It’s easy to let the good Android apps in the Play Store slide right under the radar. In our new series, the new Android apps of the month, you can discover fresh apps to use on your phone, which is great if you're bored of an app, dissatisfied with any particular one or like trying out cool new things. Check out some new apps for January 2015.
January 2015
Dragon Mania Legends
Dragon Mania Legends, a new game from Gameloft, puts in you a fantasy world where your task is to help grow and train your baby dragons who must eventually face the evil Vikings trying to slay them. There's more: you'll have to take care of managing the island of Dragolandia, collect different dragon species and turn them into skilled warriors to win exciting battles. Dragon Mania Legends is a strategy game that will test your management skills, and is a lot of fun. You can install it for free from the Google Play Store.
Crossy Road
Crossy Road is a brand new game on the Google Play Store. What does it entail? You need to collect over 50 quirky characters inspired by pop art who must then cross busy roads, rivers and railway lines without getting squished. It’s a fun game with retro graphics that will keep you glued to the screen of your smartphone!
NOVA 3 Freedom Edition
You’ve likely heard of NOVA 3. It's developed by Gameloft and puts you in the role of Kal Wardin who must fight hordes of aliens for the survival of the human race. It’s a gripping story filled with the stunning graphics. Why have we included this game if it isn’t a new one? Simple, Gameloft decided to make it available in the Play Store for free and without any in-app purchases. Now you can take part in exciting shootouts against aliens without spending a dime (though banner ads are a bit of a nuisance sometimes).
Microsoft Office
If you got a tablet over the holiday season, you should go and install the Microsoft Office package from the Play Store. This is a version dedicated to all Android tablets running either Android KitKat or Lollipop that have a display between 7 and 10 inches and an ARM processor. The app is still just a preview, so there there are still some bugs that need to be squashed. Nonetheless, you can create and edit your documents on the go! Get PowerPoint, Word and Excel now!
FlashChat
FlashChat is a new app, which is great for university or college students as well for at work, that allow you to chat freely with anyone who is using the same Wi-Fi network within a 1 km radius. The messages are instant, however they’ll disappear from the server once you leave the Wi-Fi network. They stay private from users outside of the Wi-Fi network, plus you can choose your own username to stay anonymous if you want.
Unclouded 2.0
It is easy to get bogged down by the various cloud storage apps you migh thave on your phone or tablet, wihch is why having an app like Unclouded can come in handy. This app supports Dropbox, Google Drive, Box as well as some other cloud service providers, and lets you manage the files that are found in all of them. It identifies duplicates, shows you last edited dates, among some other usful features. Plus it is free, the best perk of all.
December 2014
HERE Beta
The Android maps app HERE Beta by Nokia has finally arrived in the Google Play Store. This app is truly a worthy alternative to the Google Maps app, and provides accurate and extensive data on traffic, weather, transit, and maps for over 200 countries. You also get turn-by-turn navigation, offline access, location search and directory, and the map personalization. The app is still in beta phase, but worth a try!
Google Santa Tracker
Google is also getting into the Christmas mood: the Google Santa Tracker app is here for you to follow Old Saint Nick around the world as he delivers presents to all the boys and girls. It also comes with some neat little Christmasy games.
Wire
We are convinced that this app might have what it takes to outdo the likes of WhatsApp and Skype: Wire offers more than just your usual texting and video chat, it also has image and music sharing too. The developers have also gone to great lengths to create an attractive design and ensure for great audio quality as well. The quality that Wire offers might draw people away from other popular chat services.
November
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a four-part playable graphic novel based on letters recovered from World World I. The episodes follow four unsung heroes as they traverse a war-torn landscape and bring the horrors, adventure and energy of the great war to (almost) life. It's not a ncheap purchase at 4.50 USD for part one alone, but take one look at this following trailer and tell me you don't think it's worth it.
Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores
Forgotten Shores is an 8-level update to the original Monument Valley. If you have the original app installed you can access the additional levels via in-app purchase. Forgotten Shores not only brings more of the mind-bending impossible architecture, Crow People and Silent Princess Ida of the original game, but there's some new twists as well: both literally and in gameplay. If you thought the original levels were trippy, Forgotten Shores almost gives you vertigo in some levels.
Messenger
Google's new Messenger app is a standalone SMS/MMS app, kind of like Hangouts without instant messaging integration. However, you can still send photos and videos with the app as well as audio messages, which has also received a nice Material Design interface. If you like the way Google handles messages but didn't want your instant messages bundled together, then Messenger is worth checking out.
Oh my giraffe
Oh my giraffe is a hilarious endless runner where you control a flexible necked giraffe with a bottomless pit of a stomach as you're pursued by equally hungry lions! You can bombard the lions with fruit or just gobble itehm all up, but this blocky side-scroller is great fun. And when the lions sleep the buffet hits overdrive!
October 2014
Glympse Express
Glympse Express is a new release in the Play Store which allows you to add the temporary location feature from the original Glympse app to WhatsApp, Hangouts and Facebook Messenger. Your friends will be able to see a temporary link of where you currently are on a live map. In the app, you just choose the app in question, and the link is created, which you just need to paste into whatever conversation you like. Super useful for meetups!
Microsoft XIM
This photo sharing app which works for Android, iOS and Windows Phone is fresh out of Microsoft developer lab. XIM is much different to Instagram, Flickr and the like because you’re granted simultaneous viewing. This means that you can select a group of photos, and those in your group will be able to see it on their device at the same time. It’s cool too because only the original sharer needs to have the app installed, so you’re not constrained to who you are sharing with. Users who don’t have the app can view your collection from a web browser. Finally, you can take pictures from your other apps like Instagram and Facebook.
Snowball
Snowball is a great app that will place all of your messages into one place, so you don’t have to jump back and forth from app to app. Find out how to compile your messages with Snowball.
September 2014
Hello SMS
Not everyone uses WhatsApp as their main channel for sending and receiving text messages - some Android owners still use classic SMS apps, especially if their mobile data limits are relatively low, or worse, non-existent. Hello SMS has just had an update and it's perfect for those who love keeping their text messages all tidy and are fans of the design being brought by Android L, which divides the interface into several tabs. The app is fast and simple to use and will allow you to easily track all your conversations.
Frontback
The title speaks for itself! The app allows you to take a picture with the back and front camera at the same time. This way, you can take pictures of your friends and family, all without being excluded. Loads of smartphone manufacturers are now adopting this feature in their new handsets, so now you can have on your phone too, for free!
Elevate - Brain Training
Do you like brain-training games? The Play Store has a brand new one which will help you refine your skills in logic, increase your productivity and train your cognitive abilities.
- Install Elevate - Brain Training from the Google Play Store for free!
August 2014
Ice Age: Adventures
A new free game based on the hilarious cartoon Ice Age arrived this month, Ice Age: Adventures. The game is in fact a series of puzzle games which you must complete to progress in the adventure with Sid, the main character from the Ice Age movie. The point of the game is to save the other animals that are stuck on floating ice. Created by Gameloft, the game offers a hilarious and well-structured storyline.
- Learn how to get paid apps for free on Android
Crazy Taxi City Rush
Crazy Taxi is a cult game on Android, so the arrival of City Rush is definitely something to get excited about. The point of the game is to cover your routes, pick up and deliver passengers in a certain amount of time to make the most money possible. Also, you’ve got to wreak as much havoc as you can as well: it’s just all around fun.
Batman: Arkham Origins
One of the biggest Android franchises has come out with a new game: Batman: Arkham Origins. This game puts action right in the center of its gameplay where Batman confronts his enemies in epic fights. Arkham Origins has also given an RPG side in that you need to improve Batman’s performance and personalize your Batty outfit. The free Android game is definitely worth a try, not just because of all the points mentioned above, but simply because the graphics are really impressive.
- Best free Android games: 16 you've got to give a try
Shots
A new social network for selfies? Shots has done it! Similar in many ways to Instagram, the app lets you share pictures, follow friends and includes a reply feature, where you reply to a selfie with one of yourself, or a private message. The app has already been installed 15,000 times, and has been featured on iOS since 2013. Also, you can’t send pictures that you have saved in your gallery, these need to be snapped then and there.
- Android L: these apps already use Material Design [updated]
Over
Over is a simple app that lets you add stylized text and illustrations to your pictures and then post them on Instagram. The app is actually quite well made and the fonts are really up to date and look great - the effects look almost professional. The app isn’t free, but for 99 cents, it’s not a bad price.
Do you know of any other cool Android apps or games that came out this month?
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