15 essential apps every android phone must have and their alternatives
Apps are to a phone what salt is to a dish. They make the experience wonderful as well as effortless. With the passage of time, more and more apps have flooded Google Play Store making it difficult to select an app that best suits the requirement.
Let's walk through below to check if your phone has all the essential apps or you’re missing out on something amazing:
#1 EVERNOTE
Evernote is a note-taking app that helps to stay organized and productive. It lets the user capture and prioritize ideas, projects make to-do lists so that nothing significant skips their mind. The app continues to maintain its position as the most sought-after note-taking app despite being around for more than a decade. It app provides a simple and clean UI that manages to keep it timeless. It allows sorting all the documents into notebooks. These documents can be labeled with categories and custom tags so they are easy to search and access. It also syncs seamlessly across multiple devices.
App Installs: 100M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.2
Alternative: Blacknote
#2 CAMSCANNER
CamScanner is a slick and powerful app that allows the user to scan documents, compile them, and share them as JPEG or PDF. Images can be cropped and enhanced within seconds making them easy to read no matter how bad the phone’s camera is. It allows converting physical documents into digital format with ease.
App Installs: 1M+
Google Play Store Rating: 2.3
Alternative: Kaagaz Scanner
#3 NOVA LAUNCHER
Ever thought of designing the phone’s appearance? We all have. Nova Launcher is the app that lets the users modify the design of Android, redoing everything from the home screen layout to the details of individual app icons.
Nova Launcher allows the addition of more icons to the home screen, formatting their size, tweaking text, and labeling settings. More gesture controls can also be introduced. In a nutshell, Nova Launcher aids in dressing the phone with a new theme and a new look.
App Installs: 50M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.5
Alternative: GO Launcher
#4 SNAPSEED
Google Play Store is packed with photo editing apps, but Snapseed tops the list. It gives the user access to just about every image-tweaking tool that can be thought of, from adjusting colors to removing objects. It allows the user to do intensive work tweaking the effects on a very fine level, or just slap on some filters in seconds. Despite the wealth of features, Snapseed and its tools are well organized for a hassle-free experience. Once done, the results can be easily shared and exported.
App Installs: 100M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.5
Alternative: SnapBridge
#5 POCKET
In today’s busy life, time is a constraint. It’s tough to have enough time to catch up on all those online articles. Instead of leaving tabs to proliferate, Pocket lets the users save articles from any browser, whether it’s on the computer, tablet, or phone, and read them at leisure on the Android app. Items can also be synced and accessed offline. And if that's not enough, Pocket strips out all the advertising and other distractions from webpages to give users a clean reading experience that’s easy on the eyes.
App Installs: 10M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.6
Alternative: Feedly
#6 ALARMY
Fed up with the habit of skipping the morning alarm? Alarmy is the solution. Alarmy has a unique way to break the morning laziness. It requires the user to either shake their phones hard or solve puzzles and challenges to snooze the alarm. What’s great is it allows the user to set the difficulty level of these challenges as per their preference.
The useful app also features a photo mode where one is required to turn off the alarm by taking a picture of a registered location. Termed “the most annoying app,” it is certainly one of the essential apps to wake up on time.
App Installs: 10M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.6
Alternative: Alarm Clock Xtreme
#7 WPS OFFICE
WPS is a free Office Suite application that comes with all-in-one features. It is fully compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and integrates PDF, presentations, spreadsheets, memos, Google docs, etc.
The app also comes with a free PDF converter and reader, supports multi-window mode, data encryption, etc. along with file-sharing abilities.
It is intuitive and easy to use and can be connected to the Cloud Drive to automatically save the documents on cloud. Overall, it is one of the best free office apps available for Android devices.
App Installs: 100M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.6
Alternative: Polaris Office
#8 FOREST
Admit it or not, we all have been addicted to our phones at some point in time. Many of us still are. Forest brings an interesting solution to beat this phone addiction. It Allows planting a seed in Forest which will gradually grow into a tree. However, if one fails to resist the temptation and leave the app to check social media or play a game, the tree will wither away. This engaging mechanism, compels the users to stay away from the phone giving them a sense of achievement.
App Installs: 10M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.5
Alternative: FLIP
#9 INSHORTS
Inshorts is a news app. It selects the latest and authentic news from multiple national and international sources and summarizes them in a short and crisp 60 words or less format. Whether it’s the latest government policies or breakups in Bollywood, Inshorts covers them and delivers the news in a jiffy. Users can check top and trending news, bookmark news, participate in polls, read insights, discover topics, and personalize their news feed. The app is available in both, English and Hindi.
App Installs: 10M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.6
Alternative: Dailyhunt
#10 TRUE CALLER
True caller is a must-have app for the ones who don't like to answer unknown numbers. It identifies and blocks spam calls and SMS, looks for unknown numbers, all the while respecting the users' privacy. It is packed with features of caller-identification, call-blocking, flash-messaging, call-recording, Chat & Voice by using the internet. Users are required to provide a standard mobile number in order to register for the service.
App Installs: 500M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.4
Alternative: Whoscall
#11 XENDER
Xender is one of the most popular cross-platform file sharing app for Android phones. It allows a user to transfer and share any type of files, from photos, music, and videos to documents and apps without mobile data usage. The app is simple to use and transfers files at a speed almost 200 times faster than that of Bluetooth. In spite of stiff competition, Xender rules the file-sharing app segment.
App Installs: 1M+
Google Play Store Rating: 3.4
Alternative: Shareit
#12 GOOGLE FIND MY DEVICE
What happens if my phone gets lost? This thought must have surely crossed the mind of every phone user. More than the phone, at times, it's the files and memories it stores within that matter. What happens if someone misuses the data on the phone. Google Find My Device is the app that comes to rescue at such times. It is one of the best free Android apps to find a stolen or lost device. Google Find My Device is user-friendly and helps one find their device when it goes missing by tracking the location. The best part of this application is that it allows the deletion of all the data and secures the device.
App Installs: 100M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.4
Alternative: Wheres My Droid
#13 MINT
We all struggle with finances, don’t we? Hakuna Matata because finally, there is an app that helps in managing finances. Mint is a finance management app. It aids in managing money by combining user’s bank accounts, credit cards, investments, and bills so that they are well informed on the go. It helps to keep a track of short-term and long-term goals and also on spending history. Reminder to pay bills, analyze net worth, assets and liabilities, name it, Mint has it. With such amazing features, Mind is undoubtedly a much-needed app.
App Installs: 5K+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.5
Alternative: Sprouts
#14 DIGILOCKER
When everything is at our fingertips today, why not a locker as well? DigiLocker is the app. No need to carry personal documents like a driving license, Adhar card, voter ID card, or even the Marksheets. DigiLocker comes as a safe and secure locker to store all of these. And the best part is that the documents secured with the app are acceptable as the original ones at every governmental or non-governmental institution because it is developed under the Digital India initiative.
App Installs: 10M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.2
#15 AUTOMATE
True to its name, Automate allows users to automate various tasks using simple flowcharts. System settings can be automated to perform tasks like changing volume, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.
It even allows triggering tasks based on location, time of the day, battery level, etc. It makes it possible to automate almost anything on the Android device. And the best part is, it even supports a plug-in for popular automation app such as Tasker.
App Installs: 1M+
Google Play Store Rating: 4.3
Alternative: MacroDroid - Device automation
Apart from the aforementioned apps, there are many others that are a must-have for every device. They are categorized as follows:
- Mobile wallet - PayTM, Google Play, Phone Pe
- Music - Spotify, Jiosaavn, Gaana
- E-commerce - Amazon, Flipkart
- Food - Zomato, Swiggy
- Photography - PicsArt, Snapbridge
- Productivity - Yourhour, Habit Tracker
- Social Media - WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter
- Ideas - Pinterest, Creative Ideas - DIY & Craft
- Education - Coursera, Udemy, Edx, Unacademy
All of these apps are free to download with most of their features included in the unpaid version. Some advanced features are available under premium subscription. However, that doesn't take away how useful they are and how brilliantly they simplify our digital experience.
