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s basic stuff, but that means it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s easy for even the youngest members of the family to make something, and there are enough different characters and environments here to make a wide range of content. It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s also open enough to teach kids to tell stories and create basic artworks of their own.
Once youre done you can play the animation back and export it to your gallery to share with friends and family. Or just get to work on the sequel.
Free
We wouldn" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t say changing the volume on most Android phones is tricky, but it can be a several step process if you want to change the noise level of just a specific type of sound, say alarms, or music – especially if you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re not currently using a relevant app.
Volume Notification
makes the task a little bit easier, by placing volume controls on the notification dropdown, and optionally also on the lock screen. Rather than being a global control you can pick which things you want to be able to control the volume of, and add an icon for any or all of them.
Then just tap the icon and you can adjust just the volume for that thing, be it media playback, voice calls, notifications, phone ringer, system sounds or alarms.
Volume Notification is a simple app and may not be one you use much, but if you do tend to tweak the volumes or mute specific sounds on a regular basis (or just need to be sure something isn't going to blare out in a quiet environment) it makes doing so that much more convenient.
From $5.75 (around £4.75/AU$7.50) per month
There are any number of reasons you might want to use a VPN, from improved privacy and security to accessing region-locked content, but whatever your reason
NordVPN
is a strong option.
You can use it not only on Android, but also Windows, iOS and Mac, all with a single subscription, and the app is nicely designed, with a world map from which you can tap on the country you want to access a server from.
Do that and NordVPN will automatically select the best performing server in that country, but there" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s also a list of over 600 servers if you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />d rather choose your own.
Further keeping things simple theres a one-tap toggle to unlock most geo-restricted content, and NordVPN takes your privacy seriously too, with 2048-bit encryption and no logs kept of your activity.
It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s a subscription-based service with no free tier and no easily accessible free trial (you can get three days free, but only from Nord" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s website and only if you select to pay with Bitcoin), but it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s cheaper than some VPNs and the cost is often further cut by sales and promotions.
Free + $3.60/£3.80 IAP
ADW Launcher has long been one of the best launchers available on Google Play to change the look of your phone, and now the company behind it is back with
ADW Launcher 2
.
This isnt one for fans of minimalist, simple interfaces as ADW Launcher 2 is all about customization.
You can change the style of the app drawer, the animation when transitioning between home screens, the number of apps shown on each page, the theme, the icons and just about everything else you might ever want to tweak.
As well as making the interface look and animate exactly as you want, ADW Launcher 2 also has some clever features that add whole new functionality. These include the ability to disguise folders as a single app viewing the contents with a swipe, or launching the first app in the folder with a tap.
There are also various customizable gesture controls letting you launch apps or functions with swipes and pinches. The bulk of the app is completely free, but theres a single IAP to unlock a larger selection of customization options.
Free + $4.99/£2.99 monthly subscription
Whether you just have a grocery list, or to-do lists for work, chores and every other part of your life,
Wunderlist
has you covered.
The app is built specifically for list making, so its not a multi-purpose note taking app like Evernote, but it creates more effective to-do points as a result.
Any list you create automatically has check boxes attached to it, and any item you tick off is automatically removed. That means you can see at a glance what still needs doing, as everything thats been done already is hidden.
But re-adding completed items to a list is easy too, as your checked off items aren" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t deleted, they" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re simply a tap away.
That, plus the ability to sort lists into folders (for instance, work and home) and sub-lists (to split your grocery shopping between multiple stores), makes Wunderlist a strong option for most users.
But if you need more power, Wunderlist also lets you share and collaborate on lists, set deadlines and reminders, and attach PDFs, presentations and photos to your lists.
These features are free, but with some limitations. For a $4.99/£2.99 monthly subscription you can unlock unlimited file attachments, unlimited sub lists, assign an unlimited number of tasks to others and get access to a selection of backgrounds.
Its a handy option for anyone managing their whole life with lists, but most users should be fine with the free offering.
Free + $0.99/89p IAP
Your phones screen is one of the biggest drains on a battery, but if your handset has an AMOLED display (like most Samsung handsets and a number of others do) then there are things you can do to minimize the drain.
While LCD screens light up the entire display no matter what you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re viewing, AMOLED screens can turn pixels on and off individually, so when you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re viewing a pure black the pixels don" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t need to be lit at all.
Thats handled automatically by your phone, but with
Pixoff
you can choose to turn off some of the pixels whatever youre doing. This makes the screen appear darker and lower resolution than it would otherwise, but it can save battery in the process, and the app lets you control how many pixels you disable and in what arrangement.
It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s unlikely to be something you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll want on all the time, but if you have a QHD display the visual effect isn" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t that huge, and could be handy if you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re trying to conserve battery. In fact, to make things easier there" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s even an option to have it automatically enable when your battery falls below a certain level.
Or you can have Pixoff keep the screen black when your phone is in a pocket or face down on a surface, and it avoids burn-in by slightly adjusting the placement of the black pixels at regular intervals.
All of which makes Pixoff a powerful, well thought-out tool. The core app is free, but for denser arrangements of black pixels (which saves more battery life) youll have to buy a $0.99/89p IAP.
Free
You probably dont think about your posture when looking at your phone, but perhaps you should, as according to one study angling your head downwards while using a handset can put up to 60lbs of strain on your neck and spine.
Now think about how much you use your phone. That much strain every time you use it could be very, very bad news.
And thats what
Posture
aims to stop. The app runs in the background and provides an alert if the angle of your phone suggests youre probably straining your neck.
The alert is unobtrusive, appearing silently in a position of your choice, and you can choose how often you want the app to check your posture and how strict you want it to be.
And that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s really all there is to it. If you already have good posture then you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll quickly forget you even have the app, but if not it could help you make an important change.
Free
Gboard
is the new name for Google Keyboard, but this is more than just a rebranding, with numerous new features, most notably the ability to search Google from the keyboard, and get results displayed on the keyboard, so you don" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t have to leave the screen you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re on.
If youve asked Google a simple question, such as what time the sun sets, the answer will be displayed on the keyboard, while if you get website or map results then tapping on them will paste the URL into the text entry field.
Another new feature is the ability to search for and post GIFs from the keyboard though currently only into a small number of apps.
Beyond that, this is largely the Google Keyboard of old, but that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s no bad thing, as it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s a polished app that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s packed full of features, including gesture typing (now known as Glide typing), multilingual typing, a one-handed mode, and word suggestions that learn based on your own vocabulary.
Free
Microsofts AI assistant, Cortana, has been available on Android for a while, but it only recently launched in the UK, and to mark the occasion Microsoft gave the app an overhaul, with a new, simplified interface.
Much like Google Assistant, Cortana can answer questions by looking things up online, as well as interacting with other apps on your phone, allowing you to check your calendar, send a text, or launch an app, all just by talking to Cortana.
Cortana is also generally good at understanding what youre asking, but it does have some shortcomings top among them being a reliance on Bing, and the inability to launch it from your home screen with a voice command (though you can start talking to it with just a single tap).
As such it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s not quite a rival for Google" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s assistant, but it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s an interesting alternative and one you might want to check out if you don" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t get on with Google" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s.
Free
News on mobile is usually presented like an RSS feed, or in some cases with a website or magazine-inspired layout. All these approaches are great for browsing, but they can feel quite impersonal, even once youve tailored them to your interests.
Quartz
aims to address that, by making reading the news more like having a text conversation with a very well informed friend, one who has no interest in talking about anything except the latest happenings in the world.
The app is laid out like an SMS or WhatsApp conversation " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> right down to speech bubbles and giving you a choice of responses " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> with new stories being messaged to you when you start it up.
These come through one at a time, with a brief synopsis, and you can then choose to hear the full story or move on to the next one.
It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s all very conversational, not just in the layout, but in the fact that stories are littered with emojis, GIFs and images, and the writing is concise and engaging. All in all, it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s an interestingly different take on news delivery, and one that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s worth a look if you find most sources a bit dry.
Free or $3.49/£2.39 for Pro version
Never feel like you have enough storage space on your phone? Then
SD Maid
could be for you, as beyond being a file explorer it also has tools to help you identify whats taking up space and what you can get rid of.
Its " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />CorpseFinder" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> tool searches for directories or files that have been left behind by deleted applications, while " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />SystemCleaner" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> scans for known file types that can safely be deleted.
" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />AppCleaner" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> looks for files within applications that can be deleted without causing loss of important data, " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />Duplicates" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> looks for duplicate files, and " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />Storage analyzer" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> shows which things on your phone are taking up the most space.
Whichever tool youre using within the app, the first step is simply to identify things that you might want to delete.
Once SD Maid has done that you still have complete control over which, if any, files and folders you actually do delete, so youve only got yourself to blame if it erases something important though in theory nothing it finds should be vital anyway.
The " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />AppCleaner" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> and " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />Duplicates" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> tools require the Pro upgrade, but most of the rest of the app is free, and it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s a great tool for clearing out files you might never even have found otherwise.
Free
AccuBattery
isn" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t one of those apps which dubiously claims to extend your battery life by meddling with background processes. Instead it simply aims to provide far more information on your phone" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s battery and its health than most handsets offer as standard.
It contains a wealth of stats, including how much power individual apps are using, right down the exact mAh they consume, how often your device is woken from deep sleep, and estimates how long your battery will last based on your habits.
It also claims to be more accurate than Android" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s own battery usage estimates, and while we" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re not sure that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s true, we can say that its stats " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> and especially its slightly worrying battery health figures " class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> have changed the way we use and charge our phones, leading to longer-lasting, and hopefully healthier, juice packs.
Free
David Attenborough has been teaching us about plants and animals for decades, and with the BBCs
Story of Life
app you have access to some of the most remarkable wildlife moments from his back catalogue.
In fact, there are over a thousand of them included, with highlights from Planet Earth, Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals, Africa and others.
Finding interesting clips is a breeze, thanks to a filter which lets you sort the clips by species, habitat or behavior, or you can dig deeper and search for a specific animal, plant or series name.
There are also featured collections, which combine multiple clips covering a certain theme, such as birds of paradise, and you can create your own collections filled with your favorite clips, ready for re-watching or sharing with friends.
If there" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s a weak point to the app it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s that some of the clips are low quality but that" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s inevitable and unavoidable, given that the BBC was filming them back when HD screens were the stuff of science fiction.
Free + IAP
There are loads of great drawing and painting apps for Android, but not all of us have the talent needed to go with them, and for the artistically-challenged among us theres BBC Earth Colouring.
Essentially this is a coloring book app, with intricate images like those youd find in any physical adult coloring book, except these are all inspired by shots from Planet Earth 2.
You might expect a coloring book to be fiddly on a phone or tablet screen, but it works surprisingly well. You can pinch to zoom, giving you the control you need even on smaller screens, and you can undo mistakes with a tap.
You can also pick from numerous brush sizes and types as well as hundreds of colors, and choose to either fill in whole blocks of the image or to paint free-form using a finger or stylus if you want to get detailed.
Like the real thing it can be quite relaxing, but unlike the real thing you can easily share your finished pieces online.
If there" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s a downside to BBC Earth Colouring it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s that you only get three images free and have to pay $3.99/£2.99 for the remaining 33. But they" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re detailed enough that even the free content could entertain you for an afternoon or more.
Free + IAP
Whether you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re learning math for the first time, or you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ve simply forgotten how to do everything beyond basic addition, Photomath can help.
Simply point your phones camera at a written-out math problem and Photomath will identify and solve it, saving you the effort of typing it out into a calculator, and effortlessly handling complicated equations.
That would be enough to recommend it, but Photomath also shows working, with a clear step-by-step guide explaining how to reach the answer, making it a brilliant teaching tool too.
Theres also the option to type an equation out on your screen and still get guided solutions, making it a complete learning tool.
For even more detailed instructions, along with tips and tricks, you can subscribe to Photomath+ for $0.99/89p per month, but even the basic app is likely more powerful than your calculator.
$9.99/£6.69
Redshift
is an essential app for anyone with an interest in the night sky. Using your current location, the app will highlight the planets, stars and constellations that should be visible to you, and with a tap you can fly out to them, viewing 3D models of the night sky.
With 100,000 stars, 70,000 deep sky objects, 500 asteroids, 16 comets, 26 moons and all known planets, exploring the whole universe is an unending task with this app.
Using the 3D graphics and animations its an enjoyable experience to just tap around and dart between solar systems and stars, but if you want more information the app also has 10 guided tours and links to Wikipedia pages for anything you happen to be looking at.
Free
There are loads of different Android launchers available, each of which replaces your standard home screen with a new one, but
Flow Home
is one of the more beautiful and unique ones.
Where most are some variation on a grid of apps, Flow Home is designed to look like a magazine, or a stylish feed reader – and it works a bit like one too, highlighting the latest posts from your Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Feedly accounts.
In fact, social media updates make up the bulk of the main screen, with an icon tap in the corner bringing up your most-used apps and a swipe to the right displaying your app drawer.
Numerous themes, plus widget support, help you customize Flow Home to your liking, but if you're a social media hermit then this probably isn't the launcher for you.
Free
Google is already a big part of many people's travel plans, thanks largely to Google Maps, but now
Google Trips
aims to make Google your single destination for all vacations and day trips.
The app lets you plan and save trips, automatically pulling in any reservations from Gmail, and providing details on attractions, transport, food and drink, as well as need-to-know information about money and medical care.
Many major locations across the world also have pre-constructed day plans if you're feeling uninspired, and your saved trips are available offline, so you can access all the relevant information even when there's no internet (or you dont want to pay for data).
Free
Despite the 'Pro' in its name,
Microsoft News Pro
is actually quite a basic news aggregator, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as it puts the stories front and center and doesn't get overly distracted with customization.
Simply sign in with your email or a social media account and it will present a feed full of content that it thinks you'll be interested in.
The initial results, at least in our testing, were hit and miss in terms of relevant content, but the upside of that is that we were presented with stories that we'd never think of following on our own.
Taking full control of what you see in News Pro isn't easy, but that doesnt seem to be the point of this app. Instead it's aimed at people who want to see news on just about everything and anything, delivering a well-rounded, but not particularly personalized, feed of stories.
You can tweak it though, searching for and following specific topics or telling it you want to see more or less of a specific type of news, or even muting certain sites altogether. You'll still regularly see stories you would never have looked for, but that's the point.
Free + IAP
Duolingo is the king of free language learning apps, but if you're prepared to spend a bit of money
Mondly
arguably has it beat.
The app has lessons for dozens of languages, including some missing from Duolingo, such as Japanese, and there's a range of different content, designed to help you read, write and speak your language of choice.
Daily lessons give you something new to learn every day, and there's also a wide selection of permanent lessons and tests split across numerous categories (such as 'travel' and 'family). There's even a chat bot, which you can speak to in the language you're learning to give youb much-needed feedback.
With leaderboards and charts to track and compare your progress there's also plenty of incentive to keep using Mondly beyond just the satisfaction of learning a new language.
The app actually has quite a lot of free content, so you can try it out without spending anything, but to get the most out of Mondly you'll ultimately want to stump up for extra content, which starts at $4.99/£4.99 in one-off payments.
Free + IAP
Buttons, as we all know, are old fashioned, and
KinScreen
is here to help take them out of the equation.
Currently, aside from a handful of smartphones with clever proximity, motion or screen-tapping features, you have to tap a button to turn on the screen on the majority of handsets, but KinScreen gives you button-free options, allowing you to fire up the display by waving your hand over the proximity sensor or even simply picking the phone up.
There are also options for keeping the screen on when in a call, when the phone is charging, or when it's held at a certain angle. Some settings require a cheap IAP to unlock, but most of the content is free and makes your phone that little bit smarter.
Free
Google hasn't had much luck with messaging apps, but its latest creation,
Google Allo
, has the potential to be a hit.
Beyond the basic features you'd expect from a messaging app, like group chats and sticker packs, there are a few things that make Allo stand out as a method of chatting to your mates.
The biggest of these is Google Assistant, which you can bring into any chat to ask it questions or provide Google search results.
Allo also includes an incognito mode if you want to keep your conversations private, suggested replies if you can't be bothered to actually talk to your friends and the ability to change the size of the text you send to make a bigger (or smaller) impact.
For some, Allo is likely to really click thanks to the fresh choices of messaging it offers. Others might quickly switch back to WhatsApp or whatever their messaging app of choice is (and where their friends are chatting), but if you get enough buddies involved Allo is well worth a look if you want to freshen up your conversations.
Free + IAP
Ever wished your widgets took up less space on the home screen of your Android phone? Well with
Snap Swipe Drawer
they can or, rather, can be put somewhere that's at once out of the way and convenient.
Once set up, simply swipe down from the top of your screen to view your widgets. This doesn't interfere with notifications, as you can choose just one section to swipe across when you want to view widgets.
Not only does this mean your home screens are left just for apps and folders (and potentially reduced in number as a result), but also by moving the widgets to a drop-down screen you can access them from anywhere, even from within apps or the lock screen.
Best of all, Snap Swipe Drawer is free for the most part, though there's a single $2.49/£1.99 IAP to remove adverts and allow for an unlimited number of widgets.
Free
If you're looking for in depth information on your mobile network's performance, or an easy way to find best signal in your area,
OpenSignal
is the answer.
The app contains more features than you're ever likely to need, showing you which cell tower your phone is connected to, along with every other tower in the area, plus detailed maps and charts to show each network's coverage and speeds in any given area.
You can also carry out speed tests and see your signal stat history, including what percentage of the time you've been on 4G, 3G, 2G, or without a signal if youre so stat-obsessed.
All the data which isn't taken from your own phone is collected from other users of the app, and with over 10 million global users its information is impressively detailed. As OpenSignal isn't affiliated with any mobile network it's also independent and unbiased.
Free
For notetaking and to-do lists you'll struggle to find a better app than Evernote, but for more serious, longer form writing,
iA Writer
is a superior choice.
The app is designed to be simple, by providing you with an uncluttered interface to make it much easier to focus on crafting that essay or novel. In fact, there's even a Focus Mode, which makes all the writing other than your current sentence fade into a dull gray.
But while many simple apps of this genre lack more varied features, iA Writer is also functionally powerful, with Markdown support, multiple templates, word counts and a night mode available if you want them.
When you're done with a piece you can export it to plain text, PDF, HTML or Microsoft Word and you can publish your work direct to Medium or WordPress, or upload it to Dropbox or Google Drive.
Free
Everyone likes free money and with
Google Opinion Rewards
thats genuinely what you get… or at least free credit to use on Google Play.
It's a simple app that asks you to fill in quick surveys in return for a small cash reward. The surveys never take more than a few minutes and you'll usually only get a new one once a week, so the app isn't intrusive…and while you won't make huge sums with it you can potentially make a few pounds/dollars a month.
Any credit you make can be applied to apps, IAPs, movie rentals, music or anything else you can find on Google Play, so you'll easily find things to spend it on.
Free + IAP
If you've ever wanted to share a screenshot of an entire conversation thread or several related images then you'll know the pain of having to post each screen individually, but
Stitch It!
provides a neater and faster alternative.
Simply launch the app, select all the images of the conversations you want to share and then stitch them together with the press of a button.
There are a few basic editing tools most notably the ability to edit out any private information that you don't want to share – and once you're done you can share all of the images as one.
It's the sort of app that doesn't do much but you'll wonder how you ever lived without, though sadly the free version limits you to stitching three images at once.
For unlimited stitching and an end to adverts you have shell out for a quarterly, annual or lifetime subscription which is probably worth it for compulsive sharers.
Free
We live in a digital world, but many of us have boxes full of printed photos that dont exist on a hard drive anywhere, because they were taken before that was possible.
Typically, that makes backing them up or sharing them online a tricky task, but Google has set out to simplify the matter with
PhotoScan
, a new app that does exactly what it says simply position your phones camera lens over a printed image, move it around following the on-screen instructions, and PhotoScan will create a digital copy.
This does more than just taking a photo of your photo, because it also eliminates glare, automatically crops and enhances the image, and ensures the edges are straight.
You wont always get perfect results first time, and in some cases a little bit of detail is lost, but this is a quick, easy and generally high-quality way to digitize your photo collection.
$1.99/£1.49
We all need a little help relieving stress sometimes, and
Pause
aims to provide that assistance through the simple act of following a dot around the screen with your finger.
As you do so soothing sounds play, and a colored blob gradually grows around the dot. Within a few minutes the app promises to lessen your stress and increase your focus, and though it sounds gimmicky it works in our experience.
Supposedly it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s based on the principles of Tai Chi and mindfulness practice, as well as being scientifically tested and validated with EEG (electroencephalogram) technology. But credentials aside it" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s just a great way to find some calm on a busy day.
Free + $9.99/£9.99 monthly subscription
Meditation apps are meant, among other things, to relax and de-stress us, but if youre anything like us they run the risk of doing the opposite, becoming chores that we feel guilty for neglecting.
Simple Habit
doesnt completely solve that problem, but it gets some way there, by offering short 5-minute meditations, that you can easily fit in at any point during your day.
Other meditation apps have short sessions too, but there are usually only a few of them, mixed in with longer meditations, while theyre all short in Simple Habit (though we do have to point out some stretch beyond 5 minutes to cater for those that do want a bit more relaxation).
Simple Habit also has a variety of different teachers to guide you, so if you dont get on with one (or just get bored of their voice) there are plenty of others to choose from.
The rest of the app is as you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />d expect, with meditations designed around specific life circumstances, goals or moods, and a simple interface that doesn" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t get in the way.
Like
Headspace
, most of the meditations are locked behind a subscription, but you can listen to a handful for free to see if Simple Habit is for you.
Free
Fingerprint scanners can go beyond just unlocking your phone, as they can also be used as shortcuts to apps and functions. This is an idea seen on multiple handsets (on the
Google Pixel
for example) which will pull down the notification screen if you swipe across the scanner.
But not all phones build these features in, leaving untapped potential in their scanners. Potential that
Fingerprint Gestures
exploits.
The app lets you configure a double tap, single tap and swipe of the fingerprint scanner to all do different things, with launching apps, lowering the notification panel, pausing or skipping a song and toggling the torch all options among things.
We found some gestures work better than others swiping worked flawlessly while double taps were hit and miss, but this may vary by phone.
Assuming it does work for you, Fingerprint Gestures is a hugely useful app, adding functionality to your phone that youll wonder how you ever did without.
Free
Generally, we" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re happy to stick with Chrome as our day-to-day browser, but sometimes we don" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t want to be advertised at, and for those days there" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s
Brave Browser
.
It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s based on Chromium, so the look and layout is very similar to Chrome (you" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />ll feel right at home if you make the switch) but unlike Chrome it has built-in ad blocking tools (although do think about who you want to whitelist hint!), along with options to block tracking and third-party cookies.
There are individual toggles for all of these on a per-site basis, so you only have to block the content that bothers you, and doing so can lead to faster, safer browsing than Chrome or most other mobile browsers offer, as well as less of an impact on your phones battery life.
But Brave isn" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />t trying to kill adverts. It realizes that they" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />re needed to support quality content, so on desktop you can opt to view only unobtrusive adverts, or even pay the sites that you want to support but block the ads on. It" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />s likely that these features and more will arrive in the mobile version down the line, but for now this is just a simple ad-blocker.
Free + various IAP
Remixlive
is a great music maker for people who dont know how to make music. It provides you with a grid of pads (24 on mobile, 48 on phablets and tablets), each of which contains a sample, with different grids fitting a particular style of music.
That second point means that everything broadly fits together, and even tapping the pads at random can produce something aurally pleasing.
But Remixlive is also good software for those who know how to make music, as you can create your own samples, either by recording sounds with your devices microphone or importing them.
You can control levels, change the tempo and record and export your tracks too, with most of these features are hidden behind IAP, ranging from $0.99/89p to $3.49/£2.69 each, as are most of the pre-built samples.
But if you<