The Best Android Apps roundup is back, Back, BACK after a few weeks off due to travel, and the difficulties of finding anyone else foolish enough to dig through RSS feeds, press releases and information from developers on new Android apps.
So, this is a catchup week: the 20 best (in this writer’s subjective view, obviously) new Android apps from the last three weeks. It’s a strong selection, particularly for games, which has been a real bright spot for Android this year already.
As ever, the prices provided in brackets are for the initial download only: when an app uses in-app purchases, this will be listed as (Free + IAP). Something to look for: a new section of each app’s Google Play store listing, which explains the full range of IAP (for example, “£1.23-£8.01 per item” for Ultralingua Dictionaries from this week’s roundup).
More interested in iOS apps? They’re covered in a separate weekly Best iPhone and iPad Apps roundup, with the latest instalment due to be published later today.
APPS
WhoSampled (Free)
WhoSampled is a glorious rabbit-hole of sampling culture to disappear down, now on Android as it is on the web and iOS. The app helps you explore the samples used in more than 270,000 songs, tracing them back to the original tracks, and then onwards to other music that used the same samples. Read last month’s interview for more details on how it all works.
Camera51 (Free)
Need some help with your smartphone snapping? Camera51 is a new mobile photography app that claims to analyse the scene you’re shooting, and help you compose the best frame for the picture. You can tap on objects to make them the focus for its trickery. And yes, it does work: the results are very impressive.
Treehouse (Free)
Treehouse is one of the services aiming to help people learn programming skills through online education. Well, mobile education too, now. This app provides access to more than 1,000 videos from the Treehouse service, from HTML and CSS to Ruby on Rails, PHP and Python, with bitesize quizzes and challenges to test what you’ve learned along the way.
Ultralingua Dictionaries (Free + IAP)
Don’t need a dictionary any more now you’ve got a smartphone? Damn you autocorrect! But actually, there are already tens of thousands of people out there who’ve been tempted to download Ultralingua’s Android app: a collection of more than 35 other dictionaries in digital form, with in-app purchases used to buy different languages including French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Glympse Keyboard (Free)
The main Glympse app is all about social location: sharing your current location with friends and family. Glympse Keyboard takes that idea and embeds it in... a keyboard. Tapping the relevant button generates a link that you can paste into another app (WhatsApp and Gmail are two suggested by Glympse) when letting someone know where you are.
Noyze Volume Panel (Free + IAP)
Most Android owners won’t need this tweak, but for those that do – broken or jammed volume buttons being the examples suggested by the developer – it could be crucial. Noyze controls your device’s volume, with plenty of options to customise the way it works depending on what you’re doing with the device.
Line SnapMovie (Free)
Line is a hugely popular mobile social network in its homeland of Japan and other Asian countries, but it’s trying to grow in the west too. SnapMovie might help: it’s a polished app for shooting, editing and sharing 30-second videos, with the ability to share them beyond Line itself to Facebook and Instagram.
Digiduck’s Big Decision (Free)
This is a very good idea: a storybook app designed to help parents and children talk about internet safety. It’s aimed at 3-7 year-olds, with voice narration coming from musician Sophie Ellis-Bextor and her mum, TV presenter Janet Ellis. The idea: a fun story, but one that sparks further conversation opportunities about safe surfing.
Findery (Free)
Findery is a startup run by Caterina Fake, previously the co-founder of Flickr. Photo-sharing is still a part of this, but there’s a wider aim: helping people find out about “the places you’ve always wanted to visit and the places you will soon discover” through the pics, stories and tips of other users. It’s early days though: getting lots of people posting is Findery’s key challenge.
All Woman (Free + IAP)
She may not be a lady, but soul singer Lisa Stansfield’s new app is All Woman. Released by online karaoke specialist PureSolo, it provides 17 master backing tracks from Lisa’s back catalogue plus on-screen lyrics, for fans to sing over and share as audio or video covers. A fun idea, although obviously mainly for fans.
GAMES
FIFA 15 Ultimate Team (Free + IAP)
As a young twentysomething, I was world-beating at football games. As a 37 year-old father, I’ve degenerated to the point where I can only win in FIFA on ‘numpty’ level. Such is life. Still, this year’s mobile instalment is looking very good, focusing on the Ultimate Team mode (hence the in-app purchases, which go up to £69.99), with a new Quick Simulation mode if your time is at a premium.
The Nightmare Cooperative (£2.49)
On iOS, roguelike-with-a-twist The Nightmare Cooperative was brilliant fun. On Android, it looks just as good, as you explore a series of dungeons with a team of characters who all move together, using their individual skills as they go. That may sound strange, but it’s accessible, marvellous fun to play.
Star Wars: Commander (Free + IAP)
Insert your own ‘Clash of Clones’ joke here: this Star Wars game looks a lot like Clash of Clans with extra Wookies and lightsabers, although you could argue that Star Wars and real-time strategy as a gaming genre goes further back. Still, it’s a very polished take on the genre in its free-to-play mobile form, with plenty of familiar characters popping in and out as you play. Read this interview for more details on the game.
Anomaly Defenders (£2.89)
You could easily write a 20 Best Android Tower Defence Games roundup, and even the 20th would be excellent. Android owners are spoilt for choice with this genre, but Anomaly Defenders is a strong contender for your time and money nonetheless, finishing off the Anomaly series with some very neat twists on the tower-building format.
Mage Gauntlet (£1.11 + IAP)
I happily wasted a whole heap of time on the iOS version of Mage Gauntlet when it came out, but have rediscovered the fun on my Android phone in recent days too. It’s an action-RPG with plenty of retro nods, and some very well-designed controls for the touchscreen. There’s lots of tactical scope as you progress, but it never gets too intimidating for newcomers to the genre.
Phantom Rift (£1.84 + IAP)
This appears to be the week for spells and wizards on Android, with Phantom Rift a worthy companion / alternative for Mage Gauntlet. It’s another sprawling action-RPG, as you set off on an adventure as a wizard, collecting spells and equipment and battling through dungeons.
Unmechanical (£1.99)
As a £1.99 action game with no in-app purchases, Unmechanical is the kind of game that could sink without a trace in the modern app stores. That would be a real shame, because this is a carefully-crafted treat: part adventure and part puzzle collection starring a strange helicopter... thing. Full of character.
Hellraid: The Escape (£1.99)
More sorcery here, in a game that sets out its stall on the Google Play store with its promise of “no in-app purchases or pay-to-win elements”. It’s a fantasy-themed adventure with demons, puzzles and a magical prison to escape, with impressive visuals to admire along the way.
Alien Creeps TD (Free + IAP)
Another tower defence game, this time from Outplay Entertainment. The theme here is more Rambo-meets-Robots than fantasy, but the gameplay mix of tower-building, upgrading and waves of enemies trying to get past them will be familiar to fans of the genre.
Goat Simulator (£2.99)
Finally: goats. Goat Simulator is more than a meme: it’s a quirky, addictive game in its own right. But yes, the meme looms large: the sheer silliness of running around butting scenery as a goat should bring a smile to your face. The developers are making its bugs a selling point, too: “We’re only eliminating the crash-bugs, everything else is hilarious and we’re keeping it...”
That’s my choice, but what Android apps and games have you been using recently? Make your recommendations – or give your views on the picks above – in the comments section.
• 40 best Android games of 2014 (so far)
