Define
Think about how much time you spend reading on your smartphone. Even if you're not a bookworm or New York Times subscriber, you're probably always scanning and scrolling through text, and probably doing it across multiple apps. Chances are, you're going to come across a word you don't know at some point.
Define provides a way to look up any word you're unsure of or curious about, in whatever app you're using. Simply by highlighting the text and pressing copy, you bring up an unobtrusive notification, which you can then press to get a definition and usages of the word in question.
You can download two dictionaries, Wordnet and Livio, to use offline, and there's even Urban Dictionary support when you're connected to the internet.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an educational organization that provides free courses focused around math, physics and science. It has been going for almost a decade, but the Khan Academy app is relatively new. The course videos are available on YouTube, but having them all together in one place makes life a lot easier. With the app, you can now learn on the go.
There are more than 10,000 videos available, from entry-level math to linear algebra, covering various subjects from physics and biology to art history and economics. It's a really great resource, and the courses are clear and fun. Look around and find one that suits you.
Link Bubble Browser
Link Bubble Browser is a previously paid-for app that recently went completely free. Link Bubble made a name for itself largely due to one clever feature: it loads webpages in the background. This means that instead of clicking through to a site or page, and having to wait for images and text to appear, Link Bubble will present it to you only once its ready.
Link Bubble Browser also offers an easy way to share links, or save websites for offline viewing with Pocket integration. It's a simple idea, which is executed well and saves time – a winning combination.
Shuffle My Life has been making waves on Reddit, where it has been picked up by the very group of people it wants to address: those stuck in a rut with too much routine and not enough activity. If you've ever found yourself sitting around desperately trying to think of something new to do, Shuffle My Life is the app you need.
Shuffle My Life suggests new things to do to get a little variation in your day. There's nothing terribly complex about it, but that's the beauty of it. You don't need to think and you don't need to do too much. You simply choose to act on the suggestion or not.
What will you be asked to do? Easy stuff: take a photo of a landmark, read a paper at a cafe, go for a jog, watch an online lecture, write someone a letter. You can set time and cost limits and keep track of your efforts via Google Play Games and a leader board. Who knew relieving boredom could be so much fun?
Action Launcher 3
If you've never used an alternate Android launcher, you might want to check out Action launcher 3. Action Launcher 3 is unlike other launchers, which typically rely on heavy customization options but the same basic functionality.
Action Launcher 3 takes your app drawer and puts it in an alphabetized Quick Drawer on the side, always ready to be swiped out in a jiffy. Covers let you tap an app icon to open it or swipe it to open a folder of grouped apps. Shutters are similar but instead of opening a folder, they open a preview widget. You'll have to upgrade to use Shutters though.
Action Launcher 3 also makes use of Android Lollipop's adaptive palette and changes the color of the search bar and on-screen elements to adapt to your current wallpaper. It even works with Muzei, the constantly changing wallpaper app. You can also select your own interface colors.
Photos
Google Photos was unveiled at Google I/O 2015 and made headlines for being a free app that offers unlimited photo and video storage (though there are some restrictions on file types).
Photos combines automatic backup, sharing and editing functions, as well as just about the best photo organization tool you can find, to create a powerful photo app which is hard to beat. Seriously, every gallery app should have 'click and drag' selection, shouldn't it?
Podcast Addict
If I were to recommend a best podcast app, it would be Pocket Casts – it's an extremely well-designed piece of software. But Pocket Casts isn't free; for the best free podcast app, we're recommending Podcast Addict.
Podcast Addict makes discovering and downloading podcasts simple. Though the user-interface won't exactly blow you away, its helpful search options assist you in finding the content you're looking for, even if you don't have a specific podcast in mind.
You can pay a little money to remove the app's Ad banner, but Podcast Addict doesn't restrict any features in the free version. Even if you're not into podcasts now, with this intuitive app, you might soon become addicted.
Unclouded
With all the cloud storage services out there, it's sometimes easy to forget if you put a certain file on Dropbox, or Google Drive, or OneDrive, or somewhere else.
With Unclouded, you can manage and view all the files you keep in the cloud from one place. It's more than just an overview however, as you can find duplicates, see which files were updated most recently, and find those files which are sneakily using up most storage space. A must-have for those living in the cloud.
Drupe
It's rare that we find an app so useful that we dedicate a mini-feature to it, but Drupe deserves all the praise it gets. With Drupe, you can manage all your contacts and messaging apps in one place. Your contacts are on the left, your communications app icons on the right, then it's just a matter of dragging your contact into the icon of the app you want to contact them with.
It looks great, it feels great, and you can give it a permanent icon on your screen in order to instantly access it whatever you're doing on your phone.
Skype
Maybe a bit of a predictable addition to the list, but the basic principle of being able to call anyone anywhere in the world (with internet) for free still seems as ingenious today as when Skype was first released all the way back in 2003.
Take it from someone who works remotely and uses the Skype app to communicate with HQ on a daily basis that it's been truly world-changing in terms of how we work and communicate. The app interface is simple and very well-designed, letting you communicate by video and voice calls, as well as messaging.
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