10 Android Apps To Download For Your New Device

Appy Days

The disastrous Galaxy Note7 aside, 2016 was a pretty good year for the launch of new Android devices. In smartphones, Samsung had a lot more luck with its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge models, while Google, ASUS, LG and other vendors all debuted strong Android offerings. And outside of smartphones, Lenovo's Yoga Book and Huawei's MediaPad M3 were two of the interesting new Android devices. But a device is only as good as the apps that run on it, and so we wanted to take a look at some of the top Android apps worth downloading. In the following slides, we've rounded up 10 of the Android apps (outside of the most obvious ones) that may just deserve a place on your new device.

Recipe Book

There's no shortage of apps out there to assist in the kitchen, but Recipe Book differentiates by leveraging artificial intelligence in some interesting ways. Recipe recommendations are tailored to the user's preferences, and features include "Shake 'N Make" (which lets users select items and shake their phone to get a recipe including them) and "Snap 'N Cook" (which lets users take a photo of an item and then serves up recipes featuring it).

CastBox

This app can serve as a central location for audio listening – including podcasts, radio, audio books and music streaming – and it's free. CastBox enables podcast downloads and lets users customize their playlists, and it can be used for publishing podcasts, as well.

Opera Mini

For users that are looking for speedy web browsing, combined with savings on cellular data, Opera Mini might be a winner. The app includes features for minimizing data usage, such as an option to download videos while on Wi-Fi for watching later, along with a way to check how much data you're saving by using the browser. The latest update to the app also added a built-in ad blocker.

Android Auto

With the aim of providing a safer way of using mobile devices while driving, Android Auto offers larger buttons, a simpler interface and voice actions. The app works either on a phone or a compatible car display, and it works with services such as Google Maps and Google Play Music, as well as for phone calls and text messaging.

Fabulous

Incubated in the Behavioral Economics Lab at Duke, Fabulous is a motivational app aimed at resetting your habits (and improving your brain) in as little as 19 days. The app serves as a coach to help users reach goals in health, energy, weight loss, sleep and other areas via techniques such as 7-minute workouts and mindfulness meditation.

Medium

One of the web's go-to destinations for all manner of commentary – from influencers and professional writers to just about anyone with a something to say – is available in a snazzy app format for Android. Along with easy navigation to pieces of Medium content, mirroring the visually appealing user interface of the website, the app also enables users to write and publish onto the platform.

Star Trek Timelines

This role-playing game brings users into the Star Trek universe, where they must hone their strategies and pick an ideal crew to defend their starships. The graphics are terrific, and the game brings a unique approach by throwing together characters from all of the major Star Trek series.

Allo

Developed by Google, Allo is a smart messaging app with the goals of helping users to express themselves and also get helpful information while still in the texting window. Stickers, doodles and large-sized emoji and text options provide a more personalized mode of self-expression. The integration of the artificially intelligent Google Assistant lets users quickly pull up information that's relevant to the conversation underway.

Genius Scan

Easy-scanning app Genius Scan brought over some of the popular features from the iOS version in a major recent update for Android. Those features include quicker scanning of multi-page documents, a magnifying glass for better adjustment of cropping and easier document naming and tagging.

Prisma

This photo editing app was a big hit in 2016 with its novel approach of turning photos into artworks that are in the style of famous artists. Rather than putting a filter on photos, Prisma uses artificial intelligence and other technologies to combine photos with the stylings of artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh, essentially rebuilding the photos as works of art.