7 of the Best Android Apps of 2018 (so far)
The talent and creativity demonstrated by dev teams around the world continues to impress and amaze us here at AAR. With the hardware advancing in a steady pace of technological advancement, the app folks (guys and gals) are always finding new things to do that couldn’t be done before, or at the very least, took too long to do before.
After all, the longest time anyone will wait for something to happen is no more than 20% longer than the shortest time it ever took to happen (the unofficial AAR UI Acceptability Law).
Every generation of more powerful processors or increased memory takes something a genius was working on “in the lab” to production fruition. Be it a slick new trick in a game, ever increasing realism of VR and AR, or new professional capabilities fueled by AI.
Here are 7 recently developed or updated apps that among the best Android apps available today and provide the fodder for our unbridled enthusiasm.
My Very Hungry Caterpillar Free - It’s no secret that, in limited doses, smartphones and tablets are terrific learning tools for young children.
Parents need to be responsible for keeping the exposure to a reasonable duration so it’s important to make the most of the time you allot.
While the app is free there are in-app purchases for $3.99 per item, but don’t let that cost slow you down, you get what you pay for. The talented team at StoryToys have done a spectacular job on My Very Hungry Caterpillar.
It is an excellent example of time well spent. The title has proven itself in the print and TV media and that care and quality has been extended to the Android world.
It’s true that there have been other attempts to bridge into apps, but this title leave the others far behind. Your favorite character has become you virtual pet and both entertains and educates your young child.
There are many activities that your little one will happily engage in and, trust us, not look forward for digital play time to end.
Duolingo: Learn Languages Free Free - Learning a foreign language can be an incredible challenge even when you’re highly motivated, such as when prepping for some cool vacation travel.
So if you’re just merely curious about speaking or understanding another language how do you even stand a chance? With the best apps, that’s how!
Insight Heart, from ANIMA RES, gets a standing ovation for using AR to make everything you ever wanted to know about your own heart entertaining, interesting, and astoundingly addictive.
Go ahead, download it and see a beating heart right in front of your face. You will be hooked beyond anything you’ve experienced playing Pokemon Go, Candy Crush, Temple Run or even Facebook.
The only bad thing about this app is that it’s so good it leaving you thirsting for more. Currently you can see such things as a normal heart rate, a myocardial infarction, arterial hypertension and atrial fibrillation in real time.
There’s obviously much more that can be done not just with the heart but with other organs and systems as well.
Pango Playground $2.99 - As mentioned above, new hardware opens the door for new software to do incredible things that couldn’t have been done before.
One area that really underscores this is Augmented Reality (AR). It’s a fascinating area of work that was brought to the public’s awareness with Pokemon Go.
Fortunately there are developers, such as Studio Pango, who see far beyond that and are pushing the boundaries of AR in ways that give you a glimpse into what’s to come.
Playground AR is a joy to play with and let’s you explore AR literally from the comfort of your livingroom.
Build virtual objects on real surfaces, including various types of machines and, just to make the experience completely satisfying, just blow them up!
Google Fit - Fitness Tracking Free - If you have a personal trainer maybe you don’t need this app. But for everyone else who’s trying to stick to their New Year’s resolution to get into shape or lose a few, this app is perfect.
This app pairs great with your Android wear smart watch and is not about training for the next body building competition, it’s about staying on track with an exercise plan that makes sense for your too-crowded schedule.
Don’t have time to pump iron 4 hours a day? OK, they get it, how about realtime stats for your runs, walks, and rides to keep you motivated and sticking with the plan?
The key is not to act like you’re prepping for a marathon next month but rather to stick with a plan that gets your heart pumping most days of the week.
The app itself uses a very well designed UI to make it easy to find what you want and keep track of your progress all the way.
This app isn’t a drill instructor turned smartphone workout app but it will keep things fresh and, hopefully, improve the odds that you’ll actually stick with it.
Fx Music Player + Equalizer Free - There are a ton of ways to change your music experience with this incredible app.
For the visually inclined among you this app will make the cost of an iPhone or iPad well worth it.
Developed by Creaceed SPRL, Carbo lets you sketch and doodle but instead of just capturing a jpg of your overflowing talents, you get a vector representation that not only makes your doodles easily editable but also reduces the storage needed for each one quite dramatically.
By digitizing your handwriting, notes, doodles and sketches you have the ability to easily capture whatever is on your mind without having to worry about format or mixing types of input. There are also special output styles that add very nice touches to your work to spruce them up a bit for sharing.
We’ve given you just a small taste but to truly appreciate all the app can do you have to download it yourself. Try it and let us know if you agree.
Tayasui Sketches Free - Are you into doodling? Not getting hung up on fancy details but you still want to express yourself? Well, if that’s the case, this app is definitely for you.
The developer, Tayasui, challenges you to “Stop thinking about the device, enjoy the sensation of drawing on paper”. And we think they have a great point.
Select the brush you prefer from a wide assortment of very creative and functional options from a simple pencil to oil pastel or a watercolor brush. Blend and mix to your hearts content creating the masterpiece you’ve always wanted.
Then, once you have your creation ready, you can share it with the world. Of course sharing goes both ways so you can also enjoy, and be inspired by, the creations of anyone else who’s using the app.
Zoom in to see small details or zoom out to see the big picture. You’ll find your inner child, or you actual child, enjoying this app again and again.
Sky Stars View Map: Galaxy Guide Free - People have been awed by the stars in the sky for millennia and will no doubt continue to look up and be awed for millennia to come. To truly enjoy what you’re seeing, though, you need to know what’s you’re looking at.
Sky Stars View Map: Galaxy Guide, from World Live Earth Maps: Navigation & Tracking Apps, is a marvelous app that makes it easy to learn as much about our celestial neighbors as you like.
You can enjoy the sky in either of two modes: Constellation – An Imaginary Sky Drawing; Sky Navigation with Camera – AR (Augmented Reality).
In addition to stars and planets there are details on hundreds of satellites including the International Space Station.
Whether you’ve made the effort to get to a special location that’s known to be great for star gazing, or you’re out in the middle of nowhere on a cloudless night away from as much light pollution as possible (and we can’t encourage you enough to do just that), the app works fine without any wifi, cell signal, or GPS.
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Do you have some other apps in mind that should be on this list? Let us know about them in the comments section.
7 of the Best Android Apps of 2018 (so far) - AndroidAppsReview.com
