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 two weeks or so. Today's roundup is sponsored by Meme Maker, a one-stop-shop for all of your meming needs. We also have a new minimal launcher that's easily worth a look, and OnePlus has released a notes app, in case Keep doesn't float your boat. I've also moved the COVID apps into their own section for easier discovery. So without further ado, here are all of the new and notable Android apps released on the Play Store in the last two weeks.

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.

Meme Maker

The internet runs on memes, but unless you have a stash saved and ready to share at a moment’s notice, you could be missing out on unleashing your full meme potential. Meme Maker lets you easily create fresh memes using nothing but your Android device. To get started, simply download the app, choose from any of the optional templates, pick from a variety of fonts, and build your custom meme for virtually any situation. Even better, Meme Maker is free to download, and it works offline.


Apps

AnonAddy for Android

AnonAddy for Android is an email app. To be more specific, it's an anonymous email forwarding app that allows the use of multiple profiles. Not only that, but you can also manage your aliases, recipients, domains, and usernames. Essentially you can create unlimited email aliases through this paid app, though it's worth considering that this does not come from the AnonAddy project, but an independent dev, so is not officially associated with the AnonAddy service.

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

addy.io (formerly AnonAddy) Developer: Stjin
Price: 3.49
5
Download

Olauncher - Minimalist and Open Source

Olauncher is the latest launcher for Android that offers a minimal design, and since it's open-source, anyone can leave feedback on Github to help with development. Ideally, this is a launcher designed to be lightweight and fast, and while it definitely delivers these things, a bit more polish and a few more features could really set this up as one of the better minimal launchers on the Play Store. So it will definitely be interesting to see where development goes from here because what we have now is a solid starting point.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Sounders Music

Sounders Music is an early access release that offers music discovery. Any artist can upload their music so that users of this app can rate the tracks. Ideally, the well-rated tracks will allow for easy discovery for both the artist and listeners, though this all hinges on whether or not this service can find enough artists and users to make any of this worthwhile. Seeing that this is a new release that's still in testing, options for discovery are still somewhat limited.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Sounders Music Developer: NoticeSound B.V.
Price: Free
Download

TaoZen - Relax & Sleep Sounds

There are already many apps on the Play Store that offer relaxing sounds to fall asleep, but TaoZen is one of the more polished releases, and it's totally free to use. So if you're looking for an app that can lull you to sleep like a baby in its mother's arms, then TaoZen is a solid choice, not to mention one of the newer options currently available, and it's free.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

TaoZen - Relax & Sleep Sounds Developer: MWM - Music and creative apps for Android
Price: Free
4.2
Download

Disney+ Hotstar

Disney+ Hotstar is the official Disney+ streaming app for Indonesia, and it, of course, offers a plethora of Disney flicks as well as 300+ Indonesian films. While it looks like this release is for smartphones, there is a separate app available that should work on Android TV. So whether you want to stream Disney movies on your phone or a TV at home, it looks like Disney has everyone in Indonesia covered.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Samsung Academy

Samsung Academy is a release for the UK, and it's basically a knowledge base to learn about and promote Samsung TV, AV, and Digital Appliance products. So if you'd like to learn about these products for your personal edification, or have a gained a sales job where this knowledge would be helpful, then Samsung has you back with the release of Samsung Academy.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

LG Virtual Studio H&A

I don't know who gets to come up with ideas like this, but LG has literally created a 3D experience where you can explore the showroom floor of a digital trade show to explore LG's heating and air solutions. So if you thought trade shows were a snooze, wait until you have to slowly navigate your way through simplistic 3D environments in order to look at LG's new products. A video would have been much more informative, or even a press release, but for some reason, LG seems to think interactivity in large apps that do very little is the way to go.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

LG Virtual Studio TV&AV

Why create one useless app when you can create two? LG is at it again with another virtual tour of its products, and unlike the heating and air app above, this release is for LG's TV and video products. Oh boy. This is a fairly large app that downloads slowly, and it simply offers a cut and paste experience of the last, just with different products on the shelves.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

SpeechLab - Simple Text to Speech, Speech to Text

SpeechLab bills itself as a simple text to speech app, but it also offers speech to text functionality. This means you can dictate your notes with ease as well as type things for the app to voice for you. It is recommended that users install Google's Text-to-Speech engine, which is most likely the app's backbone. Still, once you're set up, SpeechLab works as promised.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $0.99 apiece

Kippo - The Dating App for Gamers

I had considered placing Kippo under our WTF section as it gets old watching companies as they try to latch onto nerd culture in order to make a quick buck, but it would seem this app is more than a dating app since it can also be used to find similar-minded individuals for gaming sessions. This means Kippo is more a social media app than anything, though there is a focus on dating too. Sadly it would appear dating apps have little room to grow, and so I would imagine more dating apps that drill down to unique interests will be the norm. After all, there are already apps out there for pet owners to meet, and now we have an app for gamers.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $9.99 - $54.99

Kippo - Come Hang Out Developer: Covalent Inc.
Price: Free
1.8
Download

Manufacturer And Tie-In Apps

OnePlus Notes

Android Police coverage: The OnePlus Notes app comes to the Play Store with Oxygen OS 11 design (APK download)

OnePlus has been on a tear lately, publishing its phone apps on the Play Store, and OnePlus Notes is the company's latest release. Like all phone apps, OnePlus is listing them on the store so that it won't have to worry about carrier updates just to fix a bug or push a new feature. It would also seem OnePlus is in the middle of reworking its UI for Oxygen OS 11, and so this is one of the first apps to include that new design language.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

OnePlus Notes Developer: OnePlus Ltd.
Price: Free
4
Download

Red Cable Club

Red Cable Club is a new app that comes from OnePlus, a club specifically for India's residents that's designed to provide exclusive benefits to its members. This means those that live outside of India can ignore this release, but if you happen to live in India, it's more than likely that this app is already installed on your OP device. Like all apps of this nature, it was recently listed on the Play Store so that OP doesn't have to worry about carrier updates in order to push out a few changes or bug fixes.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Red Cable Club Developer: OnePlus Ltd.
Price: Free
1.6
Download

Amazon Halo

Amazon Halo is a tie-in app from Amazon for its new Halo Band, a smartwatch without that pesky watch bit. That's right. Amazon created a smart band that can track your movement, sleep quality, body composition, and the tone of your voice (okay, that's a little creepy), all to inform users about their health. Essentially this is yet another tool from a big conglomerate that's trying to teach people how to live their lives correctly through overpriced tech.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Live Wallpapers

Elements Live Wallpaper

While live wallpapers are rare at this point, a few trickle out every now and then, and Elements Live Wallpaper was simply too good to pass up. This is a premium release, so once you pay, the app is yours, and it offers more than a few settings to customize your designs. Not only can you adjust the background color as well as the shapes above it, but you can also choose your animation speed, block count, as well as the style of interaction for the moving blocks. This is a full-feature live wallpaper, and best of all, it looks great in action, so don't miss out.

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Elements Live Wallpaper Developer: DotCode Apps
Price: 4.99
4.7
Download

COVID-19 Apps

Protect Scotland

Protect Scotland is a COVID tracing app for Scotland, and it utilizes the ENS API from Google/Apple, and so far, it is well-reviewed. At this point in time, the app only works for residents of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar, though Wales could be added soon. So if you're worried about this app working while you're away from home, it would seem if you don't venture too far, you'll be covered soon enough.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Covid Alert DE

Covid Alert DE is the official ENS tracing app for Delaware residents, and so it comes from the Division of Public Health for the state. Like all ENS apps that use Google's API, this release works through bluetooth, and should you come in contact with anyone that has been traced and has the virus, you'll receive a notification.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Ma3an - Together Against Corona

Ma3an - Together Against Corona is the official Lebanese COVID tracing app, though it is unclear what tech this app is using. Clearly, it works through bluetooth, though there is no word what API is in use, something more than a few reviewers have pointed out. Worse yet, data is stored on servers and managed by the Ministry of Public Health, and this organization only offers the promise of deleting this data after COVID is over. That does not sound very reassuring to me.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

COVID Alert Malta

As you can guess, COVID Alert Malta is an exposure notification app for those that live in Malta. It comes from the Superintendence of Public Health of the Ministry for Health, Malta IT Agency (MITA), and the Malta Digital Innovation Authority. The app already contains the official ENS tag on the Play Store, so indeed uses Google's API, which means COVID Alert Malta works through bluetooth, just as you would expect.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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.