The Hottest Android apps and games around (June 18)

Welcome to Week 4 of The Hottest Android apps and games around! We are going to try something a little different this week. On top of pulling the top 10 downloaded apps and games from Google Play and the Amazon Appstore I have also included the top 5 New apps and games from Google Play and Amazon’s Underground project.

If you are not familiar with Underground check out this Article, but it’s basically Amazon taking apps that normally cost money and making them free, even the in-app purchases are gone so you pay nothing for an app that normally cost money! Please leave a comment below letting me know what you think of the new content.

Top 5 New Free Apps and Games (Google Play)

1. T-Mobile Tuesdays

T-Mobile USA

2. Ninja Turtles: Legends

Ludia Inc.

3. Opera browser – news & search

Opera

4. Armor.io

Amelos Interactive

5. My Cafe: Recipes & Stories

Melsoft Games

Top 5 New Paid Apps and Games (Google Play)

1. Goat Simulator Waste of Space $4.99

Coffee Stain Studios

2. Toca Life: School $2.99

Toca Boca

3. Flamingo for Twitter (Beta) $0.99

Sam Ruston

4. Station Manager $4.99

Kairosoft Co.,Ltd

5. StephMoji by Steph Curry

AppMoji, Inc.

Top Actually Free  Apps and Games (Amazon AppStore Underground)

 

1. Goat Simulator Waste of Space

by Coffee Stain Studios

 

2. Angry Birds Rio

by Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

 

3. Wreck-It Ralph

by Disney

 

4. Word Twist

by Random Salad Games LLC

 

5. Planet of Cubes : Survival Multiplayer

by Solverlabs

Top 10  Free Apps and Games (Google Play)

Facebook Messenger
slither.io
T-Mobile Tuesdays
Snapchat
Facebook
Moments
Instagram
Pandora® Radio
GO Speed (Clean & AppLock)
Netflix

Top Free Apps and Games (Amazon Appstore)

slither.io
Color Switch
Facebook Messenger
Goat Simulator Waste of Space
Hovercraft: Takedown – Custom Combat Cars
ES File Explorer
Netflix
Facebook
YouTube
Amazon Video

Top Paid Apps and Games (Google Play)

MineCraft $6.99

Minecraft: Story Mode $$4.99

True Skate $1.99

Bloons TD 5 $2.99

Geometry Dash $1.99

Call of Duty:Black Ops Zombies $1.99

This War of Mine $2.99

Card Wars – Adventure Time $0.99

HotSchedules $2.99

Ultimate Guitar Tabs & Chords $2.99

Top Paid Apps and Games (Amazon AppStore)

 Minecraft – Pocket Edition $6.99

Plants vs. Zombies $0.99

Minecraft: Story Mode $2.99

Geometry Dash $1.99

Mystery Case Files: Key To Ravenhearsarst Collector’s Edition $2.99

Five Nights at Freddy’s $4.99

PAW Patrol Pups Take Flight $3.30

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 $2.99

Toca Life: Vacation $2.99

BlockLauncher Pro $3.30

Super Locker-DIY&Headlines: Lock Screen app with lots of options (Review)

Overview

In the world of phones, we are always looking for new ways to get information faster. Many developers have started with the lock screen. At a very basic level, stock lock screens carry some sort of shortcuts to the camera as well as time and weather apps. There are a few lock screens that even show you a few headlines or recent apps.

What if you want more? Super Locker- DIY & Headlines will bring you more.

Developer: Locker Headlines Team
Cost: Free ( With Ads)

Highlights

• Customizable Lockscreen
• News
• Applock
• Countdown
• Search

Review

Super Locker is a highly customization lock screen with a number of ways to gain control of the information you see. Starting off, there are four main things you get to control, Notifications, Weather, Countdown Day, and News.

With the weather, just like most stock options, you choose your location, either automatically or manually, and Celsius or Fahrenheit. Now where it gets cool is the notifications. It gives you the option to light up the screen when you get a message from apps as well as which apps you get notifications from. The countdown day is exactly what it sounds like, where it allows you to set a timer. And the news setting gives you many options of the types of news you get to see.

Within Super Locker there are some deeper settings you can access such as the color for the time, date and camera icons. You can select different types of lock screen unlocks like slide to unlock, unlock sound and more. There are tons of style and wallpaper options this app offers for download. In order to download these you must watch a short video .

Super Locker also has a built-in a battery saving element that will alert you of things running needlessly in the background consuming precious power. I couldn’t confirm how well it worked, but that option is there. It also has the ability to lock apps individually to keep certain apps private.

Finally let’s get to the screen itself. It has a very clean setup: pull down from the top to search, from the right for news, pulling left to unlock (unless you select pulling from the bottom). You also have the notifications at the bottom left that will show you recently apps used.

Who knew you could get so much functionality from a lock screen?

Conclusion

There are a few apps out there that perform similar functions like App Lock and Battery Saver, but Super Locker-DIY wraps all these things into one. So if you’re in the market for a lock screen with multiple features, this is definitely one to consider. Super Locker-DIY is an all-in-one feature laden lock screen functionality tool that is well worth your consideration.

Download Super Locker- DIY & Headlines in the Play Store

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MercuryBox: Stylish and affordable (Review)

I’ve used quite a few of Inateck’s products, and I am impressed with the level of classy looks it brings to its products. The company has worked diligently make sure it hits three aspects: style, functionality, and price. That’s not an official mission statement, but from my perspective, it seems Inateck strives for that. Take the trendy MercuryBox Bluetooth speaker, for $38 it just proves my point.

In the box

• MercuryBox speaker
• Audio cable
• microUSB charging cable
• Hand strap
• Customized cable ties x2
• Manual

Design

The MercuryBox is a six-and-a-half inch speaker that’s just oozing with style. Its aluminum casing and rubber top and sides make you feel like you have a quality product that’s durable and beautiful at the same time.

On top is where your buttons are located. Laid out as one seamless piece of rubber, it features six buttons that are slightly raised and feel like bumps more than buttons. While this does make for a cool look, the buttons can be hard to press.

The Auxilary and charging ports are both tucked away on the side under a rubber flap. Over on the opposite side sits the hand strap, which is a handy little feature to have…see what I did there.

Each of the two cords is made out of a braided material that not only looks elegant but also gives it a stronger feel. Again, Inateck makes things that last.

Sound

What good are the looks if it sounds like a blown out speaker in a Chevette with a hole in the muffler? Does it stand the test? It’s packing dual five-watt precision-tuned drivers that emphasize more bass and treble while leaving the mids out. 

Every week my family and I walk a path to the local dam. The MercuryBox is perfect for this situation. We all get to enjoy the music without it being overbearingly loud. So it might not be right for a party, but you can find plenty of use for this portable speaker.

Everything else

The MercuryBox has excellent battery life getting around nine to ten hours of playback so you can easily go all day with moderate volume levels.  Its Bluetooth capability gives you plenty of moving room as it is good up to around 30 feet.

Lastly, let’s not forget that the MecuryBox is water resistant. That’s right; it has an IPx5 certification that gives you some splash protection. That means it can be in the shower with you, but I wouldn’t dunk it in a bath.

Summary

The MercuryBox is a safe speaker to buy. At a price of $38, you can’t go wrong. So take that birthday money you got from Grandma (it doesn’t matter how old you are, Grandma still gives you checks and you know it), and head on over and pick up one.

Buy Inateck’s MercuryBox Bluetooth speaker

WallaMe: Hide photos in the real world (Review)

Overview

Have you ever wanted to write on a wall, but a) didn’t want to get arrested for vandalism or b) only wanted your friends to be able to see it? If so, WallaMe is the app for you. If not, you and I are on the same boat.

Developer: Wallame Ltd

Cost: Free

Impressions

User Interface

WallaMe takes many cues from Instagram. There are three tabs at the top, five at the bottom, and the center of which is adding a new wall. I like it, but everything seems a little blurry.

The image capture screen is very basic, with no option to zoom in or out. Additionally, turning the flash on keeps the flashlight lit the whole duration of lining up the picture, instead of “flashing” upon capture.

Features

Once you get a picture of a wall, the editing options are quite plentiful. You can add stickers or pictures from your own gallery, text, and drawings in various colors. Once your wall is posted, people can like and comment on it, again very much like Instagram. There is no option to add your own photos instead of taking one, which is quite inconvenient.

General Impressions

WallaMe is touted as an AR app, with the ability to see walls that other people have posted when you are nearby. However, there is an astonishingly low amount of users in my area and in the US as a whole. To me, that largely makes the app an Instagram for walls, which really has no point. When WallaMe develops a larger user base, I think it is a great way for residents and tourists alike to connect with each other.

Conclusion

WallaMe is largely just a copy of Instagram with a fraction of the user base. The user interface is squared off, and for that reason not visually appealing. The photo editor is pretty nice, but they need to improve the image capture screen. Check it out from the link below if you’d like.

Download and install WallaMe from the Google Play Store.

Dock Minimal: Use your tablet in comfort (Review)

Onanoff has built its business a simple idea, build what is basic and necessary for all users. They have built quite the portfolio of products that are simple and durable. Sometimes you may not even know that you could use a product until you see it. That’s why today I bring you one of those products, Dock Minimal.

Review

Dock Minimal is exactly what it sounds like, a simple dock for your tablets. This is a one size fits all dock that can handle iPads, Kindles, Samsung Tablets, e-book readers and more. With its tough plastic shell and matte finish, it can easily withstand drops and still look just as good as it did right out of the box.

With a shape that I can only describe as a bowtie, it’s the most unique looking dock that I have seen. Just as smooth as it looks, it’s functionality matches it. Dock Minimal comes with four different size slot adapters that will fit almost any size tablet. This will ensure a tight fit so your device doesn’t slip out.

The back features six different holes for the kickstand that can give you around 20 different angles for your viewing comfort. Inside the aluminium kickstand, you can pull out the stylus. This little beauty works with most touch screens and quickly tucks back in when not in use.

Now, what about charging? Sometimes you need to do that while watching, reading, or whatever it is that you are doing. There are adapters for that. In total, you have five different options for accommodating charging. Two consist of microUSB adapters that you snap in. The other three allow you to easily tuck the cord through the bottom.

Summary

There are some options out there for tablet docks, but not all look as good or have the versatility of Dock Minimal. If you’re looking for a tablet dock, one that can even hold a much smaller phablet, there is no reason you shouldn’t consider this one.

Buy from onanoff

Buy from Amazon

Newsfold: A fantastic news reader (Review)

This world is driven by news.  Everyone reads gets news delivered to them on a daily basis in some form whether it’s through Facebook, news sites themselves, or RSS feeds. Today we will take a look at a news reader called Newsfold.

Developer: mvilla

Cost: Free with in app purchase

Review

Newsfold is a news reader that pulls in your news feeds from your Feedly and Inoreader accounts. It has a very clean Material Design that really catches your eye. You are given four different theme options that include dark, light, black and sepia to get that look of your choice. The latter two are included in the upgrade package.

The home screen is laid out in such a simple way that you don’t have to search to see where things are located. You are simply greeted with Unread, All, and Starred. Below these three categories are all of your collections, news grouped together by categories, and all your individual subscriptions all in alphabetical order.

Gesture controls have been implemented really well. Each article can be marked read or unread by simply swiping that one article from the right. Swiping the screen from anywhere on the left will get you back to your previous screen, while long pressing an article gives you the choices to share, star, and mark articles read/unread as well. This makes navigating the app a breeze.

There is also the option to cache items so you can read them later when you’re not on wifi, because data matters. This can be synchronized at different intervals in your settings with the ability to only do it in WiFi as well.

If you would like to become a supporter, since developers gotta eat too, you can do so by giving $2.49. This will remove ads, it will net you the two extra themes mentioned before, and multiple user accounts. I do need to mention that the current ads aren’t intrusive at all.

This doesn’t cover every single thing, but I did give you enough to get started. There are quite a few options to tinker with to get you your feed just right. This is one of the options you should consider when picking out a news reader.

Conclusion

Picking a new reader can be difficult with all of the choices available in the Google Play Store. What it really boils down to is do you like Nike or Under Amour. I choose that analogy because that’s what it’s like, a lot of quality ones out there, you just gotta find that right fit.

*Note* When these screen shots were taken it was still called Quote, all other references to the name Quote have been changed.

Download Newsfold in the Play Store

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808 CANZ review: Portable Bluetooth cylinder that packs a modest punch

Up for review today is a dimunitve portable Bluetooth speaker from 808 Audio, the 808 CANZ. Shaped like a shrunken can of soda, this cylindrical unit is the sort of audio device you’d use in a study or on the back deck for podcasts. Not that it won’t work for music, but it’s not gonna pound out the tunes.

Initially launched a few years ago, the 808 CANZ are among the least expensive speakers of its kind – from a reputable name. Sure, you might find something cheaper at a gas station or from Amazon, but you’re rolling the dice on quality.

The CANZ come in a variety of color options: red, blue, silver, black, and purple. Each has a metallic sheen on the outside with a black speaker grille on the top-facing speaker.

There are very few buttons to fuss with; a power switch is found on the underside of the speaker and a Bluetooth pairing button is near the bottom edge. Other than that, you’re looking at a charging indicator light, auxiliary input, and a miniUSB charging port. Speaking of the bottom, there’s a rubber coating that helps to keep the 808 CANZ in place. We found that, on most surfaces, the speaker stays put even with the most bouncy of music.

Sadly, this one forces you to keep that outdated cable nearby. We’d like to have seen this refreshed with a microUSB port somewhere along the way. Dealbreaker? Not at all. Consider it more of a minor nuisance.

Pairing is quite simple in that you turn it on and push the dedicated pairing button. After a moment you’ll hear the speaker chime a distinct noise to indicate it’s connected to your phone or tablet. Alternatively, the 3.5mm jack lets listeners plug directly into the speaker. The former will use more of the 808’s battery than going the wired route.

As expected, the 808 CANZ don’t pack a terribly powerful punch. Yes, it can get loud and fill a typical room, but at around 75 percent volume you’ll start to hear distortion. Spoken word, classical music, or relaxed and ambient music sounds excellent. Throw on some house music or hip hop, though, and the speaker struggles a smidge with the bass. Highs are very clear at all levels, but more ambitious music reminds you that you’re dealing with an ultra-portable speaker with a $25 price tag.

Battery life is listed at six hours per charge which is rather accurate in our findings. We didn’t have a problem getting through extended podcast listening sessions or using it for background music while reading. Charging is relatively quick; you’ll be ready to go before your phone is at 100 percent. Just don’t forget to pack that oddball cable.

One pain point we’ve come to find in some of these super portable speakers is the lack of volume or playback buttons. It’s not always convenient for us to fumble for the phone to pause a song. And, should you be plugged directly into the source, you might not want to stray too far. There’s not a quick way to mute or stop the music. But, given the price of the 808 CANZ, and its portability, we’re more than willing to forgive.

The 808 CANZ can be purchased at a variety of retailers including Amazon, B&H Photo Video, Best Buy, and Target. Pricing varies but you will likely end up under $20 if you look around.

 

Recolor: A pretty hobby at an expensive price (Review)

Every now and then, interesting trends come along in the Play Store. Coloring apps have been constantly rising in popularity, especially among parents who want their children to start exploring their imagination. However, there’s also an increasing market for coloring apps for adults. Recolor tries to capture this market by offering a simple, robust, and good-looking app with an impressive amount of pictures to choose from.

Developer: Sumoing

Price: Free, with in-app subscription model

Features

The app greets you with a beautiful interface.

The first thing you’ll notice is the absolute lack of setup needed to use the app. You just open Recolor, and you’re taking directly to the main screen. In a world where apps want to know as much details about us as possible, it’s a welcome decision by the developer.

In order to classify the hundreds of images available, the app shows a tab bar at the top with different categories. You can choose among different types, such as animals, fantasy, food (you’ll love food, we all love food), people, and scenery.

There’s something for everyone here, so I’m sure you’ll find pictures that cater to your needs. Also, options are updated every day, so the library will just keep growing as time passes by.

There’s also a banner at the top that shows a counter. See, almost all of the images mentioned above are blocked behind a subscription. So, for those of you who would like to paint at digital images for free, the developer gives away a couple of the images in the collection for one day only.

When the counter reaches zero, another set of images will be available for download. There’s also a “Free” category in which you can download some images without charge.

Coloring is easy and allows for precision through pinch-to-zoom.

Upon selecting an image, the app proceeds to download the necessary assets in order to start painting. You’ll get the image’s outline on a white canvas, and some colors at the bottom.

There’s four main categories from which you can choose colors: Palettes, Hues, Gradients and Custom. Under each of these categories, there are subcategories that contain the color themselves.

Special mention to the Palettes category, which offers colors that actually look good combined with each other, in order to prevent your images from looking like a clown’s outfit.

To paint, you can simply tap a section of the image. Obviously, this won’t be easy for more complicated images, so the app lets you zoom on it.

There’s also undo and redo buttons at the top, so you can experiment with confidence, knowing that your changes are not permanent.

When you’re done, the app lets you preview your image and change how your painting looks. You can leave it untouched, but you can also add effects like watercolor, crayon, woodwork, and pencil. Most of them look impressively good, so you may want to experiment a bit.

Finally, you can share your work to any app, but, surprisingly, you can’t save the picture to your device. Obviously, there are workarounds to this, but it’s a weird omission.

General Impressions

The app lets you add filters to your paintings.

The app is easy enough to use, thanks to the images being classified into categories. Also, the sheer amount of available images is impressive, and there’s the developer’s promise that new content will be added periodically.

The flexibility offered by the developer regarding the different amount of colors and gradients makes it a really robust app for those of you who are into this. There’s one weird oversight, though: there’s no eraser. Sure, you can undo changes, and you can always go back to a section and paint it white, but I feel like an eraser should be an option anyways.

Also, I believe that, even though there are a lot of images to choose from, there may be a moment where the user would want to step into its own imagination and just paint something. A white canvas for you to explore what users can do would be ideal. Since the app has the necessary tools already, it would be a great addition and give more value to the app.

Even though the app deals with heavy resources and constant image painting, it performs outstandingly well on my Nexus 6. Everything flows smoothly, even when designs start to get more complicated and there are more colors on-screen.

Changing between different styles after finishing painting up your images is smooth as silk, something many other apps struggle with. Obviously, your mileage may vary, depending on your setup.

Yeah, those are the prices.

Let’s talk a bit about the subscription model I mentioned before. You can get an unlimited trial for one week. After that, you’ll be charged $2.24 a week. There’s also a monthly subscription for $6.75. If you are really into coloring apps, you can purchase a yearly subscription at a discounted price of $32.66.

Being an app developer myself, I know how expensive it can get to maintain an app, but if people wanted to burn Pushbullet’s HQ to the ground for charging $5 a month, then I can’t imagine what they’ll say about this. Anyways, it’s nice to have a trial in order to evaluate if the service is really worth it to you and then decide if you want to pony up.

User Interface

Being an app that deals with beautiful images and artistic designs, it would be a crime to present a bad-looking user interface. Fortunately, the developer did his homework and produced a stunning-looking app that blends nicely (for the most part) with material design.

The banner at the top disappears when you start scrolling the images, giving more space to appreciate the pictures.

The screen where you actually paint the picture focuses less on flashy elements and more on what’s important: your painting. It’s good that the developer added a shortcut to jump between color categories, since there are a lot of subcategories and scrolling between each of them would’ve been a hassle otherwise.

Few options to choose from.

Nevertheless, there’s a lot of scrolling to do if you’re using different colors, especially on the Hues category. Imagine you want to paint an image with only red and black colors. They’re separated by seven pages worth of colors, and you need to scroll page by page in order to jump between them. There’s definitely room for improvement in that aspect.

Options

The developer clearly focused on giving users a good experience before, during, and after painting, and wants us to use the app as is, instead of providing options for the app. The only option available is to be reminded of new pictures every day.

Some options like deactivating picture categories would’ve been nice, as well as turning off some color packs. For example, I know I will never use a metallic gradient on one of my paintings, so I don’t need to scroll through them in order to get to the colors I actually use. A way to sort the color categories myself or define my favorite ones would be nice too.

What I like

• Beautiful UI
• Several color categories to make things easier to you
• New content added constantly

Room for improvement

• Subscription model has a steep price
• More choice regarding available colors
• Almost no options to setup the app to your liking

Conclusion

Recolor offers a wide range of images and several tools to make your paintings easy and satisfying. The business model proposed by the developer is something they should think about, since it might be expensive for a person looking for some minutes of fun once in a while. If you are into coloring apps, however, Recolor is a solid option that will keep you entertained.

Download and install Recolor from the Google Play Store.