most useful apps for Android
We use smartphones for a lot of things. We listen to music, play games, watch video, and talk to one another on social media. Another use for smartphones is to make our lives easier. Thankfully, there are plenty of apps that can do just that. You carry this thing on you all the time so why not let it make your life easier? Here are the most useful apps for Android!
Adobe has some of the most useful apps out there. Their apps generally range from photo editing to utility and include apps like Adobe Acrobat (PDF reader), Adobe Lightroom and Photo Express (photo editing), Illustrator Draw (drawing), Scan (document scanner), Premiere Clip (video editing), and many, many others. Many of these apps fill niches that other third party apps simply don't. All of them are free to download. Some of them may require an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription to get all of the features, though.
CamScanner is probably the best document scanner app on mobile. You use the app to scan documents into your phone and convert them to PDF format. You then send that document through email, save it to your device, and you can even fax it for a nominal fee. It seems to hit all the check boxes you’d want in an app like this. You can use most of the features for free or you can pay for a subscription if you intend on using it very heavily. In either case, it’s a must have. Especially during tax season.
IFTTT is easily one of the most useful apps ever. It’s an app that creates commands to carry out a set of basic tasks automatically. What’s great about the app is the sheer number of services, products, and other apps that have IFTTT supports. You can have it turn on your smart lights in your home, save images from Instagram and upload them to Dropbox, and there is even some Google Assistant support. It doesn't take very long to learn. IFTTT is a must for anyone looking to automate their devices and their smart home tech more easily.
Google's app is definitely one of the most useful apps ever. It contains two basic things: Google Assistant and Google Now. Google Assistant answers basically any question, sets up reminders, turns smart lights on and off, and even pulls up songs or videos for you. Google Now is a feed with tons of stuff, including weather, news, and other stuff. The two together in one app is a potent combination that few other developers can even compete with.
Google Drive and its suite of apps are the most popular productivity apps on Android. The full collection includes Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Keep, and Google Photos. Between these apps, you have a full-fledged office suite complete with a note taking app, cloud storage, and a place to back up all of your photos and videos for free. Google Drive comes with 15GB of storage for free. You can increase that with a monthly subscription. The whole package are some of the most useful apps we've seen.
Google Translate is the go-to translation app available on any platform. It has received a number of updates over the years, including the ability to use your camera to point at something and have it translated in real-time. There is also a neural network powering the platform that helps make translation even more accurate. It has a slew of additional features as well, including the ability to translate a two way conversation in real-time. Travelers already know how useful this app is.
LastPass is a password manager app. There are many of these in Google Play and most of them work fairly well. However, we like LastPass because it stays current with Android updates and also has a second authenticator app for additional security. The app generates passwords, saves your passwords to various sites, and helps you login quickly when you need to. It adds a layer of security to your life. The subscription costs are also quite reasonable.
Microsoft has been killing it on mobile the last couple of years. The company definitely has some of the most useful apps out there. Some of the better ones include Microsoft OneDrive, the Microsoft Office suite, Microsoft Launcher, Microsoft Authenticator, Office Lens, Remote Desktop, and several more. Additionally, they have some up and comers like their new To Do List app that will eventually replace Wunderlist on Google Play. Most of these apps are free to use. Others may require an Office365 subscription to get the full set of features.
Pushbullet is one of the most useful apps out there if you need to connect your phone to your PC. With it, you can text from your PC, transfer files quickly, and you can even copy from your Android device and paste on your PC (and vice versa). It’ll also show you phone notifications on your computer. The free version can be useful, although you won’t get the really good features unless you sign up for their subscription. The price is pretty high, but there are alternatives that do some of the same stuff.
Slack is a professional chat app that was made for businesses and work environments. You can create various channels for various tasks or various groups of people. It’s great for a lot of things because the chat service can be integrated with a ton of other services such as Asana, Giphy, Google Drive, Twitter, Zendesk, and other productivity tools. The app also supports voice calls, private and group messaging, file uploads, and there is a web app and a desktop app that you can download and install for most platforms. It’s pretty great and definitely one of the most useful apps we know of.
Solid Explorer is a file manager and browser that does a great job. It’s built around Material Design and that makes the app very easy to use. On top of the usual file browsing, you’ll also have the option to access your cloud storage services if you use them. On top of that, you’ll be able to access FTP, SFTP, WebDav, and SMB/CIFS clients. There is even root access if you need that. It’s a powerful app that is also simple to use. You’ll have to pay for it after the 14-day trial, but everyone needs a file manager and this one is a good one.
Tasker is one of the most powerful apps. Tasker allows you to create automated activities that do a variety of things. It’s difficult to express what this app can do because it can do virtually anything. The app comes with 200 built-in actions that you can use or you can build your own. There are also a ton of apps with Tasker support along with plugins to expand functionality. There is a large learning curve. This is definitely not the easiest app to use. However, it works great once you figure it out.
TickTick is among the best to do list apps and also one of the most useful apps. You put tasks in and the app reminds you to do them. In addition, you can set it up for things like grocery lists and other stuff. The app also features collaboration. You can share tasks between the members of your household or job if needed. It also comes with a calendar, widgets, and note taking features. The free version comes with more than enough for casual use. The paid version is really only needed for extreme business use cases.
WiFiAnalyzer is an open-source WiFi analyzer. It lets you see your WiFi connection as well as other connections in the general area. There are a number of reasons why you’d need something like this. You can see if your WiFi is sharing a channel with other WiFi networks (which can affect connectivity and speed). You can also identify nearby WiFi networks, graph signal strength, and other activities. It’s important information to know if you’re looking to optimize your home WiFi. It’s also free!
YouTube is probably the most useful app on mobile. Sure, most use it for music videos or product reviews. However, there is a healthy and huge underbelly of tutorials, lessons, lectures, explainers, and other videos. I once learned how to change the headlight bulbs on my 2005 Chevy Equinox with a YouTube video. There aren't a ton of things that it doesn't have. The app is free if you don't mind advertising. You can pay $9.99 per month to remove ads, enable background play, and get a complimentary subscription to Google Play Music. It's a pretty good deal.
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