9 Must-Have Android Apps for First-Time Users
Are you looking for the most helpful Android apps? If you’re a first-time Android phone user, then I understand it’s a bit confusing especially if there are hundreds of free Android apps to download. Been there, done that, but trust me when I say you’ll get the hang of it sooner than you think! To better your Android experience, check out these Android phone apps to install on your phone right now!
9 Essential Android Apps to Download
1. Google Drive
Before we start this list, you must realize that your Android phone is now an extension of your devices like your laptop. That said, one of the first Android apps you need to install is Google Drive. This is a free cloud storage service that doubles as a mobile office suite. I know some of you still prefer having a Microsoft Office suite on your device, but if most of your contacts use Google Drive, this will be a helpful app for sharing important files.
When you have Google Drive, you can link other apps like Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Photos, Gmail, Google Slides, Google Keep and Google Calendar. These are excellent productivity apps, which will help you access important documents wherever you are. It’s like having your laptop or personal computer at the palm of your hands, or at least close to it! Google Drive offers 15GB of space for free. If you need more space, you will have to upgrade to a premium plan.
2. Inbox by Gmail
Honestly, I don’t know anyone who does not use Gmail. Whether it’s for personal or office use, it is a must to have the Inbox by Gmail app on your phone. Gone are the days when you have to log in to your email Inbox through your laptop or computer. More than that, gone are the days when you have to access your inbox through a mobile browser, as well.
The Google Inbox app does more than just notify you when you have new mail. It is also a great tool for managing your inbox. Need help prioritizing your emails? Inbox has a bundle of features where emails can be categorized into promos, purchases, trips, and other categories you use. Inbox will also notify you with any update without the need to open the entire message. Best of all, Inbox will be your personal reminder!
3. Spotify
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Can’t live without listening to music every day? If so, you surely need the Spotify app on your Android phone. Spotify is undoubtedly one of the top music streaming services today. Since it’s free to use on mobile phones and tablets, don’t waste any time and listen to the music you love anywhere and anytime!
Spotify gives you access to millions and millions of songs from various artists around the world. But what I really like about Spotify is that I can make my own playlist. So far, I’ve made one playlist for working out, one for chill out sessions, and one for when I drive my car. You can also choose pre-set playlists from other Spotify users.
4. Social Media Apps
What’s the social media app that you can’t live without? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or all of them? Whichever app it is, make sure to download it! As for me, I can’t live without my Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube Android apps so they’re really front and center on my phone.
Social media apps are great for keeping us updated with family, friends and practically everything that’s happening in the world. We love that we can use them to communicate with people. And we like that we learn a bunch of new things every day through these Android apps, which is why I highly recommend that you get each app that you need.
These apps have really made my social life a whole lot easier. The Pinterest app notifies me if there are new pins I might be interested in. With the YouTube app, it notifies me if there’s a new video upload from a channel I subscribed to. These apps will always keep you in the loop effortlessly!
5. Pocket
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Do you ever have those days when you came across an interesting article online, but you don’t really have the time to read it? And so you copy the link and save it in your messaging drafts so you can go back to it later? Well, there’s no need to do that anymore if you have the Pocket app!
Pocket is an Android app that helps you save those interesting stories (articles and videos) for later, sort of like a bookmark. But more than this, Pocket will also recommend and let you discover other stories online that might be of interest to you. Best of all, Pocket will sync the date to your laptop, computer, and tablet, too!
Right now, Pocket offers unlimited storage and also has a text-to-speech feature so you can just listen to the articles. Also, you can tag your stories to organize them accordingly.
6. Flipboard
If Pocket lets you save stories for later, Flipboard, on the other hand, delivers all the stories around the world to you the moment you open your phone! How convenient is that?
You can think of Flipboard as your personal digital online magazine. This award-winning app gathers all the popular news and stories on the Web and delivers them to you for free! On top of that, Flipboard can also find stories that you’re passionate about so you can stay on top of those topics. Flipboard offers travel, technology, food, fashion, entertainment, music, photography, gardening news and much more!
7. Waze
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It doesn’t matter if you’re good with directions or not. If you drive a car, you must have the Waze app on your Android phone! Waze has a big community of drivers; it’s above 85 million now and continues to grow each day.
Using Waze has tons of benefits for people who are always on the road, and this lands on my top 3 most needed Android apps of all time. For one, it tells you the fastest routes and approximate travel time, thus helping you to reach your destination at the fastest time possible. Waze will also help reroute if there’s traffic and alert you for road closures and accidents.
One great thing about the Waze community is that drivers do make the effort to file their own traffic reports on Waze like if they’re stuck in traffic at a certain location or if they encountered an accident. Since Waze is a real-time GPS app, you get the information in real-time, too, enabling you to make the best road traveling decision wherever you want to go.
8. SwiftKey
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Let’s face it, those built-in Android keyboards aren’t really the smartest. So if you’re looking for one that will help you type messages swiftly, try SwiftKey Keyboard now!
SwiftKey boasts of its hassle-free typing ability, thanks to the Artificial Intelligence running the app. The AI automatically learns how you write, the words you like to use, and the emojis you’re fond of. The next time you type a message, SwiftKey will automatically autocorrect and offer predictive text that will actually be helpful to you.
By the way, with SwiftKey, you can also swipe from one letter to another instead of tapping each letter, which I think is an awesome feature! There are also tons of themes, designs, and emojis to choose from. More importantly, SwiftKey supports more than 150 languages!
9. LastPass
Seriously, who can remember each username and password for all their accounts online? Well, certainly not me! That is why LastPass is a godsend, and this is the last Android app that I recommend you get right away!
LastPass is a password manager that helps remember all those passwords for you. Yes, that means no more typing usernames and passwords, especially if you’re in a hurry. LastPass also recommends very strong passwords when you make new accounts. And since those passwords will be hard to remember, LastPass has got your back!
Apart from that, there are three things I love about LastPass. First, there’s easy password sharing without showing the password itself. If a colleague needs access to an account, he or she can launch it from LastPass. The next thing is when I do my online shopping. LastPass helps fill up the information needed…no more typing! And lastly, I like that LastPass also keeps digital records of passports, credit cards, driver’s license, and anything that needs to be backed up!
Do you love playing games on your smartphone? Here are the top free Android games to get according to DroidGames:
Any new experience can feel overwhelming at first. I’ve always been an Android user and whenever I used an iPhone, I feel like I’m a tech neanderthal! But luckily for you, I’m here to help, and these Android apps I shared with you are really helpful apps to have. Using an Android phone does have a bit of learning curve, but once you get used to it, you’ll enjoy how convenient and user-friendly the operating system is. Have fun!
Which Android app from this list do you like the most? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!
