Best apps for your new Android

Best apps for your new Android phone
or tablet
By Verge Staff 12.25.2013
If you haven’t been paying attention, you might
not know that Android apps have radically
improved in 2013. This year, Google finally
started offering “Find my phone” services
services, but the third party apps have also
gotten better. From design to performance to
simple availability, the grass is looking greener
and greener. After you’ve picked up the usual
suspects — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
obviously Dots — the harder choices come in.
Will you use Google Keep for your notes or go
with Evernote or Simplenote? What’s the best
app to wring the most out of the pictures you
take on your phone? Will you be reading books
on Kindle, articles in Pocket, or news in
Flipboard or Press? With Android, you’re not
longer left in the lurch looking for options, but
that means you need help choosing between
them. Fortunately, we’ve collected our favorites
here, so get ready to click some links and fill
up your home screen.
This year we've picked out some of the very
best apps, games, books, and downloads for
your new devices. Dig into our top selections
for Android apps , Android games , iPhone apps ,
iPad apps , iOS games , Windows Phone apps ,
Kindle books , console games , and for your Mac
and PC.
Dashclock
Now that Android allows you to put widgets on
your lock screen, you could spend hours
hunting down the one that shows exactly the
information you want. Don't. Just install
DashClock , which gives you the time, weather,
and customizable notifications.
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts makes automatically downloading
and organizing podcasts remarkably easy. It's
also that rare Android app that doesn't feel like
it plays second fiddle to its iOS counterpart.
With sync, you can even keep the same data on
iOS devices if you switch.
Swype & Swiftkey
Android's keyboard has gotten better over the
years, but the vagaries of custom manufacturer
skins can still make typing a pain. Both Swype
and Swiftkey make great replacements, which
improved correction, prediction, and gesture-
typing.
Any.do
Any.do makes keeping track of your to-do list
a little less painful by giving it a beautiful
design and easy, quick entry options. The best
feature is called "Moment," a daily triage of
your tasks that actually manages to feel
empowering.
Google Keep
Google Keep is designed for quick, short notes
— everything looks like a little Post-it, but you
can do a lot in those little boxes. To-do lists,
location reminders, and fast searching make it
feel full-featured without bogging you down.
Pocket
There are two big, popular "read it later" apps:
Instapaper and Pocket. On Android, at least,
Pocket gets the nod for more frequent updates
and support for video. Articles are synced
automatically and saved offline, with options to
adjust the layout to your liking.
Snapseed
As a photo editor, Snapseed moves well
beyond basic filters into the kinds of changes
usually reserved for the desktop. With a set of
simple tools the app makes even complex
photo adjustments understandable and
accessible.
Dropbox
Dropbox makes it easy to access your files
from your phone. But there's another use that
might interest you even if you don't think you
need it: the service is great for simply getting
files from your computer to your phone without
a cable.
Slice
Slice is a super-clever service that
automatically watches your inbox for emails
from big-name merchants and shipping
companies. Why would you risk giving that
access? To get automated package tracking,
deal alerts, and price-drop notices. So useful,
it's creepy.
Nova and Apex Launcher
All too often the stock home screens on
Android phones are terrible. Nova Launcher
and Apex Launcher both make it better, with
cleaner designs and plenty of customization
and theming options. You can pony up for
premium versions that offer more features, too.
Google Play Music
Google Play Music is probably already
preloaded on your phone, but if you haven't
tapped in and looked around recently, you
really should. In the past year Google has
added free and paid streaming options and
improved the interface dramatically. The result
is probably the best music app for Android
users.
Netflix
Netflix is another app that you probably don't
give a second thought to, but it's made great
strides on Android in the past year. Support for
Chromecast means that even if you don't watch
TV on your phone, it's worth the install.
VSCOcam
A longtime favorite on the iPhone, VSCO Cam
is finally available on Android and it works
really well. You’ll get photo filters that aren’t
as heavy-handed as Instagram’s along with the
ability to quickly revert the image if you don’t
like how it turned out.
Press
RSS may not be as popular as it once was, but
if you're still addicted to your news feeds,
Press is the best option on Android . Instead of
Flipboard's image-heavy layout, you just get a
well-designed list of headlines and articles.
Sometimes that's all you need.
Simplenote
After years of using third-party apps for
syncing notes, an official Simplenote app
finally came out on Android this year. It has a
barebones design that lets you focus on what
Simplenote does best: rapidly entering in and
searching for your own words.
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