Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Featured App
DigiCal Calendar Widgets
Today’s roundup is presented by DigiCal Calendar Widgets from Digibites. DigiCal is a complete calendar solution that integrates with Google Calendar, matching it feature-for-feature and then some. A wide selection of calendar views (agenda, day, week, month, text month, list) and great tablet compatibility means that your calendar will look great and be easy to use no matter what device you’re using. DigiCal also includes a variety of widgets, all of which put the stock Google Calendar to shame, and integrated location search within the app. DigiCal even checks Google Now for travel and traffic time, letting you know when you’ll need to leave to avoid being late. The standard DigiCal is free, but the $4.95 DigiCal+ includes a month widget, extra visual options, and zero ads.
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Experience the most stylish Android calendar with Holo light and dark themes with 6 powerful calendar views and 5 beautifully designed widgets! DigiCal is a stylish and easy to use calendar application that syncs all your appointment with Google Calendar. You can choose from 6 powerful calendar views (day, week, agenda, month, text month and list) in both portrait and landscape mode. DigiCal also comes with 5 beautiful widgets (list, grid, day, day list and month). Following the latest Android Holo light and dark theme, DigiCal is bringing the clean and intuitive user interface experience to smartphones and tablets running Android 2.2+. DigiCal’s innovative features such as the smart action bar make it easy to edit, move, copy, paste and delete events. With our unique built-in location search, adding a location to your event has never been easier. All you need to do is type in the name of the place (cafe, store, and park) and DigiCal will automatically look up the address and save it. With this feature, Google Now (Android 4.1+) knows where you’ll need to go. It’ll watch current traffic, plan your route and notify you when you should leave.
Apps
YouTube Music
Android Police coverage: Google Officially Releases Dedicated YouTube Music App Into The Play Store [APK Download]
YouTube music is here… finally. This app is an alternate YouTube access point that focuses on music videos. If you’ve subscribed to Google’s YouTube Red service (stop that giggling), you get to skip ads, download songs and videos, and run audio in the background without the video portion. The interface should be familiar to anyone who’s used the standard YouTube app, though the Now Playing screen is focused on music discovery.
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YouTube Music lets you watch and listen to a nearly endless catalog in an app designed for music discovery. Just tap a track you love, and see where your music takes you. With the YouTube Music app you can enjoy your favorite tracks, albums, and artists for free. Or you can use it with the new YouTube Red membership to get ad-free videos and listen to music offline, in the background, or without loading video. When you sign in to the YouTube Music app, you’ll be automatically enrolled in a free 14-day trial of YouTube Red.*
HomeUX (Beta)
Android Police review: HomeUX Review: A Fresh, Elegant, And Unique Take On Android Launchers
HomeUX is an alternate Android launcher – wait, stop scrolling! This one actually has some interesting new ideas. Specifically, the interface is designed to separate your many apps into folders divided along specific functions, so you should never need to scroll through a long list to find a seldom-used app. This unusual approach is also applied to widgets. Give it a try if you’re looking for a new take on a well-trodden Android tool. You’ll need Android 5.0 or later to use it.
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HomeUX provides a simplistic yet highly functional launcher user interface with full integration of Google’s Material Design. Here is why you will love HomeUX:
- Folder Integration – Organisation like nothing you have ever seen before
- Organised Widgets – Not only apps, but also widgets and shortcuts can also be organized in designated folders
- Ultra Clean Interface – From apps that always stay where you need them to be and until the Clock widget and easy settings, every element is as elegant as possible
- Panel Design – Your homescreen will always have a fresh look as you navigate your folders with the pictures you set or the Material Design colours palette
- Intuitive Control – Natural swipe gestures and attractive Material Design transitions are the core of HomeUX
- Advanced Functionality – Practical simplicity would be the best way to describe HomeUX as tap-and-hold shortcuts, quick access buttons, hidden apps, and extensive options are all inclusive and expanding as more development is being held.
Runtastic Results Training
Android Police coverage: Runtastic Results Will Give You Runtastic Results Through A 12-Week Strength Training Plan, As Long As You Pay $10 A Month
Runtastic is back with another fitness app. This time it’s focused on a recent trend in the fitness world, bodyweight exercises – i.e., stuff you can do without any gym equipment. The 12-week intensive plan includes a timer, instructions, nutritional tips, video guides, and a built-in social network if you want to share or be motivated. It also includes a rather hefty price: $10. Per week. Ouch.
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Transform your body in 12 short weeks with no equipment. Results is your ultimate bodyweight and strength training app for losing weight, building muscle, burning fat or boosting endurance. Your customized 12-week training plan utilizes your body weight only – no equipment needed – and is tailored to your unique fitness level. The free app, is available in 12 languages and comes with a complete nutrition guide full of valuable tips on eating a healthy diet.
Fallout C.H.A.T.
Android Police coverage: Fallout C.H.A.T. Helps You Express Your Post-Apocalyptic Emotions With Custom Emoji And GIFs
In case you’ve been living under a radioactive rock, Fallout 4 has arrived on PCs and consoles. The game uses a pseudo-1950s cartoon art style that intentionally clashes with the post-apocalyptic setting, and if you’re a fan of said art style, now you can send it to your friends. This official app from Bethesda allows you to send emoji of the iconic Vault Boy and a collection of other bits from the game, like Nuka-Cola or a mushroom cloud. Charming.
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Jazz up your boring old messages with the official Vault-Tec Communications Hub and Transmitter – that’s C.H.A.T. to you. Bring Fallout flavor to your messages with our fully customized keyboard, including text styles, over 60 emoji and animated Vault Boy GIFs. So warm up your tapping fingers and show that you’re the ultimate Fallout fan with C.H.A.T. today.
Hivemapper – 3D map for drones
Android Police coverage: The Hivemapper App Helps Drones Avoid Dangers In The Skies
If you like to pilot your own drone (and yes, I realize that’s a contradiction in terms), it might be helpful to know where you’re not actually allowed to fly it. This app includes a wide selection of no-fly zones in the US, which aren’t available on more pedestrian services like Google Maps, and dimensions for major buildings. If you happen to live in the San Francisco Bay area, there’s also a selection of points of interest and ideal launching zones.
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Flying a drone without Hivemapper is like using a smartphone without an internet connection. Sure, it can fly but it has no information about the world around it. Hivemapper’s real-time 3d map of the earth connects you to gigantic amounts of critical information:
* Over 20 million building boundaries (US)
* Over 10 million building heights (US)
* Over 15 million Places of Interest (US)
* Over 16K No-Fly zones (US)
* Over 5,000 Waypoints (SF Bay Area)
* Over 500 Launch points (SF Bay Area)
Works with the following DJI drones:
* Phantom 2 Vision/Vision+
* Phantom 3 Pro
* Inspire 1
Patreon
Patreon is a crowdfunding platform, sort of like Kickstarter, but it’s usually used to support the continuing work of artists and performers rather than an individual idea. (It’s popular with independent podcasters, for example.) The official app allows you to check in on the campaigns you’re financing and browse for new ones, as well as participate in the platform’s baked in social tools. If you use Patreon for your own creative work, you can use the app to chat directly to your sponsors.
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Hi, we’re Patreon. We’re hAPPy to meet you (sorry, had to) and show you our new Android app. But first, who are we? Patreon is a recurring crowdfunding platform for all types of artists and creators. For fans, this is a way to support your favorite creators for making the stuff you’re crazy about. For creators, Patreon is a way to get paid by your fans for making the things you’re already making (videos, songs, webcomics, anything.).
SoundCloud Pulse: for creators
This is the official creator app for SoundCloud – if you haven’t yet encountered it, it’s a YouTube-style repository that’s only for music and other recordings. Users can upload new tracks directly from the app and get analytics on your current items. Though the app is mainly intended for managing your own content, it also allows you to follow other users and share items via Android’s share menu.
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Are you a creator? If you make music, podcasts or anything else audio and upload your work to SoundCloud, this app will let you manage your account and keep your community humming. You’ll need a SoundCloud account to access SoundCloud Pulse. Don’t have one yet? Download the SoundCloud app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soundcloud.android) or go to SoundCloud.com to create one.
Write on PDF
This is a little tool that lets you write notes on PDF files (which, as it turns out, it a hard-to-find feature on the Play Store). The annotation tools are surprisingly robust, and Write on PDRF will let you save new copies of files with your notes embedded. Not bad.
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Write on PDF is a convenient PDF annotator for you. You can take notes by your own handwriting with a variety of Pen and tools.
- -List of all PDF files in your device
- Save a PDF file with your text and drawing content
- Share a PDF file
- PDF viewer
FitStar Personal Trainer
FitStar is the latest in a long line of personal training apps. It includes the usual collection of workouts, intended for intermediate athletes rather than experts, and a selection of instructional videos to help you hone your technique, and a fitness tracker and exercise log. Unfortunately it requires an active Internet connection (for some reason?) and access to some features is roped off behind a subscription.
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Workout anytime, anywhere with personalized video workouts. Never miss an opportunity to get a customized workout at home, on the road, when you can’t make it to the gym, or don’t want to pay for a costly personal trainer. Built from the ground-up for Android phones, FitStar Personal Trainer will keep you moving and help you reach all of your fitness goals.
Upthere Home Camera
Upthere is a new competitor in the cloud storage space. It’s specifically intended to host photos, videos, music, and documents, but aparently takes no quarter when it comes to general files. The system uncludes a built-in search tool and all items are shareable with the usual social networks or via email. Right now the service is in beta, so there’s no telling how much it will cost when it’s ready for a more general rollout.
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Upthere is a cloud computer designed to be the one home for your personal data—your photos, videos, music, and documents. Upthere comes with two components: Upthere Camera and Upthere Home. Upthere Camera is a cloud camera with a new way to share. Take full-resolution photos and videos directly to the cloud, overcoming the storage limitations of your phone. Create Shared Cameras with friends and family to share photos as you take them. As soon as someone takes a photo with a Shared Camera, everyone else invited will see it.
NewsON
NewsON is a service that gathers streams from a bunch of local television news stations (hello to everyone at Atlanta’s WSB-TV Channel 2!) and allows you to access them on your phone. The app is… well, it’s a bit of a mess, between the incredibly cluttered menu and map system and the video player’s tiny buttons. Early reviews are not kind. But it might be better than hunting down video from the website of your local station.
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NewsON provides a nationwide lineup of local news video from trusted, credible TV stations. It gives instant access to the local news that matters to you most. And it helps you stay informed – no matter when, or where you are. NewsON has a flexible, easy navigation menu to help locate preferred stations based on where you are, where you live or where you care about. Watch live news, previous broadcasts (up to 48 hours for most stations) or watch clips from your favorite station. Connect with your local communities daily, and create an essential part of the future of local news with NewsON.
Manufacturer And Tie-In Apps
LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Programmer
Android Police coverage: LEGO Brings Its MINDSTORMS Programmer App To The Play Store
If you’ve ever played with LEGO’s combination models/robots, you know that the best part about them is the simplified programming interface that allows kids (and adults who are hopeless at coding) to program said robots with ease. Now there’s an Android version for the latest sets, which allows you to connect to the computer controllers via Bluetooth and upload or modify programming instructions. Very cool.
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Bring your LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 robots to life. This is the official LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programmer app for use with the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313) robotics construction set. Use this app to build and program your EV3 robots in the fastest, smartest and most fun way possible – directly from your tablet without the need for any wires or additional software.
Basecamp 3
Android Police coverage: Basecamp Releases Android App To Pair With All-New Basecamp 3 Service
Basecamp is a project management system that’s focused on companies and small teams – we use it here at Android Police, as a matter of fact. Version three is an improvement on the older system in just about every way, but it’s different enough that the old app isn’t compatible with it. This app is for that new version, which is also available in modern browsers. It’s incompatible with previous versions.
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Official Android app for Basecamp 3, the newest major release of the world’s #1 project management app. NOTE: This app won’t work with Basecamp Classic or Basecamp 2. If you’re having trouble signing in, email us at [email protected]. We usually respond within 5 minutes, so it’ll be faster than leaving a 1-star review. 😉 For over 10 years, millions have trusted Basecamp’s unique blend of tools for everything their team needs to stay on the same page about whatever they’re working on. There’s nothing else like it.
HTC Camera
Android Police coverage: HTC Uploads The One A9’s Camera App To Google Play
As usual with new HTC apps, the company has uploaded the latest version to Google Play for easy updates. It’s strange that HTC seems to think that the A9 needs a separate app for its camera, but it has more features than the usual pack-in, so perhaps the phone has more hardware capabilities than other HTC models.
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Easy automatic capturing, rich manual controls and creative camera modes make HTC Camera an ideal all-arounder for on-the-go photographers. From ISO controls to white balance, you can always create the right mood for your photos and videos.
- Swipe to switch cameras
- Rich manual controls
- Auto capture and voice capture
- Live makeup
- Pro camera mode
- Sweep panorama camera mode
- Hyperlapse video mode
- Slow motion video mode
DoubleClick for Publishers
Android Police coverage: Google Releases Official DoubleClick For Publishers App On The Play Store
Doubleclick is Google’s ad network. If you happen to use it to either sell or serve advertisements on the web, now you can use this app instead of the web dashboard. It has a better layout for mobile viewing, but that’s about it.
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Provides a high-level overview of a DFP network’s performance. The data is displayed in a series of cards, which contain information associated with what’s happening in your DFP network.
Family Square
Android Police coverage: Samsung Publishes ‘Family Square’ Photo Bulletin Board App For The Galaxy View
The Galaxy View is a big tablet. It needs some big apps… or at least, apps that take advantage of its enormous screen. Family Square does so in a strange way: it pairs with phones and allows you to transfer images directly to the tablet’s local storage, then displays them in a stylized grid. Oddly, the app is only compatible with newer Samsung phones, so you’re out of luck if you use anything else.
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Family Square is your virtual home command center that connects your family. You can easily share photos with your family members whenever you want, and display emotional and beautiful images from group members. Share your memorable moments with family any time anywhere using Family Square. To start using the Family Square app, you need to pair your Galaxy View device with your mobile device and create a group.
Pingpad – Notes, Chat Tasks
Pingpad is a sort of mini-communication suite intended for groups to use on mobile. It includes a note-taker with a sharing function, a project manager, a built-in chat system, and a contacts directory. The service is cross-compatible with Android, iOS, and the web. This is probably only of interest to people who are already using Pingpad, but that’s how these things go.
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Get things done, together, with your family, friends, co-workers, teams, vacations, events and communities. Pingpad is a free app with instant shared notes, messaging and tasks for groups. Collaborate on notes and lists in real-time. Keep and build upon things that matter to your group. Make links to notes to organize information in a group wiki. See who wrote what. Add images to illustrate. Message notes into chat.
Live Wallpapers
Chrooma Floats LWP
I’ve loved live wallpapers since I had my first Android phone but they were always draining my battery, so I decide to create mine.
SIMPLE, SMOOTH, OPTIMIZED AND LIGHTWEIGHT.
These are the keywords that sum up this app. Enjoy 🙂
- It changes every time you go back to the home page or in a time interval
- More than 20 different shapes
- Infinite color combinations (Palette creator.!.)
- Smooth, fully customizable animations
- NO BATTERY DRAINING.
- Parallax 3D effect
- ActionLauncher3 support
WTF App(s) Of The Week
INFINITE SCREAMING ROBOT
This app puts an abstract face on your screen. Then it screams. Forever. If you’ve ever felt the need to succinctly express your opinion on the futility of life, the existential entropic horror that is the universe, or just scream for longer than your lungs will physically allow, this is the app for you.
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FOR FAR TOO LONG HAS YOUR PHONE NOT BEEN A ROBOT THAT SCREAMS FOR ETERNITY. NOW YOUR PHONE CAN BRING YOU THE ABSTRACT EMOTIONLESS EXPRESSION OF EXISTENTIAL RAGE THAT YOU HAVE FOR SO LONG CRAVED
Know A Worthy New App? Let Us Know!
If you have an application in mind for the next issue of the roundup, feel free to send us an email and let us know.
Important: there are 2 requirements in order for the app to be considered, listed below.
- the app’s launch date has to be no longer than 2 weeks ago
- it has to be original, ground-breaking, well-reviewed, interesting, fun, etc – the cream of the crop
Now, if and only if the above requirements have been satisfied, fire up an email to this address: [email protected].
1 sponsored placement per week is available (your app would be featured at the top and marked as sponsored) – please contact us for details.