20 Best Apps For Android Users That You Should Not Miss

Technology
by Jane Hurst

Many apps are created with one thing in mind, and that is to help make your life a little bit easier.
There are thousands of apps out there though, and it can be difficult
to figure out which ones you can actually use, and which ones you don’t
need to bother with. Here are some of our favorites, and we recommend these apps for all Android users.

Notes & Lists 

1. BuyMeaPie – Grocery Shopping List 

Download link: Free | Paid



This app has more than 5 million downloads and is considered one of the most popular of its kind.
It has a smart cloud synchronization that allows users to create and
manage lists either on web app or mobile device, and sync them with a
number of devices. With this app users can also share their lists with friends and family and collaborate on shopping together.


Price: there is a free version and a paid one for $2.98.

2. Google Keep – Create Custom Notes and Lists 

Download link: Free


If you are forgetful and need to take notes for reminders, this is the app for you. Color-code all of your notes, take photos using the app, and even transcribe recorded voice messages.


Price: Free.

Productivity 

3. Swype – Type Fast, Swype Faster 

Download link: Free | Paid


Typing on a small device can be difficult. If you want a better keyboard option for your device, this is it. Once you get used to using it, you will find that you have better speed and accuracy with your typing.


Price: Free version and paid for $0.99.

4. Plague – Spread Information Like A Virus 

Download link: Free



You want access to information, and you want it now. That is what you will get from this app. This is a new way to share information with others all over the world. It’s like a virus. Once information is shared, it spreads from user to user.


Price: Free.

5. Link Bubble Browser – Do The Right Mobile Browsing 

Download link: Free | Paid



Don’t you just hate how much time you end up wasting browsing online? Change all of that with this app.
You can click on a link and the app will load the link in a bubble in
the background, so you can keep on browsing while it loads.


Price: Free and pro version for $4.04.

6. tTorrent – Simply The Best Torrent Downloader Client 

Download link: Free | Paid


If you download torrents, you need this app. It is a great peer-to-peer app that lets you browse and download torrents quickly and easily. It has all of the same great features as the expensive torrenting programs.


Price: Free lite version and paid version for $4.99.

Messengers 

7. HoverChat – Never Interrupt What You’re Doing To Answer A Message 

Download link: Free | Paid



Do you hate having to stop in the middle of something just to send a message? You won’t have to do this any longer when you use HoverChat. You can watch a movie and have a conversation at the same time, and you can customize your messaging windows.


Price: $3.99 and a free promo app.

8. Mighty Text – SMS From Computer or Tablet 

Download link: Free


Never miss a text again with this app. Even if you can’t access your phone (during meetings, classes, etc.) you can still see them on your tablet or computer. It even works with Gmail.


Price: Free.

Security 

9. Cerberus – The Best Protection You Can Get 

Download link: Free



This is an awesome anti-theft app that everyone should have.
In addition to tracking stolen devices, you can also use the app to
control the stolen devices through the website or with a text message. You can wipe all of the information from the device, lock it using a special code, have the alarm go off, and more.


Price: Free trial, and a one-time upgrade fee of 2.99€.

Personalization 

10. Muzei – A Living Museum For Your Android Home Screen 

Download link: Free



If you love art, this app will allow you to be able to look at some of the most famous works of art in the world. Muzei gives you wallpapers for your home screen, and you get a different piece every day.


Price: Free.

11. UCCW – Create Your Own Custom Widget 

Download link: Free



If you prefer having custom widgets for homescreens, this app will let you create them. Choose from a variety of skins, and start creating. You can decide what the widgets display, from low battery to missed calls to weather and much more.


Price: Free.

12. Cover – The Right Apps At The Right Time 

Download link: Free


This app will put all of your apps on the lockscreen, so everything is in one convenient location. It can tell when you are working, at home, driving, etc., and gives you the apps you tend to use most often for these and other activities.


Price: Free.

13. Light Flow – LED & Notifications 

Download link: Free | Paid



You can use this app to get into your smartphone’s LED to get custom
notifications, as long as your phone has an LED light that alerts you to
notifications. It will give you a special color for texts, emails, phone calls, etc., and it can even let you know when your battery is running down.


Price: Free lite version and paid one of $2.49.

14. Lux – Improve Your Phone’s Automatic Brightness 

Download link: Free | Paid




If you hate a screen that is too bright or too dark, you can use this app to change the brightness settings. This comes in pretty handy when you need more or less brightness depending on the light conditions you are in.


Price: Free and $3.80.

15. Tasker – Automate Your Android Phone 

Download link: Paid




This is another app that will let you customize your phone based on actions. You can set up customized actions for apps, time, your location, various events, shortcuts, and a whole lot more. You can even use this app to create and sell apps.


Price: $2.99.

16. Locale – Condition-Based Android Automator 

Download link: Paid




Do you want to know who is calling just by the way your phone rings? You can do this, and a lot more, with this automation app.
You can customize how your phone works based on all kinds of factors,
including your location, who is calling, battery life, and more.


Price: $9.99.

Entertainment 

17. Google’s Sky Map – Your Portable Planetarium 

Download link: Free




Astronomy lovers will go crazy for this app from Google. Point it at the sky, and it will tell you what constellation it is pointed at. This is a great tool to help you learn more about the constellations.


Price: Free.

18. Yahoo Weather – Weather Forecasts 

Download link: Free




Always be ready for the weather by downloading this popular app. You will be able to find out what the weather is going to be like, which is great so you can know how to dress accordingly.


Price: Free.

19. Instagram – Capture And Share The World’s Moments 

Download link: Free




If you don’t already have this app, get it now. You can do a lot with your photos by using the filters, and you can instantly share your photos with friends and family.

20. VLC’s Media Player – Multimedia Player 

Download link: Free



Enjoy videos anywhere, and at any time with this app. You can watch videos in any file format. Cost: Free.

Lessons Learned On App Design For Fast-Growth Markets

Editor’s note: Alan Mamedi is the co-founder and CEO of Truecaller. He is based in Stockholm.

One of the typical mistakes developers make is thinking that because
they’ve had success in one corner of the globe, they should be able to
employ the same strategy to drive adoption elsewhere. The truth of the
matter is apps that are wildly successful in the U.S., Europe and Japan
often fail to gain substantial traction in areas like India, South
America and the Middle East; these problems go well beyond simple
translation issues and lack of cultural understanding.

Something I faced when speaking with our early investors was that
they sometimes could get too obsessive with the Western world and
overlook the high-growth markets – often referred to as the “next
billion markets.” That was a challenge for us, as our growth and data
were pointing to the developing markets, and the VCs were pointing to
the developed markets. It was a difficult choice for us to make, but we
followed where the data pointed. Today it has shown that it was the
right path for us to take in order to grow fast.

If your business is facing similar questions and app success relies
on international expansion, here are a few things to keep in mind if you
want to compete and win over the next billion consumers:

Stop Building Just for “Ferrari Phones”

Mobile app developers usually have a top-of-the-line phone or tablet
like an iPhone 5S or a Galaxy S5. This is the device they use their app
on day-to-day, but it’s not representative of how most of their users
are experiencing their product or service. Lower-end phones are much
more commonplace in fast-growth markets than they are in the U.S. or
Europe. For example, smartphone penetration in India is only 13 percent, compared to 56 percent in the U.S., according to Google’s Our Mobile Planet study.

The takeaway here is that you should not create an app that just
works well for a small percentage of potential customers. This is the
equivalent of automotive designers only focusing on their company’s
top-of-the-line cars, rather than what most of their customers are
driving.

It’s important to pay close attention to the types of devices that
reside in the hands of a majority of our users. Truecaller’s app, for
instance, often runs smoother on low-end Android phones in India and the
Middle East than the operating system itself. Simply maintaining a
quality experience – rather than one that chugs along and takes forever
to start on most phones – can do wonders for audience retention and
repeat usage.

Think Small When it Comes to Design

Bigger doesn’t always mean better. It’s true that phone screens are
getting larger in the U.S. and Europe, though in many countries, smaller
screens still have a powerful hold. According to Google,
85 percent of U.S. smartphone owners have a phone with a large display
(iPhone size or larger) – compare that to Brazil, where just 61 percent
of smartphones have a large screen, or Indonesia, where only half of
smartphones do.

Although it may be tempting for designers to utilize all the extra
screen real estate, this shouldn’t be done at the cost of the user
experience. Designers can be too eager to cram their UI with fancy bells
and whistles, leading to an ugly, awkward layout for those looking at
it through smaller screens.

Much like programming for low-spec phones, accounting for a small
screen size is key to improving the overall customer experience.

Don’t Take Data for Granted

Americans and Europeans love to complain about their cellular data
caps of a few gigabytes a month, but the situation is far worse for
those living in countries where prepaid plans dominate. Prepaid
customers have to be extra conscious of their mobile data when every
extra megabyte means a higher phone bill. In India, as an example, users
often turn off cellular data on their phones to prevent apps from using
it in the background.

This is very much in contrast to the average Western developers who
typically build their apps with the assumption that their users will
have a constant Internet connection, even if the core functionality of
the app doesn’t require one. This is a recipe for poor adoption. In
fact, Google’s data
shows that only 43 percent of Indian smartphone owners use a Wi-Fi
connection for their smartphone at home, while nearly three quarters of
Americans do.

This may sound limiting, but there are ways to use this to your advantage. For example, Bollywood music streaming service Saavn
gives paid subscribers a feature allowing them to save songs on their
phone to play when they don’t have access to data. It’s an effective way
to reach the widest possible group of users while still giving them the
most value from the service.

Seek Out Carrier and Device Partnerships

Only a few years ago, original equipment manufacturers paid license
fees to app developers to develop for their smartphones. But today,
partnering with carriers and OEMs in foreign markets can be a major boon
to all involved. For app developers that don’t have a great deal of
brand recognition outside of their home country, joining up with a
well-known local brand can be an inroad to reaching millions of new
customers. App placement has become real estate developers need to fight
for. With a robust partnership, carriers and OEMs can differentiate
their increasingly commoditized phones and cellular services and your
app gets exposure to users you otherwise might miss out on.

Developers across the spectrum have successfully increased their
worldwide user numbers by working with big local firms. For over a year
in India, Nokia’s low-cost Asha line has featured a dedicated WhatsApp button and a free lifetime WhatsApp subscription. Evernote accelerated its international expansion by offering a year of premium service to Vivo cellular subscribers in Brazil. Bubble Motion
has long partnered with Asian carriers to bring its service to feature
phones, which represent a large majority of its audience. Coordinating
with device makers and operators is essential for maximizing audience
reach in fast-growth markets abroad.

Examples abound of apps becoming more successful by being more
accommodating. WhatsApp didn’t get its colossal user base just by
targeting those with the latest phones. Word Lens,
a translation app recently purchased by Google, owes much of its
popularity to the fact that it does not require an Internet connection,
making it perfect for international travelers. Similarly, VoIP service Rebtel was able to create an entirely new revenue stream by launching a mobile top up service Sendly,
which gained widespread appeal in India by addressing the mobile minute
transfer needs of customers in a country where prepaid mobile plans
dominate.

To fast track your app for success, do not simply pay attention to
making it the most sophisticated app in the category. Rethink your app’s
design for approachability and maximum reach. Most importantly, make
sure you have conducted extensive user testing to identify and work
around major consumer annoyances that can inhibit your app’s growth,
virality, and reach.

IMAGE BY Shutterstock USER Catmando (IMAGE HAS BEEN MODIFIED)

10 New Apps You Should Know

1. Food Tripping

Finding fast food joints and spots that serve grease bombs while you’re road tripping is fairly easy. In fact, there are a plethora of apps out there that will offer you these suggestions in insane abundance. Food Tripping is different. From finding healthy food markets to awesome microbreweries, Food Tripping is the app for people who like to eat well when they’re out and about. (iOS) (Android)

2. Thread

Thread takes your caller ID to another level. Not only do you see the name of who is calling you, but it also displays the most recent texts and emails you’ve sent each other. On top of that, it also shows the caller’s latest Facebook update and tweets. In a way, it could tell you what you’re in for with the call and whether answering it is really the right move before you pick up. (Android)

3. Beer Hunt

For the craft beer lover, Untappd has been the gold standard of social brew apps. Beer Hunt aims to change that. You check in and earn badges (similar to Untappd), but Beer Hunt turns it all into a bit of a competition. You get a Craft Score and compete with friends to determine the biggest beer fan among your group (usually the first person whose liver gives out is the winner). (iOS)

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4. Yahoo! Weather

You might not think “exciting” whenever Yahoo! announces something, but we have to admit they damn near perfected the standard weather app. Using photos to match your location, time of day, and current conditions, the app brings a whole new visual element to the standard chart forecast format. Even better, these aren’t just stock photos, they come from users like you. (iOS) (Android)

5. Rando

Rando is part social experiment, part addictive time waster. Basically, you send a photo you take to someone randomly. They never know who sent it and you never know who got it, but the fun part is, you get one in return. You can build a collection of shots from around the world from anonymous photo pals. (iOS) (Android)

6. Field Trip

Simply let Field Trip run in the background of your phone and go about your day. The beauty of Field Trip is, you do nothing and it will just alert you whenever you are near something cool, hidden, or unique. It’s a whole new way of exploring. Well, at least until your battery dies. (iOS) (Android)

7. Jiffy

Simple and perfect. That’s Jiffy for Android. The time keeping app doesn’t do anything flashy, but it does do something well. It lets you track time on up to three different activities (many more in the paid version) and it then charts and displays that data in a beautiful and clear way. It’s an organizational app that, unlike others, doesn’t add any stress to your life. (Android)

8. FaceSwap

There are thousands of apps that will help organize, prioritize, and generally improve your life. And then there’s FaceSwap. The addictive photo app does exactly what the name implies, swaps the faces of two people in a photo. While the app has been around for a little bit, it finally works well enough to justify downloading it. What would you look like with your girl’s face? Time to find out. (WARNING: Results can be horrifying.) (iOS)

9. Currency

For the world traveler, few apps could come in as handy as Currency. Using a smooth swiping interface, the app helps you find the best times to exchange your cash. Plus, live charts help you get an idea of what exchange rates are like compared to the recent past. If you travel internationally a lot, it’s a must. (iOS)

10. Tempo Smart Calendar

If you’re ready to take your calendar game to another level, download Tempo. Tempo acts like your very own personal assistant, organizing your contacts and events into your calendar. It makes it easy to alert people when you’re running late for a meeting, it helps you get directions to the places you need go, and it handles a bunch of tedious tasks without much work on your end. It’s probably the single best calendar app out there. (iOS)

Delay Start Staggers Out Your Mac's Startup Items

via lifehacker.com

Mac: Startup items are great when you use the same programs all the time, but if you have a ton of them loaded up it can seriously extend your computer's boot time. While it's easy enough to remove some of those items, Delay Start is a simple app that lets you stagger out when those programs open.

We've talked a lot about speeding up your boot time, and one of the easiest ways to do that is by overhauling your startup items. Delay Start makes that easier by giving you better control over what apps open and when they do. Just hit the "+" sign in Delay Start, add the app of your choice, set the time interval (in seconds), and you're done. Then, when you open Delay Start it'll open all those apps at once by the interval you set. It's especially helpful on older Macs that might need a little help during the boot up process.