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The best free and essential apps for Android

NextApps has selected for you the best free and essential applications to get the most out of your smartphone's capabilities.

Your Android smartphone is just coming out of its box? Before you jump into the download of new applications, we have made for you a selection of the best free and essential applications to start using your Android under the best auspices.

Consult social networks

It’s hard to escape social networks, the most visited sites since smartphones and usually listed among the first applications downloaded. Facebook allows you to check your account and get news from your friends, family, and, why not, your colleagues.

 In case your smartphone has difficulty supporting applications a little too heavy, turn to Facebook Lite, a lite version of the official app that works as well in 4G Edge.

Twitterers can use the official Twitter app. It allows you to view the tweets of your latest followers but also to follow the news and share content.

If you are a photo, Instagram is the undisputed leader of the pictorial social network. The app beautifies your photos of babies, cute animals, poolside legs and burgers with so many filters. You can then submit the result to the judgment of your subscribers.


Finally, Snapchat, social media star for teenagers and young adults, allows you to send text, photos and self-destructing videos as soon as your interlocutor has opened your message. A concept based on the ephemeral nature of the exchanges counterbalanced by the Stories which can be accessed for 24 hours.


  Download Facebook for Android (Free)
  Download Facebook Lite (apk) for Android (Free)
  Download Twitter for Android (Free)
  Download Instagram for Android (Free)
  Download Snapchat (apk) for Android (Free)

  

Communicating with loved ones

Smartphones have radically changed the way we communicate. While a few years ago, the first mobile only allowed us to phone and send text messages using the T9 keyboard, current devices and their large screens capable of displaying a full keyboard are perfect to discuss via instant messaging applications. Google is once again showing off with its Hangouts home solution that allows you to chat, share files and make audio calls.

Skype and WhatsApp are two legitimate alternatives each with their own strengths. Skype, which offers similar features to Hangouts, is accessible from PC, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad. WhatsApp is based on a different model since it is closer to an SMS application, except that sent messages are sent over the Internet. Available on all mobile and desktop platforms, WhatsApp requires your phone number to work when Skype is content with a simple email address.

We also do not forget Messenger, an instant messaging service through which you communicate with all your Facebook contacts. Lighter, the Messenger Lite application finds its target among aging smartphone owners. In both cases, you exchange text, photos, videos and links without difficulty with one or more grouped contacts.





The gamers are on Discord. In addition to instant text messaging, the platform has a voice chat module that allows you to stay in touch with your teammates in any situation. From your mobile device, manage your invitations, respond to private messages, participate in group discussions, and strategize for your upcoming games.

Download Hangouts for Android (Free)
Download Skype (apk) for Android (Free)
Download WhatsApp (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Messenger for Android (Free)
Download Messenger (apk) Lite for Android (Free)
Download Discord (apk) for Android (Free)


Surf the Internet

While more and more people are equipped with a computer and connected to the Internet, it is clear that everyone has his little habits in web browsing. Habits that you can now find on your Android device by choosing the browser that best suits your use of the net.

To sync your user accounts and find your PC data on your smartphone or tablet, you can turn to Chrome and Firefox. Mobile versions of browsers whose reputation is second to none, these two applications allow you to connect to your associated profile. This gives you access to all your history, favorites, passwords, forms or recently closed tabs, regardless of the device you are surfing from.


In case you prefer to stay independent of the two aforementioned behemoths, you can opt for Opera Mini. Designed to enhance your web experience, the Opera Software application has features as advanced as those of its competitors, such as syncing your content across all your devices, customizing the browser, saving your favorites, or still the grouping of completed downloads. The real advantage of Opera Mini lies in its Turbo function which speeds up the loading of the web pages you consult by compressing the data of your requests.


Consult your emails

Do not wait to get your hands on a computer with an Internet connection to access your emails. Many applications today allow you to check your email directly on your smartphone.

Among the essentials, there are Gmail and Outlook, two of the most used messaging services by Internet users. Equipped with the same features as their webmail counterparts, both applications offer direct access to your inbox, making it easy to read, write and send emails. In addition to syncing your accounts, Gmail and Outlook apps embed your custom categories and labels.



With Inbox, Google offers an alternative to its traditional mail client. The application is inspired by Gmail to retain only the options to smooth your user experience. The messages are sorted by categories – promotions, purchases, trips – with the possibility of creating new thematic groups. Viewing emails in the inbox immediately brings up important information like tracking the delivery of an online purchase. Reminder management also benefits from revisions, automatically integrating Google Search information into your reservations and meeting places.

If you prefer to turn to an independent email service from Google and Microsoft, Blue Mail offers a tool that is as complete as it is functional. Compatible with Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! and even Office 365, the application makes it easy to manage your different inboxes at the same time. The real interest of Blue Mail lies in its management of messages and interlocutors since you have the ability to display the list of your emails by contact. Another interesting feature: selecting the avatar of a contact allows you to access the detailed set of your exchanges, and thus find a conversation more easily without necessarily using the search box.


Download Gmail for Android (Free)
Download Inbox by Gmail for Android (Free)
Download Outlook (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Blue Mail for Android (Free)


Manage your professional network

In addition to personal social networks, applications like LinkedIn focus on your professional career and allow you to accept contacts in your network that you would not have added to Facebook. In addition to maintaining the link with your current colleagues or colleagues, LinkedIn puts you in contact with contacts, multiplying professional opportunities, expanding and consolidating your network. Interactive, the application is also based on a system of recommendations written by the members of your network. As useful as your resume, these recommendations enhance your professional credibility and visibility on the network.
linkedin-ap.


With LinkedIn Job Search, you get ahead of the network and become a player in your job search. The application invites you to specify your search criteria to target the offers that exactly match your profile. Several filters refine the results and narrow the list of available positions by geography, company, exact title or keyword. LinkedIn Job Search aims to simplify applications as much as you apply with a few taps and follow in real time the progress of your requests via the platform.

If you have plenty of ideas and feel the need to share them with colleagues or other assets, turn to Slack. Designed to promote exchanges within a single team, company or network of scattered workers, this collaborative tool serves as a platform for sharing ideas or any other form of suggestions. You integrate public or private groups according to the themes and authorized participants, and can converse as well as exchange documents.





 Listen to music

The native music player of your Android does not satisfy you? The Play Store is full of more or less convincing alternatives. Among the best, DoubleTwist Player, one of the reference readers for Android, is responsible for playing music stored locally in the memory of your smartphone, all within a perfectly licked interface.

If you have many more MP3s than you have space to store on your device, it may be better to turn to a service that allows you to stream all your music. The first solution is offered by Google with Google Play Music. This service stores nearly 50,000 music tracks on your Google Account with no space limit. You can stream your songs from your smartphone, but also from any web browser.

If you have many more MP3s than you have space to store on your device, it may be better to turn to a service that allows you to stream all your music. The first solution is offered by Google with Google Play Music. This service stores nearly 50,000 music tracks on your Google Account with no space limit. You can stream your songs from your smartphone, but also from any web browser.


For those who have very few songs, a service like Spotify or Deezer is probably the best choice. If you do not yet know these streaming music services, know that they offer you to enjoy your music for free by listening to some advertising, or following playlists generated randomly from the artist of your choice.

Speaking more specifically to users who want to track unknown talents, SoundCloud offers a solution adapted to the renewal of your musical culture. Bringing together a large community of professional or amateur musicians, the platform allows you to navigate between different genres and to find some rare and independent pearls. The app has the tools you need to create neatly organized playlists and lets you enjoy it anywhere, whether you have a Wi-Fi or 3G / 4G connection.


Watch videos

What is the best way to watch videos on your mobile? Here again, the question is whether your smartphone has enough storage space. If this is not the case, it is better to fall back to a video streaming service like YouTube, its light version YouTube Go or Dailymotion.
Specializing in eSport broadcasting, Twitch brings together fans of video game competitions around the world. One subscribes to channels in order to follow streams and thematic broadcasts, linked to a particular title or emitted by an affectionate player. Twitch relies on an important social dimension and allows its users to exchange with each other live.

If the internal memory of your smartphone can store a large number of videos, better to have a good reader available. Among the most versatile, you will find MX Player or VLC, two applications compatible with most formats today and which support subtitles.


Make video montages

The power of the cameras integrated in current smartphones makes it possible to produce videos of very good quality. So why not organize your holiday memories into little movies to share with your loved ones? Quik and Adobe Premiere Clip are for creative people who are not comfortable with editing tools. Select the snippets that you like, arrange them in the order you want, and let the apps automatically take care of editing. You can also add music and shorten some shots if you are comfortable with the required manipulations. In any case, you never encounter major difficulty.
The most experienced users can rub PowerDirector. Here, no automatic editor. All operations are done manually and therefore require an already thorough knowledge of editing tools. PowerDirector perfectly handles the audio and video multitrack, which allows you to make small films with a complex layout, demonstrating a certain form of professionalism.



Take photos
To fill gaps in native photo apps on your Android devices, Google offers its home app. The Google Camera has a simple interface to take in hand without neglecting some advanced features. It allows you to play on the depth of field using the Focus effect and offers the possibility of making quality panoramic shots.

Another free and powerful solution: Open Camera, a camera multiplying the possibilities offered by your native camera. In addition to the traditional options of auto-stabilization, multitouch zoom, autofocus, or exposure, Open Camera also features exciting bonus features like left-handed setup, external mic support, and framing tools that set the scene. parallel to the ground and the orientation of the lens.
Carboard Camera animates all your photos by capturing 360 ° panoramas. The manipulation is explained simply during a first use without ever losing the less experienced users. In addition to the image, the application records the sound environment and renders the whole in 3D for those who have a virtual reality headset compatible with a smartphone. The result is immersive, both for those who relive their memories and for those who discover them.



Retouch photos with style

Brightness too low, unwanted blur, intruding objects, some of your photos deserve some minor retouch to gain image quality. Mobile declination of the famous Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Express embeds a selection of basic tools by which you correct the apparent defects of your photos. Cropping, straightening, red-eye reduction, blemish removal, color enhancement, noise reduction, the application incorporates many customization filters to make your images true snapshots of artists. Your Adobe Photoshop Express projects are synchronized with your Creative Cloud account.


Filter enthusiasts are also happy with the Snapseed and Prisma apps. The first, developed by Google, offers a range of basic editing tools with an emphasis on intuitive handling. The proposed filters embellish your clichés that gain in brilliance and precision effortlessly. Snapseed is based on an automatic improvement algorithm appreciated by users who are less comfortable with photo editing.

Prisma, on the other hand, focuses on your artistic sensibility by transforming any cliché into a master canvas. Its artificial neural network intelligently analyzes the composition of your photos and deeply modifies their structure. Munch, Picasso, Hokusai, the painters inspired by Prisma invest your selfies and panoramics for a most impressive pictorial rendering.

Download Adobe Photoshop Express (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Snapseed for Android (Free)
Download Prisma for Android (Free)




Save and sync photos
Once your photos are captured and retouched, remember to save them regularly to avoid losing them inadvertently. To help you in this operation, Flickr declines its web service into a mobile application and allows you to upload, view, organize, edit and download all the photos taken with your smartphone directly to your user account. Synchronization is done automatically or manually, and you have 1000 GB of online storage to store your photos and free up space on your phone.

Flickr competitor and closely related to Android, Google Photos offers a solution for synchronization and backup of your multimedia content captured from your Android device.


Offering unlimited storage for photos up to 16 megapixels and videos in full HD 1080p, the Google application also offers the ability to organize your shots as you wish, to create albums, generate interactive montages and stories, or to share specific content with the contacts of your choice.

Download Flickr for Android (Free)
Download Google Photos for Android (Free)



 Find your way

Since the explosion of GPS and other embedded navigation applications in our daily lives, it is now inconceivable to make a trip to an unknown place without recourse. While Google Maps is a benchmark for Android devices, there are competing applications that are just as effective at finding your way.

Waze, which draws strength from its community core, informs you in real time of the status of traffic thanks to other users who can trace incidents. Welcome data, especially when they allow you to efficiently dodge traffic jams by automatically recalculating a replacement route.



 Another possibility: Here WeGo. This complete navigation solution works even without an Internet connection, as the application allows you to download the maps you need locally.

Finally, if you prefer to do some exercise and ride a bike, Géovélo offers a map and route service entirely designed for cyclists. The application adapts to your requirements and sports skills to submit the route best suited to your needs. trips. Always more precise, Géovélo is also responsible for indicating the steps and difference in elevation that make up your walk, and informs you as to the total duration of your trip.

Download Google Maps for Android (Free)
Download Waze for Android (Free)
Download Here WeGo for Android (Free)



Manage and open files

Android has a native file manager that is often limited. If you are not fully satisfied, you can always opt for ES File Explorer or Astro, two very good all-in-one document managers, capable of opening different file formats, but most importantly, connecting to online storage spaces like Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive.


 If you need to open PDF files, annotate them, or edit them, you can use the Adobe Reader tool.

Download ES File Explorer (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Astro for Android (Free)
Download Adobe Reader for Android (Free)



 To work

With increasingly large screens and remarkable display quality, smartphones can easily be used as workstations to complete a report or report. Provided, of course, to have the right tools. Google offers its Google Docs home solution that works offline and allows you to edit Word files.

There are more comprehensive solutions like Microsoft Office Mobile and WPS Office that can open and edit Word, Excel or Powerpoint files before saving them to online storage. Creating a Microsoft account is required to use Microsoft Office Mobile.


Finally, if you are dealing with documents written in other languages but you are not as multilingual as you would like, Microsoft Translator should be able to help you out. The application is able, from a simple photo, to detect text by displaying its translation superimposed.

The application, which can also translate what is dictated to it, is compatible with about sixty languages and works even when you do not have an Internet connection.

Download Google Docs for Android (Free)
Download Microsoft Word for Android (Free)
Download Microsoft Excel for Android (Free)
Download Microsoft PowerPoint for Android (Free)
Download WPS Office for Android (Free)
Download Microsoft Translator (apk) for Android (Free)



 Scan documents

Sometimes there is an emergency for which you have to send documents to some administration. Unfortunately, you are neither at home nor able to access a computer. Miracle solution: there are handheld scanners with features advanced enough to allow you to scan documents using the camera of your smartphone, then send them by mail to the recipient of your choice.

This is particularly the case of Tiny Scanner, a complete application capable of straightening a scanned digital image. Just manually reframe the scan object with intuitive touch controls. The documents are then saved as PDFs, and you can store them in specific folders for seamless archiving. In addition, a sharing option makes it easy to send your files by e-mail without leaving the application.
























If all the multiple features of Tiny Scanner and Office Lens intimidate you, opt for the PhotoScan solution. Developed by Google, this application offers the tools strictly necessary for scanning files, namely capture and manual reframing. The great thing about PhotoScan is its ability to cleanly remove glare. A good point for those who want to scan photos developed while maintaining the visual quality of the original document.

Download Tiny Scanner for Android (Free)
Download Office Lens for Android (Free)
Download PhotoScan for Android (Free)



 Check your bank account
The time you had to take out a paid subscription to receive a summary of your SMS bank accounts is over. Now you can track the status of all your finances from the same app, on your smartphone, at any time of the day, regardless of the institutions to which you are attached.

As a benchmark application for budget management, Bankin allows you to register as many accounts as you want to access your different balances and transaction details in real time. In the interest of confidentiality, access to your summary is protected by a password and your data is encrypted, two essential security conditions insofar as Bankin supports transfers. For better tracking of your expenses, you can set up alerts when large amount transactions are recorded, or when your accounts drop below a certain balance threshold.


Similar service to Bankin, Linxo offers a read-only interface dedicated to the simultaneous management of your different bank accounts. Summaries, precise wording, overdraft notifications, estimated budget, the application is compatible with more than 320 institutions and guarantees the security of your bank data, prohibiting transfers.

Download Bankin for Android (Free)
Download Linxo for Android (Free)



 Store files on the cloud


If the memory of your Android smartphone is limited and not extensible, it is better to keep your documents on online storage services. You can not only access it from your smartphone, but also from any other device connected to the Internet and having a browser. Google Drive, seamlessly integrated with Android, offers 15GB of free storage space.


Other reputable online storage services are also available as Microsoft’s OneDrive and its 5GB of free storage space, or Dropbox, limited to only 2GB.

Download Google Drive for Android (Free)
Download OneDrive (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Dropbox (apk) for Android (Free)


Maintain and optimize Android

Surely you noticed that your smartphone was a little slower after several weeks of use? It may be time to clean up. To do this, you can use CCleaner or Clean Master, two utilities to optimize your device by removing the cache of your applications to free up storage space, or forcing the shutdown of applications running in the background and have your mobile rowed.


The solution Files Go pushes the concept even further, automatically identifying all the files cluttering the memory of your smartphone. The dashboard highlights files that may contain items that are not very useful and bulky. From a tapping, you select the ones you want to get rid of to get some MB or even GB of storage space. As a bonus, a quick transfer feature allows you to send to your loved ones or to securely receive documents, photos, videos via Bluetooth.

Greenify relieves processor and RAM of your device, rooted or not, by requiring applications running unnecessarily in the background to enter hibernation mode. In order not to impede the full use of the capabilities of your smartphone or tablet, the app lets you choose the elements to freeze according to their degree of importance. In addition to helping to free up resources, Greenify extends the life of your battery between charges.

Download CCleaner (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Clean Master for Android (Free)
Download Files Go (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Greenify for Android (Free)



 Control the quality and use of your mobile data

Among the most effective speed test applications, 01net.com SpeedTest analyzes your 3G / 4G / Wi-Fi connection and measures the quality of your bandwidth. You access essential information about the speed of sending and downloading data, the response time (ping) and the signal strength. These tests are then listed on a French network performance map to help you choose the operator with the best coverage in your industry.


 
Developed by Google, Datally accurately calculates your mobile data usage on a daily basis and provides you with a range of tools designed to better manage them. The great advantage of the application lies in its grip that speaks perfectly to the less sophisticated users. Datally records each app installed on your smartphone, displays its average data consumption and associates a button to enable / disable the use of the network outside Wi-Fi. More drastically, you can disable access to the 3G / 4G network for all applications simultaneously and without exception.

My Data Manager takes care of helping you budget the use of your data according to your package. Enter your profile to indicate the Internet limits, text and voice imposed. The application establishes a forecast of your consumption over the period of validity of the current package. You can set various alarms alerting you if the threshold is exceeded, for example. My Data Manager runs in the background and provides direct access to the current consumption of mobile and Wi-Fi data in the notification bar.



 To move in town
An alternative of choice to the car, public transport is popular with city dwellers and tourists alike. With CityMapper, centralize the data of transport companies available in your city to easily plan your journeys, set up your routes, access metro plans, bus, tram, RER offline, find the bike station self-service the closest. Available in major European cities, the application also covers part of the United States.

 If you are allergic to the crowd, head to private chauffeur services like Uber instead. Available 24/24 and 7/7, this service complies with your wishes (choice of vehicle, booking in advance) and is ideal after a drunken evening or when public transport no longer circulate.

 To find a taxi in all circumstances, also think of Beat, a mobile application that functions as a traditional taxi stand and allows you to locate and hail a driver virtually depending on where you are.

Download CityMapper for Android (Free)
Download Uber (apk) for Android (Free)
Download Beat for Android (Free)



 Change the interface of your smartphoneThe native interface of your Android smartphone can become boring in the long run. Google's mobile OS offers the freedom to customize the interface of your smartphone by downloading an alternative launcher. Launchers, or application launchers, profoundly modify the interface of your phone, offer new functions, and can sometimes even allow you to have a smartphone more fluid and more responsive. Go Launcher is one of the most used launchers. It is fully customizable (more than 10,000 downloadable themes), incorporates more than fifteen widgets and offers original transitions effects.Aviate, a launcher proposed by Yahoo, also simplifies the interface of your smartphone. It adapts to your use by allowing you to set the launcher applications so that it displays the apps you need according to the time of day.To benefit from the Android O update despite the incompatibility of your smartphone, consider Lawnchair. This application launcher gives your device a pixel look and gives you some features reserved for Google's smartphone and the Android 8.0 update. Sweeping up to reveal the app panel, pie folders, adding Pixel Pill and Dots notifications alongside other options like changing the size of icons and renaming apps, making Lawnchair an effective tool.

Finally, Arrow Launcher, an application launcher developed by Microsoft, offers a solution to simplify your experience on Android. Optimized to limit battery and resource consumption, Arrow Launcher is able to adapt to your needs. By studying your usage habits, the tool automatically organizes your applications. Your recent documents are grouped together to be easily accessible as are the contacts you interact with most frequently.




 Find free Wi-Fi

Despite mobile offers increasingly generous, many are short of data before the end of the month. Applications like Instabridge can connect to free and secure Wi-Fi hotspots. IDs and passwords are shared by community members wishing to share their connection with others. The available networks are located on a map and color-coded: green to indicate a functional signal, red to indicate a faulty signal.


 WiFi Finder and Avast WiFi Finder work in a similar pattern. The list of public networks is close to those of networks shared by the community. In both cases, the signal is verified and certified. The connection speed of each hotspot is thoroughly analyzed, allowing you to choose the network based on its performance and data requirements. Bonus feature: WiFi Finder and Avast WiFi Finder both have a local card download module. Thus, even without an Internet connection, you can view the location of the surrounding access points and quickly connect to them.

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