6. Google Now (Free):
So, Google Now isn’t necessarily an app by itself. In fact, it’s a part of Google Search, which is free and on everyone’s phone. But within the last year, Google introduced Now as a way for your phone to help make your life easier. It’s quite possibly the best smartphone invention of the last two or three years. It will tell you the weather for your current location, update you on scores for your favorite sports teams, show you articles that are related to others you were previously searching for, automatically give you transit times if you are by a bus stop, track your walking and biking mileage each month, and more. Now uses all of your Google history to help provide you with timely info, and boy does it do a phenomenal job of it. Unfortunately, you have to be running Android 4.1 or higher in order to use it, something not many phones can claim.
7. Chadwick (Free):
If you let it slip to me that you are a basketball junkie, be prepared for me to introduce you to Chadwick. It’s a live scoring app for the NBA and NCAA hoops, only it’s not like any other sports app you have seen before. Chadwick uses Twitter and reporters or personalities in the industry that are at the game or Tweeting about the game to tell you the story. The score is updated live, but it’s the Twitter commentary you get along with that makes this app so unique. You get comedic commentary, but you also get opinions and play-by-play from from news outlets in the arena, which at times can mean insight you won’t get elsewhere.
8. Snapseed (Free):
Snapseed was introduced to Android only a week or so ago, but already, it has become a staple in my smartphone life. Previously only available on iOS, Snapseed is an award winning photo editing program that Google purchased from developers Nik Software. Try not to think of this as a simple filter-style app like Instagram. Oh no, this is so much more. You can edit your photos almost as if you would in a professional photo editing program, only you can do it all with a couple of swipes on your tablet or smartphone screen. There are auto-tuning features, but if you really want to tweak a photo to your liking, you can spend hours getting it perfect. Once done, you can share it with the world on almost any app.
9. Pattrn (Free):
I’m a sucker for a good wallpaper app, especially one that specializes in minimal looks. When Pattrn was released to Android, I was immediately hooked. As someone who likes to change up home screen layouts on a regular basis, Pattrn is always there to help inspire my new look. The wallpapers in it are all free, and as the name suggests, are nothing but patterns. You’ll find patterns of objects, dots, stripes, boxes, etc. But it becomes so useful, because you can search by color or keyword. If you want to find a set of wallpapers with horses in them, you can. If you want to find a specific shade of blue that you saw in another wallpaper, you can search by that as well.
10. Granny Smith ($1.99):
How could I leave this off my list? After all, I called it my top game of 2012. Granny Smith is the ultimate mobile game in my opinion. It can be difficult, but it’s simple enough to keep anyone’s interest. It’s a platformer that involves a Granny who is chasing after an evil little boy that is after her apples. There are physics involved, swinging, flipping, coins, and new characters, everything that any good game should include. To make it even better, the developers have introduced the game as one that can live on forever, assuming they want to continue building new levels for it.
So, what are your top 10 Android apps of the year?
See more from Droid Life:
Top 10 Android Games of 2012
Blogging and Android: The Tools I Can’t Live Without
Completely Customize Your Android Phone With These Apps
First 5 Apps Every New Android User Should Download
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Droid Life consider themselves to have the greatest Android community in the world. They talk general news, feature apps, review phones, and even teach you how to hack a little. But most importantly, there is no place on the internet that has the reader participation they do and consider themselves to be completely community driven. If you were looking for the best place to learn about Android and talk with like-minded folks about all things tech, then Droid Life is for you. Being a writing machine, creating a site about the Droid just made sense for Kellen B. He pours his heart into something if he truly believes in it, and the Droid was one of those things. From there, it became about community, meeting amazing people, finding it a joy to chat with the same crew of tech-obsessed fans on the daily, and making Android my life. Follow them at @Droid Life.
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