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The Best Mobile App: A Guide To The Best Android App And More

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Most people have a smartphone these days, and you can’t have a smartphone without having mobile apps. What is an app and which are the best apps for Android or for iPhone? Selectra investigates app design, the 100, free apps, the best Android camera app, the best Android email app and more. Read on for all you need to know about mobile apps.

What is an app?

If you have a smartphone, you’ve definitely used an app in your time. The word app is short for application, and refers to a piece of software that can run through a web browser or offline on your computer, smartphone tablet or even your smartwatch. Apps carry out a function, like to send and receive messages, edit photos or play games.

When it comes to your mobile phone, apps are pretty essential for day to day functioning. To add apps to your phone you’ll need to head to the right place to search for, and then download them. The main three stores for buying or downloading apps are:

  • The App Store for Apple phones (aka iPhones).
  • Google Play for Android devices.
  • Amazon Appstore for Amazon Fire devices.

What is an Android?The term Android refers to the software upon which Android smartphones like Samsung and Huawei run.

App Design

Mobile app design involves UI (the user interface) and UX (the user experience). Those who design apps are responsible for the visual elements and overall style of the app, this includes things like the colour scheme, buttons, widgets and font selection.

UX is a really important part of app design as it makes apps user friendly and enjoyable for customers. Some of the best apps for Android and iOS are really well designed and simple to use.

Free Apps

If you don’t want to pay for apps on your phone you don’t have to, as a lot of them are free. Sometimes free apps will require a subscription for more advanced features but you may find you don’t need them, or that when push comes to shove it will be worth paying for a premium subscription to a service.

Some argue that the best apps will cost you a few £, but that’s not always the case, with free apps like Whatsapp or Instagram being hugely popular among both Android and iOS users. The fantastic free apps out there are usually financially viable for app makers to run due to their advertising sales or some other kind of financial arrangement.

What is iOS?The term iOS refers to the operating system that all Apple mobile phones run on. Android phones like Huawei or Samsung run on the Android operating system.

Best Apps For Android

Did you know that the Google Play store contains over 2.9 million apps? If you’re an Android user, then Google Play is a great place to go for your apps. The best app for you will really depend on which functions you need to carry out. To give you an indication of the most popular apps for Android, here are some of the most downloaded Android apps of all time on Google Play:

  1. Facebook
  2. WhatsApp
  3. Facebook Messenger
  4. Instagram
  5. Clean Master
  6. Skype
  7. LINE
  8. Viber
  9. Twitter
  10. Flashlight by Surpax

As you can see, a lot of these apps are well known social media services that also offer web browser versions (Facebook, Instagram, Skype and Twitter for example) as social media is fairly universally in demand among smartphone users.

Best Android Camera App

It would seem that we’re all amateur photographers these days thanks to our smartphones, and a decent camera is deemed as very important for many phone users. Mobile phone cameras are getting bigger and better, and it doesn’t take much to capture decent images on a good camera phone. However, it’s not just about the quality of your camera itself that matters, but also how you edit your photos once they’re captured.

There are loads of different Android camera apps out there, with features like steady shot helpers, multiple shot modes, filters, photoshop type editing features, composition overlays and special effects. Here are some of the more popular Android camera apps around:

  • Camera MX.
  • Camera Zoom FX.
  • Camera360
  • Camera FV-5
  • A Better Camera
  • Bacon Camera

Best Android Email App

What makes a good email app? Well, some of the main priorities are usually speed, efficiency, usability and security, just to name a few. It’s also important that the app makes it easy for you to organise your emails and contacts. So which Android email apps really nail these things? Take a look at some best Android email apps below:

  • Spike is a great app for chat style emailing.
  • Gmail has a great app if you’re a gmail user.
  • Outlook’s app lets you integrate your calendar.
  • BlueMail is fantastic if you prefer to customise your inbox to perfection.
  • ProtonMail is a great app if you want to keep things simple and value your privacy.
  • If your team has a shared inbox try Missive.
  • K-9 mail is an older app but a classic.
  • Aquamail is a great email app for Android users that keeps things nice and simple.
  • Those seeking an extra level of security should check out Tutanota’s encryption style email app.

The 100 Best Apps

The 100 best apps is a ranking of the top apps of the year. There is one list for iPhone apps and one for Android apps, as there are some apps that are only available on Google Play or the App Store and some apps are designed for iOS or Android only. The rankings also include the best apps from different categories, like The Best Communications App and, The Best Finance app and the Best Browser Apps. There are 12 categories overall, which are as follows:

  1. Best iPhone Communication Apps
  2. Best iPhone Education & Reference Apps
  3. Best iPhone Entertainment Apps
  4. Best iPhone Finance Apps
  5. Best iPhone Food & Travel Apps
  6. Best iPhone Health & Fitness Apps
  7. Best iPhone Lifestyle Apps
  8. Best iPhone Photo & Video Apps
  9. Best iPhone Productivity Apps
  10. Best iPhone Security Apps
  11. Best iPhone Social Networking Apps
  12. Best iPhone Utility Apps

Are you after a new mobile phone?If you’re in need of a new mobile phone or UK SIM card then why not read through our guide to getting a UK SIM or phone for all you need to know. You can also check out our guides to the UK mobile networks, like EE, Vodafone, and Three.

Apps and Battery Consumption

Apps can drain your phones’ battery, even when they’re running in the background, but there are measures you can take to minimize this. Apps that drain battery are often the ones that receive frequent updates, or that use your location or wake up your phone screen regularly.

How to save on battery lifeRunning out of phone battery is always a pain, but you can save some of your precious battery by changing certain settings in your phone and by following some simple tips. Read Selectra’s guide on mobile phone battery lifefor all the handy tips and tricks you’ll ever need on keeping your mobile battery nice and full.

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