My Paid Apps
My Paid Apps serves a pretty simple function, all it does is give you access to a list of what you’ve paid for on the Play Store. It’s actually quite a handy app, as the Play Store’s “My Apps” doesn’t tell you how much something cost. So, with this you can see whether or not you’ve gotten a good deal on an app that was on sale or whatever. It can also help with devices you’ve bought through the Play Store, letting Nexus lovers see how much money they’ve spent on stock Android over the years.
SmartMote
With all of this talk about Pebble’s new app store, you’d think that development on other smartwatches didn’t exist. Well, that’s not the case and Sony’s SmartWatch 2 is steadily gaining some excellent apps. This latest is called SmartMote and it’s essentially a music controller for your watch. It’s only available for KitKat users, which is a shame but, Nexus 5 users such as myself will love it, Sony’s implementation of this is really quite poor indeed. The app features easy to use touch targets and album art looks good, too. I can attest to how it well it works, and it’s well worth a purchase.
Muzei
Another great recent app, we actually covered this earlier in the week. From the same guy who developed the infamous Dashclock comes Muzei, a Live Wallpaper app that cycles images on your homescreen. You can either create your own playlist of sorts, as I did or you can have the app change your wallpaper for a piece of art every single day. It’s a neat little app that can make cycling through your favorite wallpapers a fun affair, without any real issues.
EverythingMe Launcher
Having just recently come out of beta, EverythingMe is certified for general consumption. It’s an interesting new launcher that focuses around your favorite apps and what you’re doing or where you are at the time. For instance, heading to the movies will present you with showtimes or an app to get you showtimes. All of your existing apps are placed in smart folders on your homescreen, which is a nice touch for those that simply don’t want to deal with organizing everything. The concept of a “smart” launcher is great and we’re sure that this is going to get better in time, but right now it’s well worth a try as something different. Those that are always on the go will especially find this a genuine help.
NBC Olympics Highlights
Despite some, shall we say controversy, the Sochi winter games are in full swing. Regardless of how you feel about Russia’s handling of the games, a Winter Olympics is still worth tuning in for. Sports fans in America have it a little rough as NBC is once again tape-delaying the games for some reason. Still though, with this pretty good Android app you’ll be able to stay abreast of the information coming from Mother Russia. It even looks good on tablets – huzzah!
SimplyText SMS Text Messaging
Let’s face it, the stock Android text app isn’t all that amazing. It gets the job done and all, but it’s going away with versions 4.4 and up so, it’s time to move on. SimplyText is a great alternative to the AOSP version of the app, or your built-in app from Samsung, HTC or whoever. It’s clean, with some great font choices for those picky types. Texting is just better with this app, as the developers themselves claim. With appreciated features such as being able to text your three most-texted friends and “snooze” a text to be reminded to text back when convenient, it ticks a lot of the right boxes.
MegaSound
Despite the name, MegaSound is not an app that promises to revolutionize your music listening experience. Instead, MegaSound is for Android 4.3 and above devices that want to take back control of their device’s notification sounds. Specifically, it’s for all notifications that you have sound enabled for. It’s a perfect app if you really need to have a separate sound for each notification or you just want to shut some apps up and not others, a simple app that’s easy to use – what more could you want?
BaseCamp
If you’re working on something with a team and use the internet to keep people organized, then you’ll have heard of BaseCamp. There’s now finally an official Android app for the service, so now every one can keep up to date on the go. Which is great for those that use tablets on their commute or when traveling. Obviously, there’s only so much work you can do from a tablet or smartphone, but being able to connect to your central project is a real boon.
CloudMagic
There seems to be something strange going on with names this month, as CloudMagic has nothing to do with the cloud, not really anyway. This is an app that’s built for email junkies who need to have multiple accounts hooked up, but don’t want multiple apps. With support for up to five apps – completely free – on anything from this list: Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, Google Apps, Office 365 and any IMAP account. It’s a great app for those that use their tablets as an email machine on the go, and it has a pretty decent tablet interface.
School Boss Free
Now our final app this month is actually well named, shockingly. School Boss will make you a boss at school as it makes organizing yourself ridiculously easy. Of course, you have to input everything yourself the first time round, but that enables you to control how organized you actually are. After that though, you get access to all sorts of tools to stay busy and motivated. Great for those going through college, either for the first time or while in full-time employment, it can be had for free with a paid version available as well.