Top Android Apps - March 2017
Video transcript provided below...
This video was sponsored by Candid. All views and opinions about Candid are my own. Join the Candid group Top Android Apps to share your favorite new apps!
Candid - http://bit.ly/2nVfRRN
Peppy Wallpapers - http://bit.ly/2o8FjCq
Google Trips - http://bit.ly/2nrxOtk
Texpand - http://bit.ly/2nH4dfQ
Memorigi - http://bit.ly/2nb0iFn
Notiflyer - http://bit.ly/2mwaLyk
Recent Notification - http://bit.ly/2nH1l2x
Night Screen - http://bit.ly/2nrnbXg
Screenshot Crop & Share - http://bit.ly/2mYfpkQ
ASAP Launcher - http://bit.ly/2nrwC97
CAMERA GEAR USED FOR THIS VIDEO!!! http://bit.ly/2myfUBv
Hey guys, Dan here from CLE Tech and these are some of the top Android Apps for March 2017.
Our first app is called Candid and a huge shoutout to Candid for sponsoring this episode of top Android Apps. Now what this app does is allow you to share your thoughts and opinions on different topics ranging anywhere from tech, politics, TV shows, sports, etc. All while remaining anonymous. Since everyone is anonymous, there isn't much of a filter, which I have found to be the only flaw of this app so far but the cool thing is your feed is tailored around the different groups you join. So my suggestion is, if you want to keep things somewhat light-hearted, join those groups. My favorite groups so far have been, of course, technology and also the Best Android Setups group based off of EzTech’s 231 Best Android Setups series. There are loads of inspiration here when it comes to customizing your Android Setups.
This inspired me to go ahead and create a group for my Top Android App videos and would love to get you guys to download Candid and join this group! I encourage you all to post your favorite new apps in this group and if I like them, I will feature them in an upcoming video! There may even be a giveaway involved somehow but stay tuned for that in the next coming weeks for more information. Links will be in description below for this app as well as all the others featured in this video.
Next up is Peppy Wallpapers and yup, you guessed it, this app has some pretty cool material design inspired wallpapers. The UI is clean and simple and the wallpapers are very colorful and vibrant. There are tons to choose from in this vertical scrolling list. Once you find one you like, you can tap on it and save the wallpaper to your phone directly or set it as both your lock screen and home screen wallpapers all within the app. As a bonus, there is even a watchface directory for some cool watch faces to help freshen up your smartwatch.
Our next app is from the folks over at Google and it's called Google Trips. Now I am not exactly sure how long this app has been out but it's new to me and coming to me at a perfect time as I have a trip coming up next week to New York City and this app has all of my relevant information for the trip like my flight reservations, hotel reservation, and even a bunch of suggestions on things to do during the day or night and different top places to eat. Of course, since this is linked with Google, you know that directions will be integrated via Google Maps, and making travel a lot less stressful.
Texpand is our next app and it's something that has saved me LOADS of time by basically allowing me to program different one word shortcuts instead of typing out the whole phrase. For example, instead of typing out my whole email address, which could be long and cumbersome at times, especially when you're filling out forms, you can type out a shortcut like email and then hit the check mark that appears on your keyboard. This will auto fill and replace that shortcut word with the phrase you associated with the shortcut. The app is super clean and very easy to use. It's also surprisingly not intrusive. If you find yourself typing out certain phrases often, I recommend downloading this app and saving yourself some time.
Next up is an app called Memorigi, and my apologies if that's not the correct pronunciation but this app is another task manager but has a unique layout and very easy to use. You can sort your tasks into different pre-populated categories or even jot down different ideas, life goals or some books that you need to read. I like the UI of this app a lot and if you upgrade to the premium version, there are tons of unique features added in that could be super useful. I am always finding new task managers, especially one with an effective and clean UI and this one is definitely on that list.
If you like to be reminded about tasks by leaving all of your notifications in your notification shade and then swiping them away when your done, then this app might help you out for those custom notifications. It's called Notiflyer and what it does is allow you to create a quick notification in your notification shade and customize it to say whatever you need. Anything from a quick grocery list, a reminder to pay a bill, etc. You can customize the notification so that you don't accidentally swipe it away and the notification will remain constant until you go into the app and delete the notification. Personally, I like a clean notification panel but there are times that I catch myself leaving emails unread and still a notification for this exact reason. Now I can read the email and leave a reminder at the same time.
Now if you are like me and do prefer a clean notification shade but sometimes miss one of those one time notifications with an accidental swipe, you can download the app Recent Notifications. This app does exaclty what you think it does and that's organize all of your latest notifications by app in a neat and fluid design. This is perfect for those who might have missed something and want to go back and check out your most recent notification in an app to app basis. Highly recommend checking it out if this sounds like you.
Night Screen is a very simple app and sometimes simple is super effective. What this app does is allow you to adjust the color temperature of your display so that the blue light emitted from your screen at night doesn't add any more strain to your eyes and potentially damage them. It's always a better idea to keep your screen at a warmer temparture during the night and this app will do exactly that. Another useful feature, for those who browse through their phone at night but don't want to hurt their eyes because, even at the lowest display brightness setting, it's still too bright, Night Screen allows you to go even darker than stock setting. Pretty much all the way to screen off. Which is obviously overkill but you can get your screen really dim for those late night browsing sessions.
Another simple app called Screenshot Crop and Share has slowly become a personal favorite of mine. I take a lot of screen shots and most of the time, I like to crop or draw on them before sending. With the app enabled, all you need to do is take a screenshot like normal but then a second after you take the screenshot, options from the app to editing the photo or immediately share it become available. I have saved so much time by cropping photos this way and then sharing them directly without having to save the screenshot, go into a separate photo editor, and then edit and share that way. Super useful and easy to use. Definitely a must download.
Finally, our last app is a new-ish launcher called ASAP Launcher. This launcher offers mulitple card style pages on both your left and right side with pertinent information like your calendar, to do lists, contacts and weather with your main homescreen in the middle. The main homescreen is meant to be kept clean, you have one widget up top with the date, time and Google search functionality and then your app dock on the bottom. Swipe up on the dock to reveal a few more rows of what can be your most used apps. Need to access all your apps, well swiping from the left edge of your phone will reveal the app drawer. This is a lot like Action Launcher 3’s take on an app drawer.
Do the same thing from the right edge and you have access to different quick settings toggles. I really like this card style UI and it's awesome to get some simple and effective information with full screen widgets. You can customize the layout a bit and change your theme, card color, icon packs unread counts, etc. It might not be as customizable as some other launchers out there but if you rely on a clean look, this might be the launcher for you.
Special bonus app, Super Mario Run is now available for Android. Now I am not going to cover this app too much because I already did that a few months back when it was released for iOS. You can check out that video in the description below but basically you are playing as Mario in a run style game trying to collect as many coins as possible and save the princess. It's pretty fun but there are not a lot of levels and it’s pretty easy to be done with it in about a week. Nevertheless, it's definitely worth a download to check out.
That's it for this months episode of Top Android Apps for March 2017. Of course be sure to hit that like button if you enjoyed this video and also be sure to subscribe so you don't miss other videos like this one in the future.
Thanks for watching and I will see you in the next one.