Google has prioritized tablets again, which means there's a new push for tablet-specific apps. But since it's difficult to find these apps in the Play Store, we did the hard work for you and created a hand-picked roundup of the best Android apps that look great on bigger screens. So strap in, grab your favorite Android tablet, and install some of these wonderful apps.

1 Google News

If you're searching for a tablet-oriented news feed, Google News is one of the top choices (along with Feedly, also on this list). It has a two-column layout in a portrait orientation that suits the large screens of tablets quite well. Even in landscape, things look great, which means Google News is also great on Chromebooks. The app works as you would expect. Pick your interests to receive daily news that revolves around those topics. Google News also supports subscriptions to outlets like Washington Post or Wall Street Journal, so you can read your favorite newspapers in a single app.

2 Microsoft Office

Microsoft's Office applications are some of the best examples of tablet-optimized Android apps. You might not need to edit an Excel spreadsheet on the go very often, but the apps have the same Ribbon interface as the desktop equivalents. There is also extensive support for keyboard shortcuts if you use a keyboard with your tablet.

In 2020, Microsoft released a new combined Office app that includes PowerPoint, Word, and Excel in a single package. The app initially didn't properly support tablets, but that has since been fixed. Microsoft has also integrated the Office Lens scanner and notes that sync with Windows 10.

The only downside is that creating and editing documents requires a paid subscription to Microsoft 365, formerly Office 365. The cheapest plan is $70 a year (or $7 a month) and includes the web, mobile, and native desktop versions of the most popular Office applications, plus 1TB of OneDrive storage.

3 Google Maps

Uber drivers use large tablets for navigation. That's thanks to Google Maps offering a UI that's suitable for tablets in portrait and landscape modes. Navigation is a breeze, and so is hunting down info on your favorite establishments and eateries. It's all laid out intuitively, with the primary information on the left and the map taking up most of the screen. This way, you can get your info without losing sight of the map, which is key if you use the map for navigation on a tablet often. You could use your phone, but when the situation calls for it, it's nice to navigate with a larger screen.

4 Pocket

Pocket is a simple app for saving text content you find on the web. Pocket displays these stories in a readable form, distraction-free. Best of all, the app offers a tablet interface that's great in portrait and landscape, with multiple rows of content. Even the stories display well for large screens, though it would be nice if images weren't always centered.

What's great is that you can use the app for free (and it even ties into Firefox, making things much simpler to save content to the platform). However, if you'd like a better search and a permanent library of content, a subscription is necessary at a price of $4.99 a month.

5 Gmail

Gmail is one of the few remaining Google apps with a dedicated tablet interface. Gmail has a two-column design on large screens, with your inbox on the left and the current message on the right. There are also a few keyboard shortcuts available for quickly managing messages.

6 Microsoft Outlook

If you're not a fan of Gmail or want to try something new, Microsoft Outlook is another great email application for Android tablets. It works with third-party email services in addition to Microsoft Outlook.com, so you can use it without switching email addresses.

Outlook has a similar layout to Gmail on tablets, with columns for your inbox and the selected message, but there are a few differences. The list of accounts is always pinned to the left side, and a third column for inboxes and folders can be toggled by tapping the menu in the upper-left corner.

7 MyScript Nebo

MyScript Nebo is one of the best note-taking applications for Android. It can convert your handwritten sentences into text, and just like Evernote and OneNote, you can embed images, drawings, and other resources into your notes. The full list of features is staggering.

There's one catch to Nebo. You need an Android device with an active stylus pen, like a Galaxy Tab S6 or S6 Lite, to use all the features. Nebo has a list of compatible models on its support website.

8 Feedly

If Google News and its heavy-handed content moderation isn't your thing, Feedly may be more your speed. Similar to Google News, Feedly aggregates content according to your interests, offering a familiar magazine-like layout that suits tablets. You can use the app to replace your physical newspaper or dip in to catch up on what's happening in your favorite hobbies. It's up to you to choose your interests. While the system isn't infallible, Feedly is one of the top new aggregating apps on the Play Store for a reason. It looks good and works well.

9 Solid Explorer File Manager

Solid Explorer is an excellent file manager application, and it's one of the few options with a clean tablet interface. It has a dual-panel mode for viewing (and moving files between) two directories at once, support for network drives, batch operations, integration with various cloud storage services, and more.

If moving files around on your Android devices is something you do regularly, give Solid Explorer a try. You can use it for 14 days before paying the $1.99 in-app purchase for full access.

10 Gboard Keyboard

Gboard is the default keyboard application on many Android devices, and it has one feature that is especially nice on tablets: one-handed mode. With Gboard open, tap the detached keyboard icon in the toolbar to move the keyboard to a floating window. It's easier to type while holding a tablet in one-handed mode, especially when swiping between letters instead of tapping keys individually.

11 Vivaldi Browser

Vivaldi is another web browser that works slightly better on Android tablets than Chrome. It shares the same core engine as Chrome but offers a tracker blocker, an option to always view desktop sites (super helpful for sites that load mobile layouts on tablets), a speed dial, and a built-in screenshot utility.

12 SketchBook

SketchBook is one of the most feature-packed drawing applications on Android. It's designed for everything from industrial design sketches to digital art, and it works best with tablets and active stylus pens.

13 Amazon Kindle

You can read comics with the Amazon Kindle app and access Amazon's entire e-book store, which ranges from books to magazines to newspapers. The app is optimized for tablets, making use of the entire screen, and you can dial in your reading settings to ensure text fills as much of the screen as possible. There's a warm lighting option, and you can dim your screen independently of the device's global settings, which is super convenient. The Kindle app is one of the best e-reader apps on the platform, and since it offers tablet support, it's definitely a go-to for power readers who enjoy reading on large screens.

14 Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom is a fantastic image editor, and because Android can connect to a camera over USB to transfer files, you can do your entire image editing workflow from a tablet. Best of all, Lightroom for Android supports image watermarks, making for a professional-level image editor that should suit just about anyone's workflow.

15 Google Keep

Google Keep is another application in the elite "Google app that looks okay on tablets" club. It's a cross-platform note and list application with support for attaching files and creating reminders. There are more capable note applications, but Keep balances features and simplicity.

16 Krita

Krita is a popular and open source raster graphics editor with an advanced brush engine, non-destructive layers and masks, vector artwork support, and tools for creating animations. It has been available on desktop platforms since 2005, but a beta version for Android was released in 2020.

Krita is one of the few examples of a professional desktop application being ported to Android with almost no compromises. The interface is mostly unchanged compared to the desktop version. While it might have a steeper learning curve than apps like Adobe Sketch or SketchBook, it's a great tool to have.

17 Google Photos

Google has created some great apps for Android but is slow to catch up to its own policies. Now that there is a concerted effort in tablet features to the OS through Android 12L (and now Android 13), it makes sense that many of the core apps have seen recent updates that bring tablet UIs to the apps. Google Photos is one such app. The app makes great use of the extra space on a tablet or Chromebook, and when viewing collections of photos, the extra use of space is appreciated. You can fit a plethora of galleries on the screen. So it's easy to view your photos on a tablet, and you can categorize your content since you have so much room.

18 Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a popular notebook application from Microsoft. Like most of the company's apps, it looks and works great on Android tablets. You can organize your notes into sections and pages, sync data across different platforms, and integrate files from your Microsoft account. Notes can be combinations of typed text, images, files, and drawings.

The main catch is that the Android version of OneNote doesn't fully support everything in the native desktop app. If you use complex formatting on your PC, some of those changes may not carry over to mobile.

Live life up on the big screen

Bouncing between devices can be challenging when your favorite Android apps don't support the extra space. After all, managing life and work should be as simple as possible, so the less you have to change apps, the better. Hopefully, everyone was able to find something that looks great on phones as well as larger screens. And if you're looking for games to pair with your new apps, don't forget to check out AP's best Android games roundup.