Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.
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Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Apps
Squirrel – Group chat. Organized.
Android Police coverage: Yahoo just released a group chat app called Squirrel
One thing Android has plenty of is chat applications, so of course Yahoo (in its infinite wisdom) has decided to release yet another group chat app on the Play Store, and it's called Squirrel. Despite the poor name choice, the app takes its cues directly from Discord and Slack, which is unsurprising. But that's not even the punchline. This unnecessary release is invite only, so the majority of potential users who may actually be interested can't even log in unless they know someone who already has access. Of course, the app doesn't tell you this until after you've created a Yahoo account and given them access to your phone number, which is pretty shady, especially when you consider the company's history and how reckless they are with their user data.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Organize groups and chats the way you want, so you can keep up without getting lost in the noise. Squirrel is invite only for now. Ask a friend with the app to invite you to a group.
- Rooms: Create separate rooms for specific people or topics. Chat in the main room for group-wide announcements and banter.
- Mute: Turn off notifications in rooms that are a snore.
- Secret rooms: Use secret rooms for private chats with those in the know.
- Reactions: Make inside jokes official. Create your own one-tap reactions for the group.
- Blasts: Make sure everyone in your group sees important messages.
- Attachments: Share photos, documents, or links. Find them later easily all in one place.
- Activity view: Never miss an important message. Know when you are mentioned, all in one view.
Material Gallery
Android Police coverage: Google launches Material Gallery tool for design collaboration [APK Download]
Google's new Material Gallery app offers a place to store design projects so that your team can work on them together. You can invite any number of people to review or collaborate on your designs, such as screenshots, sketches, or whiteboarding sessions. It's also a great way to receive quick feedback on your projects from the people whose opinions matter the most.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Material Gallery is a collaborative tool for uploading design work, getting feedback, and tracking revisions – quickly and efficiently. This companion app lets you review, share, and leave feedback on design work right from your phone.
Briar
Android Police coverage: Tor-based private messaging app Briar is out of beta
Briar is a new messaging app that is designed for safe peer-to-peer communication by syncing via the Tor network. Heck, even if you are unable to gain access to the internet, you can still use the app to talk to your friends over a local Bluetooth or WiFi signal. So while there are plenty of safe communication solutions already listed on the Play Store, having another option to choose from surely is welcome in this day and age.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate. Unlike traditional messaging apps, Briar doesn't rely on a central server - messages are synchronized directly between the users' devices.
Neighbors by Ring
Android Police coverage: Neighbors by Ring is a neighborhood watch app that provides real-time alerts, crime reports, and safety information
Neighbors by Ring first started out a service built into the Ring app, but it has now morphed into its own title that anyone can use to help keep their neighborhood safe. So not only will you have some of your neighbor's Ring data at your disposal, everyone else who lives in the area can also report sketchy behavior or stolen goods within the freely accessible app. This way you can track any questionable happenings around your house in real time.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Neighbors is the new neighborhood watch. Get real-time crime and safety alerts from your neighbors and local law enforcement. Millions of Americans are already using Neighbors, so download the app and see what’s really happening in your Neighborhood.
Neverthink: The TV of the Internet
Neverthink is a new internet TV application that aims to make discovering new content to watch a breeze. The way it works is the videos are all hand-picked and placed into particular categories that work a lot like channels on your traditional cable TV subscription. Simply choose a theme you enjoy and sit back and watch the best videos the web has to offer on the subject.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
We’ve all been there. You sit down for a meal and you just want something new to watch for a bit while you eat, but end up doing more browsing and searching than actually watching and eating. The struggle is real and Neverthink is the answer.
Dank
Saket Narayan's Dank is a new Reddit app that recently went live on the Play Store. It aims to be the best looking Reddit app out there while also offering some unique features such as gesture controls. It's still a work in progress, so there may be a few bugs or missing features, but what it has to offer so far shows that it's shaping up to be one of the better Reddit browsing experiences on Android.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Here lies the description of the greatest Reddit app ever built.
Nate - Track your Subscriptions
There are already quite a few options available for those of you interested in tracking your expenses, but very few if any concentrate solely on subscription services. Darn Good's Nate - Track your Subscriptions offers just that, an app for tracking all of your subs in one place. This way you can get a better idea how much money you have going out to all of the services you subscribe to.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $0.99 a piece
We built Nate to help you manage and track your subscriptions, to save you some of your hard-earned money Add popular services you're using like Netflix and Spotify to track your monthly and yearly spending You can also create custom subscriptions to track WiFi, rent or other forms of utility expenses.
Manufacturer And Tie-In Apps
AWS IoT 1-Click
Amazon's AWS IoT 1-Click app may not come in handy for many of you, but for those that require a way to build access to Lambda functions from one of their supported ready-to-use IoT devices, this app is essential. Now you will be able to easily add the devices you purchase into your account and configure them to your needs.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
With AWS IoT 1-Click, it is easy to trigger a Lambda function from one of our supported ready-to-use IoT devices. This app allows you to claim devices you purchased into your account and configure them. Learn more at https://aws.amazon.com/iot-1-click/.
Tasker Settings
Tasker Settings will not work unless you already have Tasker installed. This is a helper app for the core Tasker listing that is used for changing a few system settings that aren't ordinarily available. These include the notification pulse as well as system settings in the custom setting action.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Please download Tasker to use this app. This is just a helper app for Tasker. It allows you to change some settings that Tasker can't change by itself. This app won't do anything by itself. By having this app installed, Tasker is able to change some System Settings that isn't able to change normally.
ForzaTune 7
FlameFront Studios' ForzaTune 7 offers an easy way to tune your Forza 7 vehicles. Essentially this app is a tuning calculator that cuts down the amount of time you would need to spend manually tuning your cars in the game. You can tweak each setting so that your specific driving needs are taken into account when it outputs the necessary info. Of course, you will need to own Forza 7 for any of this to make sense, so if you don't plan on playing the game, you can skip this app.
Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs
You want to drive faster in Forza Motorsport 7. And you want a tuning process that is fast too. But who wants to download someone else's tunes? Your tunes should fit your car and your driving style. ForzaTune 7 is the tuning calculator that can make better tunes faster.
Live Wallpapers
Mosayq for Muzei
As the name implies, Mosayq for Muzei isn't quite a standalone live wallpaper app as you will need Muzei Live Wallpaper installed to get this extension working. Once you have it up and running, there are 17 algorithmic patterns to choose from that generate beautiful wallpapers based on your personal choice of color.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
An open-source product, created at ODD Bureau as an artsy side-project, available for customization in Github on https://github.com/ODDBureau/mosayq.
- 17 patterns
- Color palettes customization
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.