The Best Android Apps by Android Central
Behold, our updated list of the best Android apps around. It's our hand-picked list of the best Android applications around. These are some of the first Android apps you'll want to download.
Keeping track of Android apps can be a huge pain. With the meteoric rise of Android to the top of the heap, 200,000 300,000 550,000 850,000 Android devices activated a day (and 450,000 apps in the Google Play Store), the landscape is rapidly changing at an almost breakneck pace. Fortunately for y'all, you've got a secret weapon on your hands: us. We're tirelessly dedicated to sorting through the muck, and we've picked some of the best Android apps around. Hop past the break to see some of Android's latest and hottest apps available today.
?Best Android weather app: 1Weather
Android has always been a hotbed for weather applications, and as we put another year behind us, developers consistently upped the ante in trying to create the perfect weather app.
We settled on 1Weather because of its gorgeous, intuitive interface, Ice Cream Sandwich-like navigation, and overall ease of use. You've got all the standard weather information at your fingertips like temperature, humidity, and precipitation, but you can also add things like the UV index and dew point.
1Weather can be found in the Google Play Store free of charge, with an in-app purchase of $1.99 to remove ads.
Best Android password manager: mSecure
We've sung mSecure's praises before, and for good reason. For starters, it uses 256-bit blowfish encryption, so you know your data is completely and utterly secure.
Next, it keeps all of your passwords, notes, clothing sizes, and bank information (to name a few), all in one place, so you don't need to go digging through app after app to find the login you need.
There's also Dropbox cloud sync, which lets you keep your information in the cloud, which is perfect for device junkies like ourselves.
mSecure is $9.99 in the Google Play Store.
Best Android music player: Google Play Music
It's been a wild ride for Google Play Music (formerly Google Music). When it first launched, it was little more than the default music app installed on Android devices, but it's finally matured into a fully-featured app worthy of its place on this list.
The selling point? Free cloud storage for 20,000 of your songs, no questions asked. And if you hit a bad data coverage area? You can also listen to songs stored on your SD card and make songs from your cloud locker available for offline listening.Add in tight integration with Google's push into selling media, and we'd say you have a winner on your hands.
Google Play Music is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android launcher: Nova Launcher (Prime)
Yeah, I know it might be an Ice Cream Sandwich-exclusive, but there's no doubt that Nova Launcher Prime certainly rules the roost in the launcher replacement department.
It's built off of the native ICS launcher, so it's got great functionality, plus a whole host of other bells and whistles like changing your grid size, gesture support, and hiding apps from the app drawer.
The developer, TeslaCoil, has some pretty incredible tricks coming down the pipe, too, so I'd buy in sooner rather than later.
Nova Launcher is free, and upgrading to Nova Launcher Prime is $4.00.
Best Android browser: Chrome Beta
Two Ice Cream Sandwich-exclusive apps on one list? This is madness! Really, though, Chrome Beta is here because it handily earned its spot, and for good reason.
With account syncing, keeping track of all your tabs opened across all your devices, gestures to move from page-to-page, super quick load times, and the questionable Incognito mode, what more could you want?
Really though, folks, Chrome Beta is excellent. If you're using it, you know what I'm saying, and if you can't, you will when you can.
Chrome Beta is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android messaging app: GO SMS Pro
Ever since the GO team landed on Android, they've been both creating stellar Android apps and making waves. GO SMS Pro might be one of the older apps on this list, but that doesn't mean it's any less deserving.
GO SMS Pro is chock full of little customizations that help tailor it to you, like custom themes for days, different animations as you slide from screen-to-screen or menu-to-menu, and multiple conversation style layouts.
At this point in time, I'd almost argue GO SMS Pro is part of the Android old guard, and that makes it's listing all the sweeter.
GO SMS Pro is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android Twitter app: Plume
Dynasties rise and fall, and the Twitter app field is already saturated to the brink. Plume has been a crowd (and personal) favorite for quite some time, but were losing their edge as of late.
Then, in a brilliant move, LevelUp Studio updated Plume with new, fancy Ice Cream Sandwich design guidelines and effects.
With an extremely easy to use interface, customization out the wazoo (go colors!), and top-notch notifications, Plume is everything you'll need in a Twitter clitent.
Plume is free (with ads) or ad-free for $4.99 in the Google Play Store.
Best Android podcatching app: PocketCasts
In the world of the Highlander, there can be only one. The Android app scene is a bit different, but if I had? to pick only one podcatching app, it'd be PocketCasts.
Search for podcasts you want to listen to, add them to your list, and PocketCasts will let you know when there's new episodes to be had.
Set it to auto-download, if you so please, and you'll never have to worry about making sure you've got the latest and greatest for your listening pleasure.
PocketCasts is $2.99 in the Google Play Store.
?Best Android instant messaging app: IM+
You're all hip and cool, Android smartphone in tow, but what if you need to IM your friends? Enter IM+ for Android.
Like most all-in-one messaging apps, IM+ has an impressive list of supported services (including our very own Google Talk), and battery saving push notifications.
Unique to IM+, though, is Beep. Beep is SHAPE's stab at a BBM/iMessage/Google+ Messenger-type service that's only usable with other IM+ users.
IM+ is free in the Google Play Store.
Keeping track of Android apps can be a huge pain. With the meteoric rise of Android to the top of the heap, 200,000 300,000 550,000 850,000 Android devices activated a day (and 450,000 apps in the Google Play Store), the landscape is rapidly changing at an almost breakneck pace. Fortunately for y'all, you've got a secret weapon on your hands: us. We're tirelessly dedicated to sorting through the muck, and we've picked some of the best Android apps around. Hop past the break to see some of Android's latest and hottest apps available today.
?Best Android weather app: 1Weather
Android has always been a hotbed for weather applications, and as we put another year behind us, developers consistently upped the ante in trying to create the perfect weather app.
We settled on 1Weather because of its gorgeous, intuitive interface, Ice Cream Sandwich-like navigation, and overall ease of use. You've got all the standard weather information at your fingertips like temperature, humidity, and precipitation, but you can also add things like the UV index and dew point.
1Weather can be found in the Google Play Store free of charge, with an in-app purchase of $1.99 to remove ads.
Best Android password manager: mSecure
We've sung mSecure's praises before, and for good reason. For starters, it uses 256-bit blowfish encryption, so you know your data is completely and utterly secure.
Next, it keeps all of your passwords, notes, clothing sizes, and bank information (to name a few), all in one place, so you don't need to go digging through app after app to find the login you need.
There's also Dropbox cloud sync, which lets you keep your information in the cloud, which is perfect for device junkies like ourselves.
mSecure is $9.99 in the Google Play Store.
Best Android music player: Google Play Music
It's been a wild ride for Google Play Music (formerly Google Music). When it first launched, it was little more than the default music app installed on Android devices, but it's finally matured into a fully-featured app worthy of its place on this list.
The selling point? Free cloud storage for 20,000 of your songs, no questions asked. And if you hit a bad data coverage area? You can also listen to songs stored on your SD card and make songs from your cloud locker available for offline listening.Add in tight integration with Google's push into selling media, and we'd say you have a winner on your hands.
Google Play Music is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android launcher: Nova Launcher (Prime)
Yeah, I know it might be an Ice Cream Sandwich-exclusive, but there's no doubt that Nova Launcher Prime certainly rules the roost in the launcher replacement department.
It's built off of the native ICS launcher, so it's got great functionality, plus a whole host of other bells and whistles like changing your grid size, gesture support, and hiding apps from the app drawer.
The developer, TeslaCoil, has some pretty incredible tricks coming down the pipe, too, so I'd buy in sooner rather than later.
Nova Launcher is free, and upgrading to Nova Launcher Prime is $4.00.
Best Android browser: Chrome Beta
Two Ice Cream Sandwich-exclusive apps on one list? This is madness! Really, though, Chrome Beta is here because it handily earned its spot, and for good reason.
With account syncing, keeping track of all your tabs opened across all your devices, gestures to move from page-to-page, super quick load times, and the questionable Incognito mode, what more could you want?
Really though, folks, Chrome Beta is excellent. If you're using it, you know what I'm saying, and if you can't, you will when you can.
Chrome Beta is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android messaging app: GO SMS Pro
Ever since the GO team landed on Android, they've been both creating stellar Android apps and making waves. GO SMS Pro might be one of the older apps on this list, but that doesn't mean it's any less deserving.
GO SMS Pro is chock full of little customizations that help tailor it to you, like custom themes for days, different animations as you slide from screen-to-screen or menu-to-menu, and multiple conversation style layouts.
At this point in time, I'd almost argue GO SMS Pro is part of the Android old guard, and that makes it's listing all the sweeter.
GO SMS Pro is free in the Google Play Store.
Best Android Twitter app: Plume
Dynasties rise and fall, and the Twitter app field is already saturated to the brink. Plume has been a crowd (and personal) favorite for quite some time, but were losing their edge as of late.
Then, in a brilliant move, LevelUp Studio updated Plume with new, fancy Ice Cream Sandwich design guidelines and effects.
With an extremely easy to use interface, customization out the wazoo (go colors!), and top-notch notifications, Plume is everything you'll need in a Twitter clitent.
Plume is free (with ads) or ad-free for $4.99 in the Google Play Store.
Best Android podcatching app: PocketCasts
In the world of the Highlander, there can be only one. The Android app scene is a bit different, but if I had? to pick only one podcatching app, it'd be PocketCasts.
Search for podcasts you want to listen to, add them to your list, and PocketCasts will let you know when there's new episodes to be had.
Set it to auto-download, if you so please, and you'll never have to worry about making sure you've got the latest and greatest for your listening pleasure.
PocketCasts is $2.99 in the Google Play Store.
?Best Android instant messaging app: IM+
You're all hip and cool, Android smartphone in tow, but what if you need to IM your friends? Enter IM+ for Android.
Like most all-in-one messaging apps, IM+ has an impressive list of supported services (including our very own Google Talk), and battery saving push notifications.
Unique to IM+, though, is Beep. Beep is SHAPE's stab at a BBM/iMessage/Google+ Messenger-type service that's only usable with other IM+ users.
IM+ is free in the Google Play Store.