6 Android apps which are so slick, I believed Google made them

In terms of the Android operating system, there are a staggering variety of cellular purposes on the market to select from. These apps can be found to obtain from throughout various sources, together with the Google Play Retailer, the free and open-source F-Droid storefront, the Amazon App Retailer, the Samsung Galaxy Retailer, and others.

As with different platform holders, Google publishes and maintains up-to-date tips on how Android apps ought to look and behave. This consists of a number of visible concerns: consumer interface buttons, toggles, sliders, menus, context menus, and extra. The objective is to create a coherent design language that extends throughout third-party apps, and to foster a singular id for Android apps as an entire.

No matter the place you get your apps from, one factor is evident: not all Android apps are created equal. Specifically, many cross-platform apps (notably social media and streaming companies) neglect Google’s UI tips, leading to a disjointed end-user expertise. Fortunately, there are many glorious apps that do faucet into the Materials Design language, whether or not it’s Android 12-era Materials You or Android 16-era Material 3 Expressive. Listed below are six of my private favorites.

1

Gramophone

YouTube Music would not even come shut

So far as native music playback apps are involved, the Android OS is house to among the highest choices available on the market. I’ve examined quite a few old-school music gamers through the years, and Gramophone is much and away my present favourite. The app makes excellent use of Google’s Materials You theming, with dynamic coloration tinting, the distinctive squiggly progress bar additionally present in Android’s native music mini participant, and playful animations. It is easy to parse by tracks by way of various sorting choices, and you’ll dive proper into the file system for a extra hands-on expertise, too. Gramophone is a wholly free app, with an open-source code base besides.

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2

Compass

The perfect compass app availble for Android

Shockingly, Google is but to construct its personal native compass or degree instrument app for Android. Most third-party telephone makers have taken issues into their very own fingers, however fashionable Pixel telephones nonetheless do not present a user-facing app for accessing coordinates, altitude, magnetism, and different helpful metrics. Fortunately, Compass has you lined. Except for providing stunning and clear visuals that appear and feel native to the Android platform, there’s an expertly crafted implementation of haptic suggestions all through the app that brings the entire expertise collectively in a cultured vogue. Compass is obtainable for a small price on the Play Retailer, and the app itself is fully ad-free.

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3

Inware

Discover your Android’s specs

There are a selection of Android apps on the market that may floor helpful {hardware} and software program gadget specs, however my private favourite needs to be Inware. It follows Google’s Materials You theming to a tee, with glorious group of knowledge and a extremely approachable house web page with massive iconography. I notably benefit from the app’s bespoke font, which appears nice and offers a splash of persona to the combo. System metrics displayed by Inware embody knowledge regarding the system, {hardware}, reminiscence, digital camera, community, connectivity, battery, and media digital rights administration (DRM) standing. The app is totally free to make use of, with no advertisements or in-store puchases to talk of.

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4

Wavelet

The equalizer instrument that Google by no means made

Regardless of there being some glorious alternate options, Wavelet continues to be my Android equalizer (EQ) software of alternative. The app makes it straightforward to regulate bass, treble, channel acquire, channel stability, launch time, assault time, and extra. There is a useful graphic equalizer web page with numerous presets obtainable to select from, and a distinguished on / off button is one thing I tremendously admire. Better of all, Wavelet totally embraces Google’s Materials design language, right down to Materials 3 Expressive’s glorious new slider design. The app itself is free, however a one-time Professional buy is required to unlock further options like reverberation, equal lludness, and the bass tuner.

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5

Counters

You’ll be able to depend on this app to maintain tally

A primary counter app is the kind of factor which may not appear notably helpful at first look, however it may be a lifesaver in a pinch. There are a ton of use circumstances that crop up in my very own day-to-day life that warrant a fast tally, and the Counters app excels at all-things rating holding. The app embraces Materials You design tips, making for a visually pleasing and easy-to-use app interface. All of the necessities are right here: you’ll be able to set a number of counters, you’ll be able to have the counters reset routinely, and you’ll title and coloration coordinate every tracker. Better of all, the app is fully free with no commercials, and it could possibly sync with Android’s Well being Join framework, too.

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6

Everplan

Monitor your bills in type

If Google have been to construct its personal expense tracker app for Android, I would invision it to appear and feel loads like Everplan. Printed by the identical builders behind the wonderful Lumolight and Groovy apps for Android, Everplan permits you to maintain tabs in your financial institution balances, subscription charges and due dates, and different recurring charges. The app adopts a beautiful Materials You aesthetic, full with dynamic coloration tinting and iconography, and the interface itself is easy and minimalistic. There is a good graph visualizer on provide right here, in addition to an choice to create distinctive expense classes to higher mirror your personal funds. Everplan is free to obtain and set up, with a one-time price required to take away all advertisements.

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