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Best Free Android Apps
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Best Free Android Apps - Page Index
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What's New
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New and Updated Apps: |
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Other Language?
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Read this article in Chinese |
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How To Use This List
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This is a multi-page article. To quickly find what you want, either:
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Introduction
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Since Android was introduced, more than 700,000 Android apps have been developed and most of them are available for download from Google Play—the online store hosted by Google—but not all are free. To help you get the best of the free ones, we have selected some gems in each category and added them here in a convenient list with clear and brief descriptions of each application item. Like the apps and want to give them a try? Search them by tapping the default Play Store app, or use one of the following ways to install the apps on your mobile device, quick and easy. Quick Access to Android apps on Google Play:
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Summary
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This list of Best Free Android Apps now includes 215 apps in 118 categories. To read brief descriptions of the applications, click a page number or a category icon below.
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Editor
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This list of Best Free Android Apps is maintained by volunteer editor Jojoyee. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or suggestions they might have by clicking here. |
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Tags
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best, free, top, android, droid, mobile, smart phone, smartphone, tablet, app, apps, applications, software, freeware, program, list, google, play, market, store |
- Article type:
- Review,
- PC Freeware,
- Cleanup & Tuning,
- User contributed lists,
- Desktop & GUI,
- Android,
- Disk & File Utilities,
- Home & Office,
- Educational,
- Games and Diversions,
- Image View and Edit,
- Internet, Email & Messaging,
- Multimedia (CD, DVD, Video, Audio),
- Security,
- System and Performance Info,
- System Utilities,
- Software list
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version


Android apps (short for applications) are mobile software designed for running on the Android operating system, which is one of the most popular platforms used in cellphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
Page 2. Home and Office
Page 3. Image Tools
Page 4. Multimedia
Page 5. Disk and File Tools
Page 6. Desktop and System
Page 7. Security and Privacy
Page 8. Internet and eMail
Page 9. Phone & Messaging
Page 10. Network, Website & Server
Page 11. Personal Development
Page 12. Games
Comments
It'd be great if you can share with us more about its advantages compared with the default media player. I tried the Lite version on Android 2.2 but it failed to show up album arts or details when playing back an mp3 or perhaps something is missing...
sorry, by media player i meant video player. and as for advantages, it supports a wide variety of files, pretty much supports all the files i throw at it. However, the main downside is that it places a watermark at the top left of the video. i dont really notice it though once im watching
Thanks for the good comments. I note that it supports more video formats and the downside as you mentioned. While I tried it to playback an mp4, probably the most popular video format, it didn't run as smoothly as the default player with the same file. I'm also checking another video player which supports various formats but it places an ad on the screen while playing back a video, not really a good choice so far.
No Best audio player yet :(
Dear Jojoyee,
Can you please suggest a good diary application - like momento on iphone for android, where we can keep daily journal of our thoughts happenings in our life and whatever we would like to note down!
Dear Jojoyee, 'my settings' is a good application to access system settings on android phone. 'System panel' is a good application for reviewing phone's performance but paid version's monitoring service was responsible for eating out my processor usage. 'Netbilling' is a good application to monitor gprs and wifi usage on the phone. 'Start up cleaner' is a good application to monitor your start up applications. 'Zdevice test' is an application to check hardware on your phone, to see whether everything is supported by the system or not whether any part is functioning properly or not. 'Handycalc' is another versatile calculator application to try out for free. 'BeamReader' is a good pdf file reader available.
Best free spam blocker:
Call Control by Kedlin Co., now featuring SMS blocking!
http://everycall.us
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/productivity/call-control_ntyk_download.html
Hi Abhay,
In the Android Market, I can see Memento (note spelling) Database by LuckyDroid - is this what you are looking for? It looks pretty good, though I haven't tried it. All-in-one database, sync with Google Docs, and free (though there is a paid Pro version). Updates from the developer seem to have stopped early-November (maybe it's perfect:-).
Jojoyee mentions Springpad, and so do a lot of other people, so that's worth a look. You could also check out Evernote, and Note Everything, or if you are happy with text-only, check out Catch Notes.
Cheers, Pete
cubed is a pretty nice one
SystemPanel Lite looks good and now included in the list. BeamReader seems to be for a 10-day free trial and won't be considered. I'll check out others that you mentioned and thanks a lot for the suggestions.
I just read last night about a relatively new app called "JuiceDefender" and it sounds awesome!
http://latedroid.com/juicedefender
I'm going to check it out as it got high ratings from the review I read.
Vlingo is a voice activated mobile powerhouse! Very impressive!
Just the SMS "Safe Reader" portion is worth it. Of course it will initiate calls via voice. However, it can also send SMS totally via voice! I even requires specific command to turn on it's command listener.
That's indeed a good suggestion Webguy.
The Controls tab seems to be missing in the free version Kendall?
I found 'Dairo' a free diary / journal writing application with small ads comes close to 'Momento' for iphone / ipod touch. It has a nice interface and shows entries chronologically. There are many features that should be found in a true diary application. Pl consider to include this also.
I have found a new file explorer called "File Expert" which is much better than ES file explorer or Astro file manager.
Absolutely it is a good find Abhay and many thanks for sharing it.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/mixzing-media-player/com.mixzing.basic
Mixzing, video and audio player, with lockscreen widget for music.
I don't really care for music id discovery and such, so can't comment on those features.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/qqplayer/com.tencent.research.drop
QQPlayer, video, can handle flv, for example, but first flv I tried with it didn't run smooth, second time it was better. Most of the time I convert to MP4 though before downloading to phone, so probably I'll only keep Mixzing on the long run, of other player.
you should check out Dolphin Browser HD, great browser
Thanks for mentioning it True, that's a powerful browser.
I've been using juicedender for a while, and i have definitely noticed an increase in my battery life. According to the program its increasing it by 1.78 times currently. I definitely reccommend
I recommend to you Youlu Address Book as the best contact manager which has a nice streamlined easy interface. It is very easy to use and you would never turn back to use default android application to make a call or send sms.
Pretty good user interface and well integrated with Youlu Message. When signing up to Youlu.com, I've been asked to wait for SMS verification until time out couple of times. Yet to find a solution to it :(
ES Explorer:
The description should mention that it provides wi-fi access and ftp to your pc.
App Backup:
Has anyone tested the Restore capability of apps like File Expert? Is the data related to the app restored as well? In my experience, few apps can actually do this and the one I use (Titanium Backup) requires Root access.
Online Backup:
Recommend SugarSync instead of DropBox. SugarSync provides 5GB free storage as opposed to DropBox’s 2GB. In addition, SugarSync backs up your photos to their servers and to your pc in the background while you carry on with other stuff (useful for my wife who doesn’t want to fiddle with file managers, etc.).
LauncherPro:
One of the best features of LauncherPro which hasn’t been mentioned is the ability to hide all the shovel-ware provided by your Telco.
News Reader:
Prefer NewsRob over Google Reader.
Music and Media Player:
doubleTwist. I can stream all of the music on my PC to my hi-fi (or anywhere else) using my phone.
Car Mode:
Speaker-phone toggle.
Fancy Widget:
Good looking widget showing time, date and weather.
ListMaster:
For simple lists like groceries etc.
Samsung’s Mobile Print
Flixster:
For movies.
SwiftKey Trial: [Mod: SwiftKey Keyboard is trialware. The feature Predictions expire after 31 days of use.]
Trying this out. After installing the app, it analyses your sms’ to establish your word patterns. The longer you use it the more accurate it gets at suggesting the next word you want.
Zimly:
Music and video player which I’m trying out. Very clean interface.
I second ES File Explorer, LauncherPro, Barcode Scanner, Documents To Go, Jorte, Springpad, Dolphin Browser HD, K9 (email client), GO SMS, Vlingo Virtual Assistant, LastPass (password manager), My Tracks, MyPhoneExplorer.
Appreciated various suggestions Deratu and I'll look into them. BTW, LastPass seems to be a free trial for 14 days and requires $12 annual subscription afterwards. In that case, we consider it as trialware and not freeware.
I continue to be surprised at how Gesture Search ends up missing most best app lists. It is among my top go to apps. Searching for an app on my phone: I use Gesture Search. Searching for a contact: ditto. Just a few (usually not more than 2) scrawled characters with my thumb as the phone rests on my palm and lo, I have what I want. Its an invaluable app that I strongly recommend to every Android user I meet (most are immediately amazed by it). Get it here: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.gesturesearch
You are correct:) The PC version is free.
You won't be surprised LilMaster as it's now in the list here. Definitely a good suggestion.
A few of my favs tgat are bit on the list...
File manager - linda file manager
Internet radio xiaa live
Browser - xscope
Apps finder - appbrain
Apps organizer - folder manager
Wifi tether (root) - barnical
Scanner - camscanner
Scanner police etc. - scanner radio
Diet manager - calorie counter
Auto milage and maintenance - acar
Timer - ultracron
Grocery list - groceryiq
Shipping tracker - parcels
Flashlight - tesla led
Parking aid - carry matey
Cheap gas - gas buddy
Travel aid - flightview, tripit
Task manager - astrid
Money manager - mint, loot
News - newsy
Weather - radar now
Store card manager - keyring
Dock home -car dock
Not free but my favorite and most used - tasker
Try rootong and then setspu to do overclocking,