The idea that certain apps are “must-have” or “essential” for your Android phone is bound to be subjective, especially with millions of apps to consider and choose from.
You may have bought a brand new Android smartphone or been lucky enough to receive one as a gift during the holiday season. Getting the most out of your most important daily companion is one we hope to help you maximize with some of our personal favorites.
Even if you’re new to Android, you might find an essential app to add to your daily arsenal. We’ve tried to keep things simple, but a few are aimed at someone who knows more than the basics and wants apps that will help them get the most out of their smartphone. It’s also worth noting that all the apps we’ve rounded up are free but may include some in-app purchases to unlock more features or functions – we’ve noted this where applicable.
Seal
Seal is a sleek and minimalist downloader, perfect for anyone who likes to share content from social networks. It effortlessly handles links from platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, allowing you to download videos and clips in different formats and qualities. Customizable settings and support for playlists and subtitles make it perfect for grabbing content to watch later; Seal offers a seamless and flexible download experience. For meme sharers, this is truly an essential Android app to add to your phone or tablet.
While it is important to use these tools responsibly and within legal limits, Seal offers a convenient way to enjoy your favorite content offline. Although you need an external video player to view downloaded files, Seal’s simplicity and efficiency make it one of the best apps of its kind, period.
To ensure you get the latest version and support the project, consider downloading Seal from the official Github or F-Droid page rather than from the Play Store.
Zerocam
I can’t help but love Zerocam, which has become by far my favorite app on Android. This camera replacement prioritizes zero image processing. Yes, it actively removes any excessive HDR, sharpening, and toning effects to produce images that don’t appear overprocessed.
The app is super simple. Basically, it’s just a viewfinder that will allow you to switch between 1x and 2x and press the big trigger. Images are also saved in JPG format with no RAW export available. You can try it for free, but it is limited to 5 photos per day. This should work for most people if you slow down and take photos intentionally rather than aiming and photographing everything nearby. However, I can totally understand the frustration with the $9.99 annual subscription.
Unprocess is a free open source alternative that you can get if you hate the idea of paying for these functions. THE APK file is available for sideloadingbut it has even fewer controls than Zerocam. That said, you can save files as RAW images if you want to put the finishing touches on your own photos. You can find more information about Unprocess here.
Openvibe
Managing the move from Twitter to Bluesky, Threads, Nostr, and Mastodon hasn’t been seamless for most people. Openvibe at least brings your new social hubs together in one app and even lets you post to any of the four simultaneously for consistency across those networks.
It’s a wonderful free app that lets you inhabit multiple social networks simultaneously and is essential for anyone who uses more than one of these platforms on Android. At the moment, it’s still not perfect with Threads, but it will improve as Meta opens up and allows more third-party apps to access the service. Also, notifications aren’t available yet, but I’ve been told they’ll be coming soon. This could be the best social hub on your mobile.
String
Twine is a great RSS app that’s completely free and a simple way to add your favorite news feeds in one convenient place. If you don’t like the standard Google News feed, you can consolidate your favorite news feeds in one place for easy access. You can even use groups if you want for specific custom feeds.
The animations are exquisite and while I prefer a simple timeline, it could be useful for juggling lots of feeds on your phone or tablet. For those wondering, yes, you can import an OPML file to import your existing RSS collections. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, just cleaning the rims.
Search for AI screenshots
Pixel Screenshots is limited to certain Google phones, but AI Screenshot Finder recreates the feature for just about anyone with an Android phone. It’s practically a carbon copy with the ability to search your screenshots, add them to collections, and do virtually everything a Google phone can do.
All screenshots are processed locally on your device, but once a text summary is generated, it is sent to cloud AI systems for further processing. The team behind the app says this information isn’t stored, but I would proceed with caution in any case and avoid capturing private information wherever possible. That concern aside, it’s great for those who want to get Pixel screenshots on their own phone, as long as it’s running Android 11 or later.
Box
As an avid Pocket user, collecting and managing links, information, and other items that I want to view later is always a nightmare. Apps like Crate are great for storing things in a neat place so I can come back to a recipe, video, or post when I have some free time.
Like virtually every app out there, there’s built-in AI that can help you find content saved in “crates,” saving you even more time searching for relevant items. It’s actually better than some other comparable services, but the basic experience of saving links in one place with custom sections is very nice. Personally, I use it for recipe inspiration and to collect YouTube videos I want to watch later – because the “Watch Later” playlist on YouTube isn’t as easy to manage.
There is a home feed that allows you to see trending content, which is also very useful for discovering more things you like.
Sponge
It’s hard enough managing files on your device at the best of times, but apps like Sponge make it really fun. I would like him on Tinder; but for your photos and files. Just swipe left or right to delete or mark the content to delete it later.
What makes this better than browsing the Files app is that content is categorized by the month it was downloaded, taken, or saved to your phone. Just select the month and you can start swiping to clear away the clutter. There is a premium tier, but it’s a one-time payment of $6 that adds support for cleaning specific files like videos.
I’m not sure how often you need to convert kilometers to miles or calculate the area of a circle, but even if it’s rare, Tooly is a nice toolbox app that has lots of great tools to make the easier things. There are a few basic categories, including Text, Image, Calculation, Unit Conversion, Expand, Color, Randomize, Generation, and General. Essentially, it contains many essential tools packed into a single Android app.
Lots of bases are covered here and it would be way too long to list everything you can do, but being able to have it all in your pocket rather than relying on Google search is very convenient. Conversion tools are great in isolation, as are text formatting tools. This could be very useful for students in particular, but it’s also very useful for everyone.
What are some of your “essential” Android apps?
Do you have any apps that you just can’t live without? Or do you just have a favorite that you think more people should know about? Let us know in the comments section below.
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