10 best Android apps of 2019!

10 BEST ANDROID APPS OF
2019!

CREATED BY: PEGGY IRVINE

• Here it is ladies and gentlemen. The crème de la crème. The Android apps that stand alone at the top of
the pantheon. These apps have become ubiquitous with Android and if you’re looking for good stuff it’s
assumed that you have some of this stuff already. There are a ton of amazing Android apps out there.
However, their usefulness is usually limited to the habits of the people using them. These apps
shouldn’t have those problems. Everybody can use these. Without further delay, here are the best
Android apps currently available! This is not a diamond-in-the-rough kind of list. You should be relatively
familiar with all of these.

1WEATHER

1Weather is arguably the best weather app out
there. It features a simple, paginated design that
shows you the current weather, forecast for up to
12 weeks, a radar, and other fun stats. Along with
that, you’ll get a fairly decent set of lightly
customizable widgets and the standard stuff like
severe weather notifications and a radar so you
can see the storms approaching. Perhaps its best
feature is its minimal design which just shows you
the weather (and fun facts, if you want). The free
version has all of the features. The $1.99 charge
removes advertising. Otherwise the two versions
work the same way. Most will also likely enjoy the
range of weather fun facts the app offers as well.
Other great weather apps include Dark Sky,
Weather Underground, and Today Weather.

BOUNCER

Bouncer was our pick for the best new Android app from
2018. It's a security app with a unique premise. The app
lets you grant temporary permissions to applications. So,
for instance, you can let Facebook access your location
long enough to check into a place, and Bouncer disables
the permission once you leave Facebook. This is a great
way to use all of the features of a social media app
without digging into your settings to disable those
permissions or giving those apps permanent access to
your information. The app runs for $0.99 and should
work on most (if not all) apps. It's rumored that this
could be an Android Q feature. If that's true, then even
Google really likes this app.

GOOGLE DRIVE

Google Drive is a cloud storage solution available on
Android where all new users get 15GB for free
permanently upon signing up. You can, of course, buy
more if needed. What makes Google Drive so special
are the suite of Android apps that are attached to it.
They include Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google
Slides, Google Photos, Gmail, Google Calendar, and
Google Keep. Between the office apps, the Photos app
(which allows unlimited photo and video backup), and
Keep for note taking, you have apps for practically
anything you need to do in terms of productivity. Some
of the features of these apps include live collaboration,
deep sharing features, and compatibility with Microsoft
Office documents. Microsoft Office has a similar setup
with OneDrive and Office. That makes them a great
alternative for Google Drive. However, Google's
solution is just easier to use.

GOOGLE MAPS

Google Maps virtually owns the navigation apps
scene and it remains of the best Android apps ever.
It gets frequent, almost weekly updates that seem
to only add to its incredibly generous list of existing
features. Aside from the very basics, Google Maps
gives you access to places of interest, traffic data,
directions to things like rest stops or gas stations,
and they even let you have offline maps now (albiet
temporarily). If you add to that the Waze
experience, which includes tons of its own features,
and you won’t need another navigation app. Ever.
Google also owns and operates Waze. It's unique
and fun in ways that Google Maps isn't and we also
highly recommend it.

GOOGLE ASSISTANT

This is one seriously powerful app. It also works on most
Android devices. You simply download the app and then
enable it. From there, you can ask it whatever you want.
It also supports a variety of commands. You can control
lights, ask about population control, and it can even do
simple math problems for you. There are a variety of
products like Google, Bose QC II Bluetooth headphones,
Home and Chromecast that extent the functionality even
further. There is also a second Google Assistant app for
those who want a quick launch icon on the home screen.
The hardware stuff costs money, but Google Assistant is
free. Amazon Alexa is another excellent app in this
space, but it doesn't support Google Android quite as
much as we would like, yet.

GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC

We don't typically recommend streaming services to people.
Everyone has their preferences and saying that one is better
than another is a matter of opinion at this point. Except for
Google Play Music. The app can read both your local files and
the music you like online. Additionally, you can upload tens of
thousands of songs to the service for free. YouTube is kind of a
given. There's more content there than a human person can
watch in several lifetimes. That includes music videos,
educational videos, news videos, reviews, video game let's
plays, and a whole lot more. YouTube Music is also now a
thing. However, it's not quite as good as Google Play Music yet.
We expect the service to improve dramatically over the next
year. They are the best music and video streaming package on
mobile as long as they remain tied together. Spotify, Apple
Music, and Tidal are also great music streaming services,
especially if you want better sounding music.

LASTPASS

LastPass is one of those must-have Android apps. It's a
password manager that lets you save your login
credentials in a safe, secure way. On top of that, it can
help generate nearly impossible passwords for you to use
on your accounts. It's all controlled with a master
password. It has cross-platform support so you can use it
on computers, mobile devices, tablets, or whatever. There
are others, but LastPass always feels like it's one step
ahead. Additionally, the premium version is cheap. You
can also grab LastPass Authenticator to go along with it for
added security. There are other great options like
1Password, Dashlane, KeepassDroid, and others that are
just about as good. However, LastPass feels a little more
friendly and secure (usually), especially with its extra
authenticator app.

NOVA LAUNCHER

Initially, we weren’t going to put any launchers on this list.
Nova Launcher seems to be extend beyond what normal
launchers are. It’s been around for years, it’s been
consistently updated, and thus it’s never not been a great
option for a launcher replacement. It comes with a host of
features, including the ability to backup and restore your
home screen set ups, icon theming for all of your Android
apps, tons of customization elements for the home screen
and app drawer, and more. You can even make it look like
the Pixel Launcher if you want to. If you go premium, you
can tack on gesture controls, unread count badges for
apps, and icon swipe actions. Those looking for something
simpler may want to try Lawnchair Launcher, Hyperion
Launcher, and Rootless Launcher as well.

POCKET CASTS

Those who enjoy podcasts probably have the easiest
decision in regards to which podcast app that should
use. The answer to that question is Pocket Casts. This
insanely stable and good looking app allows you to
download or stream various podcasts for your
enjoyment. It features both audio-only and video
podcast support so you can catch up on just about
anything. There is also a light and dark theme, a sign-
in feature so you can sync your podcasts across
devices, and a pretty decent recommendations
function. It underwent a redesign in 2019 that is a bit
polarizing, but it's still an excellent podcast app.

PULSE SMS

There are a ton of great SMS apps. However, two stand
above the rest. They are Pulse SMS and Android
Messages. Pulse SMS features theming, GIF support,
password protected conversations, a blacklist for
spammers, dual-SIM support, and more. Android
Messages is a little more basic but it's simple and it gets
the job done. Both of these apps also offer SMS
messaging from your desktop. Pulse charges either a
monthly subscription or a single $10.99 charge while
Android Messages is free. Pulse SMS uses a server
structure while Android Messages live streams your
messages. Both methods have their pros and cons, but
they're both still excellent options. These are the SMS
apps we'd recommend to everybody. Those who don't
care about texting from a computer can still use these and
people seem to like Textra a lot as well.

THANK YOU!