Best Android Apps (July 2024)

Summary

This video script introduces viewers to 10 useful Android apps to enhance their smartphone experience. It highlights 'Spam Blocker' for call and message protection, 'Pixel Expert' for lock screen effects, and 'Music Live Wallpaper' for music lovers. Other apps include 'Sound Tap' for music control, 'Material Photo Widget' for customizable photo frames, 'Quick Shorts' for home screen shortcuts, 'IME Material Icon Pack' for iOS-style icons, 'Packmate' for travel organization, 'Local Send' for cross-platform file sharing, and 'Screen Stream' for screen sharing. The script also mentions exclusive promo codes for some apps, encouraging viewers to subscribe for updates.

Takeaways

• 📞 The video introduces 'Spam Blocker', an app that uses filters and number patterns to block spam calls and messages, offering customizable settings to enhance control over incoming communications.
• 👍 'Spam Blocker' is praised for its compatibility with default messaging and phone apps, functioning as a middleman to check numbers before they reach the user, and is noted for being free, open-source, and available on F-Droid and GitHub.
• 📱 The script highlights 'Pixel Expert', an app that brings the iPhone lock screen depth effect to Android, working on rooted Google Pixel devices running Android 10 or higher, with customization options for UI elements.
• 🎶 'Music Live Wallpaper' is mentioned as an app that revives the full-screen album cover feature on the lock screen during music playback, with customizable settings to adjust the display style.
• 🔊 'Sound Tap' is an app that allows control of music playback using the device's volume keys, providing a convenient and customizable way to manage music without opening the app.
• 🖼 'Material Photo Widget' is recommended as an alternative to Google's photo frame widgets, offering more customization options such as specifying photos, aspect ratio, and tap actions.
• 🔗 'Quick Shorts' is an app for creating shortcuts on the home screen and within quick settings, enhancing the Android experience by providing quick access to apps, contacts, files, and more.
• 📱 For those who like the new iOS icons, 'Ime Material Icon Pack' is suggested as an alternative that matches app icons to the colors of the wallpaper while maintaining a dark theme, supporting a wide range of icons.
• 🧳 'Packmate' is a travel companion app that helps users create a list of essentials for trips, offering real-time weather updates and collaboration features, with some features available through an in-app purchase.
• 🔄 'Local Send' is a cross-platform file-sharing app that works over local networks without an internet connection, supporting various operating systems including Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and Fire OS.
• 🖥 'Screen Stream' is an app for screen sharing, either locally within a network or globally via a web browser, allowing users to mirror their phone screen on other devices for presentations or assistance.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of the 'Spam blocker' app mentioned in the script?

The primary purpose of the 'Spam blocker' app is to provide an extra layer of protection against spam calls and messages by using filters and typical number patterns to block scammers, and allowing users to customize these filters for more control over incoming calls and messages.

How does the 'Spam blocker' app detect spoofed numbers?

The 'Spam blocker' app uses a test called STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) to detect and block spoofed numbers, where the caller's identity is hidden.

What are the benefits of using the 'Pixel Expert' app for Android devices?

The 'Pixel Expert' app allows users to achieve a lock screen effect similar to that of iPhones, with a depth effect that makes some subjects appear over the clock. It also works with almost every background and can transition nicely to the always-on display. Additionally, it provides UI customization options such as enabling a light theme for the quick settings panel and power menu, and adding more rows or columns to the quick settings.

What is the limitation of the 'Pixel Expert' app in terms of device compatibility?

The 'Pixel Expert' app only works on rooted devices running Google Pixel stock firmware on Android 14 or higher.

What feature does the 'Music Live Wallpaper' app bring back from older Android versions?

The 'Music Live Wallpaper' app brings back the feature of making the album cover full screen within the lock screen whenever music is played, a feature that was removed in Android 11.

How does the 'Sound Tap' app enhance the music listening experience on Android devices?

The 'Sound Tap' app allows users to control music playback using their device's volume keys, such as long pressing the volume up to skip to the next track or long pressing the volume down to rewind.

What customization options does the 'Material Photo Widget' offer compared to Google's photo frame widgets?

The 'Material Photo Widget' offers the ability to specify which photos to use, customize the aspect ratio, modify the shape with more options than Google provides, and select the tap action, providing a more personalized experience than Google's photo frame widgets.

What is the main functionality of the 'Quick Shorts' app?

The 'Quick Shorts' app allows users to create shortcuts for their home screen and quick setting tiles for apps, contacts, files, websites, and more. It also enables customization of these shortcuts with different icons, backgrounds, and shapes, making the quick settings panel more useful and accessible.

What does the 'IME Material Icon Pack' offer for users who like the new iOS icons?

The 'IME Material Icon Pack' offers a similar icon experience to the new iOS icons, allowing icons to match the colors of the user's wallpaper while always staying dark, similar to the iOS 18 style. It supports nearly 19,000 icons, ensuring that most apps in the launcher are themed.

How does the 'Packmate' app assist with travel preparation?

The 'Packmate' app serves as a travel companion that automatically provides a list of essential items for any trip, allows users to add personal items to the list, includes tasks to be done during the trip, shows real-time weather updates for the destination, and enables collaboration with others on the list.

What is the 'Local Send' app and how does it facilitate file sharing across different platforms?

The 'Local Send' app is a free, open-source alternative to websites like pdr.net for transferring files seamlessly across different platforms, including Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and even Fire OS. It allows sharing files and messages with nearby devices on the same local network without requiring an internet connection.

How does the 'Screen Stream' app work for sharing a device's screen with another device?

The 'Screen Stream' app allows users to share their device's screen with another device on the same network by using a local mode within the app. For sharing with someone in a different area, a global mode is available, where the other person can visit screen stream.io and enter the ID and password provided in the app to connect and view the screen stream, including audio.