Updated Top free Android apps for your phone or tablet
Top free apps for your Android phone or tablet
The open source nature of Google's OS means there are plenty of fantastic apps for Android to be found.
And most of the good stuff on Android is free, thanks to the work of developers who do it for love alone.
So here's our pick of the top free Android apps you should install.
1. Seesmic
There
are many Twitter apps on Android - and Twitter itself shook up the
scene with the launch of its own-brand app - but we're sticking with Seesmic.
Offering support for multiple accounts, a home page widget showing
latest tweets and an incredibly slick and professional design, it's one
of the finest examples of app development out there today.
2. Facebook for Android
Facebook for Android
is lacking in features compared to Facebook itself, but a recent update
added Inbox support to the Android app, finally allowing its users to
communicate in almost real time. The app's fast and stable, with a
simplicity that reminds you of the old days when using Facebook used to
be bearable.
3. National Rail Enquiries
After the original free, third-party National Rail apps went paid-for, National Rail has finally brought out its own free app. National Rail Enquiries
enables you to check live train times, plan your journeys, and get
notifications of delays. On first use, the app prompts you to enter a
home and work train station, and then you can use the 'Get me home'
button to see the next available trains.
4. UK Jobs
Hey,
times are hard and you've got to pay for your oppressive monthly mobile
phone contract somehow. Offering a fully searchable database of current
UK job vacancies, UK Jobs, which pulls in its data from independent employment site 1job.co.uk is, a slightly cumbersome but useful and non-governmental tool.
5. Outlook
Microsoft has teamed up with developer SEVEN to offer an official Hotmail app
for Android, which gives users a simple, clean interface, push
notification support and even lets you manage multiple Hotmail accounts
from within the app. If your email needs haven't yet been assimilated by
Google, it's a useful option. It's since been rebranded as the Outlook app, in keeping with Microsoft's changes to its mail site.
A
stunning app that uses your phone's orientation tools to give you an
accurate representation of the stars and planets on your screen. Point
your phone at the sky, then learn what constellations are visible and if
that's a UFO or just Venus. Google Sky Map even works indoors, if you're not keen on getting cold.
7. Layar
The stunning augmented reality app Layar
has recently gone commercial, adding an online shop that allows users
to buy AR content such as travel guides, local house price apps and much
more. But you're still able to use the numerous free Layers to pop data
up over real-world locations, delivering a satisfying futuristic
experience.
8. Foursquare
The social media darling Foursquare
is represented in fine form on Android, with the Google app offering
easy one-click check-ins, integrated Google Maps for a seamless
Google-branded experience and home page shortcut options to all your
favourite places.
9. WordPress for Android
WordPress for Android
started out as independent creation wpToGo, before WordPress decided it
liked it so much it bought it up - hiring the maker to develop it
in-house. It's very feature-packed, with the latest version offering
full integration with other apps, letting you spin content and send it
directly to the app for easy updating. It could do with more image
insertion tools, though.
10. Google Goggles
A bit of a novelty, in that Google Goggles
lets you take photos and have Google analyse them and come back with a
search results page for what it thinks you're looking at. However, the
app's main use is as a QR code reader, which lets you scan barcodes for
quick access to apps and whatever data people choose to embed in the odd
little data squares.
11. Winamp
Yes, the same Winamp
from a decade ago. It's had an Android app for some time, with recent
updates adding support for iTunes, Mac syncing, plenty of music
streaming options, new release lists and Shoutcast integration for radio
support. It's a fine, free media player.
12. Samsung ChatOn
There
are plenty of messaging tools on Android, but Samsung's beats many of
them by offering multi-platform support - with clients even available
for older Samsung non-smart feature phones. It could be the ideal way to
keep in touch with an out of touch relative. More "with it" users will
be able to use its drawing, image sharing and social networking
features.
13. Skyfire 3.0
The
USP of the Skyfire browser is that it supports Flash content, popping
up a little window when it detects an embedded YouTube video or
something similar. The actual Flash business is handled by Skyfire's
server, which does all the computery stuff, then sends the file to your
handset. A bit clunky on slower Android phones, but it works like a
dream on models with faster processors.Despite the arrival of Flash with
Android 2.2, this is still relevant for those on phones and Android
versions not able to support Adobe's Flash Player.
14. BBC News
While the BBC's Android iPlayer app is a bit on the disappointing side, the corporation's BBC News app
is much more refined. There's a stylish grid-based front page, plus
you're able to swipe from left to right to switch between stories in
your chosen specialist category. A recent update also added a couple of
Home screen widgets, too, plus the ability to submit your own news tips,
as if the BBC was a small blog clamouring for content.
15. RAC Traffic
An official production of the motoring organisation, RAC Traffic
is dead simple - it guesstimates your location via the mobile signal,
then pops up the current traffic alerts for your area. It's much better
than having to listen to the radio for the odd update about arterial
blockages.
16. Swype
The odd line-drawing alternate keyboard Swype
is a love-it or hate-it kind of thing, with the significant amount of
re-learning required to make the most of it quite off-putting to some
users.
Once you're familiar with the idea, though, it's genius - with advanced prediction options further speeding your line-typing.
After
a long period of availability only through a beta test or having
pre-loaded on your phone by the maker, Swype's now available on Google
Play - in both free trial and paid options.
17. Evernote
After the Android version of Dropbox, the next best solution for keeping all your 'business' in one place is Evernote
- which lets you stash and sync all your text notes, voice memos and
files on your phone and access them through a desktop computer.
18. Flickr
As well as supporting Flickr
uploading, this app also lets you capture photos from within the app
and comes complete with a set of filters, so you can hipsterise your
life with ease. It supports sharing with Twitter and Facebook as well,
so your other, non-photo-nerd friends can enjoy the results of today's
snapping session.
19. Last.fm
The subscription-based thrills of Last.fm
open up a world of music streaming on your mobile. You have to 'buy in'
to the odd Last.fm way of organising things and suggesting new music,
but if you're easily led and not restricted by bandwidth it's a superb
tool.
20. Google Maps Navigation
An absolute must-get. As long as you have Android 1.6 or above, the latest update to Google Maps
introduces turn-by-turn voice navigation, simultaneously devastating
the satnav industry while boosting the in-car dashboard dock/charger
accessory scene. Route calculations are done at the outset of your trip,
minimising data transfer en route and keeping you on target even when
the GPS signal drops. It's amazing, it works, and it's free.
21. Any.do
A high quality note-taking and reminder app, Any.do is part calendar, part dictation tool and part to-do list creator.
There's
a huge, resizable widget that provides quick access to its features and
lets you dismiss completed tasks, with the mic option pulling up a
voice recorder to automatically add tasks to your schedule without
typing.
It's free, although should you start a task with the word
"buy" a green shopping trolley appears, tempting you to press it and
buy things from Amazon instead of trudging to the shops.
22. gvSIG Mini Maps
gvSIG Mini Maps
is an incredibly comprehensive mapping tool which combines major online
maps including Google, Bing, Open Street Map and more, which will win
UK fans for one huge reason alone - it supports the official and
recently open-sourced Ordnance Survey data. This means you're never more
than a post code search away from seeing where you are in OS-level
detail, which offers much more in the way of accurate local data than
other map tools provide.
23. Google Keep
Google Keep
is the Android maker's own attempt at muscling in on the clipboard and
to-do list app, presenting a versatile corkboard tool that lets users
record audio notes, capture photos, create checklists and more.
The
star of the show is the resizable Home screen widget, from which you
can access all the features and hit buttons to record clips and take
images. Google's so proud of Keep that it's become canon - and comes
pre-loaded as part of Android 4.3's app set.
24. Shareprice
Shareprice uses your login from financial site www.iii.co.uk
to offer live share price updates on your Android phone. Watch your
nest-egg lose 50 per cent in value every three weeks during the latest
trans-global financial crisis, live!
It's ideal for users with
share values so low they have to be checked in private, to ensure their
partner doesn't see exactly how much money has disappeared into some
notional financial black hole.
25. Skifta
Skifta
is the first software tool to be granted DLNA certification, meaning it
turns your Android phone into an official DLNA device. This in turn
means streaming all of your household media to your phone, and beaming
your phone videos to your TV. Seems a little buggy at the moment, but
there are plenty of updates arriving all the time. Requires Android 2.2
or higher.
26. Dropbox
The Android version of the insanely popular stuff-syncing app has arrived, and while Dropbox
is a little lacking in the sort of fancy auto-syncing options many were
hoping for, it still works as expected. Files have to be specifically
downloaded to your phone to be edited or shared, which is not quite the
automated dream offered by the desktop tools, but it's still Dropbox on
Android. Six months ago that was a distant, crazy fantasy.
27. London Tube Status
Reduce the misery of being told you've just missed a train and it's a 14-minute wait until the next one with London Tube Status,
which combines travel status updates and live departure times. It also
includes a home screen widget that shows your favourite (or at least
your most used) platform departures, making it easy to check how much
you've just missed the next one by while tearing down the escalators.
28. Amazon UK
Amazon recently launched an official Android app,
replacing its reliance on a mobile web store. The app's very simple and
fast to use, and even includes full shopping cart features with
Amazon's one-click system once you've signed in with your usual account
details.
29. Meebo IM
If
you like to pass the time exchanging smiley faces and abbreviations
with your friends through instant messaging apps, you ought to get a
copy of Meebo IM.
It's an instant messaging aggregator, incorporating AIM, MSN, Yahoo,
MySpace, Facebook, good old ICQ and more, serving everything up in one
convenient interface. Typing in all your logins and passwords for
everything is the only, very temporary, inconvenience.
30. Beelicious
If
you're into the slightly last-generation social networking site
Delicious, you ought to get yourself organised with one of the many
third-party Android apps out there that support the bookmarking tool.
Such as Beelicious,
which, once you've got through the slightly cumbersome initial set-up
process, lets you simply send website links to your Delicious account
via the Android browser's 'Share Page' sub menu.
31. Carbon for Twitter
Carbon
replaces another deceased entry on this list, filling in for Tweetdeck -
which used to be a smart way of managing Twitter and Facebook feeds
within one simple app. Twitter bought it and killed it. Hooray for that.
In terms of unofficial replacements, one of the hottest new
Android Twitter apps is Carbon, which offers stacks of features inside a
very flashy, animated skin, with heaps of gesture shortcuts for quickly
refreshing feeds, jumping about the timeline and managing multiple
accounts. It's a million miles ahead of the official Twitter app.
32. iPlayer
The BBC came in for quite a lot of stick over its Android iPlayer app,
with the code lacking some basic features and requiring Adobe's
discontinued Flash Player in order to work properly. Happily, most of
the issues have now been fixed in a recent update, while the BBC's standalone Media Player
removes the need for Flash. It also works while minimised and with the
screen turned off, so is actually usable as a radio player. Much better.
33. Feedly
33rd
position in our list used to belong to Google's fantastic
cross-platform RSS Reader app, but... it killed it. Which was a big
shame. There are plenty of replacement options on Android, though, with Feedly one of the best both in terms of desktop sync functionality and general look and feel on mobile.
You
sign in, import your Google Reader backup (you did remember, right?)
and away you. Just like Reader, only prettier and more versatile. Like a
younger wife.
34. BT FON
BT's
incredibly clever FON network is often a lifesaver, letting you legally
borrow Wi-Fi for free in many public places. And while standing outside
strangers' houses. The BT FON Android app
(recently renamed BT Wi-Fi) lets you automate the sign-in process, so
you can walk around towns and housing estates safe in the knowledge that
your phone's always seeking out available Wi-Fi. You need a BT FON
username, though, so sort that out before you venture out into the scary
internet-free world.
35. Amazon Kindle
Amazon's Kindle
app is a great e-reader, which is seamlessly linked with your Amazon
account. Support for magazines and newspapers is limited at the moment,
with only a handful of niche publications in Android-friendly format.
But for books it's great, with plenty of screen and text display options
to get it looking a way that hurts your eyes the least. Another
exciting new way to collect classic novels you'll probably never get
around to reading because there's the internet now.
36. Endomondo
The free version of Endomodo
is essential if you're sporty, or even if you just like using a GPS
tool to stalk yourself walking around. You select an activity, initiate
GPS mode and it'll keep track of you, time you and even whisper robotic
words of encouragement at you, before generating a stylish map charting
your achievements. A map which you can spam out to social networks to
show off the fact that you can ride a bike.
37. Androidify
Let your hair down by creating a realistic interpretation of what you hair looks like with Androidify.
It's an avatar creator that uses the Android mascot as its base,
letting you swap trousers and hats with the swipe of a finger. Results
are then sharable via Twitter and the usual social tools. There aren't
enough types of beard, though. Please release a Beard Expansion Pack.
38. Kongregate Arcade
Thanks to Android's Flash Player powers, casual gaming portal Kongregate
is able to bring a huge number of its internet games to Android. They
run in the browser so resolutions can be a bit all over the place, but
with over 300 games to choose from there's bound to be something there
for you.
39. Blogger
The Google-owned Blogger platform now has a presence in the current decade, thanks to the official Blogger app.
It's remarkably simple, supports image uploads and geo-tagging and
imports the settings of all blogs associated with your Gmail account.
There's no fancy editing the positions of your photos, which just get
chucked in at the bottom, but it works.
40. RD Mute
RD Mute
serves one purpose – to turn off all phone sounds when the Android
accelerometer tells it you've picked it up and turned it over. It's a
'silent mode' shortcut for when you can't even be bothered to press a
button. Put your phone on its front to shut it up – and add any very
important numbers to the app's exceptions list, so people you don't mind
talking to can get through.
41. OnLive
The technically astounding streaming video gaming service has now arrived on Android, with an official OnLive
app letting Android users play console titles on their phones and
tablets via wi-fi. It's best played on devices with big screens, but
it'll still run on something as relatively modest as an HTC Desire.
On-screen controls are the big trade-off, here - but it will work with
OnLive's Bluetooth wireless controller, if you've seriously bought in to
the OnLive dream.
42. MailOnline
Quite
a few official news apps have launched on Android since we last updated
this list. The Guardian has one, The Times has one, Channel 4 News has
one and so does the country's guiltiest pleasure, the MailOnline.
It features offline caching and lets users specify a time for it to
sync pages with the main site, so you're in complete control of how and
when you get your faux scandal.
43. Sky+
The Sky+
app has been on Android for quite some time, but it's recently been
given a superb visual refresh and a new custom interface for those doing
their telly research on an Android tablet. The feature set has been
expanding, too, now including a nice Showcase front section, more
programme details, plus, of course, the Remote Record features to set
your Sky+ box recording through 3G or wi-fi.
44. eBay
Another app that's been out there for a while on Android, the eBay
tool has also been updated so much that it's now a credible alternative
to the desktop site. A recent update bought the ability to list items
direct from the app, while there's a simple PIN system that makes paying
for your winnings via PayPal much simpler and less convoluted than it
is on the full blown web site.
45. Lovefilm By Post
There's now an official Android Lovefilm app,
which lets you manage your account through your phone. You also get all
the peripheral nonsense like reviews and trailers, but the key feature
is the ability to manage your rental list, shuffling the order of your
requests and filtering out categories you never trouble.
46. Tesco Groceries
This isn't an advert or a casual game featuring Jamie Oliver. Tesco Groceries
is a fully mobile home delivery shopping experience, covering
everything from booking your delivery slot to amending orders already
placed. It uses voice input for easily searching for items, plus there's
barcode scanner support for identifying and ordering stuff direct from
your cupboard. Makes buying toilet rolls fun.
47. Path
Path
is an alternate social network, designed to make sharing things with
friends easier and more... personal. It does simple stuff like share
your music listening history, then it does weird stuff like track how
many hours you've slept for. It's also location aware, so if you'd like
it to broadcast your every movement, that's possible. And if you can't
pull yourself away from Facebook, stuff from here can be posted up
there, too, although posts can also be locked so they never leave Path
if you'd prefer.
48. Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre
The latest Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre
app from BSkyB is an entirely sports-related option, giving access to
live scores, league tables, match stats and results, also incorporating
the new Sky Sports News Radio service for listening in, live, to the
blokes in the studio guffawing away about free kick decisions.
49. Yelp
Yelp
gives you a similar option to Google's wide range of social place
reviews, only here you also get an augmented reality screen display, so
you can point it at the skyline and see what five-star eating
establishments are in the area. Places are backed up by user reviews,
too, making it easy to get an up to date opinion on how generous a
particular cafe is with the chips.
50. Odeon Cinemas
The Odeon Android app
is impressive on a couple of levels. Being able to buy tickets through
your phone is still quite an exciting thing to do, but this one goes
further by including a graphical tool that lets you book your specific
seats. Plus you get all the scheduled film showing times and the
trailers you'd expect from something that's trying to encourage you to
endure another by-the-numbers Hollywood product.
51. Sky Go
Access Sky's sports and film channels (and even Sky Arts if you're trying to impress a date) through wi-fi and 3G with Sky Go,
which is free to download and use as long as you're a Sky subscriber.
Those with Android phones that have been "rooted" and are running custom
software are out of luck, though, with Sky limiting access on hacked
models due to "security reasons." Apart from that annoying caveat, it's
great.
52. Chrome
Everyone's new favourite browser is now represented on Android, with Google putting a full mobile version of Chrome
up on the Play Store. It's a little limited in scope for users of older
devices as Android 4.0 or higher is required to run it, but if your
phone ticks that box Chrome on Android offers unlimited tabs in a nice
pop-up list, desktop bookmark and open tab syncing, offline saving of
pages and even that occasionally very useful incognito mode for covering
your weirder tracks.
53. Rightmove
After
a massive period of iOS exclusivity and the previous disastrous launch
of a rubbish web browser wrapper app, there's finally a proper native Rightmove
app for Android. It has a modern, Android 4.0 style layout (but works
on anything with Android 2.1 or higher), offering simple property
searches, a Google Maps visual results interface and Street View
integration. It's fast and lovely to use.
54. TED
The
series of tech talks by boffins, in which they try to explain high
concepts in a way the likes of us can understand, is now represented on
Android. The TED
app lets users browse its database of well over 1000 TED talks, all
free to download and try to get through in one go without having your
brain explode.
55. ISSLive
Let's be honest - ISSLive
looks awful. But beneath the clumsy interface and geeky layout sit all
sorts of facts and coverage from the International Space Station, with
plenty of live feeds, mission, crew and experiment data and even a 3D
recreation of Mission Control down there in Houston to... look at. An
oddball collection of the interesting and the mundane, like an episode
of The Sky at Night.
56. London Bus Checker
London Bus Checker
is a very well designed and attractive app, which pulls in live data
for all London bus stop display boards. It's almost certainly of most
use to people who live in London, who get full route maps, diversion and
cancellation updates, GPS support for finding the nearest stop and an
arrivals widget. All the fun of actually hanging out at a bus stop,
basically.
57. Met Office Weather Application
Find out where there's likely to be any drinkable water left this summer with this one, the official weather checker from the Met Office.
It's about as comprehensive as a weather app can be, offering Home
screen widgets, a five-day forecast, severe weather warnings, maps just
like on the telly and the "feels like" temperature so you know if a
jacket is required.
58. Netflix
As soon as the streaming service hit the UK, so did its accompanying Android app. And the Netflix
app does it all, offering access to the full catalogue of digital film
and TV rentals, presented in a clean and simple layout. The only fancy
features are PC syncing so you can pick up where you left off on mobile
if it's getting near bed time, plus Facebook sharing so everyone can
keep up on how your Secret Diary of a Call Girl marathon is going.
59. Wikipedia
A new way to look at the pleading face of Jimmy Wales. The official Wikipedia
Android app is very nice to use, presenting a simplified version of the
desktop site's content, plus an ever-useful offline saving option if
you need access to pages when out of reception range. You also get
location aware features, making it easy to randomly browse for
interesting things in your vicinity.
60. FitBit
If
you're still struggling to lose the Christmas weight heading into
Easter, you may benefit from having a bit of life coaching on your
telephone. FitBit's
main feature is a Food Plan that keeps track of how many chocolate
Brazil nuts you've had today, plus a logging feature that tracks your
claims of exercise and adjusts your eating allowance accordingly. You'll
be like the woman off the Special K adverts inside a month.
61. Sky Cloud WiFi
This one's a great way of automating the
process of signing into a Sky-managed mobile Wi-Fi spot, minimising
stressful time spent NOT being connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. The Sky Cloud WiFi app
senses Sky-friendly hotspots, then signs you in automatically. So no
more fiddling about with a crappy 3G signal when out and about or typing
in passwords in a hurry to use a bit of internet.
62. Ticketmaster UK
After an age as a US-only exclusive, Ticketmaster UK
is now live for Android users in the UK. It does what you might expect,
offering a full database of events, complete with simple buying options
from within the app. There's even a local search option for accessing a
list of what's on near you, should you fancy taking a punt on some
random artistic happening or gig.
63. Gumtree
The popular sofa-ditching site has finally joined the mobile age, with a very flashy Gumtree app.
It's presented in the Ice Cream Sandwich design style, with a nice tab
bar and clever floating and segmented item listings, and it looks even
better when used in landscape orientation. Trawling for an executive
massage in the local area has never been easier.
64. The Guardian
The Guardian's had an Android app out for a while, but it was significantly "first generation" in look and feel. A recent update
took care of that, thankfully, boosting the layout to modern Android
standards, adding in support for live blogs, enhanced section
navigation, swipe navigation through photo galleries and much more.
Nice. And free.
65. HotUKDeals
The
amazing bargain portal, which has actually defied its purpose and cost
us millions through encouraging unnecessary impulse purchases of
discounted gear, is on Android, with a very posh and feature-packed HotUKDeals app now available.
You
can search for local deals, submit ones you've spotted yourself, with
the app including an easy category view and search facility for finding
new ways to buy things you don't really need.
66. Amazon MP3
Amazon's
MP3 service is surprisingly clever. Tracks bought from the retail giant
are automatically stored within the company's "cloud" servers, from
where you can instantly stream them back to your Android device.
Sadly
you're a little limited in the number of existing MP3s you can upload
from your own collection, but for building, managing and streaming a
legit Amazon music catalogue the Amazon MP3 app is a great, stylish option.
67. TVCatchup
For those of you who still pore over listings and watch TV live, as it happens, and at the original time of broadcast, TVCatchup
is for you. But it's not a "catch up" service at all. It's a simple
re-broadcaster of the terrestrial Freeview channels, letting you watch
everything, live, right there on a phone or tablet. A good test of how
reliable your mobile data connection is, too.
68. Barclays Mobile Banking
The big banks are gradually moving away from mobile web sites and embracing full power apps, with the Barclays Mobile Banking
option a particularly fine example. Logging in is a simpler task than
accessing the desktop site, with the app just requiring a PIN number to
access your data. It also cleverly works as a PIN Sentry card reader,
ideal for managing Barclays services that need its pain-in-the-arse card
reader to grant access.
69. Amazon Appstore
There's only one reason to have the Amazon Appstore
on your phone or tablet - free stuff. Amazon is enticing users to stick
its alternate Android app store on their devices with the promise of a
free app every day, with some classics like Sega's ChucChu Rocket and World of Goo
featuring as previous daily freebies. The catch is these are
unsupported releases, meaning no updates or fixes in the future, but you
can't moan too much about getting some ace freebies every day.
70. Flipboard
Flipboard
is pretty much just a posh RSS reader, which does a superb job of
pulling text and images from pages, sites and social networks, and
presenting it in a gloriously sexy magazine-like manner. The Flipboard
app has recently been updated with a full tablet interface style, for
the ultimate in glossy media consumption.
71. BT Sport
The
arrival of a new sporting season always brings with it a collection of
new and exciting ways to keep up with action on your phone, with the BT Sport Android app one of the coolest to arrive this year.
It
lets BT Internet users watch the company's new, live sport feeds on a
phone or tablet. All you need are your BT login details and a bit of
fuss to activate your account through the desktop site, and you're ready
to go with live video on your mobile device of choice. More Claire
Balding and rugby action than you can possibly handle awaits.
72. Google Play Games
Google
and its many games developer friends have been adding its backend
gaming services to apps for a few months now, meaning many Android games
now have a unified, Google-backed method of matchmaking, monitoring
achievements and keeping track of play sessions.
The Play Games app
is a simple frontend for it all, giving gamers a central hub to keep an
eye on their game collections, score leaderboards and lists of friends
made through the system.
73. YouView
The new interactive digital TV system has finally launched its YouView controller app on Google Play, letting Android users join their iOS cousins in having fun with their new YouView boxes on phones and tablets.
The
app features boring stuff like seven-day programme listings and
information, but it's the remote record feature that's the main reason
to have it. Once setup via a paired code input system, up to five
devices can be granted the power to make the box record shows while
you're out.
74. BBC Weather
A
substantial percentage of Google's 1,000,000+ Android apps are based
around guesstimating what the weather's likely to be a bit like later
today or tomorrow. But for a forecast that's perhaps slightly more
locally aware and believable than others, head to the BBC.
The BBC Weather
Android app's beautiful, featuring hourly breakdowns, a selection of
smart Home screen widgets and UV/pollen forecasts thrown in too. Plus it
uses the lovely old BBC weather icons, which add a touch of style to
any overcast situation.
75. Vine
The
madly popular social video phenomenon eventually hit Android earlier
this year after an infuriating period of exclusivity on Apple devices,
with Android fans now able to see for themselves what all the fuss is
about. Vine
is about one thing - a simple interface that lets you start and stop
recording by touching the screen, and a six-second time limit. Clips are
then reviewed, processed and uploaded to the Vine servers, for others
to rate.
You might become star. Or just clog up the world's
internet pipes with a trillion clips of your cat not doing anything out
of its normal behaviour range.
76. BBC iPlayer Radio
The
BBC's iPlayer app was always a little poor when it came to representing
the corporation's radio channels, a situation that's been fixed by this stunning little app.
It's
designed well, with a strange little wheel system letting users
navigate through the available listings, plus the Beeb allows streaming
to be conducted over both Wi-Fi and mobile data networks.
There's
also a catch-up selection of past shows, plus a nice little clock radio
tool to have it wake you up with the station of your choice.
77. Guardian Witness
Witness
is the Guardian's attempt at getting its users to generate endless list
features on its behalf for free, with the accompanying Android app
letting the paper's readers contribute photos and stories through a
phone or tablet.
The app lets you sign in with a Guardian,
Twitter or Facebook account, although don't go expecting to "troll" the
world with your UFO photographs - every submission's vetted before being
made live. There are some special missions reserved only for users of
the app, so it's worth trying if you're into the whole crowd-sourcing
thing.
78. Rando
Rando
is sort of a social network, only with the social stuff removed. Its
USP is that you share photos, which must be taken live, with random
strangers around the world.
You have to take and send one in order to receive one back, making it into a weird form of photo-sharing tennis.
You
might get something interesting from Japan, or a boring photo of a
man's PC keyboard from closer to home. It's addictive. You can't help
pinging them off and wondering what's going to come back in payment.
79. Runkeeper
Offers similar functionality to popular sports tracker Endomondo, only with Runkeeper
you get a more Android-like design, integrated support for music
playback and audio coaching, a camera option so you can include images
with your workout details and much, much more.
There are also
goals to set, customisable routes for tracking your favourite runs, plus
it's compatible with physical heart-rate monitors if you take it all
very, very seriously indeed.
80. DashClock
DashClock is an extremely clever widget that completely replaces the lock screen on any devices running Android 4.2 or higher.
The
clever thing about it is its support for additional plugins that are
available on Google Play, so you can further adapt your phone or
tablet's lock screen to include weather data, a shortcut to a torch,
advanced battery data and more. An incredibly versatile system that adds
loads more fun toys to Android's standby modes.
Now that you're all loaded up with Android apps, why not grab some widgets? Our best Android widgets article will point you in the right direction.
Please Give Us Your 1 Minute In Sharing This Post!
0 Comments :
Post a Comment