25 Most Useful Apps You Need to Download

Smartphones undeniably have been a very integral part of our lives for the past few years, and apps are one of the reasons why we can never put our handsets down. Here’s a look at some of our apps we love to use everyday for fun and productivity, and you might like them too.

There are tons of apps to choose from, and what we present here are just a few of the awesome ones that you can easily download from your respective app stores. Apps are mentioned in this article in no particular order. Icons are from the Google Play Store and are arranged in order of mention on each section. Apps might be exclusive only to the Android platform, to which the writer has more familiarity due to his current smartphone.

Music

How about an app that can stream music? Spotify is one music app you shouldn’t miss. Easily listen to any of your favorite local or international artists anywhere on any platform, including PC. An affordable monthly premium is also available, allowing you to download your favorite tracks for offline use and get uninterrupted streams, eliminating advertisements in-between songs. Soundcloud is also a great online app if you like to listen to covers of your favorite songs, or record one yourself.

If you like your songs on your memory card, music players like the stock Google Play Music for fancy Material design and animation, Shuttle Music Player as an alternative, or PlayerPro for the ultimate music player can save the day.

Heard that tune before but can’t recall the title or the artist who sang it? Shazam‘s got you covered with music and TV information in seconds. Soundhound is a great alternative as well.

Photography

We might all agree on this one: VSCO Cam is probably one of the best, if not the best, photography apps around. Its community of curators give life and new meaning to photography through the app’s powerful set of photo-editing tools that never fail to bring out the best in each shot you take.

Productivity and Lifestyle

To wake up early in the morning for many is quite challenging, and there are no words to describe the beauty that is of Timely, an alarm app. The in-app music that wakes you up in the morning is far more pleasant than the default alarm ringtones on my phone. It is also a challenge to stop the app from ringing, as various methods and puzzles can be implemented to stop the alarm. A good alternative is Alarm Clock Plus, and it can really wake you up with all the math equations configured to the difficulty of your choice.

Our team is a bit torn between the Google Inbox and the GMail app: While a few consider Inbox to be very useful as all emails marked done and cleaned out ends their day, I personally prefer the traditional columns and streams of email lines in GMail. Dropbox’s Mailbox is also a great alternative email app if you don’t want yourself to bother with all the Material Design and stick to a clean, minimal interface.

Note-taking apps are very handy in times of need and Evernote is one app that’s never leaving my phone. Cross-platform syncing and easy notetaking simply made me fall in love with this app. Google Keep is also worth a try if you are for simpler notetaking apps that still sync. When we’re not typing small notes, we often leave the task to document editors such as Microsoft Office Mobile, and put them in online storage apps such as Dropbox so we can share them to more people in an instant.

Need a separate to-do list? Wunderlist might just do the trick for you. It keeps your reminders and lists so you can organize everything you need to do. If you need a new calendar, SolCalendar‘s support for stickers on calendar dates makes planning and organizing fun and enjoyable.

Travel and Navigation

The MMDA Android App is very useful if you want to check and avoid traffic along EDSA or C5 during the rush hour. Couple that with Waze, a crowdsourced navigation app, and you’ve got yourself a pretty good tool to detour the metro and avoid the hassle of getting stuck along a major highway. If you don’t feel like driving and want a cozy ride home, a taxi-grabbing service such as Uber can help.

If you’re up for a travel, why not spend some time with a few apps as well? Skyscanner is a great app to compare flight, hotel, and car rental prices to places you plan to spend your vacation time with. Discover thousands of places to stay in — Whether paid homes by checking the Airbnb app, or receive and experience warm local hospitality through Couchsurfing.

We know that not everyone uses these partly due to having a different OS ecosystem, or has better apps and alternatives in mind. You can jump in the conversation and recommend your favorite apps at the comments section below. We’d love to know the apps you’re using, and we might try them out too!

Have spare change in your iTunes account, check out 25 Paid iTunes Apps Worth Paying For.