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.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Color Splash Effect

Today's roundup is sponsored by Color Splash Effect from Lyrebird Studio. Ever wondered how those striking black and white photos with a single colored element get made? It used to be done with thousands of dollars of darkroom equipment, or more recently, hundreds of dollars of photo editing software. Color Splash Effect lets you create the same thing with a free app. There are also filters for various sepia effects, some basic editing with brushes and selection tools, and some filters thrown in for good measure. Photos can be exported to Facebook or shared on Twitter, and the $1.99 paid version adds timeline tools and more filters.

Color is a special thing... something that can make your photos artistic and vibrant. Black and white images are special in their own unique way too. So... why not combine both into one image and now you can; with Color Splash Effect.

Bring more attention to the more important things in your photo and make even boring photos - interesting. The application converts your photo into a black and white image, whilst still retaining the color information - then Color Splash Effect gives you the freedom to add color wherever you’d like. Either paint using the original color or ‘paint’ the image black and white... or simply paint with virtually every color imaginable for even more control over your photos. Add a touch of color to any photo or alternatively: apply one of the 37 vintage effects to your image. Don’t have time to complete your new creation? No problem, save multiple sessions for further editing when convenient or export your edited photo to your photo album or share directly onto Facebook.

Apps

DashClock Widget

Android Police coverage: [New App] DashClock Widget Is An Elegant, Customizable, Open Source Lockscreen Widget For Android 4.2+ Devices

Say hello to the most useful app to take advantage of Android 4.2. DashClock Widget is an all-in-one lockscreen widget that combines a readable clock, status updates, weather, alarms, and a whole lot more. How much more? Well, it's basically unlimited, as you can see with the extensions available below. You can use it as a standard home screen widget as well, and there's also an impressive amount of customization available if you're willing to dive into the Settings menu. Naturally, it's only for 4.2.

DashClock is a replacement lock screen clock widget for Android 4.2+. It also exposes additional status items called extensions. The widget comes bundled with extensions that give you instant access to:

• Your current local weather

• Missed calls and unread text messages

• Your next calendar appointment

• Unread Gmail inbox or priority inbox conversations

• Your next scheduled alarm

Dashclock Facebook Extension

Android Police coverage: [New App] DashClock Facebook Extension Makes Your Clock More Social

...for example, here's a DashClock extension designed especially for Facebook. You get updates of messages, comments, likes, and (ahem) the like. You can even get the alerts without the generally undesirable Facebook app if you want.

This extension shows your unread messages and notifications for Facebook in Roman Nurik's Dashclock. Works with or without the Facebook application installed. Requires the Dashclock Extension be installed: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nurik.roman.dashclock.

AnyDash - DashClock Widget Ext

Android Police coverage: [New App] AnyDash Displays Notifications From Any App In DashClock

And here's one that will show alerts from any app, not unlike the Pebble Notifier. Popular apps get their own icons, but more esoteric ones will get a generic notification. This one's a definite work in progress, but seems to be getting regular updates.

Show notifications from any app in your DashClock Widget with AnyDash. This is a work in progress so if you have any issues please click the 'Email Developer' button above and let me know. Not every app will work with this so if you find one which doesn't show notifications EMAIL ME and I'll do my best to make it compatible. Don't leave a comment saying it does work with X please email me as some apps (like Google Voice) will work for some and not others.

Messaging+Google Voice - Trial

Android Police coverage: 'Messaging + Google Voice' (Mostly) Combines Android's Stock Texting App With GV Integration

Google Voice is awesome, especially if you're trying to avoid the criminal rates for individual text messages. But it doesn't play nice with the standard text messaging system on Android phones, even on a bone-stock Nexus device. That's where this app comes in: it (mostly) combines the standard text messaging app with messages sent through Voice.

We have rebuilt the stock messaging application and added Google Voice capabilities into it. It supports sending and receiving Google Voice texts within the messaging application. It uses DATA/WIFI to receive and send Google Voice texts, therefore, you don't get charged by your carrier. (Note: You will still be charged if you send a text via your carrier, the only time you won't be charged WHEN YOU SEND/RECEIVE A TEXT VIA GOOGLE VOICE. So as long as you see the message "SENDING VIA GOOGLE VOICE" on your phone, you won't be charged, as the app uses DATA/WIFI plan. Make sure to turn off Google Voice message forwarding as well. This app will grab the GV incoming texts already. If you are receiving Google Voice text from a random number, then you are still being charged by your carrier.)

Greenify *ROOT*

Android Police coverage: [New App] Greenify Keeps Rooted Devices Running Smoothly By Hibernating Specified Apps When They're Not In the Foreground

Want a task killer that actually works? Greenify tries to free up a little RAM by putting non-active apps into a state of hibernation, keeping them from eating up any resources right when your device starts. Unlike Android's native "disable" feature, Greenify will keep the apps available and launchable at any time. Naturally, it requires root access.

No more envy of your friend's iPhone which never become slow and battery hungry after lots of apps installed. With Greenify, your Android device can also run almost as smooth and lasting as the first day you have it. Greenify help you identify and put the bad behaving apps into hibernation when you are not using them, stop them from battery leeching, memory hogging and stealthy running, in an elegant and unique way. They could do nothing without your explicit launch, while still have full functionality when running in foreground. Like what iOS apps act.

Greenify Developer: Oasis Feng
Price: Free
4.2
Download

Pebble Notifier

Android Police coverage: [New App] Pebble Notifier Tasker Plugin Makes The Smartwatch Approximately 300 Times More Useful

The Pebble Smartwatch is an undeniably nifty little device, but on its own, it's only useful for a few very specific things. The Notifier app from developer Dattas Moonbeam (yes, really) allows do-it-all tool Tasker to send alerts to the watch, making it much, much more useful. It can send alerts from Android apps without Tasker, for those who want an easier and/or cheaper way to extend functionality.

This is an application that lets you send all notifications to your Pebble smartwatch. You can exclude certain applications or exclude all save a few. This is also bridge between the Pebble application and Tasker. It will let you send notifications of your making to your Pebble. Simply fill out the title and body of the message you want sent to your Pebble and off you go.

Snapdragon™ BatteryGuru (Beta)

Android Police coverage: [New App] Qualcomm Releases Snapdragon BatteryGuru, Aims To Extend Your Device's Battery Life

Qualcomm really, really wants you to know about Snapdragon processors. While their push to get the chip architecture in the minds of gamers seems to have flopped, they can certainly tout the (admittedly impressive) battery savings. BatteryGuru is pretty similar to the other battery saving apps out there, though it's tuned specifically for Snapdragon-powered hardware. It'll need a two-day "breaking in" period to observe your usage behavior.

Snapdragon™ BatteryGuru extends battery performance and improves overall user experience by intelligently making changes that optimize Snapdragon device functionality. This app:

• Delivers longer battery life with fewer charges

• Intelligently learns how you use your Snapdragon smartphone and optimizes your device without disabling smartphone functionality

• Requires no user configuration - Snapdragon BatteryGuru automatically learns and adjusts the smartphone settings so you don’t have to.

Glovebox

Like Swipepad, but want something a little more eye-pleasing? Then give Glovebox a try. It uses a similar side-swipe mechanic, but presents apps in a big, finger-friendly format. There's plenty of customizations as well, if you're looking to keep everything in line with your carrier or custom theme.

Glovebox brings to android the best way of multi tasking. Swipe without lifting the finger to select an application to open.

Features:

  • Apps/Shortcuts/Widgets on side bar.
  • Reorder apps.
  • Personalize side bar.
Meteor Swipe Developer: paprikanotfound
Price: Free
4
Download

Home Button Launcher

Not everyone likes the contextual Google Now integration with the Home button in Android 4.1 or later. You could hope for a custom ROM that gives you some options, or install Home Button Launcher, which replaces the Now dialog with a handy list of your most-used apps. There's also a nice bit of customization if you're matching to a theme.

Launch your favorite apps through the «Home Button Swipe Up» gesture.

• Note this only works properly on devices with three soft keys, like the Nexus 4 or Galaxy Nexus (i.e. devices that have virtual «Back/Home/Recent Apps» buttons).

• On all other devices the app might integrate into the lock screen and/or replace the standard app behind the «Search» button (in case your phone has one), but please note this may or may not work on your phone depending on device brand and type

Home Button Launcher Developer: DynamicG
Price: Free
4.4
Download

Quickly

Android Police coverage: [New App] Quickly Uses Jelly Bean's Expandable Notifications To Put An App Launcher In Your Shade

Want to put that Android 4.1 update to good use? Then try out Quickly, which is a quick app launcher that lives in your status bar. Expand the notification with a pinch and you'll have access to eight apps or shortcuts. Simple, effective, cheap.

Quickly is a simple app that creates an ongoing notification in your notification drawer filled with shortcuts to applications that you can configure. Once the notification is created, drag the notification down with 2 fingers to expand it and reveal your shortcuts. The app was originally meant as a proof of concept, but there was demand, so here.

Hideman VPN

Android Police coverage: Hideman Is A Stellar Multiplatform VPN App That Lets You Route Traffic Through One Of 22 Countries [Deep-Dive Look]

Good news: Hideman is an awesome, easy way to route your web traffic through a foreign country and get around pesky geographical restrictions. Bad news: it's only free for five hours a week. You can earn more time by looking at ads, or just straight-up paying for server time. Unusually for a VPN app, there's also integrated customer service and a homescreen widget.

5 Hours / Week for FREE. Earn premium hours via in-app ad networks. Easy solution for privacy and protection via VPN. Connect to VPN in one click with Hideman VPN widget. Pay from anywhere with in-app SMS billing. With our VPN client you can:

  • Hide your IP. Nobody will know where are you from.
  • Encrypt internet data. Protect your Internet data with strong 256-bit encryption.
  • Use any site you needed without any limitations.
  • Remove banners and tracking systems.

PFO Shield Personal Safety App

"I've fallen, and I can't get up!" The familiar Life Alert commercials would seem to apply to the PFO Shield Personal Safety app as well, since they operate on much the same principle. There's an added bonus for this particular app, in that it will give friends and family an exact GPS location, so they can come and get your or alert emergency services. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from actually calling 911 as well.

Alert your friends and family of your GPS location by pulling out the headset. Find and track family, friends and cherished objects. Two personal alarm functions; the classic panic button, and the innovative Pull Plug which sends alert by pulling out the headset cord. Find and track friends who have allowed 'Find Me' function. Find and track other PFO products such as the PFO One personal safety bracelet.

JuiceSSH - SSH Client

There are a lot of options for SSH clients, but JuiceSSH appears to be the one for those who want every possible feature. With a list of capabilities that won't even fit on the Nexus 10's screen, not to mention a sweet Holo interface, it's the power user's client. Some of the more nifty features, like ES 256 encryption and Amazon AWS, require an upgrade via in-app purchase.

  • Full colour terminal / ssh client
  • Popup keyboard with all those normally hard to find characters
  • Use the volume keys to quickly change font size
  • External keyboard support
  • Copy & Paste within sessions
  • Save / Share SSH transcripts to Dropbox/Evernote/Email & SD card
  • UTF-8 character support
  • Easily organise your connections by group
  • Keep multiple SSH sessions running in the background
JuiceSSH - SSH Client Developer: Sonelli Ltd
Price: Free
4.4
Download

Silence

Android Police coverage: Silence Updates To Version 2.0, Gets New UI, Calendar Integration, Recurring Events, And More

We've covered Silence before, but the 2.0 upgrade is noticeable for anyone who found the scheduled sound state app useful in the first place. You can now schedule regular silence intervals according to your Google Calendar, add recurring events, and generally schedule every possible event in your life that might require your phone to shut its electric yapper.

Silence allows you to toggle your sound and system settings automatically over scheduled intervals. With this app, never again will you have to worry about silencing your phone during that important meeting, or even missing calls and texts later in the day because you forgot to turn the volume back up. Simply put in your schedule, choose your toggles, and forget about it. Let us do all the work for you.

Mute O Matic

Here's another option for discretely silencing your phone. The internal calendar will need to be set up manually, and the interface is only good for those who are nostalgic for a bit of Android 2.0, but you can set up exceptions for your most important callers. Mute O Matic is a free download, with an in-app purchase after the demo expires.

Create events to mute your phone around your busy schedule. Your phone will mute when the event starts and revert back to normal when the event ends. Create your own events or let the events from your Google Calendar automatically mute your phone.

  • Automatically mute your phone based on your Google calendar events.You control which calendars and events will mute your phone.
  • Select all events, only busy events, events with a specific keyword or select events within a time range.
  • Add time adjustments to your calendar events to mute your phone a few minutes before or after an event starts or finishes.

Quietto Lite

Need to time something precisely without looing at your watch or flashing your phone? Quietto's got you covered. It will issue high-contrast visual alerts and/or vibrations at specific intervals - great for staying on-task during a presentation, or timing a workout session. Manually setting more than three notifications requires the paid version.

Discreet time-control app - Free Version. Total or interval pre-set times alerts you of your progress through quiet and discreet vibration. No need for someone or other warnings of your pace for an ideal presentation, speech or seminar. Easy to use and high contrast provide discrete visual alert for training or action/exercise uses.

Mokriya Craigslist

Mokriya is an officially-licensed Craigslist app. It allows you to both browse and post the mega-popular classifieds with speed and a better UI than the website. (Which isn't saying much.) The map view is a nice touch, and should be useful if you're looking for an item that has a lot of entries. Sales, jobs, and personals are supported.

The BEST OFFICIALLY LICENSED craigslist app. From Mokriya, the team that worked on beautiful apps like Seaworld, Swarowski, Path, Hipster, Threadflip, SideCar. Craigslist like you have never seen and experienced before. POST IN UNDER 1 MINUTE. Just add a title, description, some photos - and reach millions of craigslist users. The EASIEST way to post.

Frrole: Social News on Twitter

If you're one of those pesky people who only get their news off of Twitter, then get off your Galaxy S3 and go read a newspaper. No? Then at least install Frrole, which will let you pretend to do so, with short, Tweet-style headlines linked to full stories. Which you should read before replying or making pithy comments to your 5,000 followers.

Frrole is the new way of news. Based entirely off Twitter feeds, It is the world’s first social local news source. It currently provides separate news editions for 55 cities, 6 countries and the world. Frrole allows the news to come from anybody in the world, ensuring that you are always the first to hear it irrespective of where it comes from. Frrole's algorithms have the ability to select news from general social chatter and then break it down by cities and countries, and categories like sports, travel events etc.

NewsWhip

If you're obsessed with news, and perhaps the equally interesting topic of how news spreads, give NewsWhip a try. It analyzes the larger social networks for the most popular news stories by number of shares, likes, retweets, et cetera. Be prepared for more information about Taylor Swift than you ever wanted to know.

NewsWhip gives you the biggest news stories from around the world right now, as decided by everyone. Each minute, NewsWhip scans a billion people on Facebook and Twitter to see which news stories are spreading the fastest. It spots the stories that people think are worth sharing, and serves them as a live stream of the world's most popular news. As well as dozens of topics, NewsWhip can show you what's hot now in ten countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland.

newscover

Android Police coverage: [New App] Newscover Is An Intelligent And Beautiful News Aggregator With A Quirky Ad Campaign

Newscover is hoping to be the Pandora of news services. Vote stories up or down based on your interest, and the app will deliver new stories along similar lines to you each day. Of course, curating news for yourself is bit of a risky proposition, but for casual reading it's got a great UI and requires no registration. It's also got one of the most baffling commercials we've ever seen.

Welcome to newscover. The news discovery app that quietly learns your interests as you read. newscover automatically personalizes and filters the news content and sources you are most likely to read. The reading experience adapts to the moment of use. newscover allows you choose how to access its over 1000 sources, the most popular or the most recent. All articles are organized by categories: news, technology, business, sports and style.

Reach BETA

Ever wished you could access your call history without having to dig through a phone UI? Google Voice lets you do just that, but if you're stuck using real phone number, so will Reach. Install the app, hit up this website, and you'll see your calls, text, and phone history all in one place. You'll also get live notifications when logged in on your computer.

Reach makes your everyday life easier. Your phone is at the center of all your communication. Reach acknowledges that and gives you a way to interact with it faster and easier: With Reach you can see all your communication history as well as your contacts, and more importantly you can view incoming events as they happen, reply to text messages, tell your phone to dial a number, search through your communication history and much more – using your computer.

DriveDroid

If you're a power user, you've probably got a few ISO images lying around, and you're tired of swapping discs or drives. With DriveDroid, you can drop that Mint image on your SD card, reboot your computer, and boot straight from the phone's storage. The interface can even download and label some of the more popular Linux distributions for you. Say good bye to formatting flash drives... though you'll still need to keep a data cable handy.

DriveDroid allows you to boot your PC from ISO/IMG files stored on your phone. This is ideal for trying Linux distributions or always having a rescue-system on the go... without the need to burn different CDs or USB pendrives. DriveDroid also includes a convenient download menu where you can download USB-images of a number of operating systems from your phone.

DriveDroid Developer: Softwarebakery
Price: Free
3.8
Download

BusyFlow - productivity stream

The cloud is great, but if you're anything like me, you often find yourself hopping from cloud to cloud. BusyFlow tries to integrate all of Google's services, Basecamp, Dropbox, GitHub, and Trello, with more being added all the time. For such a large ambition, it's remarkably well-integrated, with alerts for changes to all services showing up in the same view, and commenting on the collaboration cloud services.

BusyFlow integrates cloud-based productivity and collaboration apps (e.g. Dropbox, Google Calendar, Basecamp) into a single stream.

With BusyFlow you can:

  • see an overview of all your apps. All new changes will be shown on activity stream;
  • comment Trello cards, Pivotal Tracker stories, Basecamp messages, Google Drive and Dropbox files. All comments will be synced with your apps;
  • create new cloud items (e.g. Trello cards, calendar events, Basecamp and Tracker tasks);
  • get email and push notifications with changes on your apps.

Valarm Pro

Android Police coverage: [New App] Valarm Pro Monitors Sensor Data Remotely, Uploads For Detailed Tracking And Study

Need to keep track of a fleet of company vehicles, or study the travel patterns of the earthbound college student? Then Valarm is for you. It's an impressive data gathering app that calls back to Valarm's web servers, presenting information on location, speed, audio, light, and power in an impressive display of analytics. There's even support for external Bluetooth and USB sensors. You'll need a subscription to the service for multiple devices and more advanced tracking.

Valarm is the Versatile Asset Locator And Remote Monitor. You can use it to track almost anything via GPS, and to monitor almost any environment via sensors. Commercial fleet managers use Valarm as a vehicle or container-tracking device with additional sensor information. Scientists and hobbyists use it as a remote environmental monitor or Data Acquisition platform. Consumer applications include use as a motion-sensing or sound-sensing, GPS-tracking, anti-theft alarm and tracking device, or a powerful property monitor.

NFC by MOO

You may have heard of MOO's NFC-enabled business cards. This is the app that reads them. But wait, says the infomercial spokesman, that's not all! It can also write new information to your existing cards, or any other open NFC tag for that matter. Of course, you'll need Android 4.0 or later and a device that supports NFC to take advantage of the app.

The NFC by MOO app allows you to easily write URLs, phone numbers, maplinks, contacts or social network links to your NFC-enabled MOO Business Cards, or any other NFC tag. Just choose, tap, and go. Built by the same people who brought you MiniCards and the acclaimed Luxe Business Cards, the NFC by MOO app allows you to truly customize the “third side” of your NFC enabled MOO Business Cards. Release your creativity, and then tell us about it moo.com/nfc

Zero Motorcycles

Android Police coverage: Zero Motorcycles Releases A Companion App For Its All-Electric Bikes, And It's Actually Pretty Neat

We've seen a few apps for electric vehicles before, but Zero's takes the cake. In addition to remotely viewing the charge level and range of your all-electric crotch rocket, you can actually change performance settings. Set it to be faster or more efficient right from your phone - now that's cool. If you don't have a Zero bike (like most of us) you can go through a digital showroom on the app as well.

The Zero Motorcycles Android App is the perfect companion to your new 100% electric Zero. The app utilizes your Android's Bluetooth connection to communicate with any 2013, or later, Zero Motorcycles model. The Zero App includes a "Demo Mode" that allows you to browse the App and envision what it might be like to use this app with your own Zero. We encourage you to check it out.

Zero Motorcycles Developer: Zero Motorcycles
Price: Free
2.7
Download

AutoTether for Automatica

The Automatica dongle sits in your car and downloads audio from podcasts, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Skydrive when an open WiFi access point is near. If you'd rather not wait, you can use this app to tether the gadget to your phone via Bluetooth for some on-the-go downloads. You can also manage the software on the screenless device without a PC.

AutoTether automates the task of starting the tethering when you get in your car and stopping it when you leave the car. AutoTether has been designed as a companion app for the Automatica car USB device, to keep it synced while you're driving around. AutoTether uses simple Bluetooth detection to make your smartphone location aware. It provides an alternative to NFC leveraging the Bluetooth availability for location awareness and lets your Android device turn tethering on automatically when in proximity of another paired device.

WeMo Beta for Galaxy SIII

Android Police review: [New App] Belkin Releases An Early Beta Preview Of Its WeMo App For Android, Still Missing Several Features, But It's A Good Start

It's about time. Belkin's remote-controlled appliance system WeMo has had an iOS component since launch, but they're just now getting around to an Android version. The title includes "For Galaxy S III", either because it's the single-most popular Android phone at the moment or (more likely) it's the only one they bothered to test. Any phone running Android 4.0 or later should work, more or less.

As announced at CES 2013, Belkin will be releasing a fully functional WeMo App for Android 4.0 and higher devices this Summer. This App is an early Beta version, specifically tested on the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Although all 4.0 and higher devices can download the app, stability and performance can’t be guaranteed.

Supported features;

• WeMo device control via Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks (remote access)

• Setup, custom icons and names

• Local firmware updates

• IFTTT integration

• English language only

Get Free Apps

We considered this one for a long time before including it in the roundup, but it seems to be a legitimate service. It's fairly similar to Amazon's Free App of the Day. Developers submit their apps to the program, you download them through Google Play, and get refunded via a PayPal account. Naturally, you'll need both a valid credit card and a PayPal account to take advantage of it.

Do you want to enjoy the best Android paid apps for FREE? In Get Free Apps we promote an app. Elsewhere, you have to pay for it, but we give it to you for free. All you have to do is buy the app as you always do, and then we will transfer to your PayPal account what you paid for it. As easy at it sounds. You need to activate a credit card in your Google Play Store account, and own a verified PayPal account (business or personal). If not, you won't be able to purchase the promoted app and we cannot refund your money :( Verify these points before installing Get Free Apps and rate the app.

Unshorten

Shortened URLs are useful, until they don't work. Unshorten runs in the background, routing shortened links in a social messaging application (or anything else) to your specified app with ease. After setting up the "complete action" dialogues, it should save power users a measurable few seconds a day.

Jump directly to your favorite native apps and avoid using a browser to unshorten URLs such as bit.ly and goo.gl. With Unshorten, you avoid the annoying browser middle-man to unshorten URLs and are taken directly to your chosen native application. Tapping short links in Twitter clients, Facebook, Google Plus, and Reddit first opens a web browser. The browser then immediately redirects you to your selected default native application. Save time and avoid unnecessary taps by letting Unshorten expand short URLs and open the proper native application directly.

Unshorten Developer: Tea and Toys
Price: Free
4.1
Download

FOX NOW

The FOX Network is a member of the Hulu, which makes major US broadcast shows available freely and legally to online watchers. So what's the point of a separate mobile app when we already have Hulu Plus? Well, for one, it's not a video app: it's the latest in the "second screen" fad, which encourages you to chat, tweet, and otherwise socialize while watching live TV. There are few DVD-style extras thrown in for good measure.

FOX NOW is the mobile destination for your favorite FOX shows. Tap into the social conversation around your favorite FOX shows while you watch TV, get more content from your favorites, and stay connected throughout the week. FOX NOW takes you deeper into your favorite FOX shows, with behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews, previews of and clips from upcoming episodes, special compilations, and tons of photos. Keep the app open while you watch live TV to follow along with the show, cast and crew, friends and other fans on Twitter and Facebook. Tweet your thoughts on what's happening now. With select shows, sync FOX NOW to your TV for even bonus show content tied to scenes.

4oD

Android Police coverage: Channel 4's 4oD Comes To Android In The UK, Provides You With Your Inbetweeners Fix On The Go

Alright Brits, this one is for you. While your BBC television payment will get you access to most public channel programming on mobile, the less integrated ones in the UK are still a bit behind the times. not so with Channel 4 and its subsidiaries, thanks to the 4oD app, which has long disgraced Android with its absence. Full episodes and other video detritus are streamed freely to all subjects of Her Majesty - yanks need not apply.

The 4oD app is free to download and hosts a wide selection of programmes from Channel 4, E4 and More4. This content is available to watch free of charge, with no limit to the amount you can watch, and is accessible via WiFi networks. Browse for programmes by date of broadcast, category type, A to Z list - or try our editorially curated collections.

Movie App HD

Since Google's added movie results in the main search, there's less demand for this sort of app. But movie buffs should still find some more dedicated info for themselves. The best idea on display is probably the dedicated ratings section for each flick, which displays a collection of aggregate ratings quickly.

Movie App HD is the ultimate movie discovery app on Google Play right now. What this app allows you to do is search for movies, check their ratings, screenshots, trailers, actors, director, writers, release dates, similar movies, basicly all the information you would expect of a movie discovery application. Also be sure to check out the different top lists like: New Movies, Top Rentals, Box Office, Now in Theaters and Upcoming DVDs.

BBC Sport

Android Police coverage: BBC Sport Mobile App Launched For Android, Just In Time For Six Nations And The End Of The Premier League Season

The BBC has a sports app. You know what that means: more soccer, cricket, and English horseriding rugby than you can shake a stick at. Even so, it's impressive that the app features news. live video, and live scores from the six sports included, and the interface is an eye-catching yellow-themed Holo. The app is only available in the UK, and only to devices 7 inches or smaller.

The official BBC Sport app is the sports fan’s guide to live sport news, video highlights, scores stats, fixtures and results, curated by the BBC’s team of sport journalists.

  • Home screen displaying the top stories across the world of sport.
  • Live and on demand video and audio
  • A page for Football, Formula 1, Cricket, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Tennis, Golf
  • A page for all the other main sports, UK nations, plus major events
  • Daily live text commentaries from BBC journalists

NBA All-Star 2013

Android Police coverage: [New App] NBA All-Star 2013 Is Exactly What All Sports Apps Should Be

The All-Star Game is over, but we're including this app in the roundup just because it's a great example of a sports app done right. With an interface that's clean (if not exactly Holo), lots of video, a long list of features for both visiting fans and those tuning in, and no carrier restrictions, some of the folks at Verizon and the NFL should be taking notes.

The NBA All-Star 2013 App is the ultimate guide to All-Star. Keep up to date with event information, live scores, video and photos. Vote for your favorite players to win contests during the weekend and play predictive games.

MediaMonkey Beta

Android Police coverage: MediaMonkey Beta Shows Up In The Play Store, Brings Some Bug Fixes Along With It

Desktop users of MediaMonkey love it for its automatic tagging and sorting capabilities, not to mention customization options. While it's still in beta on Android, it's now got an official Google Play release, so serious music lovers can dig into their perfectly organized collections. Local music only - be prepared to load up your device or MicroSD card.

A media player for serious collectors. This is the pre-release version for users who want to test out the latest and (sometimes) greatest... MediaMonkey helps you navigate and manage and sync large music collections. Key features in the initial release:

  • Content Navigation for Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, Video, ...
  • Navigation by various subcategories (e.g. by Artist, Album, Composer, Genre, Playlist
  • Playback (relies on native Android codecs), with replay gain (volume leveling), bookmarks, Lock screen support (Android 4.1+)
  • UPnP/DLNA client with download manager
  • Contextual functions to manage single/multiple files (e.g. play, queue, playlist management, delete, use as ringtone, share, edit)

radio reddit (free)

Indie music and Internet counterculture den Reddit were made for each other, and this app was made for the both of them. Tune in to an impressive selection of live streams curated and maintained by redditors, all for free. The pro version will let you play Top Ten songs at any time, and replay the streams you've already listened to. And since it's a Reddit app, it's Holo. Naturally.

radioreddit.com is the source for quality new and popular independent music. Our live streams are not controlled by program directors and DJs in the pockets of large labels. Songs are chosen by an algorithm which only weighs users' votes when deciding what gets played and what gets excluded as junk. Songs with high voter approval eventually make it onto the radio reddit charts and get promoted by having a higher probability of being played.

Archos Video Player Free

We previously featured Archos' admittedly solid video player app, now available on the Google Play Store for a mere five bones. For those who can't shell out even that much, there's now a free ad-supported version.

ARCHOS makes Video Player app available for all Android tablets and phones (requires Android 4.0 or later). The critically acclaimed Archos video player app offers an uncompromised multimedia experience. Hardware accelerated video decoding support for most devices and video formats; Ability to play content from any computer/network storage in your local network (SMB and UPnP) or from an external USB storage device; Automatic online retrieval of Movie and TV show information with poster and backdrop for both local and network content; Integrated subtitle downloader.

Archos Video Player Free Developer: Archos S.A.
Price: Free
3.5
Download

flikdate - live video dating

Speed dating gets its natural digital evolution in Flikdate. Spend 90 seconds talking to a stranger on a "date," and see if you hit it off. A note to exhibitionists: there's a strict no-nude policy, and you'll get your bare butt kicked if you try anything R-rated. You'll also need to be 18 to legally use the service.

Flikdate is the world’s first real-time live video dating app. We’re fun, we’re cute and we are wherever and whenever you want to be dating.

• Instant signup - no profiles to fill out - immediate access to real dates.

• Enjoy 90 seconds of a real video date with a real person; see and hear what they’re really like.

• Be yourself: have fun and test your chemistry in minutes.

• The fastest date in the world

Martini - Meet New People

So you're looking to date, but you're not a basement-dwelling loner. You have friends. So take 'em along, in spontaneously organized mixers. You and your friends set up a group, then go out to a mutually beneficial social gathering. Groups are organized similar to Google+ circles, and a built-in chat function allows you to talk to individuals.

MARTINI sets you and your friends up on mixers in your city. Meeting new people should be fun & easy. Martini matches you and your friends with fun, outgoing people in your city.

HOW MARTINI WORKS:

• Create a group with your friends via Facebook

• Get daily matches with other groups in your city

• Decide who you want to meet and start chatting

Moment.me

Moment.Me is a personal photo aggregator. Log into all your disparate social networks and photo uploading sites, and let it download, organize and tag your photos automatically. You can add a new "moment" from within the app, and like every other photo app under the sun, you've got the option to add Instagram-like filters.

Moment.me is an app that collects all the pics, tweets and videos created at any given event and displays them in a panoramic, multi-POV (point of view) layout for you – and it works in real time. It’s never been easier to view shared experiences through the eyes of your family, friends and others in the crowd. Forget the hassle of trying to track down and organize all the social content you and your friends created at a shared event; Moment.me does all the hard work for you. Simply post pics, tweets and videos as you normally would on your favorite social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+), and Moment.me takes care of the rest.

Shuffle My Life

If you're so bored that you need an app to tell you what to do, you should probably put the phone down, go outside, and look for some pleasant company. If that option simply doesn't exist, you could try Shuffle My Life, which suggests dorky things you can do with a Chat Roulette-type random social element.

Shuffle My Life is a game played in real life which transforms your free time through fun and chance. It’s an obvious antidote to ruts, stress, boredom and even mid-life crises, but more importantly, it is designed from the ground up to get you in situations you’re not used to. It’s free to play and completely open to user contribution. To play, just press the logo and a new task will be generated from a huge and ever-growing list of possibilities.

NARR8

Android Police coverage: NARR8 Motion Comic Reader Comes To Android, Offers A Unique Take On Indie Art

Motion comics aren't exactly brand new on Android, but NARR8 has already made quite a mark on iOS, so those who were waiting for it can fire up the Play Store to get in on the action. Selection seems a bit limited at the moment (and fair warning, there's a disproportionate amount of "furry" comics on display).

NARR8 is the latest innovation in the world of mobile applications, erasing the boundary between a book and a TV series. NARR8 is more than just an e-book. Every series comes complete with animation, sounds, music, HD-effects, and multimedia elements, which allow you to interact with whatever appears on the screen. NARR8 is waiting to tell you about everything from superheroes to furry, spacecraft commanders to monsters, as well as romance, politics, and much more. The best scriptwriters, illustrators, designers, and programmers will help you to immerse in the world of NARR8: where stories come alive and never end.

Pokémon TV

Android Police coverage: Pokémon TV Arrives On Android, Streams A Rotating Selection Of Episodes For Free

There are approximately a billion people who would pay for a native Pokemon game on Android (and if you kept it to the Gold and Silver critters, I'd be one of them). This isn't that app. Instead, it's intended for the legions of fans of the Pokemon TV show, which has over 750 episodes, 15 movies, 8 TV specials, and entirely too many monsters. It presents a few of the latest episodes Hulu-style, with previews for upcoming episodes to boot.

Take Pokémon TV on the go with the Pokémon TV app. Watch amazing Pokémon animated adventures starring Ash, Pikachu, and all their friends. Plus, don't miss exciting special features and trailers for upcoming Pokémon movie events. It's the perfect app for Pokémon fans to keep up with Pokémon TV episodes. Even better—this Pokémon TV app is free.

iCookbook

Yup, yet another recipe app. But this one has achieved notable success on Windows, and even so, has managed to adhere to Holo standards on Android. All the standard feature are here, including the ability to browse a database of recipes or add your own.

More than 2,000 recipes and photographs, equivalent to 20 giant cookbooks. The iCookbook team of FOOD EXPERTS and ACCREDITED NUTRITIONISTS selected recipes that use readily accessible (and affordable) ingredients. The recipes will inspire you and help solve your everyday problem of meal selection. FREE recipes every month. Every month, the iCookbook team will carefully select a group of new recipes that you can add to your collection at NO ADDITIONAL COST so iCookbook™ will grow with you and become the only cooking app you will ever need.

Burpple - Food Photo Blog

Foodies have really blossomed in the digital age, and apps like the awkwardly-named Burpple (really?) are only encouraging them. Document and photograph your meal so that you can delight one or two of your peers and annoy the hell out of the rest. It connects with Instagram, naturally, and has listings for restaurants in your area.

Burpple is a new way to share, organize and discover trusted food experiences through photos and stories. It's a brand new way to food blog. We'll keep you forever hungry. We’re so excited to welcome Android users to what has become a thriving food and travel community. As Burpple is currently in beta, you might experience occasional hitches. We will continue to iterate and release updates with more features frequently.

tapestry

Android Police coverage: [New App] Tapestry Is A Collection Of Short Stories That You Read By Tapping, But You Can't Go Back

Here's an interesting idea: mobile-friendly short stories, formatted specifically for smartphones, and advanced by a tap. But they're only advanced: you can't ever go back. Most of the stories will take less time than this roundup to get through. The app is still in the early stages, and the Twitter integration seems to be having some issues.

Exclusive short stories presented in a beautiful and unique reading experience. Tapestry includes free stories from best selling author Robin Sloan and many others, with new stories released regularly. Take your time enjoying these interesting stories.

  • Beautiful, full screen reading environment
  • Tap to download new stories when they’re released
  • Offline reading – read on the go
  • Direct link to share your thoughts with the authors
  • Tweet and share notable pages with a single tap

The Little Mermaid

Pop-up books are a sadly ignored medium, especially since books are becoming an ignored medium. Developer StoryToys is taking the pop-up book idea to the digital age, with "books" that animate while telling a story. The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen, not Disney) is their latest offering, complete with minigames, narration, and "follow the bouncing ball" reading assistance.

StoryToys presents a magical new story from its award winning series of interactive fairy tales. Submerge yourself in the Little Mermaid’s underwater world and help her win the Prince’s heart. This beautifully rendered tale is adapted for younger readers from the original (there’s even a happy ending). Filled with wonderful illustrations, 3D pop-up scenes and a variety of fun and engaging activities, The Little Mermaid is sure to become a firm favourite. With potions to mix, music to play, puzzles to solve and dances to attend, there’s never a dull moment for readers sharing the Little Mermaid’s adventures.

StoryToys Little Mermaid Developer: StoryToys
Price: Free
4
Download

Vixes - book for kids

Another entry in the "digital book" genre, this may be the first original children's book I've seen in the format. Characters are fully voiced and there are interactive puzzles - so at what point does a digital book become a game with slightly less animation?

Vixes is an interactive book for children and their parents for Android smartphones and tablets. Our interactive book is suited for kids of age from 2 to 7 and packed with beautiful artistic backgrounds. It is fully voiced and features little Vixes - Valie and Alie, in a long and engaging story with logical and intuitive puzzles and games. Vixes are jolly and hard-working little people. When night falls on Earth, the Sun shines bright in their world - and they work tirelessly to bring us sweet and colorful dreams.

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew

Regular readers of these roundups know the drill by now: Dr. Seuss children's books, complete with narration, reading assistance, and slight animation.

King Derwin of Didd demands "hats off to the King" when he passes by his citizens. But poor young Bartholomew Cubbins has a problem. Every time he removes his hat, another hat appears atop his head. Come along for the ride, as Bartholomew is whisked off to the royal throne room, summoned to the wise men, brought before the King's magicians and even shot at by bow and arrow. As the number of hats reaches 200...300...400, what will happen to Bartholomew at hat number 500?

Hunches in Bunches - Dr. Seuss

...and another one.

A young boy with many wonderful ideas is led in many directions by dozens of Seussian hunches--a Sour Hunch, a Very Odd Hunch, the Homework Hunch, a Four-Way Hunch, the Nowhere Hunch, creatures with good, bad and silly advice, but mysterious creatures with large gloves on there heads reply with bad and crazy ideas, even with some contradicting their own ideas.

ZXPlectrum

Alright, 80s kids, go nuts. This app recreates the sounds of the ZX Spectrum 8-bit computer released in the UK. The only "software" it emulates" is the tape error screen, which you can play with to create different sounds. Preferably when you're not in company.

Play the ZX Specturm loading sounds as a musical instrument on your Android device. The critically acclaimed ZXPlectrum has finally come home to android. Relive the crisp sounds of your youth. Change the loading phase and pitch to make some weird but familiar sounds.

ZXPlectrum Developer: Dave Sapien
Price: 0.99
Download

♥ Heart Collage

Android Police coverage: App Roundup: Here Are Four New Valentine's Day Apps That Don't Suck [Update]

This app instructs you to take eight separate self-shots in various poses, then stitches them together into a heart shape. Stick your phone on a shelf, and the app helps you align your body to the necessary shape. Sharing to various social networks (including Google+) is included, and developer Square Island gets brownie points for a Holo interface.

This fun app shows you how to pose for each part, snaps the shots one by one, and stitch them all together into a heart mosaic. Just prop it on a shelf, start the timer, and keep on posing. It's your portable photo booth for fun collages. Get creative. Pose with your arms, hands, fingers, get the cat in it too. How about lying on grass for a nice green background?

Live Wallpapers

Love is in the air LWP (Free)

This one might work best if you can steal your intended's phone for a few seconds (or a few more, and change their ringtone to the Barry White song). It's a simple Valentine's theme with some animated background elements, plus customization with the names of your choice. The Pro version allows for a slightly busier wallpaper with more animated elements at once.

This Valentine Season Why Not Splash Your Device Screens With Your Love?? Thinking How?? This Live Wall Paper here is what we made just for you. Customize It To Show You & Your Valentine's Name, or leave cute notes for your partner on their homescreen. Customize the complete Scene to achieve your desired effect.

Love Letters Pro

Android Police coverage: App Roundup: Here Are Four New Valentine's Day Apps That Don't Suck [Update]

Joko Interactive makes some great live wallpapers, including the popular Light Grid and Paperland. Their Valentine's Day entry is a simple screensaver-style live wallpaper with scrolling shapes, text, squiggles and what have you. There are plenty of options for customization, as you'd expect from their other apps. The app is $1.

The perfect Valentine's Day live wallpaper. Romantic imagery and phrases hand-drawn across your screen. Choose how much is drawn at a time, how fast, and what colors to use. Choose from a variety of built in themes. Take screen shots of your creations and share them with your friends. Use the Randomize feature to create unlimited new themes.

Love Letters Pro Developer: Joko Interactive
Price: 0.99
4.9
Download

WTF App(s) Of The Week

Shatoetry

Oh Captain, my Captain, how the mighty have fallen. William Shatner was never particularly serious, but this app is definitely a new low. Rearrange words and hear them in The Shat's dulcet, halting tones, in a process called "Shatisms". Good grief, I can hear every one of our UK readers laughing from here. Additional wordpacks are available for purchase, if you really feel the need to pay to hear Captain Kirk speaking random sentences.

I am pleased to present to you my official app. I created it to invite you to collaborate with me – through Shatoetry. Shatoetry lets you arrange words to compose sentences, statements, phrases, messages and hear me perform them for you. That’s right: You author it, and I’ll recite it. And what do we call that? A Shatism, of course. You can save the Shatisms you create, and send them to your friends by email.

The Predicktor

Android Police coverage: 'The Predicktor' Will Allegedly Predict Penis Size Based On Your Butt Size (And Other Very Personal Info)

This is an app that will predict your penis size. Put in some less specific information about other dimensions, and it'll tell you your size when you're (ahem) standing at attention. There's also some genuinely interesting facts, mostly to mollify those gentlemen who feel that they're somewhat lacking in the trouser department.

Forget measuring your own penis - old news - no perspective. Our app takes it to the next level and tells you every other guy's size - from across the room. No need to ask him or measure any of his parts. We pulled together trends from medical studies to give you the best predicktion. Ours doesn't rely on one measurement to find his length - but uses what matters - including butt size, height, ring finger length and even sexual orientation. Why? Because scientific studies show that's what matters - not his nose size or sadly relying on one thing to predict.

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: oh.no.its.the@androidpolice.com.

1 sponsored placement per week is available (your app would be featured at the top and marked as sponsored) - please contact us for details.