At the beginning of 2018, there were 2.3 million active Android smartphones and 3.5 million apps available in Google Play. Impressive numbers! No wonder that it’s easy to get lost in this variety, especially, for newcomers. That’s why we prepared this article with the most popular apps which will suit all Android users regardless of their age, occupation, or social status.
We will not consider paid apps and games in this particular article. There are a lot of noteworthy names which deserve a separate review. We tried to diversify categories, so all five apps are completely different.
The world’s leading social network brand was 5th to hit 1+ billion downloads and the first non-Google product to pass that mark. Facebook doesn’t need a detailed review, right? It allows for managing the news feed, public posts, messages, photos, videos, events, groups, and so on. If you have friends, you will use Facebook to stay in touch with them. If you don’t have friends, you will use it to make them.
Most popular alternatives in this category are products from the same developer:
Also, there is Skype designed by Microsoft in the 1+ billion downloads list. This app is mostly used for video calls. Beyond the above list, you might be interested in Viber, LINE or Snapchat for communicating and socializing.
Flipboard is the most popular news aggregator, which collects data from thousands of social media sites, digital journals, photo and video sharing networks, and other platforms. It arranges news in blocks and allows to choose interesting topics and sources, making customized compilations for each user.
Alternatives:
Another top alternative is Pocket. The app is slightly different from Flipboard as it allows for saving interesting articles, photos, videos, notes, and posts to read them later. Pocket has the recommendations section, which also acts as a news aggregator.
Despite the fact that this category is extremely broad, Clean Master surpasses all alternatives. It works as a junk cleaner, antivirus, photo storage, connection security keeper, battery saver, game and app booster – all in one. This makes Clean Master a multi-purpose tool.
Alternatives:
There are also various VPN services, file managers, third-party calendars, calculators, browsers, and customizable keyboards, so it’s up to you to decide which one to choose if you don’t like native versions.
Pre-installed camera apps aren’t the best choice when it comes to image quality and, especially, filters. That’s why we suggest VSCO even though it does not appear in the 500+ million downloads list. The app includes a wide range of filters and other editing options. VSCO also acts as a camera controller.
Alternatives:
Spotify is a music streaming service that gives access to free music and allows users to arrange their playlists by albums and tracks. It also supports an offline mode with downloaded tracks, shareable playlists, and radio stations. There’s Spotify Premium with the ad-free user experience.
Alternatives:
Apart from music streaming apps, there are also various audio players and managers like
MX Player. If you aren’t comfortable with in-built products, get this one. It has both free and paid versions without ads.
Clearly, there are more apps that can be utilized by smartphone and tablet users on a daily basis. Here are several other popular categories with a brief description and examples of the best apps:
Top it all, there are Google apps that are usually pre-installed on Android devices and can be used for storing, editing, and sharing files. You can check them all on the Developer’s page in Google Play.