Applications have come a long way, and now, a smartphone or tablet would be nothing without apps. As such, we’ve collected 25 of the best Android apps, both free and paid. From essentials to games, these apps will keep you glued to your smartphone and maybe even make your day a little better and easier.
Cut The Rope
By: Zepto Lab
Cut the Rope began as an iOS app in late 2010. Finally, after the Android community paciently waited in agony, Zepto Lab brought the game to Android.
The main objective of the game is to catch at least one star per level before delivering the piece of candy to Om Nom (The hungry little green monster). To get around saws, spiders, and spikes, you have to cut ropes, pop bubbles, and fly through magical hats. According to the game’s Android Market description, over 60 million people have already played Cut The Rope, and it currently holds a 4.7 star average rating.
After purchasing the game for 99 cents, you will be able to play 250 levels of Cut the Rope with “New Levels Coming Soon”. New boxes (groups of 25 levels) are released about every few months, and the game itself is highly addicting.
Voxer Walkie-Talkie
By: Voxer
Have you ever wanted to skip dialing phone numbers and waiting on hold? If your looking to turn your phone into a “push to talk” live walkie-talkie, then Voxer is the app for you.
Voxer gives your Android 2.2+ device the ability to instantly talk with your friends and family over WiFi, 3G, 4G, EDGE, etc. In addition, if you can’t talk, the voice, text, photo and location options are all seamlessly integrated into one conversation.
The app works like a real walkie-talkie. When the other person speaks, you hear it almost instantly. And if you’re not by your phone, every voice and chat message is saved for later playback. Voxer also boasts 0 advertisements and group chats. Everything is completely free and is cross-platform between iPhone and Android. Over 5 million people have downloaded the app already on Android alone. When you download Voxer, you can sync with your Facebook account to see if your friends use Voxer, and also to let them know that you now have the app.
Speedtest.net
By: Ookla
It seems like a new type of ”G” comes out every year. To see how your internet connection stacks up, Speedtest.net has always been the #1 testing program.
The app is available on all Android 1.6+ devices and is 100% free. Upon downloading Speedtest.net, you will be able to test your ping and download and upload speeds. In addition, the app automatically saves every test that you record on your device, along with the type of data connection (Wifi, 3G, etc.), the date the test took place, and all of the recorded information. Finally, if you’re all about your data speeds, Speedtest.net even allows you to export your results as a CSV right from your Android device.
Price: Free!
Requires Android: 1.6+
Download: Here
Download: Here
GifBoom
By: Tapmojo LLC
Do you know what GIF stands for? Niether do I. But thankfully, we have Wikipedia. The “Graphics Interchange Format” allows pictures to come to life through animation.
Gifboom takes this technology mobile in a very simple and easy to use way. The app will “Wow your friends with high-res, cool Animated GIFs!”
The app takes a bunch of pictures at a set shutter speed. Then, after you have chosen the pictures you would like to use (including access to your local photo gallery), Gifboom quickly turns those photos into an animated GIF. Finally, you can play that animation backwards and forwards in addition to “One Tap Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Email and MMS”.
Shazam
By: Shazam Entertainment Limited
Have you ever heard a song on the radio that you just can’t remember the name of? Shazam for Android will be able to identify that song almost instantly. The app truly works like magic!
After Shazam has identified your song, you can listen to a 30 second preview, share it, play it in Spotify, get tour info, and even see full screen lyrics of the song with LyricPlay. Shazam has become so popular that you can even tag TV shows and advertisements when you see the Shazam logo. Despite there being a paid version of the app (Shazam Encore), the free version offers unlimited tagging. However, if you want to free yourself of advertisements and also contribute to the Shazam creators, you can buy the paid version for $4.99.
Light Flow
By: Rage Consulting Limited
One of the best yet underrated features of most Android devices is their LED notification light. Devices such as the Galaxy Nexus and original Motorola Droid feature LED notification lights. To fully unlock the potential of this notification system, you have to take control with Light Flow.
Both versions of Light Flow work without root access and support a wide variety of notification types.While the Lite version will only allow you to control the color of basic notifications (SMS, E-Mail, Missed Calls, etc.), the full version of Light Flow allows for you to customize “about 140 different notifications”. Both versions also allow for custom notifications by contact.
For an incredibly long list of the differences between the free and paid versions, follow this link.
SMS Popup
By: Adam K
Notifications are great. And now that you know how to customize the LED light with Light Flow^, SMS Popup along with Light Flow will create an incredible notification tag team.
SMS Popup is a free application that displays your incoming SMS messages in a nice “popup” dialog. In addition, the app allows for custom notifications by contact and has convenient buttons located just below the message. After receiving a message, SMS Popup puts you one click away from sending a quick reply back. Furthermore, after you close the popup box, the message is automatically marked as “read”. An optional privacy mode is available to hide the sender’s name and message contents.
Chrome Beta
By: Google Inc.
If you’re a true fan of Android’s daddy Google, you would be quite familiar with the Chrome series. Chrome has evolved from a web browser (#2 Most Used) to an operating system (For “Chromebooks”). And now, soon after the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, Chrome has become a mobile web browser.
Chrome has become famous for its speed, simplicity, and syncing capabilities. Furthermore, Chrome Beta for Android will feature Google’s signature omnibox (The single search bar for web history, Googling stuff, bookmarks and more. Omnibox only takes up about a 1/4″ of the screen. Furthermore, if you’re familiar with Chrome, you know that above the omnibox is all of your open tabs. Google knows that you want to maximize your screen and has taken the standard tab system away. In place is a very cool swiping feature that is similar to a deck of cards. The gestures are subtle, fast, and work with an unlimited amount of tabs.
Finally, you can sync up your Google account and see all of the tabs that you have open on any other one of your Chrome devices.
Chrome to Phone
By: Google Inc.
If you’re an avid Chrome user on your laptop or desktop computer, chances are that you want to be able to take your internet with you on your mobile device. Chrome Beta for Android offers the ability to see all of your open tabs on your computer. However, if you don’t have Ice Cream Sandwich, Chrome Beta is out of the picture.
Therefore, Chrome to Phone allows for you to click one button on your computer in Chrome, and the website is instantly sent to your phone as a notification. When you’re ready, simply click the notification and Chrome to Phone will open the link in your default browser on your phone. Voila! It is instant and magical.
If you are interested in sending websites in the opposite direction, from your phone to Chrome,download Phone 2 Chrome from the Android Market.
ColorNote
By: Notes
A lot of people claim to have “photographic memories”. But for the rest of us, even the most important things go in one ear and out the other. ColorNote is the best notepad experience for your Android device.
ColorNote allows you to write text and checklist notes and also assign each note a different color. If you’re keeping secrets, you can also lock your notes from outsiders. Furthermore, if writing a note simply is not good enough to help you remember daily tasdks and other info, ColorNote allows you to set reminders and even pin a notification to your status bar. Finally, ColorNote even allows you to stick your notes to your homepage with the ColorNote widget.
Movies
By: Flixster Inc.
When you’re out and about and away from your newspaper (the old-fashioned way to get movie times), Flixster is the #1 app to get instant movie times, movie trailers, reviews and more..
Flixster lets you search for movies by what’s coming out soon or by your favorite local movie theatre. On the way to the movie theatre, Flixster lets you play the trailer, view photos, and even rate the movie. After the movie, when you’re dying to find out when you can get the movie on DVD, Flixster has a section with a list of movies and their DVD release dates.
Price: Free!
Download: Here
Download: Here
PdaNet
By: June Fabrics Tech
Internet tethering has been around since Android 2.2 (Froyo). However, after the idea of sharing your phone’s data with other devices became popular, wireless providers started to charge a fee on top of the regular monthly fee.
The PdaNet software shares your phone’s Internet connection with your computer and does not require rooting your phone. To share with your computer, you can download the PdaNet desktop client. June Fabrics also released an application for tablets that makes it easier to share data to your Android tablet. PdaNet adds zero latency to your connection so your computer connects as fast as your phone’s Internet speed, such as 4G or even 100Mbps WiFi.
TV Listings
By: TV24 Group
TV Listings is simply the best application in the Android Market for finding out what is on tv.
TV Listings supports over 13,000 channels and over 100 service providers. If you’re looking to see what is on tv later at night, this application makes it easy to check the full schedule for each channel. Once you have found your program, you can set a reminder so you don’t forget to tune in. Finally, TV Listings also displays lists that are specific to movies and sports.
Words With Friends
By: Zynga
Games have always been the cornerstone of the Android Market. And being able to play with your friends has made games even more addicting than ever.
One of the most popular games in the Android Market is Words With Friends. The game has the same idea of that of Scrabble. After signing up for an account and registering with your Facebook, Word with Friends will be able to tell you which of your friends are playing.
If you enjoy word games and being able to play with your friends, Zynga has also made Hanging with Friends for Android (Hangman) and will also be releasing Scramble with Friends very soon.
Price: Free!
Download: Here
Download: Here
Google Music
By: Google Inc.
Android users have not had a definite platform for listening and buying music until now.
Google Music is a music player and storage service that lets you keep your music collection online so you can save space on your Android device. Best of all, if you’re going to be without the internet, Google Music lets you save any or all of your songs and playlists locally for offline playback. Furthermore, Google Music offers the easiest connection between the Google Music Store and your Android devices. You can also upload up to 20,000 songs straight to Google Music from your computer and listen to all of your songs and music from any internet connected device.
The Google Music interface also completely destroys its competition. Google Music is definitely the best Android music player out there.
The Weather Channel
By: The Weather Channel
The Weather is unpredictable. So when you’re out and about, you need instant access to the forecast around you.
The Weather Channel is one of, if not the, best weather application on the Android Market. The app is easy to use and offers a wide variety of information. After inserting your location, The Weather Channel will instantly load the current weather. In addition to being able to add multiple cities to your home page for quick access, you can also click the “Maps” button to get a radar map with different layers and modes.
Price: Free!
Requires Android: 2.1+
Download: Here
Flick Kick Field Goal
By: Pik Pok
It’s Good!
Flick Kick Field Goal is bringing all of the pressure of being a field goal kicker to the Android Market. Flick Kick has quickly become one of the most popular games in the Android Marke. Furthermore, within several game modes, the objective of the game is to flick the football in between the uprights (the two poles on the field goal). While playing the game, wind and distance will constantly be trying to knock the ball away. But with the right amount of power and angle from your finger, you can beat all 3 game modes and your friends.
ESPN ScoreCenter
By: ESPN Inc.
Calling all sports fans!
ESPN ScoreCenter will keep you up to the minute with your favorite sports teams and leagues no matter where you go. Whether it be checking live game stats and box scores, or discovering this years standings, ESPN ScoreCenter has it all for “over 100 sports leagues”.
ScoreCenter also allows you to save your favorite teams in the myTeams section for instand access. In addition, ESPN’s ‘round-the-clock editorial staff gives you breaking-news, analysis, and video clips.
Wikipedia
By: Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, has become known as the internet’s #1 source of information. Wikipedia has been accessible from mobile devices since 2004. However, their true mobile website for smart phones did not come out until 2007.
Now, with the Wikipedia app for Android, you can get all of the information Wikipedia has to offer in a very easy to use application. The Wikipedia app houses over 20 million articles in 280 languages. If you find an interesting article that you want to keep on your phone, the app allows for you to save it for offline reading. If you’re multilingual, Wikipedia for Android allows you to read any article in any other language.
Home Switcher
By: ymst
If you enjoy downloading and playing with multiple launchers, including your standard Android one, Home Switcher is an app that you must have.
Home Switcher lets you see all of your installed launchers (homes) and pick which one to open. In addition, Home Switcher allows you to choose which launcher you want to set as your default one. For example, when you press the home button on your phone, this launcher will come up.
If you’re still puzzled about what a launcher is, check out Go Launcher EX, SPB Shell 3D, orLauncherPro.
Battery Indicator
By: Darshan Computing, LLC
Have you ever noticed that the standard Android battery indicator does not include the percent battery remaining?
Battery Indicator shows your battery charge level (percent) as a small icon in your notification bar, with battery temperature, health, voltage, and time since plugged / unplugged. Battery Indicator is the best way to find out exactly how much battery you have left without opening any settings or other applications. It is very simple, does not have any advertisements, and displays the battery precent in 1% increments for advanced accuracy.
Iris
By: Dextera
Surely, we have all heard of Siri, Apple’s personal assistant that is sweeping the nation. Although it is definitely not the first of its kind, (Google Voice Commands) it does offer the ability of deciphering your sentences rather than only accepting certain commands.
Iris, Siri spelled backwards, was released soon after Siri and even the developers claim that it is a Siri clone. Iris allows you tell your phone to:
- Call or text someone.
- Search nearby locations.
- Play music.
- Find News.
- And much more.
To show just how amazing their app is, the Iris team put Iris up against Siri. With the help of ChaCha and other information databases, Iris seems to be giving much better information without having to launch the browser. Take a look for yourself:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=77B8DF0XMGc
Note: You need to have “Voice Search” and “TTS library” installed in your phone for iris. to work. Most of the phones have these pre-installed, if not please install them from Android market before you try iris.
Lookout Mobile Security
By: Lookout Mobile Security
By now, most Android users are aware of malware, spyware, and trojans that exist.
Lookout Mobile Security is like an anti-virus software for your Android device. Whenever a new app is downloaded and installed, Lookout will automatically search it to ensure that it is safe. However, Lookout is not bulky or annoying like most anti-virus softwares and runs mostly in the background. In addition, by going to myLookout.com, users can find their phone (even if GPS is off) and activate a loud alarm, even if your phone or tablet is on silent. If you’re looking to keep your Android device safe, Lookout is the way to go.
Beautiful Widgets
By: LevelUp Studio
Widgets have always been the center piece of the Android platform.
Beautiful Widgets is set of custom widgets that include clock, weather, date, and toggle widgets. Beautiful Widgets will completely enhance your home page in addition to giving you instant access to the most important information without having to open any apps.
Each widget is customizable in size and can be combined with 300 skins to ensure that the widgets fit in with the rest of your phone. LevelUp Studio is so confident that you will love Beautiful Widgets that they are extending the refund policy from 15 minutes to 24 hours!
SPB Shell 3D
By: SPB Software
One of the best features about Android is having total control of customization. More specifically, Launchers and Skins give Android users access to tons of new user interfaces and also features.
Putting aside some of the more well known launchers, SPB Software recently release SPB Shell 3D. The app, which will cost you $14.95 in the Android Market, will bring a whole new look and feel to your Android 2.1+ device. Over 100,000 people, including us, have already downloaded the launcher. Don’t be scared off by the steep price tag, SPB Shell 3D packs dynamic folders, custom widgets and panels, sweet animations and a full 3D experience. Once you download this app, no additional skins or plugins are needed.
Conclusion
And so, what say you, dear reader? Are there any apps that you’ve used recently that come to mind that are worthy of mentioning here? We’ll be updating this list constantly to showcase this years best apps, both paid and free, so let us know what you think in the comments!
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