New Delhi: Riding on the success of Android, smartphone sales have overtaken that of feature phones. But the sad part is that most users do not make the most of their phones, many are not even aware of how to. There is a lot beyond the social networking, image editing and communication apps that can not only improve your productivity but also simplify your lives. Here is our list of the 10 free must-install apps.
1. Pocket: While browsing the Internet we often come across a lot of stuff, including articles, videos and images, which attract our attention, but either due to time constraints or forgetfullness, we end up skipping them. But with Pocket installed on your phone, you are unlikely to miss them. The Pocket app allows you to save content for offline reading. Once added to Pocket, you can view any saved piece without having to connect to the Internet. Also, its user interface is uncluttered and pleasing to the eyes. The app also lets you customise your reading experience by adjusting text and viewing options. You can also share anything saved in Pocket directly from the app.
Download: Pocket
2. Any.do: With Any.do installed on your phone, you will find yourself completing most of your tasks on time. It lets you create a to-do list; you can add tasks to be done and set a reminder for each task. Not only this, it also reminds you every task at the time specified by you. Instead of typing, you can simply speak to add any task. In case you fail to complete a task scheduled for a day and plan to do it for some other day, you can drag and drop it under that section - tomorrow, upcoming or someday. Once done, you can cross those tasks off and shake your device to clear all completed things. One thing we would like to see in this app is the location-based alerts. But even without that, it's a great app to stay organised.
Download: Any.do
3. Swiss Army Knife: It includes a set of tiny tools - flashlight, unit converter, timer, stopwatch, compass, bubble level, calculator, magnifying glass, mirror, and ruler. These tools prove to be of great use when you need them.
Download: Swiss Army Knife
4. eBook reader(s): If you have changed your reading habit and switched from physical books to e-books, you should have an eBook reading app installed on your phone. There are many e-book readers available in the Play Store, but I would recommended to install three e-books readers on your phone - Kindle, Aldiko and Play Books. While the majority of Android phones come with the Play Books app pre-installed, but if your phone does not have it, you can download it from the Play Store. Wondering why I am advocating three apps and not one? eBooks come in different formats and these e-book readers don't support all formats. So, with these three e-book readers installed, you are likely to have all bases covered. Also, Amazon Kindle and Play Books apps have built-in dictionaries, so you don't have to go to any dictionary app to find out any meaning.
Download: KindleDownload: AldikoDownload: Play Books
5. CamScanner: With the CamScanner app in your phone, you would not have to look for a conventional scanner. The app works as a scanner and with the help of your phone's camera, it lets you scan as many documents as you want in no time. Once scanned, you can set contrast and brightness of the scanned documents.
Download: CamScanner
6. Google Keep: Though there are numerous note-taking apps at your disposal, Google Keep is a nice app to jot down notes or make pointers. It also lets you add photos to your notes. With the Keep app, you can also create checklists and enter voice notes.
Download: Google Keep
7. Feedly: It is considered to be the best alternative to Google Reader. Today, Feedly has become the widely-used news aggregator after Google shut down its Reader service. Feedly has an easy-to-use user interface and offers various viewing options to enhance your reading experience. With Feedly installed on your phone, you can have content from different content publishers and other websites in one place.
Download: Feedly
8. Merriam Webster/WordWeb: Dictionary is something we need every now and then. While the Play Store is laden with a hatful of dictionary apps, I would recommend you Merriam Webster and WordWeb. You can download any one of them. The advantage of Merriam Webster over WordWeb is that it pronounces words for you.
Download: Merriam WebsterDownload: WordWeb
9. Dropbox: You should have a cloud storage app installed on your phone. It has been observed that almost all users have some sort of data which they don't access on a daily basis, but they may need it any time. Therefore, there is no smartness in storing data on your device that you would require occasionally to unnecessarily eat your phone's storage space. Dropbox is one such service available for free in the Google Play Store. Dropbox offers cross-device accessibility and thus data stored in your Dropbox folder can be accessed from anywhere. Also, it is easy to share files stored on cloud.
Download: Dropbox
10. VLC/MX Player: You can install any of these two video players - MX Player or VLC - as both of them support almost all the major video formats.
Download: VLCDownload: MX Player
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