Saturday, December 31, 2016
Friday, December 30, 2016
Windows 10 gets a new colour scheme for when it crashes
You’re doubtless familiar with the ‘blue screen of death’, which pops up when Windows totally hangs with a fatal error, but things with the BSOD are changing, as Microsoft has turned the famous blue colour a different shade – at least for those testing Windows 10.
Going forward, with preview builds of Windows 10, the crash screen will be green rather than blue, as spotted by one enterprising Twitter user in a leaked preview version of the OS (build 14997 – which has seen several revelations, including a new ‘Game Mode’ and the ability to delay Windows updates).
Chris123NT discovered the green screen of death, as it has now become for Windows testers, and Matthijs Hoekstra, Senior Program Manager for Windows Enterprise Developer Platform, confirmed that it was only for test builds of the OS.
In other words, it’s so Microsoft can easily see whether a crash is from a preview build – crashes in released versions of Windows still remain blue. And are likely to remain leaving you feeling blue, as well.
Colour us puzzled
Which brings us to the talking point that seems to have caused most of the chatter across the net regarding this change – why green? Typically, green is regarded as a ‘positive’ colour in that it means go ahead (with traffic lights), or that things are safe. Surely Microsoft should have gone with red if they were picking an alternative colour?
Although perhaps red is simply regarded as too overly alarming in nature to be used.
Hoekstra said that he had no idea why green was chosen. And he also hinted he’d received a slapped wrist due to his tweets on this matter…
This isn’t the only change Microsoft has made to its crash screen this year. Back in the spring, we first saw the introduction of QR codes to the blue screen of death, which you can scan with your phone to swiftly get more in-depth troubleshooting details on the problem at hand.
Image Credit: Chris123NT
Via: Betanews
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Thursday, December 29, 2016
Fed up with automatic updates on Windows 10? We’ve got some good news…
Windows 10’s automatic updates, and the lack of control over when they’re installed (at least in the consumer flavours of the OS) has been a major bugbear for many users, although it seems that Microsoft has finally decided to give folks the option to at least delay updates.
At the moment, it’s possible to do some basic scheduling of update times with Windows 10 Home, but your hand is forced to install these things more or less straightaway – immediate updates being Microsoft’s idea of helping to keep the operating system as secure as possible.
However, sometimes you just don’t want to install updates right away for whatever reason – particularly if you’ve read reports of them breaking things such as webcams, to give a recent-ish example – and according to Winaero, fortunately Microsoft is introducing the option to delay updates by just over a month.
This feature has been spotted in a leaked preview version of Windows 10 (build 14997 – in which the new ‘Game Mode’ was also discovered), under the advanced options section for update settings.
Pause for thought
In advanced options, there’s a new slider entitled Pause Updates, and when it’s turned on, updates can be temporarily put on ice for up to 35 days – although some critical security updates, such as Windows Defender definitions, will still be installed straightaway.
With this new system, at least if you find out about an update which could potentially cause some trouble with hardware on your system, you can wait a while and hope that Microsoft manages to push out a fix before you must install said update.
This feature should be arriving with the Creators Update in the spring of next year, although there’s no guarantee that it won’t be considerably altered (or indeed cut completely) before the final incarnation of the update turns up.
We can’t really see this one being dropped, though, as it would certainly be a popular addition to give back at least some measure of control to users when it comes to updates.
As we saw last month, Microsoft is also improving updates by streamlining them and making the big downloads much more compact.
Via: Ubergizmo
- Never mind Windows Defender, check out the best antivirus software of 2016
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New Windows 10 ‘Game Mode’ will squeeze even more performance out of your PC
Windows 10 already offers major perks for gamers such as DirectX 12, but Microsoft is planning to bolster the OS further with the introduction of a ‘Game Mode’ that prioritizes system resources for games to enable them to run more smoothly.
First of all, we should note that this isn’t a confirmed feature yet, but rather the mode was spotted by well-known Microsoft tipster WalkingCat who discovered a new DLL file (gamemode.dll) in a leaked preview of Windows 10 (build 14997). He’d previously made noises about the existence of a gaming mode a couple of weeks back.
According to WalkingCat, it appears as if the mode will allow Windows to adjust resources allocated to the processor, graphics card and so forth to prioritize games, giving them better performance.
Again, note that this is the source’s opinion as opposed to any hard-and-fast info, but Windows Central’s sources have also said that the feature will work much like the Xbox One’s handling of running a game – whereby the console rejigs resources to make sure the title works as smoothly as possible.
And obviously it makes sense that a Game Mode would do this. After all, what else would flipping such a switch do, save for ensuring that games run better.
Next major update
The word on the grapevine is that this mode is set to arrive with the Creators Update for Windows 10 next spring, so hopefully it should turn up in the preview versions of the OS soon enough.
That’s not guaranteed either, though, and we could be waiting longer – the timeframe is looking a little tight now, considering this isn’t even in testing yet. Fingers crossed that it arrives sooner rather than later for gamers, of course.
Windows 10 is already far more popular with gamers in comparison to the general computing population, as those monthly Steam surveys show – over twice as popular in fact. And the introduction of a tailored mode to prioritize resources for gaming is certainly not going to hurt the adoption of Microsoft’s latest OS.
- Want really smooth frame rates? Check out our best gaming PCs of 2016
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Samsung is bringing an Amazon Echo compatible robot vacuum to CES
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Top 5 best identity management and authentication services
Businesses rely heavily on technology. Employees use computers, smartphones, tablets and other gadgets on a daily basis to streamline processes, stay productive and communicate with colleagues, while databases store important information about customers and products.
Because of this, effective security is paramount. It’s no longer good enough to put physical security first. Although CCTV cameras and sophisticated door locks will stop intruders from entering your office, a hack into your computer system could spell total disaster and bring your whole firm down.
Managing user identity is one of the most important steps in implementing a cybersecurity strategy. You need to be able to trust the people who have access to valuable business and customer data, all of which would be lucrative to hackers if they were able to gain access.
Identity management systems are a great way to stay ahead of the curve with respect to digital security. They’re not new but they certainly are highly effective. Using these systems, you can see who is accessing content in your system and get information on their motives. You can also set user rights and restrictions.
But which are the best identity management and authentication solutions out there? We’ve picked out five top-notch affairs that you can’t go wrong with.
If you run a large-scale enterprise with a ton of digital assets, then you ought to check out DigitalPersona. Used widely across the globe and adopted by companies like RBS, this system lets you set smart authentication procedures for users.
The software analyses risks posed to your company and aims to give you a tailored approach to cybersecurity. There are multiple authentication methods to choose from, such as biometrics, tokens, pins, SAML and phones. It’s easy to set these up, and you should have a more secure system in place within no time.
What’s also nifty is the fact that you can add more applications and changes over time, so you don’t have to worry about finding the perfect method straight away. As well as this, the software offers added protection for privileged and important users. This is sophisticated technology and is targeted at firms with significant security budgets.
AuthAnvil is available on the web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android applications, but whatever platform you’re looking at, the basic aim is the same – to protect your precious data. The company recognises that password-related breaches are the biggest cause of data loss and has come up with a solution.
The system lets you protect company data by restricting content employees can access and ensuring that only trusted parties can use sensitive apps. For instance, you could use AuthAnvil to give managers direct control of internal company and customer data, as opposed to general employees.
As well as boasting integrated identity and access management solutions, the software also provides multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, password automation, identity-as-a-service and credentials management. These are all highly effective features.
OneLogin is a cloud-based authentication system that makes it easier for firms to secure their digital assets and users. It can handle multiple applications at once and has single sign-on capabilities.
The system is perfect for all businesses, regardless of industry sector, and it can work with both internal and public applications. Features include access request management, account management, compliance regulation, password management, user monitoring and role management.
Once you purchase the software, the support doesn’t stop. You can access documentation, webinars and online chats to better understand and get the most out of OneLogin. There’s also 24/7 tech support through the company website, so you can always ask a question if you get stuck.
Dodgy password management is often the culprit when it comes to data breaches, although Dashlane is looking to solve this. It’s a password vaulting service that will protect your company’s data and ensure your cybersecurity habits are always kept on the straight and narrow.
The system prides itself on simplicity. You aren’t expected to know every single thing about technology and security to be able to use it. It’s been built with AES 256-bit encryption, and semantic technology also plays a big role in the mechanics system. There’s a dedicated engine for this, which works towards fast login speeds and auto-fill forms across a variety of web applications. It’s a unified platform, meaning it can work across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android – all the platforms you likely use.
PortalGuard combines important authentication procedures and password management capabilities within one convenient portal.
The software is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, cloud tools and web browsers, and it places a premium on ease-of-use. While it’s not the most powerful system out there by any means, many users will appreciate having things kept simple, and benefiting from their own custom-branded login portal.
What’s also neat is that when it comes to trying out the service before you commit to purchasing, you can avail yourself of a free interactive trial, or alternatively request a live demo from the company.
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Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Top 5 best infrastructure management services
If you run your own business, you no doubt use a ton of IT equipment and software on a daily basis, covering a range of purposes. And it’s too easy for all this stuff to pile up and become overwhelming.
This is where infrastructure management software comes in handy. It provides you with the ability to manage company processes and policies, computing equipment, data, contacts, human resources and security systems.
Normally, IM can be sorted into different use categories, such as storage management, network management, system management, server management, workstation management, IT security management and application support.
The ultimate aim of this technology is to help you streamline your internal IT processes – but you’ll also get a plethora of other benefits, too. For instance, you can ensure you conform to internal and external regulations, enhance data flows, run an efficient IT operation and avoid wasting time duplicating efforts.
There are plenty of IM software packages out there, and they’re suitable for a variety of different businesses and sectors. Large vendors such as HP, IBM and Microsoft all offer IM software. In this article, we’re going to highlight five of the best.
When it comes to software, it’s hard to beat American tech giant Microsoft, and the company has a great tool for infrastructure management. Configuration Manager is a suite of IM tools developed for IT managers and experts.
This solution deals primarily with operating systems, malware protection, power consumption and IT hardware. It can work on a variety of devices and across different work applications.
In terms of core features, the software offers device management, power management, update management, endpoint protection and inventory reporting. You can also use it to deploy Windows 10 quickly and efficiently on new devices.
PagerDuty is another excellent infrastructure management solution. It offers incident and dispatch features for multiple services and applications, and has been tailored for a plethora of businesses and industries.
This is primarily a system monitoring and alert platform, providing incident management through a web or mobile application. What’s great is that it can send crucial infrastructure alerts through phone, SMS and push notifications. It can even send them to specific people or groups via email.
Feature-wise, the software offers team scheduling management, real-time collaboration information through different devices and platforms, system and user reporting, always-on delivery and business-grade security. There are also integrations with apps and services such as Slack, AppDynamics, Desk.com, Watcher and ZenDesk.
If you’re after a cloud-based IM platform, you should check out DataDog. The system offers monitoring and analytics management for businesses of all sizes and sectors, as well as maintaining a rich and yet simple interface.
The software can work with a wide selection of systems, apps and devices, and there are integrations which cover the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Slack, SQL Server, Docker, Apache and Campfire.
You can create your own IM dashboards, too. They offer high-resolution metrics and graphs covering data such as hosts, devices, tags, rates, ratios and averages. There’s also the ability to search for different metrics and events. Like PagerDuty, you have the option to receive alerts – in this case, the software will alert you to performance problems via email.
LabTech is a remote monitoring and management platform designed by IT service providers for technology companies, and it provides automated IT service. The software is capable of running straight out of the box.
With a focus on network management, this solution offers powerful cloud-based reporting and visibility into your IT capabilities, allowing you to perform almost any IT management task remotely and efficiently.
Meanwhile, on the automation front, LabTech will analyse all your systems, solve problems and reduce time spent visiting on-site assets. As well as being able to access the software from a PC, there’s also an app for iOS and Android devices.
Automation isn’t for everyone, but it’s certainly handy if you want to speed up internal processes. There’s a free trial available, so you don’t have to rush into making a final decision as to whether you want to adopt LabTech.
Pulseway is one of the most popular and highly commended remote monitoring and infrastructure management platforms. It lets you monitor Windows, Mac and Linux computers, and provides you with real-time status on network performance, system resources and logged in users.
There’s a mobile app for iOS and Android devices, meaning you can track and manage all your IT resources remotely. You also get access to advanced IT automation so you don’t have to spend time on mundane tasks, such as maintenance, backup and security checks.
You can set up alerts, too. Like some of the other systems mentioned here, they’ll flag any system issues that could potentially lead to damage or failure, and you can tailor them based on your IT devices. Pulseway is suitable for smaller firms and businesses all the way up to large enterprises.
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Saturday, December 24, 2016
Friday, December 23, 2016
Best free Android apps of 2016: 100 you must download
You've got an Android device, either because you didn't want, or couldn't afford, an iPhone - and in years past that meant you had to live with substandard apps. Thankfully, those days are well and truly over, with reams of great little programs standing toe to toe with the best Apple's App Store has to offer.
- What's the best phone of 2016?
Admittedly, the huge quantity of apps doesn't mean they're all quality - far from it in fact. To make sure you never install a duff app here's our selection of the best you should install right now - each one carefully chosen to ensure you'll have a whole suite of fun, engaging and, dammit, useful apps on your phone or tablet.
If you’re anything like us you’d probably sooner forget those embarrassing outfits you were wearing in all your old printed photos.
The good news is you can easily hide them away in a box, in a cupboard or at the bottom of the ocean. The bad news is PhotoScan by Google brings them into the digital world, where they’ll never be more than a click away - so please think about your future self when digitizing your images.
Follow some simple instructions, which basically involve moving your phone over an image, so the camera lens can clearly see all the different parts of it, and it will be immortalized in digital form and ready for sharing on social media.
PhotoScan has some clever tricks up its sleeve too, allowing it to enhance images, avoid glare, and crop and straighten shots, so that the finished product really is like a digital photo, rather than just a snapshot of a snapshot.
It’s all very quick and easy, which sadly means there’s no forgetting those baggy jeans and nineties haircuts if you’re hell-bent on documenting your entire drawer of old photos.
You probably look at your phone’s wallpaper more than almost any other image, so you want it to look good, and choosing the perfect image is sometimes only half the battle, because sometimes the perfect image isn’t quite perfect yet.
Maybe the contrast, brightness, or saturation is slightly off, and if so, Wallpaper Modder is a quick, easy way to adjust it.
The app provides sliders to adjust all that, plus the hue and level of blur, on your current wallpaper. There’s also a toggle to invert the colors, and when you’re happy with your edits you can apply your new and improved wallpaper, or save it to your gallery – though saving it requires a $0.99/79p in app purchase (which also removes the adverts).
You can, of course, do many of the same things from a photo editor, but that tends to be overkill if you just want to make small tweaks. Wallpaper Modder keeps things simple, with all the controls on a single screen and your current wallpaper preloaded and ready for editing.
Ever wondered how strong the network's signal is in your area and whether a rival provider would be better? Or wanted to know where your nearest cell tower is? OpenSignal can tell you all that and a whole lot more, with data taken from your handset and those of over 10 million other users.
You can use the app to test your download and upload speeds or latency, see detailed coverage maps split by network and signal type, charts highlighting the best and worst networks in a given area and statistics on your signal quality.
Data can be saved and shared, the app will build up a history of your network usage while it's on your phone, and all of this comes free of charge and adverts - so it’s perfect if you’re thinking about changing networks and want to get the best coverage with your new phone.
Distractions are the enemy of productivity and when writing on mobile even a busy interface can prove distracting, with options and icons taking up valuable space on the screen.
iA Writer was seemingly created with that in mind, giving you essentially just a white screen to write on, while all other options are a tap or swipe away.
It can go even further than that, with a Focus Mode causing the text you've already written to fade into the background, so you can stay focused on the current sentence.
These features all make it ideal when you need to write a lot, pen prose quickly or put some thought into what you're actually putting down on the digital paper.
But there's more here when you need it, including a night mode with reversed colors if you're working late, real-time syncing to Dropbox and Google Drive so you never lose your work, instant publishing to WordPress or Medium and a word count too, so you'll know how far you've got left to go if you’re being that regimented.
Aside from Google Assistant, one of the best features of the Pixel and Pixel XL is the fingerprint scanner as it goes beyond just securing your phone to also give you a shortcut to the notification screen, accessed by swiping down on the scanner.
While not unique, fingerprint gestures are a bit of rarity, with many popular phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 not supporting them.
But Fingerprint Gestures can add that feature to your handset, and it’s not limited to just bringing up the notifications screen. You can also set up swipes and taps to launch apps, toggle the torch, change the ringer mode and more.
There are three different gestures you can use, for any combination of these you want, with a swipe, a single tap and a double tap all supported, and while certain actions like putting your phone to sleep require root access, most work on unrooted devices.
Everyone loves a good deal, and the Groupon app makes it easy to find and access offers wherever you are.
Chances are you’ve come across Groupon before, but if not, all you need to know is it’s packed full of deals and offers, across various categories like entertainment, fashion, restaurants and holidays.
Using the app you can filter through any of the categories, as well as seeing what’s nearby. If you find a deal you want you can buy it and redeem it from the app and access to any deals and vouchers you’ve previously bought.
Grabbing vouchers from the app saves you having to print them off, and means you can take advantage of deals with no notice – if you’re out shopping and decide to get some lunch, you can just check the app for nearby offers to up the savings.
With up to 90% off you can save a lot of money – though the temptation to spend on things just because they’re good value can actually make Groupon quite expensive. Sadly, willpower not included.
SoloLearn is for coding what Duolingo is for languages. Like Duolingo it has a wide-range of courses, covering C++, HTML, Java, Python 3, JavaScript, SQL, PHP, CSS, C#, Swift and Ruby.
Lessons are built into simple, bite-sized chunks, ideal for mobile, and SoloLearn starts at the very beginning, so it’s not intimidating to complete beginners.
Also like Duolingo there’s a large community around SoloLearn, with users able to comment on each lesson, or engage in larger question and answer discussions.
SoloLearn also lets you put your coding skills to the test, with a built-in code editor. If there’s a downside to the app it’s the fairly plain appearance, which doesn’t make it particularly inviting – that’s one area where it could stand to learn from Duolingo. But it’s completely free, with no IAP and no adverts, and perfect for those that feel they should learn to code but haven’t got round to it.
Like Chrome but don’t like adverts? Then you might like Brave Browser. It’s a browser based on Chromium – so it looks a lot like Chrome, and it’s built by one of the co-founders of Mozilla, who should have a better idea of how to build a browser than most.
As you’ve probably guessed, Brave has a built-in ad-blocker, and it’s simple to use and configure for individual sites – just tap the lion icon at the top of a page to enable or disable ads, trackers and third-party cookies for the site you’re on (although TechRadar would just love it if you chose to whitelist us to help us keep the lights on…).
Brave is still in beta though, and this is just the beginning, as it has ambitions to work with websites and advertisers, rather than simply blocking ads.
The desktop version of the browser already lets you choose to show unobtrusive ads, or pay publishers of the sites that you block ads on, and in future the company even plans to launch a revenue share model, where users who don’t block adverts get a small cut of the income – which they can either keep or distribute to the sites and bloggers they want to support.
You won’t find these features on mobile yet, but they’re likely planned for future updates, so this is one browser that’s sure to get a lot more interesting over time.
Anchor describes itself as ‘radio by the people’ and that’s not far from the truth. The app lets you record up to two minutes of audio at the push of a button and then send it out into the world, ready to be listened to by other Anchor users.
They can then reply to your recording with audio posts of their own, starting a group conversation with potentially dozens of strangers, all using their voices rather than text.
Of course, if you’re not much of a broadcaster you can just listen to other people’s recordings – which cover everything from news and opinions, to short stories and humor.
Much like Twitter and other social media platforms you can also follow users, so you’re never short of new content to hear.
The internet has made life hard for bricks and mortar stores, and Amazon Prime Now could be the thing that finally kills them.
The app gives Amazon Prime subscribers free same day delivery within a two-hour window on thousands of products, or one-hour delivery for an additional charge.
You can get everything from smartphones, to video games, to clothes, toys and even food sent to you.
Well... at least you can if you live somewhere with access to Prime Now, so its rather limited availability means physical stores might not be doomed quite yet.
Still, Prime Now’s availability is growing, and for those who can access it there’s one less reason to ever leave the house again.
Kitchen Stories is based around the idea that anyone can cook, and so the app is as accessible to the culinarily curious as it is to seasoned chefs.
That starts with finding a recipe, allowing you to filter not just based on the course or main ingredient, but also by how long it takes to cook or how many calories it has (among other things).
Then, once you find something you like the look of, you can add it to a personal recipe book with a tap, or add the ingredients to your shopping list.
When it comes time to actually cook you’re in safe hands, with fully illustrated and clearly laid out instructions for each recipe, along with video guides for many of the skills you’ll need.
The app also has a built-in timer and a measurements converter, plus new recipes and videos are added every single week.
Most wallpaper apps aren’t very exciting, but then most wallpaper apps aren’t made by Google. Simply named ‘Wallpaper’, this is an app you’ll find pre-installed on the Pixel and Pixel XL, but it’s compatible with other Android devices too.
The app lets you pick from a range of wallpapers across several categories, including Earth, landscapes, cityscapes, life and textures, with the option to have it automatically change the wallpaper each day.
The app also lets you have a separate wallpaper on your lock screen and home screen, but what really makes it stand out is simply the quality of the offerings. Images are sourced from Google Earth, Google+ and elsewhere, and while the selection isn’t as wide as some wallpaper apps the quality is universally high.
Gideon Smart Home could be the last smart home app you’ll ever need, as it can be used to control dozens of devices from loads of different companies, including but not limited to Philips Hue, Sonos Play, Nest Thermostat and Netatmo Weather Station.
It does a good job of controlling them too, in many cases giving you as much functionality as their official apps, along with extra tools, like being able to set up scenarios which will cause devices to adjust their behavior based on the time or whether you’re in the house, for example.
And you can also share access to the app with other people, on a temporary or permanent basis – ideal whether you live with others or simply have guests over.
It’s all wrapped up in an attractive interface. All Gideon’s really missing is a wider choice of widgets – you can create ones that activate certain scenarios with a press, but can’t get full control over smart home functions without launching the app.
If you’re a fan of Facebook Messenger’s chat bubbles then you’ll probably love Flychat. It’s a similar concept – putting a small bubble with a contact’s image to the side of whatever screen you’re on when they send you a message.
You can move the bubble if it’s in the way, and tap it to read or reply to the message, at which point a larger screen will appear over whatever you were looking at, but won’t take you away from the app or page you were on.
It’s designed to both be unobtrusive and mean you won’t have to leave the app or game you’re in to respond to messages.
Where it beats Facebook Messenger is in being able to grab messages from WhatsApp, Telegram, Hangouts, Line, Skype, Twitter, Threema, Textra, Facebook Messenger and Plus Messenger, and that list is likely to grow over time.
So wherever you’re getting contacted from there’s a good chance you’ll be able to respond through Flychat.
Ever felt betrayed by the weather forecast? Then you might want to check out Climendo, as rather than relying on a single forecast it pulls data from up to nine providers depending on where you are.
The app then creates a combined forecast using data from the most accurate providers in your region and tells you how certain it is of the forecast’s accuracy, so you’ll know exactly what to expect and never again find yourself wearing shorts in a storm.
Hourly and daily forecasts are available, and you can look up to ten days ahead, though of course the accuracy drops off the further forward you look.
If you want a second opinion you can also see what each individual forecast provider reckons the weather is going to be doing.
Climendo isn’t as feature packed as some weather apps. It doesn’t offer widgets and nor can you see details like humidity and pressure, but it’s likely to get the basics of how wet you’ll get right, and that’s surely the most important thing.
Smartphone cameras have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, but they still tend to struggle in low-light, turning out dull, noisy images.
Light EQ is a simple, free tool which aims to help with that, allowing you to use a slider to increase the exposure of underexposed photos.
It can also improve the contrast and vibrancy of an image and correct uneven lighting, and it does it all with a single slider, working out on its own what needs fixing.
Light EQ works surprisingly well, bringing out details which can hardly be seen in dark originals and generally creating a much more useable image.
It’s not a miracle worker, it can’t add details which were completely absent, and photos which started noisy will generally still be noisy once you’re finished with them, but if you just want to add some light to a shot, this is a slick, simple solution.
Google Duo is essentially the search giant's answer to FaceTime, except unlike Apple's video calling service Duo works on both Android and iOS, so you won't have to ignore your iPhone-toting friends.
High-quality free one-to-one video calls over Wi-Fi or mobile data are at the core of Google Duo, but it's got some standout features as well, most notably 'Knock Knock', which lets you see a video preview of the caller before you decide whether to answer or not.
There's strong security too thanks to end-to-end encryption, and as there's no need to sign up for an account, you just need to input your phone number to get started.
Whatever you're into, Candid probably has a group for it. From happenings in your town to musings on philosophy, the app gives you a platform to follow and discuss the things that matter to you.
You can join or create groups, post questions or information in them and get involved in discussions, or just lurk and read the things other people are posting.
It's not a totally original idea but the sheer number and variety of groups is impressive and growing all the time, and with a pseudonym assigned for each post it's kept completely anonymous.
You can still link the app to your Facebook friends list and see their posts, you just won't know which friend made each post... although guessing is half the fun.
Fast Speed Test isn't just referring to the speed of your network in its name, but also the fact that it's superfast at testing it, getting to work the instant you launch the app.
This Netflix creation estimates your download speed by performing a series of downloads from the company's servers, giving you a quick estimate of how speedy your internet is.
It doesn't test your upload speeds, ping or latency as it's designed to keep things as simple as possible and there are plenty of other services for them if you need more details, but if you just want a speedy snapshot of the internet performance on your phone Fast Speed Test is hard to beat.
We've all been there. You've decided you want to watch a very specific show or film and now need to hunt through all six billion different streaming sites to see if or where it's available.
But what if there was another way? What if you could just search once and get back a list of locations where your content can be found?
That's what JustWatch does, you simply tell it what country you're in and which sites and services you're interested in when you first download the app, after which it will bring back every relevant search result from then on.
That's reason enough for stream fiends to grab it, especially as it's free, but there's more here, including lists of the latest releases on all of your subscribed services, so you'll never miss a new Netflix series again.
If you work on a lot of collaborative projects, then a service built from the ground up for collaboration can be a better choice than established software like Microsoft Office.
Cloud services like Google Docs are doing a good job in the space and now you can add Dropbox Paper to the list of quality options.
It's an accomplished app for creating documents, allowing you to add images, videos, tables and even code. But it also allows you to share, edit and collaborate on documents with a variety of tools.
You can invite people to collaborate using a link or email, add comments and edits, change the document in real time and give feedback to specific people or everyone on the project.
Dropbox Paper works in the web, so you can access it from almost any device, but the app is a slick way to use it from a smartphone.
Every day hundreds of interesting new articles are posted online, many on our very own site, but finding time to read even a fraction of them can be a challenge. Listening though... that's easier. Whether you're walking, driving, or working out you can put a podcast on in the background and Narro lets you turn written articles into podcasts.
Once the app's installed you just share any article with it from your browser and then you can have it read out to you.
But there are two features that make Narro particularly appealing. The first is that you can plug it into your podcast player of choice as a new feed, so you don't have to use the Narro app itself to listen and can instead use whatever interface you're a fan of.
The second is the option to choose between loads of different voices and adjust the reading speed. It's always going to sound a little bit like a robot, but take the time to find a voice and speed you like and it's actually a pretty enjoyable listening experience.
Your phone app probably has smart dialing. There's a good chance it has a blacklist too and support for favorites and groups. It's less likely to have caller ID, a selection of themes and customizable gesture controls.
But PixelPhone does, in fact you can tweak and customize almost every aspect of it, from the default action when you tap on a contact to the size of the dial pad.
There's very little that you could reasonably expect from a phone app that PixelPhone can't do, though to unlock the call recording feature you'll have to pay for the pro version (£2.69/US$2.99).
But you get a whole lot for free and it really embodies the spirit of Android, by allowing you to tweak the look and feel of the app until you're happy.
Ever wanted to bring all your old Warhammer pieces or children's toys to life? Well with Motion you can, or at least to some kind of stop motion life.
The app couldn't be simpler: you just point your phone at whatever you want to animate, press the big yellow button on the screen, then slightly move anything that you want to show in motion. From that, press the button again and continue like that until you've created your masterpiece.
Once all the footage is in place you can play it back, adjust the frame rate if needed and remove any pictures that you forgot to get your hands out of.
You can always go back and add more frames to a project at any point, so you don't need to set aside a whole afternoon to get an intricate animation done in one go. Once you finally are finished you can save it to your phone and send it to your friends/your kids/anyone else who'll still talk to you after seeing your shonky stop motion.
The YouTube app does a good job of bringing convenient access to millions of videos but there's one glaring limitation: You can't multitask with it. If you go back to your home screen or jump across to another app the video stops playing.
Flytube fixes this by opening the video in a small window, which sits over the top of whatever screen you're on, but can be moved to wherever is least in the way.
This will happen automatically if you launch the video from the Flytube app (which itself is a fairly slick take on YouTube), but if you want to stick to the official app you can get the same effect by sharing the video with Flytube.
While viewing a video in a small window isn't ideal, it works well for songs that you're listening to (rather than watching), or for quickly checking something before returning to full screen footage.
You might never be the next Picasso, but with Prisma you can make your photos look convincingly like an artistic masterpiece.
The app sports dozens of filters, largely based around specific painters or art styles and with a single tap (and a bit if a wait - plus you need to be online) you can apply any of these to any of your photos.
There's no shortage of photo filter apps but these are a bit more inventive than most and actually look convincingly like the art styles they're imitating.
Once you've applied your filter of choice you can lessen the effect with a swipe if it's veered too far from the source image for your liking, then you can save and share your creations with another few taps.
Evernote was once the digital notebook of choice and in many ways it still is, but price hikes coupled with stricter limits on the free version mean it's no longer ideal for everyone - so if money is an object then Notebook is a strong alternative.
One of the joys of a physical notebook is often the design of the cover and, while that can never be fully replicated on mobile, Notebook by Zoho takes a good stab at it, by letting you choose from a selection of covers for each of your virtual notebooks, or create your own.
This, coupled with being able to change the color of each note's background, makes for a very colorful app, which feels fun and playful as much as functional.
Notes can be sorted and sifted with pinches and swipes, you can add checklists, audio and images, search for specific content, share your notes with others and upload to the cloud to access them across devices.
For now it lacks some of Evernote's features, such as the ability to collaborate on documents, but it's also a lot newer, so these things may be added over time and it's a remarkably rich offering for something that's completely free.
Ereaders are great for books, but if you want a digital library of magazines a tablet, or even a smartphone, is a better bet and Zinio makes building that library easy.
It's both a storefront and reader, offering over 5,000 different magazines from across the world, though not all in English.
Both major titles and more niche offerings are covered and navigating them on a touchscreen is easy, with swipes to turn pages and pinches or double taps to zoom, or you can just select the 'Text' option to read articles without the images and formatted for your screen.
Your whole library is stored online, so you can access it from other devices, but you can also download your magazines if you want to read them on a plane or elsewhere with no internet connection.
Replying to a message isn't usually hard, but if you're walking, have your hands full or are just swamped with texts a one-tap reply can be useful and Fluenty makes that a possibility.
The app uses AI to generate a series of possible replies to any message you get through SMS, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger or KakaoTalk, then you just have to tap one of them to send it.
The responses aren't always perfect and may not sound like things you'd say, but they generally relate to whatever message you got and you can save your own commonly used replies if its voice doesn't match yours.
And Fluenty works on both smartphones and smartwatches. It's especially useful on the latter, where typing out a message really is a pain, but you might be surprised how often a one-tap response comes in handy on your phone too.
ASAP Launcher at once feels minimalist and powerful, thanks to a wealth of features all tucked away into an intuitive, uncluttered interface.
It only really gives you one true home screen, so if you like having all your apps visible, rather than leaving them in folders or the app drawer, ASAP Launcher might not be for you, but by limiting you it forces you to keep your home screen tidy.
And your apps are never far away. A swipe up from the dock will display your most commonly used apps, while a swipe in from the left edge will bring up the app drawer, which you can quickly swipe through or search.
Most other things are no more than a swipe or two away as well. Swiping the right edge brings up a scrollable bar full of shortcuts and toggles, while swiping left or right from the center of the screen will display your contacts, calendar, the weather and even a to-do list.
And if you don't like the look of ASAP Launcher you can change the theme and highlight colors, or even switch up the icons with custom icon packs.
Given the company behind it you might expect BitTorrent Now to be some sort of illegal file sharing service, but in fact while it does give you access to music and video it's completely legal - and even shares advertising revenue with the creators who choose to upload their work to it.
Mostly it offers a mix of music from underground or up and coming bands, alongside short films and documentaries, many of which are free to stream.
It's a strange mix of content and the quality is variable, but you'll find music and video that you're unlikely to come across elsewhere and you can follow specific creators if you find ones you like.
It feels like a bit of a wild west at the moment, with everything from surreal comedy, to religious documentaries and music you'd expect to hear at 4am in a club once everyone's too drunk to care.
But there's something refreshing about it, especially if you're open to finding something new and different.
It's also hopefully going to grow as word gets out, so even if you don't find much of interest right yet BitTorrent Now is one to watch.
There are plenty of wallpaper apps for Android, but Walli is a bit different, as all of its wallpapers are made by artists, many of whom are users of the app.
That makes them a bit more unique and the standards seem exceedingly high, yet they're still free to download. If you're feeling creative you can even add your own wallpaper designs and Walli promises that everyone who contributes to the app will get a share of the revenue.
The app is attractively laid out and while there are only a few different ways to filter images it's enjoyable to browse and easy to find something that could help liven up your tired home screens.
A high-quality, feature-packed, easy to use music player with a stylish aesthetic and no cost. That might sound too good to be true, but somehow Pi Music Player delivers on all fronts.
For one thing it looks great (not that you'll probably spend too long looking at it once you've queued some tracks up), but with album artwork and a classy interface you won't mind the time you do spend in front of it.
It also has features you won't find in all players, like a sleep timer which will turn the music off after a set period and a ringtone cutter, allowing you to select the exact point in a song that you want as a ringtone.
But Pi Music Player has the basics covered well too, with an equalizer, several different ways to sort and view your music, multiple themes and easy-to-build playlists.
You're not likely to compose a masterpiece with Music Maker Jam, but if you want to get started in music creation it's a simple, approachable tool and even if you're already an expert it's fun to fiddle around with.
There's less to it than something like Caustic 3, but that means you can learn the basics and start making music that actually sounds good in a matter of minutes, by combining up to eight samples and looping and tweaking them until you're happy.
There are only a few screens you need to worry about and everything is laid out intuitively in a manner that doesn't feel cluttered on a smartphone screen, plus there's a short tutorial to get you started.
A bunch of samples are included for free, but you can buy extras or even record your own if you're really feeling creative.
If you prefer to use emojis and GIFs than words, then Dango could be your saviour. Dubbed an 'emoji assistant' it's essentially a cute little icon which pops up whenever you're using a messaging app. Tap it and it will display relevant emojis, GIFs and stickers to whatever you're typing, so you can quickly add them to your message.
But it can also analyze the text in messages you receive, so you can send a relevant emoji response with a tap, and Dango is smart enough only to display GIFs as an option in apps which fully support them.
Emoji keyboards already exist, but with Dango you can keep using your keyboard of choice and still have speedy access, while the icon is small enough that it's not intrusive when you're happy just with words.
You might understandably be concerned about privacy with the app analyzing your messages, but it promises that data never leaves your device, so the only thing to worry about is an emoji addiction.
Bored of tapping and swiping? Then Gravity Gestures could be for you, as it allows you to launch four apps or functions of your choice with gestures, which for the most part take the form of a couple of quick rotations of your phone.
They're fast and intuitive to do and in many cases can be a lot quicker than hunting out an icon on your home screens. That's especially ideal if you map one of the gestures to something like your camera, where wasted time can mean a missed shot.
The app itself has adverts, but once you've set your gestures up you never need to set foot in it again, so they're not remotely intrusive.
If you've ever wanted to be a patron of the arts now's your chance, as Patreon is designed to help artists find backers and you don't have to be rich to get involved.
Nor do you have to do it purely out of the kindness of your own heart, as just like on Kickstarter you can net rewards for backing projects.
But rather than a one off pledge (and a one off reward), on Patreon you donate an amount every month, and get ongoing rewards, such as monthly concept art and behind the scenes access.
The app is easy to navigate and gives you the ability to browse projects, follow creators and read your messages, so you can invest in creativity wherever you are.
Letting a child loose on your phone or tablet is asking for trouble. If they don't find something inappropriate, fire off a gibberish email to your boss or accidentally delete all your photos you've got off lucky, but with Kids Place - Parental Control you can create a safe environment for them, where they can't access anything you don't want them to.
The app lets you choose exactly which other apps you want to allow them to use and then they can launch them from within Kids Place itself and won't be able to exit to the main home screen without a PIN.
In app purchases can also be blocked, screen time controls can be added if you don't want them glued to the tablet all day and you can even set Kids Place to automatically launch when your device is turned on.
The look of the app feels slightly lacking in polish, but it's easy for children to navigate, with big icons to launch other whitelisted apps.
Playing music out of smartphone speakers is never ideal, but with AmpMe you can at least pump up the volume, if not the quality, to impressive levels.
The app lets you start playing a song through SoundCloud, YouTube or your own music collection and then any nearby friends with the app can join the party, with the music syncing up and playing out of everyone's phones.
It works over both Wi-Fi and mobile data, so if you're in a field with no proper speakers AmpMe could get the party started. But it can also connect to tablets, iOS devices and Bluetooth speakers, so you're not limited to just Android or just tinny phone sound.
It's a shame there aren't more supported music sources and the app does have adverts, but it's free and it works at the push of a button.
If you only have one movie information app on your phone it should probably be IMDB, but if you have two then Cinematics makes for a strong second choice.
It's an incredibly fast way of finding out what the consensus on a film is, with IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings shown at the top of each listing.
From there you're just a tap away from trailers, reviews, cast lists and similar films, or if you just want to know what's popular, what's currently in cinemas or what's coming soon you can see all that from tabs on the home page.
It lacks the trivia, community and more in depth details found on IMDB, but for the basics it's a lot faster to navigate.
Google seems to be taking a strength in numbers approach to messaging apps, so joining Hangouts, Messenger and the soon to be launched Allo and Duo we have Spaces.
Essentially Spaces is for group conversations, but it's as much about sharing as talking, because you can easily drop links, pictures and videos too, using Chrome and YouTube, both of which are built into the app.
With that in mind each of your spaces is likely to have a specific theme or purpose, rather than just be used for general chatter. Whether you're planning a group holiday or just dedicating a space to sharing the latest funny memes, Spaces is a good way to do it.
Each post can be commented on by members of the space, which means conversations are split up into mini discussions around each post, so it's easy to skim through if you're looking for something or have no interest in a specific post. With built in search tools you can easily find long lost posts too.
After a lengthy stint in the US, Android Pay is now available in the UK too and by working on all contactless payment machines with any NFC-enabled Android 4.4 or above device it's open to a huge amount of people.
Paying with your phone is fast, convenient and secure, as it's contactless and your card number isn't shared during the transaction.
You can store all of your credit and debit cards on it, along with gift cards, so you almost won't need a wallet any more.
There are a handful of banks that don't yet support Android Pay, but assuming yours isn't one of them there's little reason not to at least give it a try.
Ever wanted to feel like a hotshot Wall Street trader but not been sure where to start? Well, Bux might be just what you've been looking for.
It distils the whole process of playing with stocks, currencies, commodities and indices into a handful of simple screens, with easily digestible information.
And playing is the key word, because you don't have to risk any of your actual money. Instead, you can use 'FunBux' to make investments and trades. Not only is this good for learning the ropes but it's surprisingly fun in its own right, though when you make a big profit you'll be kicking yourself for not investing real money.
When you feel ready though you can do exactly that, and with alerts for when stocks rise or fall a certain amount you don't have to watch the market all day. It's quite possibly the most entertaining take on the stock market since 1987's Wall Street and far lower stakes than getting tangled up with a real life Gordon Gekko.
As part of Facebook's ongoing attempt to bleed into every part of our lives it's launched an app called Moments, which is designed to make it easier to share photos with friends, especially those that you snapped of them.
It does this by automatically grouping them together into 'Moments', based on when they were taken and who was in them and then in a few taps you can share them with a group of friends.
Anyone you've shared a Moment with can add their own photos to it, so you can build albums as a group and make sure you have every shot from that night out, to hopefully piece together what happened between leaving the house and waking up in Spain.
Your photos can of course be shared on Facebook, but it also works with Instagram and shots from other people can be saved onto your phone's camera roll, so it's not totally reliant on the all-encompassing social network.
With Sesame Lock Screen you might never need to venture into the app drawer again, as it has all the same features and more stuck to your lock screen.
As with the app drawer you can scroll through or search for specific apps, but it also adds contacts into the mix as well as connecting to the likes of YouTube and Spotify, so you can search for specific songs and playlists.
It even features a kind of 'live widget' functionality, where you can hook it up to apps like Uber or Lyft and see live car availability without having to launch their apps.
But Sesame is smart as well, learning what apps you use the most and putting them at the top of the list, so the longer you have it for the less searching is likely to be required and it's never far away.
You can stick Sesame Lock Screen either on your lock screen (while leaving any security settings intact), or get to it with a long press of the home button from anywhere on your phone to add a little extra sauce to your Android experience.
The Google Play store is full of powerful video editors, but Quik isn't one of them. That's not to say it isn't worth your time though, just that it won't take up very much of it.
You simply pick out clips or images from your gallery and Quik will automatically add music and transitions.
It can automatically detect faces and colours, so it usually does a good job of framing photos on its own and it cycles through your images and clips in time to the music, so with a few taps you can come away with a competent creation.
But if you want to take more control you can. You can choose from 24 different video styles and dozens of tracks, or add your own music. You can add titles and text overlays, re-order the clips, choose at what point the music should start, change the pace and set the orientation.
That's all handled through a simple, colourful interface with just a handful of screens and menus, making it as quick as the name suggests.
Cover Lock Screen makes your lock screen more than just a fancy clock, by populating the left or right edge with apps, so you can launch them without first heading to the home screen.
These aren't just random apps though, as they're context sensitive. That means, based on whether you're at home, at work, out or in the car, Cover Lock Screen will learn what you use where, so they're usually the apps you'll want to see.
CLS is one of the better thought-out lock screen apps, with useful features like the ability to hide any apps that you don't want displayed on your phone and have different wallpapers for different locations.
It also stands out by looking good and uncluttered, as the apps only lie at one side of the screen, so there's still plenty of room for the clock and wallpaper to shine through.
There's no shortage of apps that promise to speed up your smartphone or clear up space on it, but Boost+ stands out in a few ways.
For one thing it comes from HTC, so it's got the backing of a big brand. As such it's also suitably polished, with a clean, colourful interface that's easy to navigate and shows you the state of your phone's storage and memory at a glance.
Head beyond the main screen and there are options to clear out any temporary files to claw space back on your device and find the apps you never use, so you can delete them and get even more MBs.
Boost+ can also be used to free up memory in order to speed your phone up and save battery life, which you can do either as and when you feel like it or set the app to run clean-up duty automatically.
Finally, for some reason, it also lets you lock other apps. That in itself is a useful feature, but feels somewhat unrelated to its core functionality - but hey, privacy is privacy, right?
There are numerous apps to help you learn foreign languages, but Vocabulary Builder aims to strengthen your English skills.
It does this by testing you on the meaning of 1200 words, with definitions, example sentences and audio pronunciations provided for each.
You can work your way through different sections, unlocking new words to learn as you go and the word choices are tricky enough that you're sure to come across a number of new ones, especially in the advanced sections.
To make things a bit more interesting there's also a competitive element, allowing you to face off against another user to see which of you knows the most definitions in a twenty question test.
If you've ever made or used a flip book then you'll be right at home with Animatic, because that's what is is, but in digital form.
You use a basic selection of pens, pencils and other drawing tools to create an image, then vary it slightly across multiple frames. For example, changing the position of someone's legs in each picture, so that once you flip through it you get a basic animation with a sense of movement.
Since this is an app and not a book the flipping is handled by the software, you just pick the speed and then export it as a video or a GIF which you can share on social media or through other apps. Art skills very much not included.
In an alternate universe all the content on this website is just GIFs. Rather than reading this you're looking at a looping animation of a cat falling in a pool, which explains everything you need to know about GIPHY in a way words just can't.
But back in this world you'll just have to trust us that if you've ever used or laughed at a GIF then GIPHY is worth downloading. It features the world's largest library of moving pictures, sorted across various categories, which, along with a search tool, makes it easy to find the perfect one for any situation.
Browsing is fun, but the real appeal of GIPHY is being able to easily share your findings in emails, messages and social media, breathing new life into your reactions and greetings.
With Call Recorder – ACR the days of having a pen and paper to hand to write down important information mid-call are over.
The app will record your calls for you, as you can probably guess from the name, and it records both sides of the conversation, so you won't just be listening to the soothing tones of your own voice.
If you regularly find yourself scrambling for a pen you can set it to start recording every call automatically, but if you want to be a bit pickier that's easy to do too, with various filters or the option to just start recording manually.
Add in a range of different recording formats, support for cloud storage and a simple system for playing back recordings, which allows you to pause and jump around to different points in them, and Call Recorder – ACR is a full-featured solution. Just remember to tell people you're recording to stay legal and all that.
Periscope, Twitter's live video streaming app, has made its way to Android and it's an essential download for anyone who likes the immediacy of Twitter but craves something more visual.
You can easily create your own live streams or watch other people's, send comments and hearts in real time and if you miss the action there's a 24 hour window with which to replay streams.
There are a few other tools, like being able to cherry-pick who can see your broadcast or just send it out to the world at large. But in short it's simple enough to dive straight into but has enough to it that you'll keep coming back, whether you're more creator or viewer.
WhatsApp is one of the most essential apps you can install on your Android device, especially if you have friends and family across the world.
Rather than using up your SMS allowance by sending text messages, WhatsApp lets you send messages over any Wi-Fi or mobile data connection instead. You can also send and receive photos with no size restrictions, send videos, make calls and have group chats. Best of all, if you're using Wi-Fi (or you have unlimited mobile data) none of this will cost you anything.
Similar to Netflix, Spotify has been pretty quick to establish itself as the top music streaming service, and the Spotify Music app brings some great features to your Android device, turning it in to a pocket jukebox that delivers your favourite tunes no matter where you are.
There are over 30 million songs to choose from, so you'll never be lacking something to listen to and with various playlists, including an ever changing one tailored to your own tastes, it's easy to discover new music too.
Even better you can now listen to Spotify music for free on Android, although if you want to download songs for offline listening and without any ads, then a Spotify Premium account is worth investing in.
Evernote is an excellent app for your Android device that lets you stash and sync all your text notes, voice memos and files on your phone and access them through a desktop computer.
It's a brilliant productivity tool that lets you organise and search your notes so you always have exactly what you need at your fingertips.
The paid premium version unlocks offline access and passcode protection, but for free you still get a vast, feature-packed digitial notebook that's easy to navigate.
For the most part, social media is fleeting, but Timehop is all about digging up precious memories from the past. You link it to whatever social media services you frequent (and your on-device photos) and it shows you what was happening years ago on today's date.
Inevitably many of the memories will be mundane, but mixed in with them there'll be key moments from your life and good days you'd almost forgotten. If you don't have a photographic memory Timehop's ability to keep the past current makes it more than worth the download.
Boost your productivity with Pushbullet, which lets you view your Android phone's notifications and messages directly on your desktop PC. It means if you get a text message you can read it there and then without having to take your phone out of your pocket or bag.
You can also quickly send files from your computer to your phone with only a few clicks, and if you regularly find that you email links to yourself just to open them on your smartphone, then you'll never have to do that again thanks to Pushbullet's link sharing features.
Snapseed is Google's own photo editor that's been designed from the ground up to make tweaking your snaps as easy and fun as possible on a touchscreen Android device.
Although the interface is simple enough to use with just your fingers, there's also a lot of depth to this app as well. You use tools to tweak and enhance your photographs to make them look the best they ever have, as well as playing around with fun filters that can transform the photos you've taken on your smartphone or tablet.
Instagram is the go-to app for quickly taking photos, adding quirky filters to them and sharing them with the world. Over 300 million people use Instagram and thanks to the social aspects and effortless interface it's easy to see why it's such a hit.
You're not limited to sharing your snaps on Instagram either, as you can easily add your photos to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more with just a few taps.
Or if you're not much of a photographer just follow other people and keep up to date with their lives and adventures, one picture at a time.
There are probably hundreds of photo apps around, but Google Photos stands out as it gives you unlimited storage for photos and videos, all for free.
That's reason enough to jump on board, especially as it works not just on Android but on iOS and computers too.
But with basic editing tools and the ability to make collages and albums this is more than just photo and video storage, it aims to be your first and last stop after taking a picture. To achieve that it will need a few more features, but it's well on its way.
If you're serious about running or cycling then you should be serious about Strava. As smartphone fitness tools go it's one of the best, allowing you to track your performance, set goals and see daily progress updates.
There are leaderboards and challenges to give it a competitive edge and if you're ever not sure where to run or cycle you can find user created routes on the app, or share your own. All of that comes free of charge, while a premium version adds even more tools.
Even in 2015 there are still times and places where we can't get an internet connection, but this doesn't have to mean you can't read websites, however, thanks to the excellent Pocket app. It allows you to save articles, news stories, blog posts, videos and much more, letting you read and watch them offline.
You can also synchronise your saved articles across every device you've installed Pocket on, allowing you to pick up where you left off and continue reading. With unlimited storage you can build up a whole library of content and the app even makes recommendations of new things it thinks you might like.
Uber is transforming the way we travel. You can quickly and easily request a taxi using the app and get picked up within minutes. You can also compare rates and get quotes, as well as paying with Google Wallet, PayPal or by adding your credit card to a secure Uber account.
The Uber service is available in over 50 countries, and it's rapidly growing. Give it a try and you'll never want to hail a taxi the old fashioned way again. It's fast, convenient and a whole lot more high-tech than taxis have ever been before.
Arriving in a brand new city is always exciting but it can also be a little daunting, especially if you need to get around using public transport. Citymapper - Bus, Tube, Rail is a brilliant app that brings you real-time information on public transport for cities around the world.
You can easily plan your route using all kinds of transport, from buses to ferries, and you can be kept up to date with real-time data, including any disruptions or cancellations. An essential app for any city-bound traveller.
Google Maps is probably already on your phone, but as the best free mapping option around it's well worth highlighting.
Transit directions, live traffic updates, voice-guided GPS navigation, Street View and more are all included, making this more feature-packed than even most paid options. Importantly it's detailed and accurate too, with information on millions of places, so you'll never be late or get lost again.
Whether you're trying to find your way around or just want to find somewhere new to eat, Google Maps has you covered.
VR is far from mainstream yet, but with Google Cardboard it is at least affordable. If you've got yourself a Google Cardboard viewer (most of which are literally made out of cardboard and cost very little) then you'll want to check out Cardboard Camera.
This Google app is designed to take panoramic photos, which you can then experience in VR. Images are given real depth, you can look around them as you wish and even hear sounds as they happen if recorded.
It's a new way to experience photos which brings them to life more than ever before. You'll look ridiculous wearing the viewer on your head in the process, but it's worth it to relive embarrassing drunken antics in glorious VR.
A few short years ago if we'd recommended the official Twitter app as the best resource for tweeting from your Android device, we'd have been laughed off the internet.
However a lot of work has since been put into the official app to help it compete and even surpass third party offerings. New features such as being able to embed tweets within tweets for some sort of tweetception shenanigans, as well as uploading GIFs, are all very welcome.
These new features plus a streamlined interface, a lack of superfluous features some of its competitor apps contain and no ads makes this the best app for firing off a quick tweet.
It might not be quite as glamorous as other media players, but if you want a no-nonsense app that can play pretty much any media file under the sun, then VLC for Android is the app for you.
It spent a long time in beta, but it now delivers a stable, full-featured experience, complete with support for subtitles, multi-track audio, DVD ISOs and network streams.
That's all packaged in an easy to use player, with widgets and gesture controls. So you don't need to worry about getting your media to work, you just need to launch VLC and press play. The app will do the rest.
Dropbox is probably the best known tool for syncing and sharing your files, photos and videos across all your devices, and its popularity is well earned. Any files that you save to your Dropbox folder on any of your PCs or devices will appear in the Dropbox app.
It took a while for Dropbox to come to Android, and after a shaky start this app is now essential with a number of helpful new features that let you save photos and videos from your device straight to Dropbox. As well as quickly editing your documents from within the app and easily sharing them with other people, or just keeping them safely backed up.
IF was formerly known as IFTTT, which stands for "if this then that" and handily sums up what this app does. It's a simple ethos that gives you a huge amount of options for making your Android device even smarter.
You can create simple statements such as "if any photo is taken then add them to Dropbox", or "if my location is home, send a text message to my partner saying "I'm home!"" which can also be shared with other IF users. You'll be amazed how much you can do with such a simple premise.
One of the best things about Android is how customisable it is, and there are loads of apps out there that can help you change the way Android displays and launches apps to suit your preferences.
Out of these Nova Launcher is arguably the best, giving you complete control over your home screen. You can change the icons, themes, colours and layout, completely hide apps that you don't use, set up gesture controls and add funky affects when navigating your phone.
It might sound bloated but you can use as many or as few of these features as you want, so if you want to keep your Android experience slick and minimalist Nova Launcher can do that too.
There's a good chance that you've heard of Skype, the excellent voice and video service (with instant messaging thrown in for good measure as well). The Android app integrates brilliantly with your device, making it easy to make and receive calls.
Calls to other Skype users over Wi-Fi are free, but you can also make calls to mobiles and landlines as well. You'll need Skype credit for this, but you could find yourself saving a small fortune, especially if you're ringing people in other countries.
Google Fit is an excellent app for keeping track of your activity and you don't need any additional fitness trackers; you can just carry your Android phone around with you. If you do have Android Wear-compatible fitness trackers and wearables, then Google Fit gets even better, as it can gather data from them, displaying it all in one place.
Fitness goals for dailys step counts, calories burned, or time or distance of exercise can also be set to help you reach the level of fitness you desire, as well as keeping you motivated.
Map My Fitness Workout Trainer is another great app for keeping tabs on your workout regime. As the name suggests it uses the GPS positioning features of your Android smartphone to log your runs, letting you get an accurate look at your workout regime.
Voice feedback will keep you in the loop even when you're in the process of working out, giving you information on your pace, the route you're taking, calories burned and plenty more.
Get friends involved too and you can view each other's activity, helping you keep each other motivated and take part in a little friendly competition.
If you fancy learning a foreign language then make sure you download Duolingo: Learn Languages Free, as it's one of those rare apps that manages to be both educational and fun, ensuring that you'll keep coming back for more to brush up on your language skills, with bite-sized, genuinely useful lessons and tests.
Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, and English can all be learned, it's completely free with no ads or hidden fees and it's one of the best ways you can learn a new language with your Android device.
Given the limited storage available on most phones coupled with the wide availability of internet connections cloud storage is a great fit, and on Android there's no more natural partner than Google Drive.
You can view all the files you save to the Google Drive cloud storage service, as well as share them with friends and co-workers. You can even edit them from Google Drive itself and use your camera to scan paper documents straight into your cloud storage.
PDFs, photos, videos and much more can be accessed through this handy app.
If you need to quickly and easily find out what something means in another language, then there's no better way than with Google Translate. You can translate between 90 languages and even converse naturally with speakers of other languages and let Google do the translation.
One of the best features lets you use the camera of your Android device to translate real-world objects such as signposts and posters. Just point, shoot and translate! Couple this with Google Maps and you've got all you need to travel the world.
If you want to keep your various accounts and logins secure then it makes sense to have a strong, unique and regularly changed password for each. But unless you have a photographic memory that also means you'll be hitting the password reset button roughly 6000 times a day.
That's not ideal and it's where password managers, such as 1Password, come in. This gives you an online database of all your passwords and automatically fills in login fields, so the only password you need to remember is the one for 1Password itself.
Except now you don't even need to do that, as the app has added fingerprint support for devices running Android Marshmallow.
1Password is securely encrypted, so your logins are safe and it works across Android, iOS, PC and Mac. The core app is free but to unlock all the features you will need to make a one time in-app purchase.
If you've got a huge list of websites and news sources that you like to keep up to date with, then you'll need to get Feedly. This excellent RSS feed reader collects all the latest news from your favourite sources and brings them together in an elegant interface that makes it easy to find what you're looking for.
As the internet's all about sharing you can also easily spread the stories you read to Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and more from the Feedly app.
PayPal prides itself on being an easy, secure way to send and receive money and that's never been more true than in its app.
The Android app has been overhauled to make it as fast and intuitive to use as possible. The main page puts icons for sending and receiving money front and centre and to do so you just tap on one and select one of your contacts, or enter their email or phone number. From there it's just a few more taps to have it sent or requested.
There are other tools if you need them, including the ability to change your account details, change your currency and even pay for things in store using the app and they're all easy to navigate as well.
It's all wrapped up in an incredibly stylish interface and secured with a password or fingerprint, so if someone gets access to your phone they don't automatically get access to your PayPal account.
There's a particularly great 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.
Counting your calories is a sure fire way to lose weight, but it's a bit of a faff isn't it? The Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal app makes watching what you eat easier than ever. A huge database of food is at hand to help you log your meals, and an excellent barcode scanner makes it simple to log your food throughout the day.
Along with calories, the nutritional information of various food and snacks is recorded and you can set goals to help you keep you on track, making it a whole lot easier to choose a clementine over a chocolate bar.
If you've just dropped hundreds of pounds/dollars/kwachas on a new smartphone you'll probably want to protect your investment and Prey Anti Theft helps you do that.
If your phone is lost or stolen you can use your Prey account to find it on a map, take pictures using the front or rear camera, remotely lock it, remotely trigger an alarm even if it's on silent or display a tailored message on the screen.
That's all 100% free of charge, but if you upgrade to a pro account you get advanced features like having information sent with SSL encryption.
Endomondo - Running & Walking bills itself as the only personal trainer you'll ever need, and it's a pretty darn accurate claim. No matter what sports or fitness activity you perform, this app will track your progress and give you information on speed, distance, calories burnt and more.
You can keep a training diary to view your progress and set workout goals and challenges to help keep you motivated. Plus social features allow you to share and compete with your friends.
While Endomondo works well on its own it can also be linked up to other apps and wearables, so you can get a complete picture of your progress.
Finding time in our lives to exercise can be tough, but the Johnson & Johnson 7 Minute Workout can help you fit exercises into even the most hectic of schedules.
The official app of the scientifically proven body-weight workout is designed for all fitness levels and contains over 30 minutes of special videos to help you get fit with a seven minute routine that only needs a wall, chair and a bit of floor space. So not only do you need very little time, but also very little space or equipment. Secretly we hate this app, as it's killed most of our excuses for being lazy.
Try as you might, there's very little you can do to avoid Facebook, but thankfully the Facebook app for Android has gone through a number of revisions to make using the social networking website on your Android device easier than ever.
The app is fast and stable, with a simplicity that reminds you of the good old days when using Facebook used to be bearable, though we're a little annoyed that Facebook has siphoned off its messaging service to its own standalone Messenger app, which you might also want to download.
Compare millions of flights from airlines around the world with the Skyscanner app and grab yourself a real bargain.
In only a few seconds you'll be able search and compare flights to find the cheapest ones available, or look for the best deals on specific airlines or cabin classes.
You can book your chosen flight directly from the app while you're on the go. You can also search for random destinations to give you inspiration for your next holiday.
If you're a sports fanatic and need to keep up with the results no matter what sport or team you support, then theScore is an essential app that you'll want to make sure is installed on your Android device.
Covering all the major sports including football (both real and American), basketball, hockey, golf and much more, you'll get the latest news and alerts to keep you up to date with any game. Player Card Profiles is a particularly great feature that gives you in-depth stats and analysis of players.
TuneIn Radio turns your Android device into a global radio, allowing you to stream over 100,000 radio stations from around the world. No matter what type of music you're in to, it's almost guaranteed that there's a radio station somewhere in the world that's dedicated to that genre. It's not just music though, there are also podcasts, sports and talk radio.
Forget messing about with knobs, TuneIn Radio's interface is clear and easy to use on a touchscreen, and you can tune in with just a tap. You can also save your favourites, so it's easy to get back to that Vietnamese comedy broadcast you discovered at 3AM.
Ever wanted to go to a gig but it's sold out? Rather than turning up at the event and trying to buy tickets at hugely inflated prices from unscrupulous scalpers, use the Twickets app instead.
This puts fans who have missed out in touch with other fans who can't make it to the event. Sports, comedy, musicals, cinemas, live music and much more are all covered, and the only rule is that no one can post tickets above face value, so you'll never be ripped off.
If you're anything like us you're probably glued to your phone, staring at its bright screen well into the night. If you are then you may also have noticed you have trouble sleeping, as the blue light emitted by your device can keep you awake.
Twilight provides an easy fix, by adapting the display colours to the time of day, filtering the blue light after sunset and in turn helping you get to sleep before 4am. You can customise the colour profile to your liking and set it to automatically turn on and off at the appropriate times, so you don't need to remember to.
Sometimes locking your phone isn't enough. Say you want to lend it to a friend or colleague but don't want to risk them digging up those ill-advised photos you took in Ibiza or that Harry Potter fanfic you've got planned out in your notes app.
With App Lock there's no danger of anyone getting into anything you don't want them to, as you can use it to lock individual apps with a PIN, pattern or fingerprint.
The app itself is mostly just a long list of your other apps, with toggles for whether you want to lock them or not, so there's not much to it, but it does what it sets out to without any bloat.
The lockscreens it presents you with look good too, with colours to match the apps they're locking. But if you're using a fingerprint scanner you won't waste too much time looking at them anyway, as you'll be swiftly in.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has been available on Android for a while, but previously it required a paid subscription to Creative Cloud. Now it's free, giving you all the tools you need to edit your images through an intuitive interface.
You can change the white balance, temperature, contrast, exposure and more. Reduce noise, improve clarity, add filters and effects, crop and rotate your shots. Best of all if you make a mistake you can revert to the previous version of the image with a single tap.
You'll still need to subscribe to Creative Cloud if you want to use Lightroom on desktop, but this free version is perfect for mobile modders.
With millions of child-friendly videos, YouTube has the potential to be a digital playground for kids, the problem is there's also a lot of unsuitable content. That's where YouTube Kids comes in, automatically filtering unsuitable content and providing a simple, colourful interface which your child can easily navigate.
It's slick and polished, which is no surprise coming Google. It's not all just entertainment either, as there's a 'Learning' category too, and there are parental controls, allowing you to add a timer or block certain content.
Being automated there's a chance some unsuitable stuff will still slip through, but if you switch the search option off your child will be limited to the app's recommendations. This still gives them a lot to watch, while completely cutting them off from the wider world of YouTube.
This one pioneered the concept of the alternative keyboard, with SwiftKey the first to offer to 'learn' your writing style and attempt to predict your next word. The hope being that, with practice, it'll know what phrases you commonly use and might save you quite a bit of fuss in typing a simple message to a friend.
Rivals have sprung up but SwiftKey is still the king, with accurate predictions and a massive number of customisation options.
You used to have to pay for the app, but now you don't have to spend a penny to give your keyboard a big boost.
While iOS users have been enjoying the Kickstarter app for years and years, it's only recently arrived on Android. The long wait seems inexplicable, but at least the finished product is a top tier app.
Budding inventors and entrepreneurs will still have to head to the website to post their own projects, but for browsing and backing the app has you covered.
You can sort projects by category or key in specific search terms, then just sit back and look through whatever it turns up. Whether you fancy supporting the arts, helping a game get developed or injecting cash into a new gadget there'll be something here for you.
As great as it is helping people achieve their dreams (and getting gifts for it) half the fun is running across ludicrous creations which will likely never get funded. Even if you don't end up backing anything it's a great way to pass the time - and doing that from a phone feels more 'right' than doing so on the computer.
Microsoft Translator ensures you'll always be understood, no matter where you go. You can get a written and spoken translation for any word or short sentence in dozens of languages and it supports both text and speech input.
There are other similar apps, but Microsoft Translator has a slick interface, Android Wear support and most importantly it works well, almost always understanding what you're saying to it.
Love eating out but hate interacting with strangers? OpenTable can help minimise that by allowing you to make reservations through the app, rather than calling your restaurant of choice.
More importantly it's also quick and easy, and if you're looking for somewhere new to eat you can see all the restaurants nearby, along with reviews and their availability. Frequent diners can even collect points to help them save on future meals.
Whether you're looking for a place to eat, a place to stay or something to do, TripAdvisor should be your first stop. With a comprehensive listing of restaurants, bars, hotels, sights and attractions all over the world, complete with numerous reviews for most of them, you can easily see what's worthwhile and what's worth avoiding.
It's easy to navigate, you can see nearby places with the Near Me Now tool and you can filter places by various categories, such as rating or price range.
Content can be downloaded for offline browsing when abroad and you can upload your own reviews straight from the app.
- Not enough? Check out our list of the best Android apps
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