Wednesday, 1 July 2015

App update: July 2015 (updated)

Posted by shonatiger








Hello, friends! It's that time again, when I share some app love. You know how it goes, so I'll just jump straight in. 

I'm running Android 4.3 on a Galaxy S3, which will be rectified sometime in the course of the year. Some of the following apps were downloaded from Amazon's app store; most were from Google Play.

1Password
OK so I'm a big fan of LastPass, but it's not free on Android. I'm still not sure how 1Password works, because it's just not easy to use, and I kind of lost interest in the first 5 minutes.

7 Minute 
You know, that trendy thing where you look like He- Man or She-Ra (or both) after seven minutes of exercise. I have it on my phone because -idle curiosity.

A Beautiful Mess
I said everything I was going to say about this app in my last post.

Adobe Colour CC
Just to create palettes I will never use because I will never become a Creative Cloud subscriber.

Adobe Shape CC
See above, only, shapes. 

After Focus

Afterlight

Agent
This is actually quite handy. I like apps you turn on and forget about. It turns wifi or data off, and would silence my phone if I didn't have Silence installed. There are other ways to do this (like using IFTTT), but this is cool.

Alarm Clock Pro
Off App Store, when it was free. I don't use alarm clocks, except when I have to get up early when I'm travelling, so I haven't used this yet.
 
Andmade Share
This is such a super useful app, to share to multiple apps at once. I have written to the dev, though, to ask why it sometimes has no suggestions to make... I hope that will get fixed in an update.

Angry Birds Seasons
Yeh, fun.

Any.Do
I sideloaded the old version, because I just love how it do. I'm not planning to update- it's cool the way it is.

App Swap
So, this app occasionally makes me want to scream when the dev updates it- invariably, it breaks a little. But super for quick launching from the bottom of my screen.

App Store (Amazon)
I was a bit late to the party with Amazon's free apps, but worth it when that happens.

ArtFlow
I art.

Autodesk Sketch
And sketch.

Avast Mobile

Barcode Scanner
For those pesky QR codes.

Better Open With
This amazing little app is so great for opening links.

Bible
Being a bit quirky on my phone atm, but still probably the best Bible app. (The only one? Yeah).

Buffer
I love.

Buzzfeed
Time wasting.

Camera51
Hmm... Haven't used it much, but haven't taken very many pics lately.

CamScanner
Still no 1... Except when I'm a bit mad about the watermarking.

Camu
I use this to take photos of food. I like it very much.

Charades
For my sister.

(Chrome)
Yes I've actually started to use Chrome a lot. It's very much more stable now on my phone, and quite usable even on a slow connection.

Clue
(Please look away if you're of the male persuasion). Very handy, and not pink. And now you can back up, it's really great. It doesn't work for every woman though, because it relies on general data.

Coach.me (formerly Lift)
Just installed this, in the hope that it will make me perfect, and solve the problem of world peace. Goal tracking.

Corel Painter
I paint.

Crossy Road
This thing is insanely addictive... And then I get bored... And then I open it again.

DO Button/ DO Camera/ DO Note
I don't use these as much as I could, because I really love for things to just run in the background.. But they're cool.

Docs (Google)
I opened this once, and was baffled.

Drive

Dropbox
Eish. Bathong, I LOVE Dropbox.

Duolingo
I am actually learning Portuguese. I really am.

Dynamic Notifications
I love how it tells me what's going on. Very nice. But I now have a three step process for unlocking my phone, as you'll see below.

Easy Copy (updated)
Really great little app for copying things across apps. Super useful.

ES File Explorer
There's a time my phone crashed-ish, and I couldn't reinstall this app. It was like losing my thumb. (Not really, but you know what I mean). Also great for backing up apps even if you're not rooted.

Evernote

Feedly

Firefox

Fleksy
This is one of those things that is so cool, but has such a steep learning curve for someone who has come from swiping. But it's so cool!

Flipboard
I actually reactivated my account, and discovered that Flipboard's now pretty and I can use it. 

Food (Evernote)
I am so obsessed with food journaling. I even do it in public, a little.

Fotor
One of those apps that I open when I remember. Or when I am bored with a picture, and want to try something new.

G-Stomper
Fun for creating little things that become horrifying ringtones.

Genius Scan+
This is so great! I like it better than CamScanner, even! But I haven't used it a whole lot yet. Document scanning.

Ginger Keyboard
You know what, I liked this keyboard until the devs added games to it, and then now there's some funny selling out thing going on... So I have the old old one installed, but I may even uninstall it.

Glovebox
Very nice little app for launching apps from the side of my screen.

Gmail
I love the material design, and unified inbox.

Google Handwriting Input
Just when I want my brain to reconfigure itself, you know...

Google Keyboard (updated)
Still nice, but not my default. Latest update is really great! The prediction engine is so much better, and I like the material design theme. Unfortunately, Swiftkey is still the keyboard with emoji and arrows.

IF
I reinstalled the app, but always go to the website, because the first versions of the app were horrible :/ The web site is so wonderful to use. Still, I think after the redesign, it might be worth using. 

Inbox
I have this, and sometimes use it, but Mailbox and Gmail come first.

Infinit
I ran into some trouble with the Windows desktop app, but if you're running that as an admin, it seems to work fine (-I wasn't). It worked better than Pushbullet, when it worked.

Instagram
It's still fun for the social aspect, and still hosts the best images.

Instapaper
I have saved so many articles that will never see the light of day again. 

Issuu
A lot of Zimbabwean mags publish only on Issuu, so this is handy.
 
Jotterpad
I need to actually start writing.. A beautiful and simple app.
 
Keep
Lately a bit crashy, but it's Google, so I will have it.
 
Last.fm

Layout
New-ish app, does collages, has a few tricks- so do many other collage apps- has a few things that are not very Android-y, but still worth having.
 
Lingua.ly
Because I will speak some Portuguese if it kills me.
 
Mailbox
Now my favorite email app... It's pretty- I mean, how does it manage to make my emails look so pretty??; it's simple, it just works.

Maps
I don't know how many times I would have been lost, if not for Maps. It can even direct me around this somewhat rural and remote place. Amaze.
 
Messenger
Because some people insist on messaging me on Facebook. I mean, how?!
 
Mindboard
Just installed, I'm still seeking a decent mind mapping app, so giving this and others another chance.

Minima
A friend recommended this. It's fun. It moves.
 

Moldiv
Because I will install ANYTHING that will do things to images. I don't know what that makes me.
 
Moon+ Reader
I read a lot. I missed it sooooo much when my phone crashed.

Next
It's actually getting better... And I get tired of my normal lock screen. There are many lock screen apps out there; this is definitely one of the better ones. So now when I turn my phone on, there's Next.. and then Dynamic Notifications... And then my lock pattern. Yeah. (Uninstalled it to find out if it's one of the apps draining my battery. Don't think it is).

  Notable
I use this multiple times a day, to remind myself about things.
 
Notific
I installed this yesterday. I don't even know if this is what it's called.
 
Nova Launcher
I had gone back to regular old TouchWiz, to make my phone work better, but this morning I went back to Nova, because it's so pretty these days.

Now for Reddit
You know, Reddit.
 
ODB

Office Lens
I'm so keen to uninstall this. It doesn't do what you tell it to.
 
Opera Mini
I had so many issues with this new version initially, but now I don't know if it was my phone, or that build. Since then, with a few updates also, it runs smoothly, and is now fairly modern (especially compared to the old version). I will always love OM for saving me money.

Over
I don't use it a whole lot, but it's a nice app for adding text to images.
 
Ovo
Still my favourite timer.

Palmary Weather
Still one of my favourite weather apps.
 
Perfectly Clear
I wanted this app for ages, and was happy to get it for free :) from Amazon. It's amazing for one click picture editing. Now I wonder what I was doing with my pictures all along.
 
Phonograph
I'm checking out music players on Android, but not seriously. This one is simple, and cool.
 
Phonto
For people like my sister, who's really into putting words on pictures, this app is really the only one you should install. I still have issues - with free fonts (maybe because of the font, but could be the app), things sometimes get cut off... So it's not my go-to app.
 
Photo Editor (updated)
Still number one for all those other things you do to images, that are not necessarily making the image look better- although it can do that too. I never post a pic without it passing through this app first. And this is still the app I use for adding text to my pictures. And for resizing! (Have included the link because there are many apps with the same name on Play).
 
Photo Grid
Sometimes.

Photo Studio
Another app I got as a freebie. Not sure, haven't used it.

Photos (Google)
There are so many great and rave reviews. Just please get it. Except, of course, it doesn't know black people are- well, people, yet.
 
Photoshop Mix
Tried it out, it was fun to cut things out- actually, it was like magic!
 
Pinterest

Pixlr

(Play Games, Play Music, blah blah)

Pocket

Podcast Addict
Hey, I've started listening to podcasts again. This is not the prettiest app, not the most user-friendly, but it does the job reasonably well. And it's free.
 
Polycon (icons)
Currently my fav.
 
Pudding Monster
I have a lot of free time. Who doesn't like smashing pudding monsters together?
 
Pushbullet
There was a big update yesterday, so I think good things are here.
 
Quick Office (update: no longer supported)
This, and WPS office.

QuickPic
Best gallery app, evs. Like, evs.

reddit is fun
Reddit.

Remember the Milk
Still best for grocery shopping.
 
Repix
Image editing.
 
Schematic Mind
Trying it again.
 
Silence
The very best, most unobtrusive, most life-changing app. Do people like calling you when you're sleeping? Get this app.
 
Simplenote
So perfect for composing blog posts. All my rough drafts are here.
 

Skiing Yeti Mountain
I'm not sure what made me install this, tbh.
 
Skype

Snapchat
I'm quite hooked. I mostly check out the news. No, I mostly follow therealverge.
 
Snapseed
Buggy, this new version X-[ Something to do with the way it saves images. And I'm not sure I like the new UI, pretty though it may be.
 
Solid Joys
Some John Piper. I thought I needed a bit of meat, you know?
 
Spinly
Another one like Fotor.
 
Sunrise
So pretty! I would use this over Google cal any day! Been with Sunrise since beta, so much love here.
 
Swiftkey Keyboard
I don't even miss Swype anymore....
 
SwipePad
A million times a day. The best screen edge launcher app, but not getting updates :(

Sync (BitTorrent)
Have used this once or twice to transfer things between my phone and laptop.
 
Tapet
Material design wallpapers. I LOVE them.
 
Threes (free)
I will keep secret how many times I have played this since i installed it last week. (You can check my Twitter feed though). It is SUPER heavy on my battery though.
 
Todoist
Just got a beautiful update, and now such a pleasure to use! Added benefit: has an IFTTT channel. For tasks and stuff.
 
Translate (Google)
 See Duolingo and Linga.ly

Trello
I'm not enamoured of the Android app... But seems to be a solid app for project management. And also a webapp, for when I can't stand the app anymore.

tumblr

Twilight
Saving my eyes.
 
Twitter

Unified Remote
Yay! Who doesn't want to control their laptop from their phone?

VSCO Cam
Love.
 
Weather (Macropinch)
Love! Current temperature in my notifications.
 
Wire Flow

WordPress
I'm starting another blog.
 
WPS Office
This, and Quick Office.

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