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.
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Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Featured App
Expense IQ - Expense Manager
This week's roundup is brought to you by Expense IQ - Expense Manager from Handy Apps. This amazingly complete expense tracking system has a solid and colorful UI, and just about every possible checkbook, alert, and tracking feature you could want. Everything you input can be saved and exported for personal backup and expense reports, and all your data is synced via Dropbox, making Expense IQ a snap to use across multiple phones or tablets. Bill alerts, a PIN lock, and even a homescreen widget are all included in this app's bag of additional goodies. The basic version is free, but to get access to advanced functions you'll need to pay for the full $9.95 version via in-app purchase.
Expense IQ is the long awaited successor to EasyMoney - the number one money manager app that combines an expense manager, a bill reminder, a checkbook register and a budget planner. Expense IQ – Expense Manager provides a rich, detailed window into your personal finances and daily money management needs. Track and manage daily expenses quickly & easily. Business expenses, personal expenses, travel expenses etc can all be managed rapidly using Expense IQ’s simple and intuitive user interface. Interactive reports & graphs let you analyze income, expenses, cash flow and balance over various date ranges and accounts.
Apps
Notifidgets
Android Police coverage: Notifidgets Brings Widgets Back To The Lollipop Lockscreen By Hiding Them In The Notification Bar
Are you a Lollipop user who laments the lack of lockscreen widgets in your lickable Android release? Then Notifidgets is for you. It embeds any widget into a notification that can be accessed from the tray, and therefore the lockscreen. It's not without limits: most of the widgets are static, and navigating through several ones is a bit clunky. If you like the functionality, the app is $1 via in-app purchase after a seven-day trial.
Put your favorite widgets in a notification, for easy access from anywhere on your phone or tablet. Handy. Did you lament the loss of lock screen widgets in Lollipop (Android 5)? Now you can get them back. Lollipop’s lock screen notifications are great, but there hasn't always been a notification to replace every widget - until now.
- This free download is a 7-day trial. After your trial period expires, there’s a one-time US$0.99 in-app purchase to continue using the app.
- Some widget features, such as scrolling, are not available in the notification.
- And a very few widgets simply don’t work at all. Please email us if you find one of these, and we’ll see what we can do.
- Bottom line: try the widgets you want to use before paying to end your trial period.
VoxelMaker
Android Police coverage: VoxelMaker Lets You Build 3D Pixel Art Worlds With Simple Touch Controls And Dynamic Lighting
"Voxel" is the fancy term for the graphic style adopted by games like Minecraft. This tool lets you build your own little 3D voxel scenes, complete with a few modeling tools, advanced lighting settings, and export options that let you open your creations in more conventional 3D modeling programs. The interface is surprisingly intuitive for a touch-based editor, though the $5 price tag might scare away casual voxel enthusiasts.
With VoxelMaker you can create 3D models of your own design and then render them with realistic lighting and shadows. Voxel models are made from 3D cubes and create a stylized, "blocky" look - much like a 3D version of pixel art. Models can be exported for use in other programs or you can use the built-in ray tracer to render high-quality images of your scenes. With VoxelMaker you have both 3D canvas and camera in your hands: be inspired and create.
Feed Me - Restaurant Coupons
Restaurants still offer coupons? Apparently so, and the appropriately-titled Feed Me app would like to help you collect and redeem them. Using a Reddit-style collection of tools for upvoting and downvoting deals at local eateries, you can see what offers are active at the restaurants closest to your specific location. It will even navigate straight to a selected restaurant from the voucher page.
Feed Me provides a brand new, community driven database of nearby restaurant coupons, specifically targeted to your area. Coupons show up on your deals stream as other nearby users add them. If you think it's a good voucher, upvote it, and it'll appear higher in others streams. Dislike a coupon? Downvote it and it'll get pushed lower. This allows the best coupons in your local area to get pushed to the top, and the worst deals to fade out to nothing.
Dragon+
Dragon magazine was the official mag for the tabletop RPG Dungeons and Dragons, at least until it folded back in 2007. This digital re-launch includes information on the latest changes to the complex system of rules, new official campaigns and stories, and... other things that D&D players care about, I suppose. The first bi-monthly digital issue is free, so presumably others may be free as well.
Dragon+ is your official mobile source for all-things Dungeons & Dragons. This free app for has everything you want to know about D&D in one easy place.
• Game strategies and insights
• In-depth look at the current D&D storyline
• Informative interviews
• Ongoing comic series
• Great bits of lore
• Forgotten Realms world information
• Community updates and fan submissions
• Entertaining videos
Fabric
Fabric is kind of like Pinterest, but without the implicit focus on food and animals. Nope, this one's all about pop culture: movies, music, and television seem to be the order of the day. The app ties into Google Play, Netflix, Amazon, Fandango, and Spotify so that you can share what you've been watching or listening to lately, and of course it has all of the social tools that you'd expect. The interface is a little odd for Android, but it seems to be effective enough.
Fabric connects you with like-minded people to help you discover more of what you love. Explore hundreds of lists of movies, TV shows, music and travel destinations, then start a conversation with people who share your interests. We are made up of a Fabric of our interests, past, present and future - all the movies we’ve watched and love, all the places we want to visit, all the music we grew up listening to, all the TV shows that have made a lasting impression on us.
Randomly RemindMe
This is a reminder app that's specifically designed to remind you of something multiple times every day. The given example is drinking water, but it could be applied to just about anything. A robust selection of text, icon, and audio alerts helps remind you of what you're supposed to be doing, and the interface is admirably Material. In addition to specific times, the app can remind you at random points during a specified range.
Do you have trouble drinking enough water during the day? Maybe you want a reminder to step away from the computer for a bit. How about a reminder to stop and do push-ups? This app will let you set any number of custom reminders that will remind you throughout the day for that and a whole lot more.
• Notification title
• Notification text
• Notification tone
• Notification LED enable and color
• High priority
• Start and end times in the day
• How many notifications during the day
• Optional instead of a range pick a specific notification time for more conventional reminders
• What days of the week to run
• If the notification times should be randomized
FileChat
FileChat is a system that overlays group comments onto documents on cloud storage systems that don't support them. Well, at least one system: Dropbox. FileChat also supports Google Drive, but since Drive already includes a collaboration and commenting system, I don't really see the point. Anyway, this is probably most useful for remote offices that already rely on Dropbox. At the moment it's in private beta.
FileChat allows you to collaborate on documents, pictures and videos within your favorite cloud storage.
• Works with Dropbox and Google Drive
• Easily invite people to chat about and share files in your cloud storage.
• No need to move or duplicate your files again. No more comments on a working file over email.
• Delivers a seamless collaborative experience on computers, smartphones and tablets. Available on Android and over the web.
• Harness the power of cloud like never before to improve speed, productivity and efficiency.
VuHaus
VuHaus (pronounced "view house," I assume) is a curated collection of songs and artists promoted by a handful of urban terrestrial stations. Exactly what makes it better than cruising around various Spotify playlists, I couldn't say, but it does include free access to music videos and highlights for local artists across six US cities. The odd livestream is thrown in for good measure.
VuHaus is curated by leading “Music Discovery” public radio stations across the U.S., including KCRW/Los Angeles, WFUV/New York, KEXP/Seattle, WXPN/Philadelphia, KUTX/Austin, The Bridge/Kansas City and more. Explore curated video playlists, including local video channels, channels featuring touring and festival artists, and hand-picked playlists from the local tastemakers, musicians and artists.
CurbStand
If you're the kind of person who habitually pays for valet parking, you probably keep at least some cash handy for exactly that purpose. If you don't, this app might be for you - it's essentially an Uber-style payment interface for valet parking at participating restaurants. It even lets you call for your car right from your table, for those times that you simply can't wait three whole minutes. Naturally CurbStand is only available in a few cities at the moment: LA, Miami, Dallas, and San Francisco, Texas Austin.
No cash for valet? No worries. Conveniently pay and tip for valet parking with CurbStand at nearly 400 restaurants and venues in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Austin. Just look for our bright yellow umbrellas and the CurbStand logo as you pull up. More cities coming soon.
- Open the app to find nearly 400 CurbStand locations.
- Simply drop off your keys with the valet attendant, and check-in on the CurbStand app with your ticket.
- When you're ready to leave just open the app, tap “Request Car” when you’re ready to leave and we’ll tell you what time to come outside and pick up your car. No more waiting. (not yet available at all locations)
- Pay and tip in the app after you get your car.
Stre.am - Stream Live Video
Hey look, another live streaming service. This one doesn't have any particular advantages over existing alternatives, but it does let you sign up with Facebook, Google, or Twitter. Other than that and the typical social back end, there's nothing you can do with Stre.am that can't already be done on other platforms.
Stre.am is the fastest, easiest way to watch and share live video from your Android device.
- Stream live video from your phone to the world
- Browse live streams created by users worldwide
- Find your friends, subscribe, and get notified when they're live
- Share live video with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter
- Signup through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or email
- Save to your device while stre.aming*
Live in Five
It's official: live streaming apps are the new Instagram clones.
What if you can broadcast your life at any time to share special moments in real-time? Live streaming is a new way to instantly share and preserve those significant moments. Download the free app "Live In Five" for Android, and turn your smart phone camera into a live broadcaster. Simply click the "Live Stream" button to start broadcasting via YouTube.
DeeMe
Photos. Text. Sticker-type icon thingies. All in the same image. Revolution(wait for it)ary. At least this latest take on an almost entirely useless idea lets you hide all of the extra junk on top if you just want to look at the photo.
DeeMe is a new way to instant message. It lets you combine your photos with amazing typography, so you can chat using more personalized, beautiful messages. Choose between fonts, add icons, write a few words, or write lots of words. DeeMe will always have your messages looking their best. To respond in a hurry, just type your reply on top of each message. All your friends are available from the inbox and you can see all your chats anytime in grid view or in fullscreen.
Manufacturer And Tie-In Apps
HTC Car
Android Police coverage: HTC Uploads Its 'Car' Driving Homescreen App To The Play Store
This is HTC's official heads-up app for use when driving. It's got the usual stuff covered: big, finger-friendly icons and a couple of relevant widgets. A few voice commands and speech-to-text for incoming phone calls and texts round things out. The Play Store screenshots are in Chinese, but don't worry, it should support local languages everywhere. You can even install the APK on non-HTC devices - grab it from APKMirror if you want to try it out.
HTC Car gives you a smooth experience with clear controls, so you can stay connected without looking away from the road. In car mode, you’ll find options for navigation, phone calls, music and more. To use your voice to control your phone, just tap the screen with three fingers or select “Speak.”
In the Navigation menu, you can search for a destination or nearby point of interest, look up previous searches and get directions to upcoming events in your Calendar.
HTC Service － DLNA
Android Police coverage: HTC Releases DLNA App Into The Play Store Complete With A Few Minor Updates
And here's an app that lets some of HTC's built-in media apps stream stuff over the DLNA protocol. That's all it does. If you've got an HTC phone, you probably already have it installed.
HTC’s DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance Server) Service gives you the best performance in the HTC Gallery, Music and Video Player apps. This service lets you connect via DMR (Digital Media Renderer) and play multimedia files in DMS (Digital Media Server).
adidas Smart Ball
Android Police coverage: Adidas Releases An Android Companion App For Its $200 'Smart' Soccer Ball
"Smart Ball" sounds like some kind of bawdy euphemism, but in fact it's a soccer ball loaded up with all kinds of sensors and a Bluetooth connection. After almost a year on the market Adidas finally remembered that Android is a thing, and has released the companion app for the other 80% of the mobile market. The app is free, but in order to use it you'll need to lay down a whopping $200 on the ball itself.
Being able to control, strike and manipulate the ball is the key to mastering the precision of Xavi, bending it like Beckham or striking it like van Persie. With the miCoach SMART BALL you'll fine tune your technique and kick like a pro with instant feedback on power, spin, strike and trajectory, along with exclusive tips and guidance.
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.